My Tree in the Forest

Week 7 Landed

The Circus has Landed!

The Boone News Republican, Boone, Iowa, July 24, 1934, pg 5.

The challenge for week 7 is Landed. I first thought to interpret this as my ancestors landing in their new country, but I decided to try something a little more unique. Amy Johnson Crow gives us these prompts to look at our relatives in a new way, to find a little more or put things together from a different perspective. So, I chose to find out a little more about a childhood memory belonging to my mom. I looked at the circus landing in town!

One of the memories my mom shared with me was about the circus coming to town. Her grandfather would come early in the morning, it was still dark outside, and wake up my mom and her sister. He would take them on an adventure for the day. They would follow the circus through town and watch as they set up their tents and prepared the animals for the show. Here is their grandfather Charles William Smith.

Charles William Smith 1860-1936 in front of his house in Boone, Iowa

I’m not sure how young they were when he started to take them on this adventure, here are a couple of photos of my mom, Helen (Cook) Kirkwood, and her sister Alice Marion (Tonsfeldt) Kirkwood. I am thinking the first may have been before these adventures began but the second would definitely fit within the right time frame.

Alice Marion Tonsfeldt 1915-2006 and Helen E. Kirkwood 1918-2012, Boone, Iowa

Helen E. Kirkwood and Alice Marion Kirkwood

My mom said her favorite part of the circus was the elephants. She loved watching the little ones hold the tail of their mother. I can only imagine how exciting those days most have been for these two young girls and their grandfather. I’m picturing them sneaking out of the house in the dark of the early morning hours. Watching the sun rise as the big tents were rising too. The exotic animals, the smells, the hustle and bustle of sounds would all have been enough to make these two girls very wide eyed and grateful for a loving grandfather who took them on this adventure.

The Boone News Republican, Boone, Iowa July 29, 1935 page 5.

I found this ad in the Boone News Republican for the Russell Bros. Circus. You could have choice reserved seats for .25! There were many small circus’ at this time. This one seems to have come to Boone often from the news articles I found. This circus was founded in 1928 by a husband and wife team Claude E. Webb and Pauline (Russell) Webb. You can find quite a lot about them online including a photo in the Library of Congress from Janesville, Wisconsin. They traveled all across the country and eventually settled in California.

The Boone News Republican, Boone, Iowa, July 31, 1935, page 5.

The horses were also a spectacular draw for my mom when she was young. She spent quite a bit of time on her Aunt Mary’s farm, but the horses at the circus were so much more than the typical farm horse. I wonder if she ever tried any tricks while riding this horse?

Helen Kirkwood at her Aunt Mary (Smith) Spurrier’s farm

The aerial acts must have been very glamorous as well. I can hear the ooohs! and the aaaahs! from the dangerous stunts that were performed. Violetta Conners was one of forty feminine stars so it must have been a fairly large circus. “This little lady slides three hundred feet from the dome of the tent to the ground, suspended only by her teeth, her body spinning around and around like a human top–without any net under her.”

The Boone News Republican, Boone, Iowa, August 1, 1935, page 3.

I couldn’t look for information about the circus coming to town without also finding lot’s of stories that give rise to why the circus no longer comes to town. The conditions for the animals and the people involved were not always good. There are many stories of death and exploitation of both animals and people. It would have been an exciting event to witness but I am glad people are more aware of conditions today. I’m not saying this particular circus behaved like this, I did not find any examples from this circus. I am generalizing as to why there are very few today.

If you have some time you might want to look into the Circus that came to your ancestors town. At some point I need to find out about my mom’s cousin who joined the circus. True story, or family myth?

Week 6 Maps

The theme for Week 6 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is Maps. I am following along with these prompts for researching my ancestors as given by Amy Johnson Crow. It is fun to see how each person interprets the different prompts.

I chose to work on mapping a day trip through a section of Scotland. My great Uncle Walter Kirkwood, who lived in Scotland, sent a letter to his brother (my grandfather) John Kirkwood in 1965. John lived in Central Iowa in the United States since 1910. Here is a part of the letter with trip number one.

part of letter from Grand Uncle Walter to my grandfather John Kirkwood

I tried to block out any names. Walter is describing a day trip with his niece and nephew. A trip to Scotland is definitely on my bucket list. I think it may be fun to enjoy the drive my Grand Uncle is describing so I mapped it on Google Maps. I ran it by some of the people who are in a Scotland Genealogy group on Facebook and learned the roads have probably changed some since 1965 when this letter was written but it should give me a similar experience. Here is the what I came up with.

google maps trip 1 from Grand Uncle Walter’s letter to John Kirkwood

The trip begins at Larkhall, traveled to Dalveen Pass and on to Dumfries. They returned via Peebles, Biggar and Abington, passed Lesmahagow and back to Larkhall. I love google maps capabilities in that I can get street views at different stops to see what these places look like now.

