​

Readers may notice my name, Mary Kircher Roddy, and (correctly) infer that Kircher is my maiden name.  For most of my adult life, I used Mary E. (for Elizabeth) Roddy as my “professional” name.  I entered graduate school to earn a Master’s degree in accounting under my maiden name, married part-way into the program, and for my entire life as a Certified Public Accountant I’ve been known as Mary E Roddy.

But as I began to work professionally as a genealogist, author, and speaker, putting the Kircher back in my name became important to me, part of my oh-not-so-secret hope that a researcher or relative might make a connection to that family name and “bag” me!  I have often teased that if I had a bigger business card, I’d call myself Mary Kircher Springer Freuhauf Hartman Altoff Schoenemann Bradley Rugh Keppel Yearyan Fooselman Mechling Merkel Ahern Toumey Walsh Graham Keenan Brown Mansperger Shafer Raiser Long Gillotte McGrew McCrae Neusche Erhardt Hardy Green Gee Beauford Bruce Andrews Neville Drury Fields Devlin et al Roddy.  But as another Mary once sang, “That’s going a bit too far don’t you think?”[1] Indubitably… so I’ll stick with the plain old Mary Kircher Roddy and hope for the best.

Just this week my plan to get “bagged” by a relative bore fruit!  A woman on facebook sent me a friend request – she’s a genealogist, saw the Kircher in my name and recognized it from her family research and reached out.  Hopefully we’ll be able to connect our families.  So in honor of my Kircher’s I’ll post another Kircher story today., the transcription of

“The Kircher Family Visits Worlds Fair, Fall 1893”[2]

by Irving Kircher.[3]

It was not easy for Father[4] to leave his farm for a period of seven or eight days.  There were many things that needed daily attention such as milking cows, feeding horses, cattle, pigs and chickens.  However, Fall was the best time to go as many of the crops were already harvested and the weeds were well under control.

Mother[5] was against the adventure but Charles[6] and Irving were all for it; the babies Helen and Stella[7] were too you to express an opinion. Father was eager to make the trip as he had two cousins living in Chicago, one Julius who was employed by a couple of Swift boys who had a slaughter house near his home,[8] the other cousin, Albert[9] who was a barber in the neighborhood of 5232 May St.  Both of these cousins had visited in Webster and now was a good time to kill two birds with one stone – see the fair and visit relatives.

Now it was time to make plans.  Who shall we get to look after the chores and what will we do with the babies – Helen and Stella?  Hiram Jennings, a Christian man and a lay preacher and part time farmer would be willing to help if he could find the time.  John Wolf, Geo. Schremer, other neighbors, were experienced farmers who might be able to watch over the live stock.  Lon Thayer and Cider ben were good fellows and had little to do.  Lon had a cider mill which had not yet opened for the season, and Cider Ben never had a job, and father was afraid to place too much responsibility with him as we had a bull in the barn yard and the horses were treacherous, one would bit, another would crowd you in his stall, another would try to step on your toes – all of them were kickers.

After much consideration Lon Thayer was chosen to take over ,and for his work he was to receive the milk he took away from the cows.

Grandma and Grandpa Bowman[10] who lived over on the track offered to take care of the girls during our absence.  We children all loved our grandparents and it was a great pleasure to visit them.  The girls were delighted to vacation over there.  Grandpa, a jolly old man was a blacksmith.  He nailed shoes on horses and put metal tires on wagon wheels.  Pa said he never saved any money because he spent so much on groceries.  Grandpa loved roast beef and he was willing to pay 15 cents a pound for his meat – a good five pound roast would cost 75 cents and that was what kept him broke.

Charles Jr.[11] was a big 14 year old boy and was thinking of entering High School.  High School Prin[cipal] E. D. Webb told father it was a must.  After a debate of an hour or so father finally consented to pay the enrollment tuition and allow Charles to start High School work after election day which usually came after Nov 1.

We are now ready for the train ride to Chicago.  Our baggage which was small and rolled in bundles was made ready, each carrying at least one bundle.  It was morning when we boarded the R.W & O[12] limited to Rochester.  The ride was pleasant and we arrived safely at Rochester some time before noon.  The usual worries that go with travels were with us.  Did we forget anything? No, nothing was left undone, but still mother couldn’t remember if she locked the kitchen door.  “Where is the key if we locked the door,” said Charles Jr.  After some hard thinking mother did rember of making a final stop at the little house in the back and on her return as she passed by the wood pile she overturned a large wood block and tucked the key under it.

