On January 1, 2009 I said life would be really good if I could get my office cleaned. Well, significant progress has been made. However. . . it is still not done.
Too many distractions. Some fun - some not.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Dr. Bodo Otto and other ancestors
Dr. Bodo Otto was mentioned in a previous post so thought I should tell who he was and about his role in the formation of our country. I learned about my connection to Dr. Otto twenty or so years ago. The Bodo Otto Family Association was established to honor Dr. Bodo Otto by his descendants. You can learn more about him by going to the webpage for the Dr Bodo Otto Family Association. For photograps relating to Dr. Otto go to Dr Bodo Otto Album on Association webpage.
What causes a person to become interested in finding out about their ancestors? For me, it is more about finding historical information and about the times in which they lived than in glorifying who or what they were. Sure, if your family has been in America as long as mine you too have some ancestors involved in important historical events. Richard Warren arrived on the Mayflower, Dr. Otto served General Washington at Valley Forge and several other direct ancestors including Adam Torrence, Owen Briggs and Wolcott Burnham fought for the freedom of this country from Great Britain. We also have a connection to the Salem Witch Trials and some of my ancestors fought to preserve the Union while others fought to destroy it during the War Between the States as it is called in the South. Others arrived in the country in the 1850s and 60s and eked out a living from the land on the Midwestern prairie. Still others came to Illinois with the railroad or to work in the Chicago waterworks prior to the Chicago Fire of 1871.
As I child I did not know any of this. Wouldn't it have been nice to know that the first locomotive in Chicago that I climbed on as a child at the Chicago Historical Society, now the Chicago History Museum, was kept running by my gt-gt-grandfather. History would have come alive for me as it did many years later.
Most of these folks were just plain people going about their daily life and it was the time in which they lived that put them into the spotlight.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Choo-Choo and other memories
When my parents divorced in 1949 we came to live in Evanston with our grandparents. Shortly afterwards Dad, who was a Naval Officer, was sent to Japan and Korea and sometime between then and Baltimore, he was stationed in California. I have only vague memories of living together as a family - and the years between the divorce and Daddy's marriage to Jean in 1954 are somewhat jumbled.
What I do remember, is that we didn't see him for a long time. However, I have three memories of his visits in Evanston. Do my memories all take place during a 1952 Christmas visit? I think so but do not know for sure.
After returning from Japan, Daddy came to Evanston to spend Christmas with his two little girls. Dad's sister Cora, her husband Bill, and their two little one had recently moved to Palatine and my paternal grandparents and Uncle Oscar came north too to spend Christmas together. Another memory is going downtown to see the Long, Long Trailer starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez. We laughed and laughed. Think I should rent the movie sometime to see if it has stood the test of time.
The last of these memories is going to Des Plaines to eat lunch at a diner. What made the place so special was that the food arrived on a freight train. It was the one and only time I ate there as a child. However, I never forgot that meal. Years later, we took our children there and now it is a favorite of our grandson Jake. There is some talk of it closing since the city wants the land. Before it does, we need to take Ian there too.
What I do remember, is that we didn't see him for a long time. However, I have three memories of his visits in Evanston. Do my memories all take place during a 1952 Christmas visit? I think so but do not know for sure.
After returning from Japan, Daddy came to Evanston to spend Christmas with his two little girls. Dad's sister Cora, her husband Bill, and their two little one had recently moved to Palatine and my paternal grandparents and Uncle Oscar came north too to spend Christmas together. Another memory is going downtown to see the Long, Long Trailer starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez. We laughed and laughed. Think I should rent the movie sometime to see if it has stood the test of time.
The last of these memories is going to Des Plaines to eat lunch at a diner. What made the place so special was that the food arrived on a freight train. It was the one and only time I ate there as a child. However, I never forgot that meal. Years later, we took our children there and now it is a favorite of our grandson Jake. There is some talk of it closing since the city wants the land. Before it does, we need to take Ian there too.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Daughters - what’s in your name?
If it is Carman and Joslyn, and probably yours, the answer is quite a lot.
My great grandmother, Alma Eldredge Joslyn “did the family genealogy” and passed it on to me. I have continued the search – spending many years documenting her work, filling in the blanks and taking the research beyond what she had recorded – including our relationship to Dr. Bodo Otto.
She was most interested in her paternal Eldredge lines. It pains me to admit that some of what she handed down is incorrect and that she did not cite any of her sources. When I went back to document her work I proved that what she’d recorded on one line of her family is not supported by birth, death or marriage records. It is instead a line that was incorrectly linked together by accredited genealogists back in the late 1800s. This line is printed in countless published genealogies and she apparently accepted this incorrect linage on face value.
