52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 4 - Education

The prompt for week 3 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is “Education”. There are a lot of ways I could have gone with this prompt. I could have talked about schools I’ve attended or career choices. I’ve decided to talk about a particular educator from my family tree—Lucile Hixon Striebel.

Lucile was born Leila Lucile Hixon in Michigan City, Indiana on November 26, 1896. She was the daughter of Julian Frank Hixon and Ella A. Herrold. Lucile was unusual for women of her time. After receiving her high school diploma, she went on to study education at Olivet College in Olivet, Michigan. She graduated with an A.B. degree in June 1918.
Lucile married Louis Daniel Striebel in Michigan City on June 27, 1922. At the time of her marriage, Lucile was teaching high school in Riverside, Illinois.
Lucile also held teaching certificates in the states of Michigan and Indiana. She taught into her 70s. In February of 1966 Lucile received a letter from the superintendent of the New Buffalo, Michigan school system. He wrote to remind her of the board’s policy: the retirement age was 65. The board felt that the policy should be implemented that year. However, in July she received a letter from the superintendent welcoming her back. She also received a probationary contract. She turned 70 in November of that year! Her Indiana teaching certificate was renewed for 5 years in 1970.

Lucile died in 1990 at the age of 93. She is buried next to her husband in Greenwood Cemetery in Michigan City.

QOTW: Which Of Your Ancestors Migrated The Farthest?

 There's another Question of The Week posted on the Wikitree forum.

This week's question is "Which Of Your Ancestors Migrated The Farthest?"

That one was a little tough to answer. My father's ancestors came from Germany to Illinois, a distance of about 4500 miles, "as the crow flies". My mother's paternal ancestors came from Italy to St. Louis, Missouri, a distance of about 4900 miles. But her maternal ancestors came a bit farther than any of them, from Aradać in current day Serbia to Peoria, Illinois, a distance of almost 5100 miles.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 3 - Out Of Place

It’s week 3 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge. The prompt this week is “Out of Place”.

My father was born and raised in Alton, Illinois. His family had lived in Alton and the surrounding areas since the mid-1800s, when his ancestors immigrated from Germany. Except for a brief period of time when he lived with my mother’s family after their marriage, my father spent his entire life in Alton.

Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

My mother was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. She did not leave St. Louis until about 2 years after her marriage, when she moved with my father to Alton. Her father’s family had immigrated from Italy to St. Louis in the early 1900s. Her grandfather, Umberto Petrini, had come to the United States first, arriving in 1904. The rest of the family followed him in 1908.

A few years ago I was researching his wife’s sister, Fravolina Orsi. Imagine my surprise when I found her living with Umberto and his family—in Alton, Illinois! This find was in the 1910 Alton City Directory.

The family wasn’t in Alton for long. By 1912, Fravolina has married in St. Louis. Umberto is found in the 1916 St. Louis City Directory. There may be earlier listings that are him, but I’ve not yet confirmed that. They were there only a short while. They couldn’t have guessed that 40 years later, their descendants would call Alton ‘home’!
 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 2: Favorite Photo

It’s Week 2 of the 52 Ancestors in 2023 challenge and the prompt is “Favorite Photo”. It’s always hard for me to choose a favorite anything, but especially a favorite photo. There are so many good ones to choose from! So instead of a favorite photo, I am choosing one that I like a lot.

This is a photo of my mother on a trip she and my father took a few months after they married. Obviously it isn’t a perfect picture. The colors are faded and the photo is blurry. I can hardly make out my mother’s face, and this is after editing. I can see that it was a windy day from the movement of the skirt. But what makes this photo special is the story behind it.

I’m not sure where my mother took the film to get it developed. I don’t know if she could just drop it off at the corner drug store or if she had to take it to a special photo shop. What I do know is that she had to go back multiple times to get the photo printed. The first time she went in, she excitedly opened the pack of photos. She couldn't wait to relive the special moments of the trip. Imagine her surprise—and irritation—when she realized one photo had not been printed. She went back to point out their mistake, and that’s when things got really interesting. It turned out that not printing the photo was not an oversight! The person she talked to explained that they would not print the photo because it was obscene! She was very unhappy. She did eventually get them to print the photo, but I think it took three visits to the shop. This is a great example of how things change through the generations!

QOTW: What Religions Did Your Ancestors Practice?

 I’m trying something new this year. A ‘Question of the Week is posted each week in the Wikitree forum. I plan to share the questions here and answer as many as I can. Feel free to share links to you answers in the comments below the post.

The first question of the week is: What Religions Did Your Ancestors Practice?

 As far as I know, my ancestors were exclusively Christian, but of many denominations. My maternal grandfather was Italian, so obviously there are a lot of Catholics in my tree. Both of my grandmothers came from  Lutheran families. My paternal grandfather had a lot of Methodists on his mother’s side. One of his cousins was a Methodist minister. Another cousin became a nun. However, while he and my grandmother were married in a Methodist church, they later became Presbyterian. Her ancestor, my 10th gr-grandfather Hinrich Krechting, was a leader in the Anabaptist movement in Münster. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 1 - I'd Like To Meet

 t’s a new year—2023! That means it’s time to try the 52 Ancestors challenge once again. Last year I made it farther than I ever have made it before—to week 22! I’m not feeling good about getting any further, but as they say: “nothing ventured, nothing gained”. So start I will!

This week the cue is “I’d like to meet”. The person I would mot like to meet is my great-grandmother, Mara Miller Janco. The Janco line is one of my brick walls, and there are so many questions I hope that Mara could answer for me. One question I have is about the correct spelling of ‘Janco’. Is it ‘Jancso’? Or is it ‘Jansgo’? I’ve written about this dilemma before, here. Logic says that I would be better off to as that question of my great-grandfather, Paul Janco. But I’ve been told many times that Paul was a curmudgeonly old man. It is unlikely that I would get my answers from him!

 

I would also ask Mara about is her birth surname, Miller. Was it really Miller? My grandmother assumed Mara’s father was English because ‘Miller is an English name’. But they lived in a region that was part of Austria-Hungary at the time. It later was part of Yugoslavia. I have to wonder if Mara’s father was German or Austrian, with a spelling of ‘Müller’. I’ve written about that here. I’d also like for Mara to tell me her family history as far back as she knows it.

 

Beyond the names, there are other things I’d like to hear from Mara. She had a daughter who died as a young child. Her foot became infected after stepping on the thorn of a locust tree. There were no antibiotics at the time. I’d like Mara to share her memories of the child.I’d also like to hear stories of my grandmother when she was a young girl. Mara died within a few years of her arrival in the United States. I wonder what was it felt like to come over on a ship with three children? Did she have any second thoughts once she got here? Mara had a hard life. Based on stories I’ve heard about her husband. I suspect that he was abusive at some level, though possibly no more than other men of that time. It must have been very difficult for Mara in a place where she did not know the language or people. I'd like to hear her story.