Week 4: I'd Like to Meet

     Here we are at week 4 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks. One month down. 11 more to go. This week's focus is on who we'd like to meet. This is a pretty easy answer for me. While there are many ancestors I would love to meet, one in particular sticks out. The only downfall with this person is, I've already talked about her in a past post. My 3rd great grandma, Maggie Molten. I mentioned her in Week 2's blog talking about Challenges. She has been my biggest challenge for sure, which is why I would love to meet her. I would finally be able to ask her all the questions I have been needing answers for. Sadly though, I fear I still wouldn't get answers. My family wasn't big on sharing the truth. And if they wanted the truth about things known, it definitely would have been passed down. So while, she is definitely my first choice in whom I'd love to meet, I think I am going to focus this blog on someone else.
     Just last year, since it was the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, I focused my energy and time on researching William Ilg, my 2nd great Uncle. He did in World War I, just three days before the Armistice occurred. How heartbreaking! If you would like to read his story, click here: William Ilg, the gone but not forgotten Uncle. But he is not the one I am leading up to. The ancestor I would most like to meet is his mother, my 2nd Great Grandma, Pauline Ilg. If anything, to give her a hug, for all that she went through in her life. So let me introduce you to Pauline Ilg, nee Kimmerle.
 

Pauline Wilhelmine Kimmerle was born February 11, 1865 in Calw, Oa u. Unterreichenbach, Württemberg, Germany, according to her birth and baptism records I acquired from the Württemberg, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500–1985 database on Ancestry.com. Her parents were Jakob Friedrich Kimmerle and Friederike Wilhelmine Keller. She traveled to the United State in 1887 and eventually settled in St. Louis, Missouri. I do not know what brought her here. While here, she met her husband, Franz Jakob Ilg and they were married November 25, 1889 at St. Nicholas Church in St. Louis. A few months later, their daughter, Sophia, was born on February 22 1890. I'm thinking they got married because she got pregnant. Sadly, Sophia passed away soon after on April 20. This would not be the only child Pauline loses.
     After everything was said and done, Pauline would lose five children in infancy. They were very poor and could not afford doctor's visits, a decent home or even food to eat.

To make matters worse, in 1901, while she was pregnant with her last child, her husband, my 2nd great grandfather died tragically in an accident while working at the Provident Chemical Company. The story I heard was his head was crushed on a piece of machinery. Now here was Pauline, pregnant and with three young boys at home to still take care of. Her health was also not the best. After, her last son was born, they were completely destitute. The Carondelet News (local paper from where they lived) ran a short article about her and another family in need of help. See the article on the right. This was in 1903. In 1905, it appeared things were finally looking up. She married a Jacob John Arthur Baumgartner. He couldn't decide on a name I guess. They were together for approximately 10 years. At some point, she left him to go live with her adult son, William Ilg. I fear this last marriage was a bad one. I have yet to find a divorce record, but in the 1920 census, she is going by her other married name of Ilg. I wish I could say things finally got better for Pauline, but they did not.
     By 1920, she has lost two more of her children. Otto and William. Otto passed away in 1917, before his brother William went off to World War I. Then William died at the end of World War I. Pauline had two children left: Joseph and John. Both went on to get married and have children, so the line continued. Pauline did actually get to meet

one of her grand children before her passing on March 24, 1924. The picture on the left is from my grandma's scrapbook. She got to meet my grandma, Ruth Mary Ilg. She told me, she remembered Grandma Pauline holding her up to the window so she could see her better, since Pauline was partially blind. They were able to get a picture of my grandma with Pauline. This photo was taken sometime around 1921-1922. A wonderful treasure.
     As you can see, my poor 2nd great grandma had a really rough life. I can't imagine going through so much tragedy. It breaks my heart so much. And I know she loved each and every one of those children she lost She took the time to record each of their births and deaths in the little date book that has been passed down. I want to cry for the loss she experienced and just hug her. I want her to see that she is not forgotten. I want her to see her family line is still continuing to this day because of her strength. Maybe one day...

