A Smörgåsbord of Stories
Happy Thanksgiving! Today, I’m thankful for my many blessings, like family, friends, fun, and food. On Thanksgiving Day, my family has been known to gobble up non-traditional foods like build-your-own tacos, homemade pizza or movie theater popcorn. But what about turkey? Wild … read more
A year ago, I wrote about Milton and Lottie Rector’s marriage. Today, I present another November Nuptial, this time from North Dakota. Edward “Ed” F. Gentzkow (1881-1948) was the eldest son of Matilda Dittrich and Julius Gentzkow. Ed was born and raised in Minneiska, … read more
From 1939 to 1947, Otto Norenberg (1910-1997) and his business partner Simon “Si” Neises (1887-1987) had the contract to deliver U.S. mail along the Lake Route in/around Cass Lake, Minnesota. The 3 routes were: around the main part of Cass Lake, the west part of … read more
Last week, I was distracted by a squirrel in a 1943 newspaper clipping. At the end of the blog post, I shared a photo of grandpa Otto Norenberg (1911-1997) standing in one of the mail boats. What was this mail route? Which boats were used? … read more
The year I turned 40, I was diagnosed with Adult Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). This was not a surprise to me, or to my family. Some of my people believe that I ramble on, and on, and on, talking about my family tree, old documents, … read more
Back in August, I wrote about my Grandma Gert’s Bible. Grandma’s notes provide clues and point me in the direction of my maternal ancestors. In particular, I’ve been thinking about Grandma’s maternal grandmother, Dollie Pile (1870-1955). At FamilySearch.org, I even started a discussion thread. No … read more
John Blees (1856-1916) was born in (what we now call) Germany. But where, exactly, was he born? Where did he live? For the last few weeks, I’ve walked through all of my attempts to find a document that points to the birth location of Johann … read more
John Blees (1856-1916) was born in (what we now call) Germany. He lived his adult life in the United States. Last week, we looked at the negative findings (all the places I expected to find evidence of John’s birth and parentage). There is one secondary … read more
Johann “John” Blees (1856-1916) traveled to Baltimore, Maryland from Bremen, German Empire in May of 1882. His immigration paperwork did not provide a lot of details. Persistent questions plague the descendants of Johann/John Blees: In which town was he born? Who were his parents? … read more
Johann Blees (1856-1916) immigrated to the United States in the early 1880s. What does his immigration record tell us about him? Where was he from? What was his birthdate? Did he have traveling companions? From Bremen to Baltimore Often a family historian can find … read more