52 Ancestors - Week 4: Education

Amy Johnson Crow's email last week about "Goals Are Out, Questions Are In" inspired me to make this week's blog post a question ... 

Education?  Where did my Grandmother Emma Collins Francis and my Great Aunt Arabella "Vera" Booksh go to school?

New Orleans School Class Photo, circa 1905

We have this large group photo that was taken about 1905. Great Aunt Vera is fourth from the right in the back row and Grandma Emma is second from the right in the third row. 

Arabella Guinevere Booksh
1889 - 1977

Emma Collins Francis
(1888- 1925)

My Great Aunt, known to us as Noo had several nicknames. She was called Belle, Vera and Roonie. She and her family moved to New Orleans from East Baton Rouge Parish in 1893 when she was about 4 years old. (Estimated from Great Grandpa Samuel Booksh's 1930 obituary "...resident of this city for the past 37 years.") 

They were living at 1311 St. Mary Street in 1910 according to the U. S. Census. The family included Samuel W. Booksh and wife Belle M. Booksh and their four children, Sam Jr., Charles L., Wilton T. and Vera B.  The house is still there and Cousin Janet drove by and took photos of it.

My Grandma Emma Collins Francis's family had lived in New Orleans for several generations. On the 1910 U. S. Census they were living at 1220 Second Street, about four blocks from the Booksh family. The family consisted of Charles Alfred Francis, wife Anna Belle and their four children, Emma, Maude, Ernestine, and John. 

The family story was that Vera and Emma were good frinds and went to school together and that was how Emma and Wilton met. They married in 1912 and in September 1913 my father, Wilton Tisdale Booksh Jr., was born.

I have spent all week trying to find out what school might have been in the neighborhood without any luck, but I plan to continue looking. So for now the question stands ... Where did my Grandma Emma Collins Francis and my Great Aunt Arabella Vera Booksh go to school?

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 3: Out of Place

My Great Great Grandmother, Caroline Sophie Carstens Hasling (c1826-1891), is the ancestor who came to mind when I read the theme for this week's Ancestor.

Mamie Begue Camus Collection

My mother and my aunt started research on the Hasling family many years before I got bitten by the genealogy bug. When I continued their research I found that Caroline was most often recorded as having been born in Germany, a pretty vague place name. Other documents had her born in Hanover and Prussia. Estimating from dates given in her obituary, Caroline was born c1826 and immigrated c1846. She died 7 March 1891 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Starting with the U. S. Census records I found her in New Orleans in 1850 with her first husband, Charles Beyer, both born in Germany. They were operating a Coffee House and Grocery in Algiers, just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans.  Just a few blocks away was another Coffee House and Grocery operated by Caroline's sister Henrietta and her husband, John Henri Hasling.

Caroline's husband, Charles, whose German name was Carl Martin Theodore Bayer, had arrived in New Orleans on 4 January 1841 aboard the Barque Clement from Hamburg. A public tree on Family Search has his birth date as 17 May 1814 in Luneberg, Hannover. Once in New Orleans he was known as Charles Beyer.

Caroline and Charles were married c1847, estimating from the age of their first child, Caroline, listed as age 2 in the 1850 census. Son Johan Martin Theodore Beyer was born on 10 October 1850. Charles died on 1 October 1852 while Caroline was  pregnant with their third child, Carl Martin Theodore Beyer, Jr., who was born 22 January 1853.

On 10 October 1853 Caroline married Adam Lorenz Hasling, brother of John Henri Hasling, who was married to Henrietta Carstens, Caroline's sister. His first wife, Mary Ann Keeling, had died on 3 June 1852.  Both of Caroline's boys were baptized soon after her marriage to Hasling on 6 November 1853 at St. Anna's Episcopal Church, just a short ferry ride across the Mississippi River from their home in Algiers. Daughter Caroline had evidently died earlier. 

The large Hasling family is listed in the 1860 U.S. Census in Algiers:

   A. L. Hasling, age 41, a merchant with $75,000 of real estate, born in Bremen

   Elizabeth (which was Caroline's third given name), 39, born in Hanover

   Henry Carstens, age 65, born in Hanover (Caroline's father Hillrich Heinrich Carstens)

   Children: Lawrence, age 13;  Agnes, age 10;  John (Beyer), age 9; Charles (Beyer), age 6; Laura, age 4;  Emma, age 5; Sarah, age 2 months

In 1870 the Hasling family consisted of Adam and Caroline, Lawrence, Jenny, John (Beyer), Charlie (Beyer), Laura, Sally, and Amelia (my Great Grandmother). Caroline is listed in 1870 as born in Prussia.  The census was taken just a few months before Algiers was annexed into the city of New Orleans.

