Anton Ditt is found again in another town!!! Thanks to the U. S. City Directories on Ancestry.com. City directories, in particular, have been very helpful in tracking this man who moved frequently across the United States. He was listed in the New Haven, Connecticut Directory in 1849, 1853-54, 1854-55, and 1856-57 editions. This is the earliest documentation for Anton Ditt in the United States. In 1849, Anton would have been approximately 21-23 years old.
No other Ditts are listed in the New Haven directories. It makes one wonder if he came alone to the United States from Baden, Germany or did he come with a relative from his maternal side. He sometimes is listed as "Anton" and sometimes as "Anthony" in the directories. Anton may have been living near his wife's relatives. He married Catharine Margaret Fischer on November 4, 1851 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. There are several Fishers listed in the New Haven directories. It is interesting to note that the Anglican spelling of "Fisher" is used and not the German spelling of "Fischer". Of those Fishers listed, Charles, John and Joseph are of particular interest. These three men all had professions that involved metalwork. Although Anton's had various professions, they ALL were skilled labor involved with metal.
Another social factor to keep in mind, is that most of Anton's associates were German born or of German descent. Anton lived German speaking neighborhoods and attended German speaking churches.
The New Haven Directories are another clue; but Anton's parentage, hometown and immigration date still have not been found. It is time to obtain the church records from Connecticut and to track down any Fischers/Fishers that may have traveled or moved with Anton and Catherina.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Tombstone Tuesday
H D Clark Cemetery Plot
Here are the internments for a plot purchased by H D Clark in Woodmere Cemetery in Detriot, Michigan. They are in Section G, lot 149. There are no individual markers. The stone is covered with pollution from the nearby Rouge Plant.
1. Bela B. Clark b. 1859 Ohio d. 4 Jan 1893 Detroit, Michigan (Cleveland, OH) aged 33 years 1 month 26 days s/o Bela B. and Clara Clark
2. Marshall E. Smith d. 20 Jul 1899 Detroit, Michigan aged 3 months 1 day s/o Burke Nelson and Josie Smith
3. Emma [Ermina] S. Clark b. 8 Jul 1833 New York d. 16 Sept 1902 Detroit, Michigan d/o George and Claria Smith
4. Lewis O. Clark d. 22 Jun 1905 Cleveland, Ohio aged 50
5. O. [Ogden] C. Clark d. 18 Nov 1905 Ohio s/o Henry and Ermina Clark
6. Anna Eliza Bell b. 11 Oct 1835 New York d. 14 Aug 1911 Detroit, Michigan d/o Chauncey Bell and Eliza Taylor
7. James W. France b. 22 Jan 1869 New York d. 19 Jul 1912 Detroit, Michigan aged 45 years 5 months 27 days s/o Cyrus France and Sarah Bell
8. Anna M. Clark b. 18 Sep 1860 New York d. 27 Sept 1917 Detroit, Michigan aged 57 years 27 days d/o Elte Bouse and Eva Livingston
9. Henry Devall [De Walt] Clark b. 6 Jun 1831 CT d. 30 May 1919 Detroit, Michigan s/o William Clark and Harriett Sprague
10. Bela W. France b. May 1894 d. 9 Oct 1918 killed in action (WWI?) buried 22 Oct 1921
11. Robert Benjamin Meer d. 10 Nov 1921 aged 10 months 20 days
12. Hattie Bell France b. Jan 1864 buried 30 Oct 1943 d/o Henry and Ermina Clark
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Tombstone Tuesday
A special thanks to Gail D. Hershenzon, genealogist and author of Images of America Detroit's Woodmere Cemetery for helping to locate these records and graves in Woodmere Cemetery. And for bringing the shovel and wet wipes!
Gravestone of Alice L. Kennard nee Warner
Buried with Child
Wife of Frank Benjamin Kennard
Resident of Billings, Yellowstone, Montana
Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan
Section G, Plot 221
Gravestone of Laura Warner nee Oakes
Wife of Dr. Benjamin Y. Warner who died in Vermont
Laura died in Cleveland, Ohio
Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan
Section G, Plot 221
View of both graves together in Woodmere Cemetery.
Only a small portion of the stones were showing.
We dug out the grass to view the whole stones.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Mrs. F. B. Kennard Identified
Finding the maiden name of woman can be challenging. Once the final resting place of Alice Kennard was found, so was her parents identities revealed. Of course, it was not that simple nor easy.
Mrs. F. B. Kennard died on 31 July 1886 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan. Her death record can be found by using Pilot Search of FamilySearch.org. Not much info so I wrote to the state of Michigan and ordered her actual Certificate of Death. Both records state that she was born in Vermont. Neither give her first name. Both state that she was 36 years old. The Certificate of Death says that she was a housewife and her parents were unknown and were living in Detroit. Her cause of death was "Confinement". To me it sounded like she was sick, either physicially or mentally and was in an hospital or institution. But, her parents were living in Detroit. This getting closer. The Certificate of Death was filed about 10 months after Alice died. This may explain the lack of details.
Heritage Quest has digitized the Detroit City Directories. I checked for the last names of Goss, Lord and Stanley. Nothing jumped out at me. So then I looked at the churches and cemeteries. I googled a couple of the cemeteries and found that Woodmere Cemetery has some of their internments listed. There she was listed under "Alice Kinnard"! And much more information about her was given. The cemetery records indicate that she died from peritonitis. Her last address was 479 Congress St. And the records indicate that she was buried with her child. Alice must have been pregnant and was in Detroit to have her baby or because she was sick. We probably never know the answer to that question. Billings, Montana, where Frank and Alice had been living, was still a relatively young town that was formed in 1882. Most likely, there was a lack of physicians and hospitals.
