The Urban Farmer ~ From a Long Line Of Farmers

Farmer Chris' urban garden

There are so many farmers in our Bramble Bush it was pretty hard to choose just one. 

I decided to dig for a farmer in our tree who had a story to tell. 

I found my husband's 7th great grandparents, 
Christoffel & Anna Elizabeth (nee Habel) Zehrung.

Christoffel Zehrung
BIRTH 5 JUL 1657 • Ritzhausen, Hessen, Germany
DEATH 10 JAN 1714 • Ritzhausen, Hesse, Germany
&
Anna Elizabeth Habel
BIRTH 12 DEC 1675 • Unnau, Westerwald, Hessen, Germany
DEATH 24 JUN 1714 • Ritzhausen, Westerwald, Hessen, Germany

Christoffel & Anna were farmers. 

By the middle of June 1714 both Christoffel and Anna had died leaving behind 6 children ranging in age from 6 months to 14 years. 

While looking for information about what happened to the children I found a 'story' on Ancestry that had me fact checking where I was able to backtrack to the original source.

I found an 857 page pdf document written by Wilson Zaring titled The Descendants Ludwig Zehrung Mathia Zehrung Anna Elizabeth Zehrung and Philip Zehrung. The document is full of fact & conjecture. The authors voice is easy to read. He seems a born storyteller. If you have any connection to the various spellings of the Zehrung family I highly recommend this read. The index at the end of the documents lists each person included. The pdf document is linked in the sources below.

The first paragraph  of the original document I found was included on page 36 (page 45 of the pdf document). The remainder of the information is not in the original pdf document. I am not sure where this story found on Ancestry originated from, but I have no reason to doubt it is from the same author since the top paragraph is exactly the same & the author recorded at the bottom.

Document found on Ancestry, September 16th 2021

I felt sad for these children. They were separated into 6 different homes after losing both their parents in 6 months.  They each took a cow with them to their new home. 

I don't know what their parents died from because I haven't found their death registrations.

The oldest child, Anna Elizabeth, was 15 when her parents died. There is no mention of where she went to live. She was married 8 months later at the age of 16. 

2nd born, Johann Christ, went to a "farm that Johann Thönges keeps.” He was 13 years old. I was not able to find any further information.

3rd born was my husband's 6th great grandmother, Elsa Maria (Elizabeth), who was 9 at the time of her parents death. The document above notes her as 8. She was taken into the care of her godfather Martin Schmitt. I have been trying to find census records of Elizabeth living with the Schmitt family, but have not been successful.  She married Johannes Martin Buchner when she was 23 years old. Together they had 8 children. In 1753, aged 48, she immigrated to Philadelphia with her husband and children. Many of her descendants immigrated to Ontario, Canada. The pdf refenced & sourced has quite a bit about the Zehrung/Buchner descendants. 

4th born, Johannes, went to live with Johannes Reusch. He was 8 at the time. When he was 24 he married Anna Marie Crumb. The pdf document by Wilson Zaring referenced in this blog (and in the sources below) primarily focuses on Johannes and his descendants. 

5th born, Johann Tonges, I can find no record of. There are some trees on Ancestry that record his death in 1715. Without sources I can't say for certain that is true. There is no reference to where he went to live in the record above.

6th born was, Johann Bast, who went to live with Bastian Höbel who was likely a relative of his mother's he was listed as less than 6 months old in the document above. Several trees on Ancestry list him as dying a few weeks after his mother. None of them have sources so can't be taken as fact.

The document references Anna Elisabetha, age 4. Unless there was a second child named Anna Elisabetha this child was 15. A possible typo in the transcription. The other possibility is that the older child's name is Anna Maria If that is the case then I have a mistake for the oldest child.  I will definitely take a deeper look at the the possibility of 2 Annas. 

My husband's family has a long history in farming in his paternal line. 

As recorded in the reference (and sourced) book on the Zehrung family line. 

"THE FIRST GENERATION

The oldest known member of our family was identified simply as Zering "der alte". He was a farmer at Langenbach. The phrase "der alte" means "the old", "the old one" or perhaps "the elder". The oldest records on our ancestors do not include dates, but allowing 30 years per generation "der alte" was born about 1480. No record has been preserved of the wife of Zering "der alte". It is likely that there were several children, but we have the name of only one. Child: a. Michel. b. ca. 1510, Langenbach." 1

As a teenager my husband worked on his grandfather's tobacco farm in southern Ontario, Canada. 

His love of the land continues. 

He has been a paramedic for almost 30 years. After long days at work he finds personal healing digging in the dirt on his days off.  

As a healer who places life over limb he struggles with having to end life. 

It is my job to thin the baby seedlings that will interfere with the growth of the keeper plants.

