52 Ancestor's Challenge - Week 18 - Augusta Rheinfels - Celle, Germany to Chicago, IL

This weeks post is going to be short.  I don't have much information on this Rheinfels family, or Augusta herself.  Augusta was my 3rd great grandmother on my father's side.  Augusta Rheinfels was the wife of Wilhelm Grote.  They were the parents of my 2nd great grandmother, Caroline Grote Glesener (also known as Lina).  From a cousin of mine, I found their other children were Carl, Gussie, William, and Herman. 

The first record I found of her, was the 1900 Federal Census (found on Ancestry.com).  She was living with her daughter Lina, and Lina's family, at 454 Cornelia, Town of Lake View, City of Chicago, Illinois.  Augusta is shown as a widow, age 67, born August 1833 in Germany.  It also says she came to the U.S. in 1892, about 4 years after Lina.  Whether she came with Wilhelm, I'm not sure.  However, after a while, I was able to locate Augusta in the "Chicago, Illinois, City Directory, 1897" on Ancestry.com's "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989."  She is listed as the widow of Wilhelm, and living at 585 Larrabee.  Her son Herman is shown as living at the same address in this directory.

I was able to get a copy of Augusta's death certificate.  She died February 8, 1905 at the residence of her daughter, Lina.  She was 69 years, 5 months, and 11 days, which puts her birth date as August 28, 1835.  The record says she was born in Germany, but it doesn't list a town.  Augusta was buried at St. Lucas Cemetery on February 11, 1905.

If you have any questions, or concerns, about any of the information listed above, please leave a comment. I'd be happy to provide any additional information. Thanks for reading!!

52 Ancestors Challenge - Week 12 - Howard Arthur Glesener, The Grandfather I Never Knew

Howard Arthur Glesener is the subject of this weeks 52 Ancestor Challenge.  He was the grandfather I never knew.  I started late on this post.  Thought it would be relatively easy to talk about my grandfather, but have come to realize, I haven't done that much research on the man.  Plus no one is around who can answer the hundreds of questions I currently have!!  It's one of the reasons I'm loving this challenge!  I'm looking at my ancestors in another light.  Not just through records, but looking for stories and trying to figure out who the person was.  Unfortunately, with my grandfather, I didn't ask the questions when I should have.  Now, I'm left to put the puzzle together.

   At the young age of just 40, he died of a heart attack.  My dad was still very little when his father died.  He was only six years old, and didn't have much to say about him.  It's possible, he didn't really remember much.  What he did say was that he was in pharmaceutical sales, he was in the army during WWII, and he played baseball for a St. Louis Cardinals farm team (he mentioned that last item very often).

Howard was the first, and only, son born to Frederick William Glesener and Elsie Justine Kutz, born August 8, 1916 in Chicago, Illinois.  His mother Elsie also died at a young age, just 48 years old.  Howard lived in Chicago, Illinois most of his life.  I'm not sure what his childhood was like.  The family moved homes each time a new census was taken, although they remained within the city of Chicago.  These are the addresses according to the US federal censuses found on Ancestry.com:

• 1920 - 2208 Iowa Street
• 1930 - 3549 Wrightwood Avenue (here, they were renting from Elsie's aunts Emma and Anna)
• 1940 - 3006 Linder Avenue

The 1940 federal census says he was in school at the age of 23.  I'm not sure what school it would have been, but he was living at home with his father, sister, and grandmother Caroline Grote Glesener, it was just after the death of his mother.

I asked a cousin of mine recently, if she remembered any details of my grandfather.  She said she thinks he played baseball right out of high school, but quit because he was homesick.  He was a "Southpaw," as she put it - a left-handed pitcher.  My dad was quite impressed with that.

I don't really remember even seeing a picture of him until I was in junior high.  My grandmother gave my mom a copy of the picture to the right.  Aren't they a cute couple??  It was taken on their wedding day, July 17th, 1943, in Chicago, IL.  Howard married Judith Helen Wilhelmina Westboy.  She was the daughter of Roy Westboy and Wilhelmina, or Minnie, Johansson.

Soon after they were married, they moved to Charleston, South Carolina.  I'm guessing this is due to his work in the Army.  Speaking of the Army, I can not find any paperwork showing he was drafted or enlisted.  I've just searched Ancestry.com and Fold3.com, but no luck.  What base would he have been stationed at?  I'm not sure either.  However, by August 14, 1944, they were living back in Illinois.  That is when their oldest child, Judith Kathleen Glesener, was born. 

By March 16, 1949 they had moved to 353 Marshall Avenue, Bellwood, IL.  I know this from pictures in my grandmother's scrapbook.  My dad, Rand Howard Glesener, was born that next year on August 25, 1950. 


Judith, Kathleen, and Howard

I found on a search through Ancestry.com, a copy of The Norwich Sun dated 12/20/1950.  In it, Norwich Pharmacal Co. listed the names of all their employees, wishing them a Merry Christmas.  The name "Howard Glesener" was listed.  I'm guessing he was a rep for the company, but I can't be positive.

