Shocking Find Friday - Oma was ADOPTED! 🍂

     You never know what shocking information you are going to find when you start researching your family. I should be accustomed to this by now when it comes to my mom's side of the family. It has been one surprise after another. First, my great grandparents left the state to get married in secret because they got pregnant out of wedlock. Then my 2nd great-grandma was married many times in different states. My Great-grandpa Ilg was a scoundrel. And then my 3rd great-grandma has lied many times about her life to hide some past things. You've seen me mention her in many blog posts: Maggie Helfrich aka Maggie Molten, aka Mary Dennis, aka Maggie Dennis... should I go on?
    She has been my brickwall ancestor since I began research in 2012. While I do have quite a bit of a paper trail in St. Louis, Missouri for her life. it's her life in Tennessee that has been a big mystery. For years, I've been pouring over records and possible leads trying to track down information on Maggie and her family. I've slowly gathered information from different repositories to start piecing together her life.
    Recently I came across some record sets on FamilySearch.org that include the areas Maggie lived in. I started with Jackson County and found some great information. But it's when I started looking in Davidson County that I got the surprise of a lifetime. If you have read other posts of mine, you will know that I learned that Maggie had no natural-born children at the time of her divorce from her first husband. The only child she had was Oma who she said was not her natural-born daughter. This led me to believe that Logan had a child out of wedlock with another woman. I never expected to find what I did.

See Image Below:

Source: County Court minutes, 1783-1929, Minutes, v. V 1885-1886
FamilySearch.org

    So my assumption was wrong! Oma is not biologically related to EITHER parent. They both adopted her when she was just about 10 months old from the Bedford County Asylum in Tennessee. I NEVER saw that coming. What's really amazing is they list Oma's original last name! Her last name was Collins! I might be able to find something on this. How exciting! And the truth is, I don't believe ANYONE in the family ever knew this. Probably not even Oma since she was just an infant. Everyone assumed Maggie was her birth mother.  
    Now while this didn't give me any more information about Maggie per se, but it did give me a lead on where to look for Oma's birth parents. I have joined a Facebook group for Bedford County, Tennessee in hopes of finding more information about the area and getting some more leads. Time to start a new research plan! 

Oma Mae Dennis

Maggie Helfrich - My Brickwall Ancestor

      We all have the one ancestor that no matter what research you try to do, what rabbit holes you dig, and what lies you try to dispel, they continue to hide behind that proverbial brick wall. While I have done extensive research on my 3rd great-grandma, I can not get past her to go back any further. Her life in St. Louis, Missouri was easy to track. I have a ton of sources and documents that add to her life in Missouri. But when it comes to her life in Tennessee, that's where things get fuzzy and complicated. So the purpose of this post is to lay out for you the information I have on Maggie Helfrich, the sources that back it up, and the questions I have still yet to find answers to. Let's dig in!

Birth

     Margaret Mary Molten was born supposedly on 15 June 1863 in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee. Why do I say supposedly? Well, some sources contradict this information. Let's start with what we have that backs this information up.

1. Family Date Book - This book was given to me by my grandma Ruth Wheeler, great-granddaughter to Maggie Helfrich. The information contained in this book was written by at least two people: Pauline Ilg and Margaret (Honey) Ilg. Honey is the granddaughter of Maggie Helfrich and the mother of my grandma, Ruth Wheeler. Honey was raised by Maggie Helfrich for most of her life, so she was pretty close to her. That would make the information written by her in the book credible. Unfortunately, the credibility of Honey would be called into questions later when it was found out she lied about the year she got married to her husband to cover up the fact she got pregnant out of wedlock. But for now, we take the information written in this book about Maggie Helfrich as it is written. The birth information in this book is written as "Born 16 June 1863 in Tennessee". 
   
   
   
2. Missouri Death Certificate - Missouri Digital Heritage has been a great resource for me when it comes to researching my family. I found Maggie Helfrich's death certificate and downloaded it. The birth written on this death certificate is the same as listed above: 15 June 1863 in Nashville, Tennessee. The informant on this death certificate is Ruth Kelley, the second granddaughter of Maggie Helfrich who was also raised by her. I have not found anything to question the credibility of Ruth Kelly, so her word can be taken truthfully.
   
   
   
3. Cemetery Headstone - Maggie Helfrich is buried in St. Trinity Cemetery in Affton, Missouri. Ruth Kelley was the executor of her will and in charge of making the arrangements of everything. The headstone that is placed has a birth date of 15 June 1863. I have created a Find a Grave memorial based on this information. You can see it here: Maggie Helfrich Find a Grave Memorial
   
   
   
4. Census Records 1900-1940 for the state of Missouri - All census records back up the year within a couple years on either side. It is unclear who for sure was giving the information for each census.
5. Obituary - Her obituary lists her age of 79 at the time of her death. That puts the birth year being 1863. The obituary would have been put together probably by Ruth Kelley as part of making the final arrangements. This obituary was found in my Grandma Ruth Wheeler's datebook. It was published in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
   
   
   

     As you can see, I have quite a few sources to back up this information. But the one thing they have in common is they are all sources from St. Louis, Missouri. It's when I trace back to Tennessee that the birthdate comes into question. I will get to those sources in just a minute. Let's continue with what we know.

Marriages

     Most of the information I started with came from the Family Datebook I mentioned above. It provided me with the names of her two husbands: Logan Dennis and Joseph Helfrich. Unfortunately, no marriage dates were listed. The book states:

"Married Logan Dennis had 1 child Oma. Came to St. Louis Oct. 19, 1890 married Jacob Helfrich who was killed."

     Finding the marriage information for either of these marriages was a challenge. Since the 1890 US Federal Census was destroyed in a fire, the next census available was the 1900 US Federal Census. By then, Maggie was listed as a widow. I also found City Directories for St. Louis, Missouri starting in 1899 that lists Maggie as the widow of Jacob Helfrich. Besides these sources, I had nothing connecting Maggie to Jacob. I did follow a paper trail of sources to finally determine Maggie's connection to the Helfrich family. Read the blog post here: My Helfrich Connection. As you read in that post, I did track down the marriage information for Maggie thanks to a fellow GAA member. Here is the post talking about that connection: Found it! - Maggie & Jacob Helfrich Marriage. The big surprise with this was the fact they were married in Tennessee. So I closed out doing research in Missouri and transferred my focus to Tennessee.

