My Trails into the Past

A question that cannot be answered yet. I am not even sure it is a valid question. In my notes, my husband’s aunt, Ada Gorrell Thomason, wrote a note about her great-grandmother, Philippina Wollenweber. “She lived in Wertenberg [Württemberg], Germany.  Two lawyers came to see her in Jeffersonville [Indiana] about an estate in Germany.  She would not sign papers. no one knew why -- may have been cruel to her.  She made a fair living sewing for soldiers (navy blue flannel).” [ 1] Let’s break apart each of the facts as best we can. It is true that she was born in Württemberg, and it makes sense that Ada would spell the place phonetically. [2] Philippina lived in Jeffersonville from about 1870 to about 1907. [3] So, a lawyer coming to Jeffersonville makes sense. Lastly, the part about her sewing for soldiers can be broken down as well. Her occupation in 1900 was a seamstress. [4] There was a Quartermaster Depot in Jeffersonville that was active especially du...

This is the last post for the April families (Wollenweber & Voehringer), though a day late. But I wanted to get the last piece posted, after doing all the work. The previous post about Philippina, my husband’s 2x-great-grandmother, covered her timeline from her 1834 birth and baptism in Württemberg to her 1913 death and burial in Louisville, Kentucky. There were hints to some of her family who also immigrated to the United States. In the small village of Unterhausen in Schwarzwald, Württemberg, lived her parents, Johan Adam Vöhringer and Maria Agnes Reiff . To them were born eight children. [1] Philippina was the second child and was named the same as the deceased first child, Philippina Margaretha. [2] The church has family registers that list the couple at the top, then their children below. There are reference pages to other families, for example, the husband might be linked to his parents’ page, and the children once married, will be linked to their own family page. ...