Illinois Archives - Ahnentafel

Tag: Illinois

X Is for…X (his mark)

Posted on June 15, 2025June 29, 2025 by spuddled

Today I’m revisiting one of my favorite ancestors. He’s a favorite because he has one of the best names — Nimrod Canterbury Murphy — and also because his life had interesting parallels to that of Abraham Lincoln. My 4G-grandfather, he was born in about 1809 in Kentucky.¹ By 1830 he had moved to Morgan County, Illinois; on 24 June of that year he married Cassandra Waters in Jacksonville. Between 1831 and 1832 he (like Lincoln) served in the Black Hawk War.² In 1840 he was living in Carlinville, Macoupin County, Illinois, but by 1850 he had moved to Gentry County, Missouri. Also like Lincoln, he met an untimely death, though I’m pretty sure he was not assassinated. Nimrod died 11 September 1860 in Allendale, Missouri, at the age of 51.³ He and Cassandra had a family of 13 children; after Nimrod’s death Cassandra returned to Illinois, dying in Morgan County in June 1896. She is supposedly buried in Pisgah’s Union Cemetery; I have seen her parents’ grave there in person but have never found Cassandra’s.

Of particular interest for today’s post and the “X” theme is a deed dating to March 1853. Both Nimrod and Cassandra signed this deed with their marks, which is consistent with the 1850 census which noted that neither could read or write. Two years later, Nimrod and Cassandra sold another parcel of land to a Charles Mattox for $55, but I’ll focus my transcription skills on just the first document (call it laziness):

This indenture, made and entered into this Twenty Third day of March One Thousand
Eight hundred and fifty three, between Nimrod C. Murphy and Casander Murphy his
wife, of the County of Gentry, in the State of Missouri, of the one part, and Joel R. Allen of
the County of Gentry and State of Missouri of the other part, witnesseth: –
That the said Nimrod C. Murphy and Casander his wife, for and in consideration of the
Sum of Twenty Five Dollars in hand paid by the said Joel R. Allen the receipt whereof is
hereby acknowledged, have granted , bargained, and sold and by these presents do grant, bar-
gain, sell and convey unto the said Joel R. Allen his heirs and assigns the following des-
cribed tracts, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the County of Gentry in
the State of Missouri, to wit: –
The South East fourth of the South East quarter of Section Twenty Eight in Township Sixty Six,
of Range Thirty.
To Have and to Hold, the above described premises, together with all and singular the ap-
purtenances thereunto belonging, or in anywise appertaining unto the said Joel R. Allen, his heirs
and assigns forever: and the said Nimrod C. Murphy and Casander his wife for their heirs,
executors, administrators and assigns covenant to and with the said Joel R. Allen, his heirs
and assigns that they will warrant and defend the title in and to said premises against
the lawful claim or claims of all persons whomsoever.
In testimony whereof the said Nimrod C. Murphy and Casander his wife, have hereunto set their
hands and seals the day and year first above written.
Nimrod his X mark C Murphy Seal
Casander her X mark Murphy Seal

At the bottom of this document is a further notice that Nimrod and “Casander” appeared before the local Justice of the Peace to file the deed. As was customary, additional steps were taken to ensure that Cassandra was willingly giving up her rights to the land as well: “The said Casander Murphy, being by the undersigned first made acquainted with the contents of the foregoing instrument of writing, on an examination separate and apart from her said husband, acknowledged that she executed the same, and relinquished her Dower in the real Estate therein mentioned, freely and without compulsion or undue influence of her husband.”

Jay Sweeney, Ancestors of Cassandra Waters. ↩︎
Ed. by Ellen M. Whitney, The Black Hawk War 1831-1832, vol. I (n.p: 1970, n.d), 67-68, 364. ↩︎
Jay Sweeney, Ancestors of Cassandra Waters. ↩︎

T Is for…Tombstone

Posted on May 18, 2025May 18, 2025 by spuddled

Today’s entry is primarily a visual one. The photos below are all ones that I took personally while visiting family cemeteries…one of my favorite pastimes.

