Genealogy... why??!

I am amazed at the amount of people who are seriously doing Genealogy these days! According to a Family History Research site, "Over the past decade, online family history research has grown in the United States by 14 times, with two-thirds (63%) of respondents in a recent study reporting that family history has become more important than ever. They also say that this growth is motivated by a belief that knowing more about the past is a key part of understanding who we are." How True!!! http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=33493 (kind of an interesting read)
The funny thing about this trend, is that it is so ADDICTING! Sites such as Ancestry, Family Search and others, have made it quite easy to connect the dots on our family trees. When I first decided to wander down the path of family research, I was leery. I had tried to do some in the past and was frustrated by my lack of time, knowledge and searching the records through the old microfiche was~ difficult to say the least. Especially for those of us with ancestor research across the waters(that's everyone, right?!) whose records are in Norway- I struggled through the Norwegian with a dictionary :)
There was nothing on line in those dark ages and with four kiddo's, working and being involved in the community and church~ I didn't have a lot of time to traipse through the forest of an unknown language and records that were hardly decipherable. But today~WOW! There is so much online~ so many of the records are much easier to read. There are so many doing their research, that records that were lost in church attics, etc. are being found, copied and put on line by just ordinary folks like you and me. It's amazing! Case in point. My great grandpa, Hans Hansen, was one of those in Norway who didn't like being told what to do~ feisty! He and others started a church in Balsfjord~ they were called "dissenters" by the government. A little while ago, I found this list~ in Norwegian ~ but readable. It lists everyone who was attending that church from 1856-1879, their birth dates, place of residence, etc. It's a gold mine of information. All because some kind soul went and actually made copies of the records. Now I am trying to do my part and transcribing the records so others have this information too. See, if you have been helped~ give back! If you have a little time, you can index records for Ancestry or Family Search and I'm sure other sites would welcome your help too. I only spend about an hour a week or more some weeks, if possible, indexing but hopefully my menial contribution is helping someone else. Ok, I'm off that soapbox. 
One other aspect of this research is the connection that young people are having with their grandparents and even great grandparents who through modern medicine are staying alive so much longer. Our grand kiddies all know their great-grandparents. They have played with them, laughed with them, read with them, snuggled with them~ they know them! Only a few live in the same city, but the others have visited from time to time and so when they see their faces in pictures they recognize them. I love that!! We can learn so much from the lives and wisdom of this older, wise generation. In the bible, the book of Malachi (final book in Old Testament) it states, " And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." I really believe that the "turning" is through Genealogy~ so we are basically saving ourselves from a curse! Maybe we could have been swarmed with all kinds of bugs or even a curse of-- alligators! Oh my! 
Most of the generations of my ancestors were just ordinary, very hard working folks. They were farmers, policeman, worked on bridges, carpenters, store owners, railroad engineers with a few attorneys, engineers and city councilman mixed in. The women were incredible teachers, farmer wives with all the work that was involved (which makes my head spin!), they were musicians, worked for the war efforts both as a "Rosie the Riveter", in offices and in medical capacities. They were amazing seamstresses, maids, nanny's to the wealthy, bankers, saleswomen~ just a wide variety of women that I am so proud to call my "peeps!" How do I know these women? Through diaries left behind, stories passed on through the generations, census records- an endless list of records that I can now see on line and listen to on the phone or through the email. 
If you haven't caught the "bug", and maybe want to. I say, "Go for it!" It's fairly easy to start a tree on Ancestry or Family Search. Both sites have live chats, simple classes to get you started and trust me~ it's easy, peasy. I do wish that I had talked more with my grandparents while they were still here. So many things I would like to know and most likely won't until later. So now, I head to Mom and Dad's to ask them some questions~ and hopefully, they will spill the beans! I'm smitten~ with Genealogy!!

