Review of All the Players

For the benefit of those who are new to Big Paw Paw, I thought I'd give you a run-down of those related to Big Paw Paw [blood-related & those unfortunate enough to marry who married him].  Because I can get even more blog posts outta Big Paw Paw what I found at the courthouse will make a whole lot more sense.

Players [or if you're Big Paw Paw, Playa']
 
John Marschall - was Big Paw Paw's dad and a Prussian immigrant who was born 6 Jun 1856 in Gorszewice, Kreis Samter, Posen, Prussia. [Saying that 5 times real fast won't be harder than it was for me to find the name of that dang village.]  John passed 20 Sep 1927 in Hitchcock, Galveston County, Texas.

Emma (Schleicher) Marschall - was Big Paw Paw's mom who was born to Prussian immigrants on 14 Feb 1856 in either Guadalupe County or Comal County, Texas.[You'd think it'd be easy to find the Schleicher family in Texas back then. And you'd think it'd be easy for me to get to those counties for research. No. On both counts.] Emma passed 30 Jun 1928 on Galveston Island, Galveston Co., Texas.

John Jr. - Big Paw-Paw's big brother & eldest child of John & Emma's. (1880-1943) Had several occupations including being a dairyman before settling on being a realtor in Galveston.  Married Josephine Ballou and was an "Islander" (Born, lived & died on Galveston Island) [I wonder if he was called Big John? *snort*]

Robert - Another older brother of Big Paw Paw's born in 1883 but died as a young child, so Big Paw Paw never knew him.

Jane - Big Paw Paw's oldest sister (1884-1954); married Otto Rosin; After the Storm of 1900, Otto and Jane moved to higher ground in San Antonio, Texas.  Otto was the son of Wilhelm and Caroline (love her name) Rosin, who brought their family to Galveston Island from Prussia.  Otto had a younger sister named Emma who was born after the family came to Galveston.  Otto and Jane go into the same business as Big Paw Paw in San Antonio after a stint with a dairy farm.  So, family & business competitors.  [That always turns out well.]

Antoneta "Nettie" - Another older sister of Big Paw Paw's (1886-1953); married Nikolas Pericles Legatos/Legate (but they just called him Pete), son of Greek immigrants; It's probable that Pete taught Big Paw Paw to fish, but whether that's true or not, they did fish together for a living back when Big Paw Paw was 17 yrs old in 1910.  Also, Nettie died in Rusk State Hospital [mental institution] under mysterious circumstances. [More detective work needed.]

Laura Ellen "Ella" - (1890-1962) )Another older sister of Big Paw Paw's married first Miles Breen. Then when he passed, she married Thomas Cobb.  My aunt remembers visiting her once.


Rolland or Roman (but probably Rolland - long story) - (1891-1912) Another older brother of Big Paw Paw's, Rolland died as a young adult from a massive heart attack.


Mary - (1895-1922) Big Paw Paw's younger sister, Mary married Harry, who owned a dairy. [True. Can't make this stuff up.]  She and her husband passed early in their marriage in San Antonio- Harry from diabetes and Mary a couple of months later from Strep. [Thank God for modern medicine, eh?]


Child - Name Unknown - John & Emma had another child but it must have died before they could christen him/her.


So, Big Paw Paw was the baby brother to all except Mary.


Emma Rosin - In 1917 in San Antonio Big Paw Paw married Emma Rosin, his older sister's (Jane's) husband's (Otto's) baby sister.  I know this because I have their marriage record.  She also appears in various land records that Big Paw Paw and she were involved in due to what he called Burnett Wrecking Company that included wrecking homes but also buying them first and the land and re-building and he sold and rented homes and he had lumber yards.  So it really wasn't just a wrecking company, but more like real estate development.  Big Paw Paw's business transactions involving land and homes are well-documented in Bexar County's historical land records. [Hallelujah.]


These land records, though, left a lot of clues about his personal life.  Suddenly in the transactions, Emma just isn't there.  Did she die? Did they divorce? Big Paw Paw was born and raised a Catholic, and perhaps Emma was too?  I dunno.  But Big Paw Paw couldn't have divorced her, right? I mean, he'd be in trouble with the church and his family, especially his mother.  But I do know there was something that happened in the family that caused a "break" between Big Paw Paw and his family. Could this be it?


