A Question the Records Can't Answer

             Thinking about this and I do have some questions for my paternal great grandparents.  I raised these questions on my blog entry about A Big Decision.  In fact, it was my opening statement.

I also want to ask Emanuel Swinehart why he moved around so much.  The Swinehart’s’ started out in Wyandot County, Ohio.  Then sometime prior to 1865, they moved to Noble County, Indiana.  Several of Emanuel’s children were born in Indiana.  However, a couple were born in Kansas.  He moved sometime prior to 1880. He ended up in Clatsop County, Oregon where he died in 1926.  There is a family lore that says he worked for the railroad.  But can’t find proof.  His son, Harry (also a paternal great grandparent), ended up in Idaho then Washington State.

I’m sure there are others, I just haven’t worked in depth on those lines. 

Tradition

             Family Traditions . . . interesting concept.  Do they continue today?  Yes and no.

When I was growing up, it was traditional for us to spend Thanksgiving Day with my mom’s family.  It was a large family – she had 8 siblings and several of them had large families.  Location changed every year, alternating between Washington and Oregon.  It was the host family’s responsibility to obtain a place for us to hold the big dinner, usually a community or Grange hall.

We would arrive, bring in whatever food items we were responsible for.  There would be turkey and ham, potatoes (both sweet and mashed), gravy, vegetables (I don’t ever recall there being a green bean casserole!), salads, and lots of desserts (mainly pies).

Kids would play outside (for some reason it was usually nice) but if it wasn’t, then we would be in the hall.  The older boys would play with a ball, I think the younger boys tried to join in.  Us girls would congregate somewhere and visit.

Sometimes, somebody would bring a film projector and show home movies from past events.  We would all gather together and eat.  Afterwards, there would be games then gathering up the leftovers and heading back home.

        This ended after the grandparents had passed away.  Although, it was replaced by the annual family camping trip in July.  Actually, I think we had the family camping trip as well as the Thanksgiving dinner for several years.  Now, it is just the camping trip.  A destination was decided and everybody showed up when they could.  Most of the time, when I was growing up, it was somewhere in Washington State.  The men would go
fishing or hiking into a lake to fish.  Sometimes, us kids would join in.  However, in the past few years, it has been in Oregon at the same location.  I haven’t been able to attend as it
conflicts with my husband’s family reunion.  There’s usually just one day (a Saturday) that is set aside for the annual potluck mid-day meal.  For those who live close, this made it a day trip for them.   There would be games to play – lawn games or cribbage tournaments.  Mainly visiting and the group photo.  The younger generation is now responsible for organizing this.

        That’s mom’s side.  Dad’s side was Christmas.  Much

smaller family as Dad had only one sibling and she had no children.  We would gather in the early afternoon, have a big meal (can’t remember if it was turkey or ham) with all the trimmings.  When I was working, we would switch the time based on which schedule I was working (morning shift vs afternoon shift).  After eating, we would open our gifts to each other.  Now, it’s my family as a whole and we have Christmas breakfast then the kids open their gifts.  Adults no longer exchange gifts. BTW, I still have that doll bed shown in the picture.  It was made by my grandfather.

Working for a Living - more farmers

             I thought about me but have done so previously.  So, let’s see if there is an individual that I may have covered.  I’ve written several posts about my paternal grandfather.  And I’ve written about my dad.  I’ve written about several other immigrant ancestors but never really covered what they did for a living.

·      Taking Care of Business in June 2024

·      Earning a Living in February 2024

·      Jobs I Have Held in Aug 2014

·      Achievement in May 2024

·      Father’s Day – My Dad in June 2018

So, who do I want to research further?  I’ve talked about my brick walls I’ve been working on so don’t really want to write about them.  I think I will write about my Swinehart family.  I’ve only mentioned them a total of three times.

·      Migration – March 2025

·      Changing Names – May 2024

·      S Surnames – February 2018

Harry Everett Swinehart was born 1 Nov 1880 in Clay County, Kansas (KS).  He married Bertha Davis 1 Nov 1903 in Hagerman, Lincoln/Gooding County, Idaho (ID).  He died 9 Aug 1934 in Spokane, Spokane County, Washington (WA).  Harry & Bertha had a total of 5 children (four girls and one boy).

