Mystery Monday – What are those doing there?

Horn family home in St. Louis, Sierra County, California.

The four women (left to right) are Amelia "Bridget" Horn

(Keenan) and her daughters Amelia Horn, Margaret

Rutishauser (Horn) and Annie Horn. The name of the

donkey staring through the wooden fence is not known.

Source: Collection of Richard Hanson.

The photo depicts the home of William Horn and his wife Amelia (nickname Bridget, maiden name Keenan) located in the mining town of St. Louis, Sierra County, California. The year is somewhere around 1890. The town was located near the top of a mountain which would quickly accumulate significant amounts of snow during winter storms.

This mystery concerns those angled wooden reinforcement poles extending from the roof to the ground. I have received two different opinions regarding their purpose.

1. The poles reinforce the roof in regards to a snow buildup and help the overall structure withstand strong winds.
2. Canvas or boards lashed to lower part of the poles prevent snow drifts from building up against a wall and pushing it in.

Have an opinion as to which possibility is correct, or a third option? If yes, post a comment or email me at rootcellarsgs@gmail.com.

Submitted and posted by Richard Hanson

Mystery Monday - Vintage Food Processors?

These items were found tucked away in the back of my late mother-in-law's kitchen cupboard.  Calling on all 'knowers' of vintage cooking tools for the name of these tools, purpose and era?  Leave a comment on the blog or send it to rootcellarsgs@gmail.com.  I'll post the responses in an update.  Thanks!

 

 

P.S.  Not being much of a cook myself, these precious items now have a second life with expert chef and baker, Nancy Fiorini.

 

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Mystery Monday is one of many blog themes suggested on GeneaBloggers.com.  Send your mystery to rootcellarsgs@gmail.com for posting to a world-wide blog-reading audience.

 

Submitted and posted by Denise H. Richmond

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

Jack Marshall Babcock – Mystery Monday

There is a family story that created a mystery for me. My Granduncle, Marshall Babcock, died in 1952, and the story said that his death was hastened by the fate of his son, Jack Marshall Babcock. Unfortunately, that was the extent of the family information. No one could state how Jack died and then, Ancestry.com to the rescue. As the website is continually adding new materials, I discovered death records from the America Foreign Service which filed a "Report of the Death of an American Citizen" form. This form along with the contents of a "Death of an American Abroad" packet helped fill in many blanks, as well as create new questions.
Jack served in WWII and when he died in Florence, Italy, on 16 June 1950, at the age of 27, he was working as an "aircraft mechanic." This was possibly a skill he acquired in the military and continued to pursue. But was he still in the military or was he working in the civilian sector? In addition, the attending physician declared his cause of death was "Bulbar Paralysis." From what little I have researched this condition, it seems to occur in older people and be a progressive disease. I need to find out more. Chasing your family roots is a never–ending quest.
Submitted and posted by Ron Setzer

Mystery Monday - Oklahoma Help Needed

A reader raised an interesting question the other day in genealogy class.  We were having a discussion about
State and County records.  I was very happy to hear a couple classmates say "can this issue be put on the blog?"  Yes, I responded emphatically, it's perfect for "Mystery Monday"!  Here's the question:

"How do you or can you obtain records of an ancestor who possibly received assistance from the State because of being blind?  My ancestor lived in Oklahoma from early 1900's until 1952."

If you have answer to this mystery, aka brick wall, please send an email to rootcellarsgs@gmail.com or add a Comment to this post.  Thank you very much!

Mystery Monday is one of several topics suggested on http://www.GeneaBloggers.com created by Thomas MacEntee. Send your family history mystery to rootcellarsgs@gmail for posting here so thousands of readers can see and offer solutions.
 
Submitted by BenMac
Posted by Denise Hibsch Richmond

Mystery Monday - WWII Draft Registration Missing?

