Rev. Henry S. Doyle - "All the Rights That the Constitution Allowed"

Address of Henry Sebastian Doyle to The Third Ecumenical Methodist Conference Held In City Road Chapel, London, September, 1901

Rev. Henry S. Doyle in London 1901, standing second from left.

The Rev. H. S. Doyle, M.A. (Coloured Methodist Episcopal Church), represented the Coloured Methodist Churches. He spoke as follows:

What shall I say? We have heard from our brethren on this side of the water. We have heard from our brethren from both sections of our country across the water. We have heard from a representative of our people. It seems that in the sad calamity that has befallen our President all of us, loving each other when we came here, have already learnt·to love each other better. I do not know what worse thing could have happened when I heard this morning that our own beloved President had been shot. When I say "Our President," I mean that Wm. McKinley is such a President that all peoples and all races of our common country can claim a part in him. I have known Mr. McKinley myself for some years. The first time I saw him or heard him was when I was a student in college, and he was pleading for the supremacy of his party in the affairs of his own State, Ohio, and closed a magnificent address with words that appealed for equal rights to all the people of the country in the administration of the affairs of the Goverment.

Mr. McKinley then related an incident "that in the battle of Fort Bodello, when the armies of the North were in danger, the colonel called his colour-bearer, who was a negro, and said to him: "Take this flag; carry it into battle, and do not come back without it." That coloured man, with tears on his cheek, said: "Colonel, if I do not bring back the old flag I will report to God the reason why." The battle began; it raged fiercely and furiously. Ascending the fort of the enemy and plantlng the banner upon its ramparts, a bullet pierced the body of the colour-sergeant, and he fell, but ere he expired he wrapped the folds of the old flag about him. When the battle ceased, as they walked over the battle-field to collect the dead, they found this colour-sergeant. He did not bring back the flag, but he reported to God the reason why. President McKinley, then Major McKinley, narrated that incident, and said that people who had been so loyal to the Government; as that must have all the rights that the constitution allowed. It was then that I began to love Major McKinley. I have not ceased to love him since. I join with you in sorrow and sympathy, and pray that God may speedily restore to health Wm. McKinley, to hold with such pious hands, and govern with such wise counsels, the affairs of our great, and growing, and beloved country.

 Henry Sebastian Doyle was born on January 8, 1867, in Macon, Georgia, the child of an emancipated slave woman named Millie. His death certificate states that his father was  John Doyle.  He married Anna Magnolia Walker on April 17, 1895, in Elmore, Alabama. They had four children during their marriage. He died of tuberculosis on October 31, 1913, in Kerr County, Texas, at the age of 46, and was buried in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Henry Sebastian Doyle

H.S. Doyle was educated at Clark College in Atlanta and went on to study theology at Ohio Wesleyan University.  By the fall of 1892, he had returned to his native Georgia and given more than 60 speeches on behalf of a white Populist, Tom Watson, who was running for Congress.  Watson was attempting to create a new Populist Party by uniting whites and blacks against the established power base of the wealthy white elites.  Doyle was willing to risk his life in support of this idealistic politician.  Watson told the poor from both races: “You are kept apart that you may be separately fleeced of your earnings,” Watson told a racially integrated audience at one meeting. “The accident of color can make no difference in the interests of farmers.”

Tom Watson, Agrarian Populist Rebel turned White Supremacist

Doyle received death threats. Watson offered him sanctuary in his home and rallied supporters in the area to his defense. Populists gathered at Watson's home with guns in hand. The crowd then proceeded to the local courthouse, where Watson vowed to protect Doyle and other African American Populists:  “We are determined in this free country that the humblest white or black man that wants to talk our doctrine shall do it,” he stated, “and the man doesn’t live who shall touch a hair of his head, without fighting every man in the People’s Party.”


For H.S. Doyle and other African Americans, the election of 1892 was an opportunity to obtain "all the rights that the constitution allowed." . The violence that he experienced during that election illustrated that Southern leaders were organizing to deprive African Americans of their voting rights. Ultimately, even Watson would betray his African American supporters. He opportunistically abandoned his egalitarian ideals to ride the rising tide of white supremacy.

The Jim Crow South victimized African Americans in conditions that were little better than slavery. Most were subjected to a sharecropping system that resulted in a downward cycle of poverty. These landless farmers were burdened with oppressive debts for the cost of rent, seed, tools, and other supplies.  This created a "Great Migration" to urban centers both North and South in search of jobs, community and the promise of a better life.

Reverend Doyle pastored several churches in Georgia and Alabama and then moved to Washington, D.C.  He moved to Kerrville, Texas as it was considered a healthful place for sufferers of lung diseases.  His life ended too soon and somewhat obscurely in Texas but he lives on in the collective memory of his descendants and in history for his articulate words on behalf of liberty and justice for all.


SOURCES:

Proceedings Of The Third Ecumenical Methodist Conference Held In

City Road Chapel, London, September, 1901 with Introduction by T. B. Stephenson, DD., LL.D.; New York: Eaton & Mains, Cincinnati: Jennings & Pye, 1901. Digitized by Google Books; Assassination Of President Mckinley; pages 144 & 145.

