An Ancestor I Admire

        It’s hard to pick one.  Some are just names and I really don’t know them.  Others were in my life briefly.  Others, like my parents, have been in my life for many years.

(1)       My parents – the love and devotion they had for each other.  Dad passed away in February 2024 and Mom is still thriving.  They raised a family on a very limited income (and they never let it be known).  We were never without food, clothes or shelter.  We had a lot of good times and did a lot of things together as a family.  That is rare now a days.

(2)      

Grandma Fern – a strong, independent woman who raised nine children during the 1930’s through the 1950’s.  Money was tight and it seems like they moved a few times during the early years of their marriage.  She suffered a stroke that took away her speech, and she had to learn to write with her left hand (this happened just before I was born).

(3)       The ones I can’t name – living through the various wars (like Thomas Stead – Civil War) or moving to a new country and learning the language (Kludt, Ahrendt, and Reisner families).  Or even establishing a new nation (Patrick Porter & Thomas Pinson, to name a couple).

Great Granparents w/family
William Kludt & Susan Reisner

 

Grandparents Ed Kludt
& Bernice Swinehart

Great Grandparents
Bernice Stead & 
Raymond Reynoldson

Great Grandparents
Harry Swinehart &
Bertha Davis

Big Mistake

 Have I found an ancestor who made a big mistake?  No.  Have I made a big mistake in my research?  Yes, if you call skipping a generation.  I briefly hinted about this in Week 1 blog posting labeled “In the Beginning”. 

How did that happen?  It’s because the family loves using the same name!  In this case, it is Caroline Maynard.

Christopher “Kit” Maynard and Eva Shockey had 12 children.  The oldest was born in 1836 with the youngest being born in 1860.  The youngest was named Caroline Maynard. 

My ancestor was Caroline Evie Maynard and she was born in 1865.  At the time, I didn’t know who her parents were.  So, I used census records to make that determination.  I used the 1870 census records and searched for “Caroline Maynard”.  I found one but the birth date was off by a few years.  I was told that quite often census records had the wrong ages, so I wasn’t too concerned about the discrepancy.  So, I thought her parents were Christopher & Eva.  WRONG!  I later discovered that her parents were George Washington Maynard and Sarah Caines.

George & Sarah had a total of 9 children, with the oldest being born in 1857 and the youngest circa 1877.

Caroline had married Booker Keesee and the marriage documents did not indicate who her parents were.  Although, I should have realized that the G W Maynard listed on the document for where the marriage was to take place would be the father. 

When I pulled the 1870 census for George and Sarah, I discovered that Caroline was listed by her middle name “Eva”.  No wonder I made that mistake!

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.

2024 Week 25 - Storyteller

             Is there a storyteller in our family?  I think everybody was a storyteller – they all told stories at one point or another in our lives.  I’m trying to be the keeper of the stories and documenting them as much as I can.  Some of those stories appear here in my blog.

Dad and his sister often told stories about their growing up in the various logging camps – hide and seek; go carts; driving a speeder, a car, and a pick-up truck, and having meals at the logging camps.  A lot of these stories are being written in my documentation of the Kludt family.

Mom and her sisters often tell stories about growing up – stories about their grandfather George, about their Dad and about their brothers.  Stories about living near a Girls Correctional facility, earthquakes (and the damage done to a school and having to attend different schools), walking to and from town either to go to the picture show or collect their Dad.

I heard a lot of stories when I visited family in Kentucky – especially about my great-grandfather, George Keesee and his Model A.  Also, heard stories about the Reisner family when my aunt & I visited family in Iowa.

2024 Week 24 - Hard Times

             So many of our ancestors suffered from hard times from the Great Depression, poor financially, and who knows what else.

