52 Ancestors - Week 17

DNA

This week has been full of things I Must Do and not enough time for what I Wanna Do. But I did get a start on this week's topic, DNA. 

Many years ago I had my DNA tested with National Geographic's Genographic Project. I am mitochondrial haplogroup HV which is passed down from the maternal line. I had my maternal line back to my great great great grandmother Mary Elilzabeth Obermeyer, born February 1802 in Alfhausen, Hannover, now part of Germany. 

Her daughter was Bernardina Harmeyer, born 30 August 1824 in Alfhausen, Hannover. She was my immigrant ancestor and came to New Orleans on the ship John Carver on 19 June 1848. Her full name turned out to be Helena Caterina Bernardina Harmeyer and in most records she is recorded as Dina. By strange coincidence I named my daughter Dina. Great great grandmother Dina married Peter Hardeway, a ships  carpenter from Copenhagen, Denmark, on 16 May 1850 in Algiers, Orleans Parish, Louisiana. I wrote about her and her many surname variants back on September 20, 2020 in my verazgenealogy.blogspot.com post about her daughter and my Great Grandmother Anna Hattaway Gonzales. 

While researching her and her parents for this blog post I was able to add a lot of information to her parents and grandparents. 

Thanks to more German church records published on the Family Search website I now know that her father was Johan Friedrich Anton Harmeyer (also spelled Haarmeijer), born 25 Oct. 1798 and died 29 May 1872. Her mother was Maria Elisabeth Obermeyer (also spelled Obermeijer), born Feb 1802 and died 28 Dec 1835. Her paternal grandparents were Herman Heinrich Harmeyer, 1753-1820, and Maria Anna Revermann (1755-1831). I haven't found her maternal grandparents yet.

It was Maria Elisabeth Obermeyer who passed on her haplogroup HV mtDNA to Dina Harmeyer Hardeway and then to my great grandmother Anna Hardeway/Hattaway Gonzales.

52 Ancestors - Week 16

 SHOULD BE A MOVIE

There are dozens of stories in my family tree that should be made into movies...including the story about gunslinger Joel Collins that I posted in Week 11. Some of these stories I have already written about in my Belle's Letters blog.  There are also a lot of stories from my mother's Begue family that I have written about in my book Mama's Family: The Mostly True Story of the Begue Family of Louisiana and Mississippi. There are several stories in my Witherspoon branch including a first person account by my ancestor's older brother of the boat trip that brought the entire family from Ireland to South Carolina. But for this week's theme I decided to go farther back in time, and farther out on a limb, on my Booksh branch.

Anne Coudray Leonard (1709-1776)

My Fifth Great Grandmother, Anne Coudray, was one of the survivors of the Natchez Massacre. I had found her in the traditional genealogical way of going back in time one family at a time, mostly through Catholic Church records in Louisiana. One day when I was doing research in Vero Beach, Florida, at the Indian River County library I discovered the story of her involvement in the Natchez Massacre.

As background here is the short version of a very long story taken from Wikipedia:

 The Natchez Massacre was an attack by the native Natchez people on French colonists near present-day Natchez, Mississippi, on November 29, 1729. The French had lived along side the Natchez people in the Louisiana colony for more than a decade, mostly conducting peaceful trade and occasionally intermarrying. A new French colonial commandant, Sieur de Chepart, arrived and upset the delicate balance, demanding that the Natchez give up their main village for his plantation near Fort Rosalie. The Natchez planned and carried out an attack on the fort and homesteads and killed about 230 French soldiers and colonists. Some of the colonists escaped and fled to New Orleans while about 30 women were held captive in the fort. After weeks-long negotiations for the release of the remaining captives the Natchez slipped away during the night. The surviving women were brought to New Orleans and placed under the protection of the Ursuline nuns while they arranged matches with soldiers and male colonists who needed wives.

