Our cruise ship was about to visit Stavenger, Norway, back in July 2011. The onboard library had a tourist guide for the city that showed the local Norwegian state archives was located just a few steps from where our ship would dock. Since both Larry and I had ancestors from Norway, we decided to visit the archives before we walked around the city proper.
The research room was on the second floor of the building, and almost the first thing I saw on one of the tables in the room was a pamphlet called "Norwegian Pastor to Portage and Waupaca." Olaus Fredrik Duus was the pastor of the Lutheran Church in Scandinavia, Wisconsin from 1854-1857. He wrote letters "home" to Norway during that time that were saved until being published in 2007.
The pamphlet has two parts. The first is called "Historical Background and Ethnic Information" and is a brief history of Wisconsin's settlement followed by a section telling about the first Norwegian settlers in the area. The second part of the pamphlet contains the letters written by Pastor Duus during the years 1855-1858.
Who would have imagined finding a booklet containing letters written from a pastor in Scandinavia during the time our Rowe family may have been attending the church in a Stavenger research library?
*52 Ancestors: "Out Of Place"
Katherine Staub Wilcox passed away in December and we will miss one of our most enthusiastic family historians. It was always a pleasure to visit the Wilcox home, located on land that's been in the Staub family since the 1870s. Katherine and her family hosted three different reunion gatherings at the Wilcox place.
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| Looking at photos |
When we went to see Kathy, she would have a collection of items ready for review on the kitchen table. (I don't know if it is a Swiss trait or a Staub trait, but everything related to family was worth saving!) We looked at photos, photo albums, newspaper clippings, family letters and postcards. My favorite piece of Staub family history was Jacob's record of letters sent and received--to relatives still in Switzerland, his sisters in California and other scattered acquaintances.
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| Discussing ancestors |
We spent much time trying to solve family mysteries, such as Mina's two marriages to Ivar Bentzel and Rudolf Aeberle, the cryptic letter received from Regula Bentzel after they returned to Switzerland and whether the Laager families located in the U.S. were family connections. After a visit with Kathy, I would always have new ideas for continued research.
*52 Ancestors: "Love"
The name Davinity seemed quite unusual to me, and it confused other researchers: their decision to label this child a female caused problems in many family trees! At the time of the 1860 census in Indiana, it was stated clearly that he was a male child. Davinity used "David" most of his life, although he gave his first son in a second marriage the same name.
Davinity first married Olive Petty in Stearns County, Minnesota. Not too long after the birth of their sixth child in 1866, she passed away of consumption. Their son Jesse was my cousin's grandfather.
David married for a second time about 1896. He and Etta Blake, his second wife, became the parents of eleven children.
*52 Ancestors: "Unusual Name"
One of the brick walls in the family research has always been the grandparents from Lithuania and Poland: Dominic and Clementina Zajchowska Churas.
When we visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City in 2015 I was able to consult with Maria, who is the Polish research expert on the International floor. She spent quite some time accessing online records before admitting there was no information available for the Zajchowski family. There was also no microfilm for that area of Poland.
Maria did have a friend in Poland who was willing look for church or civil records. Clementina's baptismal record stated the parish was Niewodna, although an address from her sister Olympia who corresponded with Grandma Churas was Grodzisko.
Mieczyslaw spent several weeks visiting different parishes and record offices in the Wisniowa area. Ultimately, he was able to locate four birth records of children born to the same parents.
Clementina, born 7 Feb 1894
Jozef, born 10 Sep 1896
Olympia, born 4 Apr 1901, died 18 Jan 1979
Andreas, born 7 May 1904, died 8 Nov 1908
All four were children of Adalbertus Zajchowski, son of Jozef and Agatha Seremet Zajchowski and Francisca Cierpial, daughter of Casimirus and Marianna Gruszczynska Cierpial.
After 20 years of wondering about Grandma Churas' family, we finally had two generations of ancestors!
*52 Ancestors: "Brick Wall"
