[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] GENEALOGY -- MY ELUSIVE GERMAN ANCESTOR -- FYI

[Cornelia Warner]

I have many, but not all, documents and records for Charles, his wife and only child.

what I am missing for Charles;
church baptism record from Russian occupied Poland.
immigration and naturalization records.
Seaman's certificates-non-extant for the period he worked in. it was never clarified if they had been destroyed or simply not made at all.
pre 1898 ship's pay records for him-these aren't indexed and you have to know at least the year and ship's name to get a look-up from them-but NARA and Ancestry are working to index everything in NARA's holdings, someday they'll be indexed and online.
U.S. Commissioner's court records for him-still looking for these.
a proven death and burial record for him.

to answer your questions, 
the marriage record says they were married by...Peter? MacDonald, but does not say anything about him other than he was of Boston. I've been told the church they were most likely married in was the Springfield Street Presbytarian church, but it's gone, no-one seems to know where the records are, and the Presbytarian archives didn't think to keep records of the parishoners.
the info on parents is that they were Anton and Thecla for Charles, Alan and Sarah for Annie. nothing more. no witnesses, this is a marriage register, not a record or application (neither have been found) residence given is mearly Boston. occupation; mariner (none for Annie, though she was a seamstress) Charles was 28, Annie 26. Charles born in Poland, Annie born in Cape Breton.
no attendant for the birth record, no age for the parents. residence is 46 Fayette St., Boston, MA. the occupation is, again, mariner.
Annie left MA first for Chicago (reason unknown and there for just a short while, then near Omaha, NE where she remarried (? marriage record eludes me) and then moved to California with her new husband Paul Gillette and son Allan by Charles-and Paul's mother. they settled in Oakland and Annie died there as Annie Gillette on August 30, 1909 of "Hyelatus of the liver with gastritis". Allan spent some time in Cape Breton and I suspect he is the "Ellen McAuley" living with his aunt and uncle McAuley in the 1901 census as they had no Ellen and the two are born the same year. a miss-heard/miss-understood name and some assumption on the enumerator's part could explain why there's an Ellen in the family when one doesn't exist, and why I can't find Allan when I know he should be there per family stories.
since Annie and Charles did not marry until 1883, they are two individuals with very common names, and picking the right one out of the bunch is nearly impossible. there are a lot of Annie's in Boston, none are seamstresses. a lot of Charles Wagners, none are mariners. 
it is a great frustration of mine that the 1890 is lost, Charles was in town when the city directory was made! but the city directories don't give the necissary information-birth place, parents birthplace, etc.
he was treated in the U.S. Mariner's hospital in Chelsea on 8 Jan of 1894 for Pneumonia, released on 2 Feb as improved, and the very next day had an aneurism of his arch aorta-also released improved. in both records he is given as born abt 1857 in Russia.
there is a sailor's society of Boston, I don't recall it's exact name. again, the records are not indexed and the people who run it don't have the time or manpower to check it for me. I haven't found a very focused grouping of German groups in Boston. I'm aware of German newspapers in Boston, but don't have access to them, can't read German and have no clue if there's any record of Charles in them. he may be completely Anglicised by 1880, if he did grow up in England.
yes, I've searched the spelling variants, including Waggoner. 
I had heard that Thecla/Thekla was a name given to girls born on the feast day for Thekla. perhaps they were Catholic. it would certainly help, once church records are finally found.

this is the timeline that I have for Charles, but there are, of course, many holes in it.

abt 1855-1857 born in either Poland or Russia, father Anton, mother Thekla

said to have been raised in England-nothing found in English census records

bef 1883 arrived in America-states he is a US Citizen in 1883

Jun 1883 arrived in New York from Liverpool, England on the ship Ethiopia

Oct 4 1883 married in Boston, MA to Annie McDonald father Alan, mother Sarah

Aug 1884 on the ship Katherine J. Ireland-filed a claim against Master and first mate for abuse.