Tennessee Sources

     As you read in the post about Maggie and Jacob's marriage record, I also found a newspaper article mentioning the divorce of Maggie and Logan. These articles list Maggie by her middle name of Mary. Since I knew that she married both Logan Dennis and Jacob Helfrich, I knew this had to be her. Research in Tennessee has not been easy. Unfortunately, fires have destroyed many records over the years, so things are scarce at best. I was able to find an 1880 US Federal Census record mentioning Logan and Maggie early on in my research but questioned whether or not this was the correct couple or not based on the incorrect age of the Maggie listed. According to this census, Maggie was 24 so that would have put her birth around 1856. That's a seven-year difference. But further research has since made me believe this is the correct couple and Maggie lied about her age later on in life.
     The 1880 census has them living in Jackson County, Tennessee. So that means research needed to be done in that county for sure to track down this couple. After performing searches online for Jackson County, Tennessee records, I came across a website that has transcribed records from the Chancery County in Jackson County, Tennessee. A quick search of the page brought about this transcribed record:

"[NEW] DENNIS, MARY M. vs. DENNIS, LOGAN H. et al Circut 1873
BILL OF COMPLAINT: Mary Maynes [or Magnes] Dennis against
John Dennis, William E. Smith, & John Whitiker, all Jackson Co. except Logan Dennis of parts unknown.

Married 30 October 1872 in Jackson Co. Morning of the day therafter defendant abandoned her. Lists personal property, including crops growing on land of John Dennis, William E. Smith, & John Whitiker. 29 Nov 1872 M. M. [X] Dennis

ANSWER: Defendant does not recall marriage ceremony. Was so drunk he didn't remember. Never courted complainant, never promised to marry her. He is not a drunkard but sometimes imbibes too freely. On the day of said marriage, defendant had gone to Cookeville to hear Andrew Johnson speak. Before he returned, drank more of the ardent than he should have. Started for his home in the Free State, got as far as the home of David Case in Black Springs. Complainant was living there at Case's at the time. Respondent was drunk to imbecility. Was told they bedded together, has no recollection. Awoke, found himself in bed with Mary Magnus [?Maynes] Martin Dennis. Complainant told him there was no sexual intercourse. Crawled out of bed as quietly as possible, got his mare and left.
ANSWER: William E. Smith, says he does not believe marriage is valid."

     Now, this is interesting! This is only a transcript. So the misspelling of Mary's last name is understandable. I have not been able to review the original record as of yet. *See update below. When I located this information, I did question if this was the correct Logan and Maggie Dennis or not. So I tried to perform more searches of the area to see if there were any other Logan and Maggie Dennis' in the area. I have not yet found any, so given that, this must be them. But the age still threw me off. If I was to go by Maggie's age from the sources above, she would only be 9 years old. Yeah, not happening. But if I were to go by the age from the 1880 census, she would have been 16. That makes more sense. Let's go on from here and see what else we can find.

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*UPDATE 10/20/2020: With a recommendation from Melanie McComb from American Ancestors, I did some more searching on FamilySearch.org for some documents relating to Jackson County, Tennessee. I was finally able to locate the actual Chancery Court records for the transcript above. I've learned the transcript is only a summary of what all the court records actually say. I am currently, as of 10/20/20, transcribing each page of the file so as to hopefully find more clues. I also found Circut Court records for the divorce.

     Here are some interesting facts I have currently found from these documents:

• The summarized transcription given above states that Mary M. Dennis was living with David Case. Upon further examination of the actual court document, it is possible the last name may be "Cose". Another option may be Cox. There are misspellings in these documents so it could be what the writer of this document thought they heard.
• There are more details listed in these documents pertaining to the "property" that is mentioned. It's not land, it's items
• Mary M. Dennis has another name associated with her in these documents, but can not determine if it is supposed to be Maggie, Magus, Magnus, or maybe something else. It is unclear if they are referring to a middle name or maiden name. This is written a couple of times, but can not determine what the name is. Again, this may be based on what the writer heard.
• In the documents, Mary M. Dennis claimed to be living in Jackson County for MORE than two years. That could potentially put her in the county around the 1870 US Federal Census. Can not find her though.
• By the last document in the circuit court records, it was found that Maggie and Logan were living together (Jan 1874) and the suit was dropped.

Sources
Here are the sources for the court records

• Court Transcripts of the county, chancery and circuit courts, 1839-1915
• Cunningham, S - Dewitt, A. (C Divorces)
• Image: 1294-1317
• Court Minutes, 1872-1893 - Indexes
• Minutes, v. A-B, 1872-1876 (v. A)
• Images: 9, 98, 130, 131, 238

     After learning some of this information, I searched the 1870 US Federal Census for clues. In District 1 for Jackson County, Tennessee, I found the defendants named in the Divorce suit all living next to each other: William Dennis, Henderson Young, William E Smith, & John Dennis. The interesting thing is, Logan Dennis is listed nowhere on this census. The records state that these people listed are the ones holding the property. I also looked for anyone in the Gainesboro area with the last name of "Case/Cose/Cox". I did find a few leads, but nothing concrete without more research. I feel this is going to be a way for me to break through this brick wall.

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     Thanks to the newspaper article I found mentioning Maggie's divorce from Logan and this transcript from the Chancery Court, I decided to reach out to the Metro Archives at the Nashville Public Library to ask for some guidance. I had a marriage date of 30 October 1872 and a divorce time frame of April 1890 for the divorce. Unfortunately, a marriage record for Logan and Maggie was never found, BUT they found the divorce decree! I shared my exciting find here: The Search for Maggie Molten Continues: Huge Shock!

     The decree listed the marriage date, which matches the Chancery Court record, and the name of Mary being used first, which matches the newspaper articles. Unfortunately, the divorce decree doesn't mention the age of Maggie, so I can't compare the birth years. Although, as you read in the blog post, I received a huge surprise. Turns out Maggie is not related to my family by blood. She is not the biological mother of my 2nd Great-Grandma, Oma. From my understanding, no one in my family knew about this. So with that secret looming, it makes me question Maggie's character as far as truthfulness goes. I don't judge Maggie or blame her for keeping certain secrets. She lived during a different time period that was really difficult for women. Unfortunately, though, it makes it hard to trace her life.

     One last record I have that mentions Logan and Maggie comes from a court case that they both just happen to be mentioned in that took place in Jackson County, Tennessee. There was a Bill of Complaint of G.B. Braswell against Pollie Braswell in 1889 that drags Logan and Maggie into the middle.

". . he and the defendant Pollie Brazzill were intermarried in Jackson Co. TN on the 1st of March 1864. He states that he is a poor man and has been for years afflicted with disease of the lungs, which affliction came upon him shortly after his marriage. . . . [Polly] has been guilty of divers lewd acts of adultery with one Berry Coomer . . . She has left the county and gone to Nashville TN to live with one Logan Dumis, whose wife Mag Dumis, formerly Mag Moton, is a woman of lewd character . . . He asks for divorce. -bp. G. B. Brasel (his mark)"

     This is a transcription that was found on a blog at first, then found in the Chancery Court files. (*Note: This is not my transcription, this is what was posted online. I have since reviewed the original documents. See below.) Maggie is accused of being a woman of "Lewd Character" which I find hard to believe based on what I know of her. Now, Logan is a man of lewd character, fathering a child with another woman that Maggie chose to raise as her own. He was very abusive to her as claimed in the divorce decree. It wasn't long after this court case that Maggie filed for divorce. Then she married Jacob Helfrich and moved to St. Louis. 

