Amanuensis Monday--Elsie Crocker’s Manuscript, Part 16: School Days

To read this project from the beginning, click here.

This installment of Elsie’s manuscript is rather a long one, but a common thread runs throughout. It discusses the Underwood kids’ school days, telling a little about the school itself, but mostly focusing on the human element: what they would do at different points in the day, and incidents that happened either on the way to or from school.

We went to Ten Mile School. It was at least one and a half miles around the road. Walking the canal bank was a little shorter. We were never tardy, we got a certificate. I wonder how many children would like to walk that far to school. now a days. Rain, frost, snow or sun shine?

This was a one room school with eight grades and just one teacher.

The canal ran part way thru our place and came out close to the school house. There was a bridge over the creek, this bridge we had to cross in order to reach the school. Sometime we walked the canal bank.

The owner that the canal ran thru his fields, warned us he had a ram goat that was real mean. He gave us permission to go thru his fields but be very careful of this ram. He said if we saw the ram not to go in that field.

One morning my friend Margaret Church and I was alone going to school, this morning we couldn’t see the ram anywhere, so we decided we would take our chances. We decided to go thru this field. We didn’t see the ram until we were almost out of the field.

Our hearts nearly stopped There he was on the canal bank right in from of us. No way to avoid him, water in the canal and a small creek on the other side. My girl friend jumed toward the stream. I was so scared I stood, afraid to move, by this time I was face to face with him. He such big horns, the kind that circles around, I had never seen such horns. I don’t know how but I put my hand out to pet him. He seemed as surprised as I was. His big horns were so rough and hard. I was so scared, I tried to move away. He then tossed his head, I stepped backwards and as I did I slipped and fell on the ground. I think I slipped on a small rock. The goat didn’t hurt me. I got up and looked at him and he at me. Then somehow I got out of there. The goat just stood and looked at me, I guess he was wondering how I got there.

In the mean time, my friend had ran to the school house and told everyone the goat had knocked me doun. But it didn’t. I had slipped by myself and fell. I wasn’t afraid anymore but I didn’t go thru that field again unless my brothers were there to see if the gaot was anywhere to be seen. Why press your luck.

The school had a big bell, I was located in a belfry. On top of the school. The bell was rung by pulling a long rope. You could hear this bell when it was rung, for a long ways. The bell was rung in the morning and again at our lunch time and at our recesses. The bell was rung more times in the morning, just once the other times. The teacher let me ring it once, it took me off my feet. My brother used to ring it often, he was taller. (Walter)

The teacher would line us up in a row to march us in to the school house. In the morning, lunch time and the recesses. The small children in the front and the tall ones in the back.

We had a out house, just one. The grounds was partialy fenced in. on one side it was as nature left it. Sagebrush and big boulders. In the spring there were a lot of wild flowers and a lot of bright colored moss. I loved that moss it had such a pretty color and velvet like feeling. There was a real flat big rock we called Table Rock. This is where, some of us would sit and eat our lunches every day.

Margaret and I would exchange sandwiches. She was fond of cheese We always had cheese at our house. She would have peanut butter and I was fond of that. So we got along fine.

The school, we had a pot belly stove that heated the whole school room. We had a huge blackboard right back of where the teacher sat. The desks and seats were connected. The seats would push back when we got off of them. They stayed until we pushed them doun, when we sat doun. The teacher had a regular chair and a fat cushion to sit on.

I wonder what occasion this photograph commemorates. The streamers imply some sort of celebration. (Elsie is the second girl from the right in the front row.)

The books, pencils and tablets were pushed into the front of the desk. The to of the desk didn’t lift up.

We chalk and erasers, to use on the blackboard. The teach ever so often would have a couple of the kids stay after school to clean the erasers. You had to be careful the chalk dust would fly all over. The boys (mostly) were the ones asked to do this, they would hit two erasers together to knock the dust out.

We carried our lunches in a lunch pail, we had no cafeterias those days. The lunch pails were put on a shelf in the cloak room. No lockers. Our hats, coats and goullashes, hung up in this small room.

Our lunch pail was probably a five pound lard pail. Our tablets were called “penny tablets” a very cheap grade of paper. The older children used pens. The pens then was a holder which held pen points. The pen points came in differend size points of course you used one point at a time. There was a small hole in the desk at the top and to one side, that held a ink well, which had a top, with a small hole in it. So the pen could enter. You’d have to dip the pen often to have enough ink to write much. They finally invented fountain pens.

The first fountain pen I had I lost in the snow and never found it untill the snow melted in the spring then it was too late. It had frozen with the ink in it and burst.

The boys used to like to put the tip of the braid of the girl that sat in front of him. They did’t dare do mine as I had two brothers big.

Inez was born, she was named after, the Shaw’s daughter. Inez Shaw. She was a surprise to me I didn’t know I was going to have a baby sister.

Coming from school one day. I had walked around the road. I was close to our house, I had to still go across the bridge of the canal.

A short ways from the road I was on was a big puddle of water. See there stood a big coyote with his teeth showing, and lookin straight at me. I was scared to pass in front of him I turned around and ran all the way back to our neighbors, about one half mile away. Never being late home from school, my mother got worried, she called the neighbors, to see if I was there. The neighbors told her I was there and afraid to go home. Mother sent some one to take me home. Mother was sure the coyote had stopped for a drink as he probably had been running. Said coyotes won’t attack you unless their hungry. I don’t know I didn’ stop to ask him if he was hungry. After Mother’s experiences with couotes I wasn’t taking any chances.

In the winter time the distance was a long way. There a lot of cold days in Idaho. We were lucky we had friends to walk with. The wind would blow a gale and seemed to go right thru you.

We wore scarves around our necks, up around our mouths Our hot breathe going thru the scarf entering the cold air would form icicles. We would blow our breathes to see the white steam come out. It looked like white smoke. Our noses were like a big red cherry. Our hands were so cold we couldn’t feel them at all, and we had on warm gloves.

When the snow came Mother didn’t want us to eat the first snow that fell She said it had germs in it. The snow cleaned the air. We children would make snowmen, angels by laying with our arms out straight and moving up and doun. Which made the wings. We would lay on our backs in the snow. Having brothers we made forts. We had a lot of snowballing. I didn’t mind the soft ones but the boys learned to soak the in water and they would hurt.

When it was really snowing, we would have two layers of clothes on. Lon johns, and long black stockings. Over our shoes we wore galoshes, which were called “over shoes”. They came all most up to our knees. Dad would wrap gunny sacks over our galoshes up to our knees. My brothers would have to remove these gunny sacks before we got to school. They would hide these sacks under the bridge of the canal. We would have to put them on the way back home after school. We took off our “over shoes” after we got to school. The teacher was good to help the little ones. These mornings the heat from the pot belly stove felt good

Our “over shoes”, buckled up in front of the foot with six or more buckles. There were hard to pull on over our regular shoes. Some of the other children got frost bitten because they weren’t dressed warm enough.

This little story reminds me of our family. A teacher was helping to put on a little boys over shoes. She tugged and pulled, finally succeeded in getting them on. The little boy piped up Those aren’t my over shoes. Reluctantly she took them off. Then the little boy exclaimed Those used to belong to my sister. So the teacher had to tug and pull them back on the little fellow. She wasn’t very happy about it.

At our house we only had a heater and the kitchen range for heat. We had a lot of fun popping corn and eating apples Some times we could make candy, I remember once, we were making some fudge, it was boiling real good and I stuck one of my fingers into it. I was burned real good. I learnt a lesson I never did that again.

