Brick Walls in Family Research

 

I have lots of brick walls.  One I have already talked about - that is the Reisner family back in Week 5 under Challenges.

I have broken through the wall on my Ahrendt family.  However, I still have a lot more work to be done by locating church records in Mecklenburg.

I also need to work on the Haueisen family that was from Bavaria.  Here again, it will need to be church records.  Like the Reisner family, this is difficult to do as they have not been digitized.

Other paternal families that will require further research as time allows include the ancestors of Mary Jane Secor(e) and Bertha Davis.

My maternal side goes back a long way.  What I need to do first is validate the information I have before working on any brick walls.

Then I need to tackle my husband’s families.

Siblings - My Brother

 

Edward William Kludt

         My brother, Edward William Kludt, nicknamed “Eddie Bill” or “Eddie” and later “Ed”, was born 24 March 1964 in Centralia, Lewis County, Washington to William Edward Kludt and Joycelyn Bea Keesee.  At the time of his birth, we were living on a dairy farm in Rochester on Browne Road (now Applegate).

I have a memory of when we brought him home from the hospital (this was the old Centralia General Hospital located on North Iron Street).  We parked across the street from the hospital and waited for mom to come out (I don’t remember who was in the car with me – I was only 4 years old).

Mom said that he became my “living doll”.  I would dress him up in my doll clothes (I had a really big doll).  I can remember a time when we stayed with Papa and Grandma Kludt and Grandma kept calling him “her little stink pot”.  She was changing his dirty diaper.  Mom would always rock him to sleep, and Grandma refused.  So, he cried a lot when we were there.  The reason mom rocked him was that when he was first born, they discovered he had a hernia.  They had to wait until he was a few months old before operating.  So, he wasn’t allowed to cry.

         When he was about three years old, he wandered away without telling anybody.  Mom asked me if I knew where he was, and I said no.  She called his name and searched all over the house and around it.  Then she went down to the barns and started calling his name.  She was so afraid that he might have fallen into the open malt pit we had next to the barn and milking parlor.  Suddenly, I said, “Mom, is that him way over there?” pointing across the road where we had a very huge pasture.  I can see this orange hat bobbing up and down.  She hollered at him, and he came back.  She told him to never wander away again without anybody with him.  His reply, “I wasn’t by myself.  I had the dog(s) with me.”

         As we were the only kids, we played together a lot.  I remember one time when we were playing a game outside.  I can’t remember if we were fighting or not.  But we were running around the exterior of the house.  He was chasing me.  When, suddenly, I heard this cry.  I went back and discovered he had fallen, hitting his nose on the concrete slab that was holding the hinges to the door covering the stairwell into the underground root cellar (mom stored all her canned goods and root vegetables).  I think he had broken his nose.  There was a lot of blood.  After that incident, it didn’t take much for him to get bloody noses – especially in the summer.

         The summer of 1967, we moved from Rochester back to the family farm in Zenkner Valley (just north of the city limits of Centralia).  We still played a lot by ourselves.  But we also had a couple of neighbors (about a half mile away) that we played with as well.

         Ed started school in the Fall of 1969 at Logan School.  Centralia School District had this as the Kindergarten Center for everyone.  Then from 1970 to 1973, he attended Fords Prairie Elementary School for Grades 1-3.  This is because in the fall of 1970, Centralia School District decided to have the elementary schools be partnered – one school will have Grades 1-3 while the other school will have Grades 4-6.  There was one school that had all six grades.  Because of that, we were never in the same school at the same time.  From 1973 to 1976, he was at Oakview Elementary School for Grades 4-6.  Junior High covered Grades 7 & 8 and the High School had 9^th through 12^th.  He graduated in 1982.  He attended L H Bates Technical School out of Tacoma to earn his diesel mechanic’s certificate.  He finished his coursework early, completed his internship and received his certificate in March 1985.

         Ed was smart.  He could, if he wanted to, be a 4.0 student.  Actually, he did when he was in college.  There’s a story my mom tells about him when he was in the 5^th grade.  She was volunteering at the school and his teacher saw her in the hall way and approached her.  He said he was concerned about Ed failing math.  Mom looked at him and said that it couldn’t be possible, that he was doing his sister’s 9^th grade math (that would have been algebra).  Mr Bower (nicknamed Frosty) wouldn’t believe her until about a month later.  This was about the time when schools administered the Iowa Skills test; the results came back – Ed tested out at 9^th Grade math!  When Frosty saw mom in the hallways again, he apologized.  The problem – Ed wasn’t being challenged; therefore, he didn’t turn in his work!