Lester Edwin Nelson

Lester Edwin Nelson age 16

WW1 1918 France

Home from war, Washington D.C. 1919
Unknown friend, Lester and sister Etta (Grandma Annette)

Lester about 1948

Lester Edwin Nelson had such an interesting life. He was Grandma Annette's older brother and one that she relied on for advice, financial help and reassurance after her divorce. He didn't like farming and wanted to pursue other interests. He served in WW1 in one of the ammunition depots in Mehun, France. He received his LLB degree from the University of Minnesota in June 1916. Shortly thereafter, he enlisted in the Ordnance Corp. for the war.(For you that cringe at spelling errors, this is a correct spelling!) During his stay in France, he met many people and even learned French so he could converse with those he was living with. I think it came easy for him and he did quite well. Some of those he met and continued to correspond with were; Simone Ginouvier and her family and the Pillivuyt family who owned and operated a porcelain manufacturing plant. It is quite a famous commodity and now you can buy them on Amazon! http://www.pillivuyt.fr/en-pillivuyt-historique.php
I think he fancied Simone but had met her a little too late as she was already "going" with a young man, James Parks, an American Army Clerk. She married him in 1918. Lester was a prolific letter writer and kept in contact with many of those he met for many years. He also enjoyed photography and I'm sure would love all the gadgets and technology that we camera buffs use today.
After coming home in 1919, he worked for a time in Washington D. C. and then in St. Paul, Minnesota. He had a number of "lady friends", namely; Ellen Dashiell, Lola Miller, Marian Outland, and Myrl Gough. The last one in particular was a favorite, and he visited with her and her family in Lynchburg, Virginia one Christmas while he was living in Washington D.C..Shortly thereafter, she left Washington D.C. and he never saw her again. Of her he wrote,"she was one of the finest girls a man could know." He never quite found the right woman to marry and in Grandma's book she states that it was a very big regret. He once wrote, " there is no one to write to or come home to." He would have been a good father and husband. He was a very religious man, attending the Methodist church. He worked in private firms and then as the lead attorney in the Alcohol Tax Unit. He wrote an extensive legal book entitled, Nelson's Liquor Laws and Cases, which was used as a textbook for many years and is still in print today but not used, of course. In 1948, he retired at age 58. He planned to travel, lecture and write, but things rarely go as planned. He was bored after such a busy life and in 1949 he returned to Washington D.C. to see about getting his previous job back. It was not to be. Frustrated, lonely and exhausted, he suffered a slight nervous breakdown and spent a few weeks in a Veterans hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia. He eventually returned to Minneapolis and lived for a time with his cousin Doris Feigal and her husband Dick. On August 1, 1950, he suffered a gall bladder attack and died shortly after surgery. He was sixty. Even though he didn't fill his life with his own family, he made an impression on so many people through his work, church, various clubs and organizations he was associated with. I admire him for his devotion to his parents and family, his love of travel and adventure, his love of the law and he was especially proud to be an American. Another great member of the Nelson family. Our tree is just full of them!

Etta May Knudson Salmon~~~ found!!

When I was living in the Middle East a few years ago, I finally had time to buckle down and really get serious about connecting the dots on my own family tree. I started with my grandparents and then branched out to their families to grow my then small tree. Over these past 3+ years, I have mostly centered my sleuthing skills on Grandma Annette's family, with other family trees mixed in. I became fascinated with the Knudson family; their tragedies, triumphs, tenacity, moving ( of which I know way too much about :) ) and trying to piece this lovely family into a nice little story. With the help of the Knudson relatives and others, I have solved many mysteries. Some parts of the tree are still a bit bare but I finally found an important link to a daughter of John and Julia Knudson. Their daughter, Etta's whereabouts after 1916 have been an elusive mystery~ she totally vanished! But with diligent souls working on Find a Grave, Family Search and Ancestry~ she's found~ in a graveyard in Lethbridge Canada.
Etta May was born in either Lake Elizabeth or Litchfield, Minnesota in January 1885.  She must have been such a comfort to her sweet mother Julia, after losing three children to influenza in 1883. She also shares the same name as Grandma Annette who changed her name from Etta but first cousins with the same name is very sweet! She grew up mostly in Latah, Idaho on a farm there. She finished high school and then worked as a clerk in a drug store for a few years along with other various retail jobs in Idaho and Spokane, Washington where her sister Ida and husband were living. When her father moved to a new farm in Lethbridge, Canada in 1915 and her mother followed in 1916, she must have decided to go along. In 1916, she was working in Kootenai, Idaho, not married and at age 31, considered an old spinster! So not true today as more women are career minded and many are marrying by choice much later. Maybe she was hoping for a new adventure and a new opportunity for romance. She was given both as she met and married a man named Henry J. Salmon who was about 5 years younger~ ah, a younger man. He had made the voyage some years prior with his family from England. They had joined other Latter Day Saints in Utah and then moved north to Lethbridge, Canada where there was quite a large Mormon community. I don't know that she converted to his faith but I hope the marriage was a good one, albeit much too short. They were married about 1920 in Lethbridge, and had a child that was stillborn in 1923 and she most likely died during or shortly after this childbirth too.A terribly sad tale.  I can't find any pictures that exist of this lovely young woman so the story would be more complete. It's made me wonder, what happens to all the pictures taken by families over the years after they pass away? I guess like mine they are stored in boxes and some get ruined and thrown out. Others find their way into albums or dvd's or cd's or hard drives. Just so much stuff! To my distant cousin Etta May~ yippee! I'm doing a happy dance~I found you!!

