Rest in Peace, Aunt Kate

Kathryn Louise (Fredrick) Pihl

6 September 1918-2 January 2012

Kathryn Louise Fredrick 

Kathryn Louise Fredrick on the Fredrick Family Farm

Kathryn Louise Fredrick and Carl Tritten on their wedding day, May 1938

My Aunt Kate passed away last night.  She was more like a grandmother to me than an aunt.  I have very fond memories of her.  Although it is sad that she is gone, I know she is free from the effects of Alzheimers.  I will remember her and the wonderful times I spent at her home.  My thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time.  Rest in peace, Aunt Kate.



12 for 2012?

2012

Happy New Year!

It is that time of year when people are making resolutions and genealogists are making goals.  I have given up on resolutions, but can really get into making goals.  Can I achieve 12 goals for 2012?  My family can attest to my overdoing it every now and then.  So, in honor of a new year, I will not be overdoing it with goal setting this year.  I decided to concentrate on three areas:  research, education and organization.  Here are my six goals for 2012:

Research

• Research, record, and source vital record information for my mother's 11 brothers and sisters.
• Research Vinera Eglantine Powers parentage.

Education

• View two webinars per month.
• Read research wiki's or courses twice a month.

Organization

• Finish the Glover surname file labels, using Family Roots Organizer System.
• Add information received from a Glover researcher to my Roots Magic software.

Setting goals motivates me in my genealogy research.  Additionally, it focuses my attention toward completion of the goals.  Do you set genealogy goals?  Why or Why not?

11 for 11 Review

A short 12 months ago I made '11 for 11' genealogy goals.  I feel setting goals has helped focus my research, but I don't know if I will do '12 for 12' or not.  Some of my goals were too vague, so if I do it again I will simplify the goals I want to achieve.  I completed 9 of the 11 goals for 2011, for 82%.  Goal numbers 4 and 9 were not achieved.  I never made it to Miami County, Indiana and I don't really have a good excuse.  And number 9 was more of a dream, I think.  I am a creature of habit and I thought I could do the same for my research.  Although I did not have a regular time for research I did a lot of research this year.  In addition, I completed many things that are not found in these goals.  How did your 2011 go genealogy-wise?

My 2011 genealogy goals are:

1. Scan pictures! -Boy, did I scan pictures.  I scanned at home, my mom's, libraries, family reunion and a cousin's house.
2. Work on my brickwall, Daniel Fenn.  I worked on it, but still no luck on who his parent's were.
3. Make a concentrated effort to source every fact as I add it to my software program. I am most proud of my efforts here.  If it doesn't have a source, it doesn't go in Roots Magic.  I even went back and cleaned up/enhanced my sources already in my program. 
4. Visit Miami County, Indiana to research Casper and Mary Graf further.
5. Obtain my grandfather's, Otto August Fredrick, obituary.  A visit to the Library of Michigan enabled me to check this one off the list.  I found lots of other obituaries here too.
6. Attend a genealogical conference.  I attended the FGS conference in Springfield, Illinois.  It was a wonderful experience and I am still researching using the tips I learned from the many excellent presenters.
7. Start researching my son-in-law's ancestry.  I had made good progress on his father's side and just started his mother's side of the family.
8. Talk to my mother and find out about family heirlooms in her possession.  I talked to her and took pictures of some of the heirlooms.
9. Carve out a regular research time.
10. Make contact with newly discovered cousins and share information.  This was a fun one, I have talked/emailed to many of my family researchers.
11. Research myself! Add my personal facts to my genealogical software.  This was another fun one.  I added many facts about myself to my software.

50th Anniversary of Charles and Emma Zobel

Manistee News Advocate, (Manistee, Michigan), 28 December 1938, p2; column 3,

microfilm owned by Library of Michigan, Lansing, Michigan.

"Charles Zobels Celebrate Their Golden Wedding

Married 50 years ago Tuesday, Dec. 27, Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Zobel celebrated their Golden Wedding yesterday with a family dinner at Smith's dining hall preceding a church service and 'open house' reception at Trinity Lutheran schoolhouse.

Attending the dinner in addition to their son-in-law and daughter Mr. and Mrs. Harmon Jacks, their son and daughter-in-law Mr and Mrs. Charles G. Zobel and children, Natalie and Edward, and Mrs. Zobel's sister, Mrs. Ollie Wenzel, all of Detroit, were another son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth Wares and children, Elaine and Donald, a son, Edgar Zobel of Traverse City, All Dorrance of Fowlerville, Mich., and the Rev. and Mrs. J. H. Todt of Manistee.

