Apr 09

Tombstone Tuesday–Louise W. Hileman

Louise W. Hileman, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

Louise W. Hileman, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Louise W. Hileman, located in row 6 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

 LOUISE W.
HILEMAN
1904-1926

According to Zion Chatt’s records, Louisa Wilhelmina Becher was born in Mercer County, Ohio, on 11 May 1904, the daughter of Johann F. and Friedericke (Mamber) Becher. She was baptized 12 June 1904, with Louisa Laesch and Wilhelmina Volz as sponsors. Louise was confirmed at Zion Chatt on 27 May 1917 by Rev. W.F.H. Heuer. Her confirmation verse was Ephesians 4:5.

Zion Lutheran Chatt 1917 Confirmation Class. Louise Becher: front row, middle. [1]

Zion Lutheran Chatt 1917 Confirmation Class. Louise Becher: front row, middle. [1]

Louise Becher married Orville L. Hileman on 4 October 1922 at Zion. He was 21 years old and from Van Wert County. She was 18 years of age and from Mercer County. Witnesses to the marriage were Walter Becher and Alma Wall. Orville and Louise lived in or near Ohio City after their marriage.

On 8 September 1924 Louise and her brother Walter Becher were sponsors at the baptism of their niece Wilma Grace Becher, daughter of Albert and Mary (Meriman) [Merinar] Becher.

Louise died in Van Wert County on 23 January 1926 at the age of 21 years, 8 months and 12 days. According to the church records she died of blood poisoning, but according to her death certificate she died of postpartum eclampsia the day after the birth her daughter Helen Jean. [2] Louise was buried on 26 January, the same day her baby daughter Helen Jean was baptized. Survivors included her parents, her husband, her one day old daughter, and six brothers. The funeral was conducted by Rev. Jacob E. Albrecht. Helen Jean was raised by her grandmother Friedericke (Mamber) Becher.

Louise Hileman death certificate, Van Wert, Ohio. 1926.

Louise Hileman death certificate, Van Wert, Ohio. 1926.

Back in the early decades of 1900 Zion had a pump organ and someone would have to run the bellows to make the organ work. That job usually fell to young boys from the congregation. The access opening to the bellows was small and it was easier for a young person to squeeze through it. Louise (Becher) Hileman used to play the organ for services at Zion and her brothers would pump the bellows for her. One Sunday she tried to play the organ after the sermon but no sound came out because her brother had fallen asleep by the bellows.

 

[1] 1917 Zion Lutheran Chattanooga confirmation photo, left to right. Front: Luetta Baker, Lucile Becher, ?, Louise Becher, ?, Matilda Becher, Anna Ruth McGough. Middle: Clarence Kuhn, Walter Becher, ?, Charles Andrews. Back: ?, ?, Rev. Heuer, ?, Vera Heffner. Others in class, unidentified in photo: Frieda Louisa Hoehammer, Harold Roman Bender, Ralph Huffman, Lee Kuhn, Florence Kuhn, Clara Linn.

[2] “Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X6ZJ-VXJ : accessed 08 Apr 2013), Louise Whilime Hileman, 23 January 1926; citing Willshire Twp., Van Wert, Ohio, Regis. Dist. no. 1297, Primary Regis. Dist. no. 5993, File no. 79,

 

Apr 05

The 1890 Veterans Schedules

This Saturday, 6 April, I will be giving a Beginning Genealogy Workshop in Celina for some new members of the Mercer County Chapter OGS. I plan to discuss most of the major beginning genealogy topics, such as where to begin, recording information, analyzing the data and drawing sound conclusions, citing sources, organization and the various records to look at when doing research.

I plan to spend a good deal of time talking about census records, which are among the first records I look at when beginning any research project. Although never intended for genealogical purposes, census enumerations contain a great deal of information for family historians.

U.S. Federal Census records from 1790-1940 are now indexed and fairly easy to search on-line, with the exception of the 1890 census. The vast majority of the 1890 census was destroyed by a fire, but Ancestry.com has put a number of items together to form their 1890 Census Substitute Collection. Among their 1890 Census Substitute Collection are many city directories, some state censuses and tax lists, and the 1890 Veterans Schedules.

It was the 1890 Veterans Schedules that caught my eye. I had looked at the 1890 Veterans Schedule for Mercer County on microfilm at the Mercer County Public Library some time ago, but now, with the Internet, the collection is easy to search or browse from home. Ancestry.com shows the actual images on-line. Your local or county library may have your county’s census on microfilm and major libraries may have the whole collection.

Veterans schedules are often used as a partial substitute for the 1890 federal census and are a partial head of household list for those who were old enough to have served in the Union military during the Civil War. The 1890 Veterans Schedules record the following information: names of surviving soldiers, sailors, and marines, and widows; rank; name of regiment or vessel; date of enlistment; date of discharge, length of service; post office address; disability incurred; and remarks.

