Month: July 2022
-
A mystery solved – the Wackrows of Müggenburg
Hartmut has saved the day — again! If you’ve read my prior post about the Schmidt family of Müggenburg, you’ll know that my knowledge about this branch of my family (my mother’s father’s father’s side) is wholly thanks to the efforts of one local historian, Mr. Hartmut Wegner of Mönkebude. When Hartmut read that post…
-
Missed connections
Hello from Iceland! This stop was not on my itinerary, but I missed my connecting flight in Reykjavik so I’ve spent the night here. This got me thinking about the less-than-obvious connections between the two countries I’ve just visited — Norway and Germany. Physically, Norway and Germany are separated only by a couple of modest-sized…
-
In search of the Lehmanns
I drove out into the German countryside today to get a sense of where my grandma’s grandma came from. The grandma in question is Louise Lehmann Kaufman, the mother of my paternal grandma’s father, Edward Carl Kaufman. My great-grandpa Ed Kaufman is the man on the right in the photo above. His mother Louise is…
-
The Hahn and Sahr families of Woltersdorf
Today I visited Woltersdorf, Wartin and Blumberg — small villages that were home to my great-grandpa Frank Smith’s mother’s families — the Hahns and Sahrs. (For information about Grandpa Frank’s father’s family, see this post.) The region is home to sprawling farm fields — mostly wheat and hay, but occasionally corn and sunflowers. In some…
-
From Müggenburg to Aztalan – the Schmidts
I’ve spent the day visiting the villages where my great-grandpa Frank Smith’s family originated in northeastern Germany. I have fond early memories of my maternal grandpa’s mother, Elvina Anderson Smith (1899-1983) but I never knew my grandpa’s father, Frank Smith (1895-1954). My mom has only a couple fuzzy memories of him. But I love that…
-
Who was Oscar Veum? The search for a biological ancestor.
There’s a word in the Dano-Norwegian language used by 19th century Norwegian priests that sounds just as ugly as it does in English: uægte. It means “illegitimate”. And if you scroll through as many old Norwegian church records as I do, you’ll notice how often it comes up. In the old record books, whether a…
-
Meeting the Anderson-Lindalen family of Vardal
My great-grandma Elvina Anderson Smith’s father was born as Anton Andreasen Mustadeie on April 24, 1875 in Vardal, Norway to Elisa Christiansdatter (1838-1888) and Andreas Andersen (1834-1920). I only have two photos of Grandpa Anton Anderson. The first is above – an enlargement of Anton from the photo I posted a few days ago (see…
-
The Hansons and Helgestads of Østre Toten
My dad’s paternal grandparents were Borghild Helgestad Rude (1904-1975) and John Rude (1900-1997). The photo below was taken in May of 1975 shortly after I was born and shortly before my great-grandma Borghild died. Grandma Borghild was so weakened by illness at the time this photo was taken that she asked Grandpa John to hold…
-
The Rudes – an origin story
My dad’s paternal grandfather, John Rude (1900-1997), was born in the U.S. – but only barely. He was actually conceived in Norway and born in Wisconsin five months after his parents and older sister Anna arrived in Wisconsin from Olso by way of Liverpool, England and New York City. Grandpa John’s parents were Ole Johannesen…
-
Mjøsa
Ancestors on both my mother and father’s sides have lived around Mjøsa – Norway’s largest lake – for hundreds (if not thousands) of years. Mjøsa is massive – from end to end 73 miles (117 km). And at its deepest point, it’s nearly 1,500 feet (450 m). The lake is the dividing line between two…
Deep Roots 