Success: Finding a Death Certificate With a Misspelled Surname

My last post was about how I found my grandfather's younger brother's birth announcement by searching a newspaper using their address - not their surname. Before finding this article, I didn't know his date of birth. And, I still hadn't learned the baby's name as each of the birth announcements just named the father. In this case, Frank.

Michigan death records for 1897 to 1947 are online at Seeking Michigan. I had not been able to find the baby's birth by using his surname, Kaechle, so I decided to search using other information. Searching the Michigan death records for 1897-1920, I used the advanced search feature and entered the following:

• Father's Given Name: Frank
• Birth Year: 1909
• County: Wayne

Baby Kaechle was the fifth record on the list! The surname had been written poorly and was transcribed as "Koehle." The baby's given name was Frank, like his father. Strangely, he had an older brother named Frank who lived to be over 50! 

Michigan Department of Community Health, death certificate, file no. 1464 (1909), Frank Kaechle; Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan; digital image, "Death Records, 1897-1920," SeekingMichigan (http://www.seekingmichigan.com : accessed 8 November 2017).

Frank Kaechle was born on 18 June 1909, and died the next day of "gastrointestinal hemorrhage." My grandfather was only 2 1/2 at the time of his brother's birth, and never mentioned this brother to my mom. I don't know if he remembered him or not.

I'm thankful to now be able to remember the short life of my grandfather's baby brother, and to grieve with the family over the death of this little boy.

[I'm still quite busy with BU, which is going great! I plan on blogging more faithfully when it's over.]

Incredible Fire Story Found in German Newspaper

I cannot read German. But, thanks to technology, I can still search German newspapers to find stories of my German relatives.

I recently found my first German newspaper story about Jerome Kaechle who was my great grandfather's younger brother. The article, which I found on Chronicling America, was in the Detroiter Abend-Post on August 4th, 1916.

After seeing his name, I painstakingly worked with Google Translate to translate the article. I also sent the article to my dad and shared it on the Genealogy Translations group on Facebook. Combining all of our work, I was able to come up with this composite translation:

Durch Feuer aus Betten getrieben [Driven by Fire from beds],
Detroiter Abend-Post, Detroit, Michigan, 4 August 1916,
page 8, column, 3, digital image, Chronicling America,
(http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov), accessed 1 April 2017. 

Driven from their beds by fire

3 houses and 4 sheds burned down this morning

Several people forced to jump out of windows

The three two-storied houses 512 to 520 Ashland Avenue and four sheds were destroyed by fire at 1 a. m. today, the cause of the fire is not yet known for certain. It caused damage of approximately $8,000 to $10,000. The residents of the houses, some 40 people, had to hurry out onto the street in their night clothes, as the fire spread really quickly, several had to jump out of windows, and two were carried out by neighbors having been overcome by smoke.

The fire was discovered simultaneously by several neighbors, and Mrs Ausher, of 551 Ashland Ave raised the alarm, but the fire was burning fiercely when the fire brigade arrived. The families of Arthur Kretschmer, Frank Donahue and Frank Hart lived at no 512 and were woken by the neighbors' warning. The house was already in flames, and without having time to dress, they had to rush out to the street.

Durch Feuer aus Betten getrieben [Driven by Fire from beds],
Detroiter Abend-Post, Detroit, Michigan, 4 August 1916,
page 8, column, 3, digital image, Chronicling America,
(http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov), accessed 1 April 2017.

It spread quickly

Even before the alarm had been raised, the flames had taken hold of the house of Karl Duppernell, 518, and that of Jerome Kaechle, 520 Ashland Ave, and when the fire brigade arrived it was not possible to save either of the houses, and the teams could only stop the further spread of the fire. Frank Donahue lived on the top floor of one of the houses; his wife is ill in hospital, and when Kretschmer ran into the house to warn him, Donahue was lying on a bed, overcome by smoke, and had suffered slight burns. Kretscmer carried the unconscious man onto the street, where he soon recovered. Kaechle was also almost overcome by smoke, when he was found and rescued.

The Hart family had only moved in two days earlier, and had furnished their home completely new: everything was destroyed by the fire. Hart works nights at Chalmers car factory, and wasn't home at the time of the blaze. Arthur Bartell, who lived in a room in one of the houses, ran back in to save $150, and was almost overcome by smoke. Everyone who had been made homeless by the fire found accommodation with neighbors.