*UPDATE 8/19/23
    I found the complete divorce file for the couple listed above (Brazil, Brazel, Braswell). It's interesting that this divorce decree started back in Jackson County in 1868, four years before Maggie and Logan married. But there were some interesting details in the pages that have shed some new light on my research. 

Brazil, Pollie vs Brazil, Green B., et al 1868

• There is a John Whitaker and William Whitaker mentioned (same as the court cases above for Maggie and Logan)
• John Whitaker is Pollie's brother
• Image #494 has a list of names of people that were summoned to court including some "Dennis" family members. Wonder how they knew this couple?
• A name listed in the suit was "Lovell"
•  This got my attention because Logan worked with a Capt. Lovell in Nashville on the ship, Matt F. Allen
• In the suit, Lovell worked on a ship called I.N. Phillips back in 1868

    That last piece of information was very intriguing. The court records for the divorce in Nashville mentioned Logan's occupation as a shipmate. Doing a newspaper search for Logan's name brought up a couple of clippings about some steamer excursions that mention Logan. When I first found these, I wasn't sure if this was him, but after finding the divorce decree and city directories, this confirmed his occupation as a shipmate.
    The newspaper clippings talk about the ships running on the Upper Cumberland River, which travels from Nashville to a few places in Tennessee, including Gainesboro. This must have been how Logan got into being a shipmate. And since he worked with Capt. Lovell later in Nashville, he must have met him back in 1868 when the scandal between Pollie and her husband developed.
    In the divorce suit, the only document that had a different date was the one where Pollie was supposedly living with Logan and Maggie in 1889. This further confirms she knew Logan back in Gainesboro, especially since his parents were called as character witnesses for Pollie. 

Adoption
    As I mentioned above, Maggie and Logan's daughter, my 2nd Great-Grandma Oma, was adopted. I originally thought Logan fathered a child out of wedlock, based on the wording of the original divorce decree. But I have since found the adoption file of Oma. County Court Minutes, 1783-1929; Minutes v. V, 1885-1886
    This file really shed some light on Oma's adoption but also created more questions. According to the minutes, Maggie and Logan got Oma when she was about 2-3 months old from the Bedford County Asylum. It was noted that her parents were allegedly deceased and no family had come to claim her. When she was 10 months old, they petitioned the court to adopt her. It was granted, and her name was changed from Oma Mae Collins to Oma Mae Dennis.
    So neither Maggie nor Logan were blood-related to Oma. So to find Oma's bloodline, I will have to use DNA research. That will have to come later. But this just further complicates tracking down Maggie's line. DNA won't help with that.

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Now What?

     I've been researching Maggie Helfrich since I began genealogy research in 2012. It has taken me this long just to get this far. I have not been able to get any further back than Maggie. Her death certificate mentions a mother by the name of Betsy McDaniel but no father. I have tried searching for a Betsy McDaniel to no avail. So here are the questions I have yet to answer:

• Was Betsy Married to a man with the last name of Molten? Where did the last name Molten come from? Where is Betsy McDaniel?
• UPDATED 10/20/2020-When Maggie got married in 1872 she was living at David Case/Cose residence in Black Spring. Why was she living there? What is her relationship to this family?
• Where is the Case/Cose family?
• Where is the town of Black Springs?
• What is Maggie's correct birth year? Why did she change it?
• NEW-Where is Maggie in 1870? Gainesboro? Black Spring? Nashville?

     Maybe one day, I will find the answers to these questions. Obviously, a DNA test won't help lead me to these answers as Maggie is not related to us by blood. I am hoping one day to travel to Nashville, Tennessee to do some research. I have reached out to Jackson County, Tennessee for any help and they have no other records mentioning Maggie.

     It is worth noting that Maggie was illiterate. She could not read or write. So the spelling of her last name could be different than what I have. In the datebook, it is spelled Molten, but I have found spellings ranging from Moulten to Molton. In one court case, it was Magnus or Maynes and the other court case was Morton. It's possible Maggie never knew how to spell her last name. We can only go with how it was pronounced. Which makes it really hard.

     I don't know if I will ever find the answers to these questions, but I am for sure not going to give up until all avenues are exhausted. The Reasonably Exhaustive Research will continue. Any help is appreciated.

Brick walls - We all have them

     Brick walls, we all have them. That stubborn, well built, solid brick wall that we just can not break through. We throw sticks, rocks, dynamite, whatever we can get our hands on, but just like with the big, bad wolf, we can not blow that darn thing down. It's frustrating. It's annoying. It's maddening. It makes us throw our hands up in anger and walk away. But, then all of a sudden, a crack appears and we have hope. It's not as permanent as we would like it to believe. So we do our best to chip it away, piece by piece. It may take months or years before we finally see through it, but we make progress.
     I know you are probably asking, "Why are we talking about masonry?" LoL! Because this brick wall I am referring to is our genealogy research. Those illusive ancestors that we just can not get past. I know you have a few of them. I have a few of them. They have literally put up a road block in our research, and we can not walk forward any further. How does this happen? Could be records were destroyed. Could be our ancestor lied about some information. Could be we are looking in the wrong area. Whatever the reason is, it is maddening! Sadly, some mysteries will never be solved. As hard as we try and as much we throw at our brick wall, it may never come down. But that is not always the case. There may be a key out there that just unlocks a hidden door in that brick wall. We must not give up. We must continue our work. We must do a reasonably exhaustive search to eliminate all possible avenues. Don't give up. Keep pushing forward.
     I'd like to share with you some of my brick walls from my tree. Some have been solved, others have not. Some just have a few missing bricks. But I want to share this to encourage you to not give up. With the advances in DNA and records being digitized every day, you may still break through. So here are a few of my brick walls.

Joseph Melchoir Ilg & Margaret Buer's marriage

This was my first brick wall I encountered when I started doing genealogy research back in 2012. I was told Joseph and Margaret were married July 23, 1919. I had this information written in the family datebook along with other pieces of info backing this up. Well you can imagine my surprise, when I found them both in the 1920 census, but they were both still single and living with their own families. I had known they had went to Detroit, Michigan at some point because my grandma was born there. I looked everywhere in St. Louis for their marriage record, but no luck. Then finally with the help from another genealogist, they located the marriage record in Detroit. That makes sense. But what did NOT make sense was the date. The marriage record stated they were married July 23, 1920 - not 1919. Uh oh... that means they were pregnant when they got married since my grandma was born September 9, 1920. So they went away to Detroit to get married and hide the truth. I mean, they never would have expected years down the line, their marriage record would be put online and their great grand daughter would just happen to come across it. Sorry Great grandma and grandpa, but the truth has come out. Oh and they went to great lengths to hide it too. So as you can see this brick wall is solved. The reason it was a brick wall to begin with was they had lied and purposely recorded the date wrong.

Jacob Helfrich & Family
My 3rd great Grandma Maggie Molten had two husbands in her life. One being Jacob Helfrich, her second husband. This information was written in the family date book. Sadly, there was not a lot of details about Jacob Helfrich.