Root Cellar member John Jay is seeking help in solving the whereabouts of WWII draft registration records for men like his father.  He writes:

My father was almost 27 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked.  He was married and had one child.  I cannot locate him in the draft registration cards for WWII.  Could he have been exempt from registration because he was driving a bread truck that supplied the Fort Ord [California] Army base?  Were men left out of the draft registration if they were classified 4F?  Wouldn't all young men be required to register regardless of physical or employment status?  Why can't I find my father in the WWII draft registration?

If you have an answer to John's mystery, please send him an email in care of rootcellarsgs@gmail.com.  Thank you!

Mystery Monday is one of several blogging themes suggested by Geneabloggers.  Root Cellar members - get your ancestor mysteries or stories noticed here.  Send information to rootcellarsgs@gmail.com.

Submitted by John Jay
Posted by Denise Hibsch Richmond

Mystery Monday - Need Help with Handwriting

I've stared at this word long enough.  Even my resident expert is stumped.  So I'm asking my geneablogger friends and their friends for help.

My ancestor Adam Clark was a Civil War veteran who lived the last 25 years of his life at the Old Soldier's Home in Sawtelle, California, now the site of the Los Angeles National.Cemetery in West Los Angeles.  Below is an excerpt from his military record.  The mystery word is in parentheses at the bottom of the record.  An enlargement of the mystery word is also below.

"How Disposed of  Shipped paid posts to Mahlon Clark ( ? ) 4/22/26"

Mahlon Clark was the brother of Adam Clark.  If you know what the word is or have a guess, please send it to rootcellarsgs@gmail.com, attention Denise Richmond.  Thank you!

 

Mystery Monday is one of several blogging themes suggested on GeneaBloggers. Get your ancestors noticed here; submit a short story and/or image to rootcellarsgs@gmail.com.

Submitted and posted by Denise Hibsch Richmond

Mystery Monday - Samuel E. Ford

Don’t give up! Over and over I hear brick wall stories and I have several myself. But…records are constantly being indexed, digitized, and published on the Internet. You need to continue to monitor the new entries. Keep a record of the names you checked, where and when.

My latest “great find” was William B. Cockern, a brother to my great-grandmother, Aramanda Adilue (Cockern) Creighton. I had found him in the 1850 census at age 6 and the 1860 census at age 17. I could never find any further record of him.

The family story was that he fought for the South during the Civil War while his older brother Lothaire Cockern fought for the North. He disappeared and was thought to be killed in the Civil War. My mother lived with her aunt and grandmother while attending high school. She often related how her grandmother lamented about how awful for brother to fight against brother. My great-grandmother was William B. Cockern’s youngest sister. He was born in 1843 while she was born in 1852, eleven years younger.

I entered William’s name in Ancestry and got a hit. He was listed in the U.S. Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865, as serving for the Union as a private in Company F, 7^th Cavalry Regiment Missouri. That conflicted with the family tradition that William had fought for the South. His name appeared on Footnote in the compiled muster rolls of the Missouri 7^th Cavalry. He mustered in from Carthage, Illinois, which was the home of his family.

Included with the 12 muster slips was the letter shown here and transcribed below: 

Carthage, Ills  June 2d, 1864

S. R. Holms

Depty Provo Marshall

Sir

I have reliable information that William B. Cockern a Deserter from the 7th Missouri Cavelry is now living in Kewanee, Henry County, Illinois. He is married and goes by the assumed name of Samuel E. Ford. You can investigate the matter as I can assure you that my information is correct.

Yours Respectfully,

Chas B. Bothum

This letter explains why there was no further record for William B. Cockern. Now the search begins for the mysterious Samuel E. Ford!  Also, does anyone know if information provided about alleged deserters was investigated, by whom and where those records would be located?
 

Written by Glenda Gardner Lloyd, charter member of Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society. If you can help Glenda, drop her a note at rootcellarsgs@gmail.com.

Mystery Monday is one of many blogging prompts suggested on Geneabloggers.  Get your ancestors noticed here - send content to rootcellarsgs@gmail.com.

Posted by Denise Hibsch Richmond