23 April 2008
Trientje Eilts Post calligraphy
This is part of the inscription in a book that Trientje Eilts Post (1808-1877) made for her daughter Annebken Hinrichs. The book was given to Annebken in 1851 when the family was living in Holtrop, Ostfriesland, Germany.
The book is in the possession of a family member who graciously scanned the document and shared it with me. This is only a part of the inscription. There is a short verse and a date as well.
We will try and post a copy of the entire image to the site late, but the file size will have to be reduced first.
Labels: ufkes
11 March 2008
Postcard from Johann Ufkes
My cousin has sent me three more letters written by my great-great-grandparents. This time a penny postcard is included that was written by Johann Ufkes (1838-1924). He wrote it to his brother-in-law, who at the time was living in Tioga, Hancock County, Illinois. The address is included as
a part of this post.
a part of this post. John's signature on the back of the letter is very difficult to read. There is no "real" postmark, rather the postmaster in Basco, Hancock County, Illinois, wrote the town and the date across the stamp.
The "postmark" is clearly not John's writing as the "I" John uses in the address is not anywhere close to the "I" used in the postmark.I'm working on getting the letters translated and we'll be posting an update.
Labels: ufkes
18 February 2008
Lina Ufkes Letter from 20 Sept 1887
Thanks to all who submitted suggestions on the name mentioned at the bottom of this letter written by Lina Ufkes on 20 September 1887 with a location of Basco, Illinois. In order to help some read the name I have posted more of the letter here. Clicking on the image will pull up a larger one that should be easier to read.The name I'm "stuck" on is the one in the fifth line from the bottom, which looks like "Frieden" but may be something else.
We'll post updates as we determine to whom Lina is referring.
Labels: ufkes
15 February 2008
1887-Shooting of Dirk (Frid?) in Enne Hoffman's barn?
This is part of a letter Lina Ufkes wrote to family in Nebraska in 1887, when she was living near Basco, in Hancock County, Illinois.Starting with the word "Dirk" in the first line, it basically indicates that Dirk (can't read last name) shot himself in the barn of Enne Koffman and that an "English girl" is in mourning.
I'm trying to determine who shot himself in the barn--needing the last name. Lina doesn't really indicate how long ago the shooting took place or where it took place, but her letter was dated 20 September 1887. My assumption (which may be incorrect) is that the event took place in Hancock or Adams Counties in Illinois.
If these details do not ring a bell, I'll start looking at death records in 1887 and newspapers for the same time period.
Labels: ufkes
Finding Noentje's Passenger List
Noentje Lena Grass had been one of those immigrant ancestors I could never find on a manifest. Virtually all of my Ostfriesen ancestors have been found--and I have over twenty who immigrated between 1850 and 1883.
I think I've located the Backemoor, Ostfriesland, native in the New York Passenger lists.
Years ago when I searched, I focused too much on her first name and the variants such as Nontje, Nantje, etc. The recent discovery of letters she wrote in 1887 indicated she might have gone by Lena as well.
Searching the passenger lists for Lena/Lina Gross/Grass brought no results.
I finally gave up on the first name when searching. I went back and revisited her 1900 census entry (it is the last one for her as she died in 1902). On that census (which easily could be wrong) she indicated she came to the US in 1873. I performed the search as shown in the image with this post.
This entry struck my interest. And when seeing the actual image, it is easy to see how the entry could have been interpreted as Luie. However, it really does appear to be to be Lina.
Next on my list is to look at the other names on the manifest and see if any of them "ring a bell" in my head.
And I will pay close attention particularly to any last or first names that sound Ostfriesen.
We've looked for great-great-grandma for years on passenger lists and I'm just excited to find her (I think).
And it is always important to track your searches as you do them, so you do not repeat searches already done and so that all reasonable searches are conducted.
08 February 2008
Lina Ufkes Letter 1880s
An Ufkes cousin has sent me digital copies of two or three letters written by my great-great-grandmother, Noentjelina (Lina) Ufkes in the 1880s.There are four pages of letters and my initial inspection leads me to believe there are actually two or three letters. One is dated "Basco d. 20 September 1887." The l
etters are nor reproduced here, but I have included images of the signatures from two of the letters.
etters are nor reproduced here, but I have included images of the signatures from two of the letters. The recipient of the letters is not known, but the relative who provided them to me believes her grandmother obtained them from John Harms, son of Herman and Antje (Ufkes) Harms. Antje was a sister to Johann (John) Ufkes, Lina's
husband. The Harms were married near Tioga, Hancock County, Illinois, and later moved to Nebraska.
husband. The Harms were married near Tioga, Hancock County, Illinois, and later moved to Nebraska. Noentjelina was born in Backemoor, Ostfriesland, Germany, in 1848 and died on the family farm near Basco, Hancock County, Illinois in 1902. Other family members are mentioned in the letters, including apparently some of Lina's children, some of her husband's Habben relatives, Tonjes Goldenstein (not related to the Ufkes' but related to me), and others in the area.