Tom Watson, Agrarian Rebel by C. Vann Woodward, The Beehive Press, Savannah, Georgia; pages 206 & 207.

German Ancestors Part 3- Lost in Translation?

The third presentation in my series on German family history research was presented this last Saturday.  I want to thank my partners at the Bay Area Genealogical Society (BAGS) who have helped me present this series of programs.  I especially want to thank Kim Zrubek, BAGS Program VP and Bob Wegner, BAGS Registrar who have been instrumental in organizing this Special Interest Group.  We will be offering more German programs in the fall.

If you are interested in more of my presentations and blogs on German genealogy, type the word German in the search box in the right hand column and you will see a list of all of my German topics.

This presentation gives a few tips on how to translate German records when you do not actually speak German.  One of the attendees told me that she had a cousin in Germany that was unable to read the old German records.  That is because prior to the 1940s the Germans used a unique alphabet that varies somewhat from the Roman alphabet used in Western Europe and the Americas.

The name for this unique alphabet is Kurrenschrift.  The following page from the FamilySearch Wiki includes links to several helpful videos and some word lists that simplify the process of translation of old German records.

The German lower case letters are pretty similar to our Roman alphabet.  The lowercase letter chart has 27 letters with the addition of the Eszett or Sharp S.  These charts were obtained from the Paleography Tutorials at the Brigham Young University website.  This website offers guidance in the deciphering of documents written in handwriting styles or alphabets no longer in general use.
It concentrates on alphabets used between 1500 and 1800 in western Europe.  Currently it offers instruction in English, German, Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese; Latin and eastern European languages will be added in the future.

Kurrentschrift has four special characters including three umlauted vowels and the Eszett or Sharp S that are in addition to the 26 letters that we know.

The capital letters are the most problematic for me.  Take a look at this chart of uppercase letters.  You will notice that the differences between the "A" and the "U" are very subtle.  It takes a little practice to discern the uppercase letters.  It is complicated by the fact there were various forms of "Gothic script" used by different publishers.

For example, a dictionary of German placenames known in English as Meyers Gazetteer of the German Empire requires a translating guide all of its own.  I have one written by Fay S. Dearden entitled "Understanding Meyers Orts" which I used to translate the various jurisdictions for the village of Zemmin in Pommerania.  See the example below.

This baptismal certificate was written in German by the Rev. Phillip Stemple of the Westside German Protestant Church in Cleveland, Ohio and references the original church book from which it was taken.  German immigrants attended German speaking churches in the United States.  The records of these churches often hold the key to the German hometown of your immigrant ancestors.  This baptismal certificate was preserved and indexed by the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland.  Church records for our immigrant ancestors sometimes have been microfilmed and can be accessed through a Family History Center.  Often you will be required to search for these records in archives or historical societies of cities, counties and churches.

 One good approach is to look for the capitalized names and places first.  For example, you can see Gottlieb Emil Prasse in the first and second lines and Brooklyn, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio in the third and fourth lines.  The keyword "geboren" or "born" is prior to the date of 14 November 1865.

Another approach to translation of German records is to make a transcript of the German and use Google translate to get the English version.  This results in a literal translation that can be somewhat awkward but for genealogical purposes you get the essential facts as you can see in this example below.

If you prefer to get help with translations, I recommend that you visit the website of the Association of Professional Genealogists.  You can find a professional with expertise in reading German records that will be happy to help you.  Send the genealogist a copy of the record that you are attempting to translate and ask for an estimate to translate the document for you.  I call upon my peers in APG quite often when I am researching in a distant locale or am having difficulty with a specialized record.

My full presentation offers many more tips on how to translate and find resources to assist you in discovering your German heritage.

A Poignant Farewell from Germany

Sometimes in my genealogical journeys, I run across a document that I have never seen before.  I recently discovered a very unique document in my research on the Prasse Family of Cleveland, Ohio.

It all started at the website of the Western Reserve Historical Society.  After a bit of searching I located the WRHS Genealogy Index:

http://catalog.wrhs.org/genresources/search

I entered the surname PRASSE and came up with the following matches:

These records were described as Bible records but when they finally arrived, I learned that this was a slight misnomer.  What I actually received was an original baptismal record for Emil Prasse from a German language church in Cleveland and a farewell poem from Emil's maternal aunt that remained behind in Germany.

The farewell poem was one of the most mystifying documents that I had ever read.  The document was transcribed from the original German and then translated to English.

The tone of the poem made it sound like an obituary or a eulogy:

In The Name of Jesus,

Dearly loved sister, I give you my last farewell and press you to my breast filled with pain of separation; however, in the hope though we will not see each other again in this life, we will surely see each other again in eternity...

But when I looked at the date at the bottom of the poem, 10 May 1855, I realized that this eulogy was written prior to the departure of the Prasse family from Germany.  It was mournful because Aunt Johanne knew that she would never see her sister again.

Take you the last greeting 

because now I have to bid farewell,

Thus God will accompany you,

He will not depart from you,

Will be with you on your journey,

until you will get on the ship

When you get onto the sea now,

And you feel fear and woe,

When storm and waves are raging,

And violent storms are howling,

So call then diligently on the man

Who can command the wind and waves.