Harry’s parents were Emanuel S Swinehart and Mary Jane Secore.  They had a total of six children.  In the June 1880 Federal Census for Oakland Township, Clay County, Kansas, Emanuel is listed as a farmer with his wife and daughter, Sarah E. The 1885 Chapman Township, Ottawa County, Kansas has Emanuel listed as a farmer with his wife (Sarah) and three children (Mary, Harry, & Pearly).  In the June 1900 Federal Census for Maled Precinct, Lincoln County, Idaho, Emanuel (listed as M.S.) still has his occupation listed as a farmer.  Three children are listed along with his wife.  This census indicates that she had six children.  Children listed include Sarah E, Harry E, and Pearley E.  Harry is listed as a farm laborer.  The 1910 Census for Hagerman Precinct, Lincoln County, Idaho still has Emanuel as a farmer.  His wife (now indicates 3 out of 5 children living) and his daughter, Sarah (or Sadie) as living with him.

Harry has his own place close by and is listed as a farmer.  Living with him is his wife, Bertha and three daughters (Rita E, Juanita L, and Lorica E).   What’s interesting is the census reflects that Harry was born in Indiana.  Whereas, the 1900 census had listed Kansas.

Harry’s 1918 WWI Registration Card indicates he was living in Fruitland, Payette, Idaho and his occupation was farming.  The 1920 census has Harry and Emanuel living next door to each other in Eaton Precinct, Washington County, Idaho.  Harry owns a farm (mortgaged) and Emanuel is renting a home.  Harry is living with his wife and five children (four daughters and one son).  It indicates that Harry was born in Kansas.  Emanuel has his wife, a daughter (Pearl E) and a granddaughter (Ruby E) living with him.  No occupation listed.

Emanuel’s death certificate indicates his occupation was farmer.  Harry’s death certificate indicates his occupation was farmer as well.

Another family of farmers . . .

A Quiet Life

             What’s a quiet life?  Is it living on a farm? Or is it a small community? Or is it in the big city?  Is it during peacetime?  Or war?  Is it somebody who lived a short life?  Or is it retirement?  Is it somebody who travels?  Or a stay at home person? Or is it an ancestor you haven’t researched?

I have over 7,000 names in my family tree; covering both my family and my husband’s family.  Maybe that’s the quiet life – researching your family tree.

Do I think I have a quiet life?  I have a very busy life.  So, I do need those “down” times.  I grew up on a farm.  Yes, it was quiet but it was work – pulling tansy so that it won’t get mixed in the hay or the cows won’t eat and get sick.  You had to get to it before it blossomed and went to seed.  It was hay season where  you had to stack the bales either on the truck or in the barn.  It was weeding the vegetable garden then harvesting it in the fall.  It was moving the cows from one field to another.  It was bringing them in to be treated for pink-eye.  It was feeding them hay in the winter months.  But there was a fun time!  In the winter when it snowed, we got to go sledding on our own property using an intertube.  In the summer, we rode our bikes to either the river or the neighbors to swim.  We had our quiet times too – camping, fishing, and hiking.

I started working for a living when I was 17.  At first, part-time as I was in school.  Then in 1979, I started working full-time for the State of Washington and going to school part-time to get my degree.  I did take vacations – like a trip to South Dakota to visit an old high school friend and a trip to Kentucky to meet family and do research.  I met my future husband at work.  We dated for a little over a year before getting married and having a family.  I still worked until 2021, when I retired.

When did genealogy come to play?  1980.  That Kentucky trip? – it was in 1982.  1984 was a trip to Iowa to meet and research my dad’s family.  After that it was just short road trips to local cemeteries, courthouses, and libraries until retirement.  My husband & I took a vacation in 2016 by flying to Virginia to visit our son who was stationed there.  We had rented a car and visited sites in the area before moving on to Washington DC area then on to Butler County, Pennsylvania.  It was in Pennsylvania that we did some research on my husband’s family.  Visited a cemetery, a community that was owned by an ancestor, and a courthouse.  We returned a few years later (2025).  In 2021, when we did our Route 66 road trip, we took some time to go to Wisconsin where my family had lived.  Wasn’t able to do as much research as desired.  Was going to do more when we were back in the area last year but that didn’t happen.

