Was Emma Catholic or Lutheran?

L: St. Joseph's Catholic Church
R: St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica
Galveston, Texas
Pics taken Aug 2016; Collage: Feb 2017
© Copyright 2016-17 Caroline M. Pointer

Just like I knew her tombstone was there, I knew my Great Grandmother Emma had lived and died in Galveston, Texas, but other than who she married and the children she birthed, I didn't know much else about her.

But I so desperately wanted to know more.

So, I started digging.

(In records. I didn't dig-up her grave ... Do you think that might help? Just kidding. Sorta. Did I mention 'desperate'? ;) )

Born 14 Feb 1857, Emma's parents were Otto Schleicher and Bertha Schumann and she was baptized a little after her 14th birthday, 30 Mar 1871, at the First Lutheran Church in Galveston. [1]

Original Baptismal Font, St. Joseph's Catholic Church,
© Copyright 2016 Caroline M. Pointer

However, all of her children, including my grandfather Big Paw Paw (Joseph Marschall), were baptized at St. Joseph's Catholic Church. [2] When I toured St. Joseph's last summer, I learned that it served the German community, specifically the German farmers and others in the German working class in Galveston. All of the details on the ceiling in the church were painted to make it look like carved wood detail instead of it being actual carved wood detail.

And it turns out Emma and John were married in St. Mary's Cathedral (Catholic, now a Basilica) in Galveston after obtaining a dispensation from the bishop. [3, 4] Emma was not Catholic and in order to marry John Marschall, who was Catholic, they had to ask for special permission to marry. What's interesting to note here is that Emma did not decide to become Catholic in order to marry John, and that John didn't decide to become Lutheran to marry Emma. (Something to ponder in the wee hours of the night...)

Emma Marschall's tombstone,
Lakeview Cemetery, Galveston, Texas.

After Emma died 30 Jun 1928 in Galveston, she was buried in Lakeview Cemetery. [5, 6] Interestingly, her burial record appears in the First Lutheran Church's records.

I find that curious, especially since her parents — Bertha Schumann and Otto Schleicher (Listed as "Oston" on the marriage record.) — are married 28 Oct 1846 in Galveston by a Methodist Episcopal missionary, Henry P. Young [7] (a.k.a., Heinrich P. Jung, a missionary from the Methodist Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas).

And as mentioned, Bertha has Emma baptized at the First Lutheran Church in 1871. I've not found any other church records for Bertha. (Note: I said "church" records. I've found out quite a bit about her in other records. More to come later!)

However, both Bertha's and Emma's choices in churches seem to have one thing in common — they offered services in the German language. Kind of important considering Bertha immigrated to Texas from Köthen in the Duchy of Anhalt (Prussia) probably arriving 8 days before she married Otto, who emmigrated from Görzig, near Köthen, probably on the same ship. [8] Gee, did they know each other before getting on the ship? Or did they meet during that 3-month voyage? But I digress...

So, it seems Emma was, indeed, Lutheran, and not Catholic. But her mother and her husband John Marschall had been Prussian and, more importantly, they spoke German.

While I don't know if Emma spoke it fluently, it's not a stretch of the imagination to believe Emma probably spoke at least some German, especially since her husband spoke it as well. I wouldn't be surprised if she spoke both German and English fluently.

Not surprisingly, her family's language (and her friends) probably influenced her choices of where she worshiped, and her marriage to a Catholic certainly influenced her to have their children baptized, at least, in the Catholic Church.

Makes me wish I had taken German in high school instead of French. For my senior year of high school, I had registered for French 3, but they put me in German 1 because the pre-requisite of 10 students didn't register for French 3. (No idea why. *snort*) But even though the German teacher begged me to stay in German 1 (I'd made a 100 on our first quiz.), I chose to switch out of it into Sociology because after taking 9 years of Spanish and 2 years of French, I didn't want to start another language right before graduating. I regret that now.

However, I'm thinking of taking a German language class locally. Because why not? (I also love German food. It'd be great if I could find a German language/German cooking class, but I'll settle for a German language class, a German restaurant, a German cookbook, YouTube videos, and some spare time...*snort*)

And I also need to visit the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Galveston to take some pictures. You know, to complete my collection. ;)

Which brings me to an upcoming blog post teaser: Emma had a sister who lived to be an adult and at least two other siblings who didn't. More on them and their parents, my 2nd great grandparents, later. But her sister's place of worship changes too. And it's a different church than any listed above. Oh, these Schleicher women!

