And Another Update on the Research Into My Oswalt Ancestors ...

A few days ago, I promised that I would post another update on the progress I made on my Oswalt ancestors. Instead  of posting more information on Adam Oswalt (died 1837-1838), the father of Benjamin Oswalt (died 1861), I will write about the findings I made on a few of the grandchildren of Adam Oswalt (died 1837-1838) which includes my Civil War ancestor, Adam Oswalt.

As you may remember, I wrote a series of articles a few years ago that explored whether or not the Civil War veterans, Adam Oswalt, Benjamin Oswalt and William Oswalt, were brothers. At that time, I only had indirect evidence to conclude that the three men were brothers; however, I can now definitely state that they are brothers. How? Well, I ordered two additional Civil War Pension files earlier this year.

Previously, I had only ordered Adam and Benjamin Oswalt's Pension files, and those files did not indicate whether or not the two men had a connection. (I should quickly note that Benjamin's Pension file was actually a Widow's Pension as his widow filed for a pension file after his death.) So, when I decided to order additional Pension files this year, I chose to order William's Pension file (or Widow's Pension, to be more accurate) and the Widow's Pension file for one of Adam's Detwiler brother-in-laws. (I will discuss the Detwiler Pension file in a future post.)

From the testimony of William's widow, Eliza, I learned that William, Benjamin and Adam were indeed brothers as I suspected, and confirmed that the men had a sister named Margaret who lived in Michigan. Besides confirming relationships, the file also listed the names of William and Eliza's children and Eliza's children of a later marriage, gave the date and location of William and Eliza's marriage, and provided an explanation of why I could not find a record of that marriage. Apparently, William and Eliza's marriage was not recorded in the county. Although Michigan law required that marriage notices be placed in two newspapers in the county where the marriage occurred, I haven't yet found a notice. I will need to do a more in-depth search of the newspaper records of Saint Joseph County, Michigan.

So, as one can see from the above information, Civil War Pension files could contain a great amount of detail on the lives and families of Civil War Veterans. Unfortunately, the file does not answer all the questions I have about these Oswalts, especially when it comes to the maiden name of William, Benjamin and Adam's mother. In a future post, I will discuss my efforts so far to answer additional questions on my Oswalt ancestors. Enjoy!

Genealogy Blogs I Have Recently Added

I had not added any genealogy blogs to the list I keep in a long time, and earlier today, I seven more blogs. A few of the blogs I learned about from GeneaBloggers and Randy Seaver's Best of the Genea-Blogs Series, and for the other blogs, I either learned about them through a couple of these new genealogy blogs.

The blogs I have added are:

• Barking Up the Wrong Tree
• Bushwhacking Genealogy
• DNAeXplained
• The French Genealogy Blog
• Southwest Michigan Genealogy & Local History
• The Legal Genealogist

I will add more genealogy blogs as I learn about them, and probably will remove those blogs that have been inactive for over a year. If you have any suggestions for any blogs on genealogy or history, please feel free to leave a comment with a link to the blog, and I will add them to the list. Enjoy!

An Ancestor Found: An Update On The Research Into My Oswalt Acestors

As I mentioned previously, I worked on my genealogy when I had some free time, and I will briefly discuss some of the findings I made for one branch.  Interestingly, I had not expected to make any progress on my Oswalt ancestors this past year, but that is what happened!

At the end of June 2012, FamilySearch put images of the probate records for many of Pennsylvania's counties online. Some of Huntingdon County's Will Books and Orphan's Court records were included in this database, and that July, I decided to look through these images to see if I could uncover any new information on my Huntingdon County ancestors. Previously, I had only examined the Will Books for Oswalt/Oswald surnames and examined the Orphan Court Records for my ancestor, Benjamin Oswalt/d by ordering the microfilmed records held by the Family History Library. As you may remember from a previous post, Benjamin's probate records did not mention the names of his heirs apart from his wife, Mary, and son, John. I re-looked at the probate records for Benjamin again, but I did not uncover anything that I had not found before. After that disappointment, I decided to look at the probate and orphan court records for an Adam Oswalt/Oswald who had died in Huntingdon County in the late-1830s. Previously, I had only examined the notation in the Will Book, which only mentioned the names of the court-appointed administrators of Adam's estate; however, when I decided to see if the Orphan Court had any additional probate records, I uncovered a mini-goldmine of information. Previously, I had dismissed the idea of examining the Orphan Court records for Adam because I had not obtained any new information from the records on Benjamin's probate.

