Family History Center Visit 11

Earlier today, I visited the local Family History Center, and I took a look again at the microfilm of the church records for Trippstadt, Germany. On my previous visit, I couldn't find a burial record for one of my Kees' ancestor's children, so I decided to look again this time. And I found the record, and I printed out a copy of the record.

After I went through the Trippstadt microfilm, I ordered four microfilms, and I printed out of my great-grandfather's service records. One microfilm was of civil records, and the other three were microfilms of church records. Two of those church records were from Manchester, Lancashire, and the other was of church records from Bobenheim am Berg, Germany. The civil records microfilm was from Gelnhausen, Germany, and it contained marriage records for the city. Hopefully, the microfilms will come in soon, and I will be able to go back farther in my ancestry. Stay tuned ...

Looking For My German Ancestors, Part 7

In my previous post, I mentioned that Anna's siblings had moved back to Cleveland, and that Anna and her siblings had other relatives living in Cleveland, Ohio as well. I think I will write about those relatives, and how I found the marriage record of her parents.

As I mentioned before, Anna and her parents entered the United States through New York's Castle Garden in February of 1864. About a year or so later, Anna's uncle, William Kees, came to the U. S. as well. Of course, at the time that I did the search, I was uncertain to whether or not he was the brother of Emilia Kees, Anna's mother. I knew the maiden name of Emilia at this time only because I had jumped ahead, and obtained Friedrich Klippel and Emilia Kees' marriage record the summer before when I was in Salt Lake City. My grandparent's family tree listed Anna's parents as Friedrich Klippel and Emilia Kees and gave a marriage year of 1858, which turned out later to be incorrect. (Of course, I already knew who Anna's parents were from U. S. census records, family tradition and the ship manifest, but I still jumped ahead when I should not have done so. I should have tried to obtain Anna's birth record first, but I did not.)

Before I went to Salt Lake City, I looked for Friedrich and Emilia's marriage on the FamilySearch site, and I found it. The place of the marriage, which I knew to be Trippstadt, Germany, was the same as on the tree, but the year was different. FamilySearch's entry listed the year as 1857, and since I was already suspicious of the accuracy of the tree, I figured the entry was closer to being accurate. (Some other information on the tree was inaccurate.) So, while I was at the Family History Library, I took at look at the Trippstadt marriages for 1857, and Friedrich and Emilia's marriage record was the first marriage I saw on the film.

Once I got the marriage record transcribed, I began to research Emlia's family, and I came across records for a William H. Kees. Since I did not know if William was related to Emilia, I left a query on a rootsweb message board, and was contacted by a woman in Germany. She sent me some information on Emilia's parents that indicated that William was Emilia's younger brother. The information, though, was from secondary sources, but I was able to confirm the relationship when ancestry posted the passport applications. William Kees had applied for a passport several times for travel to Europe, and on one of his applications, he listed the name of his father, which confirmed the secondary information I had.

In my next post, I will write some more about Emilia's family and possible about some of my latest research on the Klippel and Kees family. Stay tuned ...

Working Hard: A Scene From the Early Days of the Automotive Industry

The photograph above includes my great-grandfather and some other men in a factory building. My great-grandfather is the man standing behind the body of an early car by himself. I believe the factory is Vauxhall Motors in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. I am unsure of when this picture was taken, but my guess is either in the early-1900s or after World War One. I do know, though that my great-grandfather worked for Vauxhall Motors, although I do not know when he began working for the company. The only thing written on the back of the picture was my great-grandfather's surname.

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 4

I have finished reading another book, and like the previous three books I read, this book was also on my reading list for my fall history class. This time, I read Bleeding Kansas: Contested Liberty In The Civil War Era by Nicole Etcheson (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2004).

As you can tell from the book's title, this book is about Kansas' struggle to become a state before and during the American Civil War, and the civil war-like fighting that led to Kansas being called "Bleeding Kansas." The author argues that the fighting in Kansas was originally concerned with the rights of white people but that the fighting eventually resulted in concerns for the rights of African-Americans as well. She also argues that Kansas would led the way in the nation in granting rights to African-Americans during the Civil War. The author also ties in the fighting in Kansas with other events that occurred elsewhere in the United States during this time period.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, I would. The book was fairly easy to read, and I think the average person would be able to read and enjoy the book. Before I read this book, I only had a basic understanding of Bleeding Kansas from reading textbooks, but after reading this book, I have a better understanding of what occurred in Kansas in the mid-to-late-1850s. (I should note that although I will be working with the author in the fall, she did not ask me to read her book. I am reading this book ahead of time for my fall history class. I will be writing reviews of the other history books that I still have to read for the class.)

(As a side note, this post happens to be the 1,000th post since I started this blog!)

Reminder: Submissions Are Due Today!

I just want to remind everyone that submissions for this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy are due today by midnight. The theme for this edition is a carousel.

Does anyone need more time? I am willing to extend the deadline if that is the case. Please let me know by either leaving a comment or sending me an e-mail at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks.

Question About German Military Records

Has anyone done extensive research into German records? While looking through the transcription of my ancestor's marriage record, I came across a reference to military discharge papers. Apparently, when my ancestor got married, he had present his military discharge to the civil authorities when he got married. My ancestor married in 1857, and at the time, the city, Trippstadt, where he married was a part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. Does anyone know why he would have had to present his discharge papers at the time of his marriage?

Of course, I am also interested in the particulars of his military service. Does anyone know where I can obtain the records of his military service?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Days Library of Michigan Will Be Closed ...

I just happened to notice a post on Brenda's blog about a few days where the Library of Michigan will be closed. You can read more about it here.

Happy Father's Day!

I just want to wish everyone a happy Father's Day. Enjoy!