Further along in his land  transactions, Big Paw Paw files an affidavit concerning some land that basically says that a particular piece of property located in San Antonio was his before he married Oveta Marshall and that she had no interest in it whatsoever.  AND that Oveta had not lived with him for 6 months and that she abandoned him.  It's dated 5 Dec 1927, but it wasn't filed until 7 Mar 1928.  Funny, that.


Hold the presses!  Who the heck is Oveta?  Is this Emma? Was this a second wife? If so, what happened to Emma?  No matter, I'm guessing someone was gearing up for a divorce, and Big Paw Paw was bound & determined to not lose that land.


Then on the same day, 7 Mar 1928, Big Paw Paw sold this same piece of land to a John Marshall, Jr. of Galveston, Texas for $5000. [Bound & determined.]  I've always been 99% sure that this was his older brother.  Also note that in the land record, John's last name was spelled Marshall and not Marschall.  However, further research suggests that Big Paw Paw is the only one in the family that changed his last name to Marshall.

Next, 18 Jul 1928 John and Josephine Marschall of San Antonio, Texas (but they were really of Galveston, but I guess because their land was in San Antonio?) conveyed this same property & 26 shares of stock that they owned of the Farm & Home Savings & Loan of Missouri to the same for $5 to secure $2600 owed to the Association.  Apparently, if I read all the legalese properly, Big Paw Paw still owed $1600 on his original loan on this property that he originally purchased 15 Aug 1925.  Also it involved a renewal of a $350 loan by John & Josephine to pay an indebtedness of Oveta Marshall's as per a divorce decree filed 13 Aug 1927, Cause No. B-47593 "Oveta Marshall v. Joseph Marshall".

It also goes on to state that John & Josephine's homestead was in Galveston, Tx and not at this property. [Of course, it took them 2 paragraphs, lots of commas, & half a page to say that John and Josephine didn't live in that house, but one in Galveston.]


So, the plot thickens.  At this time, I still didn't know if Emma & Oveta were one and the same, right?


Before I get back to these land transactions [Who knew they could be so interesting?], it's important that you know that I have old photos of my grandma, Paw Paw [I know. We're a creative bunch, aren't we?], and Big Paw Paw together as a couple with the earliest dating 1930, and their hair, dress, & other details in the photos substantiate the date.  Now, back to land.


In 1932, John Marschall, Jr. (and Josephine) sell this same piece of land to Otto Rosin, his and Big Paw Paw's brother-in-law.  [Also, um, a competitor of Big Paw Paw's.]  Now, though, they include the actual names of the streets: corner of Burnett and N. Palmetto Streets.  However, no amount was recorded, just "for a good valuable and sufficient consideration."  [*snort* I bet Big Paw Paw was none too happy about that.  The phrase, "fit to be tied" comes to mind.]

In 1937, Otto Rosin then sells it to his wife Jane (Big Paw Paw's sister) for $3000. [Again. Fit to be tied.]

Then 2 things I found in the San Antonio newspapers that applied to either the land or, um, his relationships with women [Had to clarify because Big Paw Paw was always in the papers selling stuff or suing people or getting sued.] were:


In 1937, Big Paw Paw files a lawsuit against Jane Rosin, et al. for theft of damages of property. [Any guesses as to what property? Anyone? Anyone?]


In May of 1936, Joseph Marshall files for divorce from Ola Mae Marshall. [I discovered this right before I went to the courthouse.]


29 Dec 1936, My dad is born to Rettie Mae Martin, my Paw Paw. [Huh. I wonder why Big Paw Paw needed to get a divorce?]


And Holy Toledo, Batman.  Who the heck is Ola Mae?


So there ya' go.  That's the background and the info which led me to the Bexar County Courthouse's basement and to the purchase of a really cool necklace.

Stay tuned for the next post. It'll help to tie some of this stuff together.

Part 2 of Dancing With the Storms

Part 2 [For Part 1, click here.]
One-Two-Three...One-Two-Three...

Lighthouse on Bolivar Peninsula, Texas.  2010

By 4 June 1900, Daniel, Annie and their five children [one of which is my 1st great-grandmother Boo] are living in Eagle Pass, Texas, which is no where near the coast. In fact, it's on the other side of the state on the Texas-Mexico border.  So why did they move?  I'm not real sure, but I do know one thing.  On 8 Sep 1900, they missed the single most devastating hurricane that has ever hit the United States coast.  That's right, the Storm of 1900.  [Obviously, we still hadn't started naming them yet.]   Everyone hears about the devastation that occurred on Galveston Island and the estimation of 8000 that perished from the storm because it was so much more populated, but since Bolivar Peninsula is so close to Galveston, it was devastated too.  Over 120 people used the lighthouse for shelter, but dozens didn't make it to the lighthouse and died.  In fact, the only ones that lived were the ones who had sought out shelter in the lighthouse on the Peninsula.  If Daniel and Annie had stayed, would they and their family have made it to the lighthouse?