I had always suspected from an examination of the 1820 and 1830 censuses and tax records for Huntingdon County that his Adam Oswalt and my ancestor, Benjamin, were related in some way, possibly as father and son; however, I had not been able to confirm my suspicion. The Orphan Court records confirmed my suspicion, and also gave the names of Benjamin's living siblings and Adam's widow, who I presume to Benjamin's mother.

From the Orphan Court records, I learned that Adam Oswald had owned land in Hopewell Township, and that he had at least seven children. Adam apparently either died in 1837 or 1838, and his children sold their father's land. Adam's widow, Mary, probably died around 1848, as five of Adam's children did not receive their shares of the land sale until that year, and the delay probably had to do with Mary's dower's right  in her husband's land. (Of course, I need to check the laws for that period to make sure that my assumption is correct.)

So far, the known children (in no particular order of age) of Adam Oswalt (d. 1837-1838) and Mary ? are:

• Benjamin Oswalt (d. 1861) - eldest son (I do not know who Adam and Mary's firstborn is yet.)
• Eve Oswalt wife of William States
• Adam Oswalt - youngest son (He lived in Blair County.)
• Margaret Oswalt wife of Jonathan Rough
• Catherine Oswalt wife of John Fry
• Elizabeth Oswalt widow of Jonathan Snyder
• Mary Oswalt wife of Samuel Weight (sic) 

Since looking at the probate records, I've made some more progress, but I will write about those findings in another post. If you have any additional information on this family, questions or comments please feel free to leave a comment or contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

It Has Been Awhile ...

I haven't posted in a long time (nearly a year, actually), but I haven't abandoned this blog. I have been very with school  over the past few years, but I did occasionally find some time to do a little genealogy research. Over the past year, I've made a little progress on my ancestry, and I will be posting future articles on my findings. Enjoy, and stay tuned for future posts!

Coming Soon: Future Posts

Although I haven't posted anything for months, I still plan on continuing this blog. I probably will not be able to post as often as I did in past years, but I hope to publish a few articles over the next few months.

Some possible article topics will be:

• A continuation of the "Looking for My German Ancestors" series
• Additional columns in the "Genealogy and History Thoughts" Series
• Additional editions of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

Depending upon how much time I have, I may post articles on other topics. Are there any topics you would like to see me cover on this blog? Please feel free to leave comments with your thoughts and suggestions. Thanks!

110th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 110th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on:

"Autumn Weddings! It's been 4 years since the topic of weddings was covered here in the Carnival of Genealogy so we're overdue for a little romance, I'd say! And in keeping with the season, we're going to feature weddings that took place in the autumn months of September, October, or November. So write up an article about a couple on your family tree that were married in autumn and submit it to the 111th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy! The deadline for submissions is November 1st."

Enjoy!

Happy Labor Day!

I just want to wish everyone a happy and safe Labor Day. Enjoy!

109th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 109th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on

"What tree best represents your family’s history? Is your family most like a towering redwood, weeping willow, or a stately oak? Maybe you think of your family more like a brightly lit Christmas tree or a tropical palm. Whatever your choice, write it up and tells us why and submit your article by the deadline of October 1st."

Enjoy!

Looking For Hosts, 2011 and 2012

I am looking for hosts for future editions of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy, and I still have a few months available for 2011:

• September
• October
• November
• December

Or, if anyone is interested in next year, 2012, I can open up those editions for hosting as well. The months available for 2012 are:

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December

If anyone is interested in hosting a month, I can be reached at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks in advance.

Looking For Hosts - Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

Since I will be beginning another semester of school, I am looking for genealogy bloggers who would be willing to host an upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. The available editions are:

• September
• October
• November
• December

If you are interested in hosting an edition, please contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Deadline for 32nd edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy changed!

