75th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 75th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on "How I spent my summer vacation... a favorite summer memory from your youth. Tell us what summers were like when you were a wee tad pole. Did you vacation with family? Go to a youth camp? Hang out at the local park? Watch fireworks? Catch fireflies? Share those lazy, hazy, crazy, days of summers past with us! Deadline for submissions is July 14, 2009." Enjoy!

Happy Independence Day!

I just want to wish everyone a happy Independence Day! Enjoy!

More Records Have Come!

A week or two weeks ago, I ordered some more marriage records from the Cuyahoga County, Ohio archives, and the records came today. I've only looked at the records briefly, but they confirm some of my suspicions from other records. Now, I just have to make some time to enter the information into my genealogy database.

Justice and Independence: Ancestral Experiences ...

When I think about justice and independence, I usually think about July 4th and the United States even though U. S.'s history has a few stains. Of course, I do not know if I am descended from a Revolutionary War veteran because I haven't researched my American ancestors back that far. As for whether or not any of my American ancestors stood for justice, the closest I can come to is my Civil War ancestor, Adam Oswalt, when he served, but I'm not sure if that counts.

When it comes to my European ancestors, on the other hand, I can think of several examples. I've written briefly before about Adolph Kees and Amelia Cotta, but I haven't written very much about them or their children, other than to write about their daughter Emilia. Adolph and Amelia had several children, and among them was a son named Adolph Friedrich. Until I was contacted by my distant cousin, I did not know that Adolph Friedrich Kees was involved in the 1848 Revolution, nor did I know that his political beliefs were liberal. Since he mostly likely lived in Trippstadt, which is in the Palatinate, at that time, he probably took part in the revolt that occurred there and later put down by the Prussians. Many of the rebels were later put on trial and put to death, so I'm wondering how Adolph Friedrich Kees escaped execution. I guess I'll have to do more research to find that answer. Of course, I can't help but wonder if he was influenced by his maternal grandfather, Christoph Friedrich Cotta.

As you may or may not remember, I wrote about Christoph Friedrich Cotta last year. At that time, I wasn't completely sure if he was my ancestor, but further research has proven that he is an ancestor. Christoph, as I mentioned previously, played a minor role in the French Revolution primarily by being involved in the Mainz Republic, and by working as a government official in Strasbourg, France. While he was in Strasbourg, he became friends with Eulogius Schneider, an ex-priest. (He was another radical, and is quite interesting.) During the Reign of Terror, Eulogius married Maria Sara Stamm, but he was arrested shortly after the wedding. Christoph was also arrested in early 1794, but unlike Eulogius, Christoph survived the Reign of Terror. Two years later, Christoph would marry Eulogius' widow, and they would later have two children: Emil and Amelia Cotta.

As you can see from the previous paragraph, both Eulogius Schneider and Christoph Cotta suffered injustices during the Reign of Terror. They were both liberal in their political beliefs, and wanted to be free, and free others, from the injustices of the absolute monarchies. Earlier this year, I read a biography on the Marquis of Sade (a very disturbing person, by the way), and I learned that the monarch could have someone thrown into jail or imprisoned, and that the monarch had his own court system that was separate from the civil court justice, where nobles could be tried even more leniently than the average peasant would face. As you can imagine, this duel court system obviously angered the average person, and I can only guess that Eulogius and Christoph were angered by the double standard. Of course, I also wonder if Christoph's beliefs were influenced by the experiences of his maternal grandmother.

Christoph Friedrich Cotta's parents were Christoph Friedrich Cotta and Rosalia Pyrker. Rosalia's parents were Franz Josef Carl Pyrker (also spelled as Pirker, Pircker and Pürker) and Anna Maria or Marianne (I've seen her name listed both ways in secondary sources) von Geyerseck. Franz Pyrker was a violinist while Anna Maria was a famous opera singer in the eighteenth century. Anna Maria performed in several European capitals, until she was offered a position at the Duke of Würtemberg's court. While the Pyrkers lived at the court in Stuttgart, Anna Maria became friends with the Duchess of Würtemberg. When the Duke and Duchess began fighting, Anna Maria sided with the Duchess, and the Duke threw her into jail because of her stance. For the next eight years, Anna Maria spent her time in jail, and was only released after Maria Theresa and Catherine the Great petitioned the Duke to free her. Even though Anna Maria should not have gotten herself involved in the fight between the Duke and Duchess, I do not believe she deserved to be thrown into jail. Obviously, Anna Maria suffered an injustice.

So, as you can see, a couple of my ancestors experience injustices or worked at trying to make life better. Of course, the stories I presented are only what I know at the moment, and I still have more research to do. Hopefully, I'll be able to post more information on my Kees, Cotta and Pyrker ancestors in the future. Enjoy!
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Sources