(CLICK HERE TO VIEW) More details available on family members can be found by searching here: https://genealogy.montgomeryhoffmann.com/tng/searchform.php

Mom at Gravesite of George and Mary (Rusch) Hunkler: Washington, Illinois Glendale Cemetery

N Is for…Naturalization

Posted on April 6, 2025June 29, 2025 by spuddled

Today’s post will take a look at two naturalization records, one from each side of the family tree. First, the paternal branch. Anders Roberg, my great-great-grandfather, was born in Innvik, Norway on 11 October 1855. On 2 June 1875, Anders and his brother Arne emigrated to the United States. Both moved to Wisconsin, where Arne would stay for most of his life, while Anders would move to Minnesota and then Nebraska. On 3 December 1878, Anders married Agnette Evensdatter Lien in Rushford, Minnesota. By 1880 they were living in Boone County, Nebraska.

Arkivverket: The National Archives of Norway; Norge; *Emigrasjonsprotokoll*

Anders’s naturalization documents of 1884 detail the process required for him to become a citizen. They note that on 7 May 1884 Anders appeared in court in Albion, Boone County, to apply for citizenship. They further indicate that it had been at least two years since he made his original intention known; this was done through the Crawford County, Wisconsin, court system. Anders now renounced his allegiance to any foreign leader or government, particularly King Carl XV of Norway. He was required to have been a resident of the United States for at least five years without leaving its territories, and a resident of Nebraska for at least one year. Satisfied with Anders’s compliance with these various regulations, the Albion County Clerk approved his application on 7 July 1884.

On the other side of the family, also a great-great-grandfather, we have George John Hunkler. He was born in Saint Gallen, Switzerland, on 20 September 1862. Unlike Anders, George already knew his future wife in Switzerland. He emigrated in 1883, according to the 1900 census, and took up residence in Illinois. Two years later he paid for Maria Elizabeth Rusch’s passage to America, and they were married on 14 December in either 1885 in Washington, Illinois, or 1886 in Peoria.

On 22 August 1892 George Hunkler appeared in court in Peoria. Similar to Anders Roberg’s documents, George’s note that two years previously, on 28 September 1890, he had appeared in court to apply to become a naturalized citizen. Two witnesses had testified at that time that he had lived in the U.S. for at least five years and at least one year in Illinois and affirmed his good character. George also renounced his loyalty to The Republic of Switzerland, and was permitted to become a naturalized citizen.

I Is for…Instruments

Posted on March 2, 2025June 29, 2025 by spuddled

Today we’re taking a look at musical instruments in our family. The first is the violin that belonged to my great-grandfather, Albert Carl Swing. His daughter, my maternal grandmother, always talked of how her father purchased the violin with the first money he ever earned, shucking corn away from home. He was about 14, which means this purchase would have taken place around 1903. I’ve always liked to imagine that he ordered the violin from the Sears catalog, but I have no way of knowing this for sure.

When Grandma was a young girl living in Wing, Illinois, several families there got together and built a community center where they would hold Saturday night square dances. Albert was often the caller for these dances; Grandma would emphasize to us that he called, not sang, the dances. She said he called dances more often in these years than he played the violin, as he had lost the tip of his left middle finger reaching into some kind of motor and wasn’t able to play the violin as he had in his younger days.

Albert’s violin would get a lot of use by others in the family, however. Mom and Aunt Carla, anyway, were both in orchestra in school and learned on Albert’s violin. I also joined the school orchestra when I was in the fifth grade, and when I had grown enough to be able to handle a full-sized violin, I used the same one as well. At some point in all those years of orchestra and private violin lessons, I ended up naming the violin “Fred.” I don’t remember why anymore, but he’s been Fred to me ever since. Fred desperately needs a tune-up and probably a new bow; one of these days I’ll manage to get over to a music repair shop in Charlottesville. It’s the least I can do for Fred after 122 years.