[Special thanks to my father and volunteer Anne Callanan for their help with this translation!]

Success! Finding Incorrectly Transcribed Names on Census Records

The transcription of names on sites like Ancestry has greatly reduced the time it takes to locate individuals and families on census records. However, incorrectly transcribed names continue to make some people difficult to locate. 

1930 U.S. census, Wayne County, Michigan, population schedule, Detroit Ward 21, p. 258 (stamped), enumeration district 82-792, sheet 1-A, dwelling 13, Charles Kaechle; NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 1063.

In 1930, Charles Kaechle lived with his wife, Amanda, and mother, Mary M. Sprenger, on Gladwin Avenue in Detroit. Although I believed Charles Kaechle was still living in Detroit in 1940, I could not find him.

I decided to try a "trick" that has sometimes worked in the past: search for a neighbor. In choosing a neighbor, it helps to look for the following:

• choose an unusual surname or first name
• choose someone who owns a house rather than rents 
• choose a younger man with a family

To locate Charles Kaechle, I chose to search for his neighbor Joseph Neigebauer.

1940 U.S. census, Wayne County, Michigan, population schedule, Detroit Ward 21, p. 18786 (stamped), enumeration district 84-1417, sheet 1-A, household 14, A. Charles Kaechle; NARA microfilm publication T627, roll 1882.

I quickly found Joseph Neigebauer's living on Gladwin Avenue in Detroit in 1940. Scrolling down a few houses, I saw my Charles Kaechle! It even looked spelled correctly to me. But, when I looked at the index to see how the name had been transcribed on Ancestry, it listed him as Charles Jaeckle. The initial "K" had been transcribed as a "J," and the "h" was misread as a "k." So, the name was transcribed as Jaeckle instead of Kaechle.

This method will only work if your family didn't move between the two census enumerations. Also, if you don't find your family the first time, try a few more neighbor's names.

If you've not tried this method, give it a try! Let me know if you find a family you hadn't been able to find using the "usual" research methods.

BONUS TIP: Try a different website! If you usually search on Ancestry, like I do, try FamilySearch. In this case, I searched for "Charles Kaechle" and set the residence to "Detroit" from "1940" to "1940." The 1940 census record for Charles Kaechle was the top hit - and it was transcribed correctly!

Digging Deeper into an 1895 Wedding: Anna R Adam & Frank Kaechle (Fearless Females Day 4)

As part of Women's History Month, Lisa Alzo has created 31 blogging prompts which you can find on her blog, The Accidental Genealogist. If you're participating in the Fearless Females blogging challenge this month, let me know & I"ll hop over & read your posts!

March 4th prompt: Do you have marriage records for your grandparents or great-grandparents? Write a post about where they were married and when. Any family stories about the wedding day? Post a photo, too, if you have one.

Marriage Photo

1895 Wedding Photo - Frank R. Kaechle & Anna Regina Adam - Detroit, Michigan
Photo from my grandmother's collection

On July 17th, 1895, my great grandparents, Frank R. Kaechle (1868-1911) and Francis Regina Adam (1867-1936) were married in Detroit, Michigan. This wedding photo shows them in their formal wedding clothes, including Anna holding her bouquet.

Marriage License

The Detroit Free Press published the following day, July 18th 1895, shows their marriage license as number 18776. It also misspells Anna's last name by adding an "s" to Adam.

Ancestry.com had Frank and Anna's marriage record. They are the second couple on the page: record #18776. It lists the following information:

• Full Name of Bridegroom and Bride and Maiden Name of Bride if a Widow: Frank R. Kachle [sic]; Anna R. Adams [sic]
• Age of Each in Years: 24; 23
• White, Black, Mulatto, Etc.: Wht; " [both white]
• Residence of Each: Detroit M
• Birthplace of Each: Ohio; Mich
• Occupation of Each: Blacksmith; [her occupation is blank]
• Name of Father of Each: Reinhard Kachle [sic]; Frank Adams [sic]
• Maiden Name of Mother of Each: Lena Karlocke [should be Koerback/Korback]; [blank]
• Times Previously Married: [blank]
• Date of Marriage: July 17, 1895
• Place of Marriage: Detroit M
• Name and Official Station of Person by Whom Married: Lee Stauss, Pastor
• Witnesses to Marriage: Chal. [Charles] Doleidon [Daleiden] [probably Amelia's husband - they marry in December of 1896]; Amelia Adams [Anna's sister]
• Residence: Detroit M; Detroit M