     

  My maternal grandparents were married in 1932.  There’s a story that was supposedly told by my grandfather of when he was looking for work.  He would go down to the employment line and stand in line hoping for a job.  Then he noticed that the men that seemed to get hired were wearing bib overalls (I believe he said they were striped).  So, he scraped up the funds to buy a pair and wore them the next time he went to stand in line.  Sure enough, he was able to get a job.  They raised a family of nine kids mainly living on a farm.  I know he moved around a lot.  In 1935, they were living in McCleary, Grays Harbor County, Washington (this is where their second child was born).  By 1936, they were in Chehalis, Lewis County, Washington.  In 1938, they were living in Glenoma, Lewis County, Washington.  And in 1940 they were living on the Cline Road in the Big Bottom area of Randle in Lewis County, Washington.  Sometime between then and 1944, they moved to Salzer Valley just outside of Centralia.  The remaining children (four of them) were born in the hospital in Chehalis.  They lived on a farm.  They were still living on the Centralia-Alpha Road during the 1950 Federal Census. Sometime between then and 1955, the family moved to Rochester area.  Sometime during the 1960’s, the family moved to Albany, Oregon.  After retirement, EB and Fern moved back to Washington State to live on the property belonging to their oldest living son in Woodland, Cowlitz County, Washington until their deaths in 1985 and 1990.

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.    

2024 Week 16: Step - Lucy Elizabeth Cram Loshbaugh Keesee

 I’ll look at the step relationships in my family tree.  The first known “step” was my Great Grandma Lucy.  Grandma Lucy was born 22 Sept 1892 in Minnesota to Frederick Guy Cram and Mary Elizabeth Chapman.  Her first marriage was to Theron Loshbaugh.  She married my Great Grandfather, George Wilby Keesee on 22 Oct 1941 in Payette, Idaho.  They were both widowed at the time of their marriage according to the county Marriage Register.

No children were born of this union.

It is my understanding that Grandma Lucy started out being George’s housekeeper.  I’m not sure when that started.  Her first husband, Theron Loshbaugh, passed away in 1938 in Bandon, Coos County, Oregon.  She is not listed in the 1939 City Directory for Lewis County, Washington.  George is listed as living in Glenoma. 

The 1940 Federal Census shows that they were husband and wife and that they lived in Missouri in 1935 (although this can't be right).  

1946 City Directory has them living in Centralia.

1949 City Directory has them living on Washington.

The 1949-1950 Directory has them with the same box as 1946 with a family member having the same box as listed in the 1949 directory.

The 1950 census has them living in the house that I visited when I was growing up.  However, the street name changed from Washington to Sandra.

By 1957, the box number changed again.  However, I know that they never moved.

1958 City Directory:

George passed away on 27 Oct 1964 in his home.

Grandma Lucy continued to live in the home until her health required her to live with her family in Oregon.  She passed away 6 Jun 1986 in Myrtle Point, Coos County, OR.

2024 Week 12 - Technology

         Indoor plumbing – my Great Grandfather, George Wilby Keesee didn’t have indoor plumbing until late in life in his home in Centralia, WA.  I remember having to walk through the kitchen to go outside to use the bathroom.  It was a room that was added on much later.  Prior to that, it was an outhouse according to Grandma Lucy (his second wife).

TV – My mom didn’t have a TV until much later in life.  She grew up listening to the radio and its shows like Only the Shadow Knows.  We didn’t have a color TV until I was probably a teenager.  I remember our TV having tubes.

Other than those two things, I really don’t know how technology changed the lives of my ancestors.

2024 Week 9 Changing Names

 Ok . . . let’s see if there were any name changes in my family history.  Not all have been totally researched or proven.

·      Keesee – maybe.  People do have a hard time spelling (as well as pronouncing).  Not proven but it was possible it was originally spelled Keesey.  Prior to that La Cozee.

·      Swinehart – sometimes it is spelled as Swineheart.  Appears to not be changed from the Old Country.

·      Reisner – also spelled as Reissner

·      Ahrendt – various spellings like Ahrent, Ahrendts, Ahrends, Ahrend

·      Secore – Secor

·      Maynard – Mainor

·      Sparr – Spawr

·      Lowe – It could be Low.  However, there is a story that one of the ancestors (not my direct line) changed it to Noe.