He is just not able to end life regardless of where that life falls on the food chain.

He takes great pride in harvesting his bounty

When you have something in common with your ancestors!!!

Cause ... 




You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

This is why I search - 

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Footnotes:

1 Zaring, Wilson. The Descendants Ludwig Zehrung Mathia Zehrung Anna Elizabeth Zehrung and Philip Zehrung, April 1995. Held at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Page 33 (document page 42), Retrieved September 17th 2021 from
http://wvancestry.com/ReferenceMaterial/Files/The_Descendants_of_Ludwig_Mathias_Elizabeth_and_Phillip_Zehrung-Zudwing.pdf

Sources:

Zaring, Wilson. The Descendants Ludwig Zehrung Mathia Zehrung Anna Elizabeth Zehrung and Philip Zehrung, April 1995. Held at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Retrieved September 17th 2021 from
http://wvancestry.com/ReferenceMaterial/Files/The_Descendants_of_Ludwig_Mathias_Elizabeth_and_Phillip_Zehrung-Zudwing.pdf

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

________________________________________________________________

Census Records ~ Right Down the Rabbit Hole

 This week's prompt WORKING resulted in my going back over census records looking at the professions of the ancestors who make up this Bramble Bush. 

As a fulltime working woman I am often taken by surprise at how recent it was that women were listed with a dash or none to indicate they didn't work or that they were keeping house.

There were so few women working that it catches me by surprise when I find a relative of ours who was listed with a profession in a time that typically women weren't. 

As I was looking through the census records I discovered something a bit confusing.

In the 1901 census my husband's 3rd great grandmother, Henrietta (nee Scealey) Whitesell, was listed as head of household at age 47. She was residing with her mother, Jane M (nee Backhouse) Sealey aged 78. Henrietta's profession was listed as farmer. Henrietta was married, and yet husband Arthur was not living with her.  Mother, Jane, was widowed. They were in South Northfolk, Woodhouse Township.

I then went searching for where husband Arthur was during this census taking. I found Arthur living with their children: David (aged 23) and Cora (aged 17) in Elgin, Bayham Township. Arthur was listed as head of household, and he was a farmer.

As I dug some more for Henrietta I found her in the 1861 census.  Her mother Jane was listed as head of the household with daughters Hannah (aged 11) & Henrietta (aged 9). She was listed as married. Husband George was not on this census record.

I finally found George in the 1861 census living with his parents & younger brother Orlo (age 15) in Bayham Township, Elgin County.

As I continued to dig around I discovered a possible reason for why George was not to be found with his family. It seems he had been living apart from his wife over several years. 

George died in 1894 under mysterious circumstances. He may have been poisoned OR the poison may have been added to his body after death by natural causes. 

George died May 13th 1894. On October 20th 1893 he rewrote his will leaving everything to Sarah Jane Robbins. She is listed as his wife, but there appears to have been no divorce from Jane (who listed herself as a widow in the 1901 census). 

The new will replaced one that had been written in 1887. 

Soon after he died the rumours began that he had been poisoned and Sarah's brother had influence over George. Sarah & her brother were executrix & executor of George's approx $40,000 estate. Remember this was 1894, and that was a lot of money.

His daughter Henrietta contested the will. 

The  body was exhumed, but there appeared to be too much arsenic for the poison to have been added before death. How exactly did the arsenic get into his organs after death?

All the sordid details are In the news article linked here:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/589338/vancouver-daily-world/

It appears as though Jane & George had been living apart for many years. I can not come up with a logical reason for why Henrietta & Arthur were living separately for the 1901 census which was where this research session began about 7 hours ago.  

And so ends a journey down the genealogical rabbit hole for today

When researching results in more questions than answers!!!

Cause ... 




You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

This is why I search - 

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

________________________________________________________________

Getting Schooled ~ The Schooley Family

 My husband's 6th great grandparents were:

Johannes Martin Buchner
BIRTH 29 JAN 1704 • Unnau, Nassau (now), Westerwald, Germany
DEATH 1780 • Sussex County, New Jersey, United States of America
&
Elsa Maria (Elizabeth) Zehrung
BIRTH 14 OCT 1704 • Fehl-Ritzhausen, (now Marienberg), Nassau, (now) Westerwald, Germany
DEATH 1780 • Amwell, Sussex, New Jersey, USA

Ancestry DNA confirmed the traditional research one generation higher through the Buchner line through their son:

Johan Heinrich (Henry) Buchner
BIRTH 10 DECEMBER 1734 • Duitsland, Rheinland Pfalz
DEATH 2 DEC 1817 • Crowland Township, Welland, Niagara, Ontario, Canada
married 
Anna Eva Maria Dell
BIRTH ABT 1737 • Sussex, New Jersey, British Colonial America
DEATH ABT. 1803 • Welland Co., Ontario, Canada

Are you wondering what these relatives have to do with this week's prompt SCHOOL?