In the winter we wore fannel gowns to sleep in. The gowns were long, we would wrap them around our legs when we got into bed. I bedrooms were always cold.

We wore long johns until Easter Sunday, off they came the long johns, on with the light weight clothes. It felt as tho we had lost ten pounds. We could wear white stockings.

Sometimes Dad would make a sliegh out of his wagon. If it snowed while we were in school and not clothe for the weather, he would pick us up, not only us but all the other kids. He would sing “It’s a long way to Tipperary” but my hearts right there.” We all got a kick out of it. I always thought he meant getting home.

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A Murder in the Family

I have known for most of my life that my great-great-grandfather’s death was an unsolved murder, and since adulthood have heard it said among the family that his son probably did it. Naturally, such rumors are calculated to intrigue. I have long entertained a certain morbid curiosity on the subject, but found little information on my own. The information I did have consisted in his name: John Stephen CRAIG; his estimated birth information: Apr 1859 in Scotland; his family unit: wife Martha Mulvena RUBENALL (whom he married on 26 May 1886 in Denison, Crawford, Iowa), sons Matthew, Harry, and Dewey, and daughter Mary Josephine; and the following death information: died 21 Feb 1917 on 16^th St in Omaha, Nebraska, and buried 26 Feb 1917 in the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery of the same city. Now, as for names and dates that appears fairly complete. However, I knew there was a story for this man, and one that might prove quite interesting.

Finally I gave in and sent away to the Omaha Public Library for some research on my behalf. Although the internet has been a godsend to genealogists, there are still some things that must be done offline, and this, it seemed, was one of them.

Yesterday I received the lovely, creased envelope bearing my address in my own handwriting. This was it! I was finally going to read about my ancestor’s murder in the words of the local reporter. I slit open the envelope and pulled out four sheets of paper. The first was a cover letter; the other three were articles from the Omaha World Herald in 1917.

It is an odd sensation to find oneself delighted while reading about the violent death of one’s own great-great-grandfather, but delighted I was. At last I was reading first-hand information, not family rumors that might have been exaggerated through the years. For the first time I learned which son was suspected of his death. I learned that he died near 10^th St, not on 16^th St. Perhaps most remarkable, because it was the first time I heard of it, I learned that his wife had left him and possibly remarried.

But let’s back up just a bit, and I’ll share the articles themselves with you.

The first appeared on the front page of the Evening World-Herald on the day following his death.

  

Craig is Found Dead; How Killed Mystery.

Murder or Accidentally Killed by Train, Ask Police; Investigating.

Body Found Frozen Beside Little Used Track; Well Known Expressman.

  

Mystery surrounds the death of John Craig, aged 62, an express driver, whose body was found early this morning within a short distance of his home at Tenth and Paul streets, with mortal wounds about the head.

  

“I’ll die by violence some day,” was the fatalistic remark of Craig a short time ago, and his prediction was fulfilled. He had lived in Omaha nearly forty years, and for a long time past, had led the life of a hermit in a one-room wing of the 3-room shack he called hime [sic]. There are rumors that he had considerable money. He had an express stand at Fifteenth and Harney streets, and ran a little store at Eleventh and Paul streets.

  

For about two years he had been separated from his wife, who is now said to be remarried and living in California. Two sons, Matt and Harry, live in Omaha, as well as a married daughter, Mrs. Henry Stroesser. Matt and the daughter say they have not seen their father for some time past, and have had nothing to do with him on account of family troubles. Harry, the second son, could not be found.

  

Neighbors say that Craig came home as usual about 5:30 last evening, and put away his horse. He was not seen again until his body was discovered by Ole Jackson, colored, living at 2528 Patrick avenue, and Lewis Lesslow, Tenth and Seward streets. The body lay beside a commercial spur track leading from the Union Pacific yards across Eleventh street to the rear of the T. G. Northwall company building.

  

Half a dozen large boards which Craig had evidently been carrying when he was killed lay beside the body.

  

Murder or accidental death are the two theories on which the police are working. The fact that the dead man’s clothes were not disturbed, and that about $7, his watch and some personaly [sic] papers were not taken from the pockets, would indicate that he was not killed by robbers, say the police.

  

The position of the body beside the railroad tracks leave it possible, it is added, that the man was struck by a freight car being switched in or drawn from the spur track during the night. The body was frozen stiff when found.

  

The body is at Taggart’s undertaking rooms. An inquest is considered likely.

It certainly creates an image to read that John CRAIG “had led the life of a hermit in a one-room wing of the 3-room shack he called hime [sic],” that “for about two years he had been separated from his wife,” and that his children “have had nothing to do with him on account of family troubles.” And when he is quoted as predicting “I’ll die by violence some day,” I can’t help but wish that the reporter had elaborated, if only to tell how he learned of the prediction. He couldn’t have learned it from John himself!

Also, it is somewhat chilling to read such a dispassionate account of the condition of the body, when the body belongs to one’s relative. I have always found such descriptions much more unsettling than the gaudiest thing that gothic literature could invent, because there seems to be such a disconnect between “the body” and the person it once was. Gothic literature, at least, preserves the horror of the viewer.

The second article appeared the following day, but by now the story has been relegated to the second page of the newspaper.

Son Held as Police Probe Craig’s Death

Official Suspicion Aroused by His Story of Whereabouts Wednesday Night.

Sees All Three Newspapers, but Ignorant of Father’s Death, He Says.

  

Harry Craig, son of John Craig, 62, recluse, who was found dead with his head mutilated in a field near his hut at Tenth and Paul streets yesterday morning, was arrested by Police Detectives Dunn and Gaughan late yesterday, and is held without bond while the police investigate further his father’s mysterious death.

  

The police declare that they have nothing tangible to connect the younger Craig with his father’s death, but his story of his whereabouts the night before aroused their suspicions.

  

Harry Craig told the detectives that he saw three newspapers yesterday, but knew nothing of his father’s death, which was prominent on the first page of all the papers.

  

He said that he left the Millard hotel, where he washes dishes, at 6:15 Wednesday evening, wandered about town, and returned at 10:30, going to bed. Craig’s roommate told the police that he did not notice Craig until a few minutes before 6 o’clock in the morning. According to the police, young Craig was at a loss to tell exactly where he had “wandered about” earlier in the evening.

  

The police are now convinced that Craig was murdered. No cars are switched at night on the tracks near which the body was found, so he could not have been killed by a passing train. The blow on his head crushed his skull badly. Money and jewelry on his person were not touched and the padlock on his shack was not broken, so robbery could not have been the motive.

  

The police learned that Harry Craig had quarreled with his father recently and that they had been seen frequently together. According to the meager information they gathered of the family, Harry Craig blamed his father for trouble between himself and his wife.

So it was Harry who was suspected of his father’s murder. I have very little information on Harry CRAIG: only that he was born in February 1893 in Omaha. I do not even have the name of his wife. These CRAIGs have been difficult to research because it is a rather common surname—and paired with common Christian names—in a densely populated area. The problem is not that I cannot find a record for Harry CRAIG, it is that I find too many records and am unable to differentiate between them.

It seems that the trouble between Harry and his wife must have been serious, since they don’t appear to be living together. The article speaks of Harry’s roommate at his home. The idea of a parent causing trouble between a child and his spouse reminds me of the family rumor regarding John’s wife, Martha. It has been said that she had more than motherly feelings toward her son-in-law, Harry STROESSER. Whether that caused problems in her daughter’s marriage, I don’t know, but I can easily see how it could. These CRAIGs are definitely turning out to be an interesting bunch.

