Such Joseph Klein. Wow.

In response to harsh criticism to last month's post (you know who you are, for shame! and I know where you live!), I am now amending it with a corollary note to the effect of--

Discrepancies in dates/names/etc. do NOT give you carte blanche to jump to unreasonable conclusions without further research!

For example, don't be all "OMG, Mary Elizabeth Smith in Illinois and Lizzie Smith in Wisconsin have totally different families but their birth years are only five years apart! This crazy girl on the internet told me I could merge them together! COOL!"

Yeah. Don't be like that.

If you want to make that claim, you'll need to do some careful sleuthing. I'm going to use the story of Joseph Klein as a cautionary tale to illustrate the need for careful consideration of the facts before coming to a conclusion.

Let me throw in another disclaimer. I've collected enough evidence in the following paragraphs to put together a story--but there are still missing facts. I present my interpretation with the understanding that some information could come to light someday that brings all my lovely theories crumbling to the ground.

So, how about those Kleins, anyway? There are a number of them in the southwest Wisconsin region, and so far I've traced everyone back to three Klein progenitors--

• Anton Klein, born 1821 in Prussia; settled in Potosi by 1857 when he married Anna Schwartz.

• Franz G. Klein (Joseph Sr.), born ~1797 in Prussia; settled in Potosi by 1870 with his son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. His wife is unknown; she presumably died before the family came to America.

• John Klein, born 1861 in Prussia; settled in Dubuque, Iowa (right across the Mississippi from Grant County) by 1885 and married Elizabeth Grommersch.

Were any of these three men related, and convinced to settle in southwest Wisconsin due to favorable reports received from a family member that had already made the move? Anything is possible, but so far no information has come to light linking them, so for now the families must be treated as three distinct bloodlines.  

(Alert: Speculation ahead!) As for my family, we are descendants of Franz G./Joseph, who I believe are the same man. When I first started out on my family search, I knew him only as Joseph, with a son named Joseph who married Emma Kehrer. Since recording those sparse notations available in the family Bible, I have fleshed out the family's history, and have more questions to answer. Here's the scenario I propose:

I discovered the lichen-encrusted headstone of Franz G. Klein (1791-1878) directly behind that of Joseph Klein and Emma Kehrer, in St. Thomas Cemetery, Potosi. I feel confident that this is the man who came down in family records as Joseph, due to the matching birth and death dates and proximity of burial to Joseph Jr. Perhaps Joseph was one of several given names, but for some reason Franz G. was the moniker decided on for his headstone.
 

Next to Franz/Joseph Sr. was another headstone with a very interesting inscription--"Katharina Delaney, wife of Joseph Klein." I didn't know Franz's wife, so initially I thought this was her; but further light shed by census records revealed that Katharina was actually the wife of the younger Joseph. Emma Kehrer was Joseph Jr's second wife; Katharina Delaney's existence, and her part in our family, had been forgotten until I uncovered her headstone more than a hundred years after her death.

It's more readable in person.

Furthermore, the 1870 census revealed that Joseph and Katharina (Delaney) Klein had a son! And his name was... Joseph. Joseph Sr./Franz was living with them, so in a household of four, three of the people were named Joseph. Is it any wonder that Joseph Sr. might have wanted to go by another name on his headstone? Katharina died in 1871, and Joseph Jr. and Emma were married in 1875.

Now, Joseph III was a brand new great grand uncle to me, so I wanted to find out all I could about him. In 1880, Joseph III was still living with his father, stepmother, and two half-sisters. In a 1905 census, a single Joseph Klein appears in Potosi boarding with the Vogelsberg family, who could be my man. I can't find him in the 1910 census, but for 1920... I had a couple candidates to choose from. Two Joseph Kleins born ~1862 had families in Grant County for the 1920 census. How was I going to figure out which was the RIGHT Joseph Klein?

Candidate #1 was definitely an outlier. He lived in Beetown and was married to a woman named Jessie, hardly the name of a nice German Catholic girl that my Joseph's family would have wanted for him. He had children with avant-garde names like Nevada and Violet. I didn't have a good feeling about this guy.

Candidate #2, however, and his wife Mary of Potosi proved to have a stellar track record at choosing traditional, sensible names for their brood of children--Henry, Alfred, Jacob, Leo, Clarence, Lucille. Furthermore, this Joseph and Mary Klein have a headstone in St. Andrew Cemetery, Tennyson, buried near other relatives of mine. It was a perfect fit.

Still, this was all circumstantial evidence. I hadn't proved anything; I'd just turned up two Joseph Kleins born in the same time frame. There was just one little difference between the two individuals--place of birth. One was born in Illinois, and one in Wisconsin. This was the key! I knew from the 1870 census that Joseph and Katharina's son had been born in Illinois. So the Joseph Klein I was seeking was, of course--

Candidate #1. Joseph and Jessie. Unlikely as it seemed at the start, the outlier was my guy. So, let that be a lesson to you all that the obvious solution to a puzzle is not always the correct one. It's important to keep an eye out for these small but significant clues that can break a case wide open. (I believe Candidate #2 is the son of Anton Klein, one of the original three Kleins.)