Week 3: Unusual Name

     The topic this week for 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks is "Unusual Name". Well, gosh there are so many Unusual names out there, but most of my ancestors didn't have unusual first names. Oh I've got a full collection of interesting Surnames, but not first names. Just a sample of Surnames we have in our tree include Fuchs, Rickards, Strawhun, Buer, Spitz, Hilke, Mrazek, and that's just a few. So instead of trying to search my entire tree for an Unusual first name, I've decided to talk about one of the Unusual Surnames I have in my tree. One that has given me lots of trouble. One that when I first heard it I went, "What?". I am going to talk about the Surname, ILG.
     I know I just heard you say, "What?". I-L-G. When I write it or type it, I purposely capitalize the whole surname so it's clear since uppercase I and lowercase L look similar. The name is pronounced with the short 'i' sound as in igloo. To hear a pronunciation of the name, Click here ---> Surname Pronunciation. Do you know how unusual this name is in the United States? According to that website with the pronunciation, the likeliness of running into someone with that last name, chances are, most people haven't met someone with Ilg as their last name since less than 1 person in 417k people have that last name. If you know one, consider yourself lucky!
     While my last name is not ILG, I am related through my Grandma. That was her maiden name. Ruth Mary ILG. She is the daughter of Joseph Melchoir ILG and Margaret May Edna Buer. Joseph was born in St. Louis, Missouri along with his brothers and sisters. His parents immigrated from Germany and were married in St. Louis. His parents were Franz (Frank) Jakob ILG and Pauline Kimmerle. Thanks to a family datebook that had been passed down from Pauline, I was able to find where in Germany both sides of the family came from. This is my most treasured possession.

     With this information, and with a little help from some German Genealogy Facebook groups and a lady in Germany who had done some research, I have been able to trace the family back into the early 1700s in Wuerttemberg, Germany. It was tricky trying to find information on the origin of the ILG surname. Doing my research I learned a little more about how Germans came up with their Surnames. Here is some basic information on German Surnames:

Origins of German Last Names

German surnames developed from four major sources:
Patronymic & Matronymic Surnames - Based on a parent’s first name, this category of surnames isn't as common in Germany as in many other European countries. Patronymic surnames are found primarily in the Northwestern areas of Germany, although they may be encountered in other areas of Germany. (Niklas Albrecht -- Niklas son of Albrecht).

Occupational Surnames - More commonly found in German families than almost any other culture, these last names are based on the person’s job or trade (Lukas Fischer -- Lukas the Fisherman). Three suffixes which often indicate a German occupational name are: -er (one who), commonly found in names such as Fischer, one who fishes; -hauer (hewer or cutter), used in names such as Baumhauer, tree chopper; and -macher (one who makes), found in names like Schumacher, one who makes shoes.

Descriptive Surnames - Based on a unique quality or physical feature of the individual, these surnames often developed from nicknames or pet names (Karl Braun -- Karl with brown hair).

Geographical Surnames - Derived from the location of the homestead from which the first bearer and his family lived (Leon Meer -- Leon from by the sea). Other geographical surnames in Germany are derived from the state, region, or village of the first bearer's origin, often reflecting a division in tribes and regions, i.e. low German, middle German and upper German. (Paul Cullen -- Paul from Koeln/Cologne). Surnames preceded by "on" are often clues to geographical surnames, not necessarily a sign that an ancestor was of nobility as many mistakenly believe. (Jacob von Bremen -- Jacob from Bremen).

A variation on locality names, farm names in Germany are names which came from the family farm. The thing which makes them different from traditional surnames, however, is that when a person moved onto a farm, he would change his name to that of the farm (a name which usually came from the farm's original owner). A man might also change his surname to his wife's maiden name if she inherited a farm. This practice obviously results in a dilemma for genealogists, with such possibilities as children in one family being born under different surnames.

Powell, Kimberly. "What Does Your German Last Name Mean?" ThoughtCo, Dec. 23, 2018, thoughtco.com/german-surnames-meanings-and-origins-1420789.

The following information I got from Ancestry.de about the surname ILG:

Origin: From shortened forms of Aegidius (Egidi), z.T. also by Ottilie derived surnames.

The name Ilg occurs a total of 1449 times in 169 counties. There are an estimated 3864 people with this last name. This is above the average for all German surnames. It is now at 2248th place of the most common names.

Most people with the surname Ilg were found in Ostalbkreis; the name appeared 216 times in the phone book. Only a few live in Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, with 1 telephone book entries. Click here to view a map

As I stated before, this surname has caused me a lot of trouble when it came to researching. When searching for them in the 1930 US Federal Census, I had to go page by page looking for them. They were listed with the surname "Elk". I've seen it spelled Illg, Lg, Iillg, Elg, along with a few other spellings. Surprisingly though, when I finally crossed over into Germany, finding the name became easier. And even though I may still hit snags, I will not give up. The search will continue.

Sources:
Names.org
Thoughtco.com
SearchForAncestors.com
ancestry.de

In Memory of James Howard Wheeler (1951-2019)

     It is with great sadness that I write this blog post. My uncle Howard Wheeler passed away on Jan 13, 2019 after a bout with pneumonia. This news hit us out of the blue. Sadly, with the snowpocalypse on us, we were unable to visit him in the hospital before he passed. He leaves behind his wife, my Aunt Nancy. He will be cremated and there will be no memorial service. So this little post is the best I can do right now to memorialize him. 