The third, and most enigmatic, story appeared in the morning edition of the newspaper on 24 Feb 1917. It is no more than a blurb way back on page 15, and a confusing one at that:

Deny Story of Arrest.

Denial of the statement that Harry Craig, son of John Craig, the expressman whose body was found along railroad tracks near his home Thursday morning, was arrested at the Millard hotel Thursday evening, was made last night by Harry Stroesser, carpenter employed by the city, and by Matt Craig, son of the dead man and brother of the man in jail. Stroesser is a brother-in-law of the Craig boys.

What does that mean? It says that Harry STROESSER and Matt CRAIG denied the statement of Harry CRAIG’s arrest. But what are they denying about it? They can’t deny that he was arrested; he is identified as “the man in jail.” If he weren’t arrested, how would he end up in jail? Are they denying that the arrest took place at the Millard hotel or that it took place Thursday evening? The most probable assumption would be that they are disputing his identification as a suspect, but if that is the case, the reporter has expressed it dismally.

Although I have long known that it was an unsolved murder, I find it frustrating to end on a mystery. Somehow I expected at least some closure. And I can’t help but wonder if my great-great-uncle got away with murder—and even more, if his brother and my own great-grandfather were accessories after the fact.

Citations

“Craig is Found Dead; How Killed Mystery.” Evening World-Herald [Omaha] 22 Feb 1917: 1.

“Son Held as Police Probe Craig’s Death.” Evening World-Herald [Omaha] 23 Feb 1917: 2.

“Deny Story of Arrest.” Morning World-Herald [Omaha] 24 Feb 1917: 15.

Amanuensis Monday--Elsie Crocker’s Manuscript, Part 15: Churning and Chimneys

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The farmers share with one another, they exchange work tools etc. Just like when your cow goes dry. You get milk from your neighbor, when his goes dry he gets milk from your cow. The only ketch is the children have to fetch the milk. In pails. Sometime it’s a good half mile, in sunshine, rain, or snow. Sometimes that half mile was a long half mile.

Mother would tell us we weren’t sugar or salt we would’nt melt.

Sometime the neighbors and Dad would go together and by a cow or a pig and go together and kill it and dress it ready to eat. They shared the meat and the cost. It was cheaper than buying at a market. And much better.

The churning of butter was the boys job, but I could help them some. The first churn I remember was a barrel type, it looked like a small barrel laying on its side, a frame to hold it up, a handle we could turn. This churn would have to be turn around and around to make the butter. Sometimes longer than others depending on the cream. Once in a while it woul spring a leak, us kids thought it funny. Our mother didn’t, for she had to clean it up. What made this leak the barrel had dried out between churnings. Mom would have us stop churning while she stuffed a piece of cloth in the hole. It worked. Mother had just scrubbed her floor and then this cream, she wasn’t very happy. The floor was hard to clean It was a bare wood floor. She scrubbed it with a broom, hot water, and homemade soap. Mother said we wouldn’t laugh if we had to clean it up. The cream came out and the turning around and around the cream splattered a ways in the air, covering a pretty big area.

Our lamps were filled with kersene. The lamps had wicks to carry the kerosene, so we could light them. The wicks were about two inches wide. If we turned it up we more light, turn it doun it would dim, it would almost go out, then blow in it and it would go out. If the wick was uneven it would smoke, this would make the chimney black. Every week the chimnies were cleaned and refill. To clean the chimney you would take it off the lamp and then blow into the chimney, then take a piece of newspaper and twist around and round inside the chimney. You might have to blow more moist air into the chimney to release the smoke. More newspaper may be needed.

We had several lamps to go around, they were carried from one room to another. Many times I had awakened and found my mother, lamp in hand looking doun at us. She said we were restless, she was just checking.

We finally had a new churn, this churn had a long handle with four paddles attached to the bottom of the handle. The churn had a lid, the handle coming right up thru it. We would have to pull the handle up and doun until we had butter.

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Amanuensis Monday--Elsie Crocker’s Manuscript, Part 12: Dresses

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Merry Christmas! This installment isn’t quite in keeping with the season, but I believe that the Christmassy portion of Elsie’s manuscript has already been transcribed. So instead we’ll enjoy a little birthday and (previously quoted) Halloween merriment. The theme for this week is dresses.

One day my aunt made me a pink checked dress for my birthday. She gave me a party, so I was suppose to wear this dress. The guests arrived I took them out to see the animals, I was so proud of.

Aunt Sadie came out just as we all got seated on the top of the pig pen. The pen is open with a rail fence all around it. We were sitting on this rail. My aunt “told me what are you thinking sitting on a pig pen. I never made that dress for you to do this.” The pen was new and clean, I couldn’t see what the matter was. She got us together and marched us to the house. She told my mother and Mother said “I don’t see any thing wrong in that.” Aunt Sadie said “I never made that dress to sit on a pig pen.” We never got around to see the rest of the animals.

Talk about dresses Mother, sent away for a red plaid one, from a catalogue. I was in the first grade, I hated that dress. Someon must have hurt my feelings for not liking it. I hid it everywhere, under the bed, under the mattress, in the closet. She found it no matter what, she made me wear that dress. One day I took that dress and hid it under my gunny sack rug in my play house, which was on the canal bank. Mother found it but it was too late, it had mildewed and unable to wear. Mother couldn’t understand what was wrong with that dress. She said I was always so easy to get a long with. I couldn’t tell her why I didn’t like it. I never wore plaids again. I still don’t care for plaids.

These tent houses were made from large gunny sacks, our feed for our cattle and pigs and chicken, came in these large sacks.

Dad lets play with these sacks. So Walter and Bill made us a tent house, one for each of us. These were cool in the summertime, Idaho summers are real hot.

Walter cut out dishes, knives and forks and spoons. Out of tin sheeting Dad had.

On one Halloween we had our jack o lanterns on our (probably a apple box) table. Right close to the opening of our tents. Our dad was on the school board, we were having a program that night. Our teacher was over to our house, she wanted Dad and Mom to drive her on an errand, they were gone a short time, when they came back my teacher asked me to turn around. I turned, all the back of my dress was burned. But how? The only fire I was around was our jack o lanterns. We had lit our lanterns to show the teacher, when she got back. The wind must have blown my dress against the lit pumkin, as I was closing the door of my tent house. I must have sat doun real fast to have put the fire out. I always believed I had a guarding angel. Of course I had to wear my school dress to the program that night. This reminds me of a little poem Mother told me.

(The Girl)     Which dress should I wear?

               My blue one or my new one

               Or the one I wore last.

(Mother)

               The last one you wore last

               It’s the only one you have

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Amanuensis Monday--Elsie Crocker’s Manuscript, Part 8: The ranch near Meridian

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We have finally reached a point in Elsie’s manuscript for which I have photographs! It has been quite a while since I have been able to bring Elsie’s words to life with pictures, so I am rather gleeful about the opportunity this week. This installment tells of when the Underwood family moved outside the city of Boise to a farm near Meridian, Idaho. Though it will be a couple weeks yet before we learn of it in Elsie’s words, this is the farm where my grandmother was born. 

Dad was on his way again, this time to the furtile valley of Boise Idaho, ten miles from Boise.

This was a large ranch, over eighty acres of ground. The ranch was located six miles from Meridan and ten miles from Boise, Idaho.

