52 Ancestors in 2022 - Week 13: Sisters

It's Week 13 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge. We are a quarter of the way through the year! Even more amazing....I've kept up so far this year! I've tried this challenge four times in the past, and I've never made it past week 9 without taking a break! So I'm feeling pretty accomplished about getting through week 13!

This week the prompt is 'Sisters'. My grandmother had 3 sisters, but I only ever met one of them, her youngest sister, Elizabeth. So today I'm am going to tell you a little about sisters Elizabeth and Janco.

 

Elizabeth was the youngest of seven children. She was the only one of the Janco children born in the United States. An older sister Mary was already married when the family came to America. She remained in Europe. Another sister Elizabeth died as a young child while the family was still in Europe. The younger Elizabeth Janco was born on May 12, 1912 in Peoria, Illinois. Her older sister Susie had recently turned 11. When their mother died a few months later, Susie was the oldest female in the household. She became the caretaker, and a 'mother' to Elizabeth. My grandma often told us that her education ended early. She wanted to graduate from high school, but her father pulled her out to be a housekeeper to the family.

I don't know what happened in the intervening years. By 1923 Susie was living in St. Louis, Missouri. Elizabeth was living on her father's farm in Branch, Michigan. Elizabeth was 11 and served as a housekeeper for her father. She attended school only sporadically when her father did not need her at home. It was not an easy life to Elizabeth, as the clipping below indicates. 

Ludington Daily News, Ludington, Mason County, MI, 6 Jun 1923, Page 3, Michigan Newspapers, 1817-2009, MyHeritage.com [online database], Michigan Newspapers, 1817-2009
MyHeritage.com [online database]

 This is a just a small clip for the article. You can read the complete article on MyHeritage. 

 

Susie made a trip to Michigan in 1923 to visit the farm. She hoped to convince her father to let Elizabeth return to St. Louis with her. Sadly, he refused to let Elizabeth leave. The sisters did keep in touch. Elizabeth grew up and relocated to South Dakota. The sisters visited back and forth through the years. I can remember meeting Elizabeth at least once. She'd traveled by train to visit my grandmother. She was probably about 50 years old at the time. 

 

This photo of Elizabeth was taken in 1950, when she was about 38 years old.

Photo Friday: Who is This Woman?

It's Photo Friday! I've been working on scanning Gunn family photos this week. Today I am sharing a photo of an unknown woman.

I really like this picture! It is my favorite of all the photos I've scanned this week. I don't know who she is, but I'm sure she is part of the Gunn family. I posted a photo of Frances Gunn family here. This photo was not found in the same envelope, but was found in another envelope in the same box. One of the other photos in the envelope identified some of the people with the surname Gunn.

The box of photos was found in a box of photos in my in-laws house in Ohio. But it was found in and envelope addressed to Lucile Striebel in Indiana. It was probably moved from her house to Ohio when her house was cleaned out and sold. If that is true, this woman is possibly related through either the Striebel or the Hixon line. Another, less likely, possibility is that the photo was put into the envelope randomly at a later date. If that happened, this woman could be related to the DeBee or Poynter line. If you know this woman, please introduce us!

52 Ancestors in 2022 - Week 12: Joined Together

It’s Week 12 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge. The prompt this week is ‘Joined Together’. I tried to find a creative way to use the phrase, but I kept coming back to ‘joined together’ in marriage. The hard part there is that, like everyone else, I have a lot of married people in my family tree. How can I choose only one to write about?! So I am choosing to write about the most ‘joined together’ person in my tree—Effie Mae Wood. Effie was 'joined together' in marriage FIVE times!

But first, a trigger warning. Effie Mae Wood is not related to me. She is very loosely connected to me through many marriages. She was the ex-wife of an ex-husband of the ex-wife of my relative, Paul Sebastian Kolk. I enjoy researching, so I often research loosely connected people. And occasionally I have found these people connected in another way. I know that there are people who get upset about this kind of research. They don't like that a ‘stranger’ researches someone who is ‘not even part of their family’. If this kind of research annoys you, please read no further.

Okay, now on to Effie Mae.

Effie Mae Wood was born on June 2, 1909 in Franklin, Morgan County, Illinois. She was the daughter of George Wilson Wood and Daisy Mae Brooks.