There have been many books written on the Natchez Massacre including Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand's 1827 epic Les Natchez, incorporating his earlier best-selling novellas into a longer narrative. Chateaubriand saw the Natchez Massacre as the defining moment in the history of the Louisiana colony, a position consistent with the views of other 18th-century historians, such as Le Page du Pratz and Dumont de Montigny.

One of the most recent books about the Natchez Massacre is  The True Story of Pierre and Marie Mayeaux by Kenneth Myers published in 2017. It is definitely worth a read.

In The Louisiana Historical Quarterly Vol. 1 No. 3 January 1918, p.126-127 there is a list of "those killed at the time that the massacre was begun." In the list of 183 total killed are:

"17.   Chartier - Julien, from Burgundy, his wife and child, came to the concession of Mr. de Koly"

Anne Coudray was the wife of Julien Chartier.  We don't know what happened to their child and assume it was one of the victims.  On 11 July 1730 Anne was married to widower Jean Baptiste Leonard. According to their marriage record at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans she was a "native of Plouanne [Prouasne?] diocese of St. Malo, Brittany, France." Her parents were Francois Coudray and Gillet Gautier. She was born c1709. (Estimated from her age 67 at death in 1776.)

Her new husband Jean Baptiste Leonard was a "native of Liege, our parishioner, widower of Marie Paulus." There is a Leonard listed among the  Natchez dead as #23. "Leonard - Gascon, came to the concession of Mr. Law) but we don't know if he was related. We do have many other ancestors that were among the John Law settlers in Louisiana.

There is a 7 April 1721 listing for Jean Baptiste Leonard, his wife and 4 children listed on the Venus bound for Louisiana from L'Orient [Belgium], a soldier-worker of the company. [Company of the Indies]. He is listed as a gardener in December 1721. L'Orient was the port from which the John Law German settlers departed in 1721.

Anne and Jean Baptiste had three children, Marie Francoise, Jean Baptiste, and Louis. It was Louis that is our ancestor. He married Marie Anne Dardenne in 1764 at the St. Louis Cathedral. They had 8 children including Honore Leonard (1771-1861), who fought in the Battle of New Orleans and was the oldest ancestor that the family had memories of. All of these records are in the Sacremental Records of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Jean Baptiste Leonard died 9 March 1757 at about age 66.  Anne Coudray Leonard died 1 October 1776 at age 67.

52 Ancestors Week 15

SOLITUDE

Olivia South Carolina Tisdale
1864-1929

     I had already decided to write about Great Aunt Olivia South Carolina Tisdale called "Aunt Lee." On the day I started writing there was a piece in the On This Day in History column that confirmed my decision.

     It said: On April 11, 1898 President McKinley asked Congress for authorization to end fighting in Cuba between rebels and Spanish forces.

     The continuation of that story on history.state.gov/ milestones/1866-1898 spanish-american-war adds that on April 20 Congress passed a joint resolution that acknowledged Cuban independence and authorized McKinley to use whatever military measures deemed necessary to guarantee Cuba's independence.

     Spain rejected the U.S. ultimatum and severed diplomatic relations. McKinley implemented a naval blockade of Cuba on April 22 and issued a call for 125,000 military volunteers the next day. Spain declared war on the U.S. and Congress voted to to to war against Spain on April 25.    

     It wasn't just soldiers that were off to Cuba. Great Aunt Lee was a nurse and she went to Cuba, too, with the American Red Cross.

     Olivia South Carolina Tisdale was born 8 February 1864 in New Orleans, the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Tisdale and Eliza Helen Pratt. She never married and was an independent woman supporting herself as a nurse. I ended up with her red velvet photo album full of photos of family and friends.  One of the photos was of a soldier she met during her time in Cuba.

Cabinet Card Photos of Ira Roberts and Leonard Sisman
in Aunt Lee's album

     Leonard Sisman wrote a touching message on the back of his photo. 