We haven't posted the entire letters here, but we are working on getting translations and hope to have those done in the near future. Anyone who is interested in the letters or in translating them can email me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com.
Labels: ufkes
31 January 2008
Searching 1870 Census
We've posted two articles on our site on searching the 1870 census. The discussion is applicable to other years as well and focuses on alternate spellings for names, variant last names, places of birth, and other issues with locating people in the census. The focus is on organizing and thinking about what you want to search before you start mindlessly entering names in search boxes.
The second article centers on an analysis of entries located while trying to search for Johann Ufkes (born 1838 Ostfriesland, Germany) in the 1870 census and provides some ways to analyze entries.
Unfortunately I have not found either person (Johann Ufkes or Ira Sargent) I was looking for in 1870. But the search continues.
Labels: 1870 census, census, sargent, tips, ufkes
23 September 2007
Friends on the Farm Reviewed
My great-aunt self-published a book of stories about growing up on her parents farm in Hancock County, Illinois. I am chargined to admit I have not yet read all of it (my Mother kept it so that when Aunt Ruth came to visit, she could sign it for me), but the parts I read were interesting and were told in Aunt Ruth's usual humorous way. She pretty much writes the way she talks and I could almost hear her telling the stories as I read them. You can't do that with all books you read. Of course, knowing some of the people she wrote about doesn't hurt either.
Friends on the Farm has been reviewed by Illinois Times and the review of Aunt Ruth's book is positive. I got a chuckle out of the cow named "Three." I omit the discussion of the name deriviation from this blog, but farm kids or former farm kids, probably already have a good idea where that name came from.
You can buy Aunt Ruth's book on Amazon.com
Labels: ufkes
10 September 2007
Fred, Tena, and John Ufkes ca. 1920
Thanks to my great-aunt Ruth, I have a picture of my maternal grandfather, John H. Ufkes (1917-2003) and his parents. My great-grandmother Tena Ufkes (1895-1986, actually born Trientje Janssen) and Fred Ufkes (1893-1960) are also pictured.Granddad looks to be about 3 or 4, which would make the picture taken around 1920. The 1920 Census shows the Ufkes family living in Bear Creek Township, Hancock County, Illinois, on a rental farm---the farm was actually rented from Fred's father Johann Ufkes (1838-1924).
Don't neglect to contact all family members who might have pictures. And if they are nice enough to share with you, don't forget to send a thank you note.
07 September 2007
World War II Draft Registrion from Selective Service
At long last, I received a copy of my maternal grandfather's World War Two Draft Card received from the Selective Service Administration. In addition to his card, I also requested and received his classification record, a summary of which I'll post later. The back of his card provided his height and weight and other physical characteristics.
This is the earliest signature I have for Granddad and interestinly enough it pretty much looks the same here as it did 60 years later. I can't say the same for mine.
26 July 2007
More on ARC
Enemy Alien registrations from World War I are also in the ARC database at the National Archives. I've written about these registrations before and unfortunately many of them are not extant. However I was able to locate one for a cousin of my great-grandfather, Maria Siebels. These registrations from Kansas have been digitized and can be viewed on the National Archives site. The picture of Maria shown in this entry is from her registration.
These records are not only indexed by name of the registrant. In this case, I located it by searching for "Habben" which is Maria's maiden name which is included on her registration. Those who wish to view Maria's complete file can visit ARC database at the National Archives and search for "maria seibels."
Her fingerprints are included as well.
Maria is the daughter of Annepke Ufkes Habben--sister of Johann Frederick Hinrichs Ufkes (1838-1924), my great-great-grandfather. Of course my grandmother Ufkes was a Habben, too, but her Habben family is a different one from the Habben family Annepke Ufkes married into. Patronymics are wonderful.
06 July 2007
Habbe and Annepka (Ufkes) Habben
This picture is of Habbe and Annepke (Ufkes) Habben. Habbe was born in Wiesens, Ostfriesland, Germany in 1825 and Annepke was born in 1831. They were living in the United States when this picture was taken with their daughter, Christena. The Habben family eventually settled in Nebraska.
Thanks to my cousin Theresa for sharing this picture with me.
Annepke is a sister to Johann Ufkes (1838-1924) my great-great-grandfather.
Labels: ufkes
26 March 2007
Friends on the Farm
My great-aunt has written a small book, Friends on the Farm, about growing up in rural west-central Illinois (Hancock County) in the 1930s and 1940s. I haven't read it yet (my Mom is waiting til Aunt Ruth visits to have her sign our copies); however I did read snippets of it that last time I was down to visit my parents. I have learned that my mother was a "neat litle kid" and that my great-grandfather, much to the chagrin of his fellow German neighbors voted for Roosevelt during the Depression (I bet THAT went over really well...). We'll post more about the book later after I've had a chance to read it.
Labels: ufkes
