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The Beginning

So, this is Dad and Mom. Ray is the son of Conrad Herrmann and Kate Bundock. He is the step-son of Edith Armstrong and Wally Hewitt. ...

Monday, August 31, 2015

Photo's of Conrad Lofing and Lydia Herrmann

These photo's are courtesy of Rusty L on findagrave.


C
The photo on the right is of their grandson, Stacey Milo Lofing.

Photos of Susan Spencer Hendrix Mullins

Susan's granddaughter, Shirley, sent me these wonderful photo's of Susan and family.



left to right: Herbert Mullins, Phalen Hendrix, Susan Spencer Hendrix Mullins, Jimmy (Phalen's son), Leona Hendrix Burke holding her son, Al, Merle Hendrix Woodruff (Phalen's daughter) holding her daughter Marilyn, Esther Hendrix Buress (Phalen's daughter) holding Earlene Wallace (daughter of Phalen's sister, Florence), Elsie Pagni Hendrix (Phalen's wife) holding Esther's son, Ronnie,
Children Barbara Jean (Bobbie) Smith (Leona's daughter, Edith June (Phalen's daughter), Maxine Langston (Florence's daughter), The little girl in white is Janet Woodruff (Merle's daughter)
1940

1913 - Leona, Florence, Susan


Susan ca 1913-1915




Right: Herbert and Susan Spencer Mullins, 1941


Susan Spencer Mullins on the TV Show, "Queen for a Day", 1950

The Hagen Family of Janesville Wisconsin

When Lilla's mother, Emma, died at the young age of 28 years old, Lilla was sent to Minnesota to be raised by her maternal grandfather, Kelsey, and her Aunts - Kate and Lilla.
It is not exactly clear why this was done, although it appears that her father, Rodolph, did a lot of traveling. It could be just as well that Rodolph was not geared toward raising a young daughter on his own.
Whatever the case may be, in the town of Janesville, in Waseca County, was a young boy being raised in a large family. His father owned the hardware store in town. The boys name was Arthur Eugene Hagen.
Arthur was the son of Frederick and Mary (Everling) Hagen. 
Frederick, according to his obituary, was a 14 year old German immigrant, settling in Wisconsin, probably with his parents who are reported to be John and Sophia Hagen. 
Mary Everling, daughter of John and Maria Everling, was born in New York, but the family moved to Wisconsin sometime prior to Mary's 3rd year.
Fred and Mary raised eight children - Onie, LaVinnie, Bivinis (aka Berthis), Walter, Arthur, Grace, Etta, and Percy.
Onie married Alvin Fuller and lived out their lives in Janesville. They did not have any children.
LaVinnie moved to the State of Washington. Her occupation was teacher. Vinnie died in Seattle in 1914 at the age of 41 years, four years before the death of her father. She is buried in Janesville.
Bevinis, or Berthis, married Frank Mullen. They had one son - Charles. Frank and Bertie resided in Madelia for many years as Frank owned a Dry Goods Store in the town of his birth. 
Sometime after 1940 and prior to 1952, the couple moved to Los Angeles County. They both died there - Frank in 1957 and Bertie in 1964.
Charles married Esther Bredshall sometime after 1940 and prior to, at least, 1943. They also probably married in Minneapolis where both were residing during that time. The couple had 4 children. They moved to Oroville, California where they both died in 2002, just a few months apart. They share a beautiful grave marker where it is written "Together Forever".
From what I can find in the records, so far, Fred and Mary's son, Walter, never left home. Born in 1876, every census, every residence record has him residing in the home of his parents. He never married. The 1930 Census records that he is a merchant in the hardware business. Since this Census shows that he is living with his mother, brother, Percy, sister, Onie, and niece, Pearl, and that Percy is also a merchant in the hardware business, I am assuming that the brothers continue to operate the hardware store founded by their father. Walter died in 1953, and is buried with most of the rest of the family in Janesville.
Grace Ethel married Elmer Hanson in 1909 in Janesville. Together they had 4 children. After their marriage, they moved to Polk County, living there for the rest of their lives. Elmer died in 1950 in Wabasha County, Grace in 1971. They are both buried in Polk County.
Fred and Mary's daughter, Etta (aka Pearl), seemed to be ahead of her time for women of that era. According to her obituary, Etta left home for Madison, Wisconsin for training in the nursing profession. After working in her profession in Nebraska (and possibly other locations), she returned to Minnesota and married Emil Hauge when she was 33 years old. One can only surmise that she had a very modern life plan of career, than marriage and family. Sadly, it came to an end when she was 35 years old.
About a week after her daughter, Pearl, was born, Etta died. Emil, who was a teacher, moved to Montana shortly after Etta's death, leaving Pearl to be raised by Etta's sister, Onie.
Pearl married Alfred Winter sometime in the 1950s, and they moved to Santa Barbara County, California. They had at least one child. Alfred died in 1979, and Pearl died in 2001.
The youngest of the Hagen children was Percy Everling. Percy served for a short 4 months as a Private in Battery B, Motor Field Artillery, Replacement Depot at Camp Jackson in 1918. His father's obituary states that Percy is serving at Camp Jackson. He returned home to work as an insurance agent before moving on to help his brother, Walter, in the hardware business. Percy married Mabel Nyquist later in life, and it appears they had no children although there are some records that indicate Mabel may have had a prior marriage with children. Percy died in 1954, and Mabel in 1961. Both are buried in Janesville with other Hagen family members.
Now, we come to Arthur Eugene. Lilla's first husband, and father of her two children - Nodene Grace and Arthur Curtis. 
Arthur was born in 1877 in Janesville, Minnesota. According to Rodolph Spencer's 1898 letter to his brother, Orra, Arthur was in Washington State working, a year before his marriage to Lilla in 1899. The marriage took place in Waseca County, Minnesota, probably Janesville. 
Since both Nodene and Uncle Curt were born in California, Arthur and Lilla moved to California sometime between the time of their marriage in 1899, and the time of Nodene's birth in 1902. But by 1905, the marriage had fallen apart. I remember reading a small article granting a divorce to Lilla due to cruelty and abandonment of Arthur. I am unable to find that article again, but am still looking for it.
It is not known where Arthur goes after the divorce, and he doesn't pop up again in the records until 1917 in Aitkin, Minnesota on his World War I draft Reg Card. He is not married and reports his next of kin as a niece, Maron Hagen. I have no record of a Maron Hagen. 
Arthur, again, doesn't pop up in the records until the 1940 Federal Census. It is in the Census, and his mother's obituary of 1933, that reports him living in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Census reports that he lives at the Bethel Hotel, and lived there in 1935, and his occupation was a stove repairman in a hardware store. It states that he is not employed for pay, and has been unemployed for 26 weeks. He lists himself as married, but I can find no record of a second marriage for him. 
According to the Minnesota Death Index, Arthur died in Ramsey County in 1954. He is buried with his family in Janesville.