The second journey my Grand Uncle Walter took was a week later. It gave me a little trouble because google maps didn’t recognize a couple of the names. I learned that Cumberland Shire England is called Cumbria. I thought it said Leviot Hills but it is either Teviot Hills or Cheviot Hills. Teviot Hills seems most likely given the direction they were traveling. Here is the second trip.

trip 2 Grand Uncle Walter to Grandfather John Kirkwood

Here is the google maps version I came up with. Not sure if I will be able to take these trips but I can dream and imagine my ancestors traveling this same path. The trip began at Larkhall, through Peebles to Hawick. He crossed the border into Cumbria, bypassed Carlisle and drove through Gretna Green. The Teviot Hills are between Gretna Green and Crawford I believe. They drove through Teviot Hills, through Crawford and back to Larkhall.

The last map I created has the towns where my grandfather and his brothers and sisters were born. I definitely want to drive to Stevenston where my grandfather was born, and Larkhall where the family seemed to always return. This next map shows each of the towns where the family lived when one or more of their children were born. My great grandfather Walter Kirkwood (yes, my grand uncle has the same name) worked in the coal mines and all of these towns are located at different mines where he worked. Each of the sons began working in the mines at a very young age.

Stevenston, Larkhall, Carluke, Motherwell, Baillieston and Stirlingshire are all locations where my family lived. It kind of gives me chills to think of walking where they may have walked. These are my possiblity maps of places I would like to go one day. Hope it is soon. Have you mapped any trips to visit ancestral locations?

Enjoy the journey! Janet

Week 5 Branching Out

The theme for week 5 of Amy Johnson Crow’s genealogy prompts is Branching Out. The last couple of weeks I have been doing exactly this with my ancestors from Scotland. My grandfather was John Robertson Kirkwood. I have followed the Kirkwood’s back to my 7th great grandfather. It’s past time to look into the women in these relationships. The story has a plot twist at the very end.

This is my grandfather, I have looked fairly extensively at him and his primary family.

This is Nettie Myrtle Smith, she married John in Boone, Iowa on 2 Jun 1913. I have researched Myrtle fairly extensively as well as her primary family. She was an amazing person and I look forward to telling you more about her in the future.

I am so excited to have this photo of my grandfathers parents. They lived in Scotland their entire lives and like my grandfather, his father was a miner in Lanarkshire. Walter Guy Kirkwood (1857-1927) and Marion Robertson (1854-1936) married in 1877 in Dalserf, Lanarkshire, Scotland. They had 10 Children. My grandfather, John was the third in the line. John and his older brother George both came to Iowa in the U.S. about 1905.

Walter Guy Kirkwood and Marion Robertson

The next level up in the family is where I started to lose track of the women. I am so grateful that in Scotland women are almost always indexed with their maiden name. I had Walter’s parents as George Kirkwood and Helen Guy or Gay. We weren’t really sure of her last name until I found Walter’s birth record on Scotland’s People. It was Guy, which gave me a little more direction. I was able to find a marriage record for George and Helen first. They were married May 15, 1841 in Old Monkland, Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Scotland’s People (Old Parish Records, Marriages 652/ 30 174 Old Monkland or Coatbridge) Page 174 of 587.

George and Helen were fairly easy to find in the 1851, 1861, 1871, and 1881 Census’. Here is the 1881 Census with the two of them on their own. This let me know I needed to look for Helen’s death after 1881. That was a big help. The death record almost always list the parents names.

I found her death record with her parents listed as Robert Guy (a weaver! first one from Scotland who wasn’t a miner) and Mary Craig. The name Craig registered as being familiar but not really why at this point.

death record for Helen Guy Scotland’s People (Statutory Registers Deaths 638/1 150)

Armed with Helen’s parents names I was able to search for her birth record. Records such as this one are from written church records. This one is from 1817! It kind of blows my mind when I think of how old these records are, and there are many more even older. This record gave me a starting point to search for the records of Helen’s parents. The record was from the Parish in Cardross.

Scotland’s People (Old Parish Registers Births 494/ 20 251 Cardross) page 251 of 327.

The next step was to find a marriage record for Robert Guy and Mary Craig. Lucky for me, they were married in Cardross. The 17th of December in 1808 Robert and Mary became a couple. I think the handwriting is beautiful!

Scotland’s People (Old Parish Registers Marriages 494/ 20 309 Cardross) Page 309 of 327.

I was having trouble at this point because I kept finding a Robert Guy with a wife named Catherine in the Census records. I turned to a Scottish Genealogy group on Facebook for some assistance. I still have more to find for Mary Craig but the wonderful people in this group helped me figure out Robert was married twice. They also helped me figure out why the name Craig seemed familiar. If you go back in this story you will remember that Helen Guy, Mary’s daughter was married to George Kirkwood. I had already found the parents of George and his grandparents as well so I wasn’t really thinking about his family. Well it turns out George and Helen’s mom’s were sisters! Surprise plot twist. Makes for a little less research that way.