Father was a man who could find at least one thing to worry about at any moment.  When will we get to Chicago?  Will some one meet us, where will we go and what will we do, were some of the thoughts that flashed through his mind as we hurriedly entered the west bound NY Central coach.  The train was off and w were whizzing along at 40 miles per hour.  Tickets please, shouted the conductor.  Father opens his money bag in search of the tickets.  Fifty silver dollars could make a lot of trouble in a money bag, however two tickets did pop up and dad said there they are.  Conductor – What, only 2 tickets for the four of you.  How old are these boys?  Pointing at me dad said he’s eleven.  What about the other boy?  He’s older.  How old?  14 I think.  Conductor’s reply – children under 12 go for free – over 12 must pay ½ fare.  I don’t know what the outcome but there was an argument each time the conductor came along to take up tickets and call the name of the next station.  A new conductor came on duty after a short time.  Dad saw him coming down the aisle and shouted to Charles – make yourself look small, crouch down – it worked.

There was confusion, noise, running and shouting as the train pulled up to the Grand Central station in Chicago.  We hurried outside and enjoyed a breath of fresh air.  Dad was right when he worried about what to do next when we arrived in Chicago.  5232 May Street that’s the number we are looking for.  Cousin Julius lives there ant that’s where we’re going.  We start looking for May street but only for a short time; father found it in less than 10 minutes.  We were lucky and happy to know that we were so near our destination.  But where is 5232?  We shall walk and find it; it can’t be far away.  One thing we didn’t know was the length of a city block.  We walked a block or two and thought we were near our destination.  A horse drawn street car passed us.  We didn’t board it as we thought our journey was a short one.  This was a mistake.  It took us 3 hours of walking before we found 5232.
​
The ride on the train meant more to me than the Exposition.  The outstanding features at the Fair were the Ferris Wheel which took us up to a height of 100 feet or more.  The view from the wheel was wonderful.  The statues on the grounds and in the buildings always drew comments from the older people.  The men thought the art specimens were nice and the women thought they were naughty.  Our generation would have no comment.[13]  Question – what did we take home with us?  Answer – the satisfaction of a feeling that there was no place like home in Webster.
                                                                                                                Irving”
 
Researcher’s notes:

1. Try to track down the descendants of Julius Jr and Albert Kircher. 
2. Map out where 5232 May Street, Chicago is, and route from train station to house.  Does that house still exist?
3. Research more on Albert Kircher – when exactly did he move to Illinois?
4. Look for news and advertisements in Rochester and nearby papers for information about the World’s Fair and railroad service.
5. Look for picture of the Ferris Wheel
6. Track down descendants of Irving Kircher to see if they know anything more about the origins of this letter and whether they have more such reminiscences from Irving

Dear Reader - please scroll down for more pictures.  I couldn't figure how to integrate into the text


[1] “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” Robert B and Richard M Sherman, from the musical, Mary Poppins
[2] The transcription in this blog post is of a photocopy of something written by Irving Kircher.  I do not know anything about where the original is located or the circumstances under which it was written.  There is no date written anywhere I can find on the pages.  The penmanship in the document looks like that of an adult. The document was included in the papers in a file kept by my father labeled “Kircher Genealogy”
[3] Irving Kircher, born 21 August 1882, was the second child of Charles Conrad Kircher and Frances Abelone Springer.  His adult life was spent in LaCrosse, Wisconsin where he was a school principal
[4] Charles Conrad Kircher, born 21 January 1852, Rochester, Monroe, New York
[5] Frances Abelone Springer, born 13 February 1857 Liverpool, Onondaga, New York.  Married Charles Conrad Kircher 12 March 1878.
[6] Charles Jr. is my grandfather, Charles Arthur Kircher, son of Charles and Frances, born 25 April 1879 in Webster, Monroe, New York and died 8 March 1952 in Marin County, California.
[7] Helen and Stella are the two daughters of Charles and Frances.   Helen was born 8 March 1888 and Stella was born 18 November 1889.
[8] I believe this is Julius Kircher, son of Julius Kircher and Sophia (last name unknown.)  Julius Jr was born circa 1857 in Monroe County, New York, lived in Illinois from the mid-1880s to sometime in the 1910s, and died in Los Angeles, California 14 February 1922.  Julius Kircher Sr., born circa 1824 in Prussia/Germany, died 16 August 1863, is the brother of Carl Conrad Friedrich Kircher, my great-great grandfather.
[9] I believe this is Albert Kircher, also son of Julius and Sophia, born about 1857 or 1858 in Monroe County, New York.  However, I find Albert Kircher, barber, appearing in the city directories in Elmira, Chemung, New York from about 1882 to 1897, so I am not clear about Irving’s assertion that Albert was living in the Chicago area.
[10] Grandma Bowman refers to Louisa Caroline Hartman Springer Bowman, mother of Frances Abelone Springer.  Grandma Bowman is Henry Bowman/Bauman, who married Louisa about 1875 after the death of her first husband, Johannes Springer 3 October 1867.
[11] Charles Jr. is my grandfather, Charles Arthur Kircher, born 25 April 1879 in Webster, Monroe, New York and died 8 March 1952 in Marin County, California.
[12] Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg.Railroad
[13] Editorial comment – seems the more things change, the more they stay the same…