They give enough military information to verify military service and to identify the specific military unit in which a person served. This information can help you do additional research on your veteran ancestor.

Since you can browse through the 1890 Veterans Schedule on Ancestry.com, I focused my search for veterans in the Chattanooga area. I did not perform a name search. Instead I searched for Liberty or Blackcreek Township, Mercer, Ohio, and the index showed all the names in the township. There were about five pages for each township so it was easy to browse through the names. You could easily do a similar search for your area. Below are some names that I found.

Liberty Township, Mercer, Ohio, page 1, District 2, ED 189:

Christian Bollenbacher, Chattanooga. Private, Co. I, 56th Ohio Infantry, served from 8 Oct 1862-8 Jul 1863, for 9 months. (Line 5, house 32, family 33.)

Jacob Ballenbach/Bollenbaugher, Chattanooga. Private Company A, 23rd Ohio Infantry, served from 22 September 1864-5 June 1865, 9 months 14 days. Disability Incurred: veins. (Line 6, house 37, family 38.)

Frederick Kuhn, Private, Company F, 99th Ohio Infantry, served from 12 Aug 1862-19 Dec 1863, [part crossed out & rewritten], Trans. Disability Incurred: [unreadable]. (Line 7, house 44, family 45.)

Henry Kuhn, Chattanooga. Private, Company J [?], 56th Ohio Infantry, served from 8 Oct 1862-26 Jul 1863, for 9 months, 15 days. (Line 8, house 46, family 47.)

1890 Veterans Schedule, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio.

1890 Veterans Schedule, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio.

 

Blackcreek, Mercer, Ohio, page 1, District 2, ED 178:

Jasper Byer, Chattanooga. Private, Company H, 23rd Indiana Infantry, served from 15 October 1864-29 July 1865, for 9 months, 15 days. (Line 3, house 25, family 25.)

Emanuel Detro, Chattanooga. Private, Company C, 13th Ohio Infantry, served from 26 May 1861-26 Jun 1864, for 3 years, 7 months. Disability Incurred: Shot through the shoulder. (Line 4, house 30, family 32.)

Asa Snyder, Chattanooga. Private, Company G, 40th 0hio Infantry, served from 21 September 1861-21 September 1864, for 3 years. Disability Incurred: Shot in the hip. (Line 5, house 16, family 16.)

Henry Tricel [sic], Chattanooga. Private, Battery 4, Light Ohio Artillery, served from 2 August 1861-27 August 1864, for 3 years, 3 months, 10 days. (Line 6, house 40, family 42.)

Blackcreek, Mercer, Ohio, page 2, District 2, ED 178:

Elias Slusser, Senior, Chattanooga. Private, Company #, 47th Ohio Infantry, served from 15 October 1864-3 July 1865, for 9 months, 15 days. (Line 13, home 95, family 97.)

Elias Slusser, Junior, Chattanooga. Private, Company E, 46th, Ohio Infantry, served from 3 Oct 1861-5 January 1863, for 1 year, 2 months, 23 days. (Line 14, home 93, family 95.)

George Grougbarger [sic], Chattanooga. Private, Company C, 122nd Ohio Infantry, served from 8 June 1864-26 June 1865, for 11 months 28 days. (Line 15, house 108, family 108.)

Willshire Township, Van Wert, Ohio, page 6, District 1, ED 110:

Levi Rollin, Willshire. Private, Company A, 52nd Ohio Infantry, served 28 July 1862-16 January 1865, for 3 years. Disability Incurred: Rheumatism. He was a prisoner at Andersonville Prison. (Line 20, house 79, family 79.)

Willshire Township, Van Wert, Ohio, page 7, District 1, ED 110:

Henry A. Tindall, Willshire. Private, Company G, 54th Ohio Infantry, served from 22 February 1864-15 August 1865, for 1 year, 8 months. Remarks: Prisoner at Andersonville Prison. (Line 31, house 119, family 119.)

James H. Sims, Willshire. Private Company 34, Ohio Infantry, served from 22 February 1864-24 February 1865, 1 year, 5 months, 5 days. Remarks: Prisoner at Libby Prison, Richmond. (Line 27, house 111, family 111.)

 

1890 Veterans Schedule, Willshire Twp, Van Wert, Ohio.

1890 Veterans Schedule, Willshire Twp, Van Wert, Ohio.

Schumm, Willshire Township, Van Wert, Ohio, page 3, District 1, ED 111:

Michael Pflueger, Schumm. Private, Company C, 41st Ohio Infantry, served from 4 September 1864-13 June 1865, for 9 months, 12 days. Disability Incurred: Camp diarrhea & rheumatism. (Line 34, house 121, family 126.)