I had no birth date, marriage date, parents, residence, nothing. So tracing him and connecting him to his family was going to be difficult. For four years I was stumped, not knowing how to proceed. He had been killed in an accident according to the date book and he was not buried with Grandma Maggie. Maggie was listed in St. Louis in the 1900 census as being a widow. The last census I had for Maggie before that was the 1880 census where she was still married to her first husband. So that doesn't help. I checked City Directories but found no help there. Then one day, I was looking more closely at Joseph and Margaret Ilg's marriage record (the same couple mentioned above) and one of the witnesses was an Emil Helfrich. Hey, there is a connection! Finally my first tangible piece of evidence that there is a Helfrich attached to my family. So I decided to trace Emil to see where he led. I documented this trail in another blog post: My Helfrich Connection. Long story short, through this marriage record and tracing his line, I was able to reasonably deduct which Helfrich family I was connected to. That brick wall was finally solved.

Nicholas Buer
Ah... the elusive Nicholas Buer. One of my biggest brick walls. I've had this wall since I started my research in 2012. What I did have was very little. I had no birth date nor death date. I had estimates based on Census records. Little by little over the years I have chipped away a few bricks from his wall, but not much. I have not done a completely exhaustive search on him yet. This will take me going to some libraries and historical societies in Jefferson County, Missouri. Maybe one day, I will break through and find him. I know he came from France, but no clue where in France. I can't even begin to trace back there yet until I find everything I can in the US. One day.... I have hope, one day....

Maggie Molten
My biggest and longest brick wall (next to Nicholas Buer), my 3rd great grandma, Maggie Molten. Like Nicholas, I haven't been able to trace her back any farther. But what makes it even more frustrating is she was born in the US. It's not like she came from another

country. She was born in Nashville, Tennessee. And what also makes it frustrating is the fact information was purposefully hidden or lied about. Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to trace you if you aren't going to give me the truth? Well, I've had to glean each record I came across for any hints or leads to help me trace her. Slowly (and painfully) I've been pulling the bricks down, one by one. I still can't find her parents, but I've been filling in gaps from her life, trying to make sense of things. One day, grandma. I will trace you. I've wrote a few blog posts about my journey trying to trace her. Check them out here:
Found it! The Marriage Record for Jacob & Maggie
The Search for Maggie Molten continues...

As you can see, some brick walls have come crumbling down while others still stand tall. Maybe weakened somewhat, but still standing. I'm not giving up. I have hope. One day I will be able to blow these suckers up!

Share some of your own brick walls below. Have you broken them down? Are they being stubborn and not falling? What techniques have you used? I'd love to hear about them.

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....

The search for Maggie Molten continues... *huge shock*

"Dear Grandma Helfrich,
Why, oh why are you so hard to figure out? I thought this was going to be pretty simple since Honey kept a date book of important information about the family. Then I learned she lied about her wedding date and tried to hide the truth. I know you lived in a different time period than what I live in right now, but come on! You could have kept a diary explaining what happened and why, passed it down to all us women showing us everything you went though. From the research I've done already, I have to say I admire you for being strong through all these difficult times. No shame in that. I just want to know the truth. It's taken me six years to get to this point. It's getting frustrating! Are you trying to hide something? Well, guess what? I'm coming for you Grandma Helfrich. I will find the truth. You can't hide forever!
Love, your 3rd great grand daughter"

This is just one of many letter's I've written in my head to my 3rd great grandmother, Maggie Helfrich. Sometimes it's more loving, other times it's more frustrating and demanding. Don't you just wish sometimes you could just write a letter to your ancestor or even sit across from them and ask them questions. Some days I picture it being like tea with grandma, other times I picture it being like an interrogation. My family was doing their best keeping the truth hidden from people. Frustrating! And it makes searching for records difficult. But with a little patience (and stubbornness) on my part, I've found some necessary records. And that's what this post is all about. I am one step closer to learning more about my Grandma Helfrich.

Little background before we get started. Here is the page from the family date book mentioning Maggie and her information.

A few Sundays ago, I was looking over some newspaper clippings I'd come across back in January thanks to some wonderful members of the facebook group GAA. Thanks to them, I found her marriage record to her second husband. Click here to read about that find. So I was looking back over the newspaper clippings, specifically the one mentioning her divorce.

As you can see, it says, "In the Chancery Court..." I've checked the Jackson County Chancery Court and couldn't find anything. Then I realized, this was Davidson County. So I had a renewed sense of determination. "I'm coming for your Grandma Helfrich."

Doing a quick google search for Chancery Court records first led me to Family Search. They had quite a few listings for the Chancery Court records.... but (why is there always a but) those records are only available at a Family Research Center in Salt Lake City, UT. Oh man.... really?? OK, ok. So I made notes about it so I wouldn't forget. Maybe someday, in the next 100 years, they will be digitized or I can view them, something. Ok, so I continue searching. Just in case someone has them transcribed or something. Then I found another repository. Metro Archives at the Nashville Public Library. hmmm.... Let's see what they have. Oh what's this?? Chancery Court Records?? Maybe?? No online search. Crap! Ok, let's see if we can contact someone. Maybe they can lead me in the right direction. It's Sunday so I probably won't hear back until next week. No problem, I'm not going anywhere. Ok request sent off. No problem. Break time.

Did some chores, ate lunch, helped my husband, you know the Adult life. Later than afternoon, my hubby had to run to the store, so I jumped back on the computer. Decided to check my email. Holy cow do I already have a response from the archives? You bet I do! And on a Sunday!! Ok so what's the answer.

Thank you for your request. I was able to find the divorce decree for Mary M. Dennis and Logan Dennis in our Chancery Court minute books, which I have scanned and attached to this email for you. We also keep Chancery Court case files in our off-site storage facility, so let me stop by there sometime this week and see if I can find their file as well, which will hopefully give you some more information. If I can find it, I will either scan it and send it to you, or if the file is too large, I can photocopy the materials and mail them to you.

I looked for her marriage to Logan Dennis in our marriage records, but could not find it. I suspect that they were married outside of Nashville. Hopefully that information will be in the case file.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any more questions, and I will let you know if I can find their case file when I go over to storage this week (likely Tuesday or Wednesday).

Thanks! Kelley

WHAT?! Are you kidding me?? It was that easy?! Just, Oh here it is. I can't believe it. I was beyond excited! I guess 100 years came quickly haha! And there could be more? *gasp* "I'm coming for you Grandma Helfrich!!"