For my Tuesday Tips today, I'll cover another indexing scheme for organizing the names one might find in a county record book.  These books cover wills, deeds and more.  As FamilySearch.org puts up more and more image-only historical records, it's important to understand how the indexes work.  The records on FamilySearch aren't necessarily searchable via search boxes, but if one knows how the indexes work, she can find records almost as quickly. as you could with search boxes.

I previously posted Indexing tips on 29 March 2016 at http://www.mkrgenealogy.com/searching-for-stories-blog/understanding-indexes-west-virginia-will-index and on 1 March 2016 at http://www.mkrgenealogy.com/searching-for-stories-blog/understanding-indexes-in-county-records-graves-tabular-initial-index


Today’s tip concerns the Burr’s Record Index.  In this index, entries are divided into subgroups, based on the first letter of the surname.  Typically these subgroups are the first 3 letters of the surname, but may be for fewer letters.  If you are using an actual physical book with this index, you will see first letter tabs that stick out, and then cut-outs on the sides of the page for the letter groupings.

In the illustration below for the Talbot County, Maryland Probate Administrations, you can see that surnames beginning with A are grouped into subgroups AA to AF, AG-AH-AI, AK-AL, AM and ANA-AND, ANE-ANZ, AP and AR, etc.
​
When using these indexes with physical volumes, it is easy to pinch the tab and flip the page.  When using digitized images, it is easiest to click on the icon to display an array of pages, and try to find the desired letter tab.  In the array below, you can see page 95 is highlighted and since the tabs are close to half-way down the page, but not exactly half, you can infer that it’s somewhere around the letter J.  Just estimate where the tab will be for the first letter of the surname you’re searching for.

I thought I'd play along with Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.  A week ago (OK, so I've been busy!) he put forth the weekly mission - 

1) Write down which of your ancestors that you have met in person (yes, even if you were too young to remember them).

2) Tell us their names, where they lived, and their relationship to you in a blog post, or in comments to this post, or in comments on Facebook.

This will be a short post!  I've only got four.

Mother - Rosemary Brown Hartman Kircher, born in San Francisco and died in San Rafael, California.

Father - Thomas Bradley Kircher, born in Tiburon, California and died in Benicia, California.

Maternal Grandmother - Mary Jane Hardy Brown - born in Amador, California and died in Kentfield, California, but lived much of her life in San Francisco

Paternal Grandmother - Mary Agnes Bradley Kircher, born Lakeville (near Petaluma), California and died in Ross, California, but lived almost her entire life in Tiburon.

That's it.  Four.*  Like I said - short post!

*But the story goes that I almost got one more.  My mother knew she was pregnant with me, but she didn't want to tell her father her exciting news over the phone and he died before she had the chance to visit him, about six months before I was born.  So maybe I waved to Ira Sankey Brown when I was on my way in and he was on his way out.

I wrote a few weeks ago about “boutique” websites in genealogy (http://www.mkrgenealogy.com/searching-for-stories-blog/big-box-stores-versus-boutiques)  Today I just discovered a new one for California researchers that I just have to share.

I am a current participant in ProGen, a study group “organized to encourage professional and aspiring genealogists.” (http://progenstudy.org/).  Each month we have an assignment to write up and share with members in our groups.  Our task for July is to create a Locality Guide for a geographic area where we are specializing or doing research.  I am hoping to take a research trip next month to California and spend some time in Amador County.  My Irish great-great grandfather, John Fields, settled there in the late 1850s and remained there until his death (at age 99!!!) in 1901.  His daughter grew up there, married, and raised her family there as well. 