  Like a plank of driftwood tossed o'er the watery main

  another plank encounters, meets touches and parts again

  and so on drifting ever o'er life's tempestuous sea,

  we meet part and [illegible] parting eternally

                                      Very Truly Yours

                                        Leonard Sisman

                                              2 US Vol Inf.

                                                         Cuba

     It wasn't a very long war but it had big consequences. At the behest of the Spanish Government a cease-fire was signed on August 12, 1898 amd the war officially ended four months later when the U.S. and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. Besides guaranteeing the independence of Cuba, the treaty also forced Spain to cede Guam and Puerto Rico to the U.S and agree to sell the Philippines to the U.S. The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty on February 6, 1899 by a margin of one vote.

Aunt Lee returned to New Orleans and continued her life as a nurse. She often told her niece Belle, also known as Vera, about her experiences in Cuba. Her nephew and my grandfather,Wilton T. Booksh Sr., often visited Cuba where he worked on sugar plantations as a sugar chemist. He even sent back a photo postcard of the 1911 raising of the Battleship Maine which was sunk by a mine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898 and played a role in starting the war. 

Aunt Lee died on 8 February 1929 in New Orleans and is buried in the family plot in the Magnolia Cemetery in Baton Rouge.

52 Ancestors Week 14

BEGINS WITH A VOWEL

     Many of my ancestors' names begin with vowels. We have several women named Anna, Anne, and Emma,  an Arabella, and an Amelia. We even have male ancestors named Adam and Albert. But we only have one with two names that begin with a vowel, Great Grandmother Anna Amelia Hasling, usually called Amelia. 

Anna Amelia Hasling Begue and her sister Sally Hasling Cordy
operated a small hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi from 1890 to about 1893.

     Anna Amelia Hasling was born in Algiers, Louisiana in April 1861, estimating from her age at death of  33 years and 2 months in her 1894 obituary. Or maybe in 1864 estimating from her age of 6 in the 1870 census. Or 1862 estimating from her age of 18 in the 1880 census.She was the third daughter of Adam Lawrence Hasling and Caroline Sophie Carstens. 

     Grandpa Begue said that his mother had dark hair and dark eyes. He also said she was an opera singer and he remembered watching her paint her throat with burnt cork before she sang at his Grandfather Hasling's ballroom in Algiers. Grandpa was only 7 years old when his mother died. 

     Her father, Adam Lawrence Hasling, had been married first to Mary Ann Keeling, who died on 3 June 1852. He married widow Caroline Sophie Carstens on 10 October 1853. Her first husband, Carl Martin Theodore Bayer had died 1 October 1852 while she was pregnant for their third child. Caroline's sister, Henrietta, was married to Adam's brother John Henry Hasling.  

     According to the 1860 census, there were three of A. L. Hasling's children from his first marriage in the household, Lawrence, age 14, Emma, age 16, and Agnes, age 11. Caroline and A. L. Hasling also had two daughters of their own, Laura Catherine, age 5, and Sarah "Sally," age 3. The New Orleans City Directory from the 1850s to 1861 show Amelia's father was operating a coffee house and grocery in Algiers. Soon he was off to serve in Gray's Regiment dring the Civil War leaving Caroline to run the business. The 1866 city directory shows him still operating the coffee house and grocery at Villere Street in Algiers. 

     On the 1870 census Amelia's family is listed as Adam Hasling, age 50, and wife Caroline, age 40. Living with them are children Lawrence 21, Jenny 18, John [Bayer} 19, Charlie [Bayer] 17, Laura 15, Sally 8, and Amelia 6.  In 1871 the city directory lists A. L. Hasling as grocer and ship chandler on Villere Street.  In 1880 Amelia is listed as 18 years old. Her sister Sally has married Arthur Cordy, a druggist, and has a baby girl, Mary Ann, always called May. They are all living with the A. L. Hasling family in Algiers.