Do you ask now who is this one,

Whom wind and sea obey,

When they do rage

And howl in the sails?

He is your savior Jesus Christ,

who is everyone's helper in need.

Flee speedily to him,

With him take refuge

In all your troubles.

He will soon deliver You;

Because his is this old world,

his is also that new world.

With reflection depart,

Just keep close to Him;

He will not leave you

On all your pathways.

He will always stay close to you,

Also over there in America.

So I depart from you now,

My beloved sister here,

Go with God's peace.

May happiness be granted to you.

My eyes are full of tears,

take my last farewell.

Johanne Juliane He ...

born Schuetze

10 May 1855

This poem is such a treasure, and I am so glad that it was preserved in this fashion.  The poem is also a great example of a genealogical treasure with no provenance.  The Genealogical Committee of the Western Reserve Historical Society had failed to cite the source of this document.  Even worse it appears that someone had the original image from which a transcription was made but they were unable to make out Aunt Johanne's married name.  The original image was also not included in the publication.

But as a genealogist, I must always look on the bright side.  The title page for this record did reveal the following:

DESCRIPTION: Farewell Poem from Johanne Juliene He ... born Schuetze
Tribute to her sister Christianne Elizabeth Schuetze Prasse.
Transcription in German and English.
SUBMITTED BY: Carol P. Reed, 18950 Bonnie Bank Lane, Fairview Park, Ohio 44126

AND,,, drum roll please...a phone number...... 440-331-6713.

AND...of course the number is no longer in service.

Horrors!!! I may actually have to write a snail mail letter with a self addressed stamped envelope.

It appears from this description that the original hand written poem may not have been submitted to the WRHS.

These two records when read together reveal a great deal about the Prasse family.  Here is the original image of the baptismal record.

Here is a transcript of the baptismal record:

Baptismal Certificate

The undersigned book certifies that Gottlieb Emil Prasse, born on 14th November 1865 in Brooklyn, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, son of Gustav Prasse and his wife Christianna Elisabethe, who was born Schuetze, was on the 6th September 1866 admitted through Christian Baptism into the congregation of the Christian Church.

From the Protestant minister’s office, signed Philippe Stempell, Cleveland, the 9th September 1866.

The record is embossed with a seal that reads as follows: UNITED GERMAN EVANG[ELICAL] PROTESTANT CHURCH WEST SIDE CLEVELAND

I have written before about this church which is now known as the Westside United Church of Christ, 3800 Bridge Ave, Cleveland, OH 44113.  The church still holds its original records which apparently have not been microfilmed.  I have made a written request for a search of their records related to the Prasse family.  It appears that there may be several baptisms, marriages and burials of Prasse family members recorded in the books of this church.

The farewell poem and the baptismal certificate reveal several clues about the Prasse family.  Together the two documents confirm that Christianna Prasse's maiden name was Schuetze.  Christianna's sister was deeply religious so it seems likely that both sisters shared a Protestant faith that was instilled by their parents.  It appears that they may have been dissenters from the established Lutheran church of Germany as the United German Evangelical Protestant Church of Cleveland was a decidedly different brand of religion.  Clearly the Prasse family departed from Germany shortly after the date of 10 May 1855 on the poem.

But mostly I am struck by the mournful words of Aunt Johanne's poem.  The incredible pain and loss that she felt upon the departure of her sister from Germany to America.  She took some consolation in her faith that she would meet her sister again in heaven.  The fact that her poem was preserved by the WRHS has made it possible for all of the Schuetze and Prasse descendants to experience the joy of that reunion here on earth.

I would especially like to thank Dieter Gaupp for his work on the translation of the baptismal record.

German Church and Civil Records

On Saturday, April 18 I made a presentation on German church and civil records co-sponsored by the Friendswood, Texas Public Library and the Bay Area Genealogical Society.

Image Source:
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Germany,_Pomerania_Church_Records_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records)

The goals of this session were to:

• provide a brief overview of the history and value of German church records & civil records
• show how to use a German word list or online translator to interpret the records
• teach how to find German church & civil records either online, on microfilm or in print.

I wrote before about the series of books on German Immigrants in American Church Records by Dr. Roger Minert.  What I have found is they are a great source if your locality has been covered.  Unfortunately for me neither Cleveland nor Milwaukee German Immigrant church records have been extracted.  Another problem was the the Clayton Library was in the process of cataloging some of the volumes but they are a great resource for many Midwestern locales.

When attempting to locate your ancestors in the church records of Germany you will usually be more successful if you know the German hometown.  My previous article about Germany will tell you about how to locate the German hometown.  The most common records found in churches are baptism, marriage, and burial.  Often times baptism records will include the date of birth but not always.  Burial records may not include the date of death but burials usually happened within a day or two of death before embalming and cremation became commonplace.

The areas to begin keeping church records were in the western part of Germany.  The farther east you go, church records begin later.

Church Record Timeline

• 1524            -First surviving German Protestant records in Nuremberg.
• 1540            -Lutheran churches in general began requiring records.
• 1563            -Catholics began recordkeeping
• 1618-1648  -Many records destroyed by Thirty Years War
• 1650           -Most Reformed parishes began keeping records.
• 1792-1815  -Pfalz and Rheinland church records interrupted by French civil registration.
• 1930s         -Up to this time records were still written in Gothic script

For more information on the history of German church records go here.