Amador, one of the major gold-mining areas in the latter part of the 19th century, is a bit off the beaten track.  It never was a particularly populous county, and genealogical archives and repositories are a bit sparse.  I had to look under a few rocks to come up with sources for research.  But I’m sure glad I turned over one rock!  Under it, I discovered a gold mine, not only for Amador but for all of California.  It’s the website of the California State Genealogical Alliance.

On the site is a map of California.  Click on any county and you will be taken to a county research page with links to websites, indexes, digital copies of books and more, including photography collections.  Topic areas include church records, death records, maps, newspapers, and land records, among others. 

What I find particularly great are the links on each county to photographs.  CSGA has put a link on each county resource page for photographs, but done all the heavy lifting of narrowing it to images for just that county.  Websites included are Calisphere, a service of the University of California Libraries, the Library of Congress digital Photograph Collection, and the USGenWeb Archives links to Penny Postcards.  I just have to think of a county, and the smorgasbord of images is laid out for me.  I love it!

Don’t just look at the county pages, however.  The statewide page has research aids in the form of articles.  In the history category alone there are nearly three dozen links, and some of those are to websites with dozens more links.

One caveat – don’t assume that every list is complete.  Under statewide resources for Church Records is a link to Roman Catholic parishes. I clicked on the list, and did not find many parishes I was looking for.  So the website might provide you a quick link to something like a church website, but if that church is not listed, be willing to do your own search.

I was so excited about this website, I posted to a couple of California interest groups on Facebook and I received some feedback from "management."  If you are interested in helping maintain this website and adding content, check the "About Us" section of their website for contact information and how to volunteer.
​
Check out the California State Genealogical Alliance.  You’ll be glad you did!

​I recently went through a file which came from my dad’s house, labeled “Kircher Genealogy.”  In it was a photo copy of the letter I have transcribed below, written on the stationery of Stella Olcott as shown in my transcription.  But it seems from other papers in the file, that there are two related letters.  One is a type-written letter from Thelma Van Alsytne to “Dear Aunt Agnes,” dated February 22, 1965.  The second paragraph of the typed letter says “One of the things I have been wanting to do is to send you a copy of a letter from Stella Olcott that came to us in January.   I’m just wondering if you may have asked her about our ancestors.  If so, perhaps she meant to write this information to you…” 
 
The second letter which is undated, appears to be written in the hand of Stella Olcott to “Dear Agnes” in which she says “Thelma Van Alstyne wrote me that she sent you a copy of the letter I wrote her, in answer to her request to know something about our grandparents…” 
 
I infer from this that my grandmother, Agnes Bradley Kircher, might have written to Stella Olcott, requesting information on the Kircher family, Agnes’ in-laws, and perhaps Stella got mixed up in her correspondence and thought Thelma was the one asking about the family.  Regardless of who asked the questions, I am glad I have the snippets of family history presented below.
 
I have transcribed the letter as written.  The footnotes are my educated guesses, based on my research, as to who Stella is referring to.  After the completion of my transcription, I have written some notes and ideas for further research, should any Kircher or Frühauf descendant wish to follow up.

​Stella Olcott[1]
1055 North Kingsley Drive
Los Angeles, California 90029.

​
Dear Thelma[2]: When I say Grandfather[3] it will be your Great Grandfather.
Grandfather’s grandfather[4] was of the educated or intellectual class, but his son[5] married a commoner, uneducated woman.  Had 2 sons.  When grandfather was a small boy his father wanted to show him off to his father so with the boy walked (I don’t know how far nor where to).  A snow storm came up.  The father took off his coat and put it on the boy.  The father caught cold which developed into quick T.B. and he died.  The grandfather helped the mother raise the 2 boys and when my grandfather was old enough sent him to college.  He had a silver dueling sword.  A college relic.  It was given to Uncle Gustave.[6]  He gave it to your grandfather[7] I think.  [Aunt Helen doesn’t remember having seen it, though. T.][8]

During that 1st year in college my grandfather’s mother[9]  married a commoner and maybe Grandfather didn’t do too well in college, however being a good reader, when he visited us he brought a history of one of the French-German Wars to read.
However his grandfather was disgusted & did nothing more for the boys.
Some way, Grandfather became a dressmaker and his brother[10] a tailor.

