52 Ancestors: #4 - George Clark (1857-1923)

This week I’d like to introduce you to another one of my 2nd great grandfathers, George Clark.

When I first started this blog post, I realized that I had very limited materials for the Clark family, and even less in the way of source citations.  A research notation in my software for George Clark, leads me to assume that most of my current information came from pedigree charts submitted to the LDS church Pedigree Resource File (but I have no idea who was the original submitter), and apparently I had not yet gathered the usual copies of any research documents or photographs (birth/death/marriage records, censuses, obituaries, headstones, etc.).

In fact the only electronic images I have currently for George Clark or his kin, were downloaded from the Find-A-Grave memorial pages created in 2008 by a volunteer named Betty Joan Cogan.  I am not sure if or how Betty and I are related (yet), but I am very thankful for her sharing the historical images she had access to.  The following image of George Clark and his wife Elizabeth (Dove) Clark, was cropped from the 1900s photograph of the whole Clark family found on Elizabeth Dove Clark’s Find-A-Grave Memorial.

George Clark [Jr.]  was born on January 29, 1857 in Worth Township, Sanilac County, Michigan.  His parents, George Clark [Sr.] (1825-1896) and Elizabeth Blaine (1827-1895) were Irish Immigrants, and George was the fifth child of thirteen (ten boys and three girls) born to this couple.  I have not found any references that either George used the designation of Jr. or Sr. during their lifetime, so I will not use this designation for the remainder of this post, except references made to George’s father will contain the [Sr.] designation only to reduce confusion.

George Clark married a Elizabeth Dove, on October 27, 1885 in Croswell, Sanilac County, Michigan and to this union two children were born: Moses Dave Clark and Jennie Violet Clark (my great grandmother).  George Clark died July 3, 1923 in Croswell, Michigan, at the age of 66 and is buried at the Croswell cemetery along with his wife.

This week, I have spent time tracking down additional research materials that I could find online for George Clark, his wife and/or their children.  I visited FamilySearch.org, SeekingMichigan.org and Find-A-Grave.com and below is a list of information and/or materials I was able to compile over a couple hours ... and best of all it was FREE.

Find-A-Grave

I was able to gather vital statistic information on several family members as well as download images of various cemetery signs, headstones and several individual and family portraits as contributed by Betty Joan Cogan, Gordon Golchert, Shirley Hoard and other Find-A-Grave volunteers.  Even though the majority of information on Find-A-Grave is not cited, it is a wonderful starting place to gather “clues” that will lead you to primary source records that validate the information.  And occasionally you will find a copy of an obituary or funeral program added to memorial page.

The Find-A-Grave memorial for Charles Clark can be found at: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=26231145  The data provided for George Clark indicates that he was one of twelve children (but I have 13 listed in my database). As my current data comes from compiled records done by other researchers, I still need to validate information for the 13 children I have listed for George Clark [Sr].

FamilySearch

Death Record - FamilySearch does not have an actual copy of the certificate, but they do have an index entry in their collection of "Michigan, Death Certificates, 1921-1952”.  The entry for Geo[rge] Clark can be found at https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KF7G-3MK.

Marriage Record – FamilySearch does have copies of the actual marriage records from 1868-1925, and I was able to obtain a copy of the marriage record for George Clark and Elizabeth Dove.  Please note that the index incorrectly identifies Elizabeth’s surname as “DAVE” instead of Dove.

I love the way FamilySearch records provide you with a source citation on the bottom of each record page, and all you need to do is copy and paste the information into your program or research log.

Example:

"Michigan, Marriages, 1868-1925," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NQ35-3YN : accessed 20 Jan 2014), George Clark and Elizabeth Dave, 27 Oct 1885.