Effie Mae was very young when she married for the first time. She married John Henry Luckeman on August 7, 1926 in Morgan County, Illinois. 

clipping from Morgan County, Illinois Marriage Register
August 7, 1926
found on FamilySearch.org
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q292-53FF

 Effie was divorced from John. They had two daughters together, Rose and Irene.

Effie married for the second time to Norman Pate. They married sometime before Norman registered for the draft in October 1940. They were living in Peoria, Illinois at the time. Norman and Effie divorced in Madison County, Illinois on May 14, 1943.

Divorce of Effie M Pate vs Norman Pate 29 Mar 1943, Mon The Edwardsville Intelligencer (Edwardsville, Illinois) Newspapers.com A few months later, on August 12, 1943, Effie married for a third time. She married Alex M Nottoli in Gadsen, Alabama. Alex was a private in the U.S. Army at the time of their marriage. It was the second marriage for Alex. On the marriage license, Effie claimed it was also her second marriage.

Effie’s fourth marriage was to John Howard Reddick. I have no information on when or where they married. I do have a notice of their divorce in Edwardsville, Illinois in March 1953.

Divorce of Effie M and John H Reddick 23 Mar 1953, Mon The Edwardsville Intelligencer (Edwardsville, Illinois) Newspapers.com

Effie’s fifth and final marriage was to Oscar C Peal. They married in Bethalto, Madison County, Illinois on October 16, 1953. 

  Marriage license issued to Oscar Peal and Effie Reddick 29 Oct 1953, Thu The Edwardsville Intelligencer (Edwardsville, Illinois) Newspapers.com

Effie and Oscar remained married for the next 18 years, until Oscar’s death in October 1972.

Effie died in August 1992. She is buried in Diamond Grove Cemetery in Jacksonville, Illinois. You can view her memorial on Find a Grave.

My connection to Effie Mae is through Alex Nottoli. Previous to his marriage to Effie Mae, Alex was married to Marcia V Sanders. They married in June 1933, and divorced in May 1943. In October of that year, Marcia married my grandfather’s cousin, Paul Sebastian Kolk. Paul and Marcia divorced in November 1951.

Photo Friday: Happy Birthday Patti Kolk!

It's already Photo Friday again. The week flew by. There is a lot going on this week—March Madness, St. Patrick's Day, my sister's birthday. To celebrate, I scanned old photos from March long ago. I am sharing a photo of my sister Patti on her 24th birthday.

Patti was born the day before St. Patrick's Day, on March 16th. My mother always claimed that that was not the reason she chose Patricia as her name. She said that she once knew a woman who had a little girl named Patti Sue and she fell in love with the name. She decided that she would name a daughter 'Patti Sue'. I've always wondered why it wasn't me, since I am the oldest daughter.

Because Patti was born the day before St. Patrick's day, we always celebrated with green. The parties I remember from when we were little always featured a green cake, and she wore a green dress. Sometimes there were even shamrock cutouts. We are not of Irish descent, by the way.

When we grew up, we still celebrated with green. Often I hosted the party. It was a pretty big event, with siblings and cousins and their families. We made corned beef and cabbage, a tradition I learned from my college roommate. Her family WAS of Irish descent! I often made a green cake for Patti's birthday. One of my favorites was a creme de menthe flavored cake . 

Patti has been gone for many years now. But whenever people pull out the green and eat corned beef, I think of Patti!

52 Ancestors in 2022 - Week 11: Flowers

It's week 11 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge. The prompt for the week is 'Flowers'. The flower I want to write about is the Iris. 

 

Bearded Iris
photo by Sheila Brown
License: CC0 Public Domain

Both sides of my family have a history with irises. We had some planted in our back yard when I was growing up. They bloomed every year around Memorial Day. My dad always referred to them as 'flags'. I can remember him pointing them out along the way as we drove to the cemetery Memorial Day weekends.

I sometimes wonder if my paternal grandmother, Bertha Hahnenkamp Kolk, grew irises. I never knew her—she died when my dad was only 9. I don't know if she ever grew irises. I do know that my Aunt Alice, Bertha's oldest daughter, grew irises. Alice's daughter dug up some of the irises and moved them with her when she moved from Illinois to Alabama. They still bloom each spring.