Grandmother[11] was a commoner and worked as a servant for Emperor W’s mother.  She was born in Berlin.

When she and Grandfather married they lived in Hamburg.

Mother[12] told me these things so long ago I am not sure of them.  From here on I am sure.

Both Grandfather & his brother had some rentals.  One of the many French-German wars was in the air.  GrandF & his brother & the husbands of two of Grandmother’s sisters discussed going to America.  Those 4 men and some (I don’t know how many) others decided to go.  They got their money into cash, bought their tickets, Grandmother had a baby[13].  Grandfather knew some people who had gone to Rochester, being (at least thinking) he was the boss of the group he said they would go to Rochester, a commercial city. [my pen has gone dead).  They got the tickets were leaving at Hamburg.  The day they were leaving government men came to draft any man over 21.  The men gave the tickets to the wives, told them to get on the boat and that they would not show up until the boat had left Eng.  A sail boat they were on the water 6 weeks.  Grandmother’s baby died & was buried at sea.  When they moved to the farm in walking distance from Lake Ontario[14] Grandmother would fix picnic lunches for them, but she never went to the lake.

While they were on the boat some of the men were farmers & had heard of the fine farm land in So. Illinois & decided to go there.  Grandmother’s 2 brothers-in-laws were among these farmers.  So when they reached (I have got a pen) N.Y. the farmers bought tickets to S. Ill.  Grandfather said to Grandmother “You will never write to them.”  She never did.  Grandmother’s name was Fruauf (? sp) means Early up.  Mother did not know what the brother-in-law’s names were.

Grandfather & his brother bought apt houses.  Did well with their tailoring.  But grandfather, having drunk beer in Germany, got to drinking hard liquor.  When sewing machines were invented, they either had to buy a sewing machine or get land.  Neither knew a hoe from a spade, but Grandmother wanted to get Grandfather  away from the drink, so told Mother to tell her Father to get a farm.  Mother said she wouldn’t do it.  She didn’t want to be a (I have forgotten what she called farm people, not hillbillies, but something like that).  But in Germany anyone who owned land was some body.  Having no idea how to pick land, Uncle Chas & Julius said he got the stoniest 80 in NY state.

Then the Civil war came on.  Grandfather had left Ger. to escape war, he wasn’t going to fight in U.S.A.  So he paid $300.00 for a substitute.  It was then they knew what it was to be hungry.

From there on I guess you know it as well as I do.  If there are any other questions ask them.  Oh yea, I guess I’ll tell one more thing.  When they moved to the farm Grandfather got to gambling, then some Lutherans had a revival in the school house.  Grandfather went joined the church, never drank nor gambled after that, went to church every Sunday & Grandmother taught a S.S.[15] class.  The whole service was in German.  When Grandfather (after Grandmother died) came to Kansas for a winter my father said “Stella wouldn’t you like to take Grandfather to Vassar (about 3 miles north of Lyndon) there are 2 German churches there.” “Oh yes” said I.  On the way I asked Grandfather which church he wanted to go to.  “Oh it doesn’t make any difference” said Grandfather.  “In one the reacher wares a white tie, in the other he wears a black tie.”

Yes that is all.

Will answer the rest of the Xmas card next Xmas.

Love, Stella Olcott

My hand has a little arthritis that’s why my writing is so scratchie.



This is the end of the transcription.  Below are some brief notes about further research:
Also in the file is a transcription of a record, written in German, translated as follows:
“According to the statement of the baptismal records in the Sophien Church, a daughter was born to the shoemaker Mr. Samuel Christian Frühauf by his wife Dorothee Friederike nee Althof on the eigth of June in the year One thousand eight hundered twenty-two at 4 a.m.  She received holy baptism on the 23rd  of August and the names Wilhelmine Rosine Auguste.  Baptismal witnesses were:  1. Shead? Shittag  2. Frau Bangerman  3. ??? Petzoldt      This is hereby certified to be authentic and lawful.  Berlin the 27th of January 1848 and the first preacher in the Sophien Church”
 