I recommend that you check Family Search for translation guides to German church and civil records.  For example this German Word List is very helpful.

Source: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/German_Word_List 

Civil record keeping began early in the Napoleonic period but generally very few civil records are found prior to 1876.
 

Civil Record Timeline

1792  -  Civil registration began in Alsace-Lorraine (controlled by France)
1808-1812  -  French advance into German Territories and begin records in French
1813 October  -  Battle of Leipzig was decisive defeat of Napoleon and end of French civil record keeping
1874  -  Civil BMDs in Prussia
1876  -  Civil registration mandatory in all German states

Here are a few recommendations for finding German church & civil records:

The Family History Library Catalog is always a good starting place.  Search for the German hometown place names and you will find indexed and original church records in online databases and microfilms of original records.   A similar strategy should be used in the Ancestry.com- catalog search the term "Germany"and you will find a list of 188 databases.

Online Church Records at https://www.archion.de went live on 20 March 2015.

Records at Archion.de are organized by the State or Regional Archive, Districts, Cities/Town, and Record Type.  In the image below green means they have records online.  Blue highlights the record that you have selected.  When you compare Rheingonheim to Mundenheim, you see that not all localities are covered.  Here are a few more key words: Bestattungen = Funeral Services; Taufen = Baptism; Trauugne = Weddings.

The bottom line is that Archion.de is a pay site.  Check to see if your localities are covered before subscribing.

The ultimate goal is to get to the original records so this site could be very valuable if your hometowns are covered.

Spend time reviewing the list of online databases available at the Family Search Wiki page on German Genealogy.

Source: German Genealogy page on the Family Search Wiki.

Here are few recommendations when searching online and microfilm German sources:

• Make sure to use a research log to keep track of the databases searched.  Keep track of the searches that were made and the results both positive and negative.
• Double check the localities, record types and periods covered in online databases and note that on your research log.
• Search your localities in the Family Search and Ancestry catalogs for online and microfilm.

Example of Family Search Library Catalog search for Rheingonheim.

Search results for Rheingonheim showing Church books for both Lutheran and Catholic churches and the Civil Records that are available on microfilm.

• Search online first, then order microfilm.
• Try to determine the denomination of the church that you need to search first.
• Catholics and Lutherans may be recorded in the other church if it is a small locality or if one denomination is predominant in the area.
• Pay close attention to the description of the type of records and the time periods covered.
• If you do not find your locality online or in microfilm, try contacting local or regional genealogical societies in the U.S. and in Germany.  Some require paid memberships to use their resources.
• Use Google Chrome to translate German webpages.
• A search of genwiki.de can lead to online sources and published sources available in libraries, archives and through societies.

• If that fails contact the regional archives or a local genealogist and determine charges for record searches.  
• Search the directory of the Association of Professional Genealogists by geographic specialty for a list of German researchers.  Use the drop down list for International.

Next German genealogy session presented on Saturday, May 16 at 2 p.m. at Friendswood Activity Building, 416 Morningside Drive, Friendswood, TX.
Topic: Reading German script, German vocabulary and free online videos
Cost: Free; More information: Kim Zrubek, Librarian, 281-482-7135

I Found the Church but Where Are the Records?

When researching the origins of a German immigrant ancestor, you must find the church records for his or her family as these are the records that will most likely contain their place of origin.

I am attempting to find the origins of the Prasse family from the west side of Cleveland in the church records of the German United Evangelical Protestant Church.

West Side United Church of Christ
3800 Bridge Ave, Cleveland, Ohio
Formerly known as the German United Evangelical Protestant Church

I have been able to find that there is still a church building located on Bridge Street.  The current occupant of the building is the West Side United Church of Christ.  I have made some inquiries with the Western Reserve Historical Society to see if they have the church records.  In particular, I requested information on the marriage of Augusta Prasse and Frederick Zluhan.  Augusta was born in Saxony, Germany and came to the United States around 1862.  Hopefully her marriage record will reveal the place of origin of the Prasse Family.

The name of the minister who performed the Zluhan/Prasse marriage was found in the civil marriage record.  Searching for the minister in the city directory led to the following listings for the church.

The Reverend William Angelberger served the German United Evangelical Protest Church from 1880-1894.

There are several other records related to the Prasse family which should show up in the church records.  Dr. Roger Minert has stated that church records reveal the place of origin of German immigrants over 60% of the time.  I have prepared a combined timeline and research log for the Prasse family to help me identify the records to search.  I recommend this approach to you and hope you will use this timeline as an example for your family research.

Prasse Family Timeline

Gustave Carl A. Prasse was born on January 12, 1826, near Leipzig, Germany. He married Christina Anna Sisser in 1845 in Sachsen, Germany. They had nine children in 13 years. He died on July 22, 1912, in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, having lived a long life of 86 years, and was buried at Monroe Street Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.