Which kind of brings me back to why they moved.  

So far away from the coast.




View Bolivar Peninsula-Eagle Pass in a larger map
Also, how'd they get there?  Well, they didn't walk, and I don't think they went by wagon [but they very well could have].  But they may have gone another way.  You see, the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway had completed the railway to Spoffard, Texas then on to Eagle Pass in 1882.  After that it was extended into Piedras Negras, Mexico, the town on the opposite side of the border from Eagle Pass.  The completion of this railway facilitated exportation and importation of goods.

Photo courtesy of Texas Transportation Museum

Basically connecting the Port of Galveston with Mexico. 
And Eagle Pass' population soared [pardon the pun]. 

But why did Daniel and Annie leave Bolivar Peninsula?  Well, in the last census where the family is listed in 1880, Daniel is listed as a carpenter, and he's listed as being unemployed for the last 12 months. 

With his wife Annie. 

With their 2 year old son. 

And they were living in a boarding house.

View of Bolivar Peninsula Lighthouse from ferry. 2010

Not being able to access the 1890 population schedule, I don't know what their lifestyle was like on the Peninsula in 1890.  Had it been any better?  Additionally, how much did his old fracture from the Civil War affect what Daniel could do physically?  I mean, at the time his leg was fractured in the Civil War did it get set immediately?  I dunno, but if things weren't looking too good financially and he got wind of the opportunities available in Eagle Pass, maybe he decided to risk it all and move his family.

Eagle Pass, Tx.,  1887 Bird's Eye View of Eagle Pass Maverick Co, Texas. 1887, 1887. Lithograph (hand-colored), 16 x 22 in., Lithographer unknown. Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth. Gift of Mr. Charles Downing.  Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Of course, Eagle Pass [and the border in general] was not a very safe place to be.  You've heard of the wild west, haven't you?  Well, before the railway, Eagle Pass had a rough reputation.  Not exactly the best place in which to settle and raise your family.

So, it couldn't have been an easy decision for Daniel and Annie to make.  To leave what they knew and go to something they didn't know.  However, it was the right decision and not just because they had avoided the Storm of 1900.  In the 1900 census in Eagle Pass, Daniel was listed as a dry goods merchant.  Obviously taking advantage of the population growth due to the expansion of the railway in the border town.  They were renting their home, but they were in a home ~ not a boarding house. 

I wonder how Daniel and Annie reacted when they heard of the destruction made by the Storm of 1900 to the place they had called home for over 13 years?  Had they worried about those they had left behind?  Their friends?  I suspect they were counting their blessings when they finally heard the terrible news.

One-Two-Three...One-Two-Three...

The logical part of me says that of course they moved for the opportunity at a better life.

But a part of me wonders, though, if perhaps Daniel and Annie just had a 6th sense when it came to the Gulf Coast and hurricanes.

And what of his leg?  If it had bothered him when he lived on the Gulf Coast, did moving to a drier climate make it feel any better?

In any case, having the ability to look back on their lives, it seems to me that Daniel and Annie were very good dancers.

For they had danced with Mother Nature.

And were never voted off the show.

[Snort.]  Yes, I've seen the show Dancing With the Stars.  Unfortunately. 

Ironically, the first time was right after Hurricane Ike hit Galveston Island.  Our electricity and cable were still off, and with our generator, t.v., and rabbit ears, we were only able to tune-in clearly 2 English-speaking channels.  One evening after dinner [from a can], we settled down to watch some T.V.  What was on?  One channel had the news.  The other had Dancing With the Stars.  Since we were tired of watching and listening to news and since no one in my house speaks Spanish except for me, Dancing With the Stars won that night.

[rolling eyes heavenward]  Below is a small slide show of some of the photos I took yesterday on Bolivar Peninsula.  Most of the damage from Hurricane Ike is evident in not what is there, but what is not there.  The peninsula [which is a misnomer because it's actually not connected to the mainland by land but by a bridge on the other end] is clean, but bare.  They have a long way to go in rebuilding.  However as history reveals, they are not alone, for those who came before, had to rebuild too.

