Roots--16 Great-Great Grands!

A few weeks ago, Randy Seaver threw out a Saturday night genealogy challenge:

Do you have a pedigree chart that shows you as #1 and goes back five generations? If not, you should make one! Fire up your software program and create a report and save it (you'll see why in a minute!).

Here is your SNGF assignment for the evening (if you choose to accept it - this is not stump the genealogist or even Mission Impossible):

1. List your 16 great-great-grandparents in pedigree chart order. List their birth and death years and places.
2. Figure out the dominant ethnicity or nationality of each of them.
3. Calculate your ancestral ethnicity or nationality by adding them up for the 16 - 6.25% for each (obviously, this is approximate).
4. If you don't know all 16 of your great-great-grandparents, then do it for the last full generation you have.
5. Write your own blog post, or make a comment on Facebook or in this post.

Here's mine:

1. François Joseph Kempf, was born on 10 Nov 1822 in Niederentzen, Haut Rhin, Alsace, France, died on 15 Apr 1891 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas, and was buried on 15 Apr 1891 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas. AMERICAN.
2. Marie Anna Weber, was born on 8 Jan 1835 in Mitzach, Haut Rhin , Alsace, France and died on 24 Aug 1921 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas. ALSATIAN.
   
3. Andreas Keller II, was born on 13 May 1824 in Oberentzen, Haut Rhin, Alsace, France, died on 8 Sep 1889 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas, and was buried on 9 Sep 1889 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas. ALSATIAN.
   
4. Catherina Dreyer, was born on 19 Feb 1822 in Haut Rhin, Alasce, France, died on 5 Aug 1893 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas, and was buried in 1893 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas. ALSATIAN.
   
5. Jacques Bietiger, was born on 6 May 1835 in Falkwiller, Haut Rhin, Alsace, France,12 died on 12 Dec 1876 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas, and was buried in Castroville, Medina County, Texas. ALSATIAN.
   
6. Anna Maria Haldy, was born on 12 Aug 1843 in Oderen, Haut Rhin, Alsace, France, died on 27 Jul 1906 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas, and was buried on 28 Jul 1906 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas. ALSATIAN.
7. August Holzhaus was born on 17 Jul 1836 in Vechta, Niedersachsen, Germany, died on 7 Jun 1925 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas, and was buried on 9 Jun 1925 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas. GERMAN.
   
8. Catherine Mehr, was born on 29 Nov 1842 in Oberentzen, Haut Rhin, Alsace, France and died on 1 Jan 1933 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas. ALSATIAN.
9. Henry William Keller, Sr., was born on 23 Jan 1848 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas, died on 5 Jan 1927 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas,11 and was buried in 1927 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas. AMERICAN.
10. Mary Rose Bohl, was born on 9 Feb 1857 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas, died on 12 May 1911 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas, and was buried in 1911 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas. AMERICAN.
11. Emil Zinsmeyer, was born on 25 Jul 1865 in Bandera, Bandera County, Texas and died on 3 Jul 1932 in Lacoste, Medina County, Texas. AMERICAN.
    
12. Mary Magdelena Echtle, was born on 7 May 1867 in Hinterohlsbach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and died on 27 Sep 1939 in Lacoste, Medina County, Texas. GERMAN.
13. Sebastian Tschirhart, was born on 10 Apr 1849 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas and died on 12 May 1931 in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. AMERICAN.
14. Theresa Johanna Biry, was born on 17 May 1857 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas and died in 1889 in Bandera, Bandera County, Texas. AMERICAN.
15. Joseph Haegelin II, was born on 5 Nov 1845 in Castroville, Texas and died on 5 Mar 1940 in Rio Medina, Medina County, Texas. AMERICAN.
    
16. Catherine Sophia Haby, was born on 15 May 1859 in Castroville, Medina County, Texas and died on 12 Sep 1930 in Rio Medina, Medina County, Texas. AMERICAN.

My "nationalities" are 8 AMERICAN, 6 ALSATIAN and 2 GERMAN - so 50% AMERICAN, 37.5% ALSATIAN, 12.5% German. Another generation back would be almost exclusively immigrants and add the lines of POLISH and SWISS (1 each). [NOTE: Some of you are going to argue that Alsace is not a country/nationality, but I am going to use that as a designation because it is so unique. Growing up, I would have never identified with the French, no offense, but the customs and traditions of my family are more aligned with German than French. Alsace has been a German-speaking region of France and my grandparents spoke Alsatian fluently in the home. Alsace exchanged hands several times between Germany and France in the 19th century.]