Thursday, August 13, 2015

So, Where do I go from here?

So, I have been pondering over the last few days on which direction to go on this blog. 
I have covered Mom's lineage pretty well. I have covered her first marriage to Rocky (Mitchell) pretty well, and Dad's only marriage was to Mom. Mom's parents had no additional marriages.
Dad's paternal line, Conrad Herrmann and Kate Bundock, had additional marriages for both of them. I have covered as much as I am going to on Grandma Herrmann's (Edith Armstrong) family line, yielding the rest for anyone to review the 5 volume work of Allen Wenzel on the Van Cleave lineage.
I pretty much covered Grandpa Hewitt's (Wallace Hewitt) line. 
For Dad's maternal lineage, Grandma Hewitt's (Kate Bundock) parents, George Bundock and Lilla Florence Spencer, had an additional marriage there. Lilla had a first marriage to Arthur Hagen. Grandpa Bundock (George) only had one marriage - to Lilla. 
So....I guess my next task is to post about Arthur Hagen.

Friday, August 7, 2015

Susan and Lilla in California

So, how did Susan and Lilla -half sisters born in different States in the 1800s - end up living in California?
More than likely, it was because of their father, Rodolph. 
After Lilla's mother, Emma, died in El Dorado County, California in 1888, Lilla was sent back to Minnesota to live with her mother's relatives. Rodolph remained in California.
According to a letter Rodolph wrote to his brother, Orra, he kept in close touch with Lilla. Well, as close as one could during that era, anyway. 
When Lilla grew to a young woman, she married a local fellow by the name of Arthur Eugene Hagen in 1899. Art was the son of Fred Hagen, a German immigrant, and Mary Everling, a New York native. The couple moved to Sacramento at some point before 1902, the birth year of their daughter, Nodene Grace. In 1904, a son arrived - Curtis Arthur Hagen. 
For some reason, shortly after the birth of Uncle Curt, the marriage between Lilla and Arthur broke down. I remember reading a small notice in a newspaper online (of course, I can't find the article now), that Lilla was granted a divorce due to "extreme cruelty". 
In 1906, Lilla married George Frederick Bundock. The witnesses to the marriage were Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Hendrix.