~Caroline

Notes:

1. "Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940," indexed database and digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 May 2016), Texas > Galveston > First, Baptisms, page 118 (image 712 of 1592), Emma Schleicher entry, 1871; citing original data in: Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. ELCA, Birth, Marriage, Deaths. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Chicago, Illinois.
2. Josephum Marschall baptism entry (1893); certified translation issued 2016 by Lisa May, Archivist, St. Joseph Catholic Church, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Archives, Houston, Texas, citing vol 1, p. 252. Privately held by Caroline M. Pointer, address for private use.
3. Marschall-Schleicher marriage entry, (1880); certified photocopy of entry issued 2016 by Lisa May Archivist, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Archives, Houston, Texas, citing St. Mary's Cathedral, volume 7, p. 10, second entry. Privately held by Caroline M. Pointer, address for private use. 
4. Johanneni Von Marschall-Emilium Schleicher, dispensation granted, 13 January 1880, unpaginated entry; "Marriage Dispensations, Galveston," Dispensation Files; Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Archives, Houston, Texas.
5. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K37W-GNG : 5 December 2012), Emma Marschall, 30 Jun 1928; citing certificate number 25815, State Registrar Office, Austin; FHL microfilm 2,114,541.
6. "Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940," indexed database and digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 Apr 2016), Texas > Galveston > First, Burials, page 392 (image 1449 of 1592), line 135, Emma Marschel entry, 1928; citing original data in: Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. ELCA, Birth, Marriage, Deaths. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Chicago, Illinois.
7. Galveston County, Texas, Record of Marriages, vol. A (1838-1850): 79, 1846 entry for Oston Schleicher and Bertha Schumann; County Clerk's Office, Galveston. Texas State Library and Archives microfilm No. 1008865. 
8. Chester W. and Ethel H. Geue, A New Land Beckoned: German Immigration to Texas, 1844-1847 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1982), 141. The authors obtain their information from multiple sources including German Immigration Contracts, passengers lists in various archives, etc. Bertha's mother, brothers, and future husband are all listed in this book as coming to Texas in 1846 on the Margaretha ship. I haven't obtained the passenger lists to ascertain if Bertha or her sisters are listed specifically. 

Being Ready

It's like that ~ more often than not.  And it's a good thing, too.

Genealogy and family history research is constantly changing, and some would say at neck-breaking speed. Funny that. Researching history, the past, something not changing is changing. Hey, I don't make the rules. I just play by them. [Sorta.] 

One thing is for sure, though, you have to be ready.

So what does this have to do with a family story, particularly one of mine? Everything. [Of course, why else would I mention it?]

My big Paw Paw's [my dad's dad's] family story is relatively new to me. My family really knew nothing about where he came from, and who is family was. Nothing. Zilch. [A common theme in my family.] In fact, this was the first thing that I decided to tackle when I started researching my family's history. Despite keeping secrets that he probably thought he took to the grave, I eventually found that he, indeed, came from somewhere. I chronciled this first research effort of mine in a 6-part series starting here.

To summarize it though, he was born on Galveston Island, Texas in 1893 to John and Emma (Schleicher) Marschall. His mother, Emma, is a ghost for me [Well, at least her name isn't Mary, right? However, "Emma" is a pretty popular female German given name. *rolling eyes heavenward*]. She's actually a separate secret family story, and when I finally discover it, I'll let you know. John and his family is who I've done the most work on and have been successful with. In my search, I discovered his U.S. Passport application on Ancestry.com. He applied and was approved for his passport in Mar 1910. This was a phenomenal find because it pulled together several clues that had helped to point me in the right direction as to the origins of John Marschall.

I cannot tell you how excited I was with this find at the time. I mean, have you seen these applications? Questions on there include birth date, birth place, ship's name, and on and on. The genealogical information available on these documents is incredible. However, I had one eensy, bitsy problem with his application. Remember back in the day of typewriters, when you'd replace a dried-out ribbon with a fresh one and you'd discover that "quality control" had a long way to go? Specifically, the new ribbon would be "over-inked," leaving black splotches of ink across your document with only a hint of the letters legible. Yeah, well apparently this particular phenomenon had been occurring for a while because this is what happened with this application. Not totally unreadable if you're already familiar with the information, but the information that you're not familiar with? You know, the information you've been looking for and praying for? Not so much. A perfect example of "almost, but not quite," which happens to be a common theme for me in genealogy, and I'm sure with others as well. [And if not, just lie to me to make me feel better. ;) ]

There were two particular answers on this application that I could not, for the life of me, figure out, but, oh, how desperately I wanted to. I cannot tell you how many times and how many ways I've looked at the print out of this application trying to figure out the name of the ship he sailed on and the name of the town or village in Prussia that he was born in. I've contorted my body in numerous ways in order to figure out what these letters were and what they spelled. With magnifying glass in hand in the car line to pick up  my kids from school, I have studied this copy of the document ~ from the front, from the back, up against the light coming through my sun roof, etc. All to no avail.

Because it was reported in the 1880 census in Galveston Co., Texas that John was born in Posen and in subsequent census it was reported he was born in Prussia, Poland, and Germany, I had come to the conclusion that he was probably born in the region or province of Posen and not the city of Posen which is located in the Posen Province. [Confusing, I know.] And this passport application had listed a village that started with the letters "Go-" and ended with the sound "wice". Also on his Declaration of Intent to become an American citizen that was filled out upon his arrival to Galveston, the village name was listed as "Gersenwace," which I had looked up and was unable to find any town or village with this spelling, or near it, either online or in the European atlas that I have. [Sigh.]

Additionally, in that same car line and in my office I've spent untold amounts of time sitting with my eyes closed sounding out this village's name. Trying to come up with alternate spellings to hopefully find this village, if it even still existed. In order to do anymore research further back, I had to identify this village and the county [a.k.a. kreis] in order to find the parish of the church that he may have attended where his vital information as well as his parents' names might be recorded.