The second family musical instrument is the guitar that belonged to my maternal grandfather, Joseph Hoffmann. I don’t have any origin stories of how Grandpa acquired his guitar, but I know that he played it as part of a band that performed locally in Illinois as well as on the radio (again, I assume locally; not quite Grand Ole Opry-level fame). There is even a formal portrait of the band and their instruments; Grandpa and his guitar are second from the left:

More recently, while poring over old newspapers at Newspapers.com, I found journalistic confirmation of the band’s existence. 1934 appears to have been a banner year for them; in February the Central Theatre of Fairbury, Illinois hosted radio personalities on stage, the new movie, “Bedside,” and 20 “home talent acts,” sponsored by local businesses. Among the local acts competing for $10 in cash prizes were Joe Hoffman, Dayton Alt, Raymond Alt, Mac Jarvis, and Carl Bollinger. Grandpa would have been 26.

*The Fairbury (Illinois) Blade*, 16 February 1934

Later that same year the Fairbury Sportsmen’s Club hosted the Dwight Club at a picnic. By this time Grandpa’s band had undergone some personnel change but acquired a name: the entertainment for this gathering was provided by the Fairbury Ramblers String Quartet, consisting of Grandpa and the Alt brothers from the earlier iteration, along with Cecil Phelps. According to the newspaper article, the Quartet “punctuated the program with the dulcet strains of their music.” They also accompanied a singer named Herb Hurt on two songs.

*The Fairbury (Illinois) Blade*, 10 August 1934

Grandpa’s guitar also had a second musical act, as Mom carefully packed and shipped it to my brother in Virginia when he decided to learn to play. He doesn’t play that particular instrument so much any longer, but it is probably no surprise that this guitar is now here in my house with me. Maybe I should try to learn to play the guitar. Or at least give Grandpa’s guitar a name.

Interrupted by Death: Merle Ellsworth Bond

Posted on November 24, 2024June 29, 2025 by spuddled

*Battle Creek Enquirer*,
25 November 1927

This week’s tale is another sad one. Merle Ellsworth Bond, my 7th cousin twice removed, died 97 years ago today on Thanksgiving Day 1927. Merle was born on 11 January 1899 in Fayette County, Illinois. He was the third of six children born to William H. and Clara L. (Green) Bond. The Bond family were descendants of our Seventh Day Baptist Crandalls.

In the 1900 and 1910 censuses the Bond family was enumerated in La Clede, Fayette County along with numerous Crandall households. In September 1918 Merle was living in Farina, Fayette County, when he registered for the draft. It appears he served some time in the military as he is listed as having a military service record from the U.S. Veterans Administration. He also attended Milton College (a Seventh Day Baptist institution) for one semester. By 1920 Merle was listed as a lodger at a sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Seven years later Merle would tragically meet his death. Between 1920 and 1927 he would spend his summers living and working in Battle Creek but in March 1927 he made the move permanent. Since that time he had been working for Leona Miller, a florist, and was learning “the florist trade.” Shortly before his death he transferred from working for Mrs. Miller at Urbandale to living and working at a greenhouse on Waubascon Lake Road. In September 1927 Merle and a friend Paul Resser, also from Battle Creek and also a Seventh Day Baptist, attended the annual conference of the Seventh Day Baptist Church in Westerly, Rhode Island.

Two months later Merle and Paul Resser were on their way to Toledo on Thanksgiving morning to attend a rabbit show (the “Fur Animal Exhibit”) and to have their Thanksgiving dinner when, according to the Battle Creek Enquirer, their trip was “interrupted by death.” About 6:30 a.m., Paul drove his Nash automobile into a Michigan Electric train on US Highway 12. According to the newspaper account, the front of the car was completely demolished. Paul Resser was killed immediately; Merle Bond survived long enough to be taken to Foote Memorial Hospital in Jackson, Michigan but died five minutes after arriving.