1826- Gustave Carl A. Prasse was born on January 12, 1826, in Leipzig, Germany.  His death certificate says 12th of January 1826. 1900 census says January 1828. 1870 and 1910 censuses support the 1826 birth year. 1870 & 1880 censuses support Saxony (Sachsen) as a birthplace. Family trees contain the Leipzig locality but no source has been cited.   No record of his birth has been found.

1845- Approximate date of marriage to Christiana Sisser in Sachsen, Germany.  No marriage record has been found.  Two Bible Records Index Entries were found at Western Reserve Historical Society as follows:

Name:                  PRASSE, Christianne Eliz. Schuetze; Volume 10, Page 122, 123

Name:                  PRASSE, Gottlieb Emil; Volume 9, Page 42, 43 

Both Records were requested via email on 3 April 2015:

Western Reserve Historical Society

10825 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44106

Ph: (216) 721-5722 Email: info@wrhs.org

1852- Augusta Prasse was born between 1849 (per 1870 census) and Jul 1852 (per 1900) in Sachsen, Germany No record of her birth has been found.

1856- Gustave Prasse immigrated in 1856 (per 1900 census).  This conflicts with the date of birth for son Herman in Germany.  However 1870 census says Herman was born in Ohio about 1858.  Neither Gustave, Christianna, Augusta or Herman have been found on a passenger list.

1858- Herman Prasse was born in Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany per oral tradition of the family.  Some of the records state he was born in Ohio.  No record of his birth has yet been found.

1862- This is the year of immigration found in the 1910 census for Gustave Carl A. Prasse,

1867- The other Gustave Prasse naturalized in 1867.  Naturalization ID#: 29198; Name: Prasse Gustav; Name of Volume: DOA; Vol 2; Page 8; Germany; Date of Arrival: 6/1855 Date of Naturalization: 8/22/1867    Requested from Cuyahoga County Archives  4 April 2015.  

              

1868- A man named Gustave Prasse appears to be living on Union Street in Cleveland per tax list however there were two men named Gustave Prasse living in Cleveland.

1869- City Directory shows Gustave working as a laborer and residing at 241 Birch, Cleveland.  The family residence listed in the Cleveland city directory, through 1901, was 241 Birch St.  This street is on Cleveland's west side near West 50th St. and the Nickel Plate Railroad tracks.

1870- Gustave Prasse was 44 years old and lived in Cleveland Ward 11, Cuyahoga, Ohio.  The place of birth for Gustave is listed as Saxony on the 1870 census.

1872- Herman Prasse died in Cleveland at age 14. He was buried at Monroe Street Cemetery. The burial service may have been conducted by a church.  The church book may contain his place of birth.

1872- Naturalization ID#: 29199; Name:  Prasse Gustav Name of Volume: NB Vol 7; Page 105; Country: Germany; Date of Naturalization: 10/23/1872 Requested from Cuyahoga County Archives  4 April 2015.

1872- Augusta Prasse marries John Schweitzer on 6 August 1872.  The marriage was performed by Rev. Philip Stempel at the United Evangelical Protestant Church – Founded in 1853 at Kentucky St. (now 38th Street) near Bridge.  Known as Stempel’s Church after Rev. Philip Stempel.   He served from 1871-1874.

1873- This is the approximate date of birth for Charles Schwietzer son of John Schweitzer and Augusta Prasse.  He later adopted the name of his step-father, Fred Zluhan. The death certificate of Charles Zluhan aka Sluhan says he was born 5 July 1873 in Cleveland.

          

1880- Gustave Prasse, age 52 is residing at 239 Birch with wife, Christina, 56; daughter, Augusta, 29; son, Charles 19; son, Manuel, 17; son Emile, 14 and grandson, Charles, 7. Gustave is working as a laborer; Charles, laboring; Manuel, shipping clerk and Emile, laboring.  The grandson, Charles is most likely the son of Augusta Prasse and John Schweitzer even though he adopts the Zluhan surname after 1880.

1880 Fred Zluhan and Augusta Prasse are married by Rev. William Angelberger, pastor of the United German Evangelical Protestant Church.  Angelberger was a successor to Stempel.  The church book may contain her place of birth.  Sent email on 3 April 2015 to Western Reserve Historical Society requesting copy of the marriage record.

1884- Fred Zluhan in Cleveland City Directory employed as locksmith at 151 Champlain and residing at 237 Birch next door to Gustave Prasse.

1900- Four of the nine children born to Christiana Prasse are still alive.  The four would be Augusta, Charles, Frederick and Emil.

1912-  Gustave Prasse died on July 22, 1912, in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, having lived a long life of 86 years, and was buried at Monroe Street Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.

I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a Prasse descendant out there that has the information that I need tucked away in closet.  If you can help me to locate Prasse descendants, please use the contact form in the right hand column.

The Prasse Family of Cleveland, Ohio and Saxony, Germany- So many Germans, so little time…

I am presenting a series of three lectures on German Genealogy on the third Saturdays of March, April and May at 1:00 PM at the Friendswood, Texas Public Library.  The first session is coming up on Saturday, March 21.  The topic will be finding your German hometown in American records.  In preparation for that lecture, I have been researching several of the German names in our family history.