Wordless Wednesday: A Parking Lot

Secrets, Part 5

I'm running out of new and different Galveston pictures that don't have a bunch of peeps in them so this story has to end soon! [Besides, I have an appointment with a guy about some islands that I want...] So, did the Storm of 1900 leave Nettie, Joseph, and Mary orphans?...Nope, it didn't. Remember how in my ignorance I didn't check for any other Marschall's in the 1910 census? If I had, I would've found them. Also, I was able to find a digital copy of the Galveston Commissioners Report of the status of the farms and the farm families after the storm at the Rosenberg Library in their manuscript department. [Oh yeah...] It had good info including their temporary address after the storm, and 2 of their nearby neighbors were the Rosin's and the Cobb's.

I located the Marschall family's death certificates [other than Joseph's, but I did have my grandfather's]; the birth certificates of all the children's children, the men's World War I Registration Cards, and San Antonio land transactions for John Jr. and Otto Rosin [along with my grandfather's]. Below I've listed a summary of each family member to hopefully make things a little easier to understand. [The birth and death certificates were found @ Clayton Genealogical Library [located on Caroline St.], but the death certs can be found now on FamilySearch and Footnote as well.]

John Marschall, Sr.,  Father

After the Storm of 1900, John, Sr. and Emma never lived together again. In 1910, he lived with his daughter, Jane and her husband Otto Rosin in San Antonio at which time Otto was a dairy farmer [maybe John Sr. helped him with that].  In 1920 he lived alone until he passed away in 1928 while living in Hitchcock, Texas [which is on the mainland, but still in Galveston County].  No matter where he lived, he always listed his occupation as a farmer even though he never owned one again after the storm.  He now lays at rest in an unmarked grave in Lakeview Cemetery on Galveston Island.  I did find his Naturalization Certificate as well as a passport application that he filed...wonderful clues left...he was from Posen, Prussia, and his father was...John Marschall, [of course].

Emma Schleicher Marschall, Mother

In 1910, his wife Emma lived with their son John Jr, and his family.  She continued to live on Galveston Island where she passed away in 1927 and is now buried next to her husband in Lakeview Cemetery on the island.  Her last residence was on 31st St near the Strand where the parking lot now is of the Bank of America building [a pity, though, because the nearby homes are Victorian beauties...].  Her parents were Herman and Betty Schleicher of Germany, and Emma was born in New Braunfels, Tx.

John Marschall, Jr. and Josephine Ballou

John, Jr. married Josephine Ballou and was born, lived and died on Galveston Island [he was what we call an "Islander" here]. In 1910, Emma [John's mother] lived with them. They lived in various homes throughout Galveston, and one of the homes [pic on the right] located on 25th St is now an art gallery, Galveston Gallery [not sure of its status after hurricane Ike, though].  John Jr.'s occupations were [in order] farmer [while growing up], fisherman, dairyman, realtor - which actually represents some of the industry trends at the time in this part of Texas.  John and Josephine in 1928 bought land from a Joseph Marshall of San Antonio and immediately mortgaged it plus 26 shares of stock to pay $350 to an Oveta Marshall to get a judgement released against a Joseph Marshall of San Antonio as per a divorce decree.  In 1932 they sold this same land to an Otto Rosin of San Antonio.  John and Josephine had only 1 child, John Raymond, Sr.

Jane Marschall and Otto Rosin

Jane Marschall married an Otto Rosin of Germany, who had been the son of Wilhelm and Caroline Rosin also of Germany.  [Remember the neighboring Rosin farm on the island?...his mother, in my opinion, had a way cool name...]  Otto's 3 youngest siblings were born on Galveston Island - including an Emma Rosin.  Otto's occupations?  Farmer, dairy man, propietor of a house moving business in San Antonio, and was in real estate in San Antonio.  Many Islanders moved from Galveston to "higher ground" after the storm, and at the time San Antonio was experiencing a "boom" and was growing rapidly.  Some of Jane's and Otto's children were born in Galveston and some in San Antonio.  In 1910, Emma Rosin was living with them along with Jane's father John, Sr.  in San Antonio.  Otto and Jane always lived in the area of San Antonio that's south of Interstate-10 and east of Interstate-35 [bottom right corner of San Antonio & near downtown].  And as mentioned before he bought land in San Antonio from John and Josephine in 1932.