·      Caines – Cains, Cain

Of course, there’s always my maiden name (Kludt).  People can’t spell it (or pronounce).  However, the actual spelling never changed from the Old Country (Mecklenburg-Schwerin).

And there’s my husband’s surname – Belles.  Somewhere between 1744 and 1777 it got shortened from Bellesfeld.  Also spelled Bellesfelt, Bellowsfelt, Bellows,  and Bellasfeldt.

2024 Week 8 - Heirlooms

 

Something special that has been handed down in the family – hmmm.  I really don’t have anything that special.  However, I do have some things that had belonged to my grandparents or great grandparents that I have sentimental value about. 

 
What are these items,  you ask?  Well, I have two family Bibles for starters.  One is a German Bible that was given to my paternal Great grandparents on their wedding in February 1889.  This would be William Edward Kludt and Susan Katherine Reisner.  The Bible was passed down to their youngest son (the oldest son died before they passed away), probably at the death of Susan in 1948.  I remember seeing it when  I was at Papa’s house when I was growing up.  Papa was my Grandfather, Edward William Kludt.  When he passed away in 1975, it went to my Aunt,  Lois Jean Kludt Haynes.After her death in 2012, it came into my possession.

The other Bible I have belonged to my maternal Great Grandfather, George Wilby Keesee.  The Bible was given to him by his oldest daughter, Merle Keesee Paxton.  She had filled out all the family information (his marriage to Zettie, births of family members, deaths, etc).  I’m not sure how my grandfather, E B Keesee, came to possess it as he was not the oldest child.  One day, when my mom & I were cleaning his house (the daughters took turns as he didn’t do it himself and grandma was in a nursing home), I saw the Bible and was looking at it.  He said I could take it to look over and return it the next time we were down.  Somehow, that never happened.  He passed away in February 1985 and I still have the Bible.  So, it skipped a generation.

I have a 1956 Elna sewing machine that belonged to my maternal grandmother, Fern Reynoldson Keesee.  It was given to her as a gift at that time.  She created a lot of projects until her stroke in 1959.  It was given to me in the late 1970’s as I was doing a lot of sewing at the time.  I had moved out on my own in 1979 and only had room for a portable machine.  I used it a lot until the 1990’s when it was difficult to use in our dining room (power cord had to string across the room).  It sat for a long time and when I needed to use it again, I took it in to be cleaned/serviced.  Well, they could do that but if it needed parts, I was out of luck.  I had another machine (a Pfaff) that was 10 years old that I wanted serviced as well (I had inherited it as well).  The same response.  So, I took the Pfaff and traded it in for another, newer machine last year.  I kept the Elna for sentimental reasons.

I also inherited a lot of dishes, pans, silverware, and a 1953 Better Homes & Garden Cookbook from my paternal grandparents when Papa was put into a nursing home in 1973-4.  These items became my hope chest.  To this day, I still use the cookbook and several of the pans.  When I got married in 1985, we switched over to the Corelle dishes my husband had as they wouldn’t break as easily.  My dishes (both the everyday dishes and the good china) as well as the good silver silverware went into storage.  Now that we have moved into a new home, I hope to bring them out of storage and start using them.

Who will get these after I’m gone?  I don’t know.  There are no grandchildren at this time.  So, maybe I should look for a new home before I pass – there may be other family members (cousins) that would be interested.

Surnames A-Z: K Names

This idea of listing surnames over the coming weeks comes from The Olive Tree Genealogy Blog.  I think this will be fun.

Some of my surnames I have already posted information on . . . others I'm still working on.

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.

So . . . here are the K's:

Keesee - Washington, Kentucky, Virginia
Keever - Indiana, Ohio
Kempel - New York, Germany
Kennon - 
Kesling - Washington, Indiana, Ohio
King - Pennsylvania
Klein - Germany (Prussia)
Kludt - Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Germany
Kosten - Germany