The Prasse Family of Cleveland, Ohio has captured my attention both for their accomplishments and for their bountiful records. The new life story screen at Ancestry.com tells us: Gustave Carl A. Prasse was born in January 1828 in Leipzig, Germany. He married Christianna Sisser in 1845. They had five children in 13 years. He died on July 22, 1912, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, having lived a long life of 84 years, and was buried in Cleveland, Ohio.

The genealogy communities of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and the State of Ohio have done an excellent job of preserving and indexing their records.  Ancestry.com has the Ohio death indexes and Family Search has images of actual death certificates.  Starting with the most recent records about this family, I found death certificates, cemetery memorials, and interment registers which document their lives, deaths and burials in Cleveland and prior.

Entrance to Monroe Street Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio

The death certificate for “Carl G. Prasse” states that the original immigrant was actually born on the 12^th of January 1826.  The precision of this date makes me wonder whether there was a family bible.  The informant was “C.G. Prasse” of Fairview, Ohio who is most likely his son, Charles Gustav Prasse.  The residence in Fairview was Stop 3 of the Elyria Line.  Carl died on the 22^nd of July 1912 of “Old Age.”  The only fact that Charles could offer about his father’s origins was that he was born in Germany.  He apparently did not know or could not recall at the time, the names of his German grandparents.  The death certificate did note that Carl G. Prasse was buried in the Monroe Street Cemetery.

Have I ever told you that “Google is the Genealogist’s Best Friend”?  Whenever you get a document like a death certificate you want to “Google” all of the names and places that you find.  The Monroe Street Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Cleveland that has a wonderful website with pictures, history, a burial index and links to digitized interment registers.  FindaGrave.com also has memorials for 21,796 interments but only 15% have been photographed.  

Gatehouse and Arch restoration project at Monroe Street Cemetery
Source: http://mscf1841.org/

The Monroe Street Cemetery Index reveals that there were actually four members of the Prasse family buried here.

Source: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohcdrt/clecems/mo-pe.html

Vol/Page; Interment Date & Number; Name; Age; Race & Gender; Address; Native of; Cause of Death

2/95; Aug 20 1888; 14682; Prasse, Carl; 6d; W M; 242 Birch, Cleveland; Convulsions

3/185; Jul 21 1912; 25810; Prasse, Carl G; 86y; W M; Fairview, Ohio; Germany;   Old Age

3/87;  Jun 13 1904; 23375; Prasse, Christina E; 80y; W F;  241 Birch; Germany; Old Age

1/73; May 9 1872;7368; Prasse, Herman; 14y; W M; 241 Birch St. Germany; Infl. of Brain

I double checked the address for the child Carl and it was entered as 242 Birch on the Interment Register.  Since he was born in 1888 he was most likely a grandson of Carl G. and Christina.  City directories might confirm which Prasse family lived across the street.  These graves are located in Section C Line 8.  Carl is Grave No. 14; Carl G. Grave No. 16; Christina E is Grave No. 15; Herman is also in Grave No. 14.

Fortunately, I was able to find pictures of several of the gravestones from Find a Grave:

There was no picture of Carl G. Prasse's gravestone.  It looks like it may have fallen over.

Unfortunately, Christina E. Prasse died in 1904 just before the Ohio Death Certificate Database on Family Search begins in 1908.  My source for her maiden name was the death certificate of her son, Frederick Emmanuel Prasse who died in 1935.   F.E. Prasse’s death certificate lists his mother as Anna Sisser born Germany.  So we have her given name listed in various records as both Christine and Anna.  The 1870 census reveals that the original German name may have been Christiana.  It also reveals that Christiana and her husband Carl Gustave Prasse were from Saxony.  Some of the family trees on Ancestry.com say Leipzig but I have not seen a source for that yet.

Death Certificate of Frederick Emmanuel Prasse, 1863-1935

One of the great things about Family Search is that they provide you with a fairly complete transcript of many of their documents.  Here is the image and the transcript for the death certificate of Frederick Emmanuel Prasse:

• Name:  Frederick Emmanuel Prasse
• Titles and Terms:             
• Event Type:        Death
• Event Date:        31 Dec 1935
• Event Place:       Lakewood, Cuyahoga, Ohio
• Residence Place:              Lakewood, Cuyahoga, Ohio
• Address:              1455 Waterbury Rd.
• Gender:               Male
• Age:       72
• Marital Status:   Married
• Race:     W
• Occupation:        Lumber Co. Owner
• Birth Date:          27 Jan 1863
• Birthplace:          Cleveland, Ohio
• Birth Year (Estimated):  1863
• Burial Date:         03 Jan 1936
• Burial Place:       
• Cemetery:          Lakewood Park
• Father's Name: Carl Prasse
• Father's Titles and Terms:           
• Father's Birthplace:         Germany
• Mother's Name:               Anna Sisser
• Mother's Titles and Terms:         
• Mother's Birthplace:       Germany
• Spouse's Name:               Elizabeth Prasse
• Spouse's Titles and Terms:          
• File Number:      fn 72091
• GS Film number:              2022570
• Digital Folder Number:  004001938
• Image Number:                01403
• Citing this Record:
• "Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X6WY-7LX : accessed 16 March 2015), Frederick Emmanuel Prasse, 31 Dec 1935; citing Lakewood, Cuyahoga, Ohio, reference fn 72091; FHL microfilm 2,022,570.