Antonetta "Nettie" Marschall and Nicholas Pericles "Pete" Legatos
Nettie [baptized Antonetta] Marschall married, of course, Nicholas Pericles "Pete" Legatos [later changed to Legate].  Pete had been a son of a Greek immigrant and fisherman.  Until Pete's death, they had always lived on Galveston Island and had fished for a living.  After the Storm of 1900, Joseph and Mary lived with them and their family.  Nettie passed away while in Rusk State Hospital [mental insitution] in Cherokee, Texas under mysterious circumstances.


Laura Ellen "Ella" Marschall and Miles Breen; Thomas Cobb
Laura Ellen "Ella" Marschall married a Miles Breen and together with their children lived on the island.  After Miles passed away, Laura Ellen married a Thomas Cobb. [Remember the Cobb farm near the Marschall farm?]  She had 1 son with Thomas.  I found her name as "Ella" on several documents.

Roman/Rolland Marschall

Roman/Rolland Marschall [name found spelled both ways]  died young in 1922 on Galveston Island from a massive heart attack.  In 1910 he'd been the only boarder with a family whose next door neighbors were Breen's.  He's buried in an unmarked grave in Lakeview Cemetery on the island.



Mary Marschall and Harry Esperson
Mary Marschall married a Harry Esperson who'd been a...dairyman and the son of an Aussie & New Yorker.  He and Mary moved to San Antonio and bought a home [but not from Otto or Joseph].  Five months later, Harry died due to complications of Diabetes.  Then 2 months after that Mary became septic from strep throat and passed away childless.  Otto Rosin, her brother-in-law, was the informant on her death certificate.  She and Harry were transferred back to Galveston and were buried there.



...And Joseph?...stay tuned for the rest of the story & secrets...[the end, I promise, is next]

Caroline

Secrets, Part 4 or What's Pete "the Greek Fisherman's" Full Name?

O.K., I haven't taken over the Caroline or Marshall Islands yet [by virtue of their names alone, they should already be mine].  I've been trying to finish this family story of mine, which is taking a lot longer than I thought it would.  You thought so, too?  Be patient...I promise there's an end worth waiting for [at least I hope you think it's worth waiting for].  You have to remember that all this stuff didn't happen overnight, and we certainly aren't going to solve it overnight, either.  [Plus, I'd make your head hurt if I talked about everything in one post...]

So, where were we?  Oh yes, on a farm on Galveston Island in 1900 with a Nettie, Joseph, & Mary Marschall.  [Do you think they could hear the waves while working on their farm?  Just a thought...]  So, were these the same siblings I found in 1910 all in the same household with Nettie's husband, Pete "the Greek Fisherman" Legatos?  At this point, I'm pretty certain they are.  The info given in the 1910 census and the 1900 census for these 3 sibs match exactly [ages, birth, parents' birth, etc.], and there aren't any others living on Galveston Island with the last name Marshall or Marschall with their first names...so I'm leaning towards the fact that these are the same people.  [The true test would be more info...isn't that always the truth?]  Anyway, I mentioned in my last post that they were living with the rest of their family...want to take a guess what their father's name was and where he was born?...You got it!  John Marschall was their father and he was born, according to this census, in Germany.  To make it simpler, here's a quick rundown of this family in the 1900 census:

1.  John Marschall;  Head of Household; born Jun 1857 in Germany; 43yo; married 21 yrs; immigrated 1879; in U.S. 21 yrs; occupation: farmer; and parents born in Germany.
2.  Emma Marschall; wife; born Feb 1857 in Texas; 43yo; married 21 yrs; 7 of 9 children still living; and parents born in Germany.

Children:
3.  John b. Oct 1881 in Tx; 18yo
4.  Jane b. Jul 1884 in Tx; 15yo
5.  Nettie b. Jan 1886 in Tx; 14yo
6.  Saveria E. b.May 1890 in Tx; 10yo
7.  Roman b. Oct 1891 in Tx; 8yo
8.  Joseph b. Jun 1893 in Tx; 7yo
9.  Mare[y?] b. Nov 1895 in Tx 5yo
[and a boarder, William E. Ritz, a schoolteacher - may or may not be related]

This is becoming like a soup that you just keep adding ingredients to...Here are a couple of things that I wanted to point out though - putting aside, for a moment the surname spelling difference...Some food for thought [hey, we're cooking, aren't we?]:  1. This Joseph's birthday is Jun 1893, the same month and one of the target years [1893/95/96] of my grandfather's birth month and year that I'm looking for; 2.  My grandmother indicated on my grandfather's death certificate that his father was John Marshall.  Could it be the same one? [No other John-Joseph relationship can be found in this time period with the surname spelled either way.]  3. This candidate for Mary is spelled Mare, but the birth year and age match the 1910 census, probably could be chalked up to a spelling error; 4. The father's birthplace here in 1900 is Germany - not Poland/Prussia/Texas, which have all been mentioned before for the father of Joseph...so which is it?