While writing this post, I realized it said they were married by a pastor. So, how could I find out what church they belonged to? I turned to Facebook! Within minutes, I had the name of the church were Rev. Leo Stauss was pastor: St. Joseph's German Catholic Church. The person who helped me found it, I think, by searching the 1895 Detroit directory at Ancestry and finding this:

1895 Detroit Directory showing Rev. Leo Stauss as Assistant Pastor at
St. Joseph's (German) Catholic Church

Nice! And, then I able to contact a Detroit researcher who will look up the marriage information on microfilm at the Detroit Public Library.

Lastly, I found a photo of the church where my great grandparents were married in 1895:

St. Joseph (German) Catholic Church, Detroit (image from Wikipedia)

Six Siblings Immigrate to America: The Holthoefer Family (Fearless Females Day 2)

As part of Women's History Month, Lisa Alzo has created 31 blogging prompts which you can find on her blog, The Accidental Genealogist. If you're participating in the Fearless Females blogging challenge this month, let me know & I'll hop over & read your posts!

The prompt for March 2nd is: Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?

Post a photo of one of your female ancestors:

Five Holthoefer Siblings,circa 1900, Detroit, Michigan
(back row left to right) Franceska (Holthoefer) Adam, Caspar J. Holthoefer, Marianna (Holthoefer) Petri 
(front row left to right) Elisabeth (Holthoefer) Keine, Anna (Holthoefer) Rolf
(Photo courtesy of Mildred Hunt Collection, by Robert Yagley)

Who is in the photo?

This is a photo of my immigrant ancestor, Franciska (Holthoefer) Adam, and four of her siblings. The five siblings were children of Johann Franz Holthoefer (1804-1870) and Maria Catharina Schulte (1807-1850). The family was raised in Serkenrode, Westphalia, Germany. 

The mother, Catharina, died on February 21st, 1850, just 16 days after giving birth to her eighth child. That baby girl would die the following year, and and an earlier baby had died just before his first birthday. With at least five children still at home, the father, Johann Franz, probably desperately needed a mother to help raise his children. Nine months later, he remarried and had an additional six children with his second wife.

Starting a few years after the 1850 death of their mother, the six surviving Holthoefer children began to immigrate to America to settle in Detroit, Michigan. 

• 1853 - Joseph (1830-1888) was probably the first of the siblings to immigrate. He witnessed a friend's marriage in Detroit in 1853.
• 1853 or 1858 - Caspar J. (1835-1918) shows both years as his year of immigration on the 1900 and 1910 censuses respectively. 
• 1856 - Francisca (1833-1907) immigrated at the age of 23 in 1856 without any other family members
• 1858 (or earlier) Marianna (1838-1911) was in Detroit by 1858 where she was a witness to her sister, Francisca's, marriage
• 1867 - Elisabeth (1842-1905) married in Helden, near Serkenrode, in 1864 - she and her husband immigrated in 1867
• 1867 or 1868 - Anna (1845-1919) married in Detroit in 1870 - her census records claim she immigrated in 1867 or 1868

When was it taken? 

Of the six siblings, Joseph (died 1888) was the earliest to die. Since he is missing from this photo, it was likely taken after his death. In fact, I wonder if it wasn't taken when the family got together for his funeral! Elisabeth died in 1905, so it had to have been taken before then.

Why did you select this photo?

Franciska "Frances" (Holthoefer) Adam was my great, great grandmother. Before last summer, I only knew her maiden name and I suspected that Caspar J. and Joseph Holthoefer of Detroit were her siblings. But, then I was contacted by several other Holthoefer descendants who were working on a Holthoefer Family book! They asked me to join them, and I did. Through that project, I was able to see a photograph of my great, great grandmother for the first time.

Oh, and why did I include her as a Fearless Female? She crossed the ocean by herself at the age of 23 in 1856. That sounds pretty fearless to me!

Special thanks to my co-contributors of Holthoefer Family History: A Historic Guide to Discovering Your Past from Serkenrode, Westhalia, Germany to the Early Years in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan: Robert J. Yagley, Helen (Thornton) Holt, Marsha (Anderson) Aragon, and Pamela Holthoefer.