The Enquirer article went on to note that the railroad crossing was considered one of the most dangerous between Detroit and Chicago and that all interurban trains were required to stop completely at the crossing before continuing on. Passengers and crew of the train on that day confirmed that the train had stopped as required and was only going about two miles an hour. The motorman saw the car’s lights but believed it was going to stop at the crossing; apparently Paul Resser did not see the train in time and drove directly underneath it. Merle’s brother Howard came from Ohio to take his brother’s body back to Farina, where he was buried in the Farina Cemetery.

Native Confusion: the Birth of Jacob Emil Schmidt

Posted on October 20, 2024June 29, 2025 by spuddled

On this day in 1887, my first cousin 3 times removed, Jacob Emil Schmidt, was born in Butten, Alsace-Lorraine. He was one of eleven children born to Christian and Sophie (Stock) Schmidt. Christian’s younger sister Christine was the second wife of our immigrant ancestor Jacob Hoffmann. It appears that Christine was the only one of her siblings to emigrate to America, though a number of the children of the next generation (including Jacob Schmidt) did choose to leave Alsace-Lorraine for the U.S., most of them settling in Illinois.

Jacob emigrated around 1911-1914, and on 30 June 1916 he married Louise Mae Rocke in Peoria. Jacob’s World War I draft registration notes that he had started the process of becoming a U.S. citizen and was currently employed as a plasterer in Cissna Park, Illinois. He had also served 2 years in the military in Germany (Alsace-Lorraine belonged to Germany from 1871-1920). He was described as of medium height and build, slightly balding with brown hair and eyes.

In the 1920 census Jacob and Louise were enumerated in Pigeon Grove Township, Iroquois County, Illinois. Jacob was continuing his work as a plasterer. By 1930 the family was in Cissna Park proper (or perhaps the boundaries had changed), and Jacob and Louise had been joined by three children: Oliver, 9; Iva Jean, 6; and Betty Mae, 1. This census notes that Jacob is now a naturalized citizen, though his official naturalization papers include a date of 25 June 1921. Not much had changed for the family by 1940; they were still in Cissna Park, with “Jake Schmidt” working as a masonry contractor, and with all three children still at home.

In 1948 Iva Jean was given in marriage by Jacob to Richard Krug at the Schmidt home. Betty and Oliver were the only attendants. There were 40 guests at the ceremony and one hundred at the reception afterward. The following year Louise died at the age of 58, having been ill for several weeks.

The year after that Jacob was enumerated in the 1950 census, a lodger with the Wayne Seigle family in Cissna Park. On 22 December of that same year, Jacob died in Lake View Hospital in Danville, Illinois. His obituary provides some interesting details about the end of Jacob’s life, though confusingly it refers to him as a “native of Cissna Park” while later noting that he was born 20 October 1887 in Alsace-Lorraine.

One would think that with Louise dying in 1949 and Jacob in 1950, his final year might have been a quiet one. But Jacob’s obituary states that he had retired a year prior to his death and gone back to his home in France. He had only returned to Illinois on 30 September 1950 but was in the process of building a new home for himself. Some four weeks before his death he became ill, eventually dying of coronary thrombosis. He was buried in the Apostolic Christian Cemetery in Cissna Park alongside Louise. Jacob’s three children were still living at that time, but of his 10 brothers and sisters, only three sisters survived him, and two of those were still living in France. One hopes he was able to visit with both in that final trip to his native land.

A Trip to the West: The Marriage of Esther Bauer and William Yergler

Posted on October 6, 2024June 29, 2025 by spuddled

Today we remember Esther Matilda Bauer and William Yergler, who were married on this day in 1926 in Paxton, Illinois. Esther was my half first cousin once removed as well as my first cousin three times removed. She was the daughter of Marie (Hoffmann) Bauer, who was the daughter of our immigrant ancestor Jacob Hoffmann and his first wife, Anna Meyer. Marie’s sister Catherine was my 2G-grandmother, and her half-brother Paul was my great-grandfather.