Ok after reading this decree, a few discrepancies have popped up that make me question some things. If anything, it makes me raise my eyebrow. This final divorce decree has their marriage occurring Oct 31, 1872. Well, wait a minute.... that would make Grandma Helfrich 9 years old. That doesn't work. So I have to call into question whether or not the birthdate I have for her is correct. The main sources I have regarding her birth are her death certificate (informant is her grand-daughter, Ruth Kelley), her headstone, and the family date book that has been passed down. The validity of the family date book has already been called into question above when I found out Grandma Honey and Grandpa Joe Ilg lied about their wedding date to hide the fact they got pregnant out of wedlock.  So is it possible Grandma Helfrich lied about her age at some point? Well, I did find the 1880 census for Logan and Maggie Dennis, living in Jackson County. Her age listed there is 24. So that would put her birth year being around 1858, not 1863. So is it possible she lied about her age when she got married to her second husband, Jacob? Yeah, it is possible. If that's the case, the correct year would put her around 14 years old for her first marriage. Now, that makes more sense. Anyway, let's wait to see what the final paperwork says from the archives when it arrives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here we are a few weeks later, and Kelley at the Metro Archives has gotten back to me. She finally found the paperwork! Yes! There WAS more! How exciting! Ok let's look it over....

"Mary M. Dennis, citizen of Davidson County, Tennessee, brings this bill against Logan Dennis, also of said County & State, and respectfully shows to the court that she and the defendant were married in Jackson County, Tennessee, on October 31, 1872," (Ok so they were definitely married in Jackson County, so I need to look for their marriage record there) "and have been continuously residing in the city of Nashville during the past seven years...…… marriage was never pleasant or agreeable..... defendant began to abuse her..... threatened to do her bodily harm..... his abuse, threats and treatment have grown worse.... drew his knife and threatened to kill her....." (Oh my gosh, what a horrible person, I knew he was bad, but this is just horrible. Ok let's continue reading)…."Defendant has never provided a proper support for her.... she maintained both him and herself by making pants for clothing.... began to keep a boarding house, and in that way has been supporting herself and the adopted child...." (I'm sorry what?)…. "a girl now between the ages of six and seven years old.... "(That's Oma's age! Is that Oma Mae? Maggie's daughter?? Adopted? What?? What are you saying??) "She has no child of her own....."

Ok I have to stop here for a moment.  This is too huge to just ignore. So according to this divorce record, Oma Mae Dennis, my 2nd great grandma, is not blood related to Maggie Helfrich?? Maggie Helfrich is not my blood related grandma? She is Oma's adopted mom? No wonder I've had trouble tracing some things in Tennessee.... Holy Cow.... Seriously, this is huge. I don't believe anyone ever knew. Possibly not even Oma herself. "Grandma did you tell anyone? Did anyone know? Did Oma know? I can't even imagine what you were feeling going through all this." I've got to let this sink in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I did read through everything Kelley sent me. Maggie asked for full custody of Oma and asked that Logan not have any contact with both of them every again. She also stated she had no money to pursue this and asked it be put on Logan. She obviously did get the divorce granted. YES! Grandma was illiterate, meaning she could not read or write. So this was dictated to someone and she signed it only by making her mark. An X. I can't imagine the strength she must have had to do this. She may have been scared out of her mind. But she stood up against him, and kept her and her "adopted" daughter safe.

So..... it doesn't look like I am going to make it any further at this point. While I got answers and broke through some bricks in my wall, I feel like I just added another wall, now on Oma's side. I don't think I will be able to find her birth mother. And with Maggie, some other things I've found, she has been on her own since a young age so I may not find her family. Am I going to quit? By no means. I will keep looking. It took me six years to come across this information. So who knows? With new DNA testing going on, records being put online, you never know what could happen. But for today.... I've kicked up enough dust, turned over enough rocks and unearthed enough skeletons. So let's let everything settle and sink in. I will continue another day....

"Grandma Helfrich,
I'm still coming for you..... I will find your family.... just not today. And I have to say, I admire your strength. I wish I could have had the opportunity to sit down with you.
Love, your 3rd great grand-daughter"

Strong Women run in my family

When I first started this journey back in 2012, my sole purpose was to just put names to photos. I had never felt extremely connected to my extended family. While I was close to my parents, my maternal grandma, and my paternal grandpa, I was not familiar with any family farther back. Especially on my maternal grandma's side. So I never thought I would connect with the women generations back on her side and gain more understanding to who I am and why certain things have happened they way they did in my family.

My maternal grandma is Ruth Mary Wheeler nee Ilg. We would go to her house at least once a week to spend time with her. I have many great memories of those visits. During that time, my 2x great Aunt Ruth Kelley nee Buer lived just down the road.

Back Row L to R: 

Ruth Mary Ilg, Oma Mae Dennis

Margaret "Honey" Buer

Front Row: Maggie Helfrich holding

Jerry Valdes

So she would be included in all we did. I called her Auntie. She was my grandma's mom's sister. My great grandma, Margaret "Honey" Ilg nee Buer passed away when I was just an infant. I was very close to my grandma Ruth growing up. At least so I thought. During our many visits before Auntie passed (and even after), we never discussed a lot about my grandma's life growing up. I wasn't interested and no one volunteered the information. As I got older, I got bits and pieces, but that was it. During the last years of my grandma's life is when I started asking more questions, looking for answers. Grandma was more willing to talk as she was getting to the end of her life. it was like she wanted me to know at least some of the truth. Over the course of the years, I was able to trace back to my 3x great grandma, Maggie Helfrich nee Molten. I was able to gather a lot of information about my family, but I never expected to learn all I did about their personal lives.

Growing up wasn't easy. I have a lot of good memories, but also some rough ones. Dad was an alcoholic so things were not always peaceful. A lot of fighting took place. Not physical, just verbal. But the verbal fights can be just as scaring as the physical ones. I always said, "when I grow up, I never want to be with someone who was an alcoholic or verbally abusive." Sadly, I ended up in some not very good relationships. One who used to be very controlling and emotionally abusive. By God's grace I was able to get away from them and find someone who loves me very much and treats me very well. All I ever wanted really was to get out of my parents house and away from the fighting. To start my life with someone who was going to love me for me and always be there for me. Years later, my mom told me she was proud of me for being a strong woman. For standing up for myself and doing what was necessary to survive in life. I sure didn't think I was strong, but saw her as strong for dealing with certain things she had endured in her life.  Looking back over all I have learned about the women on my mom's side of the family, I saw a surprising trend. We descend from a long line of strong women. Women who had to do what needed to be done to survive. And that has been passed down for at least 7 generations.

I would start with my mom's life, but I have promised her the stories she told me would not be shared, at least until after she is gone. Things happened she never told anyone, except for me. I will say, she is definitely a strong woman for surviving what she has and continuing to go on. So, we will start with Grandma Ruth, mom's mom. She was born September 9th 1920 in Detroit, Michigan to Joseph Melchoir ILG and Margaret Buer. She grew up an only child, and from what I have learned, it wasn't an easy childhood. When she was little, they lived with Ruth's great grandma, Maggie Helfrich. Her dad, Joseph, wanted a boy so bad, so he raised her like a boy.

