As genealogists, we eagerly seek photographs of our ancestors. But photographs are more than mere snapshots; they are time capsules, capturing fleeting moments and preserving them for future generations. These visual records are more than faces and places, but stories, emotions, and a tangible link to those who came before us. A Cherished Photo: Frank & Anna’s 1895 Wedding Children of German immigrants, my great grandparents, Frank Kaechle (1868-1911) and Anna Adam (1867-1936), were united in matrimony on 17 July 1895 at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Detroit, Michigan. They captured that moment in a photograph, cherished and lovingly...
My last post was about how I found my grandfather’s younger brother’s birth announcement by searching a newspaper using their address – not their surname. Before finding this article, I didn’t know his date of birth. And, I still hadn’t learned the baby’s name as each of the birth announcements just named the father. In this case, Frank. Michigan death records for 1897 to 1947 are online at Seeking Michigan. I had not been able to find the baby’s birth by using his surname, Kaechle, so I decided to search using other information. Searching the Michigan death records for 1897-1920,...
Searching newspaper sites for an address, instead of a name, can sometimes uncover articles which would not have been found otherwise. In 1910 the census record for my great grandmother, Anna (Adam) Kaechle, stated she was the mother of seven children with six still living. Since I knew of only six children, I assumed she must have had a seventh child who died in childhood. In that census, the Kaechle family lived at 651 Chene Street in Detroit, Michigan. Searching Newspapers.com for “651 Chene” in Detroit resulted in 60 matches. The majority of these hits were help wanted ads...
I cannot read German. But, thanks to technology, I can still search German newspapers to find stories of my German relatives. I recently found my first German newspaper story about Jerome Kaechle who was my great grandfather’s younger brother. The article, which I found on Chronicling America, was in the Detroiter Abend-Post on August 4th, 1916. After seeing his name, I painstakingly worked with Google Translate to translate the article. I also sent the article to my dad and shared it on the Genealogy Translations group on Facebook. Combining all of our work, I was able to come up with this...
What is the Genealogical Proof Standard? I’m currently reading Christine Rose’s 56 page booklet titled Genealogical Proof Standard: Building a Solid Case, 4th Edition Revised. Chapter 1 was about the Genealogical Proof Standard and, more specifically, step number three in which we analyze and correlate all sources, information, and evidence. Although I feel pretty comfortable with these concepts, I am realizing my challenge lies in understanding how certain documents were created. The example I’ll be using in this post is a marriage license application for my grandparents. But, before we can analyze and correlate, we must start with a research question. My...
I was pleasantly surprised to get the following message from another Ancestry.com member: I have a photo from my mother’s collection that has the name Mr & Mrs H W Wingert – 911 Collins Street, Toledo, Ohio on the back. The photo is of a Circus Band Wagon – and I suspect that Henry is one of the fellows riding on top. Henry W Wingert was a nephew of my great, great grandfather, Reinhard Kaechle/Koechle. He lived in Toledo, Ohio during the enumeration of both the 1920 and 1930 censuses. His occupation was listed in both years as a musician;...
The transcription of names on sites like Ancestry.com has greatly reduced the time it takes to locate individuals and families on census records. However, incorrectly transcribed names continue to make some people difficult to locate. In 1930, Charles Kaechle lived with his wife, Amanda, and mother, Mary M. Sprenger, on Gladwin Avenue in Detroit. Although I believed Charles Kaechle was still living in Detroit in 1940, I could not find him. I decided to try a “trick” that has sometimes worked in the past: search for a neighbor. In choosing a neighbor, it helps to look for the following: choose an...
As part of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo has created 31 blogging prompts which you can find on her blog, The Accidental Genealogist. If you’re participating in the Fearless Females blogging challenge this month, let me know & I”ll hop over & read your posts! March 4th prompt: Do you have marriage records for your grandparents or great-grandparents? Write a post about where they were married and when. Any family stories about the wedding day? Post a photo, too, if you have one. Marriage Photo On July 17th, 1895, my great grandparents, Frank R. Kaechle (1868-1911) and Francis Regina Adam...
My grandmother, Evelyn (Dickson) Kaechle, was born 100 years ago today. Though she died in 2004 at the age of 88, I’m paying tribute to her by sharing part of her life’s story in words and photos. Evelyn was the fifth child born to James Bedford & Nora (Ward) Dickson. Both the Ward and Dickson families had lived in Perry County, Tennessee for generations. But, for some reason, Evelyn was born about 100 miles away in Newbern, Dyer County, Tennessee on October 10th, 1915. Sadly, when Evelyn was only 8 1/2 months old, her mother died. I remember Grandma telling...
The fifth person on this list is Edmund Kaechle. His age appears to be 24 years old and he died about 1885. If you look at the person above him, Charles, you will see he is 5 years old. The “y” for Charles’ 5 years looks nothing like the “4” on Edmund’s 24 years. That was my big mistake. Even though everyone in this cemetery plot are my family members, I didn’t study the list to see how the ages were recorded. If you look again, you’ll see the ages are as follows: 55y 2d 42y 5y 24 90y 70y...