Birth Record – I was not able to find a birth record on FamilySearch (yet).  There was no listing found using the search parameters for a “Geo Clark” or “George Clark” born “1856-1857” in “Sanilac County, Michigan” in the "Michigan, Births and Christenings, 1775-1995," index, FamilySearch collection, and he would not be listed in the Michigan, Births, 1867-1902 collection.  This doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it just means that either the record is present but index in a way I have not searched yet (like by initials), or perhaps this record is in a collection that has not been digitized yet.  I may need to contact the courthouse directly to get a copy.

Census Records - I was able to locate George Clark in the census listings on Family Search; though copies of the actual images were not available on FamilySearch.or except for the 1900 and 1870 census.   However, a quick visit to my local LDS Family History Center or my public library would provide me with FREE access to Ancestry.com to download the additional images of the census records that I couldn’t access from my home computer.

• 1920 US Census– Census listing as found on FamilySearch; image not available on FamilySearch but available on Ancestry.com
• 1910 US Census – Census listing as found on FamilySearch; image not available on FamilySearch but available on Ancestry.com
• 1900 US Census – Census listing as found on FamilySearch.org; copy of the census image was also downloaded
• 1880 US Census – Census listing as found on FamilySearch; image not available on FamilySearch but available on Ancestry.com
• 1870 US Census – Census listing as found on FamilySearch; copy of the census image was also downloaded
• 1860 US Census – Census listing as found on FamilySearch; image not available on FamilySearch but available on Fold3.com

SeekingMichigan.org

Normally, I find a lot of good information in the “Death Records, 1897-1920” collection on the SeekingMichigan.org website, so I usually start with this webpage when researching my Michigan branches; however in this case there were no records specific to George Clark and Elizabeth Dove Clark (or their children) as they all died after the online collection stops (1920) … and George [Sr.] and Elizabeth Blaine Clark died before the online collection starts (1897).  I did find copies of death certificates for other extended Clark and Dove family members, and I plan to download those and add any additional information to my software program as I work on these branches more.

I'm sorry that this was rather a dry post, in that I didn't share any stories or images.  It was more focused on doing online research and the types of information you can gather.  It is my hope that you at least learned some new information that you didn't already know, and feel more confident in your own research capabilities.

Join me next week as my 52 Ancestor Challenge post turns back to my old nemisis and brickwall ancestor, James Parker.  If you want a get a feeling for my pain and suffering thus far, be sure to read these 2012 posts about this frustrating ancestor:

• January 28, 2012 - James Parker and Catherine Burton 04 January 1852
• January 27, 2012 - Where's James Parker?

As always, if you have any questions or need some personal assistance, please feel free to leave a comment below. I wish you success in your own family history research projects this coming week.

Thanks for stopping by. See ya next time.

Love & Aloha,
CuznAmy

52 Ancestors: #1 - Frederick Christian Volz (1851-1932)

Amy Johnson Crow of the blog No Story Too Small recently issued a challenge to the family history community to concentrate on one ancestor a week over the next 52 weeks, and if possible share a blog post. And call me crazy, but I've decided to try my hand at the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge this year.  I already know I won't get 52 posts done, but I do know that I will attempt to work on at least one of my ancestors each week.  If I have something interesting to share, or have a new discovery ... you can bet I'll find time to write a blog post.  Otherwise, I'll plan on cleaning up my data each week for that particular ancestor and make sure that I cite as many of my sources as possible.

This week I've decided to start with Frederick Christian Volz.  If he were still alive, he would have been 163 years old on the 14th of this month.  I can only image some of the trials, triumphs and historical events he witnessed in his lifetime.  My grandma Ruth (his grand-daughter) taught me a lot about kindness and compassion, and I have no doubt that she learned those traits from her parents who learned them from their parents.

So without any further adieu ... I'd like to introduce you to ...

Frederick Christian Volz (1851-1932)

Photo Courtesy of Melanie Wood O'Brien, 2009.

Frederick Christian Volz [i]  is my 2^nd great grandfather.  He was born on January 14, 1851 in Wilhelmsdorf, Germany [ii] , to Gotlob Volz and Fredericka Wolff Volz.