         Ed’s extracurricular activities included Scouting, Band, and Wrestling.  He started his Scouting career as a Cub Scout in the second grade (Wolf).  I can remember him working on his Pinewood Derby cars, but I never went to any of his pack meetings (which is a shame as it is a family meeting).  He earned his Eagle Scout in 1976.  At that time, he was the  youngest Scout to earn Eagle in the Council.  His project was clean-up of a local cemetery along with his best friend.  I remember going to his Court of Honor after I got off work.  He was also involved with Explorer Search & Rescue, first as our subject/victim (he was too young to join), then as a regular member. Explorers are for ages 14-20.

         He started band when he was in the 5^th Grade.  He played trombone.  This was where they learned how to play the instruments and read the music.  It was held during lunch hour.  When he went to Junior High, he was in a regular band class.  What was interesting is that our dad was also in band during his high school years playing the trombone.  I can remember one time when we had our cousins visiting that he got out his trombone to show them what he can do.  When he finished playing, he removed the mouthpiece, and he had blood all around his mouth.  Oh, and there was another time that we attended a concert at the Junior High School.  This would have been when he was in the 8^th grade.  After his concert, he joined us in the stands while watching the 7^th grade.  Mom & I asked him about a person in that band, we both thought it was a relative of ours (nephew/cousin).  His reply was, “that is Pete Eddings”, which was not the name we were thinking of.  However, we found out later that it was the same person, he was adopted by his stepfather.

         Ed married Rose Ellen Tiller on the 19^th of November 1983 at Free United Methodist Church in Centralia.  Rose was still attending high school at the time.  They lived in a trailer house on her mother’s property in Grand Mound.  I’m not sure exactly how they met or how long they dated before getting married.  There are a couple of stories that Mom tells about Rose when they were dating.  One of the stories is that Rose was at the house up in the valley and they were playing pool in the basement.  Mom asked if Rose was staying for dinner.  Response was “yes”.  Then Ed asked what was for dinner and mom replied, “your favorite”.  When mom hollered that dinner was ready, only Ed came up the stairs.  Rose decided to leave after hearing what Ed’s favorite dish was.  So, next time, mom decided to do a sneaky thing – she didn’t say what was for dinner.  She just cut up the meat and put it on the serving tray.  By the time it got to Rose, it was gone.  She knew she couldn’t go back into the kitchen to slice up more as that would give it away.  You know, I don’t think Rose ever tried it.  What was the favorite dish,  you ask?  It was beef tongue.  Not one of my favorites either.

         Ed passed away on 31 March 1985 as a result of a drunk-driving car accident.  He was with a couple of friends as well as Rose and a girlfriend of one of the friends, celebrating 21’s (Ed and his two buddies all had birthdays at the same time of the year).  Rose and the girl friend had stayed behind while the guys were taking one of the friend’s home.  The driver lost control of the car and crashed.  Only one survived (he was thrown clear due to being asleep in the back seat).  The sad part, Rose & Ed just discovered that she was pregnant.  Candace Lee Kludt was born nine months later on the 5^th of December 1985.

 

Migration

   

             My family tree is full of people who have moved away from where they were born. The map shows my DNA regions.  For the most part, it has been validated.

         Some I have covered in prior blog posts, others I haven’t done a deep dive research.  Listed below are just a few of the surnames.

Kludt – Several family members have moved. Came from Germany, settled in Wisconsin, then Iowa, then Washington State.

·      Heinrich Johann Ludwig was born in 1832 in Goldenbow, Mecklenburg.  He immigrated with his sister and brother-in-law in 1852, ending up in Barton, Wisconsin.  From there, he moved to West Bend, Wisconsin, then Cedarburg, Wisconsin before ending up in Hawkeye, Iowa.

·      William Edward was born in 1862 in West Bend, Wisconsin.  He met and married Susan Reisner in West Union Township, Fayette Co, Iowa.  He briefly moved his family to Fulda, Minnesota before returning to West Union.  Then in 1906, he moved his family to the Chehalis area in Lewis County, Washington.  They lived in Adna before moving into the town of Chehalis.

·      Edward William was born in 1900 in Fulda, Minnesota.  He moved around a lot as a young adult.  He worked for a while in Tacoma, Washington (WA).  Then he worked at a mill in Chehalis, WA.  When that closed due to a fire, he went to work for Weyerhaeuser.   His job required him to move around a lot – Ritzville, WA; Pendleton, Oregon; St Marys, Idaho before settling down in Centralia, WA then Galvin, WA then back to Centralia (in Zenkner Valley) then a house between Centralia and Grand Mound.