Nicholas Geisler, Schumm. Private, Company G, 20th Ohio Infantry, served from 8 October 1862-15 July 1863, for 10 months. Disability incurred: Camp diarrhea. (Line 33, house 110, family 114.)

You may have noticed that some of the dates of service are not equal to the total service time. Some of the discharge dates were crossed out and another date was written in, but it appears that the length of service was not readjusted.

As I scanned the Disability Incurred section I noticed some other injuries: malarial fever resulting in weak lungs, loss of index finger, shot in the right leg, shot through the right limb and back, shot through right arm, blinded and paralyzed on one side, sun stroke and mumps, deafness, blindness, died in the service [the widow was enumerated if the veteran was deceased], crippled left hip and wounded in face. There were a lot of complaints of chronic diarrhea, lung trouble and rheumatism. And a few claimed that they incurred no disability at all.

I also learned that a couple local men were imprisoned at Andersonville and Libby Prison. The stories these men could have told…

Source:

1890 Veterans Schedules, database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 April 2013), from National Archives Microfilm, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Publication M123, Record Group 15.

 

Apr 02

Tombstone Tuesday–John & Friedericka Becher

John & Friedericka Becher, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

John & Friedericka Becher, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of John and Friedericka Becher, located in row 6 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

BECHER
Father
John F.
1864-1927

 Mother
Friedericka
1862-1951

According to the church records of Zion Lutheran, Chattanooga, Johann Friedrich Becher was born 14 March 1864 in Mercer County, the sixth child born to Johann and Anna Maria (Becker) Becher. He died 1 June 1927 of cancer at the age of 63 years, 2 months and 17 days. He was buried on 3 June and his funeral text was Rev. 3:11. Survivors included his widow, 5 sons, 9 grandchildren, 2 brothers and 3 sisters. According to John’s death certificate, he died of pancreatic cancer. [1]

John F. Becher death certificate, Mercer County, Ohio.

John F. Becher death certificate, 1927, Mercer County, Ohio.

Johann Becher married Louise Friederike Mamber on 11 November 1886 at Zion Chatt.  Witnesses to their wedding were Heinrich Becher and Emilie Rieger. Emily was also listed as a bridesmaid.

Louise Friedericke Mamber was born 27 October 1862 in Ochsenbach, OberAmt Brakanheim, Württemberg, according to Zion’s records. She died 1 March 1951 in Center Township, Mercer County. Her parents are shown as Unknown on her death certificate. [2]

Friedericka Becher death certificate, 1951, Mercer County, Ohio.

Friedericka Becher death certificate, 1951, Mercer County, Ohio.

Obituary:

Death Claims Mrs. Becher
Native Of Germany; Leaves Six Sons
Mrs. Fredericka Becher, 89, passed away at 1 p.m. yesterday in the home of her son, Carl, of near Neptune, where she had resided for the past four years. Death was attributed to complications.

She was born in Germany, October 27, 1862, and come to the United States in 1881. In 1886 she married John Becher, who preceded he in death. She lived several years near Chattanooga.

Survivors include six sons, Fred, Chattanooga; Carl, near Neptune; Roma, Albert, Ernest and Walter, all of Ft. Wayne, Ind.; 16 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

She was a member of Zion Lutheran Church of Chattanooga, where services will be conducted Sunday at 2:30 p.m., with Rev. Waldo Byers officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

Friends may call at the Dick and Stallter funeral home, Rockford, after 7 p.m. this evening, and until time of the services. [3]

John and Friedericka had the following children:
Friedrich Wilhelm Becher (1887-1960?
Christian Carl Becher (1888-1960)
Rome Johann Phillip Becher (1896-1964)
Albert Wilhelm Becher(1897-1865)
Ernst Heinrich Becher (1900-1968)
Walter Heinrich Conrad Becher (1902-1984)
Louisa Wilhelmina Becher (1904-1926)

Their daughter Louisa (Becher) Hileman died shortly after the birth of her daughter Helen Jean in 1926 and Fredericka raised her granddaughter Helen Jean.

 

[1] “Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8LC-WPF : accessed 14 Mar 2013), John F Becher, 1 June 1927; citing Liberty Twp., Mercer, Ohio, Regis. Dist no. 5307, File no. 36736.

[2] “Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X6TF-LXL : accessed 14 Mar 2013), Fredericka Becher, 1 March 1951; citing Center Twp., Mercer, Ohio, Reg. Dist. No. 5300, State File no. 18610.

[3] The Daily Standard, Celina, Ohio, 2 March 1951, p.1.

Mar 29

Lutheran Records on Archives.com

Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, Ohio. (2009 photo by Karen)

Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, Ohio. (2009 photo by Karen)

This past week a large number of Lutheran church records were made available and searchable on Archives.com, a division of Ancestry.com. Archives.com released about 1,000 rolls of microfilmed church records, acquired through a partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This means that about 4.6 million individual Lutheran records are now available on-line.