 

The family came to the United States about 1854, and eventually settled in Sanilac County, Michigan.  I hope to be able to find immigration documents and cross over into German records someday, but so far all I have is some family lore and bits and pieces of the family tree that my cousins and I have been able to compile over the years from US record sources.

Frederick appears to have been the oldest child.  I have been able to find information on two brothers (Charles and Jacob) as well as some information on two half siblings (Gotlob and Martha).   Fredrick married Elizabeth Binder (daughter of John Christian Binder Sr. and Magdolena Schweyer Binder) on November 3, 1874, in Sanilac, Michigan. Soon after their marriage, Fredrick’s mother passed away (05 June 1875) and his father re-married a year later to Bertha Elston (with whom he had at least two more children).  Frederick’s father passed away in 1891 when Frederick was 40 years old.

Frederick and Elizabeth Volz had seven children, four girls and three boys:

1.       Lena Volz (1875-1961)

2.       Martha Volz (1876-1965)

3.       Emma Hulda Volz (1878-1938)

4.       Jacob J Volz (1879-1975)

5.       William Charles Volz (1881-1966) – My great grandfather.

6.       Elizabeth Volz (1882-1944)

7.       Herbert Volz (1892-1988)

Frederick died on November 8, 1932 in Minden City, Michigan, at the age of 81 after living over 51 years in the same small community of Minden on the same family farm which is still held by the Volz family today.  Frederick and Elizabeth are both buried at the Minden City Cemetery. (Find-A-Grave Memorial for Frederick)

I am fortunate enough to have several news clippings in a scrapbook about Frederick C. Volz that were in the newspaper soon after he died.  You can find all five of them here in previous posts to this blog: 

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

I wish I could remember the stories that my Grandma Ruth would tell me about her parents and grandparents and the family dairy farm.  She would have been 18 when her grandfather died.  Frederick was married with small children during the fires in 1871 and 1881, not to mention the harsh winter storms like the one November 1913.  And Frederick would have seen the world around him changing as he grew up.  He was about 10 years old when President Abraham Lincoln was shot, and he lived through the hardships caused by the First World War.  If anyone has some of these stories tucked away, I sure would like to have them written down and saved in my records somewhere.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Love & Aloha,

CuznAmy

---

[i] I have input his name in my database as Christian Fredrick Volz, though it appears that he used the name Frederick C. Volz the majority of his life.  I need to validate

[ii] I am still unclear which Wilhelmsdorf, Germany that Frederick’s family came from as I have found at least three Wilhelmsdorfs on a German map.  One is a Village in the district of Neustadt-Bad Windsheim in Bavaria, one is a Town in the district of Ravensburg in Baden-Wurttemburg, and one is a municipality in the district of Saale-Orla-Kreis in Thuringia.

Image Source: Minden City Herald, July 13, 1934, Page 2

WOODS-VOLZ

            A pretty wedding took place at the Latter Day Saint church here on Sunday afternoon, when Miss Ruth M. Volz, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Volz of this place became the bride of Mr. Emerson H. Wood, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wood of Harbor Beach.  Elder Willard Parks read the wedding ceremony, a double ring ceremony being used.  About 150 guests were in attendance.

            The bride's father gave her in marrage.  Her sister, Miss Helen Volz, was bridesmaid and Miss Margaret Wood, sister of the groom was maid of honor.  The groom was attended by Mr. Archie Thomas of Harbor Beach.  The ushers were Harry Volz and Burton Wood.

            The bride was gowned in white satin over which she wore a full length briadl veil and carried a bouquet of pink tea roses.  The bridesmaid was dress in yellow chiffon, and Miss Wood, the maid of honor was gowned in pale green chiffon.  Both young women carried large bouquets.

            The wedding march was played by Miss Lois Rudel, and a solo "I Love You Truly" was sang by Glen Blashill of Harbor Beach.  A wedding luncheon was served at the home of the bride's parents.