I’m looking forward to our next cruise for that quiet down time.  Yes, cruising is our quiet time.  We’ve done several since our first in 1995.  We’ve done Alaska (2x), Caribbean (2x), New England/Canada, Panama Canal, and now Hawaii this fall.  Another Caribbean cruise is planned for 2028 in the spring.

Unexpected

             There’s always something unexpected in life as well as in genealogy research.  I was looking up some newspaper articles today for my Reisner family in West Union, Iowa and ran across one for an uncle.  It was buried on page 2  in the Local and Other Items of the Feb 10, 1871 West Union Republic Gazette.  It started out saying “Suicide – We regret to announce a suicide in our midst.”  What a sad thing . . . I knew he had died young but didn’t realize it was because of unrequited love.

What’s really sad . . . this is the second known suicide in my paternal family line.  The other was a dad despondent over the death of his oldest son in 1945.

A Brick Wall Revisited

            I have a few brick walls of determining my 3x paternal great-grandparents.

I’ve broken one of those brick walls and talked about it in A Breakthrough Moment from earlier this year.  The one I’m currently working on I talked about in A Theory in Progress.

Have I made any progress . . . not really.  There is a family tree that indicates that the name I’m looking for is Christoff Wilhelm Georg Reisner, wife is Maria Christiana.  Hmmm . . . they have a document that may be of assistance – a burial record for Maria Christiana.  Now, to translate it from German.

 

Source:  Ancestry 

Source Citation

Landesarchiv Sachsen-Anhalt; Magdeburg, Deutschland; Lutherische Kirchenbücher, 1760-1890; Film Number: 1335145

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Saxony, Anhalt, Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1760-1890 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

Original data: Lutherische Kirchenbücher, 1760-1890. Landesarchiv Sachsen-Anhalt, Magdeburg, Deutschland.

 

Nope . . . that doesn’t work.  It indicates she was born in 1814 and died in 1874 at age 60.  No way could she be the mother of my immigrant.  Well . . . let’s continue using DNA to break that wall.  And pray that the church records in Bavaria will be digitized.

A Family Pattern

           What can I talk about here?  We have naming patterns, occupation patterns, and schooling.  What have I already wrote about?

Earning a Living:  Farming, a Family Tradition – February 2024 I wrote about the Kludt family being saloon/inn keepers, farmers, and mechanics.

Naming patterns – I thought I had talked about that before but I’m not seeing it.  I have several examples of different types of naming patterns in both my family and my husband’s family.

One pattern is switching the first and middle names.  This started with my great-grandfather on my Dad’s side, William Edward Kludt.  Papa (or Grandpa) was named Edward William Kludt.  My Dad was William Edward Kludt.  The pattern ended with my brother, Edward William Kludt.

Another pattern is based on the Mennonite/Quaker faith.  Here, the middle name is the mother’s maiden name.  Discovered this in my husband’s paternal side.  It seemed to have started back in Pennsylvania with the Shontz family.  Both Jacob and his wife were born in Switzerland and 

immigrated to Pennsylvania.  Did they start the tradition?  I don’t know but it is possible that their son’s middle name was Erb.  The same appears to have happened with the Hunsberger and Tyson families.

 

It seemed to have ended with Abraham Shontz as none of his children appeared to have the Heckert name as their middle name.  Then it’s possible that they left the Mennonite faith.

We know it continues with the Heistand, Landis, Ziegler, Pawling, and DeWitt families.

 

 

Then we end up with a still different naming pattern – patronymic where the child’s last name is the father’s first name with an ending of “sen” or “datter”.

 

Then I have my German ancestors who like to add lots of names to the child.  They would repeat the same “first name” then add two to three more names before the Surname.  As an example, my immigrant was named Heinrich Johann Ludwig Kludt.  He went by the name Johann or John.  His wife was named Christina Maria Dorothea Ahrendt.  She was known as Dorothy or Dorothea or Dora.

They were also famous for renaming children when was passed away.