Ruth's parents liked to go out quite a big and would leave her to babysit (from a very young age) friend's kids while they would go out. These are all things I was told by my mom and grandma. I know there was a lot more that happened, but it was not talked about. There were times Grandma would just get quiet or tell me she didn't want to talk about it anymore. She was definitely not happy at home. So she ended up getting married young to Joseph Valdes. She was only 16. Yet that didn't get her out of her parents home. In the 1940 census, it has them all living with her parents. The marriage didn't end up being her happy ending she had hoped. Grandma Ruth told me he was a jealous man. Very mean. By the time WWII came, the marriage was falling apart. He was supposedly stepping out on my grandma with a woman that lived down the road. So in June of 1942, they were divorced. Eventually Ruth found happiness with my grandpa, Les Wheeler. They were married in 1945. Though life was still hard after marriage, by now, she had grown into a strong woman, doing what was necessary to survive.

Ruth's mother was Margaret "Honey" Buer. She was born July 19, 1903 to Edward Buer and Oma Mae Dennis. Her and her sister, Ruth, were very close growing up. They all lived with Margaret's grandma, Maggie Helfrich. Oma wasn't ready to be a wife and mother from what I understand. According to records, Oma and Edward separated in 1909 and then finally divorced in 1913. During this time, Margaret and her sister continued to live with grandma Helfrich. Then in 1915, their father remarried and moved to Joliet, Illinois. When he moved, he took Maggie's sister, Ruth, with him. Maggie stayed behind with grandma Helfrich. Oma was nowhere to be found. By 16, Maggie was working in a factory to help support her grandma. That was not all that

happened. She wound up pregnant by my great grandfather, Joseph Ilg. In order to hide this, they went away to Detroit, Michigan. There was a relative up there they could stay with. Soon after Maggie turned 17, her and Joseph were married and my grandma was born just two months later. They finally returned to St. Louis after my grandma was about a year old. To hide the fact she got pregnant out of wedlock, they told everyone they were married a year before they were actually married. It has been recorded down that way ever since. They even celebrated all anniversaries that way. I only found out the truth because of my research. I found a copy of their marriage record from Detroit. I never asked my grandma if she knew the truth. I couldn't do that to her in case she didn't know. As stated above, Maggie, Joseph and my grandma lived with Maggie's grandma, Maggie Helfrich. I've done lots of research on them and have learned only a little by talking to family. My grandma and her mom didn't always get along very well. I was told, Margaret didn't really want to be a mom. Of course, I don't know details as my family was big on hiding things. My mom said she had a great relationship with Margaret. Although, just from reading this snippet of her life, you can see she, and her sister Ruth, didn't exactly have it easy.

Ruth Buer was closer to her father, Edward Buer and went to live with him and his new wife in Indiana for a short time. I am unsure when she came back to live with her grandma, Maggie Helfrich, but she did. She was married to her first husband, Joseph Mrazek,

at the age of 17. On her marriage license, Maggie Helfrich is listed as Ruth's natural guardian and her permission was required for her to get married. Sadly, it wasn't all sunshine and lollipops. My grandma relayed stories about the abuse Ruth suffered at his hands. Since they all lived with grandma Maggie Helfrich, my grandma heard everything that went on in the house. There were times Ruth's sister wanted to intervein, but her husband, Joseph wouldn't allow it. Eventually, there was a divorce and Ruth found happiness with her second husband, Howard Kelley. I was blessed to spend many years with Auntie. My grandma and her were really close. She passed in 1994 and every day I wish I could still talk to her about her life and the things she went through.

Out of all these women, Oma Mae Buer nee Dennis had the worst time handling life. She went through two fathers, had to work at a young age to survive with her mom, married young, had two children young, and apparently had a rough time adjusting to life. She wasn't there to raise her daughters or be a wife to her husband, who eventually divorced her. After the divorce, she went wild, leaving her children

behind. She married again at some point to a Caldwell. This is all told me be family. Mom remembers being around her close to the end of her life. She developed dementia and possibly Alzheimer's. But there was one detail I found that really showed me how Maggie Helfrich felt about her daughter. In her will, she listed her daughter as receiving only $1.00. After discussing it with a records keeper at the St. Louis court house, she explained that was done to prevent the said person from coming back on the estate filing a complaint that they weren't mentioned in the will. It was a deliberate act to keep them from getting anything else of the estate. Ouch... Out of everyone, I don't think Oma handled the pressure as well as everyone else. She seemed to crack under everything. Yet this is just based on limited information.

The last woman in my family I want to talk about is Grandma Maggie Helfrich. She was born in 1863 in Nashville, Tennessee. Right at the start of the Civil War. I have been unable to trace her before her first marriage. Most of the information I got about her to start with came from the family date book. If you have read my blog before, you have heard me mention this date book before.

A treasure trove of information that has been instrumental with helping me trace my family. Even with the information I had about Maggie Helfrich, it has been difficult finding records for her in Tennessee. I do know she was married to a Logan Dennis and they had Oma Mae together. I believe Logan was a seaman with very loose morals. I have found some interesting information that I can not confirm nor deny that it has to do with my Maggie and Logan. The probability is high, but without more information to back it up, I can't call it official. The information I have found doesn't paint a pretty picture of Logan. The first thing I found was a court record complaint against Logan Dennis made by a Mary Dennis. (Mary is Maggie's middle name) Supposedly they were intimate with each other and he abandoned her. I have yet to prove this is my Maggie. Then I found a court case of a woman who had an affair with a Logan Denis, wife of a Mag Denis nee Morton (Molten possibly, which is Maggie's maiden name) Soon after that, Maggie sought a divorce and married her second husband, Jacob Helfrich. That's how she made it up to St Louis. He was from here and all his family lived up here. I don't know much from here, but he supposedly abandoned her. In 1899, she is listed as a widow and from then on was listed as so. Yet, we found his death record in 1910 in Indiana. There was a second child born to Maggie, but I can't trace whether it was with Logan or Jacob. She ran a boarding house for many years just to make ends meet. She never married again, but worked hard to take care of her family. Her daughter, granddaughters and their family. Doing everything that was needed to survive.

As you can see from this blog post, I have come from a long line of strong women, doing whatever was necessary to survive. They weren't perfect and made their own mistakes, but they overcame many obstacles in life. I never thought I would find any connection to my past as far as the experiences I had gone through in my life. After researching, I definitely saw a pattern. Life at home was hard. We did out best survive the trials that came our way. I am proud to come from such a strong line of women. It gives me hope that no matter what comes my way, we will overcome it and be stronger for the next trial.

Ancestry Bracelet I made to memorialize

the women in my family.

Timelines - What about you?

We spend so much time researching our ancestors and putting their timelines together, finding sources, tracing lines, interviewing relatives we often forget about the most important person in our lives..... Us! We may not feel our lives are that important right now, but many years down the line when our descendants are researching back, they are going to want to know exactly what you are wanting to know about your ancestors. What you did, where you lived, things you liked, etc. So why not make it easy for them?

Where to start?

I've been reading through my new Christmas present from my hubby, The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, (a wonderful book you should really have in your collection). It starts out with this fact. Start with you. The most important first step. Although, you may be asking, "Well how do I know what is important?" or "What information do I include?". Since I have been researching for a few years now, I have an idea on what is important. My advice I give now is, think about what questions you have for your ancestors. Think about the things you don't know that you wish you knew. And if something in your life is important to you, then make it known.