Records at the Lancaster County Court House led me to Joseph III's death certificate (he died in June 1922, of diffuse peritonitis and a peptic ulcer, in case you were wondering). I also found his widow Jessie's marriage certificate to George Cardy; they were married in September 1922, a few months after Joseph died. She wasted no time! But after Jessie's remarriage, I could find no trace of the family, and I was stuck on that point in my research for several years. There were four children listed for Joseph and Jessie in 1920; what had happened to them?

Earlier this year, a chance discovery of a woman named Violet buried in Lancaster led me into communication with a descendant of Jessie, and I was able to pitch my idea to her. I had convinced myself of the veracity of this branch of the Kleins. Would Jessie's family agree with my findings? I was able to test my theory on Laurie and get her impression.

Laurie and I pooled our notes. I learned that Jessie was born Jessie Robinson; with her first husband, Roy Ellis, she had two daughters, Nevada and Violet. Then she married Joseph Klein, and they had three sons--Joseph (#4!), Francis, and Stanley. And, as I mentioned above, she married George Cardy after Joseph's death. The only information that we disagreed on were the names of Joseph's parents. According to my story, they were Joseph Klein and Katharina Delaney. According to notes Laurie had taken from Joseph and Jessie's marriage license (they were married in Dubuque), Joseph's parents were Peter Klein and Catherine Miller. I was a little taken aback by this information, but I was determined not to let it stop me. Could Joseph Klein/Peter Klein and Katharina Delaney/Catherine Miller still be the same people, and my story stand?

I have theories about how the discrepancy could have happened. Obviously, there were many Joseph Kleins in this family. Peter could have been one of several given names of Joseph Jr, and for whatever reason that is how he was named on his son's marriage papers. As to Katharina, she had died when Joseph was a boy of nine, and maybe he didn't keep track of his mother's maiden name. Maybe he had more important things to worry about, like putting food on the table before Wal-Mart Super Centers existed. I don't know. Maybe all he could remember was his mother's first name, and they filled in a generic "Miller" for the last name. These are nice theories, but as of now I don't have a solid explanation.

HOWEVER... to strengthen my case, I continued analyzing family documents, searching for more clues to cement the relationship. And clues I found!

Exhibit #1. A postcard discovered in papers from my grandmother's mother (Anna Klein). This postcard is addressed to Mrs. Joe Klein (presumably Emma Kehrer, Joseph III's step-mother) from none other than Jessie Ellis. Wait a minute, I know that name! The year of the postmark is not legible, but it was likely sent between 1904 (when Jessie married Roy Ellis) and 1912 (when Jessie married Joseph). Here was proof, at least, that my Kleins and Jessie knew each other.

Exhibit #2. Notes taken by my aunt of family history her mother (my grandmother) passed on to her. In this passage, Grandma noted that her grandma (Emma Kehrer) had two half-sisters (which is documented, and not relevant to this discussion) and a half-brother Joseph that lived in Beetown. Barring an unrecorded infant death, there was certainly never a half-brother Joseph. Joseph III would have been Emma's stepson, and Anna's half-brother. In any case, my grandma certainly identified Joseph Klein in Beetown as being a relation of her mother's family.

All the evidence taken together, I am personally convinced of the relationships I have presented here; but I also realize there are a missing gaps in data that I would love to fill in. The search goes on!

There is one more tidbit of information that intrigued me. Laurie shared with me that Jessie was known to be a bit of a wild child, and Emma's daughter Anna (my great-grandmother) got into a little bit of trouble in her youth, too. Jessie and Anna were sisters-in-law and just four years apart in age, so I like to think that they were BFFs, sharing wild times as teenagers in nineteenth-century Grant County, Wisconsin.

Before we get started, some notes on research

Before I start delving too deep into family histories, I thought I’d mention some general observations that I’ve noticed on my journey of genealogical research.

• People had a lot of names, and weren’t afraid of changing between them at will. Katherina  Sophia Magdalena Carolina Kirschtorte was baptized as such in Germany (she is not a real person to my knowledge, but that is an awesome name and a reasonable example of what German babies were being baptized as in the 1800’s). When Katherina Sophia Magdalena Carolina moved with her family to America, she decided to go by Kate, and on her first US census record (say 1850) she is recorded as Kate S. For whatever reason, over the course of ten years, Kate decides she prefers her fourth name; so for the 1860 census, she identifies herself as Carrie M (taking from Caroline and Magdalena). By 1880, maybe she’s back to Kate.  
• Long story short: having up to four given names wasn’t unheard of, and at any given time an individual could be using any combination of those names as a first and middle name in American records.

• It appears that some women may have adopted their maiden name as their middle name after they were married. Virginia Mary Kingston, after marrying William Smith, might appear as Virginia K. Smith in records. I notice this custom more in families of English descent.