So, I let it go after a while. Not permanently, just until the time was right. I figured the genea-gods would let me know when the time was right. I'm sure they had a good laugh the day I stood on my head looking at the copy of the application. I'm know they were entertained by me "sounding out the name" over and over and over again to myself.

Just when I was knee-deep into some other genealogy conundrum, the genea-gods struck me senseless with some "genea-gold." My daughter is in 7th grade, and here in Texas all 7th graders study Texas History for a full school year. She is in a "Pre-Advanced Placement" class, which, from what I can tell, means she has bunches of small projects and large projects all year long. [Good thing we like school projects.] Anywho, her latest one is genealogy-related. [Could we get any luckier?] Specifically, she has to pick a family line that came to Texas and complete genealogy-related reports, such as a pedigree chart, family group sheet, etc.; an interview with a family member; and a presentation. The presentation can include photos and artifacts, and can be presented in a traditional manner, as a PowerPoint presentation, or as a movie.

My daughter chose John Marschall to do her project on because he came through Galveston, he and his family survived the Storm of 1900, we [the kids and I] have discovered where they lived and where they're buried on Galveston Island, and we have a copy of the manuscript listing the family having survived the storm. Additionally, my grandfather [John's son] Joseph, was in World War I, and we have one of his medals and we have tons of photos of him. And knowing that I have the software to make a DVD movie presentation, she chose that option.

Needless to say, I now really wanted to find that village. I thought it'd be cool to try to find photos of it or near there to start the family history movie with. So last week, I Twittered what I knew to see if any one had any ideas. And Regina [ @Kinfolknews ] suggested a link [Thank You! Thank You!] that had some other links, and I ended up on a website called Kartenmeister that is a database of Gazetteer information of provinces in East Prussia including Posen and it allowed wild card searching. BONUS! And I found a village with two different spellings: German- "Gorschewice" & Polish- "Gorszewice" with the Polish spelling looking like it matches the spelling on the passport application.  It listed the Lutheran and Catholic parishes so I now can order film from the Family History Library.  So, why wasn't I able to find it before on atlases? Because it's a wee village that in 1905 had a population of 150. On Google Maps, you have to zoom-in a whole lot before it comes up. It's still there today and is the center of archeological research in the area. It's also 3.8km from Kazmierz. I've not been able to find any photos of it, but I did find some photos of Kazmierz, some of which are looking over into the countryside. If he was Catholic there like he was here in Texas, then he would've attended Catholic mass in Kazmierz.  [Pictured below is Gorszewice on a Google map.  You can use the the Zoom-out button to get a better idea where it's located in Poland.]

View Overview of Poland in a larger map

And the ship's name? I'm still working on that. Of course, passenger lists are not available for the years 1872-1895 for the Port of Galveston, and his arrival was in 1878. I've taken lists of ships' names for that time period, and tried to match them up with the ink blob ~a.k.a. the recorded ship's name~ on the passport application, but with no success. My next avenue for researching the ship's name is in the passenger lists in the German newspapers that were printed in the German communities here in Texas at the time the ships arrived in Galveston. I also have to keep in mind he may have been on a ship whose first stop wasn't Galveston, but another American port.

You know, it's not like I didn't look for a website and/or database at the time that could help me with this. I just never found this one, if it even existed when I was looking for it. I also was more concerned at the time with finding more information on him and his family here in Texas than I was with "going back to Prussia." Not to mention, learning more on how to research German/Polish records. Certainly it's been on my "to-do" list.  I guess I just wasn't ready.

Sometimes genealogy is like making soup. You add all the ingredients into a pot, bring it to a boil, then put it on one of the back burners, and let it simmer.

Till the genea-gods think you're ready.

It's like that ~ more often than not.

And it's a good thing too. To be ready, that is.

Secrets, Pt. 6: The Rest of the Story...

Joseph Marschall and Emma Rosin

Last, but not least is Joseph Marschall.  So, what happened to him?  Who was he?  I believe that Joseph Marschall married Emma Rosin in 1917 when they both were 24 years old.  He was a medic in the U.S. Army [1918-1919] during World War I and was awarded the Victory Medal.  In 1920, he was living with Emma in San Antonio and was a tree surgeon according to the 1920 Federal Population Census Schedule.  According to early land transactions that I found of my grandfather's, he and Emma [she was included in the transactions and was listed as his wife] bought, improved, and sold land - all in the same area of town that Otto and Jane Rosin [Joseph's sister] lived and also completed land transactions.  [Additionally, Joseph and Emma lived in the same part of town as Otto and Jane.]  However, the transactions ended abruptly with Emma, and I've not been able to trace her after that.