Case Study 1: One person that has caused me many headaches is my 2x Great Grandma Maggie Helfrich nee Molten. She is my brick wall. I do not know her parents, where she lived in Tennessee for sure, why she married her first husband, why they divorced and why she came to St. Louis. Especially why she came to St. Louis. There was apparently nothing out here that would draw her here such as family or a job. She could not read or write, and he was a woman which limited her abilities. So she ran a boarding house and was a seamstress. But why St. Louis?

Case Study 2: Another family that has caused much confusion was my Great grandparents Joseph and Margaret ILG. According to records, they were married in 1919 and had their daughter (my grandma) in 1920 in Detroit, MI. Why? All family was here and all records from then have been in St. Louis. When did they go to Detroit? Work? How long did they live there? Well, census records had them in St. Louis in 1920 and both listed as single. So that got me asking more questions. Then, I found their marriage record in Detroit, MI. They were married in 1920 just a few months before my grandma was born. Ok, I get it now. Pregnant out of wedlock. Went to Detroit to get married, have the baby and then move back to St. Louis. To hide this fact, they actually recorded their marriage record as being in 1919 and celebrated their anniversaries according to this fact. So I've had to straighten all this out.

I've taken that information and applied it to my own life. Since I've been married, we have moved from St. Louis, MO to Winchester, TN to McMinnville, TN to Delta, CO then back to St. Louis, MO. But if you were just to trace us by Census records: In 2000, we were both single and living in St. Louis; In 2010 we were listed as married, had one child and were living in Delta, CO. Now we were married in Winchester, TN and our daughter was born in Winchester, TN. But without knowing we moved there, they might questions if this was really us. They would also ask if maybe we had to move because of pregnancy. So in order to make it easier, I've recorded these facts and the reasons.

Let your collectables speak for you

I'm grateful my parents are hoarders. They have saved everything since I was a baby, so that will help in tracing my life. I have lots of photos, papers, yearbooks, school projects from kindergarten through senior year of high school. I've even got all my diplomas, certificates, report cards (scary), letters, etc from school. My husband has quite a bit too, but not as much as I have. So we are working on his timeline from school. I participated in Color Guard in High School for all four years and have saved my uniforms, pictures, medals, and little things I collected while in guard. I have no clue how to preserve these items yet, especially the uniforms, but they are important to me. I know I will eventually have to go through some things and get rid of what's not important. For now, I'm glad to have it.

I've also created scrapbooks from when my husband and I first met and the first 10 years of our marriage. I kept so many collectables, cards, notes, items from dates, etc. Now I'm also working on details from my daughters birth on up as well. I've got to many cards, pictures and other items from her growing up. I keep things with the idea of what's important to her or me. I have her little hat she wore in the hospital. She also wore the same outfit I wore when I came home from the hospital. Maybe one day her daughter can wear that outfit.

Start going through and cataloging items as if they were your ancestor's items. I keep so much with the idea of passing it along later on. My dad has so many antiques in his basement. I love talking with him about these items. Some have sentimental value, some don't.  Think of things in that sense. Do you have a item that has sentimental value? Write about it. I know we can't keep everything, but keep the most important.

Let's get serious here for a minute

With this though, comes a very difficult task. Being completely honest. There may be some things in your past that are very difficult. Things you chose not to remember. I've come across some of that in my family. I also have things in my life that I would just soon rather forget. Whether I like it or not though, it is part of my life. My history. It has made me who I am. Yours has made you who you are. If you chose not to share it right now, at least journal something about it for later. You don't have to provide tons of details. That's not the point. But the point is, providing the truth about your life. It may be useful later in your descendants lives. How you ask? Let me give you examples:

Case Study 3: This is hard for me to talk about.  My dad and I had a rough relationship. He was an alcoholic and a very factual man. Mom and dad argued a lot about things. Mom is a very strong willed person, but she had it rough growing up. To respect their privacy, I will not go into details. Well, growing up with this dynamic has led me to make certain choices in my life. The men I dated were not exactly the best. I could never please them or earn their approval. I constantly felt like I wasn't good enough. That's they way I felt with my dad sometimes. (Now, he has since quit drinking and it like a completely different man) So that's they type of relationships I fell into without realizing it. Well, I finally found the man of my dreams (although I have learned he is more like my dad than I realized), and after 2 months of dating, we married, then a few months later, we moved out of state. I wanted away from everyone. I couldn't take things anymore. Now are back and things have gotten better with all of us. Ok so what does this have to do with things? Well, as I traced back my mom's side of the family, I saw a trend. The men I have traced back were not very nice men. My grandma's first marriage was to a man who was abusive, controlling, hot tempered. She married at the age of 16, just to get out of her house. Her mom married at the age of 17 to a not so nice man (but I won't go into details). Her mom wasn't even around to take care of her or her sister. She married a few times and lived how she wanted to live. Then her mom (my 2x great grandma) also married 2 men who were mean, cheaters and eventually abandoned her. There was a pattern here. Without meaning for it to be, I fell into it as well. Getting married young (I was 20-Not as young but still) and running away to get away from things. So I've been very honest with my daughter about this in hopes that she doesn't fall into the same pattern. Maybe I can break this cycle of heart ache and pain. No promises, but hopes.

Case Study 4: I have struggled with depression my whole life. Growing up with it has not been easy. I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and depression when I was 16. With my research, I've learned that my mom has struggled with, it as well as my grandma. So this is a genetic thing. With this knowledge I can help my daughter through it. I've also learned Bi-polar runs on my husband's side, which my daughter has shown signs of. It was only recently documented on my husband's side. Tracing back his family has opened up some possibilities of what else runs in the family. It has made it easier to help my daughter cope with these difficult situations. With the advancement of DNA testing and learning what runs in our genetics, this can be helpful as well. Maybe one day we can test and find out what lies in our DNA. Everything people have tried hard to ignore or hide.

I know I'm rambling. So let's wrap this up with one last thing. Please remember your life is just as important as those ancestors you are researching. If you are proud of something in your life, share it. Start preserving importing things about you. Awards, newspaper clippings, photos, etc. Today, most people are not interested in preserving history. Be the oddball out and start saving things that your descendants will appreciate years down the line.

Also, if you are afraid of sharing something because of how it will make another relative look, my advice to you is, be as truthful as you can. If something bad has happened in your life, don't be afraid to share it. You are who you are and those experiences have made you who you are, for better or worse. Even if you have to keep it locked away until after your death, do so. I plan on doing that with somethings I have learned about my family. Out of respect for those that are still living, that information will not be shared until after I'm gone.  I'm a big advocate for telling the truth. I tell the truth and I expect the truth to be told to me. So that's what has made me the keeper of the family. I record the truth as I see it. Whether good or bad. I won't be like some of my family and alter records to make the family look better. That's our job as genealogists. To seek out and record the truth about our families. It may not be pretty and at times very painful, but it is the truth and it has happened. Again, you don't have to include details, just the facts. Do not disrespect your ancestors by altering the truth just to make your family look better. Honestly, I wish something had come to light years ago, so healing could have happened to one family member instead of them carrying it around all their life, letting the other relative be looked at better than he deserves.