The ranch was owned by two families, the Dorr’s and the Shaws. The two families lived in the city, Boise.

This ranch was bran new, Dad must of worked on this ranch before we moved in, while we were living in Boise. The house was new, up to now this was our first real new house of any size. The house had four bedrooms, living room (parlor in those days) a kitchen and two porches, one in the back and the other in the front. On hot days we would sit on the back porch in the morning and the front porch in the afternoon, when it was shady. Until the trees grew up it was pretty hot, in the sun.

The Shaw’s and Dorr’s came often to see how things were coming along. The Dorr’s had a boy about my age and the Shaw’s had a girl about Walter’s age.

We soon had a well dug, we lived on a small hill, so the well drillers had to go a long ways doun to reach water. They put a motor to pump the water up. We had lots of water now for the house and irrigation. There also was a canel running on one side of the ranch, where the water from the canel was used for watering the fields. No alikali and plenty of water Dad was happy.

They were paying Dad to build this ranch up and plant the eighty acres with prune trees.

The ground was ready to plant, he also had some help (hiredhelp) Also he had us kids, Walter, Bill, and even me.

We soon had the barnes, chicken coupes, and a pig pen, also a shed to cover the pump, it was called the pump house. A root cellar was later built. This was a great blessing for Mother to keep the milk from souring. The root cellar was built under ground, it was much cooler there. We kept our vegetables and fruit there also. We had lots of eggs also.

After the buildings were up and useable, the weather right. Dad started to plant the eighty acres of prunes. These trees were small straight sticks which came bundled so many to a bundle. The sticks (trees) had no leaves. No branches, just a very few roots.

They were planted just so deep and so far a part. Then each tree was wrapped with a piece of tar paper. The paper was cut about fourteen by twelve inches, which came already cut. Thank goodness!

The tar paper was wrapped around the little twig of a tree, several times, then tyed wit bailing twine. The bailing twine came in large round balls. The paper was tyed top and bottom. This was to keep the rabbits from eating the bark off the little trees. Our land was new and we had a lot of rabbits.

My brothers and I would help to put the paper around the trees. Dad and the men planted the trees and we tyed the twine and put the paper around. I’d hold the paper in place while Bill and Walter would tye the twine.

I liked being with my brothers and dad, but my time was limited. Mom had to cook for Dad and the hired men. She needed help at lunch time, she would come out side of the house and wave her tea towel, that was for me to come home and help her. One of my jobs was to set the table which I like to do. Sometimes I was busy to see her waving but Dad would call my attention and saying “I think you Mother is calling”.

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Amanuensis Monday--Elsie Crocker’s Manuscript, Part 14: Animal Tales

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Well, here we are again. It has been longer than I care to admit since I have posted one of these “weekly” transcriptions, so it’s about time I resumed the habit. This installment tells a few animal tales in the lives of the Underwoods.

One morning Dad came in to the house, Mother could see he was upset about something. “What’s the matter” she asked him. Dad told her that the mother pig refused to let one pig nurse. If this goes on we will lose the little one. I over heard what was going on and volunteered. Dad informed us this little pig had to be kept warm and fed often. Mom agreed to let me take him, if I kept him on a blanket back of the stove. I had to keep him in the kitchen.

I was so happy to have a little pig for a pet. I know how to feed him as had helped feed some calves. I’d get a clean cloth and double it up like a nipple. Put it in a pail of warm milk. Tightly holding on to the nipple, the little pig took to this right away. He was hungry.

Later on I used two fingers held in the pail of warm milk he would suck on my fingers. He seemed to like it. He was hungry all the time. I had a lot of fun trying to keep this little pig in the kitchen and on his blanket back of the stove.

He was pink skin with light short hair. I spent my days chasing this little pig. Mother would say “Get that pig out of here”. So I would run and try to caught him. He was so chubby and fat, I would put both hands around his stomach and try and hold him. Sometimes my hands would slip, I’d get ahold of his leg. He’d squeal something awful. Mother would yell “You’ll break his leg. I don’t think I held him that tight. I would let him go and Mom would yell “Will you get him out of here.” I was trying my best, but pig’s hair grows from the front to the back, making it hard to hang on to.

Well the little pig grewup, he could eat by hisselve now. He got a long with the other pigs. I missed him I wondered did he miss me? I really think Mom missed him too.

I think every child should have a pig for a pet. I’m lucky to have had one, it a great experience.

A magpie is a large bird, very much like a big crow but much uglier. Someone told me if I could catch a magpie and split its tongue it would talk to me. It had to be a baby bird.

Maraget Church my girl friend and I was at the creek, at the far end of our farm. Above us was a big willow tree. There’s nest, after watching for a while, the mom and dad bird appeared. Oh, it’s a magpie couple. We could see the baby birds reaching to be fed. Margaret urged me to climb the tree. So I did. I stole a little bird, we took it home, right into the house. Mom and Margaret’s mom was there. Everything broke loose when my mom saw that bird.

I had never seen Mom mad like that before. She asked what we were thinking about to steal a baby bird from it’s mother. Go back and take that bird to it’s home this minute But Mother we wanted someone to cut it’s tongue so it would talk to us. My mother asked “Who ever put that idea in to your heads? I never heard of such a thing.”

So Margaret and my brother and I took that bird home. The birds parents seemed to be glad it was back. I never found out if we had split it’s tongue if it would talk. The was the first time and last time I ever stold a bird.

Living on a farm the children always had chores to do At least helping with them. Bringing in the wood two kinds kindling, wood for the range and heater. Horses beded doun, and fed, cow to milk, chickens to feed and to gather the eggs, etc.

Our family album has a very decided shortage of pictures from the time covered in Elsie’s manuscript. This is a picture of my grandma, Elsie’s sister Aileen, holding a chicken a decade or so after the incident Elsie describes below.

I used to like to feed the chickens and help gather the eggs. Sometimes one of the hens would decided to sit on some eggs. My brother Bill would, lift the hen up and I would reach under her and get the eggs. Later this hen would be put on a special nest with a dozen eggs to hatch. In a short time we would have some baby chickens. They are so cute. When you hold them in your hand you can feel their little heart beat thru the soft doun feathers.

Never knowing Dad had bought a new rooster, I started to feed the chickens. This rooster knocked me doun and started clawing my face. My dad jumed the fence, grabbed the rooster twisted his head off and threw it over the fence. Mother was upset spending money for the rooster and not having it one day. Dad told her if she had seen that rooster clawing at my face she would have done the same thing. I’m glad my dad was there, I still have the scare right close to my eye.

I remember when Elsie was still alive she showed me the above-mentioned scar. It was faint, so faint that I never would have noticed it if she had not pointed it out to me, but it was visible. I think that this story is the reason that I am wary of chickens to this day.

To continue with the next installment of Elsie's manuscript, click here. 

Walter Underwood: An Unknown Chapter

Although I never met my great-grandfather Walter Underwood, I always had a feeling that I knew him. This was mostly thanks to the many stories that his daughter, my great-aunt Elsie, included in her manuscript. However, even the ancestors you think you know can surprise you.

Walter Underwood had worked as a bobby, or police constable, in England. In the United States he sometimes was gone all night searching for a criminal. Everything I have ever heard portrays him as a fine, upstanding citizen. Yet it seems that shortly before his immigration to the U.S. he had his own brush with the law.