            Mr. and Mrs. Wood left Sunday evening for a motor trip to Northern Michigan.  They will reside in Harbor Beach, where Mr. Wood is employed as salesman with the Milhenthaler Co.

1940 US Census - Who I am looking for ...



Photo courtesy the NARA website.

I have been busy the last week getting ready for the release of the 1940 US Census.  Here is the list of direct ancestors that I plan to look for starting April 2, 2012.

Lucky for me, the majority of my family was living in Harbor Beach, Huron, Michigan ... a small city with a population of just under 2200 within the city limits in 1940.

My maternal grandparents, Fred Aaron Arntz and Elsie Marie (Roberts) Arntz were married with one child and I believe living on Bartlett Street in Harbor Beach.  Living nearby Fred and Elsie were Fred's parents, William Edward Arntz (1882-1943) and Betsy Lurene (French) Arntz (1882-1948), as well as Elsie's parents Alfred C Roberts (1881-1946) and Mabel Ellen (Ogle) Roberts (1884-1958).

My paternal grandparents, Emerson Harley Wood and Ruth M (Volz) Wood were married with one child and I believe living on First or Second Avenue in Harbor Beach.  Living nearby Emerson and Ruth were Em's parents Robert Harold Wood (1893-1961) and Lottie Belle (Minard) Wood (1893-1977). 

Ruth's family came from the Village of Minden, in Sanilac County, Michigan ... which was an even smaller community.  Ruth's parents were William Charles Volz (1881-1966) and Jennie Violet (Clark) Volz (1886-1948).  The Volz family still runs a dairy farm just outside of Minden, and at one time I believe the owned the IGA grocery store in town.

But I think the most fun relatives to search for will be my two oldest living family members.  I had two great great grandmothers still living on April 1, 1940, Elizabeth (Binder) Volz who was born in 1853 and Caroline Elizabeth (Sterling) Wood who was born in 1868.

And of course I can't forget to look for my "bonus" (aka step) grandfather, B. Blake Soule (1915-1995).  Blake and Elsie were married in 1973, and I was fortunate to spend time at their home in Ubly during several summer vacation trips to Michigan when I was young.  In 1940 Blake was married to Olive Pearl Stoken and living somewhere in either Sanilac or Huron county.  I don't believe I ever met her or her children but I know they had a couple children, so this part of their story will be new to me.  :) B. Blake Soule was a retired Huron County Magistrate and I remember he liked to listen to the police scanner.  I thought that was really cool. :)

If you are interested in finding out how to access the 1940 US Census for your family, be sure to visit Stephen Morse's One Step website at http://stevemorse.org/census/quiz.php.  Don't let the word "quiz" confuse you, the website functions more like a tutorial helping you narrow down which "tool" to use to find the enumeration district your family is likely to be found in.

If you are researching Harbor Beach, Huron, Michigan you will want to start from this One Step page ... http://bit.ly/HyXIyG

If you are researching in the Village of Minden City, Sanilac, Michigan you can start from this One Step page ... http://bit.ly/H4EXX0

I can't believe we are down to three days. :)  I'm ready, are you???

Love & Aloha,
~Cuzn Amy

Scrapbook - Henry Bender Death Notice

Transcript: Henry Bender

Henry Bender, 71, of Caro died Tuesday afternoon of flu and erysipelas. He is survived by his widow, four sons and three daughters. The deceased is a brother of Mrs. Fred Volz of this place. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Volz and Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Volz were at his bedside when the end came.

Hometown USA

Hometown USA

(Reprinted from The House of Seven Giggles blog - dated May 14, 2010)

So what do you blog about when you can blog about anything … ???  That question has been racking my brain everyday this week.  I’ve even researched the internet for some daily blog theme ideas, and wrote them down on a post-it (which has been filed away safely somewhere in the bottom of my purse) but so far I haven’t found the right blog theme, let alone enough time to be consistent with writing.