Did Joseph Have Another Wife?
After the transactions that included Emma, Joseph had many more by himself until 1927.  This is where I found a public affidavit that he had filed.  In it he claims that the land [that John and Josephine end up buying from him later] was his before his marriage to an Oveta Marshall, and that Oveta had abandoned him 6 months prior.  I verified when he first purchased this land, and he did purchase it after the land transactions that had included Emma, which indicates possibly that he had another wife.  Two scenarios exist.  Either Emma and Oveta are one in the same, or he married Emma and something happened to her [passed away or they divorced] and then he married an Oveta...I lean a little towards the possiblity that Emma and Oveta are not the same person.  First, the wording and the time line suggested in the public affidavit indicates that he had another wife [if he was telling the truth].  Plus, Emma stops appearing in the land transactions.  Interestingly, Oveta never appears in any transactions - possibly meaning that they weren't married for very long?  Basically, I don't know what happened exactly, but there is sufficient evidence to suggest that he was married twice before marrying my grandmother.  Unfortunately, both Emma and Oveta have proven to be elusive for me and I've not been able to find a marriage record for Joseph and Oveta..Do remember, though that John and Josephine of Galveston, Texas bought the land in dispute from Joseph and immediately mortgaged it plus 26 shares in some stock in order to pay Oveta Marshall $350 per a divorce decree, and they did it for a Joseph Marshall.  They then sell the same land in 1932 to Otto Rosin of San Antonio.  It's possible that Emma and Oveta are the same person, but the name Oveta is not listed as a possible nickname for Emma nor does the name Oveta have germanic origins.  However, anything's possible and without evidence I don't have enough proof at this point.  If they are the same person though, it might explain Joseph's separation from the family, and the land sale to Otto Rosin later, but that could be because Otto lived in San Antonio and John & Josephine didn't, and it would make sense to sell it to him.   After these transactions, my grandfather had many more land transactions - all in San Antonio - that he executed by himself until 1942 when my grandmother - "Paw-Paw" - appears in the land transactions until my grandfather's, "Big Paw-Paw's" death.  My father appears in several transactions as well.


So are Joseph Marshall and Joseph Marschall the Same Person?

I'm pretty convinced they are the same person.  What are the chances that a John and Josephine Marschall of Galveston, Tx. would complete transactions with a Joseph Marshall and Otto Rosin who were not the same ones that they were related to?  Considering that I checked for other Joseph Marshall's [either spelling] that fit the criteria in one way or another and was unable to find one other than this one, I don't think the chances are very high.  [Other Otto Rosin's were checked for as well.]  Also, all the land transactions led back to my grandfather.  The name spelling change from Marschall to Marshall may have been simply my grandfather "American-izing" his name [which was common], or it could represent the separation with the family.  As far as the landscaper angle, I don't know if it was him, but he was a tree surgeon at one time, and remember the landscaping ad was for the 1st high rise in San Antonio in the Laurel Heights area...a possible connection to real estate development [a small one, I know].  It's not any stranger than his brother's occupations [mentioned in my last post], and San Antonio was experiencing economic growth at the time.

Other Avenues to Search
There are many things that I need to find.  To name a few:

• A marriage record between Joseph and Oveta;
• Joseph's and Oveta's divorce records;
• My grandfather's will;
• His appearance in the 1930 Census; and
• Emma...

So, What Gets a Catholic Excommunicated?
Well, the Canon Law of 1917 is written in Latin and is here.  However, I don't know Latin, so I surfed around on forums and websites looking for a simple answer.  [Can you hear me laughing?  Apparently, there are no simple answers when talking about Canon Law in the Catholic Church.]  However, from what I could tell - basically - a marriage after a divorce would get a Catholic excommunicated from the Church because the Church doesn't recognize the divorce...I'm pretty sure my grandfather had been divorced at least once before marrying my grandmother.  Now whether or not he was actually excommunicated and to what level [yes, there are levels or degrees] I don't know.  This is another follow-up that I need to do, but this could also explain a separation between my grandfather and his family...

Joseph Was a Carpenter...
Growing up my dad [Joseph, Jr.] was able to build anything without drawing it up first.  It simply [for him] went from his imagination to creation...[Remember the deck I mentioned in Runaway Bunny?  He built that.]  I once asked him where he had learned to build, and he said that his father [Joseph, Sr.] had taught him.  You see, he'd helped his dad tear-down and build houses in San Antonio...







Where's My Sign?

I still felt that I needed to do something other than what I had already done or listed.  I could have used a sign that had a picture of everyone on it and that read "Hey, Caroline!  Look no further, we're your family".  Too much to ask for?  Probably, but there was something I hadn't done yet that I needed to do...

My Dad's Sister...My Aunt

My dad had a sister, and I hadn't called her yet  for a number of reasons.  First, growing up I wasn't really close to her.  Plus, I thought my mom knew everything that my dad had known, and I'd already exchanged info with her.  I also didn't know how sensitive an issue it would be for her to learn that her father had had another marriage [& possibly 2].  It was time though for the call that should have come first in my quest for answers.  I ended up having a good conversation with her for about an hour & half.  She took everything in stride, and it turned out she knew something more.  While I was listing my grandfather's probable siblings...she stopped me and said, "Wait.  I remember when I was young your dad and I travelling to Galveston to visit our Aunt Ella...her first name was Laura.  I think I remember that her first husband's last name was "Breen" and that he died when their children were young and she remarried.  Also I remember that Roman had died while he was young."  She went on to say that she hadn't thought about that "in years" and probably wouldn't have remembered it if I hadn't mentioned their names...[Oh yeah...]