1. E-mails from Silvana Geuna to Jessica Oswalt, between 8 June 2009 and 30 June 2009.
2. "Revolutions of 1848 in the German States." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of_1848_in_the_German_states. 30 June 2009.
3. "Palatinate." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palatinate_(region). 30 June 2009.
4. "Death of Amelia Cotta." Tote 1840-1859. Zivilstandregister, 1803-1957 (Trippstadt, Germany). FHL Film INTL 489219.
5. Cotta Family Tree, printed ca. 1930s-1940s (according to family tradition. Family tradition also claims that only five copies were made.)
6. "Cotta, Christoph Friedrich." Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Band 3. (Leipzig, Germany: Berlang von Duncker & Humblot, 1876), 518-519.
7. "Eulogius Schneider." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eulogius_Schneider. 30 June 2009.
8. Maurice Lever, Sade: A Biography, trans. Arthur Goldhammer (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1993), 156-160.
9. "Death of Christoph Friedrich Cotta." Tote 1806-1839. Zivilstandregister, 1803-1957 (Trippstadt, Germany). FHL Film INTL 489218.
10. "Pyrker, Anna Maria." Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Band 26. (Leipzig, Germany: Berlang von Duncker & Humblot, 1888), 787-790.
11. "Elisabeth Fredericka Sophie of Brandenburg-Bayreuth." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Fredericka_Sophie_of_Brandenburg-Bayreuth. 30 June 2009.
12. Württembergischer Geschichts- und Altertumsverein. Herzog Karl Eugen von Württemberg und seine Zeit. (Eklingen: Paul Neff Verlag, 1907), 509.

Google Analytics Report For June 2009

Another month has gone by, and that means it is time for another Google Analytics report. Here are the results for June 2009:

The top ten countries, in number of views, are:

1. United States - 335 visits
2. Canada - 36 visits
3. Netherlands - 14 visits
4. Argentina - 10 visits
5. United Kingdom - 8 visits
6. India - 3 visits
7. Australia - 3 visits
8. Germany - 3 visits
9. New Zealand - 3 visits
10. Norway - 2 visits

The top ten states in the United States, in number of visits, are:

1. Michigan - 80 visits
2. Illinois - 34 visits
3. California - 32 visits
4. Texas - 23 visits
5. Virginia - 18 visits
6. New York - 15 visits
7. Ohio - 15 visits
8. Indiana - 12 visits
9. Pennsylvania - 9 visits
10. Utah - 8 visits

The top ten articles, in number of views, are:

1. Wedding Belles: A Beautiful Wedding Picture - 51 views
2. Tombstone Maker Website - 16 views
3. A Summer Reading Challenge! - 15 views
4. 19th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy - 13 views
5. Google Analytics Report For May 2009 - 13 views
6. Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 1 - 11 views
7. 20th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy - 10 views
8. Family History Center Update - 10 views
9. Family History Center Visit 11 - 10 views
10. Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 3 - 10 views

Well, that is it for this report. To my readers, "Thank you for reading!" Stay tuned for next month's report! Enjoy!

Family History Center Visit 12

Earlier today, I visited the local Family History Center. I wanted to print out some copies of the baptisms in the Trippstadt church records because I was having difficulty transcribing the records, and so I printed out about 8 to 10 pages. After making copies, I printed out the World War One records of two of my great-grandfathers so that other family members could be able to have a copy and so that I had a master copy as well.

Hopefully, I won't need to print out any more copies of the baptismal records, and until the other microfilms come in, I should be busy transcribing and translating the German records I have at the moment. Stay tuned ...

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 5

I have finished reading another book, and like the previous four books I read, this book was also on my reading list for my fall history class. This time, I read A Shopkeeper's Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 1815-1837 by Paul E. Johnson (New York: Hill and Wang, 2004).

As you tell from the title, the book is about the social history of the early years of Rochester, New York and the Evangelical revivals that occurred in Rochester in the early 1830s. The author explores the formation of political parties in Rochester, and examines which classes made up the parties. He also explores the Temperance and Anti-Masonic movements, and how those movements and the political parties created a climate that made the Evangelical revivals successful in Rochester.

The book is fairly short - under 200 pages - so it is a quick read. I enjoyed reading the book, and I found the information to be quite interesting. Obviously, if a genealogist has an ancestor who lived in Rochester in this time, he or she would probably find this book useful in trying to understand the society of Rochester at this time. I would recommend this book to others. I hope someone enjoys this book as I did.

20th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

Welcome to the 20th edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy! The topic for this edition was a carousel, and that means that submitted articles could be on anything as long as they related to Central or Eastern Europe and genealogy. Although this edition is a small one, there are interesting articles in this edition. Here are the articles for this edition:

First off, we have two articles from Al of Polish-American Genealogy Research. In Index of Indexes, he writes about a website that lists indexing projects that are occurring Poland, and in Indexing Project - Geneteka Part One, he writes about how one can use the Polish website mentioned to research your ancestors.

Next, we have an article from Jen Bawden of Hills Hollows Valleys Plains, a first-time submitter. In Germany is Germane to the Situation?, she writes about how she had difficulty researching her German ancestors until she discovered a notebook that was compiled by her mother.

Last, but not least, we have an article from Jessica Oswalt of Jessica's Genejournal. In Looking For My German Ancestors, Part 7, she continues to write about her research into Anna's family.

Well, that is it for this edition. The next edition will be hosted by Thomas of Destination: Austin Family. The topic for that edition, as suggested by Thomas, will be on "How did your ancestors celebrate the glorious season of summer both back home in Europe and here in America? Did they need to make adjustments once here in America since the weather was different? Or summer customs were different? Include memories, photos, recipes – anything that helps tell summertime stories." The deadline for that edition will be July 20th, and the edition will be published on July 25th. You can submit your articles here.

As a side note, I am still looking for hosts these future months:

• August
• October
• November
• December

If you are interested in hosting the August edition, please contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com by July 18. Thanks!