After contacting the cemetery, I found that two other people were buried in the same plot, Laura Warner and a child of O. C. Clark. A quick check of the R. L. Polk's 1886 Detroit City Directory indicates that both Ogden Clark and Laura Warner, widow of Benjamin Y., were living at 479 Congress St.
The 1880 Federal Census in Newton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, ties all of these relationships together. Laura Warner, widow, is listed as head of household. Her daughters are listed as Charlotte Atherton, widow, Alice Kennard (not how it was transcribed but looks like how it was written), married, and Jennie Warner, single. Ogden Clark is living next door as a boarder. Where is Frank in 1880? Good question. He still has been found in the 1880 census.
Dr. Benjamin Y. Warner is listed on the 1870 Mortality Schedule as dying in October 1869 in Chittenden, Vermont.
There are still loose ends but Frank and Alice's story is getting fleshed out.
Mrs. F. B. Kennard died on 31 July 1886 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan. Her death record can be found by using Pilot Search of FamilySearch.org. Not much info so I wrote to the state of Michigan and ordered her actual Certificate of Death. Both records state that she was born in Vermont. Neither give her first name. Both state that she was 36 years old. The Certificate of Death says that she was a housewife and her parents were unknown and were living in Detroit. Her cause of death was "Confinement". To me it sounded like she was sick, either physicially or mentally and was in an hospital or institution. But, her parents were living in Detroit. This getting closer. The Certificate of Death was filed about 10 months after Alice died. This may explain the lack of details.
Heritage Quest has digitized the Detroit City Directories. I checked for the last names of Goss, Lord and Stanley. Nothing jumped out at me. So then I looked at the churches and cemeteries. I googled a couple of the cemeteries and found that Woodmere Cemetery has some of their internments listed. There she was listed under "Alice Kinnard"! And much more information about her was given. The cemetery records indicate that she died from peritonitis. Her last address was 479 Congress St. And the records indicate that she was buried with her child. Alice must have been pregnant and was in Detroit to have her baby or because she was sick. We probably never know the answer to that question. Billings, Montana, where Frank and Alice had been living, was still a relatively young town that was formed in 1882. Most likely, there was a lack of physicians and hospitals.
After contacting the cemetery, I found that two other people were buried in the same plot, Laura Warner and a child of O. C. Clark. A quick check of the R. L. Polk's 1886 Detroit City Directory indicates that both Ogden Clark and Laura Warner, widow of Benjamin Y., were living at 479 Congress St.
The 1880 Federal Census in Newton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, ties all of these relationships together. Laura Warner, widow, is listed as head of household. Her daughters are listed as Charlotte Atherton, widow, Alice Kennard (not how it was transcribed but looks like how it was written), married, and Jennie Warner, single. Ogden Clark is living next door as a boarder. Where is Frank in 1880? Good question. He still has been found in the 1880 census.
Dr. Benjamin Y. Warner is listed on the 1870 Mortality Schedule as dying in October 1869 in Chittenden, Vermont.
There are still loose ends but Frank and Alice's story is getting fleshed out.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Birth Place of Martin Christoph Taute
Ahhh..... when one dives into German research, step one is finding the ancestral town or village of your ancestor. From the book, Freidstadt and the Lutheran Immigration published by the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of Freistadt, Mequon, Wisconsin about many Old Lutherans who settled near Milwaukee, Martin Taute's place where he was from is listed as Magdeburg, Langensalza. I do not believe that Magdeburg and Langensalza are part of the same place but rather two separate places. In 1956, Langensalza became Bad Langensalza. In 1815, Langensalza was part of Saxony. Today, Bad Langensalza is located in the state of Thuringia and the district of Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis. Today it has a population of approximately 18,000.
Magdeburg on the other hand is, east of Berlin, Germany and north of Bad Langensalza. It is in the state of Saxony-Anhalt and in the Urban district. In 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars, Magdeburg surrendered to French forces. Today it has a population of approximately 230,000.
My best guess from the information that I have seen, Martin was born in Langensalza and later moved to Magdeburg before immigrating to the United States in 1839. The above mentioned book states that his parents were Philipp Taute and Balatte Exold. I believe that I have found a birth or baptism record for Martin Christoph Daute 5 March 1799 in the church books for St. Bonifacii in Langensalza. Joh. Philipp Daute is listed as his father. The "t" and "d" in German can be interchanged. Also, spellings circa 1800 were not set in stone as they are today. There are several other listings that indicate that Martin had brothers. Unfortunately, the books from this time frame do not name the girls nor are the mothers listed. In the duplicate books, the date is listed as 7 March 1799. I did not find either the name "Daute" nor "Exold" in the family book film. However, I did find the name "Ewald". There are more films to research and hopefully, there will be answers.
The search continues as well as the struggle reading Old German Script!
Magdeburg on the other hand is, east of Berlin, Germany and north of Bad Langensalza. It is in the state of Saxony-Anhalt and in the Urban district. In 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars, Magdeburg surrendered to French forces. Today it has a population of approximately 230,000.
My best guess from the information that I have seen, Martin was born in Langensalza and later moved to Magdeburg before immigrating to the United States in 1839. The above mentioned book states that his parents were Philipp Taute and Balatte Exold. I believe that I have found a birth or baptism record for Martin Christoph Daute 5 March 1799 in the church books for St. Bonifacii in Langensalza. Joh. Philipp Daute is listed as his father. The "t" and "d" in German can be interchanged. Also, spellings circa 1800 were not set in stone as they are today. There are several other listings that indicate that Martin had brothers. Unfortunately, the books from this time frame do not name the girls nor are the mothers listed. In the duplicate books, the date is listed as 7 March 1799. I did not find either the name "Daute" nor "Exold" in the family book film. However, I did find the name "Ewald". There are more films to research and hopefully, there will be answers.
The search continues as well as the struggle reading Old German Script!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
