Monthly Archives: January 2019

“Unusual Name”

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My favorite ancestor name is Marillis Killian. There’s just something musical about her name that appeals to me. I have also seen her name written as Amarilla, and even Mary Elizabeth. I would certainly love to know what her family called her.

When I first heard her family name, I thought that Killian must be Irish but it turns out that her grandfather, Andreas Killian, emigrated from what is now Germany. He landed with his family, including three children, in Philadelphia and then in the early 18th century migrated to what is now Catawba County, North Carolina.

Marillis was born in 1762 in North Carolina and died in Cape Girardeau, Missouri in 1819. She married Jacob Andrew Yount in North Carolina in 1782. She is my 4th great grandmother. Her daughter, Sophia, married Christopher Gross. Their son, Jacob Amos Gross, was the father of William Perry Gross whose daughter was Alice Vandeven, my grandmother.

There is a society of Andreas Killian’s descendants called the Andreas Killian Descendants Historical Association (AKDHA). They maintain a website with a great deal of information about the family and offer publications for sale about the history of the family.

“Challenge”

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Lucia Wouters came to America around 1867 with her husband, Wilhelmus Van de Ven, and young son, John Anton. Leaving home to emigrate to a faraway land and surviving the journey was a challenge that many European immigrants faced and endured. Lucia was destined to face many difficult challenges in her life.

Soon after arriving in Missouri, Wilhelmus found work on the new Iron Mountain Railroad in southeastern Missouri. In the brief biography of John A. Vandeven, written in 1975 by his grandson, George, it says that Wilhelmus died working on the railroad.

As a widow with a young son, Lucia sought a new husband. She soon found Jacob Vandoren (Van Doren). The 1870 U.S. Census for Cape Girardeau, Missouri, lists Jacob, a laborer from Holland. It also lists children Lina, Herarda, John, Jacob and Mary, all born in Holland except for 2 year-old Mary. Below the names of the Van Dorens is John Vandeven, 4 years old, born in Holland.

‘Lucy’ took on Jacob’s household and little Mary came along in October 1867. After this census, I haven’t found any other information about Jacob. There are records for Mary Vandoren up until her death in 1936.

From 1870 U.S. Census, Cape Girardeau, Missouri

The next time we find Lucia she is married to Burghard Juengling. Burghard died in 1875.

Her fourth and last husband was John Henry Sander. Mr. Sander was a merchant in Cape Girardeau. In the 1880 U.S. Census seen below, there is John H. Sander, age 55 years; his wife, Elizabeth, 46 years old, born in Holland; daughter, Anna, 2 years old; son Hermann, 10 months old; son, John Vandervent [sic],14 years old and working as a clerk in the store; and Rebecca Sander, 75 year-old mother of John H. Sander.

It is likely that ‘Elizabeth’ is Lucy, given her age and the inclusion of John Vandervent as a son. If this all holds true, Lucy gave birth to at least three children in America. It is not yet known why Lucy’s daughter Mary Vandoren was not listed in the Sander household. She would have been 13 years old. Perhaps she was already employed and living elsewhere, possibly as a servant.

From 1880 U.S. Census, Cape Girardeau, Missouri

After a life filled with many challenges, Lucy died in December 1888, at the age of 54 and she is buried in Old Lorimier Cemetery in Cape Girardeau.

“First”

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In June 2009, I received a phone call from Beckie Ferguson,
my 1st cousin twice removed. I had never met her, in fact, I didn’t even know she existed. It turns out that Beckie had been working on her genealogy for years and was trying to contact as many relatives as she could. I never did ask her how she got my cell phone number. I suspect that she found my brother and that he supplied her with my number.

My mother had died in December of 2008 and I was starting to think about delving into my own family history. After her death I discovered FindaGrave.com. I can’t remember exactly how I came upon it but that got me thinking about doing more. Beckie offered to send me her genealogy files and she needed some information about my family to fill in blanks on her tree. We share great grandparents on my mother’s side, Charles W. and Laura Anna Coffin Read.

In her files was a copy of the 1920 U.S. Census in Indianapolis, Indiana. As I scanned the document for my grandfather’s name, I saw at the bottom of the page, “Read, Frances M., daughter, age 4 11/12.” Perhaps others who research their family history have such a moment, but seeing my mother’s name in this census snapshot I was overcome with a wave of emotion that was completely unexpected. That was the FIRST time that I had such an overwhelming feeling. It was the FIRST time that I could look at a document and see an ancestor in her own time and place.

As I have continued to learn more about my family history I have come across other discoveries that have given me that thrilling ‘you are there’ kind of feeling. That’s just one aspect of doing genealogy that keeps me going.