Chasing the Mystery Woman – Elizabeth Cecilia Knecht

Lately I have become interested in my Great Grandaunt Elizabeth Cecilia Knecht. Louisiana birth records indicate that she was born on 14 January 1855 to Vincent Knecht and Therese Seiler Knecht in New Orleans, LA. She is listed as a 5 year old child in the 1860 census of her parents in New Orleans and then again in the 1870 census. Her father died in 1861 and her mother, along with children Vincent (age 17), Cecelia (age 15) and George (age 13), was living with her daughter Louisa and her husband Vendeline Figenschue in New Orleans in 1870. There exists a Louisiana marriage record of a Henry Jacobs marrying Celia Knecht in 1897 in Jefferson Parrish. The trail ran cold until I found a 1900 census of the House of the Good Shepherd in Chicago, Illinois. There is a Cecelia Knecht listed with the correct birthdate and correct birthplaces of her and her parents. And then the last piece of possible information is the Illinois death index entry in 1937 for Sister Magdalen of Therresa Knecht. The birth year is five years off, but the date, place, and father's name are correct. This is enough to keep me searching for her story. If anyone has any information about Cecilia, it would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by Ron Setzer

Matrilineal Monday - Fearless Females

Root Cellar member alert!

March is National Women's History Month.  Celebrate your female ancestors on your Society's blog.  Introduce their stories to thousands of blog readers.  What's in it for you?  Well, quite possibly a reader may provide an answer to your brick wall or turn out to be a new cousin! C'mon, it could happen!

Genealogical speaker Lisa Alzo authors The Accidental Genealogist blog where she posted 31 ideas for celebrating Women's History Month.  (Note, we're not exactly going to follow the dates on these ideas.)  Watch for my "fearless female" this coming Wednesday.

Send your image and short description to rootcellarsgs@gmail.com and we'll post it and send you any comments posted on the blog or sent to the email address.

Matrilineal Monday is one of several blog themes suggested by GeneaBloggers.com.
posted by Denise Hibsch Richmond 

Matrilineal Monday

I have a brick wall on my matrilineal line, and I need help finding more about her. Bessie Boyd Rosser (b. 16 April 1884 in Alabama, d. 27 December 1963 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California) was my Great 

Aunt. She was a trained nurse working at a sanitarium in Texas in 1910 (US Census). She served in the Army Nurse Corps during World War I (starting date: 17 July 1917, ending date: 5 March 1919; according to US Veterans Gravesites, CA. 1775-2006, on-line database, Ancestry.com). The 1920 and 1930 US Censuses indicate that she continued to work as a "trained nurse" in the San Diego area. Apparently she never married and was buried in the Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery after her death. Do you have any suggests to further investigate Bessie? Please email them to me at rootcellarsgs@gmail.com.

Thank you.

Posted by Ron Setzer

Matrilineal Monday — Brick walls

Racine Siblings

Do you know them?

Maria Bernadette Racine, Joseph Donald Racine, Margaret Geraldine Racine, and Theresa Joyce Racine. (The fifth child, new infant Elizabeth Grace is not shown. All used their middle names as their given names.) 

 ca 1921 Marinette, Wisconsin 

Geraldine "Gerry" RICHTER(1917-1996), Donald RACINE (1916-1981), Elizabeth RICHARDS (1921-) Joyce MANLEY (1919-), and Bernadette "Benny" WOLFGRAM (1915-1983) 

 ca 1980 Sacramento, California 

If you believe you have more information about the people in the photographs, please send it to rootcellarsgs@gmail.com. We will forward on to the interested party. Thank you.

Posted by Ron Setzer

Submitted by Marilyn Ulbricht