One Final Twist to the Rest of the Story...
In looking at Rootsweb/Ancestry.com Surname Message Boards and Genforum's Surname Boards under the names "Marshall" and "Marschall", I found a woman looking for a Joseph Marschall...a Joseph Marschall whose parents were John and Emma Marschall of Galveston, Texas.  She provided enough information that I was able to determine that this was the same family.  I posted a response, but didn't get a return response.  In looking at her various posts/requests however, I noticed 2 things: that over time her posts became increasingly urgent, and then one day, they stopped abruptly.  So, on a hunch I decided to "Google" her name which she had provided in her posts, and I found her obituary.  Ironically, she had died the same year as my dad.  According to her posts, she was a descendant of my grandfather's brother, John Marschall, Jr.  She'd indicated that there were no more male Marschall's to carry on the name, but that she'd remembered her father telling her about John's younger brother - Joseph Marschall - who'd been "separated" from the family and had lived in San Antonio, and she was wondering if he'd had a family...Well, he did.  He had a daughter and son...a son who had another son, who had 3 more sons...While the spelling of the name is a little different, it still carries on.  All of them...all of us...descendants of John Marschall from Posen, Prussia who had been..."just a farmer".

So, for your family's sake, go find your farmers!

Caroline

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

Secrets, Part 3

Have you ever been to a beach?  Having always lived near the coast of Texas, I sometimes take it for granted.  I love the sand between my toes, the wind blowing in my hair, the sun's warmth on my face, but most of all, I like the sound and sight of the waves as they break upon the beach.  It's a consistent and comforting melody that soothes my soul.  [In fact while we're talking about secrets, my secret fantasy is to have my own island...now that would be cool...maybe I could take over the Caroline Islands or the Marshall Islands...]

Galveston Island, Texas has a unique history.  Some of it's more colorful players in that history include the Karankawa Indians, the explorer Cabeza De Vaca, the pirate Jean Lafitte and his merry bandits [O.K., not so merry, but definitely bandits & no, none of them were "my pirate" - a story for another time] as well as the many immigrants that came through looking for a new home in a new land.  The Port of Galveston ushered in over 133,000 people into the United States.  [If you're ever in the neighborhood, go to the Texas Seaport Museum, a wonderful place that depicts the history of Galveston - my family loved it, and it has a database of all the passenger lists for those who came through Galveston.]  Sometimes I think about what those immigrants saw and felt when they came off that ship. [I'd imagine that a fair share probably kissed the solid ground and were thankful to be off the ship that had carried them here.]  I wonder, though for those who stayed on Galveston Island to make their new home, if they saw the same things that I do when I'm here - that miraculous sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico and that stunning sunset over the bay in the vast Texas sky.  Did they, too, like the sound of the waves and the salty smell of the breeze?

Though my grandfather, Joseph Marshall was born on Galveston Island, Texas 17 Jun 1895/96, he lived most his life in San Antonio, Texas.  In my last post, I explored what I could find out about him on the little bit of info that my dad had shared with me before my dad died.  Here's what I had/found:

1. In addition to his birth date & place, he'd died 29 Jul 1968 in San Antonio, Texas.

2. His father's name was probably John Marshall.

3. He bought/sold/rented/wrecked homes/buildings/land in San Antonio, Texas.

4. Slight chance that he married a woman by the name of Emma Rosin in San Antonio, Texas.

5. He was a WWI vet with a bronze Victory Medal.

6. Was 17-18 years older than my grandma [who was not named Emma - definitely old enough to have had a first marriage, though.]

7. Slight chance he may have been a tree surgeon & possibly involved in landscaping - but not likely - maybe.

8. Was possibly excommunicated from the Catholic Church [just a vague recollection, though].

9.  He was a fisherman or fished at one time in Galveston, Texas...whatever that means.

Lots of "maybe's", "possible's", and "slight chance's," but definitely better than a blank piece of paper [unless, of course, it's all wrong...bite my tongue...]

There was one thing that I'd forgotten to check while we were "in" San Antonio, and that was my grandfather's Social Security Death Index entry.  Luckily, it was pretty easy to find.  I was kind of suprised though to find that his birth year was 1893 - not 1895/96 that had been previously reported.  The lack of any other Joseph Marshall's who died on the same day in San Antonio who was also born in Texas and whose last residence's zip code was my grandmother's zip code as well as the same zip code / quadrant of San Antonio that my grandfather did land transactions in, led me to believe that this was indeed his entry in the SSDI...So, now I have 3 possible birth years...This new one though does coincide with the 1 of 2 Joseph Marshall's found in the 1920 census in San Antonio.  Remember, the tree surgeon married to an Emma, both of the same age?  So, we'll see...

To recap, I wasn't able to find my grandfather in the 1930 census in San Antonio, and as I just mentioned, he may have been the Joseph Marshall married to an Emma, possibly an Emma Rosin [Remember, the marriage record in San Antonio that I found?]  According to that 1920 census of this Joseph and Emma, Joseph was born in Texas as were his parents.  This Emma was born in Texas, while both parents were born in Germany.  So, since I wasn't sure if this was my grandfather or not in 1920 and even though he'd entered the Army in 1918 in San Antonio, I decided to look in the Galveston, Texas census for 1920 anyway.  There were no likely candidates for the position, so to speak.