I have begun to research in some German church records I found on FamilySearch.org and found  an index  record for a christening on 8 May 1825 at the Sophien Church in Berlin for Marie Amalie Freuhauf, daughter of Christian Samuel Freuhauf and Marie Dorothee Althoff. https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NF7J-329?from=lynx1  Another record from what appears to be the same church is for a christening on 25 January 1824 for Johann Samuel Freuhauf, son of Joh. Christian Freuhauf and Dorothea Friedericke Althoff https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NF7J-N82?from=lynx1
​
I do not have the original records, but it may be that these people are siblings of my great-great grandmother, Wilhelmine Rosine Auguste Frühauf, and might be “Grandmother’s 2 brothers-in-law” (or the sister who is married to the brother-in-law) who went to farm in Southern Illinois.  I think it would be worthwhile to search for a marriage record for Marie Amalie Freuhauf and see if she and her husband could be located in southern Illinois in the 1850s or 1860s and to see if Johann Samuel Freuhauf might also have become a farmer in Illinois. 

I would also suggest searching in family trees on Ancestry and FamilySearch to try to locate researchers looking at Freuhauf family members.  And DNA testing may prove fruitful in finding additional family members.




​

[1] Stella Olcott, born 9 August 1881,  is the daughter of Anna Kircher and Elisha Olcott.
[2] Thelma is Thelma May Wooster VanAlstyne.  Her mother was Stella Mae Kircher Wooster.  Stella Wooster was the daughter of Charles Conrad Kircher, born 21 Jun 1852, and Frances Abelone Springer (my great-grandparents.)  Stella Wooster is the youngest sister of my grandfather, Charles Arthur Kircher’s.
[3] The “Grandfather” Stella Olcott refers to in this letter is her maternal grandfather, Carl Conrad Friedrich “Charles” Kircher, born 17 Nov 1821 in Germany and died 1 February 1899 in Webster, Monroe, New York
[4] I think this is Fredrich Kircher’s father (see footnote 5 below) but I have no idea what his name is.
[5] I believe this son must be the father of Carl Conrad Friedrich “Charles” Kircher (CCFK).  CCFK’s father was Friedrich, born circa 1792 in Germany (ProbSonderhausen, Kr. Sonderhausen, Thueringen, Germany.  I have a baptismal record which states "On the seventeenth of November one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one --- 17th November 1821 ---  a son was born to the ??? Friedrich Gottlieb Kircher by his wife Elisabetha nee Schonemann.  He was baptized on the 9th of December and was named Carl Conrad Friedrich.  That this corresponds with the church-book is dutifully witnessed.  Sondershausen the 18th January 1848
[6] I believe this is Gustave Kircher, born 17 Nov 1860 in Monroe County, New York and died 24 March 1935 in Los Angeles, California.  Gustave was the son of CCFK and his wife, Wilhelmina Rosina Augusta Freuhauf Kircher.
[7] This would be Charles Conrad Kircher, “Uncle Gustave’s” brother
[8] The note in brackets appears to be in a different hand, and given the “T” at the end of it, I think Thelma wrote this note.  The Aunt Helen she refers to is Helen Louisa Kircher Hilfiker, daughter of Charles Conrad Kircher and Frances Abelone Springer Kircher.
[9] This woman would be the wife of Freidrich Gottlieb Kircher.  Her name was Elisabetha Schönemann
[10] “Grandfather’s” brother is Julius Kircher, born circa 1824 in Germany/Prussia and died 16 August 1863 in Rochester, Monroe, New York
[11] “Grandmother” is Wilhelmine Rosine Auguste Frühauf, born 8 June 1822, daughter of the shoemaker Mr. Samuel Christian Frühauf
[12] Anna Kircher Olcott
[13] This child was born 6 April 1848 in Mittenwalde near Berlin.  She received holy baptism by deacon Federmann of St. Moritz Church and given the name Agnes Emma Laura
[14] I believe this refers to the farm on Basket Street near Webster, Monroe, New York
[15] I presume this refers to a Sunday School class

When you’re looking for someone on the census, and you can’t find them, but you know they MUST be there, be willing to expand your search a little.  You can expand the age range.  You can expand the geographic parameters.  And maybe, when all else fails, try to expand your gender possibilities.    Such was how I finally found my great-grandmother, Frances Springer.

I was pretty sure the family had to be in Onondaga County.  The record in her bible said that my great-grandmother, Frances Abelone Springer was born in Liverpool, New York on 13 February, 1857.[1]  Her father’s Civil War draft registration from June, 1863 indicates he was living in Salina, Onondaga, New York.  The family should be pretty easy to find on the 1860 census, right?