I found this series of articles in the British NewspaperArchive, detailing the episode. Never before had I heard anything about it, and I suspect that he and his wife Flora were inclined to try to forget it. However, it is interesting not only in itself, but also in the timing. This was just over a year before the young family departed for America, and I can’t help but think that perhaps it had something to do with Flora’s willingness to leave England and begin a new life elsewhere. Even though he was acquitted, the vindictiveness of the trial must have been a strain, and one not easily forgotten. I have seen small-town politics at work, and I have seen how a person can come to be ostracized by a community to the point that the only bearable choice is to move away.

Since I cannot add any information to the articles, I will simply present them as they appeared.

Sat 12 Apr 1902, Essex Newsman, p. 2

An Ex-Policeman Charged With Stealing a Bicycle

 On Thursday, at Great Bardfield, Walter Underwood, lately a constable stationed at that place, was charged before the Rev. W. E. L. Lampet, J.P., with stealing a bicycle, the property of Mr. Frank Adams, of the Mount Cycle Works, Great Bardfield. The accused was remanded until the Bench on Monday next. Bail was opposed by the police.

Sat 19 Apr 1902, Essex Newsman, p. 3

Ex-Policeman, the Bike, and the Brace

 At Great Bardfield, on Monday, before the Rev. W. E. L. Lampet, in the chair, Capt. J. N. Harrison, Joseph Smith, and A. W. Ruggles Brise, Esqrs., Walter Underwood, late a police-constable stationed at Bardfield, was charged with stealing a bicycle, the property of Mr. Frank Adams, of Great Bardfield.--Mr. Elliot F. Baker appeared for the accused.--Frank Turner Adams, cycle agent, said: On the 19th of March I was in a cottage in Brook-street, where I keep bicycles. Underwood was there with my brother Ben. Underwood looked at a bicycle which was not finished. I said I had a machine like that, but on looking for it I found it was missing. Underwood said, “You may have sold it, or got it put by somewhere.” On the 9th of April the bicycle was shown to me by P.s. Stock. I value the machine at £9.--Police-sergeant Stock said: On the evening of the 9th inst., on receiving certain information, I had an interview with the accused, and went to a shed in his occupation. He unlocked the shed and I saw something covered up, in a corner. Accused said it was rubbish. I looked and found the bicycle wheels produced, and underneath the other parts produced. Accused said, “This is a nice thing; someone must have put it there while I was away.”

   A second charge against the accused was that of stealing a carpenter’s brace, value 5s., the property of Edward Carder.--Police-sergeant Stock stated: At the interview with the accused I said, “Two or three robberies have taken place since you have been stationed here, and you are suspected. Some boards and a carpenter’s brace have been stolen from the cottage that Carder is building near the chapel.” Accused replied, “I know nothing about them.” Just inside the shed, among some tools, I found the brace. Underwood said, “I borrowed that of a man in this road.” I asked his name, and the accused said, “I cannot think of it now.” Carder identified the brace in the presence of the accused.

   The accused reserved his defence, and was committed for trial at the Adjourned Quarter Session. Bail in two sureties of £40 each and himself in £20 was allowed.

   Underwood is a young married man, and he only resigned the Essex police on April 5.

Fri 30 May 1902, Chelmsford Chronicle, p. 5

At the Quarter Session

 A case which excited more than common interest was that in which Walter Underwood, a young man who had been in the Essex Constabulary but had resigned, was charged, on one count, with stealing a carpenter’s brace, and, on another, with stealing a bicycle at Great Bardfield. The carpenter’s brace was alleged to have been the property of Edward Carder, and to have been stolen on the 8th Feb. last, and the bicycle, the property of Frank Turner Adams, was alleged to have been stolen on the 19th of March. The defence urged was that the brace had been the property of the accused for some years, and that the bicycle was planted upon him by some person who placed it in his shed, in pieces, while he was away on a holiday. Captain Showers, the Chief Constable, gave the accused a good character, and he was found not guilty and discharged.

Fri 30 May 1902, Chelmsford Chronicle, p. 7

Ex-Policeman Charged

 Walter Underwood, 25, a fitter, on bail, a smart handsome man, was charged with stealing a brace, the property of Edward Carder, at Great Bardfield, on Feb. 8; and with stealing a bicycle, the property of Frank Turner Adams, at Great Bardfield, on March 19.--Mr. Warburton prosecuted; and Mr. Jones defended.--Mr. Warburton stated that the prisoner was in the Essex Police Force, but retired on April 5th.--The prosecutor said he was a cycle maker, and had built a number of machines and placed them in an upstair room of a cottage. The prisoner was friendly with him, and was teaching witness’s brother photography. He missed the bicycle.--P.s. Stock deposed that he went to the prisoner’s house, and on looking into a shed where the accused said there was some rubbish he found the missing bicycle. The prisoner exclaimed, “This is a nice thing; someone must have put it there while I was away.” --Cross-examined, witness said he intimated to the accused that he did not think the bicycle was stolen at all.--The prisoner, on oath, stated that he joined the police force on Jan. 11, 1897, and was stationed at Chelmsford, Southend, and Bardfield. He resigned voluntarily, as he wished to take a restaurant at Bardfield, together with a newspaper agency. He also purposed starting a photographer’s business. He went away for two days’ holiday early in April, and on coming back the bicycle was found in his shed. P.s. Stock told him in the presence of his wife that he did not think “this” would have happened had the prisoner stopped at home. The shed was a common one, with a padlock on the door, and a footpath passed close by. He denied most emphatically stealing the bicycle or going into the prosecutor’s shop except when the prosecutor was there.--P.s. Stock stated that he did not use the remark attributed to him by the prisoner.--The prisoner’s wife deposed that there was no bicycle in the shed when she and her husband went away in April.--Captain Showers, chief constable of Essex, said the prisoner bore an exemplary character while in the Police Force.--Mr. Jones, in his speech, suggested that some other person took the bicycle, and, to get rid of any evidence, put it in the prisoner’s shed while the accused was away. The prisoner had also, about this time, complained to P.s. Stock that he had missed some coal from the shed.--The prisoner was found not guilty on the charge of stealing the bicycle.--The indictment for stealing a brace was proceeded with.--Mr. Warburton said the brace was found in the prisoner's possession.--The accused, on oath, said he bought the brace at a rummage sale at Maldon nine years ago. He always had a lot of tools.—Prisoner’s wife stated that her husband possessed the brace in question long before they went to Bardfield.--Other relatives deposed that they believed the brace to be the one they had seen the prisoner use. --Mr. Jones, in addressing the jury, said that in his 13 years’ experience he did not think he had seen a case conducted with greater vindictiveness that this one.--The prisoner was found not guilty of this charge also, and he was discharged.

Incidentally, the July 4^th edition of the Chelmsford Chronicle of that year records that the license for the Engineers Arms in Latchingdon was transferred to Walter Underwood on June 28. I can only presume that this is my Walter Underwood, based on the statement above that “he wished to take a restaurant at Bardfield.”

Sources:

“An Ex-Policeman Charged With Stealing a Bicycle.” Essex Newsman [Chelmsford] 12 Apr 1902: 2. British Newspaper Archive. Web. Accessed 26 Dec 2012.

“At the Quarter Session” Chelmsford Chronicle 30 May 1902: 5. British Newspaper Archive. Web. Accessed 6 Nov 2012.

“Ex-Policeman Charged” Chelmsford Chronicle 30 May 1902: 7. British Newspaper Archive. Web. Accessed 26 Dec 2012.

