My Spencer Branch -Rodolph Spencer

My Spencer branch of my family starts with my great-grandmother, Lilla Florence Spencer. She was the mother of my Dad's mother, Kate Bundock.
Lilla's parents were Rodolph Ambrose Spencer and Emma A Curtiss. Lilla was born in Minnesota and moved with her parents to El Dorado County in the Northern Sierra Mountains of California. It was here, in Placerville, that Rodolph's Aunt Rhoda lived. Rhoda was the sister of Rodolph's mother, Mercy Ann Russell. Since this is the only connection the Spencer's had with the county, I surmise they were partly the reason for the move. Rhoda and her husband, Ira Glynn, were the parents of Rodolph's infamous cousin, Julia Savier.
Lilla lost her mother when she was 9 years old. Her father traveled a lot, so the Curtiss family took her back to Minnesota to be raised by them. I believe that she was particularly close to her Aunt Kate. Lilla named one of her daughters, my grandmother, after her Aunt Kate. 
Rodolph was married 3 times. His first marriage was to Telitha Humphries in Tennessee. According to my aunt, Gail, who had researched our Spencer lineage, Rodolph was injured during the Civil War. Rodolph served for the Wisconsin 22nd Infantry, Company B as a Private. He enlisted in 1862 and mustered out in 1865. 
Aunt Gail had sent for Rodolph's Service records. She had said that he was wounded in Tennessee and that Telitha was his nurse. She believed the marriage resulted from a Florence Nightingale effect. 
Rodolph's marriage to Telitha produced a daughter, Susan. However, the marriage did not last long, and Rodolph and Telitha divorced. I will blog more about Susan in another post.
Rodolph went back to Minnesota, and several years later married Emma Curtiss. They only had one daughter, Lilla. 
Rodolph's third marriage was to Celia Ann Richards. Celia's first marriage to Benjamin Spencer (no relation) produced 3 children - Frank, Leah, and Cora. Some researchers add another daughter - Bertie. I have found no evidence for her as of this post. Benjamin died in 1891, so it was sometime after that when Rodolph and Celia married. 
I still question the validity of this marriage between Rodolph and Celia. I can find no marriage record for them. If the marriage did occur, it would have been for a very short time. The City directories of 1908 and 1912 list Celia as the widow of Benjamin. Celia died in Santa Cruz, California in 1915, which would mean that if Rodolph and Celia married, it probably was somewhere between these years. 
Rodolph's daughter, Susan, did move to California, and it was Susan who oversaw Rodolph's admittance into the National Home for Disabled Veteran's in Yountville, California. It was here that Rodolph spent the rest of his days. He died there in 1912 at the age of 68 and is buried in the cemetery adjacent to the Home. 
That is another reason I question the marriage between Celia and Rodolph. The 1912 City directory for Celia, and the fact that no Widow's Pension from Rodolph's Civil War service was ever granted to Celia, and I know that Rodolph received a Pension. 

Update: Well, that was an interesting turn of events. I decided to do my little last minute research check on Rodolph before adding the photo's and adding this post to the blog. I found the marriage record for Rodolph and Celia from 1891. 
I also found some documents showing that Rodolph (and his brother, John) were members of the Grand Army of the Republic. 
Now, isn't that interesting!

 Some of the card files from Rodolph's Civil War Service.

Rodolph and Telitha's marriage record      

A record of Rodolph's membership in the Grand Army of the Republic

The marriage record of R A Spencer and C A Spencer in Alameda, CA 1891

 Rodolph's Pension Card that reports his death in 1912.

Rodolph's grave marker in the Cemetery at the Yountville National Home for Disabled Veteran's.

Progress in Olof's Timeline

I have made great progress in the timeline of my 3rd great-grandfather, Olof Sjöholm. 
As I mentioned in my last post, I lost track of him after 1790 where he appears with his mother, Catharina, in the home of his grandfather, Lars. 
His mother moved to Kvistbro and married, but there is no evidence that Olof moved with her - a little strange as Olof was about 3 years old at the time, but the H.E. does not show him moving out at all with his mother. 

The H.E. for 1787 to 1790 in Nora shows Olof in the home of his grandfather, Lars. Note that his mother moves to Kvistbro, but no record of Olof moving there with her.