Beautiful arrangements of white and gold flowers-the gifts of their many friends adorned the school hall where nearly 100 friends assembled following the church service to extend felicitations to the honored couple.

The program opening with selections by the church choir continued with a talk by Reverend Todt, songs by the Zobels' granddaughter, Natalie Zobel, with piano accompaniment by her aunt, Mrs. Harmon Jacks; a piano solo by another granddaughter, Elaine Warnes; a humorous monologue by Mrs. Jacks; the reading of greetings, letters and telegrams by Mrs. John Messner and Reverend Todt. In conclusion, Mrs. Emma Ohst congratulated the guests of honor and presented them an anniversary purse in behalf of the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Lutheran Band and Concordia No. 9.

A 65 pound wedding cake, 36 inches high shaped like a gold bell and surrounded by a white dove with two wedding rings in its bill was cut at the reception.

Mrs. Zobel before her wedding 50 years ago in the old German Lutheran Church by the Rev. H. Lemke was Emma May Tracy, daughter of George Tracy of this city. Mr. Zobel was a clerk for F.C. Larsen and later owned and operated a haberdashery. He now is engaged in the insurance business. He has served his home city as city treasurer, as alderman under the former aldermanic form of government and as member and secretary of the Board of Education."

Charles Zobel is the son of John Zobel and Henriette Fredrich.  They were married 73 years ago today.  Charles Zobel died in 1947.

Surname Advice-52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History

Week 52.  Advice.  Do you have any advice for future generations who may be researching your family?  For example, was there a name change or a significant relocation in your past.  This is intended to be a very flexible question.  Answer it any way you wish.

GLOVER:  I have been very fortunate to come in contact with other's who are researching the Glover line.    I have never seen it spelled any other way.  I am confident that I have traced it correctly to the 1600's Colonial America.  My advice is if you find Anna Glover's Glover Memorials and Genealogy book to verify the information.  The Glover family came from England to Dedham and Milton, Massachusetts to Lebanon, Connecticut, to  Phelps,New York to Ypsilanti,Michigan.

FREDRICK:  The spelling of this name can be found as FREDRICH, FREDRICKS, and FREDERICKS.  My line of Fredrick's came from Prussia.  The Fredrick family settled in Manistee County, Michigan.  The Fredrick farm is a Centennial Farm and is still in the area.  My advice is to visit the Manistee County Historical Museum which is rich in the history of the area.  You can do double duty here as Glover's and Fredrick's settled in this area.

WATT:  My paternal grandmother's surname was Watt.  The family was from Methil, Fife, Scotland.  They came to Ontario, Canada and then Marquette, Michigan.  Watt is the only spelling I have come across in my research.

GRAF:  The Graf family is from Rockenhausen, Germany.  They came from Germany to Miami County, Indiana to Brethren, Michigan.  The name can be found as Grav, Graff, and Graf.  Check out the Family History Center's films from Rockenhausen, Germany.  They have lots of information.

FENN:  I wish future researchers luck with this surname.  I imagine it will forever be a brickwall for me.  In my research I have only seen it spelled as Fenn.  The Fenn family came from Shoreham, Vermont to Washtenaw County, Michigan.

MCGEE:  The McGee family settled in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada.  They were Irish in origin.  The name is usually spelled McGee.  My advice is to not get confused by the various ages that Richard McGee listed in the census.  I think he was compensating for the age difference with his second wife.

ZASTROW:  The Zastrow name is German in origin.  My great grandmother was the first generation to come to America.  She settled in Manistee County, Michigan.  The spelling can be found as Zastrow and Zastrau.  Don't be confused by a Louise Zastrow who came to America through the New Orleans port and settled in Wisconsin.  She is not our Louise Zastrow.

MAST:  The Mast family came from the Guggisberg area of Switzerland.  They settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania in the 1730's.  They moved to Somerset County, Pennsylvania.  They also had a short stop in Walnut Creek, Ohio before settling in Howard County, Indiana.  Some family members used the spelling Mast and others used Maust.  Mast is the spelling I found in Switzerland.