This is of particular interest to me because I quickly discovered that some of Zion Chatt’s records are among the records that were recently released. Archives.com is a subscription website of which I am a member. I searched for a familiar name on their website and saw a church record book that I was very familiar with–Zion Chatt’s newer record book.

When I was growing up, Zion Chatt was a member of The American Lutheran Church (ALC). In 1986 three church bodies, the ALC, The Lutheran Church in America and The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, joined to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). This ELCA collection probably includes records from these earlier denominations and others as well. Zion Chatt is no longer a member of the ELCA. In 2011 Zion Chatt voted to join the newly-formed North American Lutheran Church (NALC).

When I heard that the ELCA had released about 4.6 million records of individuals, I had to take a look. I was curious because someone at church once mentioned that one of our record books had been filmed years ago. I have always wondered who had filmed it and when.

I was pretty sure that the Family History Library (FHL) had not filmed our records because no film from Zion Chatt is listed in their catalog. Zion Schumm’s records (1846-1989) have been microfilmed by the FHL and I have that film on permanent file at the St. Marys Family History Center. Zion Schumm is Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, so their church records would not be among the ELCA records.

I did several name searches in the ELCA records on Archives.com and I notice that the records stop at about 1940. There does not appear to be a way to browse through the records page by page. You have to do a name search.

Church records are some of the best records for genealogical research and the German Lutherans recorded some of the very best. The records in the ELCA Church Records Collection on Archives.com date from the mid-1800s-1940. Records include births, baptisms, confirmations, marriages, deaths, and burials. Within these records you often find parents’ names, dates, places and other information. Even if you can’t locate a birth/baptism record the confirmation records can be a very good source of birth information. Confirmation records often give the date of birth and the names of the parents and could be considered a birth record substitute if no other birth record exists.

Zion Chatt has two record books. The older book includes records from 1855-1892 and the “new” book has records 1893-present. I did several searches in the ELCA records on Archives.com and I did not get a hit for any of the names in Zion’s old book. It appears that the “new” book was the only book filmed years ago and that the older book is not on Archives.com. The older book is written entirely in the old German script. It would be no small feat to translate, transcribe and index that book. This I know from experience because I did just that in 2000, when I translated and compiled a book from the old records.

One thing that is interesting is that Chattanooga/Rockford is not listed as Zion’s location in the Archives.com index. The index makes it appear that Zion Chatt’s records are from Christ Lutheran Church in Columbus, Ohio. Christ Lutheran is actually in Bexley, a suburb of Columbus. Christ Lutheran is very near Trinity Lutheran Seminary and the ELCA Region 6 Archives are at Trinity Seminary. I suspect that our filmed records have been stored at the Region 6 Archives but I am not sure why they are indexed as being from Christ Lutheran Church.

So if you search in the ELCA records on Archives.com, the church location in their index may not be the actual location of the church. The church you are seeking may be indexed as a different location.

The Region 6 Archives has a lot of information about the Lutheran churches in the Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Lower Peninsula of Michigan. They were extremely helpful to me when I compiled a history of Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, and its pastors for our 150th anniversary in 2005.

Mar 26

Tombstone Tuesday–Friedrich Becher

Friedrich Becher, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

Friedrich Becher, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Friedrich Becher, located in row 3 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. His tombstone is located between the markers of his wife Margaretha and their son John. It is broken and unreadable.

According to Zion’s Family Register in the old church record book, Friedrich Becher was born 9 November 1797 in Schliegenreith [sp?], District Oberfranken, Kingdom of Bavaria. He was the son of Nickolaus & Gertaudt Becher. After his confirmation he stayed with his parents until he was 19 years old, at which time he entered the service/employment. [It is unclear if the record meant he entered the military service or was employed by someone.]

When Friedrich was 33 years old he married Margaretha (Schmidt) Haffner, the widow of Dietrich Haffner. Margaretha and Friedrich had a son Johann, born 20 March 1833. Margaretha had two sons from her first marriage, Conrad and George Haffner.

Friedrich and Margaretha and their children lived in Thuisbrunn for several years before immigrating to America in 1840. They lived in Butler County, Ohio, for nearly a year and then moved to Mercer County.

Friedrich died 25 January 1878 at the age of 80 years, 2 months and 16 days. His wife passed away in 1875.

As noted in last week’s Tombstone Tuesday, the Bechers lived in Black Creek Township, Mercer County. According to the 1853 Mercer County Plat Book, Black Creek Township, p. 305, Friedrich’s 65 acre farm was located in the west part of the southwest quarter of Section 31. His farm was described as excellent land valued at $605. He had 29 acres of plowed land, 7 acres of meadow and a cabin house and barn.