My dad said by the time he was 2, they had moved to Los Angeles, California.  He mentioned they moved because my grandmother had a friend out there.  Not sure if that is the real reason, but she did live in California for a short time prior to marrying Howard.  It was here in 1953 they had one more child.

According to their children, there were tensions at home between Howard and Judith, but I'm not sure exactly what they were.  My cousin remembered him as "always cheerful and smiling, wonderful with children, kind and sweet..."  My dad didn't really describe his father other then the basic facts he knew. 

On November 4, 1956, at 11am, in their home at 4616 Pickford Street, in Los Angeles, Howard died of a "Coronary Arterial Thrombosis" due to "Coronary Arteriosclerosis."  His body was brought back to Chicago, where he was buried near other family members at Concordia Cemetery.

I know not having a father around was tough on his kids.  My dad never said so, but you could see that he felt he was missing something.  A child needs their father just as much as their mother growing up.  I have always wondered what my dad's life would have been like if his father would have been able to be there.  I know I really would have loved knowing him!

If you have any questions or concerns about the information in this post, please leave a comment.  Thank you for reading!!

Further research needed to do...

Writing this has made me realize I need to look into his life a bit more.  I've researched his name online, but I still have a list of questions I need to follow up on:

• Where did he attend school?
• Where exactly did he play baseball, and for how long?
• Did he enlist into the army, or was he drafted?  I can't seem to find a draft card or enlistment paperwork. 
• How long did he serve?  Did he have to go overseas at all during the war?



#52Ancestors, week 4 - My First Experience With Genealogy Research - Caspar Glesener - Binsfeld, Weiswampach, Luxembourg to Chicago, IL

It's another week, and I'm writing another post for the challenge brought by Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  This has been an interesting adventure for me, and I'm finding I have much more to write about then I originally thought!  I started this hobby 13 years ago, but it wasn't until 2003 when I actually branched out past what was available online at the time.  This week my topic is about my Luxembourg ancestors, and how I went about finding them.



Casper Glesener

Casper Glesener, also known as Gaspard, was the first family line I successfully traced past the 1800s.  He was born on June 22, 1862 in Luxembourg.  For a long time, all I knew was my great, great grandfather's name and that he married Caroline (Lina) Grote in Chicago, IL.  I knew he was from Luxembourg, but where??  Ordering his death certificate from Cook County, IL gave me his parents names, but no city, town, or area to search in Luxembourg.

Success came from the message boards on Genealogy.com!!  In 2003, I posted the little bit I knew about Casper, his name, date of death, and the names of his parents listed on his death certificate.  The next day, I received a reply from a Mr. Bob Olson with the names of his parents, date of their marriage, and the town they were married in!!  Thank you! Thank you Mr. Olson!!  That little nugget of information helped to get my research going!

That same post I made in 2003 also offered a suggestion from someone to contact the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.  They have two databases, the Luxembourg Parish/Civil Records 1600-1890 and the Tables Decennales 1853-1863.  I contacted the school and, for a small fee, I received birth records for Casper, his parents, and most of his siblings!!!


Birth record of Gaspar Glesener dated June 22, 1862,
Binsfeld, Weiswampach, Luxembourg

This information led us to find Nicolas Glesener, Casper's father, born January 15, 1830 in Hosingen, Luxembourg, and was the son of Georgius Glesener and Anna Glesener.  We also learned Anna Elisabetha Theis, Casper's mother, was born March 21, 1837 in Binsfeld, Weiswampach, Luxembourg, and the daughter of  Jean Theis and Marie Hamus.  Their marriage record was also included!  They were married March 2, 1859 in Hosingen, Luxembourg.  Unfortunately, There was also a death certificate for Anna, which showed she died May 1, 1864 in Binsfeld, just a few weeks after giving birth to Casper's younger sister Margaretha.  Margaretha only lived 6 days.  Casper would not have yet turned two.  This leaves Nicholas to raise Casper and his older sister, Marie (born June 1, 1860) by himself.

But not for long.  On November 9, 1867, Nicolas married Maria Theresia Schmitz in Weiswampach.  After that came 12 more children: Anna Catherina (b.1868, d.1868), Maria (b.1869), Margaretha (b.1870, d.1871), Nicolas (b.1872), Margaretha (b.1873, d.1873), Peter (b.1875, d.1875), Nicolas (b.1876), Johann (b.1877), Peter (b.1878), Anna Catherina (b.1879), Georges (b.1881, d.1881), and Marguerite (b.1883).  Of these 12 children, only 7 made it to adulthood.  Unfortunately, this was not uncommon at this time.

