1913 Benton Basketball Team - Robert Lee Gober - Genealogy and Algebra

Robert Lee Gober (1895-1971) is on the far left in the photograph below, holding the basketball. He is my wife's great grandfather. Benton is the County Seat for Scott County, in Southeastern Missouri. 

Born in 1895, Robert Lee Gober would have been 18 in 1913. We know as an adult he was 6'4" tall, though we do not know if he had stopped growing by the time of this photograph. I don't know the identities of any of the other young men, but I was curious how much they varied in height. Let's assume he was 6'4" tall. Can we estimate the height of the shortest teammate? Definitely. 

Examining the photograph in my photo-editor, RL Gober is 1,775 pixels in height, and the shortest teammate is 1,515. (I measured from the top of the head to the bottom of the foot, choosing the back foot for both individuals)

76 inches / 1775 pixels = X inches / 1,515 pixels

Solving for X, he is 64.87 inches tall. Or 5'5. Almost a full foot shorter than Robert.

Naturally, there is some room for error in how I calculated the pixels.

(You didn't realize algebra would come in handy for genealogy, did you?)

Amanuensis Monday: The Will of J.T. Wallace (1861-1916)

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

This week I look at the will and associated documents of my wife's second great grandfather, John Thomas Wallace (1861-1916)

Update: Further research indicates this is not my wife's ancestor, but an individual with the same name, and same year of death.

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St. Louis, May 24th 1911.

This is my last will
I appoint my wife Lulu N. Wallace sole Executrix without bond.
I direct that all my just debts be paid.
I direct that 5000.00 in Cash be paid to my mother B.S. Wallace.
After the payment of my debts and the above 5000.00 to my mother, what is left is to be the property of my Wife, Lulu N.Wallace.

J.T. Wallace

Witness-
J.C. Iselin.
C.A. Doolittle.

Codicil to my Will June 9- 1913
In the event of  my mothers death before mine I desire that 5000.00 willed to her go to my wife.

J.T. Wallace

Witness
C.A. Doolittle.
J.C. Iselin.

STATE OF MISSOURI
CITY OF ST. LOUIS

BE IT REMEMBERED, That on this 25th day of October A.D. 1916, before me, the undersigned Clerk of the Probate Court of the City of St. Louis, personally came C.A. Doolittle who being by me duly sworn on his oath, says:

“I saw J.T. Wallace, the testator subscribe his name to the annexed instruments, in writing, bearing dates the 24th day of May 1911, and the 9th day of June 1913, and heard him declare the same to be his last Will and Testament and a Codicil thereto; I subscribed my name thereto as a witness in the presence and at the request of the said testator and at the time of the execution of said instruments as aforesaid, and of  my subscribing the same as such witness he the said testator was of sound and disposing mind, to the best of my knowledge and belief.”

C.A. Doolittle.

Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 25th day of October A.D. 1916.
George Brand, Clerk. By C.W. Hunt, Deputy Clerk.

STATE OF MISSOURI
CITY OF ST. LOUIS

BE IT REMEMBERED, That on this 25th day of October A.D. 1916, before me, the undersigned Clerk of the Probate Court of the City of St. Louis, personally came J.C. Iselin who being by me duly sworn on his oath, says:

“I saw J.T. Wallace, the testator subscribe his name to the annexed instruments, in writing, bearing dates the 24th day of May 1911, and the 9th day of June 1913, and heard him declare the same to be his last Will and Testament and a Codicil thereto; I subscribed my name thereto as a witness in the presence and at the request of the said testator and at the time of the execution of said instruments as aforesaid, and of  my subscribing the same as such witness he the said testator was of sound and disposing mind, to the best of my knowledge and belief.”
J.C. Iselin.

Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 25th day of October A.D. 1916.
George Brand, Clerk. By C.W. Hunt, Deputy Clerk.

STATE OF MISSOURI
CITY OF ST. LOUIS

I, GEORGE BRAND, Clerk of the Probate Court of the City of St. Louis, having examined the annexed instruments in writing, together with the testimony of C.A. Doolittle and J.C. Iselin the subscribing witnesses thereto, do consider the same as duly proved to be the last Will and Testament of J.T. Wallace, deceased.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereunto set my hand and affix the seal of said Court, at office, this 25th day of October, 1916. George Brand, Clerk.

---

Notes:
1) Found in Ancestry's new Will and Probate collection, this is clearly not the original documents. Someone possibly transcribed the Will and Codicil in October of 1916 along with the testimony of the witnesses.

2) J.T. Wallace refers to his wife here as "Lulu," but on their son's death certificate she is listed as Laura Wallace. (Whether 'Wallace' was her maiden name as well is uncertain.)