     We don't know how Amelia Hasling met John Blaise Begue, whose family had a grocery in Biloxi, Mississippi. We do know that her father's brother, Henry Hasling, was living in Biloxi, Harrison County, Mississippi, in 1870. Her mother's Carstens family also had a home in Bioxi and in 1888 her father and mother had a summer home there as well.

     Mama said her father told her that Amelia Hasling's Episcopal family disowned her when she married Catholic John Blaise Begue. If her Episcopal family was upset, it did not stop them from attending the wedding at the Catholic Church in Biloxi. Listed as witnesses are A. L. Hasling, J. H. Cooper, B. Begue, Francis Martin, Martin Canby and Mrs. Caroline Hasling.  A. L. Hasling also signed the Marriage Bond with John Blaise Bégué two days prior to the wedding on 4 May 1882.

     On 7 February 1883 John and Amelia's first child, Mary Ann "Mamie" Begue, was born. Daughter Caroline Emilia "Carrie" was born 25 June 1885 and son John Louis was born 7 July 1887. The 1888 and 1889 New Orleans city directories list John Begue living at 47 Villere Street in Algiers. He was listed as a cotton inspecter in 1888 and as a cotton weigher in 1889.

     John Blaise Begue died on 7 June 1889 of pulmonary tuberculosis. On his death certificate his brother, Louis Bégué, declares that “John B. Bégué, a native of Biloxi, Miss., aged 38 years, departed this life this day (7 June 1889) at No. 47 Villere St., Algiers, in this city, Cause of Death pulmonary tuberculosis, Certificate of Dr. W. E. Schuppert. Deceased was married, 7 years in the city and a laborer by occupation.” His body was sent to Biloxi for burial in the Bégué plot of the Creole Cemetery in Biloxi. According to Biloxi Cemetery Records, 1841-1937, (Microfilm Z/1589 Roll 2) there are six graves in the Bégué plot in Section C-83, but none are legible.

     Mama said that after John Blaise Begue died, Amelia and her sister Sally Hasling Cordy, also a widow, operated a small hotel in Biloxi. This is probably the property on Lots 4 and 5, Fayard Alley owned by A. L. Hasling. The property is listed in court files as purchased in 1890. Small hotels like this were popular in the winter with Northern visitors and in the summer with Orleanians who left the city for the cooler Gulf Coast.

      The 1890 New Orleans City Directory lists Annie Bégué, widow of John, residing at 44 ½ Delaronde Street in Algiers, and the 1891 directory lists her as Annie E. Bégué, widow John, at 49 Villere. Her father, A. L. Hasling is living at 66 Villere and her uncle Henry Carstens is a partner in Carstens & Vezien, grocers and ship chandlers, 64 and 66 Villere. A receipt for real estate taxes is dated 23 August 1892 to Widow John Bégué for tax of $56.63 on $2,800 of real estate. The property is listed as Lot 5 and 6 located between Siguin, Villere, Bartholomew and Delaronde Streets.

     Amelia's mother Caroline died on 7 March 1891 of stomach cancer and left everything to Amelia's father. A. L. Hasling. On 7 November 1891 the Biloxi Herald's Local Happenings mentioned that Amelia was spending several weeks in Biloxi with her father. The same issue listed "For Sale - That fine and beautiful residence on the beach. Apply to A. L. Hasling or P. J. Moontross."

     On 17 June 1894 Amelia Hasling Begue died of phthisis pulmonalis, tuberculosis. Her will named Eugene Lalmant,  widower of her half-sister Sarah Agnes Hasling, her executor and tutor of her children who were to be placed in St. Joseph Orphan Asylum.

      Amelia's father A. L. Hasling died on 12 Aug 1895. He left everything to his son-in-law, Francis Martin, husband of Mary Jane "Jenny" Hasling, resulting in several law suits. Eugene Lalmant died 21 Nov 1896. Amelia's uncle  Henry Carstens was then named tutor of the children and he died soon after on 2 April 1898.  His wife, Mary Ann Fink Carstens, was soon involved in law suits over her handling of the estate.