Esther was the sixth of nine children born to Marie and George Bauer. She was born on 11 June 1902 in Cissna Park, Illinois. In the 1910 census, “Ester” is enumerated with her parents and siblings in Pigeon Grove Township, Iroquois County, Illinois. Her father was 47 and her mother 40. Her mother is noted as having given birth to 8 children, of whom 7 were then living. The child George and Mary had lost was their son Elmer Ernest Bauer, who lived from18 February – 25 September 1894. The other children in the household in 1910 were Alline E., 17; Earnest E., 15; Charley G., 13; Edna A., 10; Leona M., 6; and Harry W., 3. By the 1920 census, still in Pigeon Grove, George and Mary’s last child had joined the household: Arthur, 5.

George Bauer died in Cissna Park on 25 August 1924, and two years later Esther married William Yergler, son of William and Marie E. (Mangold) Yergler. William, Jr., was 2 1/2 years younger than his bride. An article about the wedding appeared in the 7 October 1926 issue of The Paxton (Illinois) Register. It notes they were married at the Christian parsonage at 11 a.m. on 6 October by the Reverend O. R. Keller. The article also states that “Immediately after the wedding the bridal couple left on a trip to the west” and would reside near Cissna Park once they returned.

The year following their wedding, Esther gave birth to a son who, sadly, lived only one day. This event would surely have brought back painful memories for Esther’s mother Marie. The next year Esther had another son, Wallace “Wally” Yergler. Three years later Harry Gene followed, then Mary Ann in 1933 (six months after the death of Mary Ann’s grandmother Marie), and Arthur in 1936.

The family (then just William, Esther, and Wallace, along with a boarder named David Rocke) is enumerated in the 1930 census in Ash Grove Township, Iroquois County, where William is a farmer. In 1940 they are still in Ash Grove, where they are renting their home for $10 a month. In that year the household consisted of William, Esther, Wallace, Harry, Mary Ann, Arthur, and a hired hand named Roy Kennedy. This census notes that William had gone through one year of high school, and Esther had completed the 8th grade. The family still resides together by 1950, though they no longer have a hired hand or boarder with them; Wallace and Harry are now listed as farm helpers.

Two years later Mary Ann, then 18, married Lowell Rassi on 31 August 1952 at the Cissna Park Apostolic Christian Church. Thirteen days after that, Esther Bauer Yergler passed away at age 50. An article in The Gridley (Illinois) Advance on 18 September 1952 notes simply that “Mrs. Yergler passed away suddenly on Saturday morning” and lists those relatives and friends who attended her funeral at Cissna Park. Esther is buried in the Cissna Park Cemetery, as is the infant son she had lost 25 years earlier.

Second Chances? The Marriage of Lewis Ferdinand Schott and Melinda Rose Belangé

Posted on June 9, 2024June 29, 2025 by spuddled

On this day in 1916, Louis Ferdinand Schott, my first cousin twice removed, married Melinda Rose Belangé. He was the son of Ferdinand A. “Fred” and Anna (Hoffmann) Schott and was born 28 July 1879 in Vitrey, France. His name appears variously in records as “Lewis Fred,” “Lewis Ferdinand,” and “Louis Ferdinand,” but his first appearance, in his French birth record, names him as “Louis-Ferdinand Schott.”

*Haute-Saône, France, Births Marriages, and Deaths, 1699-1929*

Louis appears in a ship’s passenger list on 13 April 1882, traveling on the St. Germain and arriving in New York City. Traveling with the two-year-old are his father, listed as a 33-year-old carpenter; twin siblings Emile and Angela, both listed as “1/2,” his mother, confusingly listed as “Mrs. Angela Hoffmann, 22,” and Anna’s sister, “Mrs. Catherine Hoffmann, 23.” This sister of Anna’s was my great-great-grandmother, Catherine Marie (Hoffmann) Swing.

By the time of the 1900 census, Louis and his family are in Pigeon Grove, Iroquois County, Illinois. Louis is listed as a dry goods salesman; his father is continuing to work as a carpenter. The following year Louis married for the first time, to Jennie Louise McFarland. They were married 19 June 1901 in Tippecanoe County, Indiana.