“Ex-Policeman, the Bike, and the Brace” Essex Newsman [Chelmsford] 19 Apr 1902: 3. British Newspaper Archive. Web. Accessed 26 Dec 2012.

“Petty Sessions: Latchingdon, June 28.” Chelmsford Chronicle 4 July 1902: 2. British Newspaper Archive. Web. Accessed 26 Dec 2012.

A Vision for the Garibaldi Smokestack

The Garibaldi Smokestack in April 2013

Imagine: an approximately 200-foot tall historic smokestack, the centerpiece of a small bayside nature park, complete with informative interpretive signs describing the history (both human and natural) of the area. Over here are some picnic tables, and over there perhaps a bird watching platform, and off that way are a few rustic campsites. This is part of the vision that my dad and I put together when we read in a recent issue of Tillamook county’s Headlight Herald that the iconic smokestack on Garibaldi’s waterfront is in danger of demolition.

It came as no surprise to us that the Garibaldi city council has been advised that the stack has “started to disintegrate and has become a safety hazard”; we’ve been observing its deterioration for decades (Wrabek A1). But a spark of hope was kindled when I read that “councilor John Foulk suggested fiberglassing the smokestack, as was reportedly done with the Astoria Column,” and I was not altogether disheartened at the suggestion put forth by others to demolish only a part of the stack and leave a portion standing (Wrabek A3). Moreover, the article reports that the property owner has offered to donate the stack and a small piece of the surrounding land to the city.

These possibilities got me envisioning what a lovely little park could be created around the smokestack. The article does not state how much land is included in the offer, but I think that our ideas could be adjusted to fit a smaller or larger park. If the city council were to put together a cohesive plan and explain the long-term vision, perhaps they could even raise the money to purchase more land, little by little, or come to an agreement with the property owner.

Naturally, our fondest hopes are that the smokestack might be saved, but the next-best option would be to preserve a portion of it. Even, if worst came to worst, just the remaining foundation could become an attraction. As suggested above, the smokestack (or its remains) would be the centerpiece of the park, with a series of interpretive signs or a kiosk explaining the history of the place. I thought that, given the historical value of the structure, it might be beneficial for the city to partner with the Garibaldi Historical Museum, which stands only a block or so down, on the other side of the highway. Perhaps the park could even be used as an extension of the museum. In fact, if a proposed Miami Cove shoreline trail goes through (see Garibaldi Connections Project), the locations could make a very interesting and appealing complex.

Dreaming even bigger, my dad tells me that a bike route has been proposed along the railroad tracks through Rockaway Beach. If that route were to be continued south through Garibaldi, a park by the smokestack could easily become a nice stopover for bicyclists riding down the Oregon coast. A campsite or two, with a drop-box for fees and donations toward maintenance, might be able to fit in a corner of our imagined park. Although the camp would be primitive, the view would be ample consolation.

The smokestack was built in 1927, the same year that the Hammond-Tillamook Lumber Co. took over the mill from the Whitney Co. Prior to that, two relatively short metal smokestacks served the mill. A photo printed in Jack L. Graves’ book “Now” Never Lasts shows the smoke-enveloped town, virtually invisible through the haze. Clearly the situation was far from ideal. It was decided that a taller chimney was needed to lift the smoke above the city and thereby improve air quality. The result was the now-beloved landmark. Originally built at a height of 225 feet, some of its height has been lost due to removal and deterioration, but it remains one of the tallest manmade structures on the Oregon coast (Graves 201).

Looking across Miami Cove at the smokestack and the Big G on the hill in the distance. Picture taken in April 2013.

Sources:

 

Garibaldi Connections Project Design Action Team. “Garibaldi Connections Project.” City of Garibaldi. Oregon Coastal Futures Project, Feb 2006. Web. Accessed 10 Apr 2013.

Graves, Jack L. “Now” Never Lasts. Bend: Maverick Publications, Inc., 1995. Print.

Wrabek, Joe. “No more smokestack?” Headlight Herald [Tillamook]. 27 Mar 2013: A1 & A3. Print.

Mathernus Thines: A Chronology

As the days go by, and the weeks, I begin to realize that I have too long been silent here, not even keeping up with my regular task of transcribing Aunt Elsie’s manuscript. My mood lately has not been for transcription, and my recent research hasn’t coalesced into any sort of complete form, but still I have not been idle.

My thoughts for the past month or so have returned to the Luxembourg branch of my family tree, and specifically to the THINES family of Hachiville. I don’t know why that particular limb fascinates me when I have so many others to choose from: the STROESSER family of Heispelt and Ettelbruck—with whom I ought to be entranced because they were blacksmiths, a profession I have dreamed of following—or the MERTZ family of Keispelt, for example. But whatever the reason, it is the THINES family that most interests me at the moment.

I have been researching the man who seems to have founded my Hachiville branch, Mathernus THINES. In the multilingual and phonetic nature of the era’s records, his first name is alternately Materne, Matherne, Maternus, etc. and his surname sees variations such as THINNES, THIENES, THÜNES, or most surprisingly HANSEN. I have chosen the spelling “Mathernus THINES” because that is the way he consistently signed his name on documents, regardless of what the clerk may have written. That he wrote his own name is significant in a time when most of his contemporaries signed with a cross. I hope someday to discover the source and reason for his education.

As yet, I have not been able to put together much in the way of a life story for him, being ignorant of many of the social forces that formed him, but I have been putting together a rough chronology, which follows, with comments.

He was born about the year 1737 in or near the tiny village of Stockem, which is only about two miles from Hachiville. The name Mathernus derives from St. Materne, who is credited with Christianizing Alsace, but he was more likely named after his godfather in the Luxembourgish manner, who was in turn named after his godfather and so on until we finally reach one back in the mists of time who really was named for the saint. I do not mean to imply that St. Materne was the godfather of one of my relations, only that naming practices have undergone change and that the practice of naming a child after its godparent must have had its start at some point, and children received names in a different manner before that point.

The only document I have run across naming Mathernus’ parents is his death certificate. It names them as Nicolas THINES and Hanna THINES. Family trees at Rootsfinder and Deltgen also identify them as Nicolas THINES and Anna or Hanna.

Mathernus probably married his wife Anne Marie SCHMITZ in about 1760, basing my guess on the approximate birthdates of their children. The pair had three known children, all daughters: Marguerite, Anna Maria, and Susanna. Once again deferring to the genealogist at Rootsfinder, their dates of birth were about 1761, 1762, and 1765 respectively.

The earliest document in which I have seen the name of Mathernus THINES is the 1771 baptism of Joannes Maternus TOLLER, a son of Philippi TOLLER and Maria PEDERCH. The relationship between the TOLLERs and Mathernus THINES is unknown, but Mathernus served as the child’s godfather. He is identified as “Joes Maternus Thines ex Stockem”; the “Joes” is an abbreviation for Joannes. This record is the one and only time I have seen Mathernus’ name prefaced by Joannes. It also appears that he was still residing in Stockem at this time.

The next time he appears in the records, serving again as a godfather, is in 1775. This time he is identified as living in Hachiville. Once again his godchild is of unknown relationship: Maternus KOIL, the son of Hubert KOIL and Maria VILMES. However, Mathernus often appears on documents also containing the WILMES (VILMES) name. No doubt they were closely allied, at least by 1780. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Once again he appears as the godfather of a child of unknown relationship in 1776. This time the child is a girl, Anna BOURG, the daughter of Friderici BOURG and Susanna ETSCHET. 