LEYNDYKE:  Good Luck to future Leyndyke's researching the family.  My advice is to find where I donated my research and take a look.  The spelling of Leyndyke has changed over the years, starting with Luijendijk to Luyendyk to Leyn Dyke to Leyndyke.  The Luijendijk family originated in Heenvliet, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands around 1500.  The first five generations have Arend Jan and Jan Arend as their first name.  The first Luyendyk immigrated to Owasco, New York and later Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Once you figure out the spelling of the ancestors of Leyndyke you will have smooth sailing as Dutch records are easy to use.

This concludes my participation in 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History for this year.  The 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History was created by Amy Coffin of We Tree Genealogy Blog.  Thank you to Amy for her great ideas.  I have participated in 46 of the 52 weeks.  I don't usually write about myself, so these prompts were a way for me to leave stories for my descendants.  I hope you have enjoyed them. 

White Chocolate Snack Mix-Family Recipe Friday

White Chocolate Snack Mix, Christmas 2010

White Chocolate Snack Mix is a favorite treat of my children, Kirsten and Travis.  I first tasted this when I was substitute teaching many years ago.  I asked for the recipe, but the woman who made it wasn't one for sharing recipes.  She said it was easy to make, you just add the ingredients and cover with chocolate.  OK, I should be able to figure this one out.  So, I did.  The recipe below is the one I adapted.

White Chocolate Snack Mix

1 cup cheerios

4 cups Rice Chex

1 cup pretzel sticks, or holiday pretzel shapes

1 cup M&M’s, holiday colors

1 cup peanuts

1 cup cashews

Melt 2 cups white chocolate wafers in double boiler.  Spread melted white chocolate over mixture.  Stir gently to coat.  Cool in freezer.  Stir as it cools to prevent clumping.  Break up and enjoy!

I have made variations of this for other holidays:  peanut butter chocolate wafers, toffee peanuts, harvest colored m&m's, etc.  I will be making a double batch to enjoy this year. 

Our Heritage Christmas Tree

Our Heritage Christmas Tree

December 2011

I have been thinking about putting a Christmas tree up that celebrates our family's heritage for awhile now.  I finally did it this year.  This tree is in addition to our regular Christmas tree.

A short, fall, getaway weekend to Frankenmuth, Michigan and Bronner's Christmas Store motivated me to do it this year.  We found a very nice, four-foot tree, which is what I had been looking for.  In addition, I bought flag ornaments for the countries our ancestors emigrated from; plus, the United States.  Bronner's had all of the flags we needed except for The Netherlands.   I did find The Netherland's flag ornament online, so our countries are complete.

L-R Top Row:  United States, Switzerland, Great Britain

        Middle Row:  Ireland, France, Germany

        Bottom Row:  Netherlands, Canada, Scotland

Currently, I only have the flag ornaments and a couple of ornaments that celebrates Dutch Heritage.  I am going to leave it this way for now.  I don't know what else I want to add.  I am open to ideas, so please share yours in the comment section.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Happy Birthday, Kirsten

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIRSTEN!!

Kirsten's 1st Birthday, 1984

Kirsten, licking the batters from her birthday cake.

Last year I wrote about Kirsten's birth, so I thought I would write about her 1st birthday this year.  I have always been compelled to bake my children's birthday cakes.  It is something I wanted to do.  So, when I found a cute baby block recipe, I thought that would be perfect.  Well, it was for about an hour!

Kirsten's Baby Block Birthday Cake

The afternoon before her birthday I baked the cake and cut it into squares.  Later, in the evening, I frosted and decorated it.  I didn't think it looked too bad.  I took a picture and went to bed looking forward to the next day, Kirsten's 1st birthday.  I woke up in the morning and headed downstairs to the kitchen and what did I find?  All of the frosting had slid off of her cake. (Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of that.)  I was mortified!  What was I going to do?  We had friends coming over for a little birthday celebration that night.  It was too late to order a cake from a bakery, our small town didn't have a bakery, anyway.  So, I thought cupcakes.  They are quick, easy to decorate and I didn't have to worry about the frosting sliding off!  So, I quickly baked some cupcakes.

Chocolate cupcakes with mini chocolate chips saved the day.

I look back on the cake episode and chuckle, but I wasn't chuckling in 1984.  I am a bit of a perfectionist and wanted to make her 1st birthday perfect!  It turned out to be a wonderful celebration with friends, so all was good.

Family friends, Jenny, Russell, Kari, Katy and Jennifer with Kirsten eating cake and ice cream.

As you can see from the pictures, the birthday theme was Smurfs.  We had a Smurf tablecloth and napkins.  Each child guest received a Smurf hat.  Kirsten had a fun time and never realized her mom made two birthday cakes that year!