Meanwhile, in 1890, Susan is in Arkansas marrying William H. Hendrix. Somewhere between the time their oldest child, James Phalen was born (1893, Tennessee), and their second child, Florence Mae (1902, California), was born, the couple had moved to Sacramento County, California. Their last child, Leona was born in 1905. I can place William in Sacramento up to 1915, after that he disappears. According to William and Susan's granddaughter, it was said that he returned to Tennessee, but I have yet to find definitive proof of that. I am still looking, though.
Susan marries Hubert (Herbert) Mullins sometime between 1915 and 1920 when her and Hubert appear in the 1920 Census living in the home of John and Victoria Lewis along with Susan's daughter, Leona.
My search for William Hendrix has become my Hendrix brick wall. 
Future posts will be on Art Hagen's branch, Hubert Mullins' branch, and anything more I might find for George Bundock's branch.

The last time Susan appears in the Sac City Directory under the Hendrix name, 1915

A letter to the editor, Sac Bee 1944 by Leona


Another Letter to the editor, Sac Bee 1949 by Leona


Marriage Record for Andrew Duke and Telitha Humphries Spencer.



Marriage Certificate for Lilla Spencer Hagen and George F. Bundock. Willam and Susan Hendrix were witnesses.




Birth Record for Liila Florence Spencer, daughter of Rodolph Spencer and Emma Curtiss




Civil War Pension Card for Rodolph Spencer



Marriage Record for Rodolph Spencer and Telitha Humphries



Marriage Record for Susan Spencer and W. H. Hendrix



The letter Lilla includes with her mother's letter to her father, Rodolph. Lilla is just 9 years old. A month later, her mother, Emma, dies and Lilla is sent to Minnesota.


Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Lilla and Susan Spnecer

One of the thrills of family history is meeting new family. I just love it. This morning I had a wonderful conversation with my newly found 2nd cousin 1x removed. Her grandmother was my great-grand Aunt.















My great-grandmother, Lilla, on the left
My great-grand Aunt, Susan, on the right
Sisters



My 2nd great-grandfather, Rodolph
Father of Susan and Lilla.

So, how did two sisters - one born in Tennessee and one born in Minnesota - meet up in California? Well, lets start with Susan.

The oldest daughter of Rodolph Ambrose Spencer and his first wife, Telitha Humphries, was born in 1867 in Tennessee. 
And the story starts with the Civil War.
In 1862, Rodolph enlisted in the Union Army, Company B 22nd Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Private. He mustered out in June, 1865, and filed for a pension in 1871 as an invalid.
Now, I am relying on my memory here of what my Aunt had told me. She sent for Rodolph's Civil War record. 
According to my Aunt, Rodolph was either injured in battle or fell ill and had to be hospitalized. His nurse was Telitha Humphries. I recall a conversation on our old family site speculating that the Florence Nightingale syndrome may have occurred during the convalescence of Rodolph.
Rodolph and Telitha married in May, 1865 in Giles County, Tennessee. In 1867, Susan was born. I don't know when the marriage failed, but by 1870, Rodolph was living in Black Hawk County, Iowa. In 1877, he marries Emma Curtiss in Janesville, Minnesota. Their only child, Lilla Florence, is born in 1878 in Owatonna. 
At some point, the family moves to El Dorado County, California. The reason is unclear, but there are two possibilities. One possibility is for gold digging. The other is the fact that Rodolph's Aunt Rhoda Glynn lives there. Her husband, Ira, being a dentist in Placerville.

 In April of 1888, Lilla includes a letter to her father with one her mother sends, hoping that her sister, Susan, can come to California. 
In May of that same year, her mother dies. 
Lilla is sent to Minnesota to live with her mother's family. She is 9 years old.