The date of immigration for Gustav Carl Prasse and his wife, Christiana and daughter, Augusta is probably closest to the 1856 date cited in the 1900 census.  Daughter, Augusta was born in 1848 according to her gravestone.  This date is supported by the 1870 census which gives an approximate date of 1849.  The 1900 census cites an immigration date of 1862 which has to be wrong.  Two sons were born in the U.S. prior to 1862: Herman was born about 1858 and Charles Gustav was born on 26 September 1860 and both were born in Cleveland.  The Declaration for Naturalization filed in the Cuyahoga County, Ohio Probate Court states that he immigrated in June of 1855.  This naturalization record was found on the U.S. Genweb Archives (http://files.usgwarchives.net/oh/cuyahoga/vitals/naturalizations/le2sa.txt)  Here are the details:

• Naturalization ID#: 29198; Name: Prasse Gustav; Name of Volume: DOA; Vol 2; Page 8; Germany; Date of Arrival: 6/1855 Date of Naturalization: 8/22/1867                    
• Naturalization ID#: 29199; Name:  Prasse Gustav; Name of Volume: NB Vol 7; Page 105; Country: Germany; Date of Naturalization: 10/23/1872

There appears to have been a second man named Gustave Prasse that naturalized in 1872.

Further information on ordering Cuyahoga Naturalization records is here: http://files.usgwarchives.net/oh/cuyahoga/vitals/naturalizations/cuynatinfo.txt

The 1870 census record clearly shows that the Prasse family was from Saxony.  The oldest daughter, Augusta (Guste) was born in Saxony about 1849 per this record and 1848 per the gravestone.  The family immigrated before Herman was born in Ohio in 1858.  More research is needed to find this family in the 1860 and 1880 census. There is a nine year gap in the ages of Augusta and Herman.  This may be explained by the 1900 census where Christina says she she was the mother of nine children and that only four were alive in 1900.

Come learn more about how to research your German heritage at the Ethnicity Focused Research Special Interest Group.  Beginning in March 2015, The Bay Area Genealogical Society will host a monthly presentation and working session focusing on researching ancestors from a variety of countries.

Location: Friendswood Activity Building located at 416 Morningside Drive, Friendswood.

Nick Cimino and Bob Wegner, BAGS members, will kick-off this Special Interest Group with a detailed look at German ancestry research.

• Saturday, March 21 at 1:00 pm: How to identify the hometown of German ancestorsin American records.
• Saturday, April 18 at 2:00 pm: Church records and Civil Records in Germany
• Saturday, May 16 at 2:00 pm: German script and research training videos, also vocabulary

Fishing with a Bigger Net- More Newspaper Search Techniques

Genealogy and fishing have a lot in common.  They both require lots of patience.  They both have lots of tools that facilitate the “big catch”.  

I wrote last week about Newspapers.com.  I showed examples of how to make clippings and attach them to an ancestor profile on Ancestry.com.  I was using the surnames “Banford” and “Mayne” to search in the Cincinnati newspapers at Newspapers.com.  When you are fishing you can use a pole, a spear or a net.  When you research newspapers online using keywords it can be like using a spear or a net when you are fishing.

For example, the spear approach is to use the full name in quotation marks such as “George Banford”.  The net approach would be to use just the surname “Banford” to find all instances of matches for persons named Banford.  If you want to use a bigger net then you might start using the surnames of the relatives, friends, associates and neighbors.  

For example, George Banford was married to Mary Nevin.  Two of Mary’s sisters, Jane Nevin and Magdalene Nevin were both married to Stephen J. Ashworth in Schuyler County, Missouri.  So Ashworth is a name that I also want to search to learn more about George and Mary Banford.  The State Historical Society of Missouri has made many Missouri newspapers from the post Civil War period available at their website.  I began by searching the Schuyler County paper, the Lancaster Excelsior at the Historical Society Website.  I found this very intriguing article about George and Mary Banford (nee Nevin) that also mentions George’s mother-in-law, Nancy Navin (spelled Nevin in other records) and his brother and sister-in-law, Stephen J. Ashworth and Magdalene Ashworth (nee Nevin).

Lancaster Excelsior
4 September 1875
Image Courtesy of State Historical Society of Missouri
http://shs.umsystem.edu/newspaper/mdnp/

This article adds an interesting footnote to the narrative of the life of George Banford.  Born in County Fermanagh, Ireland in 1828, he immigrated to America in 1853 according to the 1900 census.  He settled in Schuyler County, Missouri. On 31 March 1859, he married Mary Nevin in Schuyler County.  In 1860 he was enumerated in the U.S. Federal Census with his new wife and they were residing next door to his in-laws,  Thomas and Ann (Nancy) Nevin.  Some time after the outbreak of the Civil War, he left Schuyler County and relocated near Cincinnati, Ohio.