In October 1873 Caroline's son John Beyer died and in November 1874 son Charles died. There was no cause of death listed. Neither of her sons married so I had never done much research on them. It wasn't until I chanced to find the delayed birth certificates of Caroline and Charles' sons that I discovered where Caroline was born. The boys' births were registered in 1858 by A. L. Hasling. He states that she was born in Westerbur, Oestfriesland, Hanover. Finally I had her place of birth!

It's important to remember that place names in the census were always entered as they existed at the time of the census. Boundaries and place names changed so even a person who never moved can show up as being in many different places.

Caroline Carstens Hasling died 7 March 1891.

Adam Lawrence Hasling died 12 August 1895.

The Hasling tomb is in the Odd Fellows Rest Cemetery in New Orleans, Loisiana.  Also mentioned are:

Louise Catherine Hasling

Hillrich H. Carstens

Charley Beyer

Johann Beyer

Laura Bakeler

Annie Amelia Begue

His Story, Her Story, Your Story

HIS STORY, HER STORY, YOUR STORY:

PRESERVING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY

© 2012 Vera Zimmerman Revised 2022

verazgenealogy.blogspot.com

Whether you are just beginning to explore genealogy or doing a Genealogy Do-Over or just starting on a new branch, these steps will make your tree-climbing easier.

GETTING STARTED::

     BASIC FORMS are available at many website. One of the best is:

https://www.cyndislist.com/free-stuff/printable-charts-and-forms/?page=2

FAMILY GROUP SHEETS – Start with yourself.

     Make a Family Group Sheet with your father and mother, you and your siblings.

     One FGS is made for each marriage or union that produces children..

     Father goes on top line.

     Enter full name, first middle and last.

     Fill out in pencil if you aren't sure of the information.

     Enter dates as day, month year and spell out month: ie 2 Mar 2020

     Enter full place names: city, town, county, state, country, as it was at the time of the event.

     Mother goes on next line. Always use the maiden name for females.

     Include all children in birth order. Note if adopted, step or foster.

     Make a separate FGS form with natural parents if known.

     Sign the forms and date them.

PEDIGREE CHART– Shows ancestors for 4 generations.

     Enter your name on Line 1.

     Your Father on Line 2 and Your Mother on Line 3.

     Grandparents on Lines 4, 5, 6, & 7.

     Great grandparents on Lines 8 to 15.

SEARCH FOR FAMILY RECORDS:

     Newspaper clippings, vital records, bible entries, photos, scrapbooks, diaries, letters, etc.

     Take care of original source material.

     Do not write on, paste, tape, mount, laminate, punch holes in, or staple original documents.

     Store in archival sleeves, binders, folders or boxes.

COLLECT FAMILY STORIES:

     Write down stories you remember. One story per sheet with approximate date at top.

     Interview relatives in person or by phone, email or letter.

SHARE what you have found with your relatives.

     Scan or copy paper items and distribute copies to relatives.

     Consider placing a copy at a library or historical society in the town where your ancestors lived.

     Include your name, address, phone number and email address.

     Caution: Do not put information on living people on material to be shared.

     Do not use your mother's maiden name as a security password.

DOCUMENT YOUR INFORMATION:

     Identify what you found and where you found it.

     Why? So you can find it again and so others can find it.

     Give credit to the work of others.

     Also document what you did not find.

     Reference for documentation: Evidence by Elizabeth Shown Mills.

     Documentation Source #1 for your Family Group Sheets and Pedigree Chart:

     “Personal knowledge of [your name] [address] [date]”

BEFORE YOU DO FURTHER RESEARCH: 

Evaluate : Analyze your data and sources

     Find the most accurate information possible

     Closest to time of event

     Primary Sources, Direct Evidence.

     What information is missing?

Organize: Necessary so you can find the information quickly and easily

     3-ring Binders or File folders

     Divide families by surname and location.