Her mistake is a common one – a mistake also made by the Dr. Bodo Otto Association when they reprinted James Gibson's book about Dr. Bodo Otto. Even after research the Association incorrectly published that our Catherine Otto was the wife of Tobias Hammer. Yes, Tobias Hammer married a Catherine Otto but not our Catherine. That however, is another story for another day.
My maiden name was Joslyn – a name I cherish. However, as a daughter, it is a surname I will not be passing on to my children as my husband has passed on the Hughes surname. With only Joslyn daughters in my generation our branch of the Joslyn line has ended. Be assured however, it has ended in name only. The children of all the daughters throughout the generations, past and future, carry it on in spirit.
It is that same kindred spirit I feel toward my Otto ancestors. Maria Elizabeth Otto, the only daughter of Dr. Bodo Otto, married a man known today as Mark Carman. However, that is not the name as listed in records of the time. It is not known exactly when, where, or why his name was changed from Marcus Kirman to Mark Carman.
His name appears in records with various spellings.
His 1731 German baptism record says:
"16 Oct, was born a baby son and baptized Mark. His parents are Andreas Kirmann, and his legally married wife, Catharina Geilerin. Witness Joh. Georg Marxen, and his legally married wife."
When he swore allegiance to his new country in Philadelphia on August 25, 1751 he signed his name Marx Kurrmann.
In the records of St. Michael's Evangelical Church in Germantown, PA he is listed as Marcus Kurrman where he is a witness to the marriage of Magdelina Kurmann on October 30, 1759.
Dr. Bodo Otto’s will says: “pay unto the children of heirs of my deceased daughter Maria Elizabeth Marxen like sum of fifty dollars in speci to be divided to and amongst them in equal shares alike or to either of their representatives.”
It wasn’t until a receipt signed by Frederick Carman was found in the papers of James Gibson, Dr. Otto researcher and author of the book Dr. Bodo Otto and the Medical Background of the American Revolution, that what was "known" to be true through oral tradition could be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt – Marcus Kirmann and Mark Carman were one and the same, and his wife was the only daughter of Dr. Bodo Otto.
I was thrilled when I learned that a granddaughter of Dr. Otto married a man named Joslin. That made me a direct descendant of Dr. Bodo Otto, the Revolutionary War doctor who serve uner General Washinton and who set up several of the hospitals used by the troops. Specifically, my Joslyn and Otto lines link when Margaret Carman married Hosea Joslin in 1814. As their “daughter” descendant I am as much an Otto as those of my generation who were born with the Otto surname – genetically we are all eight generations removed from our common ancestor. I just don't carry the Otto or Carman name. The same can be said about any of my family lines marrying into my Joslyn line.
My great grandmother, Alma Eldredge Joslyn “did the family genealogy” and passed it on to me. I have continued the search – spending many years documenting her work, filling in the blanks and taking the research beyond what she had recorded – including our relationship to Dr. Bodo Otto.
She was most interested in her paternal Eldredge lines. It pains me to admit that some of what she handed down is incorrect and that she did not cite any of her sources. When I went back to document her work I proved that what she’d recorded on one line of her family is not supported by birth, death or marriage records. It is instead a line that was incorrectly linked together by accredited genealogists back in the late 1800s. This line is printed in countless published genealogies and she apparently accepted this incorrect linage on face value.
Her mistake is a common one – a mistake also made by the Dr. Bodo Otto Association when they reprinted James Gibson's book about Dr. Bodo Otto. Even after research the Association incorrectly published that our Catherine Otto was the wife of Tobias Hammer. Yes, Tobias Hammer married a Catherine Otto but not our Catherine. That however, is another story for another day.
My maiden name was Joslyn – a name I cherish. However, as a daughter, it is a surname I will not be passing on to my children as my husband has passed on the Hughes surname. With only Joslyn daughters in my generation our branch of the Joslyn line has ended. Be assured however, it has ended in name only. The children of all the daughters throughout the generations, past and future, carry it on in spirit.
It is that same kindred spirit I feel toward my Otto ancestors. Maria Elizabeth Otto, the only daughter of Dr. Bodo Otto, married a man known today as Mark Carman. However, that is not the name as listed in records of the time. It is not known exactly when, where, or why his name was changed from Marcus Kirman to Mark Carman.
His name appears in records with various spellings.
His 1731 German baptism record says:
"16 Oct, was born a baby son and baptized Mark. His parents are Andreas Kirmann, and his legally married wife, Catharina Geilerin. Witness Joh. Georg Marxen, and his legally married wife."
When he swore allegiance to his new country in Philadelphia on August 25, 1751 he signed his name Marx Kurrmann.