I then turned to the 1910 census in Galveston, Texas, and there I found a Joseph Marshall.  Well, at least on Ancestry.com.  Heritage Quest and the actual microfilmed copy on both databases have it spelled "Marschall" indicating that the transcriber for the Ancestry.com database might have got it wrong, which happens.  [However, it usually isn't in my favor...]  There were no other Joseph Marshall's on Galveston Island in the correct age range in 1910.  The only closest one was in Fayette County, but I thought it best to go the Galveston route because I didn't have any indication that my grandfather had resided in Fayette County...[a possibility for later maybe, if at all].  This Joseph Marschall was 17yo and the only other "Marschall" in the household was a Mary [15yo].  The head of household was Pete Legatos and his wife was Nettie [24yo].  Joseph and Mary were listed as Pete's brother-in-law and sister-in-law, respectively.  Meaning that they were Nettie's younger siblings.  All three of them had listed their father as being born in Pru-Polish [Prussia] and their mother, Texas. 

Also, remember that vague fishing/fisherman memory that my dad had of my grandfather?  Well, guess what Pete Legatos and Joseph Marschall did for a living?  Yup!  They were fisherman on their "own boat".  Of course, this is an island, and fishing is a big industry here...Do you do jigsaw puzzles?  My family and I do.  You know those irritating pieces that "look" like they fit, but they don't and you want to pound them in and make 'em fit?  Yeah, that's how I felt at this point...

The 2 main discrepancies that are evident between these 2 Joseph Marshall's are the name spelling and the difference in the father's birthplace...Keeping in mind the census is subject to error due to the person giving the info, enumerator errors, and trancription errors [as shown above], I decided to "plug along" with this family for awhile.  [Besides, I didn't have any other likely Joseph Marshall's to follow in the vicinity...]  I also was encouraged by the "finds" in the 1910 census.

Basically, I was left with a lot of questions, but one was bugging me the most.  If [& I do mean if] this was my grandfather and his siblings, where were their parents and any possible other siblings?  In my ignorance, I didn't look any further in the 1910 census for any other "Marschall's".  I assumed that if this Joseph and Mary were - at kind of a young age - living with their older sister and not their parents that something had happened to the parents.  [I now know not to assume anything...]  Instead, I shot back to the 1900 census in Galveston.  Guess who I found living with their family on a farm on the island?...Right!  Nettie, Joseph, and Mary [ages matched the ages in the 1910 census].  Again, here the surname was Marschall, not Marshall.

There were a  few minor discrepancies, but was this my grandfather's family?  Was this my grandfather, Joseph Marshall / Marschall?  [Anyone...?]

Caroline

Secrets, Part 2

[This is part 2 of a multi-part post entitled, "Secrets." For better clarity, please read part 1 - but you don't have to...]

As I mentioned before, according to my dad, my grandfather didn't speak much about his past. As a result, he left behind a family ignorant of its origins. Also according to my father and other relatives, my grandfather was cantankerous. The impression that I got at a young age was that he was a grumpy and contrary man, and this impression stuck, preventing me from discovering just where my grandfather came from and who he actually was.  With age comes clarity, though, and it became important to me to find him and his family...my family.  This was my first attempt at research years ago, so it's clumsy and I've come a long way since then, but I learned quite a few things along the way even though I "jumped" around and had to backtrack many times.

Unfortunately, my father only knew the following information about my grandfather: his name, Joseph Marshall; born 17 Jun 1896 and raised in Galveston, Texas & died in 1968 in San Antonio, Texas; was a fisherman in Galveston; and was thought to have been excommunicated from the Catholic Church, which was a vague recollection at best. [I don't know about you, but that last one set my imagination in overdrive!]

There was another clue [and what I think of as a treasure] that I stumbled upon before beginning my search. Right after my father passed away, I was going through a box of his things and in it I discovered an old jewelry box, and amongst the pennies, nuts, screws, and broken watches, I found the actual "jewel". It was a discolored military medal of some kind. After reading and Googling, I identified it here as a Victory Medal from WWI. The only person on my dad's side who I could think of who could've earned this was my grandfather. A jump in logic?...yes. It could've been anyone's, and I didn't know who had given it to my dad. Definitely a puzzle piece to put to the side and see where it fits, if at all, in the big picture.  My grandfather's picture that I presented in the 1st post of this series shows my grandfather in a military uniform.  The uniform has a high collar with only the top button and a what looked like a pin on the collar on one side.  To my untrained eye, the pin looked like it had a design in the shape of grapes [it was a little blurry]...So, off to Google again...I located a WWI uniform company that sells reproductions, AEF Supply.  The pictures of the uniforms looked very similar to my grandfather's uniform and there I also found a picture of a WWI Medical Enlisted Man Collar Disk that looked just like the "design of grapes" on my grandfather's pin.  There were no other collar pins that had a similar design.  Later on after acquiring more information, I sent off for his military records and found out that he was in the U.S. Army as a Private from 22 Jul 1918 to 10 Feb 1919.  He was in the 29th Company, 3rd Group, 165th Depot Brigade with place of entry as San Antonio and place of separation as Camp Travis, Texas.  It indicated he received a WWI Victory Bronze Button and Victory Medal.  Bingo...the medal I found in my dad's jewelry box - more than likely - was my grandfather's.  It's amazing to me how our history..our family story...is just sitting there around waiting for us to find it.