William Richard Waters

Grindstone used in Mill

William Richard Waters

My Mother called me Will. I was born to Richard Waters and Elizabeth Bennett in November of 1833 in Pangbourne, England a large parish which sits on the banks of the Thames River. It is a lively village adjacent to Monkey Island and the Waters Oakley Farm. It was a bitterly cold day. My father was the town Miller. This held a reasonable amount of prestige within the community, as in a traditional rural society, a miller is often wealthier than ordinary peasants.

My sister, Jane was born a year prior to me and in the following years, we were joined by sisters, Sarah, Elizabeth, Hannah, Ellen, Mary Ann and two brothers, James and Henry. Ours was a large and busy family. When I was about 10, we moved to the nearby village of Hurley. There my father owned and operated the town Mill. We lived in the Miller’s cottage. Our house was filled with love and most of the time we were fairly bursting at the seams. As we grew, it was expected of all of us to work to sustain the family, to learn valuable trades and move out on our own. I helped my father in the Mill and became quite sufficient as did my brothers. My mother taught the girls to sew and keep a fine home and some of them became quite talented dressmakers, seamstresses and housekeepers in the homes of the wealthy. In those days, all of the clothing had to be made by hand. It was difficult and time consuming work.

We all attended school and were noted as “scholars” in the early records. Because of the Early Elementary school act, we were taught a variety of subjects to include: reading, writing, science, Latin, math, drawing and the arts. It was a basic education and one that was not controlled by the Church of England.

In 1851, I was a young man of 17 living in Hurley with my family. Like my father, I was a miller also but yearned to strike out on my own. Within a few years I had moved to Wellington Place in the Fulham parish in Middlesex. There I found work as a miller; it’s what I had known and continued to do for most of my life. I soon fancied a lovely young woman named Emily Powell. We were married, 17 January 1860, at Walham Green in the St. John’s church. Emily was born in Lane End, Buckinghamshire to Daniel Powell and Rebecca Plummer in 1832. Her father was an innkeeper or in those times called a victualler, or one who was licensed to sell alcoholic beverages and to run an inn for travelers and others. Her older sister, Maria was a bonnet maker. The inn was named Bismore Cottage.

Shortly after our marriage, we moved to the Princes Risborough Parish, an agricultural village just a short distance from Hurley. I was employed in the mill, of course, and in 1861 we welcomed our son, Richard. In quite rapid succession, we welcomed Emily, Ellen, Annie and Eliza Marie Anne. Sadly, Emily was in what those days were called feeble minded at birth. But she was well taken care of and lived to be 70 years of age. Her grandmother, Elizabeth Waters, left Emily an inheritance so that she would be taken care of during her lifetime. It was a kindness not many would be equal to show, especially during those early years of the 1900’s.

In 1869, Emily, my wife became very ill. She passed away in July of that year in Amersham a parish of Buckinghamshire. I was terribly heartbroken. The love of my life and the mother of our 5 children was gone. We shortly thereafter, moved to Rickmanshire where my mother and sister Mary Ann could assist with the children.. I was very sad and discouraged.