I'm so glad you asked!

Anna Eva Maria Dell had 3 brothers and a sister.

One sister and one brother married into the SCHOOLEY family.

Oldest brother Richard married Elizabeth Schooley.

Richard Dell (twin to Bassnet)
BIRTH 16 OCT 1726 • Sussex, New Jersey, British Colonial America
DEATH 3 AUG 1804 • Hanover Township, Morris, New Jersey, United States
married (February 28th 1754, Mendham, Morris, New Jersey, USA)
Elisabeth Schooley
BIRTH 20 JUL 1729 • Chesterfield, Burlington, New Jersey, British Colonial America
DEATH 20 NOV 1790 • New Jersey, United States

Older sister Elizabeth married William Schooley. 

Elizabeth Dell
BIRTH 1728 • Burlington County, New Jersey, USA
DEATH 27 JAN 1762 • Sussex County, New Jersey, USA
married (November 27th 1760, Woodbridge, Union, New Jersey, USA
)William Schooley
BIRTH 1727 • Burlington County, New Jersey, USA
DEATH 27 JAN 1767 • Sussex, New Jersey, United States

While working in this section of our Bramble Bush it can be challenging to get the generations correct. As an example. our William above married an Elizabeth. His parents were William and Elizabeth. At one point I had children assigned to the junior couple that were born when they were 11 & 12.  Definitely need to be more careful while adding folks and facts. 

Getting schooled on the Schooleys!

I found quite a bit of interesting information during my internet searching for this Quaker family. There is a lot of information out there for descendants looking for more information.

Using this week's prompt to be schooled on the Schooley portion of this Bramble Bush!!!

Cause ... 




You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

This is why I search - 

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

________________________________________________________________

Family Memories ~ Little House on the Prairie

Not so long ago there was no PVRs. 

If you missed an episode of a tv series you didn't know what happened. Years later you might catch the episode on reruns, but the ability to see every episode of a series was scarce. 

Some of my fondest childhood memories are rushing to get into my pjs to watch Walt Disney on Sunday night & Little House on the Prairie on Monday nights. 

Both play a significant role in my leisure time memories.

My whole family in our pjs snuggled on the couch until we got too big for family snuggles and we moved to our own spaces. 

What didn't change was watching these shows every week in our pjs with our family. 

Sometimes with hot chocolate. Sometimes with popcorn. Sometimes freshly bathed. Sometimes with a blankets. Sometimes with a fire burning. 

As a kid who moved many times (5 schools in 3 provinces for grade 3, and 3 schools in 2 provinces for grade 4 plus many more) it's those tv times that elicit the memory of the home we were living in. 

While researching for a blog about famous folks I discovered that the author Laura Ingalls Wilder was related to a few of my famous folks.

After digging far & wide I discovered that I am related to Laura's father Charles Phillip Ingalls through my mother's maternal line. 

Now ... this really is a stretch, but I will definitely take it. 

Laura is my 1st cousin 4x removed of wife of 4th cousin 7x removed.

Laura Elizabeth Ingalls
BIRTH 7 FEB 1867 • Pepin County, Wisconsin, USA
DEATH 10 FEB 1957 • Rocky Ridge Farm, Mansfield, Wright, Missouri, USA
married to
Almanzo James Wilder
BIRTH 13 FEB 1857 • Burke, Franklin, New York, USA
DEATH 23 OCT 1949 • Mansfield, Wright, Missouri, USA

As I snuggled with my family in my pjs watching the tales I would have loved to know I was connected to Laura. Even as loosely connected as we are I feel blessed to have her connected to my tree at all. 

The tales she told in her books, that the tv series was based on, were based on hers and Alonzo's childhoods.

Were they facts. Not at all. Did they introduce children and adults to the past. Absolutely. 

When I look back at my early watching and reading interests I realize I have always been a historical fiction fan. 

I love viewing the past through the eyes of a person.

Adding flesh & bones to our family history!!!

Cause ... 




You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

This is why I search - 

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Photo Source:

File:Laura Ingalls Wilder - Documentary - DVD - 150th Birthday - cover art.jpg, Retrieved August 31st 2021 from: 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laura_Ingalls_Wilder_-_Documentary_-_DVD_-_150th_Birthday_-_cover_art.jpg

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

________________________________________________________________

Place Holders - Not a Tragedy

This is my 3rd year with the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. 

I am finding it a challenge to write each week. I suspect it's rooted in the pandemic appearing like it will never end. I am struggling with my lack of focus and ambition. I just can't seem to get it together to do anything except work.  I spend too much time doing nothing.