     James Howard Wheeler was born August 10, 1951 in High Ridge, Missouri. He was the fourth and final child of Leslie & Ruth Wheeler. He was named after his great Uncle James Howard Kelley, 2nd husband of Ruth Buer. Growing up he and his brothers would help their father with the family business, Les Wheeler Used Cars and Towing business. Around 1970, the family moved to Affton, Missouri. He married Nancy Seidel on February 24, 1972 at the First Christian Church in Troy, Missouri. They lived in Maplewood, Missouri for a time, but eventually made their home in Bellefontaine Neighbors; north of St. Louis. They had no children of their own, but loved their nephew and nieces dearly. They did have two dogs that kept them company; Princess and Buffy. For years, he owned his own painting business known as Howard Wheeler Painting Company.
     A few years ago, Uncle Howard was diagnosed with Lung Cancer & he went through a series of chemo treatments. They also removed part of his lung. He fought many illnesses in his last few years, but this last one was too much for his weak body to fight. He will be mourned thoughtfully and missed greatly.

Uncle Howard & Aunt Nancy

Last Family Photo 2013

Uncle Jerry & Uncle Howard

Thanksgiving 2013

We love you Uncle Howard! Until the day we meet again. Breathe easy for the first time in years and give Grandma a hug for us. 

If you would like to leave some virtual flowers for Uncle Howard, click on the following link to go to his memorial on Find a Grave.

 James Howard Wheeler Memorial

Week 2: Challenge

     This week for 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks, the topic was "Challenge". Of course the first ancestor that pops up when I think of that word is my 3rd great grandma, Maggie Molten Dennis Helfrich. Everything about researching her life has been a challenge. She is still my brick wall that I may not ever solve. But I am sure going to try. I've written a few posts about her already, so I am going to post the links here for you to read about why she has been a challenge. I'm coming for you Grandma Helfrich!

Margaret Mary Molten
B: 15 June 1860
Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee

D: 31 Jan 1943
Affton, St. Louis, Missouri

Buried: 3 Feb 1943
St. Trinity Cemetery
Affton, St. Louis, Missouri

Blog Posts Relating to Maggie Molten:

My Helfrich Connection

Found it! Maggie & Jacob's Marriage Record

Strong Women Run In My Family

The Search For Maggie Molten Continues...

The Search is not over....

Week 1: First

     Here we are six days into the new year already. Trying to get back into the swing of things. Normalcy. Structured. Feeling a little sluggish though. It's always hard when a holiday falls in the middle of the week. So tomorrow is Monday and we all start back full time on our regularly scheduled lives. Homeschooling, work, etc. One thing I am trying to do is making sure I set aside time just for my research. Oh I could do it all day every day, but sadly, life is full of responsibilities. So I've set up some goals to help me get through the year.
     One goal I am doing is 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Originally started by Amy Johnson Crow and has now become a great sensation in the genealogy community. If you would like to read more, click here: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks by Amy Johnson Crow. So here we are, Week 1. Let's get this rolling! For my first ancestor, I am featuring my grandma's first husband, Joseph Valdes.

     Joseph Antonio Valdes (Valdez) was born to Gerardo Valdes and Mercedes Gonzolas on March 7, 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri. He married my grandma on June 7, 1936 at St. Boniface Church in Carondelet, St. Louis, Missouri. They had one child, Gerald Joseph Valdes before they divorced 1942. If there was one good thing that came out of their relationship, it was my Uncle Jerry. Otherwise, there was nothing good that came out of that marriage in my opinion. My grandma told me a few things about him and they were not very good.
     After my grandma divorced him, he married a few months later to a Jane Denoyer. As far as I could tell, there were no children from that union. At some point, before 1952, they were divorced. I have not located a divorce record as of yet. I only know the approximate year because Jane married her second husband in 1952. At some point, after his divorce, he moved to California. Then in 1955, he married for the final time to Flora Sciamanna. They lived out their life in San Francisco together until he died on October 24, 1975. They also appeared to not have any children. He is buried in Rock Springs, Wyoming, where his wife's family lived and is also buried.
     I did this research mainly for my Uncle. He had tried in the past to locate his father from my understanding with no luck. It was only last year that I tracked him down. Thanks to a search on Find a Grave where I located a transcription of his obituary. I have yet to share this information with my Uncle yet, but I hope to this year. So that's Joseph Valdes.