It's Neu with a Treusch for Treasure Chest Thursday

The title sounds like a slurring of the words after too much holiday cheer?  Actually, it's the TREUSCH, I mean, the truth.

Several months ago, I wrote about an unknown cousin who had attended a 1935 family funeral.  Just who was cousin Elizabeth TREUSCH?  Click to read about her mysterious appearance in my life here.

Fast forward to the day before yesterday.....

In reading the group forum I belong to in Allegheny Co, PA, I came across an entry on the immigration of the NEU family from Germany to Pittsburgh to Kansas, etc.  It's always interesting to note how our ancestors traveled in the past.  Guess they didn't have to worry much about the body pat downs of today.  Wow, now that conjures up an image!  Can you imagine how your grandma or great grandma would have reacted to being searched as they sought to fly in the air?  Of course, flying up in the air was either not available at their early times or it wasn't as widely used by the general population as it is today.

Anyway......

The name NEU rang a bell in the deep corners of my feeble brain.  It seems like I knew someone who married into that family.  Ahh, a quick search of my genealogy database confirmed it.

Uncle Francis McClain CALDWELL (1868-1934) had indeed married a Margaret NEU (b. 1871) in Pittsburgh.  They had four children of which I am aware.  Three of their children were girls and fourth child, a son.  I had married names of the girls from Uncle Frank's obit and from the 1935 funeral of cousin Austin BRENDEL.  I even knew the addresses of Margaret NEU CALDWELL and the four children from the wedding announcement list of my parents.

And that is where I lost them all.  From time to time, I would look around and just couldn't pin any living names with the names and addresses I had on paper.

Until 2 days ago.

With the wonderful technology of today and helpful genealogy buffs, I found the grave of Uncle Frank.  Near him is wife Margaret with a year of her death.  I asked my group if anyone knew who all was buried close to them and in their plot.  With the delightful assistance of volunteers, I was sent a list of both the CALDWELL and NEU plots in the old cemetery.  One lady even volunteered there was an Elizabeth TREUSCH in the NEU plot.

Bingo!

By checking the census records now, I could find Elizabeth NEU TREUSCH.  And she was the older sister of Margaret NEU CALDWELL.  No blood relation to me, but I will be happy to share the family info with a great grandson of Uncle Frank and Aunt Maggie.  You see,  I also stumbled across a living, breathing kin of theirs through the blood of one of their daughters.

So, now I can happily give them a Christmas present of the past.

Ahh, genealogy.  Ain't it fun to be NEU again?  Yep, it's the TREUSCH!


Special thanks to Beverly and Helen for your assistance in this puzzle.


©2010 AS Eldredge

Finding Gold in the Gold Rush Back in Pittsburgh

DORRINGTON, DORRINGTON..

The name just popped off the 1913 newspaper death record in Pittsburgh. 

Hmm... I sorta have some DORRINGTON types in my line and they were early pioneers, living and dying in Carnegie (actually Temperanceville).

This John K DORRINGTON has to tie in someway to my line.  I just know it.  Now, can I prove it?

Pittsburgh Press
February 27, 1913


John K DORRINGTON, age 85, a pioneer coal deal of Pittsburg, died at his residence, Belle Ave and Mountford St, yesterday.  He was born in Carnegie and came to Pittsburg when young, getting his early education in the public schools.  When the gold excitement in California broke out, Mr Dorrington was one of the "Forty-Niners" who went overland from Pittsburg. He returned in 1852 by the Nicaragua route.  Later he went to Minnesota, settling on a fram near St Peter, on the Minnesota River. Mr Dorrington was active in putting down an uprising of the Sioux Indians at Fort Ridgley, Minn. He was one of the first to respond to the call of frontier settlers who were being massacred. He was in the midst of a battle lasting 48 hours when the Indians had surrounded the little frontier town. In 1864 he returned to Pittsburg and entered the coal business in which he continued 32 years. He retired from business in 1896. He is survived by one sister, Miss Margaretta M Dorrington.

The death record itself is inconclusive.  So, on to the death notice....

DORRINGTON- On Wednesday, Feb 26, 1913 at 10:30 am, John K Dorrington, at the residence of Mrs. J B Dorrington. Bell Ave and Mountford St, Northside, Pittsburg.
Funeral services at his late residence, Bell Ave and Mountford St, on Friday afternoon at 2:30 pm. Interment private.

Ah-  Mrs J B DORRINGTON--  now I know who she is--  Agnes J McDONALD who married Joseph B DORRINGTON, son of Thomas DORRINGTON and Nancy. Thomas's  Irish immigrant parents, Thomas DORRINGTON, SR and Jane YOUNG DORRINGTON are buried at (my family) the St Clair Cemetery in Mt Lebanon, Allegheny, PA.

Thoma, Jr and Nancy had several children, including a Margaretta who was born in 1843 according to the 1850 census.  She turns up again living with the widow Agnes J DORRINGTON in 1920. 

Bingo.  Some hints were in the death notice and death record.  Lucky me.  More hints and supporting documentation came from the marriage record of Joseph B DORRINGTON and Agnes McDONALD.  Still more supporting evidence came from the 1920 census.

I had missed John K earlier (from the 1850 census) and now I know why.  The obit tells us he had already gone out searching for gold.  

Yes, John K is connected to me.  Although he and I share no direct blood.  His aunt, Jane DORRINGTON, married my uncle, Walter GLENN. 

Ahh, genealogy.  How much fun it is to connect more dots and find those golden nuggets.

©2010 AS Eldredge

Are Your Roots in Georgia? Great Used Book Sale Online

While my genealogy roots are not in Georgia, I still am interested in the state.  I imagine it's because I have spent some time there in the Peach State.

There are some 20 used books for sale on Georgia that would be of immense value to those researching the state.  Included are some indices for early Georgia grants byb the English crown and some probates, as well as some Civil War letters and histories of some counties.

There are a couple of titles that really caught my eye.  One is on those beautiful old Savannah gardens and old Georgia courthouses.

If Fayette County is of interest to you, then you will most likely be interested in:
Fayette County, Georgia Probate Records 1824-1871 by Jeannette Holland Austin. Abstracts of court house records, 383 pp., hardbound, like new. Price: $15.00.

So go on and take a gander.  You may just find the perfect peach for your collection......
http://genealogy-books.blogspot.com/2010/12/used-georgia-books-for-sale.html

Ahh, genealogy.  Kinda like making the perfect peach pie.  You have to find just the right ones for your taste buds to explode in delight.


©2010 AS Eldredge

Wordless Wednesday: Sharing Memories of Christmas Past

The time has come for the yearly dragging out of the dusty boxes which are filled with the holiday decorations.  It always seems to take hours for me to unwrap the ornaments.  It's not that I have a house full of holiday boxes.  Nope, instead I have a heart full of loving Christmas memories of the past.

Each year as I unwrap the treasured ornaments and decorations, I travel back in time to when I was a child and my parents and other beloved family members were alive.  Their smiles, voices and stories of their youths all swim around in my heart.  Often, I find myself just sitting quietly as I relive the warmth of Christmas past with my family.

Take time this year to share your Christmas memories of the past with your children and grandchildren.  Give them a reason to sit and think lovingly about the past in years to come.

Ahhhh, genealogy.  Sometimes, just an ornament can bring time to a standstill.

©2010 AS Eldredge