3) J.T. Wallace refers to his mother as B.S. In the 1870 census she is listed as "Frances" and on J.T.'s death certificate, she is listed as "Eliza."  Elizabeth could be abbreviated as both Eliza and Beth. I don't have a death date for the mother, though the codicil suggests she was still alive in 1913. While they lived in Missouri, and death certificates 1910-1954 are online, Wallace is a very common surname, and there are multiple possibilities.

4) As I have been researching the past several years, I have grown to loathe the use of initials.

Amanuensis Monday: The Marriage of Agnes Gober and William Lane - 1919

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009. Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe and share their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

***
This week I transcribe a news article from the Sikeston Standard concerning Agnes Gober, the sister of my wife's great grandfather, Robert Gober.

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Miss Agnes Gober of Vanduser and Will Lane, who lives near Charleston, slipped away from a party of friends at the Fair Grounds Saturday afternoon and drove to Charleston, where they were married. The bride is the attractive daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Gober and has a great many friends among the younger set here, where she has been a student in the High School. The groom is an industrious young farmer of Mississippi county and will take his bride to the home he had ready for her, on the farm.

Sikeston Standard (Sikeston, Missouri) · Fri, Oct 10, 1919 · Page 4

***
Notes:

1) Charleston is a city in Mississippi County, Missouri, and is about 15 miles from Sikeston, and 26 miles from Vanduser.

2) It sounds like the marriage wasn't a planned event - closer to an elopement. Their first child would be born 8 months, 19 days later. George William and Agnes (Gober) Lane had four children: William, Murray, Dorothy and James.

Amanuensis Monday: Obituary of Caroline Mathilde G Schrock - July 23, 1915

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009. Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe and share their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

***
This week I transcribe two obituaries for my wife's 3rd great grandmother, Caroline Mathilde (Ruffert) Schrock.

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The Weekly Tribune and Cape County Herald, Friday, July 23, 1915, page 4
Mrs. C.M.G. SCHROCK IS DEAD AT 97 YEARS OF AGE

Well-Known Woman, Born in Germany, Lived in Missouri 55 Years.

Mrs. Caroline Mathilde G. Schrock died at the home of her son, Berthold Schrock, at Scopus, Mo., on July 17, at the age of 97 years.

Mrs. Schrock was the wife of Anton F.J. Schrock who died at their residence near Marble Hill on the 8th day of June, 1900. After the death of her husband she made her home with her oldest son, near Scopus.

She was born Nov. 14, 1817 at Neurode, Silesia, Germany. She was married on Feb. 7, 1843, and emigrated to America in 1852. They came to Missouri in 1860 and located on a homestead near Marble Hill, Bollinger County.

Seven children were born to their marriage, all of whom survive their parents. The children are: Berthold Schrock, of Scopus, age 71 years; Charles Schrock of Cape Girardeau, age 69 years; Cecilia Brodtman, of Cape Girardeau, age 65 years; Mary Kamp, of Burfordville, age 63 years; John Schrock, of Morley, age 61 years; Hedwig Schwartz, Lentna [?Lentner], Shelby County, age 59 years; Albert Schrock, of Marble Hill, 55 years.

She is also survived by 36 grandchildren and 67 great grandchildren.

The Scott County Kicker had a much shorter obituary on July 31, basically summarizing the information in the earlier obituary. [Morley, Missouri - where her son, John, lived - is in Scott County.]

Mrs. Caroline Schrock died at Scopus, Bollinger county last week in her 98th year. She was born in Germany and settled where Marble Hill now is in 1860. Seven children survive her, the oldest being 71 and the youngest 55. There are 36 grand children and 67 great grandchildren.

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Notes

1) Some obituaries contain more information in them than others. It's hard to imagine an obituary, though, that was better crafted for the genealogist than the first one above. Birth date, Place of Birth, Death Date, Date and Place of Death for spouse, Marriage Date, Year of Emigration. Names and Ages of all children - from which one can figure out whether or not they were born in Germany, or the US. (Assuming all the numbers are accurate, two children were born in the same year they changed locations - Mary may have been born in Germany or the US, Albert may have been born in Missouri, or wherever they were beforehand.)

2) A simple internet search leads me to the immigration date October 3, 1853, on the ship, Marianne.
So the obituary appears to have been off by a year.

The death certificate for John Schrock, my wife's great-grandfather, says he was born in Baltimore, Maryland.  However, the manifest transcription states they were headed for Cincinnati, and Albert Schrock's death certificate states he was born in Cincinnati. So it appears they spent time in both Maryland and Ohio before moving to Missouri.

Mary isn't listed on the manifest, however, her death certificate states she was born in July of 1852 in Germany. If the date of birth is correct, it's possible children under a certain age weren't listed on the manifest. It's also possible the date of birth on her death certificate is wrong, and perhaps she was named after the ship.