When we arrive at 23 Jan 1780, we see the alliance of the WILMES and THINES families. Although I have accessed this marriage certificate and have a fair amount of experience in reading these old documents, I am no expert. At best I am a persistent amateur. But the irregularities in the document’s form combined with the difficult handwriting and foreign language have me stumped in this case. I can tell that it is a marriage record for Joannis WILHMS and Anna Maria THÜNES and that the groom’s parents are Henrici WILHMS and Elisabetha WELTERS. The bride’s parents appear to be Nicolai COOS and Anna THÜNES, but the additional words before the introduction of their names make me question that. The witnesses to the ceremony are Mathernus THINES (in this case called Materni THÜNES) and Nicolai SCHMITZ. All indications regarding the closeness of the two families would suggest that the bride is Mathernus’ sister, however if that is so, there is a fairly considerable age difference. Mathernus would have been about 43 years old, and Anna Maria, although the record does not explicitly state it, was clearly of childbearing age, as subsequent records prove. She gave birth up until twelve years after this marriage. I would guess her to be at least ten years younger than her possible brother. The tree at Deltgen bears out this hypothesis. Incidentally, Nicolai SCHMITZ may be my 5great-grandfather through a nearby twig on the family tree.

 

Just over a year later, on 4 Feb 1781, Mathernus attended another wedding, but this time as the father of the bride. His daughter Anna Maria married Henricus Josephus HERMAN. Oddly, she is not named on the certificate except where she made her mark at the bottom. Evidently she did not have the benefit of her father’s education.

A few months after that, on 5 Apr 1781, Mathernus served as the godfather for what was possibly his niece, the daughter of “Joannis WILLEM” and “Annee Maria THINUS.” Her name was Elisabeta.

On 3 Jan 1785, his daughter Susanna married Henricus KILLEN. This is the record in which we learn of the HANSEN alias. Surnames were still in flux, and often people would take on the name of the house they occupied, so it was not unusual to find a person recorded in multiple ways. Fortunately, the documents sometimes identified them using both surnames, separated by “modo,” “sive,” or “alias.” In this case, the bride is identified as “Susanna HANSEN,” whereas her father is called “Materni THINES modo HANSEN.” Unfortunately, I did not make this discovery until after going through all the earlier records, and may have missed some in the process by not knowing that the HANSEN name was relevant. I have not yet reviewed them to see if there are any that I missed.

Later that year, on 17 Oct, Mathernus served as a witness at the wedding of Michael PATZ and Anna Maria KAISERS. This is another case of unknown connection. Since this is a wedding rather than a baptism, it seems more possible that they may have just been friends and not related. I may be wrong, but it seems that baptisms generally required a relative to act as sponsor. In marriages I have frequently seen a witness described as an acquaintance.

About two weeks after the wedding, on 29 Oct 1785, Mathernus became the godfather for what may very well have been his first grandson. The child, unsurprisingly named Maternus, was the son of Joseph HERMAN and Anna Maria THINES, or, as she is styled in the record, THIENES. The child was the second born to the couple, the first one being a girl named Margaritha, born two years previous. Her grandfather Mathernus was surely present at her baptism, but, not being a sponsor, he does not appear on the record.

10 Feb 1787 saw the baptism of Anna Maria WILMES, the daughter of Joannes WILMES and Anna Maria THINES (THIENES in this record), and therefore possibly Mathernus’ niece. The official godfather of the child was someone named Simon THIENES of “Stockheim,” that is, Stockem, but apparently he was unable to be there. Mathernus stood in for him. Working on the theory that Anna Maria THINES was Mathernus’ sister, Simon becomes another candidate for a sibling. The circumstantial evidence is consistent with probability; Simon is described as being born and still residing in Stockem.

The last of Mathernus’ known daughters from his marriage to Anna Maria SCHMITZ, Margareta, was married to Joannes RATHS on 30 Dec 1787.

By 1789, Mathernus’ son-in-law Henricus KILLEN has apparently begun to prefer his alternate surname of SCHMITZ. He appears in his son’s baptismal record using only that name, and it is not until the birth of his next child in 1791 that we see the telltale “modo” verifying that it is indeed the same man. Henricus’ and Susanna’s 1789 son is named Maternus SCHMITZ, and it is obvious just by glancing at his Christian name who his godfather was.

Mathernus sponsored another grandchild on 15 July 1790, this time the daughter of Joannis RATZ (RATHS) and Margaretha THINES. The child’s name was Anna Chatarina. I wonder if the birth was a difficult one, because the mother passed away only two months later, on 30 Sept.

Mathernus’ wife Anne Marie SCHMITZ passed away at some point after 1765, although I have seen no record to pinpoint just when. Mathernus was now about 53 years old, his daughters all married and one buried at the Hachiville Cemetery, so apparently the time was right to begin another family. Anne Catherine CREMER (or CREMERS, as she appears in the marriage record) was more than twenty years his junior—in fact not much older than his daughter Margaretha, had she lived—and the two of them founded the branch of the THINES family from which I am descended.

The marriage is one on which I wish I could shed some light. The great age difference makes me curious as to what kind of feelings they had for one another. Although one does occasionally see great age disparities in the marriage records, the vast majority of marriages took place between couples more nearly matched. What sort of pressures might there have been both for and against the marriage? I want, above all, to know if it was a love-match, but no amount of research is likely ever to yield that answer.

What I do know is that they were married on 18 Nov 1790 in Anna Catherine’s hometown of Basbellain. Basbellain, like Hachiville, was the seat of the commune of the same name. (Both communes have since been reorganized: Hachiville into Wincrange and Basbellain into Troisvierges.) It is about four and a half miles from Hachiville, and is one of those unusual towns whose names in the three local languages bear no resemblance to one another. In French it is called Basbellain, but in German it is known as Niederbesslingen, and in Luxembourgish it is Kiirchen. All three names appear in the records. The bride’s parents are identified as Joannis CREMERS and Barbara SCHLEIDGES, but the groom’s parents go unidentified, presumably because of his age.

Their first daughter, Anna Maria, was born shortly after their first anniversary, on 25 Nov 1791. Her godmother was “Anna Maria THINES ex Helzingen,” which could refer to her possible aunt, the wife of Joannes WILMES. The “ex Helzingen” means only that she was residing in Hachiville at the time, not that she was necessarily born there. If we could be sure that this is the same Anna Maria THINES, it would be another layer of circumstantial evidence to indicate that she and Mathernus were siblings. However, since only the name and place of residence are indicated, it could also refer to Mathernus’ daughter Anna Maria from his first marriage. The child’s godfather was Nicolas CREMERS of Kirchen (Basbellain), who I presume to be an uncle on her mother’s side. I will leave that research to another time.

On 13 Oct 1792 the WILMES household makes another appearance in Mathernus’ timeline. This time he is the godfather of their daughter Elisabetha.

Mathernus’ and Anne Catherine’s second child, Anna Chatarina, was baptized on 10 Aug 1793. This time both the sponsors were from the CREMERS side of the family, which will be of interest when I get around to researching that part of the tree, but says nothing about the THINES family.

The next four children appear in the trees at Rootsfinder and Deltgen, but I have not yet seen the original documents. According to those trees, Elisabeth or Elise came next, born on 14 Aug 1795, followed by Susanne on 20 Sept 1797, a stillbirth on 7 Aug 1798, and Jean on either 17 or 19 Feb 1800.