In the records of St. Michael's Evangelical Church in Germantown, PA he is listed as Marcus Kurrman where he is a witness to the marriage of Magdelina Kurmann on October 30, 1759.
Dr. Bodo Otto’s will says: “pay unto the children of heirs of my deceased daughter Maria Elizabeth Marxen like sum of fifty dollars in speci to be divided to and amongst them in equal shares alike or to either of their representatives.”
It wasn’t until a receipt signed by Frederick Carman was found in the papers of James Gibson, Dr. Otto researcher and author of the book Dr. Bodo Otto and the Medical Background of the American Revolution, that what was "known" to be true through oral tradition could be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt – Marcus Kirmann and Mark Carman were one and the same, and his wife was the only daughter of Dr. Bodo Otto.
I was thrilled when I learned that a granddaughter of Dr. Otto married a man named Joslin. That made me a direct descendant of Dr. Bodo Otto, the Revolutionary War doctor who serve uner General Washinton and who set up several of the hospitals used by the troops. Specifically, my Joslyn and Otto lines link when Margaret Carman married Hosea Joslin in 1814. As their “daughter” descendant I am as much an Otto as those of my generation who were born with the Otto surname – genetically we are all eight generations removed from our common ancestor. I just don't carry the Otto or Carman name. The same can be said about any of my family lines marrying into my Joslyn line.
Hosea Joslin (1796-1880)and his wife Margaret Carman Joslin (1796-1891)
The Joslin name was also spelled many different ways in early records.
The children and grandchildren of Hosea and Margaret are recorded with many spelling variations and often several of these spellings appear in the same source. For example, these are just some of the ways I have seen the name spelled in public documents: Jocelyn, Goslin, Jocelin, Joslen, Josselyn, Josselin and Josyln.
Oral history has it that my great grandmother, Alma Eldredge Joslyn, liked the way her new married name looked with the “y” instead of an “i.” So, our history was rewritten and for the last four generations our branch of the family spelled their surname Joslyn. Some first and middle names are also spelled differently than we spell them today.
Why did spelling vary so much? As a historian for my community, I know that many of our pioneer settlers arrived with one name and within a few years were know by a variation of that name. Today, some of those changes make perfect sense while others are impossible to figure out. The names, especially the names of non-native English speaking people, were often written as the recorder heard that name pronounced and thought it should be spelled - not as the name holder spelled it. Sometimes the recorder simply made a mistake – a typo of sorts. There are many reasons this happened including that some recorders had only a rudimentary education and that the education system was such that most were not aware of a universal spelling standard. We may know our ancestors by their two or three given names and assume they went by the first name which is often not the name they were know by during their lifetime.
I may never have found a wealth of information about my ancestors or my kinship to Dr. Bodo Otto had I checked only Carman and Joslyn records, or by the first names I thought they should have. Who knows what you’ll discover if you are open to spelling and name variations. my favorite example of this is the census entry of Hiram Faron that is indexed at "Twain Farm."
Thanks to the help of others, I was able to hold and study the Bible where Hosea and Margaret Carman Joslin recorded the vital records for their family. Also in teh Bible were handwritten recipies and a favorite Bible verse. The Bible verse that was written by Hosea now graces the wall in our guest room. Flanking the Bible verse are the surnames of my family's ancestors. A family tree doubles each generation - two parents - four grandparents- eight great grandparents etc. so the list goes only through my husband's amd my great grandparents.
My side of the family lists: Joslyn, Eldredge, Clark, Withers, Kirkley, Faron, Quitmeier and Knoop. Mike's side has one less name since I have not as yet located the maiden name of one of his great grandmothers. Mike's side of the family lists: Hughes, Martens, Schallert, Larson, Lund, Aska and Govig. Two of our children have married and Colliton, Kocha, Smith and MacKinnon have been added to our family of names. A melting pot of heritages joined together into one family.
The Bible verse Hosea Joslin chose to write in his family Bible nearly 200 years ago is:
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches . . .
Proverbs 22:1
Monday, January 12, 2009
Happy Birthday Rob
Today, my baby boy turns 46. Wow, how did that happen – in many ways, it seems like yesterday. It was a cold and snowy just like it is today when we went to the hospital in the middle of the night. Rob made his entrance into the world the next afternoon at 3:15 pm.
Among our first visitors was a friend and her new baby boy. We were both very young, and I remember my mother and her mother-in-law saying something about watching babies with their babies. Our friends' son was given up for adoption a few months later when their marriage ended. He has recently located his father, and the search is on to find his mother. I've thought about that visit a lot since the little boy I met so many years ago contacted me. I can't imagine what my life would have been like without watching my child grow up. Yet, I know the joy that adoption brings to a family. We have experienced that joy with a wonderful niece and recently a great-niece who also joined our family through adoption.