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2014

Every year on St. Patrick's Day I've blogged about the Irish ancestry of my great grandfather, Barney Newmark. I was named after him through my Hebrew name, בָּרוּךְ (Barukh).

He wrote a bio of himself for a "Who's Who" of local businessmen claiming to be a native of Dublin, even though he was almost certainly born on the outskirts of Warsaw, in Warka, Poland. He celebrated his birthday on March 17th, though some documents state he was born on March 25th, and others state April 14th. I shared my Irishness with a friend back in 2007, and he looked Barney up in the 1930 US Census, and sent me a link. I've long been interested in my ancestry, but I had done no research, and had no idea what was available online. And here I am seven years later.

While my Irish ancestry may be somewhat mythological, my wife's isn't. According to some sources, her 3rd great grandfather, Thomas Muldoon, was born in Ireland in 1817, in County Fermanagh.









Past St. Patrick's Day posts

March 16, 2013: Happy St. Patrick's Day
March 17, 2012: Happy 126th Birthday to my Great Grandfather
March 17, 2011: Happy St. Patrick's Day
March 17, 2010: Barney's Birthday and Birthplace
March 17, 2009: On St. Patrick's Day Everyone is Irish
March 17, 2008: My 'Irish' Great Grandfather
March 15, 2007: Corned Beef and Cabbage on Rye

Amanuensis Monday: James W Usrey - WW2 Submarine Veteran

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009.  Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

In honor of Veterans Day, this week I transcribe a Veterans ID card of my wife's great uncle, James Wesley Usrey (1925-2010), half-brother to her maternal grandmother.

Amanuensis Monday: December 20, 1876 - An untimely death

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009.  Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

This week I look at a news clipping I found from the Missouri Republican, dated December 20, 1876, concerning a likely relative of my wife.

Amanuensis Monday: Jasper Fulkerson and the Wind Mill

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

Despite an absence of Amanuensis posts for awhile, I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009.  Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

***
This week I look at a newspaper article found at ChroniclingAmerica, mentioning a possible relative of my wife's.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Every year on St. Patrick's Day I've blogged about the Irish ancestry of my great grandfather, Barney Newmark.

He wrote a bio of himself for a "Who's Who" of local businessmen claiming to be a native of Dublin, even though he was almost certainly born on the outskirts of Warsaw, in Warka, Poland. He celebrated his birthday on March 17th, though some documents state he was born on March 25th, and others state April 14th. I shared my Irishness with a friend back in 2007, and he looked Barney up in the 1930 US Census, and sent me a link. I've long been interested in my ancestry, but I had done no research, and had no idea what was available online. And here I am six years later.

While my Irish ancestry may be somewhat mythological, my wife's isn't. According to some sources, her 3rd great grandfather, Thomas Muldoon, was born in Ireland in 1817, in County Fermanagh.









Past St. Patrick's Day posts

March 17, 2012: Happy 126th Birthday to my Great Grandfather
March 17, 2011: Happy St. Patrick's Day
March 17, 2010: Barney's Birthday and Birthplace
March 17, 2009: On St. Patrick's Day Everyone is Irish
March 17, 2008: My 'Irish' Great Grandfather
March 15, 2007: Corned Beef and Cabbage on Rye

Amanuensis Monday: Biographical Sketch of Newton Fulkerson - 1893

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009.  Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

***
This week I look at a rather extensive biographical sketch of my wife's second great grandfather, Newton Fulkerson. The sketch was published in 1893.

Amanuensis Monday: A Feat of Heroism - 1915

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009.  Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

***

I discovered the following news story at ChroniclingAmerica, a digital collection of newspapers belonging to the Library of Congress. I had conducted a search on "Mabel Fulkerson," my wife's great grandmother. Born on June 14, 1901, she had just turned 14 years old at the time of the article.

Amanuensis Monday: Louis C Gober at the Gratiot Street Prison

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009.  Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

***
I learned on the Civil War St. Louis site, my wife's 3rd-great grandfather, Louis C. Gober (1830-1876), spent some time in the St. Louis Gratiot Street Prison "by order of the Provost Marshall General." I searched for his records at Fold3. (I have access to Fold3 through my local library card.)

Amanuensis Monday: Sheriff Gober and a Stolen Horse

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009.  Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

***
My wife's great grandfather, Louis Pleas Gober (1867-1948), was Sheriff of Scott County, Missouri in the early 1900s. ChroniclingAmerica has archives of several area newspapers from that time, and he appears often. A year ago I shared an article from the St. Louis Post Dispatch concerning a problem he had with some mules. Below is an article from the Jackson Herald -- January 31, 1907, page 1, above the fold.

A New Surname List

Below are the ancestral surnames for my wife, Jen, alphabetized, and organized by generational distance.  Similar to how I organized my ancestral surnames in a 2008 post.