By 1910 Louis and Jennie were living in Wolcott with Charles, 5; and Mildred, 2. Louis’s occupation is listed as electrical engineer. Louis and Jennie’s marriage would not last, however, which was unusual for that time period. The Lafayette (Indiana) Daily Courier of 3 June 1916 reports the following: “Mrs. Jennie Schott was today granted a divorce from Lewis Schott. She is given the custody of her two children and the defendant ordered to pay $25 a month for their support.” The $25 monthly child support would be the equivalent of $719.15 today.

Six days later Louis married Melinda Rose Belangé. She had been born 15 May 1898 in Indiana; when they married, Melinda was 18 and Louis 36. In 1920 Louis and Malinda and their son Harry (2 4/12 years old) are living in Shelbyville, Indiana. Louis is working as the chief engineer at a light plant. It’s hard to know at this remove what the history of Louis’s marriage to Jennie was; but Jennie would also remarry. The 28 December 1926 Lafayette Journal and Courier announced that her marriage to Edwin Smith had taken place the previous Thursday evening.

In 1930 and 1940 according to the census the Shelbyville City Directory, Louis and Melinda are still living in Shelbyville, Indiana, at 146 E Broadway Street. Louis was a service worker at a radio store. The house at 146 E Broadway still stands and, interestingly, is the address for Schott & Associates Manufacturing Reps., a furniture wholesaler. Hello, cousins?

Lewis and Jennie’s son Charles married Laverne M. Smith on 9 February 1927 in Indiana. By 1940 Charles seems to have remarried to Hilda Lorene Kanouse, as she is listed as his wife on his draft record that year. Charles died in 1963 at about 58 years old and is buried in Saint Paul, Indiana.

Lewis and Jennie’s daughter Mildred had married Mearl R. Latta on 25 September 1923 in Fowler County, Indiana. Sadly, she died either of a heart attack or cerebral apoplexy in 1936 at age 34 and was survived by her husband and a son Robert.

Lewis and Melinda’s son Harry married Elizabeth Eileen Turner on 5 October 1939 in Indiana. In 1940 Harry and his wife Betty are living in Shelbyville along with Betty’s mother, Goldie Turner. Harry’s occupation is listed as Student Engineer, road grading machinery. Goldie is a seamstress in a private home. By 1950, still in Shelbyville, Harry, Elizabeth, and Goldie have been joined by John, 10; and Hetty, 5. Harry is now the proprietor of a cabinet making shop. Harry passed away on 9 July 1982 and is buried in Shelbyville.

Returning to Louis himself, he would pass away on 22 March 1960 of stomach cancer. He was 80 years old. His obituary in The Indianapolis News on 24 March 1960 notes that he was chief engineer for the Public Service Company until 1922, then the Shelbyville electrical inspector from 1933-1959. Melinda would survive Louis by nearly a quarter-century, surviving until 10 February 1984 before succumbing to pneumonia and arteriosclerotic heart disease.

Another Victim Added: The Death of Myrtle Barrow

Posted on April 21, 2024June 29, 2025 by spuddled

Today we return to our regularly scheduled program of morbid deaths. Specifically, in this case, the death of Myrtle Barrow, my fifth cousin twice removed. She was born 29 August 1899 in Athensville, Greene County, Illinois, to Robert Newton and Fannie (Canatsey) Barrow, part of the Sweeney line on my paternal side.

In 1900, 9-month-old Myrtle appears in the census in Athensville along with her parents and 3-year-old brother “Loyd.” In 1910 the family was enumerated in Barr, Macoupin County, Illinois. Myrtle’s older brother (Lloyd Irvin) is now listed as Irving, and three more boys have joined the family: Robert, 9; Carlos, 5; and Ebert, 2. By 1920 the family is back in Athensville, but Lloyd is living on his own with his wife and family, and Myrtle now has a sister, 8-year-old Fannie.