But since today is Friday, and I want to continue my Family Tree Friday theme … I decided to write about my “hometown”.  In family history … knowing “who you are” is just as important as knowing “where you come from”.  And I am lucky to have one of the best hometowns in the world. :o)

Welcome to

Harbor Beach, Michigan

Population +/- 1,700

Harbor Beach is located on the western shore of Lake Huron in Huron County, Michigan, at the intersections of Michigan Highway 25 (between Forestville and Port Hope) and Michigan Highway 142 (West to Bad Axe).   The city limits are approximately 2 square miles, surrounded by either farm land or lake water.

It is the home of the world’s largest man-made fresh water harbor, and boasts the longest fishing pier that is handicap accessible.  The best known landmark is the Harbor Beach Lighthouse, which is on the north breakwater wall.  It was first lit in 1885, and by 1968 it was changed to an automated system.  Today it is run remotely by the US Coast Guard from Saginaw, Michigan.

Terry Pepper has an excellent website “Seeing the Light – Lighthouses of the Western Great Lakes” about various lighthouses in the Great Lakes region.  You can find more information on the history of Harbor Beach Lighthouse at http://www.terrypepper.com/Lights/huron/harbrbeach/harborbeach.htm

The center of town is the corners of State Street and  Huron Avenue, and the Harbor Beach Community House is located on the northeast corner.  This building currently houses the local movie theater, gymnasium and public library, and the common rooms are used for local organizations and club meetings -- like the Harbor Beach Lions Club (of which my Grandpa Fred Arntz was an active member most of his life).  You can find more history on the Harbor Beach Community House at http://harborbeachchamber.com/community_house.

The earliest settlers to this area arrived in 1837, where they established a sawmill for processing lumber.  The settlement was named Barnettsville in 1855, and later became the Village of Sand Beach.  In 1899, the village changed its name to Harbor Beach, because the previous name gave the impression that the area was nothing but sand.  In 1910, Harbor Beach was officially incorporated into a city.

The earliest Huron County residents in my family tree were either in the fishermen, lumbermen or farmers (dairy or sugar beets).  The largest private employer was probably the Huron Milling Company, which several of my extended family worked for.  The Huron Milling Company created the local hospital in 1920 on the corner of Broad and First Street for their employees. (See http://hbch.org/about_us-c.html for more history on the hospital) By 1963 the hospital opened its doors to all local residents, and so this is hospital where I was born in 1968.

All the branches of my family, on both my maternal and paternal sides, come from either the Harbor Beach area or from the areas immediately surrounding Harbor Beach in Huron County and Sanilac County.  The Wood family originally settled north of Harbor Beach in a small fishing community called Grindstone City.  The city is basically now a ghost town, but there are some restaurants and a local marina that is still very active in the summer months.  The Volz family is from a small farming community to the south called Minden City (in Sanilac County), where they have owned the same farm for over 150 years.

My great grandfather Alf Roberts (who lived on Redman) made duck decoys for local hunters.  My Grandpa Emerson Wood (who lived in a redbrick house at Broad and First) worked his way up from sweeping floors to manager at the local department store, called Mehlenthalers.  My Grandpa Fred Arntz (who lived on Bartlett Street ) worked as a cooper making barrels at the Huron Milling Company (which later became the Hercules Powder Plant which made Lawry’s Seasoning Salt).  My Grandma Elsie (Roberts) (Arntz) Soule played piano for wealthy guests staying at the Resort along the lakeshore.  And my Dad (as did my Aunt Sandi Hunt) worked at the Community Theater in high school, and he taught swimming lessons in the summer at the local recreation center. 

I was born to the wandering branch of my family.  My parents and I moved away from Harbor Beach by the time I was 2 years old, and other than occasional visits when I was younger with my Grandparents (Emerson & Ruth) Wood and a family reunion or two through the 1980s … I haven’t been back.  But I still have very fond memories of my visits, and my family there.  I remember one summer visit in particular walking down to pier and the Community House with my cousin Flipper.  There was a drinking water fountain in the shape of a Lions head on the corner.  I wonder if it is still there?