I completely forgot to post reminders for the submission deadline for the upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy, so I've decided to extend the deadline for the edition. The new deadline is August 21st, and the edition will be posted on August 28th. You can submit your article here.

Update: I forgot to mention the topic. (I'm sorry about that.) The topic will be on personal research, experiences and tips.

July/August Edition of the Shades of the Departed Magazine Posted!

The July/August edition of the Shades of the Departed Magazine has been posted! You can read it here. Enjoy!

Another Shipwreck Found in Lake Ontario ...

I just happened to notice an article on Yahoo about another shipwreck found in Lake Ontario. You can read the article here. Enjoy!

Searching For Joseph Stout's Parents, Part One - What I Know So Far

Earlier this week I promised to write a post about my speculations on who were Joseph Stout's parents. At the moment, I do not have any documentation to link my ancestor to the couple, but I hope that by writing this post, I might receive some advice or help in linking my ancestor to the suspected couple. The best way to start this post is to list what I know about Joseph Stout. So, here is what I know about my ancestor:

• Joseph Stout was born sometime between 1803 and 1806, most likely in 1805, in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. (Joseph's son Reuben stated, in his biography, that Joseph was born in 1800 in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, but census records suggest a later date. His death records states that he was about 70 years old at his age of death.)
  
• Joseph Stout married Susan Kelley in Northampton County, Pennsylvania on 3 March 1829. (See here for my post on their marriage information.)
• Joseph and Susan would have seven children. Six of their children would outlive them.
  
• By 1850, Joseph Stout had moved his family to Saint Joseph County, Michigan. Reuben claims in his biography that the family moved to Michigan around 1846, but I have yet to confirm or disprove Reuben's claim. An examination of tax records for Saint Joseph County, Michigan should indicate when the Stouts moved to the county.
• In 1858, Joseph Stout bought a farm in Florence Township, Saint Joseph County, Michigan. Two years later, in the 1860 census, Joseph Stout and his family are listed as living in Florence Township. (This census as puts a letter G in front of Joseph's name. This is the only time I have come across the G in primary sources so far in my research.)
  
• In 1864, Joseph Stout sold the farm to his son, Peter.
  
• In 1865, Joseph Stout was taxed by the federal government for the amount of peppermint oil he produced or sold. (The tax suggests he was still in charge of the farm even though he had sold it to his son.)
  
• In the 1870 census, Joseph Stout is still living in Florence Township, but now, he is listed as a retired farmer. His household is directly below Peter's household on the census, and that suggests to me that he lived nearby Peter's family.)
• Joseph Stout died on 11 February 1875 in Florence Township, and is buried in Calhoun Cemetery in Florence Township. Susan dies later that month, on the 25th, and is buried near him. (Reuben incorrectly states in his biography that they died in February of 1872, but contemporary records, such as their death records and Joseph's probate packet, give their death year as 1875. Joseph and Susan share a tombstone since they died the same month. The tombstone gives his death date as the 9th of February, but I eventually found his death record in the Saint Joseph County death records which listed the date as the 11th. I had difficulty finding his and Susan's deaths since they were incorrectly indexed in the county and state indexes. A look at the actual county death records clearly showed the last name to be Stout and not Stant or Stent as was listed in the indexes.)

As you can see, I do not know a lot about Joseph Stout. I know when he died, where he lived in Michigan, who he married, and that he came from Northampton County, Pennsylvania. I know that he was engaged in farming (at least in Michigan), but outside of these facts, I do not know much more about Joseph other than what is in Reuben's biography. Reuben claims that he father worked as a gunsmith in Northampton County, but I do not have any proof yet outside of Reuben's biography. Reuben also claims that Joseph and his family lived in Centre County, Pennsylvania, but I have not been able to confirm Reuben's statement. I have been unable to locate Joseph Stout and his family in the 1840 census. (I should also state that I am slightly wary of the information in Reuben's biography because Reuben was incorrect on some of the dates of deaths he gave for his parents and wife.)