Though I unravelled the military picture and medal secret, there were some more mysteries here to solve. I love a challenge...The place I started looking was where my grandfather passed away, San Antonio, Texas.  I located a microfilmed copy of my grandfather's death certificate at Clayton Genealogical Library in Houston, Texas [one of my favorite places].  My grandmother was the informant and gave the following information: 1.) WWI Vet (yes!); 2.) father was John Marshall; 3.) born 17 Jun 1895, Galveston, Tx; and 4.) Proprietor of house moving and wrecking business.  Additional info was that he died 29 Jul 1968 at the age of 73 of heart related causes; and was buried 1 Aug 1968 in Mission Burial Park in San Antonio, Texas.

This info provided some more insight to my grandfather.  First, it provided the exact date of his death.  It also indicated that he was born in 1895 - not 1896, like my dad thought [something to keep in mind].  In addition, it indicated that he was a WWI vet.  Which lent more supporting evidence to what I had already found.  Another great piece of info was his father's name.  If correct, this could definitely be helpful for identifying him in his earlier years.  Also, his listed occupation coincided with what my father had told me of what he knew about what my grandfather did for a living.  You'd think it be time to pack our bags, so to speak, here in San Antonio and head on to Galveston, right?...Wrong.

But I'm not quite done in San Antonio, yet.  One day messing around on the Bexar County Clerk's office website, [what, you don't do that for fun?] I found that Bexar County's land info is available on an online database.  So, as "a shot in the dark", I entered my grandfather's name.  Oh boy, jackpot!  He had numerous, nay a bevy, of land transactions.  So many, that even to this day I have not read each one.  [Yes, not only does Bexar County have a database of their historical land transactions, but digital copies are available online...free.  As my Gran & mom used to say, "God lov'em!"]  I found transactions also that my grandmother and my dad executed as well for my grandfather's business. Definitely what I needed to verify that this was indeed my grandfather.  I did skim the listing of my grandfather's transcations, including all the name variations and misspellings, and found no other obvious familial relationships, but then I didn't have any other names to compare to...Two more things I found online [just messin' around] in San Antonio for a Joseph Marshall were 2 curious "hits" on the name in 2  issues of the San Antonio Express News.  Joseph Marshall was listed as the landscaper in an ad for the 1st high rise built in San Antonio in the Laurel Heights area.  Also, there was a picture of the biggest rose bush grown by a Joseph Marshall in 1922.  Were these my grandfather?  I don't know...not enough info.  There were also a variety of classified ads involving house/land purchases and sales over the many years.  Also, what I knew of my grandfather was that his business dealt with buying, wrecking, building, and selling buildings, homes and land - not anything to do with plants or landscaping...

The last thing that I needed to check in San Antonio [that I figured at the time] was census records.  In a check in the 1930 Federal Population Census in San Antonio I couldn't find him [utilizing all variations of names, etc.].  He should've showed up there according to family knowledge of his whereabouts and according to his land transactions that started in San Antonio in about 1928 and went through to his death in 1968 [with some transactions after that by his estate].  Plus, his place of entry in 1918 in the Army was San Antonio, Texas.  However, I just couldn't find him.  I searched then the 1920 census in San Antonio, hoping for some info.  I found 2 Joseph Marshall's: one that was clearly not him, and one maybe.  However, the "maybe" was kind of puzzling because this Joseph Marshall was not married to my grandmother.  He was married to a woman by the name of Emma who was the same age as he [27], and by occupation was a tree surgeon.  His parents were listed as being born in Texas and Emma's parents born in Germany.  It was totally possible that my grandfather hadn't made it from Galveston to San Antonio yet in 1920.  So, maybe it wasn't him, but it could've been, yet I needed more info.  Who was this Joseph Marshall?  Another quick trip to Clayton Library in Houston awarded me with a microfilmed copy of a marriage record between a Joseph Marshall and Emma Rosin in 1917 in San Antonio, Texas.  Hmmm...not any info to figure out who this Joseph was and also another name to keep track of in my notes. 

The other subject of interest was my grandmother.  Sometimes in our heads we still think and look at our loved ones with our "child-like eyes."  What I mean is that I never knew my grandfather, and , to me, my grandmother had always been, well, old [and I mean that in the most respectful way].  Of course, my grandparents were the about the same age, right?  Wrong.  When I looked at all the info -together- mathematically and logically things started to look a little differently.  My grandmother was born in 1913 [yes, 1913], and my grandfather, remember,  was born in 1895/1896...He was old enough to have been married before.  [Note to self: looking at people within the context of their relationships saves time in research.  Makes sense, people don't usually live their lives completely isolated.]

Oh well...now it's time to pack our bags and head off to Galveston...yah, a vacation [or at least a working vacation...on a beach].  By the way, I also looked up what a "tree surgeon" was and according to thefreedictionary.com it is "n. a specialist in treating damaged trees" [which makes sense, in retrospect]. 