Even though I was physically far away while growing up, the Spirit of Harbor Beach was always near.  Whether it was my folks talking about “Al’s Friday Fish Fry”, or copies of the local Harbor Beach Times with the lighthouse logo showing up in our mailbox in Hawaii and California.  In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if my folks still have a subscription that they get in Arizona now.

I’m not really sure what my younger siblings or my own children will consider their “hometown” as the years pass.  Perhaps it will be Kansas City or maybe even Lebanon, Missouri for some, or Cottonwood Heights or Murray, Utah for others.  But I hope they know that no matter where they call home, they have roots planted very deep in the Thumb of Michigan, along the shores of the Great Lake the Indians called Karegnondi.

 Photo by PEATmonster (photostream) 2007

Love & Aloha,

~Amy

USEFUL GENEALOGY LINKS

Here is a list of some useful websites for doing genealogy research in the Huron County, Michigan area.

The local daily newspaper is the Huron Daily Tribune (http://www.michigansthumb.com/)

The weekly newspaper is the Huron County Press (aka the Harbor Beach Times) (http://huroncountypress.mihomepaper.com/).

The MichiganGenWeb page for Huron County can be found at: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mihuron/

The Deckerville Public Library, has a website of Huron County genealogical links at:

http://www.deckervillelibrary.com/huron_county_genealogy.htm

Several of my family members are buried at the Rock Falls Cemetery (including my Grandpa Fred Arntz, and his parents).  The cemetery is located about 1½ miles south of Harbor Beach on M-25.  The following website is an index of headstones originally compiled in 1994 by Robert B. LaBelle, and then updated in 2000 and again 2005 from obituaries.   http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mihuron/research/Rock_Falls_Cemetery.htm

Ruth on Fire Escape

Last week, while trying to see if my new blog would show up in a Google search using the keywords "Volz+family+history" I came across my Cuzn Todd Volz's photo gallery website (http://gallery2.stir.org/main.php).  Todd has scanned approximately 100 photos into an album entitled Volz Family Historical Photos.  What a fun time I had viewing them.  Several of the pictures I remember viewing previously with my Grandpa Emerson and Grandma Ruth when I was younger, and others I had never seen before ... but recognized the names in the titles as being relatives in my Volz family tree.  There were so many family group pictures, and I wondered if Todd has "the rest of the story" that goes along with the photos somewhere online?

Two pictures caught my attention right away ... one is entitled "Red Brick house lawn party" ... which just happens to be the picture that I am currently using as the background to my CozyCuzn blog.  I had several Volz family pictures emailed to me many years ago (I'm thinking about the time we were having one of our Wood-Volz Family Reunions), which I "saved" to my computer without any notations as to where I had gotten them.  So I was glad to at least have a "title" for the picture on my blog instead of "untitled-14.jpg".

And the other one is this one ... "Ruth on Fire Escape". 

 

I don't believe I've ever seen this picture before. This is my Grandma Ruth (Volz) Wood. I don't know the story behind the picture. Does anyone recognize the building in the background? Is this Harbor Beach or Minden City? How old do you think Grandma Ruth is? I'm thinking late teens, maybe early 20s which would make the photo from mid 1930s.  And talk about genetics ... I can't get over how much Grandma Ruth, my sister Matti and my daughter Adelina look alike.  WOW! 

Thanks for stopping by ...

Love and Aloha,
Cuzn Amy

Frederick C Volz (1851 -1932) - Part 5

The following "In Memorium" likely appeared in the local newspaper

in November the year following the death for Frederick C Volz (1933).

Frederick C Volz (1851 -1932) - Part 4

Frederick C Volz (1851 -1932) - Part 3

Frederick C Volz (1851 -1932) - Part 2

Frederick C Volz (1851 -1932) - Part 1