So, who do I suspect are Joseph's parents? I believe his parents may be Peter Stout/Staut and Eva Hoch. Why? Well, besides knowing that my ancestor, Joseph Stout, came from Northampton County, Pennsylvania where Peter and Eva Stout resided in the earlier 1800s, a couple of published genealogies and online family trees list a Joseph Stout born in 1805 to Peter and Eva. (As I stated earlier, my ancestor was born close to that time period of Peter and Eva's son.) Unfortunately, none of the books or online trees actually provide any primary sources, so I am still speculating. According to these genealogies the Stout that lived in Northampton County originated from the Palatinate region of what is now Germany. Interestingly, oral traditions passed down in my family claim that my Stout ancestors were German, and although, an oral tradition is not enough proof to link my ancestor to Peter and Eva.

So, far I haven't been able to find any primary sources in Michigan to link my Joseph with the Joseph of Peter and Eva (Hoch) Stout. All I have to connect them are online family trees. As for sources in Pennsylvania, I haven't had very much time to order microfilms to further my research or find the original marriage record for Joseph and Susan (Kelley) Stout. Does anyone have an documentation linking my Joseph to Peter and Eva Stout, or any suggestions as to where I should direct my research? Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

Does Anyone Study History Anymore? - Or, Why Studying History is Important ...

Well, the question is supposed to be rhetorical, but sometimes I just want to shake my head when I read articles on supposed shocking finds in history. Within the past couple of weeks, I just read an article online about an archaeological finding. (I realize the article is a couple of weeks old now, but I'm only commenting on it now since I finally have some time to write about it now.) I'm apologizing now, in advance, because my thoughts about this article will probably turn into a rant.

The Geneanet.org blog posted a link to an article about DNA testing on the ancestry of the British peoples. (Well, to be more accurate, the findings really only pertain to those who have English ancestry.) The article, through the examination of DNA, concludes that about 50 percent of English people have Germanic (The article says German, but Germanic would be more correct as I'll explain in a moment.) ancestry, and that the finding was a surprise to the researchers. Shocking? Well, not quite, if one examines a history book on the United Kingdom, he or she would learn about invasions of the British Isles that occurred in the past. In the early Middle Ages, England was invaded by the Germanic tribes of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, and these tribes pushed the native Britons into what are now present-day Wales and Cornwall. A couple of centuries after the invasion of the Anglo-Saxons, as the Germanic tribes have become called in textbooks, the Vikings (who also came from Germanic tribes) raided and eventually settled in England and other places in the United Kingdom.

The information I presented in the above paragraph shows that the article's purported findings are not new. Any general history of the United Kingdom would mention the invasions of the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings and describe effects of the invasions. The only thing that is remotely new in the article would be the use of DNA testing, and the testing only confirms what is already known. For someone to suggest or claim otherwise would be false.

So, why am I frustrated? Well, if someone is going to claim in an article that a historical discovery has been made, he or she should examine the historical literature first. The author of the article implies that this is a new discovery which is false. An examination of a general history of England or the United Kingdom would have noted the invasions. Sometimes I just wonder in frustration: Does anyone study or care about history?

So, what do you think? As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome.

31st Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

Welcome to the 31st edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy! The topic for this edition is carousel, and includes articles that originally been submitted to other editions that never occurred as a result of time constraints that prevented me from posting editions more frequently. (I am sorry for the delays.) So, here are the articles:

First, we have an article from Romeo Vitelli of Providentia. In "The Kaspar Hauser Mystery (Part 1)," he writes about the mysterious case of Kaspar Hauser, a boy who had mysterious and unknown origins.


Last, but not least, we have an article from Greta Koehl of Greta's Genealogy Blog. In "Advent Calender Day 24: Christmas Eve - Holy Supper," she describes her family's tradition of celebrating Holy Supper on Christmas Eve.

Well, that is it for this edition. The topic for the next edition will be on Personal Research, Research Experiences, and Tips, and the edition will be hosted here. The deadline for submissions will be August 14th, and the edition will be posted on August 19th. You can submit your entry here. Enjoy!