Part of my problem might have been the names and the date of death for Johannes.  The family genealogy done by a distant cousin (not sourced, of course) showed my great-great grandfather as Johannes Springer, born 1835, died Oct 3, 187_ at age 42, married to Louisa Caroline Hartman, born June 3, 1836.  And I think at one time I had heard that my great-great grandmother was known as Caroline (but in retrospect, I think I must have been under a wrong impression.  My bad.) 

In any event I looked for Johannes and Louisa and their daughter, Frances, in the 1860 and 1870 census, and try as I might I couldn’t come up with the family.  But then I found the Civil War registration for John Springer[2], and I knew they had to be somewhere in Onondaga County, so I expanded my search.  Often when I can’t find a family in the census under the parents’ details, I look for the children. 

There are several reasons this trick works for me.  For example, an adult of age 30-ish could “look” somewhere between 25 and 40, a 15 year spread.  But a three year old child is not likely to be listed as age 1 or age 10.  She might show up as age 2, 3, 4 or maybe 5, a considerably more precise age than her parents. 

Place of birth is easier to pin down, as well.  Perhaps the parents were born in “Germany.”  But the census might show Bavaria, Hannover, Germany,… who knows.  But with the child who is only 2 or 3 years old, she is likely -  not certainly, but likely -  to be living near where she was born, and appear on the census with a birthplace near where she was living.  So if I know my great-grandmother was born in Liverpool, NY in 1857, she’s probably going to show up as born in NY on the 1860 census.
​
So I begin to look for a 3-year-old girl, Frances Springer and there are none to be found in Onondaga.  OK, maybe try the middle name, Abelone.  Maybe she’s Abby or some variant.  Nope.  But… but… but, they HAVE to be there (says the genealogist, stamping her foot!)  So… maybe Johannes is something else… hmmmm…. John?  And could I let go of the “Caroline” and try Louisa?

In 1860 I did find a family, John and Louisa, both born in Germany, and their 2-year-old son, Frank.[3]  A son.  Not my family. 

​Then I checked the 1865 New York state census.    John and Louisa Springer, both born in Germany, and now three children appear – sons, Frank and Charley and daughter, Amelia.[4]  My great-grandmother had a brother, Charles, and a sister, Amelia.  This is looking more like my family, but my great-grandmother is still a boy.  Interestingly, the household enumerated immediately prior to John and Louisa on the 1865 census is headed by a Nicholas Springer, born in Germany.    And finally, on the 1870 census, Louisie Springer is the head of household (that family genealogy I talked about earlier was wrong – John died in 1864)[5] with her three children.  Nicholas Springer, again, is right next to her on the census.  And her children are now two daughters, Francis and Mina (Amelia) and only one son, Charles.[6] 

Why all the confusion?  Maybe my great-great grandmother told the census taker her child’s name was Franke in her German accent, and the enumerators assumed Frank must be a boy.  I don’t know… but I’m glad she finally turned out to be a girl, because otherwise, I wouldn’t be here to tell this tale.

So, when you’re stuck and can’t find that family on the census… Hey, babe.  Take a walk on the wild side.  Maybe that she was a he.  On the census, anyway.


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My grandmother, Agnes Bradley Kircher, was a collector.  She collected hatpin holders.  She collected napkin rings.  She collected teacups. 

Many people collect salt shakers, but I don’t have any evidence that Agnes did.  She did, however, collect something salty.  One of her most unusual collections in contained in a simple scrapbook.  For some unknown reason, Grandma Kircher collected articles and writings about salt.

The first page of the scrapbook is a letter from Fredric J Haskin, director of the Information Bureau of the San Francisco Chronicle, with offices in Washington, D.C., dated September 30, 1939 in which he puts forth six unusual facts about salt.  Was Mr. Haskin’s letter a response to an inquiry from Grandma Kircher?  I have no idea, but through this letter I’ve learned, among other things, that “Salt was put into coffins because Satan is said to hate salt since it is the symbol of incorruption and immortality,” and “In heraldry the salt cellar was drawn in in the form of a covered dish.  It was probably used to signify immortality.”
More pages of the scrapbook hold a hand-copied recipe from The White House Cookbook from 1898 for Salt-Rising Bread, numerous newspaper clippings including “Does Salt Determine the Complexion?”[i] “Salt serves Japanese as War Weapon,”[ii] and a bit of celebrity news about why Gloria Swanson eschews salt[iii] and why Errol Flynn picks up every grain of any salt he happens to spill because apparently a handful of salt has saved his life on many occasions.[iv] 