I now had a large family to support as my father had also passed away that year of 1869 and I being the oldest son had the responsibility for mother and my unmarried sister, Mary Ann as well as my own five children. Many were telling of friends and family who had crossed the ocean to America and were doing quite well. Being a miller was not very lucrative and it was becoming more difficult there in England to make the kind of living that I needed. I was hoping for my own land to farm and to acquire my own mill. I was ambitious and hopeful, and decided to leave my young family in the able hands of my dear Mother and other family that was living close by, to try and make a better life for all of us in the land of plenty across the seas. It was an agonizing decision but one that I felt was necessary. In October of 1871, I sailed to New York City and then settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota where I quickly began working in a local mill. I met a lovely, kind young woman from Norway who had been working in the city for a few years, Hannah Hansen, who I married May 25, 1875. I worked diligently, sending home as much money as I possibly could to those in England. My now 19 year old son, Richard joined us in 1879 and worked at the same mill that I had in Minneapolis. By that time, I had moved with Hannah and our young son, Charles, and daughter Stella, to the small country community of Willmar, Minnesota which was closer to Hannah’s family in Lake Elizabeth. There I worked at the flax mill for five years until we moved the short distance to an adjacent farm of Hannah’s father, Hans, in Lake Elizabeth. When he passed away in 1892, we bought his farm and I had my dream of owning my own land. Contact with my England family was difficult in those days and I’m sure I didn’t send as much money as they were hoping. My plans of bringing my girls to America soon evaporated and maybe they didn’t want to leave all that was familiar in England. I now had six children here in America, a large farm and a family also in England that I had great guilt about not being able to take care of as I had liked or promised. My sons Charles, Hans, Willie and Henry were growing boys and helped as much as they were able, but the burden of running a farm fell on my shoulders and I was 59- which I felt was too old to start anew. I quickly became discouraged and overcome. By no fault of anyone’s but my own, I took my own life in September of 1893. I know my family was devastated. I was buried in the Pioneer Cemetery along with an infant son that had passed away a few years prior.

My mother, Elizabeth, passed away in 1903. Three of my girls married and had families of their own that I never knew in England. My son Richard, who married and had six children, eventually moved out west to Ellensburg, Washington where he ran a mill and worked in agricultural adventures. He passed away in 1934.  My mentally challenged daughter, Emily, lived with my sisters and other family members, until she passed away at the age of 70. My lovely Hannah raised our children, tended to the farm and continued to be as lovely, kind as she was all those years ago. She died in January of 1920 on the farm in Lake Elizabeth. 

No regrets in Life - only lessons learned

I think William was courageous. I hope he is now finding peace with loved ones beyond the veil~

I have taken liberty here with his thoughts to make it more of a story and from his perspective to give the reader more of a glimpse of his life. 

Waters home in Lake Elizabeth, Minnesota

Hannah Hansen about 1870

Hello there Momma...!

My lovely, amazing Mom is now reading this little blog!! So, just to let her know that I am happy to have her on board~

I LOVE YOU Mother o'mine!

Angi, Mom and Grandma Annette
1967

Beautiful Mother!

1968

Becky, Mom, Me and Kath! 

2015 

Family is the icing on the cake or the pudding with flies!

J.T. Rowe

The Peddler, Meyer Ettendberg

In Grandma Annette's book, Long Ago and Far Away, she mentions a peddler named Meyer Ettenberg...

"...our favorite peddler was Ettenberg.  Meyer Ettenberg was a short, rotund little Jew who ran a store in Minneapolis. Twice a year, fall and spring, he loaded goods into a covered wagon and made regular rounds to steady customers he had acquired through the years. We looked forward to his coming.

            On a day in the spring or fall, Ettenberg’s big covered wagon came rolling into the yard. One of the boys would help him to unhitch and put the horses in the barn. He never needed to ask if he could stay the night. Before supper, he would make a number of trips, bringing in on his back the great packs of goods. They were so big and bulky and he was such a short man, it was a strange sight. He would have to stoop way over to keep them balanced. He looked like some gnome working its way into the house. He was a genial urbane man and it was fun to listen to the talk during meals and while my mother was looking at the goods and choosing what she wanted.

            After supper he would undo some packs for her inspection, I remember  it as good durable stuff. It was mostly sheets, blankets, towels, work clothing, winter underwear, even sometimes, fancy women’s wear. In the morning, mother would finish her selection. Her bill was always between thirty and forty dollars. (today in 2014 is $705.-940.)

            One year my brother Willie had a strange encounter with Ettenberg. For some reason, Ettenberg wanted to sell one of his horses, Pete. Willie, thinking of marrying and running a farm, bought him. Ettenberg bought another horse from some neighbor and went on his way.

A week later, he again drove his wagon into the yard. He wanted “Petey” back. He didn’t like the new horse. Willie didn’t agree. “You asked me to buy him,” he said, “now I want to keep him.” The scene that followed that evening in our dining room was like an act from a comedy. We all sat around the room looking on as rotund little Ettenberg paced back and forth, tears rolling, as he begged Willie to sell him back his “Petey”. “I want my Petey back”, he wept, and “I need him. I’ll do anything for you, anything, if you’ll only let me have my Petey back.” Young Willie sat stubbornly until my father at last tired of it all, and spoke to him. “All right”, Willie said, “you can have Petey but for ten dollars more than the price he paid.” Something of a shylock, my brother Willie. Ettenberg agreed with joy, rushing over and embracing him, to my brother’s horror.