This week I was on vacation.

I didn't prep a blog entry. 

I considered not writing this week. 

Then I realized it's okay to take a break. 

I primarily write for me. 

If I don't have the time, energy, or ambition to write this week that is okay. 

I also write for future researchers who may find what they are looking for in the stories I have left behind. 

This week they will find that I have left a bit about me in this week's placeholder.

Writing a place holding week is not a tragedy.

What did we do this week on vacation?

We cycled:

We got outdoors:

Ate some good food:

Took car trips:

BUT there is still a pandemic so we stayed close to home & didn't visit with any other people. 

Getting pretty tired of Covid-19.

Recording for future searchers!!!

Cause ... 




You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

This is why I search - 

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

________________________________________________________________

New York City ~ BUT Not Ellis Island

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2021: Week 32 (IN THE CITY)

Last September our trip to New York City was canceled. 

On that trip I planned to research more about my husband's 8th great grandparents who arrived via New York.

Sadly that trip didn't happen because of the worldwide Covid pandemic. 

We do not have a lot of information or confirmation of exactly when they arrived. 

That was supposed to be found in our Ellis Island searching.

BUT since it appears as though they arrived between 1710 and 1717 they didn't enter at Ellis Island.

Ellis Island opened as an immigration site in 1892.

All that we know about my husband's 8th great grandparents on his father's maternal line.

Freidrich Wilhelm Schram

BIRTH 2 JUN 1695
DEATH Unknown
                       &
Anna Maria Kuester (Kuster)

He descends via their son (7th great grandparents)

Johan Wilhelm (John) Schram

BIRTH 22 JUL 1717 • West Camp, Ulster, New York, United States

DEATH JAN 1785 • New York, USA

                         &

Anna Catherine (Catharina) Lehman

BIRTH 12 FEB 1720 • Loonenburg, Greene, New York, United States

DEATH 1784 • Athens, Greene, New York, United States

AND their son (6th great grandparents)

Johannis (John) Schram UEL

BIRTH 9 MAR 1759 • Loonenburg, Greene, New York

DEATH BEF. 1817 • Grantham Township, Lincoln County, Ontario, Canada

                            &

Nancy Ann Derby Derby (Darby, Darbie)

BIRTH 23 DEC 1765/1755 • Kiskatemesy, New York, USA

DEATH 10 APR 1856

and their daughter (5th great grandparents)

Elizabeth Schram

BIRTH 28 FEB 1782 • New York, USA

DEATH AFTER 1840

                            &

William Havens

BIRTH 20 MAY 1764 • Jefferson, Gloucester, New Jersey, USA

DEATH 20 DEC 1836 • Gore, Erin, Ontario, Canada

DNA matches have confirmed the family connections to William & Elizabeth (nee Schram) Havens.

Finding family via dna & records!!!

Cause ... 




You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

This is why I search - 

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Sources:

Ellis Island, History.com. Retrieved August 13th 2021 from
https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/ellis-island

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

________________________________________________________________

Favourite Name ~ I Don't Think I Have One

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2021: Week 31 (FAVOURITE NAME)

I am not very good at choosing favourites.

Everytime I'm asked for a favourite I struggle with how to choose just one.

My favourite depends on so many factors that change constantly.

I couldn't choose just one favourite in any category. 

Favourite Food - depends on the moment. 

Favourite Colour - depends on what it's for

Favourite activity - depends on the mood

Favourite travel destination - depends on the season

ON & ON it goes...

Sometimes when I am asked for my favourite I choose whatever random one comes to mind first.

Later I wonder if folks think my answer was strange, and then I remember no one actually cares!!!

How exactly should I write this week's blog?

I could talk about my least favourite name. I thought I could choose just one because of the generation after generation of the same name, but then I realized I don't dislike the name - just the naming pattern. 

I could list a whole bunch of names I like, but then that wouldn't focus on an ancestor for week 31 of 52.


What to do?

I decided to write about a person in my tree with a cool name.

My 7th great grandmother's name leapt off the computer screen as I was scanning for who to write about. I realized that I like how the name looks in print, and the flow of the name.  

Agness Forrest

BIRTH ABT. 1711 • East Lothian, Scotland

DEATH Unknown

Agness is my 7th great grandmother through my father's maternal line. She married my 7th great grandfather, James Richardson,  on the 11th of June 1731. 

I further connected with this 7th great grandmother because my husband & I were also married on June 11th. 

I haven't yet figured out who Agness's parents were.
I would love to figure out where the Forrest name originated. 

I am pretty sure Agness was a very interesting person. 

She is just waiting for me to tell her story.



As always - 

My work here is not yet done!!!

Cause ... 




You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

This is why I search - 

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

________________________________________________________________