This was real easy to do once I created a report in Legacy Family Tree 7.0. I went to the Report menu and chose "Books and Other" and then selected "Ancestry". On the right side, there is a printer menu and I selected RTF file, clicked the "Create" button, opened the file in Word Pad (Windows Accessories) and copied/pasted the 5th generation into the post above. Easy!

As Randy says on his blog, "One of the great things about writing a blog post like this is that now other searchers can find you on the Internet in a search engine." Thanks Randy for the great tips and a quick blog post for this week!

By the way....I found Randy's blog post in a circuitous manner....I saw Henk Van Kampen's tweet on Twitter and he pointed me toward Randy's post!

Tombstone Tuesday

I have been catching up on my genealogy blog reading and I have noticed a common thread on Tuesdays: Tombstone Tuesday. I saw on Kinexxions today that Becky Wiseman credited Amy Crow on her blog, Amy's Genealogy, etc. Well, whomever came up with the idea, I think it is fantastic!

Here is my first blog entry for Tombstone Tuesday! Katherina Dreyer Keller, my great-great grandmother. The text is in German because the early immigrants mostly spoke the Alsatian dialect, which is very Germanic.

Katharina Dreyer was born in Ranspach, Alsace, France on February 18, 1822. She immigrated to the United States with her parents, Martin Dreyer & Catherine Lotheringer Dreyer. Their ship, "Heinrich", left Antwerpen, Belgium in December, 1843 and arrived at Galeveston, Texas in March of 1844. Katharina was on the same ship as her future husband, Andreas Keller. She travelled with her parents, four sisters and a brother. Catherine Dreyer, the mother, died enroute to Texas. Martin Dreyer Dreyer & three of his daughters settled in Castroville. All the people who came on the ship had to camp in San Antonio for nine months before they came to Castroville. The emprassario, Henri Castro, was delayed and did not arrive until September of 1844. Some people camped among the ruins of the Alamo during those long months. Katherina and Andreas had nine children after they settled in Castroville.

Katherina and her husband Andreas were among the original settlers of Castroville, Medina County, Texas and since they settled in Texas while it was still a Republic, they entitle me to apply for Texas First Families as well as Daughters of the Republic of Texas, if I get all of my paperwork together!

Just a couple more genealogical "things to do" to keep me busy, in case I get bored :-)

Here is a special placque that was placed at their gravesite by descendents:

Weekly Genealogy Blogger Prompt #1

Eva Tschirhart (Keller) baby picture
Originally uploaded by Andrea Christman

The Weekly Genealogy Blogging Prompt #1 at Facebook is:

1. Upload your favorite picture and talk about it on your blog. Answer the who/what/when/where/why of the subject matter and explain why it is your favorite.

I don't know if this is my all-time favorite photograph, but it is my "latest" favorite!

Who: My maternal grandmother, Eva Albina Tschirhart Keller. All of her grandchildren called her "Mother" and it must be because her youngest child, my Uncle Burnell, was born later in her life and he was only 7 years older than me! I guess he called her "Mother" and the name stuck with the grandchildren. My own mother was called "Mom" and that is how we told the difference between the two women!

What: Childhood portrait

When: Eva was born Dec. 1913 near San Antonio in a small town named LaCoste, Medina County, Texas. She was one of three children born to Idella Rose Haegelin and Edward William Tschirhart. I would assume she is between 2-3 in this photo which would date the photograph around 1915-16.

Where: The photo is imprinted with the photography studio "Stein" and location "San Antonio". This makes sense as my grandmother lived her entire life in a small town 30 miles west of San Antonio. Most of the old photographs in my possession are taken in studios located in San Antonio.

Why: I don't know exactly why this photo has captivated me, but it could be because of the wonderful, warm and nurturing memories I have of spending time with my grandmother. She was a "quiet" giant! She ruled the roost without letting my grandfather realize it. I love the look on her face in this photograph; sort of a look of anticipation. Her hands are clapsed as if to say, "is this right?" I totally love the little crochetted dress, black, patent-leather, buckle shoes and adorable plaid leggings! My grandmother always had a flair for fashion and we always wondered how a simple, small town girl who grew up to be a farmer's wife learned this flair, but obviously, she learned it early! My most cherished memories are of her taking me shopping in San Antonio and stopping for lunch in the tearooms of the department stores (Joske's and Frost's in particular!). Boy did she love to shop!