            The story of little, kindly Meyer Ettenberg ends on a wry note. One spring he failed to make his usual stop with us. In early summer, Al, being in Minneapolis, made it a point to look him up at his store. He found that the poor man had been convicted of a felony and was serving time in Stillwater State Prison. This was sad news for everyone. We never saw our genial little peddler again."

Here is my attempt in telling the rest of his story-

The Peddler~ Meyer Ettenberg

Meyer Ettenberg was born 26 August 1876, in Russia. He was of Jewish descent. Most likely coming to America to escape the repression of the Jewish peoples during the late 1880’s, he immigrated to the United States in 1884 with his parents Simon and Neta Ettenberg. They are all listed in the 1895 Minneapolis, Minnesota census. Both father and son are employed as peddlers. This would go along with the story from Grandma’s book, saying he was the peddler who visited her father’s farm numerous times during the early 1900’s. On 9 July, 1900 he is married to Rose or Rachael Abramowitz, she is also of Russian Jewish descent. They had three children during the next few years: Leo Simon, Nathan H. and Benjamin Phineus. Leo was a pharmacist and then a chiropractor in Denver, CO. Nathan spent much of his adult life in North Hollywood, CA and Ben from 1930 until his death in the1970’s, was in a state hospital.

In 1910-1920, Meyer was a clothing store owner. During this time he was involved in a scandalous affair of arson and fraud. Apparently he conspired with an employee to set fire to his establishment to receive insurance monies. The first fire incident was in February 1918, completely ruining his store. He collected the insurance monies of $10,000. Then in June of 1918, he had opened a new store in a new rental building and it too resulted in a fire which again destroyed the contents of his store. He was in the process of procuring the insurance monies when the two fires came to the attention of law enforcement in Minneapolis. Why he would think to set another fire so shortly after the first, is unknown. (or why did he do this terrible deed!) Desperate people do desperate things I suppose. The story is listed in the law reports in The Northwestern Reporter, pg. 51. It is a fascinating story of lies, deceit, bribery, intrigue and conspiracy. His employee confessed to the arson, along with the fact that he was doing so under the asking and planning of his employer, Meyer Ettenberg. He was paid $400.00 for the task and to make sure no blame came upon Meyer, who was in Chicago when the fire was set. Sneaky! Not only did he plan and pay for these arson’s, but he and his attorney paid someone (Herman Liss, a police magistrate to the courts) to try to bribe the employee to change his testimony and lie regarding his association with Meyer Ettenberg. They were all convicted but I don’t find how much time any of them spent in prison. Originally Meyer was sentenced to 1-7 years in prison and since there are no records that I can find, he must have spent at least a couple of years in the clink! The final court records dealing with this case are in February 1918, after exhausting appeals etc., I am supposing that their sentences were carried out. So that would be his second turn in the klink!

We find Meyer in the 1920 and 1930 census, he is listed as a traveling merchant or salesman. He made approximately $10,000 a year which today, in 2014, would be about $135,000; he must have been a very good salesman seeing as how this was prior to and during the depression! He owns his home @ 707 Bradford Ave. in Minneapolis, Minn. with a value of $6,000. It appears that Meyer was quite well to do.  In the 1940 census, he is alone, as his wife Rachael had died in February 1939 and is now a tailor in a tailor shop. He is 64. Sometime between 1940 and 1942, he married a woman named Emma as listed in the City Directory for 1942.  He passed away 28 May 1947 in Minneapolis at the age of 71.

And so concludes the tale of the peddler,  Meyer Ettenberg.

As a rule, we go about with masks, we go about looking honest, and we are able to conceal ourselves all through the day.
- speech 1902, Mark Twain Speaks for Himself

WOW! More info on the Kunze Fam!

Oh my! I have hit a gold mine~ genealogically speaking ;) After contacting the very helpful staff @ the Carver Minnesota County Historical Society and sending in a few $$, I was able to grow my Kunze tree~ substantially! I was able to obtain an obituary for Mary Kunze, her husband August and his brother Ernest Kunze. They were filled with great information~ and sadness too. Sadness is always accompanied with an obituary~ always. But August's was particularly sad. He was killed in a very tragic auto accident that affected his family for many years.
It's a mixed bag whenever you research family~ we take the good with the bad as they are our "peeps" :)