52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (Week 21): Nickname

 "Their real name is what?" 

The writing prompt for Week 21 in Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is titled "Nickname". 

That word brought back a flood of memories for me and the people in my mother's family. It wasn't until I was in college that I knew the real names of some of mother's first cousins. 

It seems that mother's grandmother, Mamie TEEL Stuart, loved to give nicknames to her "kids". Well, at least to a son or two, and most of her grandsons. 

Mamie (TEEL) Stuart, Fisher Co., Texas

I knew these family members as "Chine", "Puggin", "Shorty", "Jug", "Scooter", "Frog", "Jimbo", "Chick", "Pookey", "Tadpole", etc. when I was growing up.

As I got older (college aged), my mother would call them by their birth names, and I often asked, "Wait?? Who are you talking about?" 

I asked more than one time, "Why did she give them nicknames like that?" No one could answer that question.

Years later, I still don't know the answer to "why", but I have learned from my mother, obituaries and genealogy research, what their birth names are/were. 

Was giving nicknames common in your family? My dad's family didn't seem to give nicknames. Was this a tradition in some families and not in other families? 

Let me know if your family gave nicknames, too. 

 - Revis 

This content was crafted for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, focusing on the theme "Nickname" this week. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (Week 16): Step - A Step-Parent and DNA

 Step by Step: mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) and auDNA (autosomal DNA) 

Participating in Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge has been an enlightening journey, and this week's prompt, "Step," brings a multitude of meanings to mind. Whether it's taking a physical step, progressing through tasks, or the steps in musical scales, the concept of "step" resonates in diverse ways. However, for this blog post, I'm exploring a more personal dimension of "step" — my experience as a stepmother.

In late 1986, I married a young widower, and embraced the role of stepmother to his daughter, who was just shy of her fourth birthday, having lost her mother in 1985. Our family included my biological daughter, making our household a blend of laughter, challenges, and sisterly bonds.

As the girls grew up, the advent of DNA testing added a new layer to our family's story. Initially, my interest in DNA testing was sparked by a desire to learn more about my own roots. Through mtDNA testing at Family Tree DNA, I discovered that I belong to the rare Haplogroup I, a group intriguingly nicknamed "Iris".

The real surprise came when we learned that my stepdaughter also belonged to Haplogroup I, though she is Haplogroup I2. Considering we're both this rare mtDNA haplogroup, I couldn't help but wonder about the odds of such a coincidence. 

Though she and I are both I's, there is a difference because my Haplogroup I includes some mutations that aren't found in other "I's". My mtFull Sequence test was completed in July of 2014 at Family Tree DNA, and we had no matches until December of 2014. As of the date of this blog post, that match in December 2014 is the only Genetic Distance - 0 match on our match list.  

Over the years, DNA testing has not only fascinated us with such revelations but also united us in unexpected ways. Our family now boasts several "Irises," including six granddaughters and a grandson, who also carries his mother's mtDNA haplogroup.

Another surprise was in the early days of auDNA (autosomal DNA), she shared small segments of DNA with my father. I believe that I know where the connection is, and one day I will write about it. 

This journey through genetics has redefined what family means to us, blurring the lines between step and biological relations. Our journey is also a testament to the fact that family isn't just about DNA; it's about the steps we take to embrace, love, and understand each other, making every discovery a step toward greater unity.

- Revis 

This content was crafted for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, focusing on the theme "Step" this week. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (Week 15) School Days: Ringing the Bell at Sylvester School (TX)

This week in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge of Amy John Crow's is "School Days". What do you think of when you hear the words "School Days"?

When I saw the word "school" I immediately thought of one of my favorite old pictures in my scrapbook album. The sons and daughters of Jefferson Davis Stuart and Mamie (Teel) Stuart, including my grandmomie, Eva Nell, attended school at Sylvester, Fisher County, Texas. 

The page from my album below includes a picture of one of the Stuart sisters ringing the bell at the school. She has the biggest smile and is probably pulling the rope as hard as she can. It also looks like she's getting help from the man standing close by. 

Eva Nell and sister, Lucille

Old Sylvester, Texas, schoolhouse in 2019

- Revis 

This content was crafted for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, focusing on the theme "School Days" this week. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (Week 10): Language - The Kolb-Kulp-Culp's of Pennsylvania

Continuing on with the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, this Week 10 challenge of Amy John Crow relates to “Language”.

The lines of my paternal and maternal ancestors are a mix of peoples. The languages my ancestors spoke include German, Welsh, Irish, Portuguese, French, and more. In this blog post, though, I want to focus on my paternal grandmother, Neoma Ann Kolb’s (m. Lois Cauble), father's line, the Kolb’s of Pennsylvania. The Kolbs have stayed close to their Mennonite roots since the early 1700s.

Grandmother Neoma descends from Johannes Kolb, born ca 1683, a son of Dielman Kolb and wife, Agnes Schumacher, who were Mennonites. It was in 1707 that Johannes and two of his brothers, Martin and Jacob, left Wolfsheim, Hess, Germany and headed for America. The Kolb brothers were part of a people who were seeking freedom to worship and make a living as they saw fit.

Their maternal grandfather, Peter Schumacher, had come to America in 1685, and he died in 1707, the year the three brothers came to America. Peter had been a Mennonite, but had converted at some point in his later life to the Quaker faith.