My 2011 Genealogy Resolutions - Seven Months Later

Well, it has been about seven months since I posted my genealogy research resolutions for 2011, and I thought I would update everyone on my progress (or lack of it) on accomplishing my goals. So, here are the results so far:

1. Order William Oswalt's Civil War pension file. Results as of July 4th: I still haven't ordered the pension file yet. I still hope I can find the time to do so this summer.
2. Obtain Anton's naturalization papers. Results as of July 4th: I still haven't ordered his naturalization papers yet, and I don't know if I will get a chance to so later this year.
3. Contact the Church where my ancestors, Carl and Anna, married (if the church still exists) to see if the church's records list the names or birthplace of Carl. Results as of July 4th: I still have not contacted the church. Now that I have a little more time, I might be able to look and see if the church still exists. Stay tuned for an update in the future.
4. Visit the State Archives of Michigan to see if I can obtain any further naturalization documents on Carl, or see if Fred Klippel became a naturalized citizen. Results as of July 4th: I have not visited the Archives of Michigan lately. I do not know if I will get a chance to visit the Archives this summer.
5. Order microfilms of various Lancashire, England parish records to continue my research. Results as of July 4th: I have not had a chance to order any microfilms. Although I now have a little time to do research, I do not believe I will have enough time to view the microfilms before school begins again if I order them now.
6. Make or strengthen the connection between Joseph Stout and the couple I believe to be his parents. Results as of July 4th: I haven't strengthen the connection, although I did contact someone who might help me. I think I should write a post about who I believe to be Joseph Stout's parents. Stay tuned for a future post.
7. Order more microfilms of records from Trippstadt, Gelnhausen and Bobenheim am Berg, Germany. Results as of July 4th: I haven't ordered any microfilms from Germany, and I probably will not get a chance to do so this year.
8. Order more microfilms of records from Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Results as of July 4th: As in the case for goals five and seven, I haven't had a chance to order any microfilms. I am afraid I will not have to time to order any microfilms this year.
9. Visit Saint Joseph County, Michigan to do additional research on my lines from that area. Results as of July 4th: I haven't visited Saint Joseph County, Michigan yet, and I do not know if I will get a chance to go this year.
10. Look for the marriage record for John's third marriage. Results as of July 4th: I haven't found John's third marriage yet. I don't know if he married in Michigan or somewhere else, although I haven't exhausted Michigan as a possibility yet.

So, as you can see, I haven't had much success so far. I don't know if I will be able to accomplish any of my goals, but it looks as though I might be writing a couple of posts on two of the goals. Stay tuned for more .... Enjoy!

107th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 107th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on

"Food! We haven't focused on food in the COG in quite a while so we're asking you to bring us your family recipes, stories of picnics, food fights, food allergies, favorite summertime foods you remember, and best of all, photos of family favorite foods. Let's make a great mouth-watering edition of the COG! The deadline for submissions will be August 1st. Bring your appetite!"

Enjoy!

Belated Saturday Night Fun - My Genea-Bucket List

For this week's Saturday Night Fun, Randy has challenged other genea-bloggers to describe their genealogy bucket list. Although I'm late in participating in this meme again, I still want to post my goals. I think I wrote about this topic before, but it has been awhile. I don't think it would hurt to write an updated version. So, here is my genea-bucket list:

1. I would like to be able to travel to Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, so that I could uncover more information on my ancestors and their families who lived in the region. Although I have ordered microfilms of Huntingdon County records from the LDS in the past, I still haven't been able to uncover much on my ancestors in the ordered microfilms. I think I will have to go and visit the county to find out more.
2. Another region (okay, it is more than one) I would like to visit is the Alsace and Palatinate regions of France and Germany. The majority of my German ancestors resided in those areas. I would probably also try to make stops in Gelnhausen (which is in the Hesse region of Germany) and Stuttgart as well.
3. I would also like to visit the county of Lancashire in the U. K. since I had ancestors living in those areas. (I would also like to visit the other counties my ancestors resided in as well.)
   

Well, those are my three main regions that I would like to visit. I hope some day that I will be able to visit those places and continue my research into my ancestors. Enjoy!

Happy 4th of July!

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