Ironically, the irises in our backyard were not from my dad's side of the family. My maternal grandmother, Susie Janco Petrini, planted them in our back yard. She had a green thumb with flowers and planted them at each of her daughter's homes when she would visit. She used a garden tool that had belonged to her father. It's seen better days, but I still have the tool. Here is a photo.

 

I don't know if there are still irises growing in the yard of my childhood home. My nephew now owns the house, so I'll have to ask him. I do know that my mother dug up a clump and transplanted them at her condo in Missouri when she moved 20 years ago. They still bloom each May. This year maybe I'll try to dig them up and transplant them here.

Photo Friday: Sister Mary Jacqueline Aboard the S.S. Birmingham

It's Photo Friday. Today I am sharing another photo of Sister Mary Jacqueline. I wrote about Sister Mary Jacqueline earlier this week.

This photo shows Sister Mary Jacqueline about the S.S. Birmingham on her way to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), probably in 1950. The notes on the back of the photo indicate that the S.S. Birmingham was a British passenger freighter.

52 Ancestors in 2022 - Week 10: Worship

It's week 10 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge and the prompt for the week is 'Worship'. The theme for March is 'Females', so today I'm going to talk about a nun who is part of my family tree, Sister Mary Jacqueline.

Marguerite Rosalie Kolk was the youngest of the five children born to James J Kolk and Mary C Wolf. Marguerite was born August 22, 1903 in Alton, Madison County, Illinois. On August 30, 1903 she was baptized Margaretham Josepham in St. Mary's Catholic Church in Alton. She was confirmed in the church as Agnes Margaret Kolk when she was 14 years old

Nursing was Marguerite's life work. She graduated from St. John's Hospital Training School in Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois. She then worked as a nurse at St. Mary's Hospital in St. Louis. In June of 1931, Marguerite joined the Maryknoll Sisters in Maryknoll, New York. She became Sister Mary Jacqueline and professed her vows at Maryknoll in 1934. The Maryknoll sisters devoted their lives to foreign mission work. 

Sister May Jacquelin made her profession 06 Jan 1934, Sat Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, Illinois) Newspapers.com

After her profession, Sister Mary Jacqueline was assigned to Los Angeles. From there she continued her mission work as a nurse in many locations across the globe. Some of the places she lived included the Philippines and Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka. 

Sister Mary Jacqueline returned to Monrovia, California in about 1960. She continued her nursing at this location until she herself became ill. She returned to the convent in New York when her illness no longer allowed her to continue her work. Sister Mary Jacqueline died in New York on December 29, 1968. She is buried in the Maryknoll Sisters Convent cemetery.

Photo Friday: A Diary? of Mary D. Lane

It's Friday! Time for another photo. The photo I am sharing this week is a little different. It's not a photo of a person or a place, but a photo of a thing. It is a photo of a composition book belonging to Mary D. Lane of Danforth, Kentucky.

Front Cover of Compostion Book belonging to Mary D Lane

currently in possession of KM Kolk

I don't know who Mary was. I 're-discovered' the composition book this week! I found it in a bin of papers and photos that was found when my in-laws house was cleaned out. (The bin has been in my possession for several years, but haven't explored it until now.) I don't know which line Mary belonged to. The box may have belonged to a grandparent, then moved to my in-laws' house when her house was cleaned out.

I do know—or think that I know—that Mary was part of the Gunn family I wrote about last Photo Friday. The book was not in the envelope containing the photo of Frances Gunn. But it was in an envelope in the same bin. There are several unlabeled photos in that box, but ONE has a caption on the back, and the surname is Gunn.

I haven't had a lot of time to explore the book yet. It is in very fragile condition. The handwriting appears to be a bit childish, and the first few pages could be a writing assignment. But as I go further in the book, I see tickets stubs and other memorablia stapled onto the pages. The latter part of the book appears to be diary entries, and I see the years 1912 and 1913 mentioned. I plan to carefully scan the book and transcribe the pages over the next few weeks. I'm sure I will learn more about Mary as I read. If I find anything interesting, I'll share!