1885 resided 46 Fayette, Boston, MA

1886 resided 46 Fayette, Boston, MA

May 3 1886 son Allan b. in Boston, MA (only child by Annie)

1887 possibly living at 6 Grenville place-Mrs. Annie Wagner (may be someone else)

1888/1889 resided 434 Chelsea in East Boston

1888/1889 possibly living at 6 Grenville place-Mrs. Annie Wagner (may be someone else)

1889 sailed on Stephen G. Loud, H. C. Sibley, bark Sarah-Mate (otherwise just a sailor)

Apr 17, 1889 wrote from Fallriver, MA

May 12, 1889 wrote from Brunswick, NS

Jun 4 & 5, 1889 wrote from Boston, MA

Jun 7 & 8, 1889 wrote from Bangor, ME

Jun 7 1889 payed 5.00 from H. C. Sibley

Jul 15, 1889 wrote from Aspinwall

Oct 9 1889 payed at rank of Mate from bark Sarah

1890 residing 267 Columbus Ave. Boston, MA

1890 sailed on Sachem, bark Sarah

Mar 4, 1890 wrote from St. Michaels

Mar/May (illegable) 6 1890 payed from bark Sarah

May 23 1890 payed from the Sachem

May 28, 1890 wrote from Fayal

Jun 13, 1890 wrote from St. Michaels

Aug 16, 1890 wrote from Boston, MA

Aug 19, 1890 wrote from Boston, MA

Sep 18, 1890 wrote from Fayal

Sep 28th 1890 wrote from St. Michaels 

1891 residing 267 Columbus Ave and rear of Prince-same man? or two different men?

1892, 1893 and all years after not listed in Boston/Chelsea city directories

26 Apr 1892 arrived in Boston, MA from St. John NB on the steamer Cumberland

Jan 1894 sailed on the Mercedita

Feb 1st payed 2.00 from the Mercedita

Jan 8 1894 in Marine Hospital, Chelsea, MA for Pneumonia, released Feb 2 as improved 

Feb 3 1894 in Marine Hospital, Chelsea, MA for aneurism of arch aorta-released improved in Mar 1894 

3 Aug 1894 said to have died on this date, form for a death record started, never completed or returned to Massachusetts vital record office and there is no death record for him for 10 years on either side of 1894 in Suffolk Co., MA

by 1898 Annie had removed to Chicago, IL, then it is said to Omaha, NE where she met and married Paul Gillette. they removed to Oakland, California



for further details, including full transcript of the handful of surviving letters Charles sent Annie, go to my file at WorldConnect at

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=necko&I11.x=23&I11y=10



hopefully this answers your questions, but if it brings more, or you have any ideas, please ask.

regards,

Cornelia


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: K GRUENEICHCAREY 
  To: fenenga at connpoint.net 
  Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2009 3:15 PM
  Subject: GENEALOGY -- MY ELUSIVE GERMAN ANCESTOR -- FYI


  Dear Cornelia,
       Do you have actual images or copies of those records for your elusive ancestor?  These are just some speculations & it might be a long shot, but have you thoroughly mined the info for leads, such as ---       
       Was the marriage done by a minister or a JP, what info on parents, witnesses, residences, occupations or ages of the bride & groom were given? For the son's birth record, was there any attendant, age of parents, residence or occupation given? For the wife's death notice, what was the cause of death -- consumption, accident, childbirth, etc? how old was the wife? How old were any children? If fairly young, perhaps he remarried to find a new mother for the kids? 
     Was the family here for the 1880 census? Otherwise, it is a long 20 year gap until the 1900 & so much changed in the meantime which makes it difficult to track our forebears.
     What info do you have on his medical records? Was he being treated for a recurring condition? Any occupational diseases? Have you check any city directories from the 1880s-WWI for the New England, NYC areas? Any ethnic lodges or occupational societies that you might dig up?
     Have you searched for spelling variants -- Karl, Josef, Jack, etc? The name "Thekla" for his mother in Germany is an early Greek saint, so perhaps they were Catholic at one point.
   
  Good luck to you & let us know if anything turns up.
  KGRUENEICHCAREY at hotmail.com