In my love for genealogy, I sometimes go on and on [hard to believe, right?].  My husband who has a short attention span for all things genealogical is always saying, "Just give me the bottom line, Genea-geek!" [lovingly, of course].  So, here's the bottom line:

1. My grandfather, Joseph Marshall was born 17 Jun 1895 or 1896 in Galveston, Texas
2. He died of heart related causes on 29 Jul 1968 and was buried 1 Aug 1968 @ Mission Burial Park in San Antonio, Tx.
3. He was a medic in the U.S. Army during WWI 22 Jul 1918 to  10 Feb 1919 and was awarded the Victory Medal.  Plus, I have a pic of him in uniform and have what I think is his medal. [Why do I always sit up a little straighter each time I find an ancestor of mine that was in the military?]
4. His business included buying, wrecking/moving, building, renting, & selling houses and land, of which I have his voluminous paper trail. [Oh yeah...]
5.  If accurately reported , his father's name was John Marshall [upside: have name - downside: it's John].  Who was his father? [and mother, family, etc.]
6.  According to dad my grandfather "fished" in Galveston...whatever that means...
7.  Oh and let's not forget, the supposed vague recollection that my grandfather had been excommunicated from the Catholic Church.  What gets a Catholic kicked out of the Church, anyway?
8.  My grandfather was 17-18 years older than my grandmother - definitely old enough to have been married before. [food for thought]...Was he married to an Emma in 1920?

9. Did my grandfather grow rose bushes, or had he been a landscaper?  Either way, was there a connection to Joseph Marshall, the tree surgeon, and was he "my" Joseph Marshall?
10. Why is the sky blue, the grass green, etc.?

Are your bags packed for Galveston Island?  Don't forget the sunscreen as we track down my grandfather who had some secrets [like, a family] on Galveston Island that he never shared with anyone...What happened to his family...my family?

Caroline

Secrets, Part I: They Were Just Farmers...

A couple of months ago at my son's basketball practice, I was sorting through some information that I'd found on an ever-elusive ancestor who may or may not be a connection to a pirate [a story for another time]. One of the other mom's asked me if I was a teacher. [I get that a lot. I guess I look like I'm grading papers...] I explained to her my passion for all things genealogical and my business plans. She remarked that my possible relation to a pirate was exciting. She went on to say that she wished she was related to someone as exciting as "my pirate". She also said they [meaning her family] didn't know a whole lot about their ancestors, but they did know, though, "they were just farmers", and she inferred they probably wouldn't be worth looking up.

"...they were just farmers?...not worth looking up?" [Definitely "challenge" phrases for any genealogist.]

I thought about what she'd said a long while afterwards. As other mothers [or fathers] know and as my blog profile indicates, we tend to wear many "hats". My husband is always giving me a hard time because I'm bad at conversation with people I've just met. [My husband is great at it, so we're a perfect match.] I'm a stay-at-home mom and when I meet someone, I don't ever think to ask, "So, what do you do for a living?" I just don't think in those terms. I personally don't want to be limited by just 1 or 2 things. Individually, they don't define who I really am.

Likewise, I like to think about those who came before us as more than the occupation that's listed on whatever census that I've found them on. It does tell me that they worked to provide for their families and how they went about doing it, but it doesn't tell me what their favorite food was, whether they liked sunrises or sunsets better, or what their secrets were...They weren't "just farmers" [or any other occupation]. They were multi-faceted people who had dreams and hopes for the future...

Growing up my mom and dad always liked listening to Paul Harvey, and so did I. He was always able to bring a story to life, then leave you "hanging" through the commercials [impatiently, I might add]. Then he'd give you "the rest of the story". For me, the occupation of an ancestor is just part of the beginning of the story. You have to "dig" for the rest.

In high school, my dad wanted me to "find" our family tree. He explained that the grandfather that I never knew [his dad] had not spoken much [in fact, hardly at all] about his family. Additionally, my dad didn't have a very good relationship with my grandfather. The few things he did know were: my grandfather had been born and raised on Galveston Island, Texas and had fished there; what he did for a living after moving to San Antonio, Texas; his birth and death dates/places; and a vague impression that my grandfather had been excommunicated from the Catholic Church. I was 18 and didn't really have any inclination to find out about my grandfather because I never knew him, and from what my father had told me about him, he didn't sound like a very nice man. As time wears on, though, you start to wonder just where you came from...who you came from...

At the time, I didn't realize just what he'd been asking from me. He wasn't just asking about names, dates, and occupations. While these are important, they don't give you "the rest of the story." My dad had been asking for his family story...and my family story, too. My dad passed away 5 years ago last month. Though I am "a day late and a dollar short" for my dad, I'm not too late for my kids and the rest of my family.

So, what is the rest of my grandfather's story you ask? Well, it wouldn't be any fun if I told you everything now. As Paul Harvey used to say, "stay tuned for the rest of the story...". In the next few posts, I'll take you back in time and give you a glimpse of my grandfather who had secrets that involved love and betrayal; a natural disaster that almost completely destroyed his family as well as a whole community; and the influence of a Greek family. Now tell me, doesn't this sound better than "he was just a farmer?"

So, what's the rest of your family story? Are you satisfied with thinking of them as "just farmers"? Well, I'm not. Get your bags packed and join me as I look at the rest of my grandfather's story...and my family story, too...