Unlike our friends, Mike and I don't fit the stereotype of young marriages not lasting. That we were very young parents is really evident in these pictures taken when Rob was three months old. He was a good baby and a bright, sensitive, and easy child to raise. He is now a 6'5" fire-fighter with a family of his own.
I must say that after all these years, one of the best parts of watching your child grow into a productive adult is seeing them parent their own children.
Among our first visitors was a friend and her new baby boy. We were both very young, and I remember my mother and her mother-in-law saying something about watching babies with their babies. Our friends' son was given up for adoption a few months later when their marriage ended. He has recently located his father, and the search is on to find his mother. I've thought about that visit a lot since the little boy I met so many years ago contacted me. I can't imagine what my life would have been like without watching my child grow up. Yet, I know the joy that adoption brings to a family. We have experienced that joy with a wonderful niece and recently a great-niece who also joined our family through adoption.
Unlike our friends, Mike and I don't fit the stereotype of young marriages not lasting. That we were very young parents is really evident in these pictures taken when Rob was three months old. He was a good baby and a bright, sensitive, and easy child to raise. He is now a 6'5" fire-fighter with a family of his own.
I must say that after all these years, one of the best parts of watching your child grow into a productive adult is seeing them parent their own children.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Emmy we'll all miss you
Patti said good-bye to a great friend yesterday when she put her cat Emmy to sleep. It was a difficult decision, but a very necessary one.
Patti found Emmy as a wee kitten in a parking lot outside a Palatine bar more than 18 years ago. This was shortly after Patti moved out of our house and into her own apartment. So, of course, Patti scooped her up and took her home to her apartment as a companion to her cat Mariah.
Patti loves and takes good care of her sweet kitties. Mariah was a birthday gift for Patti when she turned 13 and was Patti's best friend for more than nineteen years.
Emmy was a petite and sweet kitty that Kevin affectionately called "Hairball."
Emmy is not the only kitten Patti found and brougt home. When she was a young child, Patti found an orange and white kitten that she brought into the house and locked herself and the cat in the bathroom until I got home because Mike said she couldn't keep him. We kept Butterscotch.
Then years later, after leaving our house to go home one rainy night she found a little white kitten playing alongside Sanders Rd. Of course she scooped him up and turned around bringing him here because she couldn't leave him by the road. I loved that beautiful blue-eyed deaf cat. We named him Boris.
These are just a few of the wonderful kitties and purrs in our the houses throughout the years.
Patti found Emmy as a wee kitten in a parking lot outside a Palatine bar more than 18 years ago. This was shortly after Patti moved out of our house and into her own apartment. So, of course, Patti scooped her up and took her home to her apartment as a companion to her cat Mariah.
Patti loves and takes good care of her sweet kitties. Mariah was a birthday gift for Patti when she turned 13 and was Patti's best friend for more than nineteen years.Emmy was a petite and sweet kitty that Kevin affectionately called "Hairball."
Emmy is not the only kitten Patti found and brougt home. When she was a young child, Patti found an orange and white kitten that she brought into the house and locked herself and the cat in the bathroom until I got home because Mike said she couldn't keep him. We kept Butterscotch.
Then years later, after leaving our house to go home one rainy night she found a little white kitten playing alongside Sanders Rd. Of course she scooped him up and turned around bringing him here because she couldn't leave him by the road. I loved that beautiful blue-eyed deaf cat. We named him Boris.
These are just a few of the wonderful kitties and purrs in our the houses throughout the years.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
The New Year begins
Out with the old year and in with the new.
Last year started in an unexpected way. Shortly after the New Year, a friend knocked on my door and said, "I want to write a book." Well, she did it, and so did I when I became her co-author. Our book is selling well. It is strange however for me to know that something I have written is registered at the Library of Congress and that my name can be found in a search on Amazon.
The subject of the book is what has become my life's work - the history of our village.
Speaking of the history of our village, the year ended with the sale of the oldest family-owned business in the state and a business that began repairing wagons and moved into fixing cars in the 1920s. The business, and the family that ran it for more than 160 years, is so interwoven with the history of our village. Wonder what will happen to the building now? The first shop is seen on the book cover.
History is something that happened a long time ago according to most people. Yet, history happens every day - we just don't realize we are living history. After all, today is tomorrow's history.
What will the New Year bring? I can't even begin to imagine what is in store for us in 2009. Life is good!
Now, if I could get my office cleaned up then life would be really good!
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