Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Ancestor Roulette

Well, Randy Seaver has posted another Saturday challenge.

Let me start by saying I couldn't use any of my great-grandmother's birth years because when I divided by 90, I got 21.  It was the same with all of my great-grandfathers.  (Until now, I never realized that all of my great grandparents were born within a 10-year period).  In any case, I've already done a complete blog post on my #21 ancestor, Theresa Burns.  So there's that.

Instead, I decided to divide by 60.  

My great grandmother was born in 1892.  The result was 31 (rounded down).

Number 31 on my ahnentafel is Jeannette (Heerdink) Stiker, my 2nd great grandmother.

Jeannette Heerdink was born in June 1871* in Evansville, Vanderburgh, Indiana.  She is the daughter of Anthony Heerdink (b. Germany) and Mary Diefenbach (b. Indiana).  She married Eugene F. Stiker on 20 June 1894 in Evansville.  They had 7 children: Justin, Frank, Vera, Lucile, Lillian, Eugene L., and Raymond.  She died on 30 March 1953.

Three facts:

1. Her nickname was Jennie (which is quite awesome, I think).

2. She only completed the 7th grade in school (according to the 1940 census).

3. She is buried at St. Anthony Catholic Cemetery in Mt. Vernon, Indiana.

*Her birth date is listed on the 1900 census as June 1871, but on her grave marker it is listed as January 31, 1869.  The truth is out there.  Somewhere.

Do we share any ancestors?

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Ancestor Spotlight: Eugene F. Stiker

Eugene F. Stiker

Eugene F. Stiker is my 2nd great grandfather. He is the third of six children born to Gustav Justin and Louisa (Canet) Stiker, born 19 May 1869.

Eugene's parents were both born in France and immigrated to the United States around 1838. This makes him my first American-born ancestor in this family line. He lived his entire life in Indiana, born and raised in Evansville (Vanderburgh County) and eventually settling 20 miles away in Mt. Vernon (Posey County) around 1900.

Eugene married Jeanette Heerdink on 20 Jun 1894 in Vanderburgh County.  The couple had seven children over the next 12 years: Justin, Frank, Vera, Lucile Frances (my great-grandmother), Lillian, Eugene L. "Tex," and Raymond.

Eugene worked for the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad from approximately 1885 (around age 16) until at least 1930, according to census records. His first job with the railroad was as a "laborer." At some point he was promoted to "fireman," and then eventually to "engineer" in 1892. During the 45 years that he was employed by the railroad, it changed hands a few times, finally being known as the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad by 1930.

He died at the age of 66 on 15 Nov 1935 in Evansville, Indiana and is buried at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery.

Do we share any ancestors?

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Happy Alien Abduction Day!

image courtesy of happyworker.com

Oh yes, those pesky aliens.  How many of our ancestors have they abducted, taken away for years -- decades, even -- and brought back to Earth to plop down in some random place where we will never find them?


In honor of today's celebration, I am including a list of ancestors about whom I would like to know the following: (a) where they were abducted, (b) where they were taken, and (c) where they were dropped when they were brought back.  I'm not even interested in what you did with them while you had them!


1.  Louis Bourke/Burke - sightings include Nebraska, Illinois, Michigan, and Canada.
2.  Patrick E. Slowey - sighted in Ireland, Wisconsin, and South Dakota.
3.  Gustav Justin Stiker - seen in France, disappeared for 50 years, then resurfaced in Indiana.
4.  Anthony Heerdink - spotted in Germany, disappeared for 30 years, resurfaced as a member of the military in 1863, then never heard from again. **I think this qualifies as a double-abduction.


Those are just the most important ones at this point.  I don't want to seem greedy.  However, if the aliens could also return the maiden names of all of my LNUs, I would be most grateful.


Hopefully, there is an alien out there who will stumble across my blog, take pity on me, and encourage the aliens-that-be to at least drop some clues.

Do we share any ancestors?

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

The 1940 Census - Who Is On My List?

Only 34 more days until the release of the 1940 census!  

While it isn't the first time I will find some of my living relatives on a census, I'm still very excited!  All four of my grandparents were on the 1930 census - as small children - and on the 1940 census they will be grown, and both of my grandfathers will be getting ready to head off to fight in WWII.


So who are the people I will be focusing on for the 1940 census?  These are mostly direct-line ancestors, but there are a few collateral folks in there too.  I have a whole other list with even more collateral folks to look up, but these are my priority.  Using the One-Step tools created by Steve Morse, I have already determined (hopefully) the enumeration district where they should be found, which should make things a little easier.