After receiving this information from the University of St. Thomas, I decided to take a trip to their library to do some research on my own.  With help from the librarian, and the use of their German to English dictionary, I was able to trace the family back another 2 generations from Nicolas' father Georgius (notice the different spellings of Glesener...It changed many times!):

• Nicolas Glesener (b.1830 Hosingen, Luxembourg, d.1916 Binsfeld, Luxembourg)
• Georgius Glesener (b.1792 Hosingen, Luxembourg, d.1855 Hosingen, Luxembourg)
• Jacques Gloessener (b.1771 Dahl, Luxembourg, d. after 1820)
• Jean Georges Glaessener (b. 1734 Roullingen, Luxembourg, d. 1787 Dahl, Luxembourg)

My search didn't end there, though.  I tried pulling the LDS church records for the area of Dahl in Luxembourg, but didn't find much.  So what did I do?  I went to the message boards again!!  I posted on Genealogy.com again, and again received more!!  Mr. Rob Deltgen gave me the names of Jean Georges parents.  Not only that, he led me to his website where he has hundreds of names indexed from Luxembourg!!  You can find a list of surnames at http://www.deltgen.com/pubtng/surnames-all.php?tree=Deltgen.  I don't have copies of the actual certificates for these people, but I have names.  One day I hope to obtain actual copies of the records.  But that will come in time.  For now, the names of the next 3 generations of Gleseners after Jean Georges Glaessener b. 1734 are:

• Jean Nicolas Glaessener (b.1711 Dahl, Luxembourg, d.before 1788)
• Jean Georges Glessener (b.1686 Dahl, Luxembourg, d. unknown)
• Sondag, or Dominique, Glesner (b.1660 Dahl, Luxembourg, d. unknown)

It was an interesting journey, tracking this Glesener line.  I had never read German before, and trying to decipher the many records was challenging.  Not to mention, the script variations in the German alphabet!!  I went out and purchased the same German to English dictionary that I used when visiting the library in St. Paul.  If you are translating old German documents, I highly recommend the "German - English Genealogical Dictionary", by Ernest Thode.  It was very helpful and worth the money.  However, the records aren't just in German.  Some I found were in French.  I had to lean on the 2 years of french I took in high school. 

Back to Casper - Heading for the U.S.

I'm not 100% sure, but I do believe Casper sailed from Bremen to New York aboard the Saale, arriving July 16, 1887.  The name listed is Casper Gessner.  Not sure what made him want to leave Luxembourg.  Maybe having such a large family, he felt it necessary to make his own way?  We'll probably never know for sure.

The first we see Casper in the U.S. is on a marriage record.  September 11, 1889, Casper married Lina Grote, also known as Caroline Grote.  Lina was the daughter of Wilhelm Grote and Augusta Rheinfels, born December 24, 1867 in Celle, Germany.  Lina came to the U.S. via Hamburg, Germany to New York and arrived less then a month after Casper in 1887.  How they met, we don't know.  Did they meet in Chicago?  Or could they have possibly met in New York on their way to Chicago?  Who knows??  So many questions!!

This marriage brought 3 children:

• Frederick William (b.1889 Chicago, IL, d.1947 Chicago, IL)
• Charles (b.1891 Chicago, IL, d.1967 Corpus Christi, TX)
• Helen (b.1893 Chicago, IL, d.1963 Chicago, IL)

According to the Federal Censuses taken in 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930, Casper and his family lived at 1906 Cornelia Avenue, Chicago, IL.  He made a living as a varnish cooker in a varnish factory, or furniture factory.  Below is a picture of Casper and Lina, taken probably around the late 20s or early 30s.  I'm guessing this is their home on Cornelia Avenue that they are standing in front of.  Don't they look like a cute couple??

October 2, 1931, Casper passed away at his home.  He was 69 years old.  The death certificate says he was buried at St. Lucas Cemetery in Chicago, IL.  Below is a copy of his Obituary that was found in the Chicago Daily Tribune, through Ancestry.com.  It states he was a member of "Imperial Council, N. U."  I've tried looking this up, but haven't found much online.  Again, I went to the message boards, this time to Ancestry.com.  According to the replies I got, "it refers to the Imperial Council No. 427 of the National Union."  His wife, Lina, went on to live almost another 15 years before passing on January 11, 1946 in Chicago, IL.

Afterthoughts...

 

Just this week, while reviewing my notes and research to write this article, I did a little follow-up research.  Family Search has many of the documents from Luxembourg online!!  They aren't indexed, but I was able to locate Casper living with his family, on the 1880 and 1885 censuses for Luxembourg.  What I find interesting as well, is he and his brother, Nicolas, are listed on the 1900 census for Luxembourg too!!  However, they are listed on another page as absent from the household.  Were they expecting them to come back?  As far as I know, Casper and his brother Nicolas did not move back to Luxembourg.  In 1908, their brother Peter, or Pier, also came to the U.S.  I have not been able to find if he stayed, or went back to Luxembourg. 

 

As of the date of this posting, I haven't been able to search all the records from Luxembourg on familysearch.org that I'd like to.  Planning on doing that when time permits.  But what a great resource!!

 

If you have any questions about the people listed in this article, or on any of my other posts, please leave me a comment!!  Happy hunting!



 The headstone says he died in 1930, but the death record from Cook County says he died in 1931.