·      William Edward was born in 1937 in Pendleton, Oregon.  He spent a few months living in Seattle, Washington after his marriage to Joyce Keesee.  Then he took over the family farm in Zenkner Valley in Centralia for a few years before striking out on his own farm  in Rochester, WA.  Five years later, he sold that place and went back to Zenkner Valley.

·      Marcella Jean (me) was born in 1959 in Centralia, WA.  After graduating from high school, moved into town (lived in 3 different places) before moving to Olympia, WA.  After getting married to David Belles, we rented a house in Tumwater before buying a place in Littlerock, WA.  In the Fall of 2023 we moved to Centralia, WA.

 

Reisner – Henry immigrated from Bavaria, settled in Wisconsin, then moved to Iowa. Most of his children stayed in Iowa but some moved. Several of his grandchildren moved to other locations.

Ahrent – Johann Christian immigrated from Germany and settled in Wisconsin.  Some of the family moved to South Dakota.

Swinehart – Gabriel immigrated from Germany and settled in Ohio.  His son Joshua moved to Indiana.  His son, Emmanuel, was a nomad – he moved around a lot including Kansas, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and even New Zealand.

Keesee – This family lived in Kentucky/Virginia/West Virginia area.  Some of the family moved from there to Washington, Oregon, and Iowa.

Surprise

   

         When my mom turned 50, we held a surprise birthday party for her.  I invited all of her siblings and her known friends.  We held it at our house.  We had it as a potluck BBQ in our backyard.  All we told her was that we were having a family BBQ at our place.  Our son was just a few months old.  Most people who arrived early parked their vehicles in the back so they wouldn’t be recognized.  It was a good surprise.  Everybody had a good time.

All my life I was told (and we celebrated) my maternal grandparents wedding anniversary in November.  We were told that they were married on the 23^rd of Nov in 1932 in Chehalis, Lewis Co, Washington.  Mom said it was an elopement; that an uncle took them somewhere and brought them back later.  I have no idea as to who that uncle was.    During our family research trips to the Lewis County courthouse in Chehalis, I looked at the marriage records.  Nothing.  Then I went to the State Archives in Olympia.  Talked to the archivist and we looked at records from surrounding counties.  Nothing.  I even went to Pacific County Courthouse and searched through their records.  Nothing.  So, when I was working on my application into the Daughters of the American Colonists, I continued looking, this time searching in Oregon.  Still nothing.  I remembered seeing a marriage certificate on the wall of their house in Oregon when I was growing up but then remembered that they had lost a few things due to a house fire.  So, I ended up using the 1940 Federal Census that showed them as husband/wife with my mom listed as one of the children.  Then about five months later, mom gave me a packet of information that the sisters thought I should have since I was the family historian.  As I went through it, I found a marriage certificate for my grandparents.  The surprise?  It was from 1970! They were married in Coeur d’Alene, Kootenai Co, Idaho at the age of 56.  The only thing we could think of is that they couldn’t find the original records (or they were never officially married and thought they were by common law) and that they needed documents for some purpose.  In 1970, they were living in Albany, Linn Co, Oregon.  Also in that packet was a letter from the Census Bureau dated May 1974, a delayed birth certificate of my grandfather dated in December 1963, a certified copy of my grandmother’s birth certificate dated August 1974, a letter dated in December (but no year) indicating that my grandfather attended school in Glenoma, Lewis Co, WA specifying his birthdate; and paperwork showing he initially applied for a delayed birth certificate in 1960.  I think a lot of this was so he could get a social security number to work for the City of Albany then to file for social security benefits when it came time to retire.

Challenge

          My challenge is Henry (Heinrich) Reisner/Reissner.  I briefly alluded to this ancestor in last week’s post.  And I have written about him in a previous blog entry.  I am trying to find out who his parents were.

Here is what I know – Henry was born 19 Sept 1814 in Poppengrun (Naila/Doebra region), Bavaria.  Parent names are unknown.  He married Maria Margaret Haueisen in Poppengrun circa 1847.  He emigrated to New York in 1848.  Rented a farm in Stoughton, Dane Co, Wisconsin.  In 1859 the family moved to Fayette Co, Iowa (lived in either West Union or Clermont).  He purchased the farm in Iowa in 1864.  Henry died on the 19^th of Dec 1891 in West Union, Fayette Co, Iowa.  His wife, Maria, died the 23 Oct 1912 in West Union.  They had 10 children starting in 1850 and ending in 1871.