In 1795, Luxembourg came under the rule of the newly formed French Republic, and within the following years eventually became obliged to follow its decrees, including the establishment of a new calendar. The French Republican calendar was a metric calendar, believe it or not, with ten days in a week. Thus, the records from this time seem to have the most extraordinary dates. The next child for which I have a birth certificate—and now they really are birth certificates in the modern sense, not baptismal records—was Nicolas, born on 23 Messidor X. Years in the French Republican calendar are conventionally written in Roman numerals, and are dated from the proclamation of the French Republic. This particular date translates to 12 July 1802. The text regarding the parents and witnesses begins to be very informative to genealogists. On this certificate, the text regarding Mathernus translates to “Mathernus Thines born in Stockem and residing in Hachiville aged sixty-four years, farmer.” Henceforward we will seldom have any doubt as to just whom any record refers.

On 15 Prairial XI (4 June 1803), Mathernus witnessed for the birth of Margretha SCHMITZ, the daughter of Michel SCHMITZ and Anna Maria GLOT alias JEAN PIERRE. Given the name of the child, we can deduce that in addition to being his witness in civil records, our Mathernus was also his godfather. Just what relationship the two families bore one another is unknown, but I suspect that Michel was some sort of relative to Mathernus’ first wife. There is, of course, the added possibility that Michel was a relative of Mathernus’ son-in-law Henricus KILLEN alias SCHMITZ, but the first possibility appears to be much more likely in my opinion. Naturally, there is always the possibility of coincidence, given the commonness of the name, but standing as a sponsor for a child’s baptism does seem to imply some sort of familial relationship.

Mathernus and Anne Catherine had their next child, Anna Margretha, on 14 Thermidor XII (2 Aug 1804). At the end of the following year, much to the relief of confused genealogists, the government of the French Republic abandoned their experiment with a metric calendar and reverted to the familiar Gregorian calendar.

In 1806, Mathernus was a witness on several birth records. First, on 20 Apr 1806, for  Catharina GRAIMAN, the daughter of Jean GRAIMAN and Margretha BREŸER; second, on 6 May 1806, for Mathernus SCHMITZ, the son of Michel SCHMITZ and Marie JEAN PIERRE; and third, on 10 Oct 1806, for Jean Pierre STEMPELS, the son of Nicolas STEMPELS and Lisabetha MERTENS. The GRAIMAN, BREŸER, STEMPELS, and MERTENS surnames are unfamiliar in their relationship to the THINES family, but SCHMITZ has clearly been seen before.

Near the end of that year, on 16 Dec 1806 to be exact, Anne Catherine gave birth to the couple’s last child: Michel. This is the child from whom I am descended, and the father of Barbara THINES mentioned in a previouspost. Mathernus was, at the time of the birth of this final son, sixty-nine years old.

Here I have a ten-year gap in the chronology. It takes a great deal of time and effort to go page by page through the record books, and I have not completed the task. The next record I have that concerns Mathernus is the record of his death.

He died at 10 p.m. on 26 Mar 1816 in his house called Hansen. He was seventy-nine years old. His death was reported to the authorities the following day by Pierre ZEIMES and Jean Pierre WENER. Pierre ZEIMES was his son-in-law, having married his daughter, the second Anna Maria THINES, on 23 Dec 1811. Jean Pierre WENER is identified as a neighbor of the deceased.

Here, of course, ends the chronology. It does not give us much of a picture of Mathernus as a person, but it is something to build upon. I often make these chronologies for members of my family tree. They not only give a picture of a person’s migration (if any) and major life events, but they help to point out leads to other possible relationships and to highlight areas which require more research.

Sources:

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Baptismal record for Anna BOURG; 5 Oct 1776; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances, Mariages, Décès 1743-1782, Vol. 5> Image #140; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 28 Jan 2012.

Baptismal record for Anna Chatarina RATZ; 15 July 1790; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #450; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Anna Chatarina THINES; 10 Aug 1793; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #484; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Anna Maria THINES; 25 Nov 1791; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #461; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Anna Maria WILMES; 10 Feb 1787; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #417-8; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Elisabeta WILLEM; 5 Apr 1781; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #358; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Elisabetha WILMES; 13 Oct 1792; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #473; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Joannes Maternus TOLLER; Dec 1771; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances, Mariages, Décès 1743-1782, Vol. 5> Image #122; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 13 May 2011.

Baptismal record for Margaritha HERMAN; 21 May 1783; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #382; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Maternus HERMAN; 29 Oct 1785; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #395; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Maternus KOIL; 21 Oct 1775; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances, Mariages, Décès 1743-1782, Vol. 5> Image #136; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 28 Jan 2012.

Baptismal record for Maternus SCHMITZ; 16 June 1789; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #439; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Birth record for Anna Margretha THINES; 14 Thermidor XII; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1800-1827, Vol. 6> Image #23; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 31 Jan 2012.

Birth record for Catharina GRAIMAN; 20 Apr 1806; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1800-1827, Vol. 6> Image #38; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 31 Jan 2012.

Birth record for Jean Pierre STEMPELS; 10 Oct 1806; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1800-1827, Vol. 6> Image #38; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 31 Jan 2012.

Birth record for Margretha SCHMITZ; 15 Prairial XI; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1800-1827, Vol. 6> Image #16; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 31 Jan 2012.

Birth record for Mathernus SCHMITZ; 6 May 1806; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1800-1827, Vol. 6> Image #38; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 31 Jan 2012.

Birth record for Michel THINES; 16 Dec 1806; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1800-1827, Vol. 6> Image #40; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 19 Oct 2012.

Birth record for Nicolas THINES; 23 Messidor X; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1800-1827, Vol. 6> Image #10; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 31 Jan 2012.

Death record for Margaretha THINES; 30 Sept 1790; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #457; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Death record for Mathernus THINES; 26 Mar 1816; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #1251; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 28 Feb 2013.

Jost, Bertrand. "Saint Materne Et L'introduction Du Christianisme En Alsace." Saint Materne Et L'introduction Du Christianisme En Alsace. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. <http://bertrandjost.chez-alice.fr/Francais/Eveques_strasb/materne.htm>.

Luxroots, “THINES THIENES HANSEN échevin Materne,” igenealogy.lu (Online: Rootsfinder), <http://www.rootsfinder.eu/tng/getperson.php?personID=3259I&tree=Schloesser&PHPSESSID=a18919845f7119da1ca91f14a9c6d54c>, accessed 23 Feb 2013.

Marriage record for Henricus Josephus HERMAN and Anna Maria THINIS; 4 Feb 1781; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #362; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Marriage record for Henricus KILLEN and Susanna HANSEN; 3 Jan 1785; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #398; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Marriage record for Joannes RATHS and Margareta THIENES; 30 Dec 1787; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #424; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Marriage record for Joannis WILHMS and Anna Maria THÜNES; 23 Jan 1780; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #351; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Marriage record for Maternus THINES and Anna Catharina CREMERS; 18 Nov 1790; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Troisvierges > Naissances 1805-1890 Mariages 1779-1805> Image #1381; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Marriage record for Michael PATZ and Anna Maria KAISERS; 17 Oct 1785; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #403; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Marriage record for Pierre ZEIMES and Anna Maria THINES; 23 Dec 1811; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #573-4; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 28 Feb 2013.

Putnam, Ruth. Luxembourg And Her Neighbors. New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1918. Print.

“THINES, Materne,” Deltgen (Online: Deltgen), <http://www.deltgen.com/pubtng/getperson.php?personID=I248028&tree=Deltgen>, accessed 23 Feb 2013.