​But wait! There’s more – an article about the Exposition Flyer crossing the Bonneville Salt Flats[v] and a recipe for the “’Nightmare Special’ – in a big bowl, first a bottom layer of French fried potatoes.  On top of that a scoop of chocolate ice cream, a slice of fresh pineapple, a blob of whipped cream and a cherry.  Finally a generous sprinkling of ketchup, pepper and salt.”[vi]

There are six pages in Agnes’ own hand about salt, and several pages of dictionary definitions and Bible verses about the briny condiment.  Pasted in the book is a picture postcard with three illustrations of Great Salt Lake Utah, complete with the attached mini cloth bag of salt from the lake.

What prompted this collection of salt-related items is beyond me, but apparently someone besides Grandma Kircher was impressed with the collection – tucked between the pages is a red ribbon “Second Prize – Hobby Show, San Rafael Fiesta, Marinita Parlor No. 198, N.D.G.W.”[vii]   But I gotta ask –salt????  What about the genealogy scrapbook you might have spent your time on?  Ah, well.  Congratulations, you winner, you!

​[Tiny follow-up.  I wrote this blog post and looked through the scrapbook to find a page to illustrate the blog post.  And lo and behold, tucked inside a pocket in the front cover was a card “Prize Award – Salt and Pepper Shakers, Mrs. Agnes Kircher”  Maybe she did collect them after all] 

As the weather heats up, sometimes it’s good to think about cold things.  Like freezing things.  Like… freezing panes.

If you have a large spreadsheet with more rows and/or columns than will fit on your computer screens, try freezing panes to keep you column and row titles visible while you scroll through the worksheet.  Here’s how…
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In the spreadsheet below, I have listed the census years and places across the top and the names of the family I researching in column A.  As I move forward through the years or downward below the first few names, I’d like to be able to see columns A, B and C and rows 3 and 4.  In this example, if I place my cursor in cell D5 and on the View tab click “Freeze Panes,” I am given some options, to freeze the top row, freeze the first column or to freeze panes.  That’s the one I chose, because it will keep my names as well as my census years. 

When I click on the freeze panes, note the lines that appear:

Now I can move to the right or downward and my titles will remain to explain to me what I’m looking at.
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Freeze panes – a cool tip for a big spreadsheet.  Try it!

To hear my father tell it, my grandfather, Charlie Kircher, was a witty man, with enough time on his hands to indulge that wit.  He worked his way up from a stationary engineer with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad to become chief engineer of the ferryboat Eureka.  The crossing between Sausalito and San Francisco took about 30 minutes.  On each crossing Charlie was actively engaged in working the machinery the first and last five to seven minutes of each run, and the remaining time was spent monitoring things, often by the way the equipment sounded.  This gave him about 18 minutes of each crossing to engage his brain, perhaps with a crossword puzzle, letters to his family, or a humorous list of synonyms, such as the following sheet I recently found in a box of letters.  I'll leave it to you to figure out the topic.

Awry-eyed, bishe_________, blotto, calcified, c_________________, chirping-merry, coc_________, doused, down with the barrel fever, edged, embalmed, elevated, full of Dutch courage, flooded, frazzled, fuddled, fully-fumed, galvanized, groggy, halfs-hot, hiccins, doccins, half seas over, horned, illuminated, inebrious, kenned [?], knee-haltered, loaded, lit up like a xmas tree, lubricated, mellow, muddled, maudlin, on a jamboree, oozed, ossified, obfuscated., primed, paralyzed, pickled, pie-eyed, pruned, polluted, pifflicated, plastered, stiff, started,sloughed to the gills, stewed as a boiled owl, soused, snooted, salubrious, squiffed, submerged, tambourined, tanked, tangle-footed, tight, tipsy, toasted, three sheets to the wind, wet-nosed, zig-zagged and zipped.,1 

(Apologies - the upper right corner of the sheet is missing.  Can you come up with some missing B, C and D synonyms?)

1 List must have been put together sometime around 1923-24.  The reverse side is some sort of payroll sheet from {Something] Dock Company For the Calendar Year 1923.  The left side of the page is missing so I can't tell what the name of the Dock Company is.