     Further complicating the law suits were the great Algiers fire of October 1895 and the great fire in Biloxi on 9 November 1900 which destroyed several houses owned by the Haslings and Carstens families.

52 Ancestors Week 13

LIGHT A CANDLE

My Votive Candle Collection

     This week's theme made me think of my Grandma Begue. She always lit a candle at church to pray for someone in the family. Also when she was angry with someone she would say, "I'm going to light a black candle on her." I never saw her light a black candle, but I know she was very superstitious.  I collect votive candles and thought maybe a black candle had something to do with Voodoo, which was common in New Orleans, but when I looked up the meaning of burning a black candle I found it was not to cast a Voodoo spell on someone but for protection from negative energy or to break hexes or curses.

     I wrote a lot about Grandma Begue for Week 7, so I decided to write about her parents this week. I think some of her superstitions came from her mother, Anna Hathaway Gonzales. Her last name is listed in many different ways, Hattaway, Hardaway, Hartway, and even Hartwig. She was known to all of the family as Little Grandma. She died in 1943 when I was almost 3 years old so I barely remember her but my Mama had lots of stories about her. 

      Anna Hattaway and her twin Hannah were born in Algiers, Louisiana, on 3 January 1860, daughters of Peter Hardaway/Hartway/Hartwig from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Bernardina Harmeyer of Alfhausen, Hanover, Germany. Little Grandma said she was born with a veil, meaning that the amniotic sack covered her head. This was said to have given her the power to communicate with the dead.

      Little Grandma said that she was the sickly twin and had to be carried around on a pillow because she was so frail. She survived but her twin died. Anna  is listed on the 1860 census as 5/12 years old with her parents Peter and Dianah Hatherway. In the 1860 Mortality Schedule Dianah [Hannah] Hatherway is listed as dying in February at age 1 month of inflammation of the lungs after being ill for seven days. She was Peter and Dina's sixth and last child. (One of the strange coincidences of genealogy is that I named my daughter Dina before I knew that Bernardina's nickname was Dina.)

        Little Grandma's father died sometime between 1862 and 1870 leaving her mother to raise five daughters and one son. Peter had been a ships carpenter and worked on the riverfront in Algiers which later became part of New Orleans. During the Civil War and the blockade of the port he may have gone off aboard ship. Little Grandma only knew that he went away and never came back. He is listed with his family on the US census in 1860 but not in 1870. Bernardina died 8 October 1883. 

         Little Grandma married John Henry Gonzales (1856-1907) on 15 April 1880. He was also born in Algiers and worked on the riverfront and as a fireman. His father, John Gonzales (~1820-1884), was born in Northern Spain and his mother, Anne Farnan (1827-1910), was born in Ireland. Anna and John Henry Gonzales had seven children, only three of whom survived to adulthood: Joseph Manuel (1882-1938), James Peter (1886-1957) and Sarah Ann (1888-1965). 

      On the 1900 census, the John H. Gonzales family is listed in the Algiers section of New Orleans at 716 Newton Street near Valette. John H. is 44 and a day laborer, wife Annie is 36, son Joseph M. age 17, is a day laborer, son James P. is 13, daughter Sarah A. is 11, and John's mother, Ann, a 73 year old widow is living with them. John Henry Gonzales died 6 February 1907 of chronic nephritis at age 51.

     In 1910 Little Grandma, Uncle Joe, and Uncle Jim, and Great Great Grandmother Anne Farnan Gonzales are living at 936 Valette Street in Algiers with daughter Sarah Ann Gonzales and her husband John Begue and their first child, Robert, who is 1 year old.

     Little Grandma died at age 83 on 6 July 1943 of arteriosclerotic heart disease. Her obituary says that she was survived by nine grandchildren and six great grandchildren. I'll have to light a candle for her.

James Peter Gonzales, Anna Hathaway Gonzales, and Joseph Manuel Gonzales 1932