The brothers came to Germantown, Pennsylvania, and then moved over to Skippack, Montgomery, Pennsylvania by 1710 where they owned land.

In 2007, I made a trip to Skippack to attend a family reunion which celebrated the 300^th anniversary of the Kolb brothers coming to America. See The Kolb-Kulp-Culp Family Association.

The reunion was held at the Lower Skippack Mennonite Church. I learned that for more than two hundred years the Kolbs and other Mennonite families had spoken and written mainly in the German that we know now as Pennsylvania Dutch (influenced by William Penn’s colony). I also learned that some of our Kolb families anglicized their names and to this day use the spellings of Kulp and Culp. It was surprising to me that our Johannes Kolb, who left Montgomery County to go to Chester County, Pennsylvania, and ended up in South Carolina in 1737. Johannes joined the Welsh Neck Baptist church and lived on the Pee Dee River in South Carolina. His land in Darlington County has been an archaeological site for many years (not active at this time). Site No. 38DA75. The Johannes Kolb Site 20th and Final Field Season | News and Press – Darlington County Historical Commission & Museum (dchcblog.net)

Just a few years ago, I was contacted by a cousin’s wife about a bible she found on Ebay. The old German bible was from a family in Indiana and their spelling was Kolp. Yes, inside that old bible included information that led right back to my common ancestors of Dielman Kolb and his wife, Agnew Schumacher. Speaking of that bible, I still have it stored away and would love to pass it on to anyone that descends from that family.

At that long ago family reunion celebration of the Kolb brothers coming to America, I heard distant kin speak and sing in Pennsylvania Dutch (or Pennsylvania German, as some called it).

The language of my ancestors, and those of my family in Pennsylvania who still spoke it, was beautiful.

-Revis

This content was crafted for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, focusing on the theme "Language" this week. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (Week 7) Immigration: Gottlieb Ziegenfuss

 It's Week 7 of Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge.

This week the challenge is to write about immigration. I'd like to focus on my more recent "in our time" Prussian roots, and give a shout out to Gottlieb Ziegenfuss for bringing his family to the United States in 1885. 

Gottlieb Ziegenfuss was my 2^nd great-grandfather. Stories in my family are varied about him. The Ziegenfuss family told that he was a jӓger-hunter. The Caubles said he was a forester. His occupation on the ship’s manifest for the Moravia in 1885 stated “Landmann”.

Gottlieb was the son of Johann Gottlieb Daniel Ziegenfuss (1787-1868 Mützel) and Marie Elizabeth Frӓsdorf (1786-Zerbst, Saxony-Anhalt - ? probably Mützel). He was born 16 Aug 1820 in Mützel, and baptized 3 Sept 1820-Evangelische Kirche Genthin (Kr. Jerichow II), Genthin, Sachsen (Saxony), Deutschland (Germany). 

Gottlieb Ziegenfuss (1820 - 1890)

Gottlieb's father, Johann Daniel Gottlieb Ziegenfuss, was an urban forest keeper, according to the Genthin Local Family Book. 

Below is a quick timeline of Gottlieb's life of what we know about his life after his birth (1820) described above: 

14 Jan 1844 – Marriage to Dorothee Caroline Wilhelmine Hildebrandt at Evangelische Kirche zu Sylvestri und Georgii, Wernigerode Parish.

15 Jan1844-1869 - Unknown if Gottlieb and Dorothee Caroline had children. Year of her death is also unknown. 

12 Oct 1868 - Death of his father, Johann Daniel Gottlieb Ziegenfuss, in Mützel.

abt 1869 - Marriage to Friederike "Freda" Sophie Louisa Trenkman (1846-1920). No marriage record has been located.

Children of "Freda" and Gottlieb listed below. No birth records found as of this date:

1870 - Birth of daughter Louisa Ziegenfuss.

1872 – Birth of son Otto Ziegenfuss.

1875 – Birth of son Benno John Ziegenfuss.

1876 – birth of son Bruno Hugo Ziegenfuss.

1878 – Birth of daughter Mathilda Augustine “May” Ziegenfuss.

1879 – Birth of son Ernst Rufe Ziegenfuss.

1882 – Birth of Helena Olivia “Lena” Ziegenfuss (my great-grandmother).

5 Aug 1885 - Departed on the ship Moravia (with family) from Hamburg. Residence listed was Weferlingen, Provinz Sachsen.

18 Aug 1885 - Arrived New York. Destination on ship's manifest was Arlington, Tarrant County, Texas.

*Arrival to Texas: Stories relate that Gottlieb had been sending money to a friend who was already in Tarrant County. Land was purchased. When the family arrived, he expected to see a house built and ready for his family to live in. Instead, the friend had absconded with the money. Some of his grandchildren that I talked to many years ago said that he had basically lost all desire to live after arriving in Texas and learning that his friend had deceived him and stole his money.  

1888 – birth of daughter Rosa Ziegenfuss in Tarrant County, Texas.

20 Jan 1890 – Gottlieb died in Tarrant County, Texas, and was buried in the Watson Cemetery, Arlington, Texas. 

ca 1891 - Gottlieb's family in Texas (below). Rosa, front right, is probably 3 or 4 years old. By this time, Gottlieb has died. 

14 Aug 1895 - Widow Freda marries fellow Prussian Fredrich Auguste Grӓfe in Eastland County, Texas. 

Gottlieb and Friedrike Sophie Louisa Trenkman Ziegenfuss family ca. 1891

- Revis