Meanwhile, Susan lives with her mother, Telitha in Tennessee.
Telitha married Andrew Duke in Giles County, 1872. By 1880, Andrew and Telitha are living in Limestone County, Alabama along with Andrew's two sons from a previous marriage, Henry and James, Telitha's daughter, Susan, and the couples 3 children, Frank, George, and Willie. Also with them is Andrew's nephew, Thomas.
At some point between 1880 and 1900, the family moves to McNairy County, Tennessee. It is in this county that Andrew dies in 1905, and Telitha in 1915 (of tuberculosis).

Monday, August 3, 2015

Karl - Andreas Bjerkmann's youngest brother

So, now we've come to the last of Olof Jacobsen's children. Andreas' youngest brother.
While I had to chase Karl's sister all over Alvsborg during her lifetime, Karl was easy. Karl spent his entire 64 years - from birth to death - in Backe.
Born in Backe, Alvsborg, Sweden in 1852 to Olof and his third wife, Maria Brynglsdotter, Karl remained in Backe and married Ida Eliasdotter, child of Elias Jansson and Kasja Eriksdotter. Together, they raised their five children ( a sixth child died shortly after birth) in Backe.
Their children: Anton, Axel, Hilda, a baby daughter, Anna, and Hjalmar were all born in Backe.
I don't know much about Anton yet. Axel moved to Steneby in 1931, and I lost track of him after 1935. 
Hilda married Fritz Oskar Larsson in Backe. They moved to Amals in 1910, and I lost track of them in 1931, but not before finding their children - Axel Bertil, Hugo Gottfrid, Fritz Herbert, Elsa Ingeborg, Gunnel Anna Greta, and youngest daughter, Gullan. I believe all the children were born in Amals. 
Daughter Anna, also, moved to Amals in 1926, but I lost track of her after the move.
Karl's youngest, Hjalmar, married Anna Viktoria Bjurstrom in Backe, but the couple moved to Skallerud a few months after the marriage. I lost track of them in 1931, but I do have the following children for them: Rut Margareta, Rune Gotthard, Karin Ingegerd, Kerstin Viktoria, and Britt Lillian. All of the children were born in Skallerud, except for Rut Margareta. Rut seems to have been adopted, having been born in 1917 (before Hjalmar and Anna married) in Engelbrekt, Stockholm. She appears to have moved out of Skallerud in 1937 to Gamlestads, only to return two years later. 
Karl died in Backe in 1917. Ida died in 1950, in Steneby.
So, that wraps up the Bjerkmann's for now - at least until I find more information for them.
My next post is going to switch gears a bit as I cover my Great-Grand Aunt Susan C. Spencer and her descendants (and some ancestors, too!). 

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Karolina Olofsdotter from the Bjerkmann Branch

Okay, so I got side-tracked a little on the Mitchell and Herrmann family branches, but I did mention in the last post from the Bjerkmann branch that I would write about Andreas Bjerkmann's half-sister and half-brother, Karolina and Karl.
I will start with Karolina, the oldest of the two siblings.
Karolina (and Karl) were the offspring of my 2nd great-grandfather's (Olof Jacobsen) third marriage to Maria Bryngelsdotter.
Karolina was fun to research. Okay, there is a little sarcasm there, but after a while, it became sort of like a treasure hunt through Alvsborg. Karolina moved around - a lot.
She was born in 1849 in Backe, and lived there until 1871 when she moved to Steneby.
After a year in Steneby, she moved to Odskolt. She stayed in Odskolt for almost a year before moving to Dals Ed. 
She lived in Tingvall, Dals Ed until 1875, then once again moves - this time to Fagerhult within Dals Ed. 
But something now changes in the records. I'm not sure if it was an error on the part of the Church Parish, or if Karolina just decided to change her birth date and place, but now she is reported as being born 3 months earlier than she actually was born (same day and year), and born in Ed instead of Backe. 
Whatever the case may be, this new birth date and place stayed in the records for the rest of her life.
She stays in Dals Ed until 1882, then moves into Steneby - again.
I lost track of her here, from 1883 to 1886, but I find her again in 1887. Now, she is living in Odskolt (again), only now she is married to Martin Eliasson (whom she married in 1887). 
The couple remain in Odskolt (moving at least once within the Parish) until 1898 when they move to Steneby.
They remain in Steneby until Karolina's death in 1908.
I have yet to find a death record for Martin, but I do know that he was alive at the time of his wife's passing.
Karolina and Martin had no children.