I already addressed the 1920 reporting of Texas as the birthplace of Joseph's father.  The listing could be wrong due to clerical error, etc, or this might not be the same Joseph.  As far as the Polish/Prussian/German issue?  Well, I had a  simple & quick look-see at Prussian/Polish/German history [Do you hear me laughing?  I'm laughing because it was neither simple nor quick...Wow! What a history...].  I determined that with the course of history changing due to wars and such, oftentimes immigrants would obviously hear news of what was going on in their homeland and would refer to it in the context of whatever country it was under rule at the time.  In other words, if say , for example, Prussia took over Poland then Poland was given back to the Polish, then immigrants from there would refer to their homeland first as Poland then Prussia then Poland depending on who ruled what, when [I hope that makes sense...]  So, this gives a probable reason for the discrepancy, and if it's true then it might help to pinpoint where John Marschall came from someday [if indeed, he's Joseph's father and this Joseph is my grandfather, of course...]

So, I decided to visit my local genealogical department at Montgomery County Memorial Library in Conroe, Texas.  Not huge, but it's packed with lots of local info.  After looking through all [& I do mean all] the books for Galveston County [O.K., it took me several trips...], I found some "Marschall's" listed in the index of a book entitled, "St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Galveston, Texas, baptismal, confirmation, marriage, and death records : 1860-1952."  Could these be mine, or, at least, the ones I was looking for?  I quickly looked them up and...Bingo!  All the children's births and baptisms were listed as well as witnesses and of course, their parents.  [There weren't any confirmations, marriages, or deaths listed, but, hey I'm not going to be too picky...]  This was indeed the same family.  But was this my family? [...and why does "Catholic" ring a bell...?]

There were some discrepancies [...of course!].  A few names were cleared up:  Saveria E. from the 1900 census was actually Laura Ellen [either transcription or language error] & Mare from the 1900 census was baptized as Mary.  There was an additional child listed, Robert, but remember that Emma, their mother, listed in the 1900 census that only 7 of her 9 children were still living?  This was probably 1 of the 2 that didn't make it. [The other one may not have been baptized before it's death.]  Last, but certainly not least, Joseph's birth was listed as 17 Jun 1890 and his baptism as "Jun...1893".  However, it's highly unlikely that he was born in 1890 because his sister Laura Ellen was born 12 May 1890.  I could be wrong though...[What is it with his birth, anyway?]

I decided to play "What if..." [When puzzled, why not play a game?]  What if...this was the correct family [there were no others that I had found that fit the bill, so to speak...]?  What if...this Joseph Marschall was my grandfather?  If so, what happened to the rest of the family between 1900 and 1910?  Why were Joseph and Mary living with their older sister Nettie...?  Then, it hit me - no pun intended - the Storm of 1900.  You know, the devastating hurricane that hit Galveston Island in 1900 and killed so many?  I quickly "Googled" the storm looking for the exact date...it was 8 Sep 1900.  Then I quickly looked at the date this family was counted in the 1900 census: June 1900.  So, the storm had come after the census was taken for this household...Were Nettie, Joseph, and Mary the only survivors in the family?  I quickly located a list of fatalities and looked for the Marschall name spelled either way, and they weren't listed [just one Harriet Marshall].  Of course, there were only about 6000 of the 8000-12,000 people that actually passed away from the storm on there because they weren't able to find and/or identify them all.  So, they could've passed away and not been recorded at all...I felt sad about the possibilty of this, whether it was "my" family, or not,  because they were someone's family...Did the Storm of 1900 leave Nettie, Joseph, and Mary orphans?...And, were these orphans mine?  [If you're interested, at the bottom of my blog in my book carousel I have featured a book that is about Galveston, Texas; the Storm of 1900; and the reconstruction and fortification of the island...]

Caroline