I have the following census records – both State and Federal for Henry.

·      1855 Dunkirk, Dane Co, WI

o  H Risner (2 Male & 1 Female)

o  All foreign birth

o  Lived next door to a John Risner & a female (foreign birth for both).

·      1860 Township of W. Union, Fayette Co, IA

o  H., Mary, Ch., E., M., and Geo. Risner

o  First 3 were born in Germany, the rest in Iowa

·      1870 West Union Township, Fayette Co, IA

o  Henry, Mary, Christian, Elizabeth, Margart, George, James, Susan, Henry, Lewis, and Mary Reisner

o  Henry & Mary were born in Bavaria, next four born in Wisconsin, rest in Iowa.

o  Henry is a citizen of the USA

·      1880 West Union Twp, Fayette Co, IA

o  Henry, Mary, George, James, Susanna, Henry F, Louis, Mary, and Louisa Reisner

o  Henry & Mary were born in Bavaria.  George in Wisconsin, rest in Iowa.

·      1885 West Union Township, Fayette Co, IA

o  Henry, Mary, James, Susan, Mary, Louis, Henry and Louisa

o  Henry & Mary were born in Germany, the rest in Fayette Co, IA.

o  Henry & James were entitled to vote.

o  James, Louis, & Henry (son) were subject to military duty.

o  Son, George, has his own entry indicating he was born in Wisconsin, subject to military duty, and eligible to vote.

·      1900 Union Township, Fayette Co, IA

o  James Reisner and his family are listed with him being born in Iowa.  Owns farm (mortgaged).

o  Louis A Reisner and his family are listed along with his mother (Mary) and sister (Louisa M).  Louis & Louisa are shown being born in Iowa.  Mary as being born in Germany.  She immigrated in 1852.  She had 10 children (8 are now living) and she is a widow. Louis owns his farm free.

·      1910 Union Township, Fayette Co, IA

o  Louis Reisner and his family are listed along with his mother (Mary) and sister (Louisa M). Louis & Louisa are shown being born in Iowa.  Mary as being born in Germany.  She immigrated in 1852.

o  James Reisner and his family are listed with him being born in Iowa.  Owns farm (mortgaged).

Other documents I have include

·      1892 West Union, Fayette C, IA Farmers Directory

o  Lists an Adam Reisner, Henry Reisner, H. Reisner Jr, and Geo. Risner.

·      Naturalization Index Card for Henry Risner

o  Certificate no Rec. #2 pg 89

o  Dist. Court Fayette Co, West Union, IA

o  Country of birth or allegiance:  Bavaria

o  Date of Naturalization:  October 29, 1860

 

        I have not been able to locate church records in Wisconsin or in Bavaria for online research.  I would like to obtain his naturalization documents in the hope that it will contain additional information.

Overlooked

            There are a lot of ancestors that I have “overlooked”.  Yet, I’m trying to methodically work through my tree by doing a “go-over”.  I’m making sure I have the right documents to back up the information.

Unfortunately, it seems I start over every year and don’t get very far.  Yet, if I really look back over the past year, I have done quite well.

I started with my maiden name.  I worked back to my immigrant.  Then I worked on my immigrant’s wife’s family until I was able to verify her parents’ names.

Now, I’m working on my paternal great grandmother’s parents.  I know their names, but I don’t know their parents’ names.  DNA analysis is the tool I’m using now.  Although, I will eventually need to locate church records either in Wisconsin or in Bavaria.

So, you can say that I am overlooking my mother’s family tree.  However, I will eventually start working on them again.  Especially, once I finish determining the blank spots on my paternal 3x great grandparents.

Favorite Photo - my Grandfather, Edward William Kludt

             

Last year I talked about family reunions and the photos from them.  About 12 years ago, I inherited a lot of photos from my aunt, Lois Haynes (she was my dad’s sister).  I’ve recently been looking at them.  I really liked the photos of my grandfather, her Dad.

What a dapper of a man!  I don’t think I’ve ever seen him all dressed up.  He was usually dressed in his work clothes.  Papa worked for Weyerhaeuser in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington – as a mechanic and as a foreman on constructing logging roads.

He also spent a lot of time helping his family – either on their farm or clam digging.  He loved being with his family – whether it was his own children or his grandchildren.