Why George and Mary Banford left Missouri is subject to speculation.  The following was compiled from Caywood's 1888 History of Adair, Putnam, Sullivan & Schuyler Counties:

"The Civil War caused many hardships for Schuyler Countians. Although Missouri was a free state, enlistments in Schuyler County were almost evenly divided between Union and Confederate forces. Neighbor no longer trusted neighbor, and families were divided in loyalties. Bushwhackings and skirmishes occurred throughout the area. Some families left, unable to live under such stress."

Apparently George and Mary Banford left Schuyler County without disposing of all of their real estate as indicated by the clipping from the Lancaster Excelsior.

Another intriguing article was found by searching for Ashworth in the Adair County, Missouri newspaper.  The Historical Society of Missouri website redirected me to the Chronicling of America website.

The Weekly Graphic
Kirksville, Adair County, Missouri
6 July 1888
Who is this elusive Mr. Banford?
Image courtesy of Library of Congress
http:/chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

The John Ashworth mentioned above is probably John Davis Ashworth 1861-1918, son of Stephen J. Ashworth and his first wife, Jane Anne Nevin.  In 1890 at the time of his marriage, John Ashworth was residing at Novinger, Adair County, Missouri.  But who is Mr. Banford?  It is probably one of the sons of George Banford.  Tom Banford was about the same age but it also could have been George or one of his other sons, Joseph or William.

I found several more articles about the Ashworth cousins by "casting a wider net."  I was also happy to "spear" the above article about a most interesting real estate transaction.  Happy trails until next time!

Electronic Newspaper Clippings

I have been doing some exploring on Newspapers.com and have been making clippings.  There is a function which allows the clippings to be attached to profiles at Ancestry.com.  All of my clippings are also stored on my Newspaper.com account.   Some of my clippings include a family reunion, marriage announcements, real estate transactions, birth announcements, and articles about club, sorority and youth group activities.  These newspaper clippings are a wonderful window on the world of our ancestors.  You should try it out!

One of my complaints is that the collection of digitized newspapers for certain communities is incomplete.  For example, my grandfather’s brother, Paul G. Mayne, and his family lived in Leavenworth, Kansas.  There were several articles which mentioned his daughter, Jane in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.  The papers where I would find his obituary in November 1962 are missing.  Also missing were the papers from November 1971 where I would find his wife’s obituary.  Also missing were the papers from 1954-1961 where I would have found cousin, Jane’s marriage announcement.

There is a fairly large collection of digitized editions for the Cincinnati Enquirer.  The collection begins in 1841 and ends in 1923.  My Mayne and Banford family members appear occasionally.  Unfortunately, most of the obituaries date between 1930 and 1970 and those papers are unavailable at Newspapers.com.  But there were a few articles about their activities prior to 1924.  One search tip for this period prior to 1924 is to use the initials of the given names.  For example, a few articles for my great grandfather, Joseph Hanson Mayne were found in the Cincinnati Enquirer by using “J. H. Mayne” as the search term.  Here is an example:

Screen shot of clipping file at Newspapers.com. There is a typographical error: not should be now.

One of the limitations of the attachment tool is that you have to attach the article to one person at a time.  For example, the family reunion recap included the names of seven couples and seven single family members.  My workaround was to use the print function to download a PDF image, save it as a JPG and then attach it as an image to Ancestry.com.  The image attachment tool at Ancestry.com allows you to attach to multiple individuals.  Here is the downloaded clipping:

I used the print function to save this as a PDF.  Then I saved that file as a JPG and then attached the image to all of the Ancestry.com profiles for the individuals mentioned in the article.  Another typo: Branford should be Banford. Newspapers are notorious for their typos.

A problem that I noticed on the Ancestry.com side of the connection is that all of the clippings are lumped under one link for each newspaper at Newspapers.com.  Therefore you have to have a Newspapers.com account to see  the clippings.  However, if you attach the entire page rather than the clipping then there is a separate link for each page number.  The downside of the links for each page number is that it only gives the name of the newspaper and a page number.  There is no date on the link.  Furthermore, if you have two newspaper pages from different dates with the same page number there is only one link per page number.

This is a screen shot from the bottom of the profile of the Rev. Joseph Hanson Mayne at Ancestry.com.  The arrows show how the links to Newspapers.com show on his profile.  You can either attach a clipping or an entire page.  The first arrow shows a link with a page number and two citations.  This is the link to an entire page but you can only access one of the citations from this link.  The second arrow shows a link that will take you to the clippings that I created.  See the next image to see where the link takes you.

The link on Rev. Mayne's profile at Ancestry.com takes you to this clipping that I created at Newspapers.com.  Notice the thumbnails to my other clippings in the right hand column.  All of my clippings are lumped together rather than grouping  those that are attached to Rev. Mayne.

At times, I had trouble getting the clippings to save on Newspapers.com.  I made repeated attempts on several different clippings and never could get them to save.  My overall evaluation of the clipping function is that it is a great way to highlight and source newspaper clippings.  I like how they are displayed and the ability to add a title to the clipping.  They print nicely and you can create PDF or JPG files that include the source of the clipping.  However, the way they are attached to the individual profiles at Ancestry.com seems clumsy at best.  It forces others that view my individual profiles to have an account on Newspapers.com to view the clippings.  I recommend that you attach images of the clippings to the profile at Ancestry.com rather than use the "Save to Ancestry" button.