Myrtle would not survive long enough to be enumerated in 1930. Ninety-seven years ago this past Friday at a little after 12 p.m., a series of tornadoes struck central Illinois, in particular Calhoun and Greene Counties. The Jacksonville Daily Journal of 20 April listed eight known dead at that time, including a schoolteacher, Annie Keller, who died when she was struck by a falling rafter as the Centerville schoolhouse collapsed. She had ordered the schoolchildren to get under their desks and had only just gotten them all in place when the rafter fell; all the children survived.

Myrtle Barrow did not die in the initial storm. Instead, 97 years ago today, she succumbed to the injuries she had sustained in Greene County two days earlier. Again the Jacksonville Daily Journal provides a detailed account. According to an article that appeared on 22 April, Myrtle’s brother Robert testified in the inquest held after her death (aside: wouldn’t her cause of death be fairly obvious?), stating that he had been in Athensville when the tornado struck his home. He returned home afterward to find his father at a neighbor’s, but received word that his sister had been injured. Myrtle was found 100 yards from the family home lying in a couple of inches of water. Flooding made it impossible for anyone to take her to the hospital until the afternoon of the following day. Though Myrtle was unable to provide a lot of detail, she was lucid enough to tell doctors at the hospital that she had seen the tornado approaching and taken shelter in a shed.

Though doctors had originally thought Myrtle was improving, this improvement did not last, and she died at the Passavant Hospital in Jacksonville about 2:30 p.m. on 21 April 1927. The inquest, unsurprisingly, blamed the tornado for her death, but provided detailed specifics: “shock and hemorrhage, the result of disarticulation of right knee joint, fracture of left tibia and fibula and the left humerus. Injury acquired in tornado in Greene County.” According to the National Weather Service, the storm was an F4 and claimed a total of 11 lives, including Myrtle’s. One small consolation is that by surviving the initial storm, Myrtle did not die alone; the Daily Journal article tells us that her brother Robert was with her in the hospital when she died. A very small consolation, but a consolation nonetheless.

A Respite from Tragedy: The Long(ish) Life of Maria Asal

Posted on April 7, 2024June 28, 2025 by spuddled

This week’s post brings a much-needed break from the tragic and gruesome stories we’ve uncovered of late. It’s still the anniversary of a death, but I don’t know any heartbreaking details this time around, and our subject lived to the age of 83. Unfortunately, I don’t know a lot of any kind of details other than birth, marriage, and death dates, so I’m going to give you those.

Maria Asal was my eighth great-grandmother. She was born 22 March 1646 in Neuenweg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, to Christian and Barbara (Sick) Asal. She married Hans Vollmer, who was born 29 November 1636 in Bürchau, Baden-Württemberg, and the couple had a daughter, Catharina Volmer (I’m not sure where the second “l” went) on 21 December 1681 in Bürchau. Additional details regarding Maria’s life are slim; her husband Hans died on 28 April 1717, and she died 295 years ago today, on 7 April 1729, both in Bürchau.

Their daughter Catharina married Johannes Bollschweiler, and they had a son named Mathias, who was born 30 August 1715 in Neuenweg. He married Maria Hassler, and they had a daughter named Catharina, born 28 November 1748 in Bürchau. This Catharina married Johann George Demler, and they had a son named Johannes Demler. He was born 24 November 1780 in Niedereggenen, Baden-Württemberg. On 1 September 1811, also in Niedereggenen, Johannes married Anna Maria Raz, and they had a son, Johan Demler. He was born 22 September 1816 in Niedereggenen and there he married Catherina Maria “Kate” Reser on 28 January 1845. This couple had three children: Wilhelm K., August Frederick, and Maria or Mary. Mary was born 17 January 1855 in Baden, and she, along with her brothers and parents, emigrated to America in December 1864. By 1867 or so the family was in Livingston County, Illinois. She would go on to marry Samuel Slagel, and their daughter Emma was my great-grandmother, marrying Paul Hoffmann, Sr., in 1902.

And to think I once believed I wouldn’t be able to trace my maternal side many generations back…