Theresa Burns, Mayfield, Yankton, SD (ED 68-8)
Albert L. Crowe, Indianapolis, IN (ED 96-285, 96-286)
Charles C. Crowe, Mt. Vernon, IN (ED 65-5, 60-15, 60-16)Harold John & Lucile Francis Crowe, Indianapolis, IN (ED 96-283) 

Harold John Crowe, Jr., Indianapolis, IN (ED 96-289, 96-290)
James M. Crowe, Mt. Vernon, IN (ED 65-5)
Mabel L. Crowe, Gosport, IN (ED 60-15, 60-16)
Owen Charles Crowe, Mt. Vernon, IN (ED 65-4)
Mary Alice (Egan) Schneider, Yankton, SD (ED 68-18, 68-22A-B)
John Joseph Gallagher, Ridgefield, NJ (ED 2-273, 2-276, 2-278)
Jeannette (Heerdink) Stiker, Mt. Vernon, IN (ED 65-5)
Edward John Lanctot, Yankton, SD (ED 68-18, 68-22A-B)

James Lanctot, Yankton, SD (ED 68-18, 68-22A-B)
Joseph Lanctot, Yankton, SD (ED 68-18, 68-22A-B)
Emma T. (Rothmeyer) Huber, Yankton, SD (ED 68-27)
Mary Alice (Schneider) Lanctot, Yankton, SD (ED 68-18, 68-22A-B) Clare Maxine Slowey, Yankton, SD (ED 68-18, 68-22A-B)

John Edward Slowey, Mayfield, Yankton, SD (ED 68-8)
Thomas Patrick & Christina Ann (Huber) Slowey, Yankton, SD (ED 68-8)
Vernon G. Slowey, Mayfield, Yankton, SD (ED 68-8)

 

I have made plans to be off work for the entire day on April 2, and will be indexing my little fingers off.  I will be checking blogs periodically until that day for other people's lists -- in addition to my own -- to see if I run across anyone else's folks while I'm indexing.

FamilySearch, Archives.com, and findmypast.com have joined together to make sure the 1940 census gets indexed and published as quickly as possible.  If you haven't already, I strongly encourage you to join me as a volunteer indexer for the 1940 census.  It's a great opportunity to give back (and get some research done in the process)!

Do we share any ancestors? 

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Lucile Francis (Stiker) Crowe - 1900-1969

This one's for the girls.  I realized that I haven't really given my female ancestors enough attention, so here's what I know about my great grandmother:

Lucile Francis Stiker ("Mom" Crowe) was born on 20 Aug 1900 in Evansville, Vanderburgh, Indiana.  She is the fourth of 7 children born to Eugene F. and Jeannette "Jennie" C. (Heerdink) Crowe.  She is found first with her parents and siblings on the 1910 US Census.  They lived at 918 West 2nd Street in Mt. Vernon, Posey County, Indiana, on both the 1910 and 1920 censuses.


Several months after the 1920 census was taken, Lucile married a handsome young soldier, Harold John Crowe, on 16 September 1920, and moved to Indianapolis.  They had four children between November 1921 and December 1926, the third being my grandmother.


She is then found with her husband and children on the 1930 census living at 1637 Raymond Street, Indianapolis, Indiana.


Around 1950, Lucile went to work as a saleslady at L.S. Ayres & Co. in Indianapolis.  She worked there until 1965, when she retired.  This is obviously where I got my shopping genes.


I've been told that Mom Crowe's sole purpose in life was to make sure everyone was happy.  In the last months before her death, Lucile stayed with her daughter, Jeannette, who had a "Florida room" on the back of her house where she had placed a rented hospital bed for her mother.  One day, most of the family (kids, grandkids, etc.) came over and the children were outside playing.  One of the grandchildren, around age 4, was "tightrope walking" on top of the white wooden fence.  Even from her sick bed, she was concerned that he might fall and get hurt, so she started raising all kinds of heck for someone to get him down.


Mom Crowe passed away on 20 June 1969 in Indianapolis at the age of 68, and is buried next to her husband in Calvary Cemetery.

As you can see, there are a lot of gaps in her biography, and (which you probably can't see) I am also missing quite a bit of documentation for her, such as her birth and death certificates.  Her to-do list has been updated and I hope to obtain the missing documentation soon.