At the Cemetery

             I’ve visited a lot of cemeteries during my genealogy research career.  A lot of walking and photo taking and on one of the trips, I recorded information as well as taking photos.

Mtn View Cemetery:
 William & Susan Kludt

So, what cemeteries have I visited?  Several in Washington State where my relatives are buried.  These include Rainy
Valley outside of Glenoma, Sticklin Greenwood Memorial in Centralia, and Mountain View Cemetery, also in Centralia.  Rainy Valley has my Mom’s family – the Keesees.  Greenwood also has mom’s family – both the Keesees and the Reynoldsons.  Mountain View has

Fern Hill Cemetery:
William & Julia Belles

my dad’s family – the Kludts, including my brother.  OH, also visited a cemetery in Spokane and in Lind where some of my dad’s relatives are buried.  We’ve also checked out Fern Hill Cemetery in Aberdeen where my husband’s family is buried.

1982 saw me in Pike County, Kentucky doing research and visiting several cemeteries for the Keesee family. Some had tall grass to walk through, and you had to

Chestnut Point:
Ruth E Bevins

have a stick to beat the area to scare away the snakes.  Most of them were up on hillsides.  The one that was the most interesting was Apple Orchard near the church that family attended.  Without having old-timers with me, I would not have known which plot belonged to my ancestors as the only marking was a cross.  Other cemeteries included Bent Branch, Chestnut Point, and Scott Family to name just a few.

1984 saw my aunt and I in Fayette County, Iowa doing research on the Kludt/Reisner family.  Family members took us to several cemeteries where our early relatives are buried – West Union, Hawkeye, and Eldorado were the main ones.  Besides cemeteries, we visited churches to find various records.

Mennonite Cemetery:
Aaron & Elizabeth Shontz

2016 saw my husband and I in Harmony, Butler County, Pennsylvania at the Mennonite Cemetery for the Belles/Shontz/Zeigler families.  We also visited another cemetery that was real interesting – no tombstones nor markings of any kind; just a fenced in patch of grass.

Harmony Society Cemetery

The cemetery I really want to go to is in the Barton/Grafton/Cedarburg area in Wisconsin.  I want to see what Kludts/Fromms are buried there.  I know that at least two children from my immigrant ancestor, John Kludt, are buried there.  Whether there’s a marker or not remains to be seen.

2024 Week 18 - Love & Marriage

             I’ve been using DNA to help remove some brick walls in my ancestry.  But did you know that siblings cause issues in DNA research?  Yep, and I get it on both sides.

       Paternal ancestry, I have siblings marrying siblings.  I’ve talked about my Great Grandfather William Edward Kludt several times.  He was the oldest living child of John (Heinrich Johann Ludwig) Kludt and was born 2 October 1862 in West Bend, Washington County, Wisconsin.  In the late 1870’s the family moved to West Union, Fayette County, Iowa.  This is where he met his wife, Susan Katherine Reisner. They were married on 14 February 1889 in West Union.  Susan was born 3 Sept 1863 in Clermont, Fayette County, Iowa to Henry Reisner and Maria Margaret Haueisen as the fifth child.

       William’s sister, Augusta Maria Kludt, born 11 January 1865 in West Bend, Washington County, Wisconsin, also married a Reisner – one of Susan’s older brothers, George August Reisner, born 15 May 1859 in Stoughton, Dane County, Wisconsin.  They were married 24 May 1883 in West Union.  So, for DNA research, the cousins are considered double-cousins and can have twice as much DNA.  And I was trying to determine who were William & Augusta’s maternal grandparents.

       Luckily, William’s brother, Henry Carl, did NOT marry a Reisner.  He married Alma Nelson in 1907 in Fayette County, Iowa.

       Susan had eight other siblings that married into various families living in Fayette County, Iowa.  These families include Reichel, Neumann, Weidermann, Winkleman, Steuer, and Lehmer.

       Now, for my maternal side it’s not siblings marrying siblings, but descending from two siblings.  Aaron Lowe (born c1772 in Virginia) and Sarah Frazier (born c1774 in Virginia) were married 3 October 1801 in Patrick County, Virginia.  They had ten children.  I descend from two of their daughters, Ellen & Mary.

·      Ellen Lowe was born 4 May 1803 in Patrick County, Virginia.  She married Moses Stanley on 29 October 1822 in Patrick County, Virginia.  He was born 2 May 1800.  They had 12 children. 

o  Their son, William F Stanley, born in 1826 married Sarah Ann Scott on 1 Dec 1853 in Pike County, Kentucky.  They had lots of children.

§  Their daughter, Ruth E Stanley, born 12 Apr 1865 in Pike County, Kentucky, married Elbert Bevins on 22 Apr 1886 in Pike County, Kentucky.  They had 10 children.

·      Their daughter, Rosa Zettie Bevins, born 31 March 1887 in Meta, Pike County, Kentucky, married George Wilby Keesee on 15 Jun 1907 in Meta.

·      Mary Lowe, born 15 September 1818 in Patrick County, Virginia, married Booker T Keesee (Sr) on 4 October 1840 in Pike County, Kentucky. Booker was born 2 March 1819 in Logan County, Virginia to Richard Keesee & Judith Morris.  Mary & Booker had 12 children.

o  Their youngest, Booker T Keesee (Jr) was born 9 August 1864 at Road Fork, Pond Creek, in Pike County, Kentucky.  Booker married Caroline Evie Maynard, daughter of George Washington Maynard & Sarah Caines, on 19 Jun 1884 in Pike County, Kentucky.  They had six children.

§  Their oldest son (second born child) was George Wilby Keesee, born 9 June 1887 in Piso, Pike County Kentucky.  As mentioned above, he married Zettie Bevins.

I have an unproven line of ancestry where I supposedly descend from Elisabeth & Joan Plantagenet  (daughters of King Edward & Eleanor of Castile).

·      Elisabeth is the ancestor of Anne Boleyn (not the one married to King Henry!) who married John Shelton.  The Shelton family married into the Hurt family who married into the Bevins family (the parents of the above mentioned Elbert Bevins).

·      Joan also ties into the same family.  However, she ties in on Anne’s maternal grandmother.  Whereas, Elisabeth was through the maternal grandfather.

It will be interesting to validate the above information.    

Surnames A-Z: B Names

Continuing the blog list of surnames for both mine and my husband's family that I'm doing genealogical research.  Maybe we connect, maybe not.  If some of the names look like royalty, they are.

Here are the B's:

Bailiffe - 
Barclay - 
Barge - England, New Jersey
Barnes - 
Bartlett - 
Bathurst - England
Belcher - England, Virginia, Kentucky
Belles, Bellesfelt, Bellowsfelt - Washington, Kansas, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Germany
Belson - 
Bender -
Benett - 
Bertrand - 
Beuford - Virginia
Bevins - Kentucky, Virginia, Ireland
Blair - Maryland
Blevins - Virginia, Kentucky
Boleyn - England
Borders - Virginia
Boteler, Butler - Ireland, England
Brereton - Pennsylvania
Brooke - 
Brown - Illinois, New Jersey, England, Indiana
Burton - Virginia