"Field" Trip

One of my most favorite places in the whole (well, my limited view of the) world is the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. This is really history! I recently spent a leisurely afternoon at the Field and brought along my camera. Come along as I share some of my favorite things at the Field.

Thank you, Chicago!

© 2012 Sally Knudsen

Tombstone Tuesday - Carrie Derk

I have written a series of posts about my Dork / Doerk / Derk family in Lansing, Michigan. [Older posts here] The mother of the large sibling group I am researching is Caroline Papke Doerk. Here is her gravestone photo from Mount Hope Cemetery in Lansing, Ingham, Michigan. She is buried in the "singles" section, or the individual graves, rather than in a family lot.

Carrie Derk

Died

Mar. 15, 1900

Aged

61 Years

Our Mother

There are several good clues here. First, she clearly made it to America with her children. Second, it is engraved "Our Mother" so I know she had more than one child. Finally, burial in the singles section makes me think she was widowed or even that her husband never came to America. She was probably the first of the family to die, before a family lot may have been purchased.

© 2012 Sally Knudsen

Dorks Across The Pond

I am pretty lucky to have an ancestral name like Dork.

Recently, I wrote several posts about my success trying to locate and piece together the various siblings of my great-great-grandfather, Otto Carl Dork in Lansing, Michigan. [Old posts here]

Otto's marriage record stated his parent's name were Carl Doerk and Carrie A. Popka. Otto was the last of his siblings to marry, and as luck would have it, older records didn't ask for parents names. But this record is a great start:

My next step was to search for immigration records. It took some creative searching due to name variations. I found the following family members on the ship Braunschweig that landed in New York on 22 April 1882.

page 16

Caroline Dork, 42, Prussia

Johanne Dork, 16, Prussia

page 21

Wilhelmine Derk, 19, Prussia

Maria Derk, 11, Prussia

Otto Derk, 8, Prussia

Rudolf Derk, 4, Prussia

Otto Derk, 5 months, Prussia

Auguste Papke, 64, Prussia

Ooh! These are clearly the right children. And their assumed mother, Caroline Dork, is the adult/parent of the group. Notably, there is no male parent and no older son Herman. Did one or both come ahead of the rest of the family? I have no idea who the baby Otto is. And who is Auguste Papke? Papke sure seems similar to Popka. A grandmother, perhaps? There are answers from the passenger lists, and now I have even more questions.  

To be continued...

© 2012 Sally Knudsen

I'm Back!

Did you miss me?

I took a short break, knowing I wouldn't have the time needed this fall to dedicate to my blog and genealogy.  Honestly, I was having withdrawals!

My break was due to my kids making their own family history.  I previously posted briefly about my sons and their running exploits. My younger son, an eight-grader, helped his team qualify for the Illinois Elementary School Association state cross country finals for middle school. His team placed third and he finished as a medalist in 21st place. He is the most dedicated runner I know and was brought to tears realizing he won a state finals medal.

My older son, a senior in high school, had lots of talent but many physical setbacks.   He and his team also qualified for the Illinois State High School Cross Country championships. The team finished 16th of the big schools and my son finished in 74th place with a 19-second personal best time over his Sectionals race time - that's 15:13 for 3 miles! He also was invited to and participated in a senior all-star meet in Dayton, Ohio. Let the college recruiting begin!

I am so proud of them and their teams. Cross country is such a great sport, and is extremely competitive, especially in Illinois.  And don't worry, I have lots and lots and lots of photographic documentation :)

© 2012 Sally Knudsen

A Short Break

The fall always becomes a crazy time of year for our family, and unfortunately, my genealogy has to take a back seat for a few weeks.

You see, my sons are busy creating some family history of their own. They are both talented cross country runners, one in middle school and one in high school. Every Saturday we are at a meet somewhere in Illinois. And every week, they collect some mementos to add to our family history.

Wish us luck!

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Tombstone Tuesday - The Unknowns

Seward Mound Cemetery is a small farming community cemetery in rural Kendall County, Illinois. Some of the burials date back to the 1850's. There are several lots that no longer have markers, and some of the markers that do remain are broken or weathered beyond legibility. These are some of those gravestone remnants.

Lizzie 

Mattie or Hattie D. 

unknown 

unknown, died 1872

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© 2012 Sally Knudsen

Tombstone Tuesday - Catharine in White

This broken white gravestone marks the area where Catharine Heilman lies. The stone has a traditional weeping willow carving. The top is engraved with:

HOME BEYOND THE GRAVE

I didn't want to disturb the broken pieces of the stone to locate ages and dates. A little online detective work reveals that Catharine was born about 1813 in Pennsylvania, had at least three children in Indiana with her husband Jacob, and eventually settled in the farming community of Aux Sable Township, Kendall County, Illinois. She last appears on a census in 1880 as a widow, living with neighbors. Catharine is buried next to Jacob in Seward Mound Cemetery, Kendall County, Illinois.

Rest in peace, Catharine.

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© 2012 Sally Knudsen