You are who you are, and the world deserves to know.
Good luck!!

Journal Entry: Divorce records and probate records

I've been keeping a journal of my journey to help me keep track of my research. Every once in a while I will add some entries from my journal to my blog to share what I have come across.

Journal Entry Oct 8, 2015

It's been a good couple of days for research. I will attempt to explain it all clearly without jumping around. I get excited and lose focus on what I'm writing about.

First, I finally made a trip downtown to the civil courts building to get probate records and divorce records. I was so nervous because parking downtown is not easy. Luckily, I found a spot diagonally from the building. First stop was the 3rd floor for divorce records. The lady told me I didn't have to come down; I could have called. I told her I did and was told I had to come in. Well. now I know. She took down the information and told me I will receive notification in the mail whether they find something or not. She also told me they weren't going to charge me since the records were so old. BONUS! So they are looking up divorce info on Grandpa Les Wheeler and his first wife, Ruth Pirtel; Grandma Ruth ILG and her first husband, Joseph Valdes; Aunt Ruth and her first husband, Joseph Mrazek; and Oma Mae Dennis and her first husband, Edward Buer. Hopefully, I will have some information in a couple of days. (I did end up getting records back on 3 out of 4 couples. I did not receive something anything on Ruth and Joseph Mrazek)

Second stop was the 10th floor: Probate records. I spoke with Jeanie; a real nice lady who is also a genealogist. So she was extra helpful. She got me the probate records of Pauline ILG, Leona ILG, Edward J. Buer, and Maggie Helfrich. The one who didn't have a Will with their record was Edward J. Buer. The probate record I was really looking forward to looking at was Maggie Helfrich's. I was hoping there would be some listing that could lead me to the Helfrich family or back to Tennessee. Sadly, no. Jacob Helfrich wasn't even listed. As of right now, two things stood out. One: Where her signature should be, there was an 'X' in its place. Her "mark". It confirmed what I found in census records. She could not read or write. Even my daughter was like, "That's so sad." (It really put into perspective for her how we take reading and writing for granted) Two: Where it listed who got everything, her daughter Oma Mae Caldwell (New married name) was listed as receiving only $1.00. I asked Jeanie about this and she explained in order to keep family from contesting the will for not receiving anything, they would only give them $1.00. Oma had practically abandoned her daughters, so Maggie raised them. Honey and Auntie got everything. Honey is Maggie ILG and Auntie is her sister, Ruth Kelley. I didn't get copies of every document, but got what seemed important.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That was a good day of research. That was over a year ago. I have collected so much more since then, yet still have the brick wall that is Maggie Helfrich. Maybe one day I will finally break through that wall in Tennessee.

My Helfrich Connection

There has been a lot of talk amongst genealogists about researching people that are not in your direct line. Some feel it is not necessary. Well I will say if it wasn't for me branching out I wouldn't have made some of the connections I have made. This is just one example of my branching out.
As of right now, I've not been able to make any direct concrete connection between Maggie Molten and Jacob Helfrich. (This has changed recently. Check out the other entry to see the updated info). All I have is circumstantial evidence. This all came about because I traced the name of a witness on a marriage record. Here is the trail and documentation that I followed in order to make that

1)Start with what I do know. I have a page out of a family date book (some was originally written in German, then translated) that states Maggie Dennis nee Molten married Jacob Helfrich Oct 19, 1890 in St Louis, Missouri. I have yet to find a marriage record proving this fact. I finally found a marriage record thanks to a fellow GAA member. They were married in Tennessee May 29, 1890. Then they came to St. Louis Oct 19, 1890.

2) On Maggie's grandaughters marriage record from Detroit, Michigan, there is an Emil Helfrich listed as a witness.  This the person I traced to make the connection. Since has the same last name as Jacob, I figured it was worth a shot. I found the census record from that time period with Emil's name. That led me to his birthdate and birth place which in turn led me to a Missouri Birth Record and a WWI draft card. So he was from St. Louis, Missouri as well. That's a good lead. The birth record gave me the name of his parents and the WWI draft card gave me his address and info from Detroit. I was able, then, to look up the 1900 an 1910 census records. I also looked up St Louis City directories for Emil and his parents. I also have city directories for Emil in Detroit, Michigan. I made sure I found as many sources as I could about Emil to make sure I was tracing the right person.

Emil Helfrich listed as witness on Marriage Record

Emil Helfrich listed in 1930 Census

Emil Helfrich Birth Record

Emil Helfrich Draft Registration

3) Ok let's trace back now. Peter and Katherine Helfrich were listed as Emil's parents. I looked up city directories to see where they lived in accordance with Maggie after Jacob was gone. I found they lived on Peopping Street which was not far from Michigan Street, where Maggie lived.

1913 St Louis City Directory

1914 St Louis City Directory

1917 St Louis City Directory

4) Based on Census records and directories, I was able to find out what Peter did for a living. I traced Peter back in the directories and found him living with a Jacob Helfrich and a Nicholas Helfrich, along with a couple other Helfrichs. Finally a Jacob! A quick search of the census records and I was able to determine Nicholas was the father, and all the other Helfrichs were his children. Since I don't have a birthdate for Jacob, I still have no official proof this is the correct Jacob, but the trail leads to this Jacob. I feel pretty certain this is my Jacob.

1900 US Federal Census for Peter & Kate Helfrich

1880 US Federal Census for Peter & Jacob listed with father Nicholas

5) Jacob is listed in the St Louis City directories until 1899, when it starts listing Maggie Helfrich as the widow of Jacob. So I assumed he passed away at that time. Although I did not find any death record. I got in touch with Dan, a relative of the Helfrich family, to ask him some questions. He had information that Jacob had passed away in Indiana at a refining company. He had had an accident, which matches up with what my little record book stated about Jacob's death. It said he was killed, but I had no date. I contacted the Knox County Library in Indiana and they were able to send me a copy of the death record for Jacob Helfrich (based on the new date Dan gave me).

1899 St Louis City Directory listing Maggie as Widow of Jacob

Jacob Helfrich Death Record Page 1

Jacob Helfrich Death Record Page 2

6) On the death record, it says Jacob was divorced. I asked Dan about this and here is what he said, "Most likely she considered herself a "grass widow."  Basically if your husband is always gone, if you were divorced, or if you were abandoned, you could pretty much claim that status and it wouldn't be abnormal in those days.  My great great grandma is listed as Widowed on the 1930 census even though her husband outlived her by about 17 years, and I think it was a similar deal."

Maggie Helfrich Death Certificate

Based on these facts, I lean toward the belief that this is the correct Maggie and Jacob. I have researched Jacob's brothers and sisters with no success in proving that Maggie was apart of the family. The search is by no means complete, but for now this is what I have as far as proof.

If I wouldn't have chased that lead on the marriage record, I would never had me the connection.