     Unique file names.

          i.e. Surname, Given name (b.-d.) Place, Type of document, date

               Doe John (1900-1990) LA Census 1920

Choose a genealogy software program:

     Recommended: Legacy Family Tree: https://legacyfamilytree.com/

     Roots Magic: https://www.rootsmagic.com/

      Reunion (for MAC) https://www.leisterpro.com/

RESOURCES

     Visit the LOCAL GENEALOGY DEPARTMENT at the Cocoa Library, 2nd floor.

          How To books - Unpuzzling your Past by Emily Croom is an excellent guide.

          Check for previous research and/or published genealogies.

          Research your state. To find out WHAT records are WHERE.

Visit the FAMILY HISTORY CENTER in Rockledge.

The Family Search web site has free online records, including census indexes, and helpful tutorials:

     https://www.familysearch.org/en/ https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Main_Page

     Closely related is The Family History Guide: https://www.thefhguide.com/

FEDERAL CENSUS research.

     Latest one released is 1950. Find your family in that one and work your way back.

     Use Ancestry $ https://www.ancestry.com/ at home or free on Brevard County Library computers.

     Another source: https://www.census-online.com/links/index.html

Use the SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX to find unknown birth and death dates:

     https://www.genesearch.com/socialsecurity.html

     https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1202535

     https://www . ancestry .com/search/collections/3693/

VITAL RECORDS (birth, marriage, death) can be ordered from State, County or City offices.

   https://vitalrec.com/ https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w/index.htm https://www.usgenweb.org/

   Click on your State and County to find out how and where to order records.

MAIL LISTS AND MESSAGE BOARDS of the county and state where your ancestors lived.

     are available free at : https://home.rootsweb.com/

MILITARY RECORDS and good tutorials are available at the National Archives site:

     www.archives.gov/ https://www.archives.gov/research/military/genealogy

CYNDI'S LIST is a web site with links to other web resources:

     https://www.archives.gov/research/military/genealogy

Attend a GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY meeting. Brevard Genealogical Society meets at the Cocoa Library,

     2nd Monday of each month. Sept. - June.. See their web site: http://www.flbgs.org/

     See my blogs for examples of what you can do with your information:      

belletisdale.blogspot.com/    and

verazgenealogy.blogspot.com

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, Week 1 and 2

2023 Week 1  I'd Like to Meet

          Week 2  Favorite Photo

I am running late with Week 1 so I have decided to combine Week 1 with Week 2.

      I would like to meet my paternal Grandmother, Emma Collins Francis Booksh. She is the only one of my grandparents that I mever met. I know a lot about her, but I'd like to have known her personally.

     One of my favorite photos of her is this one of Grandma Emma with her first born, my father Wilton Tisdale Booksh Jr., and her mother, Anna Belle Collins Francis, and grandmother, Emma Louise Chalfant Collins, taken by my grandfather, Wilton Tisdale Booksh Sr., on the day of my father's baptism on 21 October 1913 in New Orleans.

     Emma was born on 11 August 1888 at China Grove Plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. She was the oldest daughter of Charles Alfred Francis and Anna Belle Collins. Emma and her two sisters and her brother were all born at China Grove Plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish. One of the questions I'd like to ask her is why her mother traveled up river from their home in New Orleans to give birth in Pointe Coupee.

     Her mother, Anna Belle Collins, was born on 10 March 1866 in Collin County, Texas, but on the 1870 census she is listed at age 4 living with her father and mother, Foster Collins and Emma Collins, and two siblings in the household of her uncle Charles Chalfant in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. Great Grandmother Anna Belle's mother, Great Great Grandmother Emma Louise Chalfant, was born in Pointe Coupee Parish circa 1846. In the 1880 census she is listed at age 30 in Pointe Coupee with her husband J. F. Collins. Emma Louise's father, Nathaniel Chalfant, is listed as a Planter in Pointe Coupee Parish in 1860 and her mother, Drucilla Burrows Chalfant, died in Pointe Coupee. These are the only connections I have been able to find in the family to Pointe Coupee.

     I am assuming the China Grove Plantation in Pointe Coupee was the home of Emma Louise's parents, Nathaniel Chalfant (1795-1869) and Drucilla Caroline Burrows (1813-1865). That's what I'm assuming, but if I could meet Grandma Emma I could ask her.

     And I would also like to ask her if these two unidentified Daguerreotypes from my Great Grandma Belle Tisdale's photo collection are of Nathaniel Chalfant and Drucilla Burrows.