• Dates were not an exact science; especially, the older the person is, the more room for error there is when they self-report on census records. This makes more sense to me the older I get; at the ripe old age of… 27? I think? I really have to stop and think about how old I am. It’s not at the front of my mind as it was when I was a child. So, I imagine if I was a 50-year-old immigrant farmer with no digital technology keeping track of dates for me, and the census taker came by and asked me things like how long ago I was born, how long ago I came to America, and how long I’d been married—not gonna lie, I’d be making those numbers up. My husband will tell you how upset I get when he asks me what years events happened in.  
• In short: birth dates, arrival dates, marriage dates, etc. obtained from census records, etc. should be taken only as an estimation of the true year (which may never be known with absolute certainty unless the original document from that event is available). 
• As a rule of thumb, I take dates from gravestones as having the most weight, as they are carved in stone. (Hah! Hah! Puns!)

• A further note on  dates: birth/marriage/death dates and locations may come up with several options for each individual. This appears to be because these records are filed at different government levels (say, county and state). A person may have been living at an address in Lancaster, died at a hospital in Madison, and was buried in Platteville—so that leads to different records in different municipalities, leading to multiple interpretations for the death location. Dates can also be off by a few days, probably because of the date the event happened vs. the date the event was filed with the government office. Another oddity I’ve noticed about dates is that different government-issued documents may have very similar dates, only missing a digit or a year just one off—for example, 12 Nov 1882 vs 2 Nov 1882, or 12 Nov 1882 and 12 Nov 1883.  
• Short story: Absolute values of dates and locations can be tricky and open to a certain amount of interpretation.

So, these are my own amateur observations that I keep in mind as I explore family history.

Klar Origins in Platteville

One of the places this story can start is with Christian (Johann Christian) Klar and his wife, Mary Catherine Micka. They were born (both around 1797) and married in Dudweiler, Prussia (and presumably the family had its roots there for quite some time). Dudweiler is located very near Germany’s current border with France, just about 15 miles away. The borough is today part of the city of Saarbrücken, and I hear it has some background in mining. We’ll come back to that detail in a future entry.

Anyway, in winter of 1852, a group of relatives from Dudweiler headed to America! The passenger list of the ship Globe that departed from Le Havre, France and arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana on 19 Nov 1852 contained these people—Christ Klar, age 50; George Spies, age 39; Marg. Klar, age 37; two Spies children; and Jacob Holzer, age 53 with three children. These are important names! My current research points to these Dudweiler natives settling in Wisconsin:

*Christian and Mary Catherine (Micka) Klar and their children John, Margaret, and Christian

*Margaret Klar’s husband, George Spies

*Margaret Micka (Mary Catherine’s sister) and her husband  Jacob (Johann Jacob) Holzer; and their children.

Why the other family members aren’t on the ship manifest is anybody’s guess. The handwriting is pretty fancy, so it’s possible they’re on the list and I’m overlooking them. Or maybe they didn’t write everybody down; it was probably pretty chaotic, getting people on and off a boat. In any case, one way or another, the next place these families show up is…

Grant County!

The 1860 Census for the Town of Platteville shows the families of John and Lena Clair, George and Margaret (Klar) Spear , Christian and Christina (Mary Micka) Clare, Christian and Susan (Quast) Clare, Jacob and Catherine Quest, and Margaret Holzer (Jacob died in 1859) all living in the neighborhood together. (Yes, spelling was all across the board. Dates, too.)

 

Check out this 1877 map of Platteville. Southwest of the town (in the yellow block) you’ll see the property of C. Klar Sr. Nearby are C. Klar Jr., J. Klar, and H. Holzer. You might recognize some other names, too, that we’ll touch on in the future!

• 1877 Platteville Map

For a sneak peak of what is to come in the next generation, take a look at the marriage certificate of Christian's son Christian when he married Susan Quast.

•  Christian Klar & Susan Quast Marriage Certificate 

This document was very useful because it lists the original home towns of both Christian and Susan!

My Purpose

Follow me on my trail of family research through Grant County, Wisconsin. This is a project involving hot summer days spent in lonely old cemeteries, scanning album upon album of old family photos, exploring records at the county courthouse, and putting everything together into a relatable format!

But what name could I give my project, I wondered? How could I label it with a surname or two to fully describe what it encompasses? Klars, Kleins, Neids, Fures, Wunderlins--all have had their part in the creation of me. And as I researched more and found little connections between families, I realized that I am so much more than a simple mash-up of Klar, Klein, etc. DNA. I am the product of all their combined experiences with friends, neighbors, and relatives. All the families of Grant County have had some little piece in the making of me. For example, I'm not a blood relative of anyone in the Fritz family, but my great-grandmother's friendship with one of them had an incredible influence on the course of her life. All of Grant County is entwined in one large amazing crazy quilt. So, though I will concentrate my most direct ancestors to begin with, I am keenly interested in the connections among all of Southwest Wisconsin and neighboring regions. After that epiphany, I also had a title, and now here you are: Six Degrees of Grant County.

So I had a title, but my next hurdle was how to share my love of family history with, well, my family. There is a certain kind of person that is diverted by lists of names and dates and ages (census records oh my!). To the rest of the population, however, those are dry details, and it is hard to keep someone's attention. The true goal of the family researcher is to find a way to drill down to all the dry, hard facts and then create something living and relatable out of it, something that non-historians will appreciate. To that end, as I sift through source materials, my goal is to write a series of articles to share my findings in a hopefully entertaining and interesting manner.