1-4 Generations

Baldwin, Bauer, Blackman, Dexheimer, Fulkerson, Gober, Harrison, Mouldon, Olson, Schrock, Sheer, Taylor, Volk, Wallace

5-8 Generations

Abernathy, Armstead, Boyd, Bradley, Campbell, Cowsert, Davenport, Findley, Floyd, Hargrave, Jackson, Jernigan, Langenstein, McGinnis, Matheny, Meekin, Miller, Rolliston, Ruffert, Volckertson, Wentz, Whittmer, Wilkinson

9-12 Generations

DeWitt, Goode, Van Lieuvin, Massingale, Norgraves, Routt, Sharp, Shuttleworth, Wentworth

***

If you share one of these surnames, especially some of the rarer ones, we'd be interested in hearing from you.  The more surnames you share, naturally, the closer you are likely to be related.

For the first four generations, the geographical location is mostly Missouri.  Then it starts to disperse, ultimately arriving in French Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, and England.

Just Married!

This post is to announce that the blogger ... (b'lil ayin hara) .. is now a married man.

Naturally, there are no photos to share yet.  As a placeholder...Here's a photograph of my great grandparents' Barney Newmark and Bertha Cruvant on their wedding day.

This post has been previously written and scheduled - hence the Hebrew phrase at the top. This blogger is not the type to spend his wedding day writing a blog post.

Julie Andrews and Gene Kelly sing about their family trees

I shared this back in 2007, but there are probably one or two current readers who missed it, and others might enjoy listening to this again.  This is probably from The Julie Andrews Show (1965). 
 
Part I



Part II



On a personal note, back in 2007, I recall wondering whether I was going to end up like Gene's "Uncle Jim." Happily, that isn't the case; my fiancée last weekend was #1 on my list of things to be thankful for. For the second year running.

Amanuensis Monday: Missouri Sheriff Has a Mule Problem

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back in February of 2009, and since then, many others have joined in on the meme.  Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others. If you participate, feel free to leave a link to your post in the comments.
***
This week, I transcribe another document relating to the ancestry of my fiancée. This is a newspaper article from The St. Louis Post Dispatch concerning her second great grandfather, Louis P. Gober (1867-1948). [The article was found at ProQuest Historical Newspapers.]

Amanuensis Monday: Verba Fulkerson's 83rd Birthday

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back in February of 2009, and since then, many others have joined in on the meme.  Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others. If you participate, feel free to leave a link to your post in the comments.

***

This week, in a first, I transcribe a document relating to the ancestry of my fiancée. This is a newspaper article from The Sikeston Herald noting the 83rd birthday of her 2nd great grandmother, Verba Blackman Fulkerson (1857-1947). [The article was found at NewspaperArchive.]

Tu b'Av - Day of Love

Tu b'Av is a relatively obscure Jewish holiday that falls on the fifteenth day of the month of Av (sundown Sunday, August 14 to sundown Monday, August 15 this year).

The fifteenth day of each month on the Hebrew calendar falls on a full moon, and the holiday was observed as a sort of fertility festival during the period of the Second Temple.  After the destruction of the Second Temple, it was forgotten for the most part in the Diaspora, only to be revived in modern times as a Jewish alternative to Valentine's Day.

To A Lady
by Victor Hugo,
From Les Feuilles D'Automne


Child, were I king, I'd yield my royal rule,
     My chariot, sceptre, vassal-service due,
My crown, my porphyry-basined waters cool,
My fleets, whereto the sea is but a pool,
     For a glance from you!

Love, were I God, the earth and its heaving airs,
     Angels, the demons abject under me,
Vast chaos with its teeming womby lairs,
Time, space, all would I give--aye, upper spheres,
     For a kiss from thee!


translation by Thomas Hardy
photogravure by Goupil et Cie, from a drawing by Deveria, appears in a collection of Hugo's poetry published by Estes and Lauriat in the late 1800s.

Deciphering a name

A few weeks ago I mentioned that there was a likelihood I might soon be blogging about new surnames, as I delve into more research on my fiancée's ancestry.

Well, it begins with a request for assistance in deciphering a given name on a death certificate.  I know the name is Norwegian.  My first guess is Erikson Olson, though I am unsure how common a surname as a given name is in Norwegian tradition.

(Yes, the mother's name was Ann Jackson.  I don't need help there.)

Update : I'm fairly certain I just found the death certificate for the brother of the individual's above, and the father's name is recorded as Eric Olson, so I suspect my first instinct was correct.  Though it is unclear which son communicated the correct name to his family.  The other son's family says the father was born in Sweden.  One of them is likely correct.  It was nice of both brothers to move to Missouri which has a useful online database of death certificates.