I still have more to find and may write more about the Craig family in a future post. I feel very happy to have made this much progress in such a short time. There are so many wonderful sources and awesome people to help on this journey. I was saving some records to look up when I go to Scotland someday. Not sure when traveling will become easy again but if I do the research online as much as possible I will have more time to just enjoy the countryside when I make my trip.

Week 4 Curious

The theme for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks in week 4 is Curious. I have not been able to find my great grandmother Catherine White or Katie Siepmann in the 1940 Census. I have been curious why although I suspected it was a transcription error. My family used to drive to Belle Plaine, Iowa to visit Kate Siepmann who lived with her son Fred and daughter Kate. Kate Siepmann passed away in 1950 so I knew she had to live there in 1940. I was too young to meet my great grandmother but I do remember visiting Aunt Cake and Uncle Fred in Belle Plaine.

I asked my family to make sure no one else had already looked for this source but no one had found it. I turned to Family Search as I have found quite a few records for Belle Plaine on their site. I thought the best way might be to look through the 1940 Census for Belle Plaine page by page. Luckily Belle Plaine was not a huge community. According to Wikipedia, the population in 1940 was only 3,202.

Woohoo! I found it. The problem was the transcription. It was transcribed as Stepman rather than Siepmann. Looking at the form I can understand why that happened. I did edit the transcription so other people looking for this record might have an easier time finding it now. I have seen many creative ways to spell Siepmann during my search but have to admit Stepman didn’t cross my mind.

Week 3 Favorite Photo

These themes are difficult! How do I chose one favorite photo? I love the photos of my parents from when they were little. Sometimes it is difficult to imagine our own parents as ever being young, but they were.

I chose a photo of my Grandfather, John Robertson Kirkwood. This is when he drove a streetcar. He was from Scotland and had the most amazing accent. I loved to listen to him talk. He came over every Sunday for dinner and always brought a small bag of candy and a copy of Grit magazine. He passed away when I was in second grade so I didn’t know him long enough but he made a big impression on my young life.

I asked my mom what her favorite gift was when she was young. She said grandpa made her a couch for her doll from leftover materials from the streetcar seats. She used to ride the car with him and he let her ring the bell.

Week 2 Favorite Find

Picking one favorite find is difficult. I have learned so many things about my family and my husbands family. They astound me how resilient they are in the face of adversity. I think breaking through my great grandfathers brick wall was when I really became hooked on the search.

My great grandfather was an unknown for the most part. We knew him as Benjamin Cook but the family story was that he had changed his name at some point and he was from Germany. I didn’t know very much about how to search when I began this journey. I was very frustrated with not being able to make any headway on finding my great grandfather. So, I hired a researcher to give me a boost. She found an obituary for my great grandfather. He died very young, only 35 years old. He was run over by a train. He left a wife and three children, the youngest, my grandfather was only 4.

The obituary stated that two brothers came to the funeral from Watertown, Wisconsin. It didn’t say their names but now we had a place to search. There is a lot more to this story and the short life of Bernhard Koch/Benjamin Cook but that can be told another day. I would have to say those little news clippings have made a huge impact on much of my research.

Week 1 Foundations

The theme for the first week is foundations. It could be interpreted in many ways. I chose to look at the foundation of my family ancestry journey. When I was young it was very easy to know that I was part of a much bigger picture. There are eight children in my family, we had cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents who visited at various times. Occasionally we would go on trips to visit them as well but with a family our size for the most part they traveled to us.

When my husband and I married we moved far enough away with his job that it wasn’t always easy to return for family gatherings. As we started our own family it became a little more difficult to pack up and go, and the winter weather usually didn’t help. Our daughter loved being part of a big family and she relished those trips for Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas with grandma and grandpa. We had state magnets for each state we visited stuck to our refrigerator. Our son tried to rearrange the magnets so our family was closer because by this time we had family from Washington D.C. to Hawaii. (Wish it was that easy)

My children inspired me to start learning more about our families and write it down for them to share with their own families one day. It was a very slow start to the journey while they were still young. I have plenty of time now and am having fun learning the stories of my family. The photo at the top is my grandmother, her parents and grandparents and aunts, uncles and cousins. My grandmother Nettie Myrtle Smith was born in 1893 in Franklin, NE. She is the girl sitting across the table. Her father, Charles William Smith(1860-1936), and grandfather, Ira Smith(1831-1920), had a furniture store. Her mom, Melissa Alice Minson (1863-1932) and her grandmother, Anna Slater (1839-1913) probably worked for hours to make all the food for this dinner. This photo reminds me a great deal of when I was young and we had everyone over for Christmas dinner. The biggest difference is we had multiple tables in multiple rooms.