The next record I have found for Olof has been a Moving In record for 1809 from Örebro in Katarina. Now, this is where it begins to get a bit confusing.

Olof moves into Katarina in 1809. Ulrica moves into Katarina in 1810. 

Ulrica moves into Katarina in 1810

I will have to search for it again, but I did come across an H.E. for 1810 or 1811 where Olof and Ulrica are living in the same household. I believe they may have been lodgers as neither are related to the household owner. I also believe that this was, most likely, where they met for the first time. 

In 1811, Olof moves out of Katarina and moves into Maria Magdalena. I have only been able to find the Moving Out record from Katarina. I still do not have any records of where he went in Maria or why. 

In September of 1812, he moves out of Maria Magdalena and moves back to Katarina. He doesn't stay long, as he must move into Skeppsholm by 2 October, as Banns are recorded for his marriage to Ulrica on 25 October.

In January of 1813, the couple move into Klara from Steppsholm. This is where Catharina Sofia, their first child is born, although I have not found a birth record for her yet.  In October, the family moves into Maria Magdalena where they remain until Olof passes away in 1833. 

I still have records to research for Olof's timeline, but what I have so far pretty much can track his movements from birth to death. 

Recent Finds in the Sjöholm Branch

I recently took advantage of a 3 month subscription offer to ArkivDigital. Even though I already have access to many of the records on ArkivDigital through my subscription on Ancestry.com, I still like to get Arkiv when I can afford it. 
Arkiv has many records that are later than 1910, and the records are clearer and easier to read. Arkiv has many records, also, that go beyond the basic birth, death, marriage, moving in, moving out, and household examinations. So, when I can, I like to get a subscription and take advantage of all that Ancestry doesn't have in their databases for Swedish records.
So, I found a few items, so far, that I had been searching for, but could never find. 
The biggest discovery was for Catharina Larsdötter Sjöholm - my 4th great grandmother. She had given bith to two illegitimate children - Catharina and Olof, my 3rd great-grandfather. Catharina, the daughter, died at a young age. But I lost track of Catharina after 1790. I could not find her anywhere at all. 
So, I went back to that last household examination where she was recorded in the house of her father, Lars, and step-mother, Catharina. Her son, Olof, was also in the same H.E. 
After further examination of this H.E., I discovered a name place under the moving out column. Unfortunately, I couldn't read it, so I called upon my Facebook Group that helps with deciphering these Swedish records. One of the members in my group thought it could be Kvistbro, another parish in Örebro 
The H.E.'s were missing for the time frame that I needed, but the marriage records were there. Lo and behold, there she was! Catharina married Ingvald Jonssön in Kvistbro on the 14 of April, 1793. The record is as follows:

Once again, after this record, I lost her. But I was excited to have found this record, and excited to discover that my 4th great-grandmother had finally married. The search is now on as to whether she had any more children.

Another great discovery was with my 3rd great-grandparents - Catharina's son, Olof, and his wife, Ulrica Gillberg. 
I lost track of Olof after the H.E. of his grandfather, Lars, in 1790, where Olof resided along with his mother. He popped up next in Maria Magdalena, a parish of Stockholm, on an H.E. for 1832-1833 which also recorded his death on the 24th of May, 1833. 
I had run across a moving out record for Maria Magdalena for 1812 that contained another place name to where he was moving to - but I could not read it. So, I called upon the help of my Facebook friends once again. It turned out to be Skeppsholm, another parish in Stockholm. 
And it was in that parish where Olof and Ulrica married on the 25 day of October, 1812. I even found a Banns for them on 2 October, 1812. 

The Banns for Olof and Ulrica

The marriage record for Olof and Ulrica

I still have about 2 and a half months left on my subscription, so I am hoping to find more answers to my questions on other family members - both from the Sjöholm branch and the Bjorkman/Bjerkmann branch. But even if I don't, these wonderful finds made the price of subscription well worth it!

Crestleaf.com's Guess My Family Heritage Blogathon Contest

http://crestleaf.com/blog/enter-win-guess-family-heritage-blogathon-contest


Reference this photograph and Guess My Heritage!
(Click on photo to enlarge)

Post your answers in the comments.