Springsteen Family (Click for Family Tree)

Using the ages of the persons in this photograph, we estimate that it was taken about 1863-1864. It could also be after 21 June 1865, since that is when Abram came back from the Civil War. That date would make Robert 8 and Anna 11- what do you think?

You can check out previous Springsteen posts by entering the name in the search box.

More to come on this family…

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Family treasure chest of photos- thanks to some wonderful cousins!

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Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Springsteen Family (Click for Family Tree)

Transcription (so SearchBots can find this):

SUDDEN DEATH.– On Tuesday, the 19th, about half past one o’clock, Mr. John Springsteen, father of Abraham and Jeff. Springsteen, died very suddenly. He was sitting in his chair, conversing with his grand-daughter. He remarked that he felt strange, believed he was going to die, and immediately expired without a struggle. His funeral will take place from the residence of Jefferson Springsteen, 117 Spring street, to-day at 3 o’clock P.M. The friends of the family are invited to attend.

We are unsure where John is buried. There is a stone for “J. Springsteen” in Crown Hill Cemetery, buried between Jefferson Springsteen, who was our John’s son, and George Springsteen, who most likely was the son of John’s son Abraham Springsteen. Crown Hill records state the burial at this stone took place in fall of 1876.  Was John buried elsewhere and then reinterred in Crown Hill in the family plot? Or did the cemetery just transpose the last two digits of the date? We will probably never know.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Appreciate all the help from a few particular Find A Grave volunteers that have taken photos and helped us out in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana.

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Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Springsteen Family (Click for Family Tree)

I hate today’s cooky cutter medical care and insurance desk jockeys telling a doctor what they can prescribe, operate on, etc., but we really have it good today despite all that. So many terrible diseases have been eradicated (though some are coming back, distressingly) and with all the wonderful tests and medications available, especially antibiotics, our lives and longer and more comfortable than those of our ancestors.

The above ad was found in an 1857 Brooklyn, New York City Directory, when I was searching for our Springsteen family. They were not there, as expected, since they had moved to Indianapolis about 1853, but there were interesting ads that I have been sharing. I don’t know if this therapy was available when they were in Brooklyn, or if it was available in Indianapolis, but I hope they did not partake of this cure!

A few notes to help understand the ad:

N. B. stands for “nota bene,” Latin for ‘note well.’ It was used to point out very important aspects. (Still used today in some circles. The medieval form was a hand with finger pointing, and we have that today in emojis!)

Electricity in various forms was a new ‘toy’ in 1857 and they weren’t sure how to use it. Many a diabolical-liking apparatus was used to shock people into sanity, reduce ‘nervous’ diseases, etc.

“Sulfur baths” at “Sulfur Springs” were used to cure diseases for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. Having an “Electro-Medicated and Sulfur Vapor Bath” (were they combined, or two separate treatments?) available prevented sick persons from having to travel, often far, to partake of the natural cure.

“Dropsy” is a swelling we call ‘edema’ today, especially that caused by congestive heart failure. A big shock to the heart could definitely make it beat differently.

If one was afraid of the Medical Electrician, one could always go to the local druggist or apothecary to get something to cure whatever ailment was a problem. Drugs, of course, were made from plant extracts (before Big Pharma), and pharmacy textbooks even into the 1950s taught how to gather and process plants to make effective medicines, and compounding them was a part of a druggist’s training. Homeopathic medicines today still use some remedies such as these- cloves in a toothache medicine is one example- but thankfully our drug ads cannot guarantee a complete cure as these did in 1857.

Can you imagine what Jeff and Ann Connor Springsteen would think of our tv ads for Cialis today??

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. See citations with images.

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Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Helbling Family (Click for Family Tree)

Sometimes, as genealogists, we are so busy checking off our list of what we need for a person, such as census, birth, marriage, and death records, military, etc., that we don’t slow down and peruse what is going on around the person’s name in the record. That is what happened in this research session- due to such a variety of spellings of Emelie’s first name, and not being positive about her last name (see previous posts linked below), when I did find her I was excited. It verified her last name, so then I went to look for more.

But wait- Emelie was “at school” in 1880. (I had no idea when she was born when I started researching her.) There was an Annie Heidemann listed right after her, listed as “at school” as well- neither listed as ‘daughter.’ Hmmm, no parents listed there. Moving up the census page, there were no other Heidemanns to be found- all persons were “at school” and had different last names, plus four women over the age of 52 were listed as “boarding”; there was also a younger “servant” listed. Time to check the previous page in the census. Jackpot- it had 20 listed as “teacher,” 1 “Infirmarier” (nurse?), 3 seamstresses, and 23 as ‘lay sister.’ There were also 3 more “at school” to add to the 28 on the page with Emelie and Annie.

So it looks as if the Heidemann sisters (or cousins?) were in a boarding school, probably Catholic as:

1) They were a German family;

2) ‘Lay sisters’ were enumerated;

3) Many teachers were enumerated, and their first names sound a lot like Catholic sister’s names; they did have a last name listed however, and no title such as “Sr” (for “Sister”).

4) The only male in the grouping was the servant, age 24.

I did not see Emelie & Annie’s names listed on the enumeration for Herman Heidemann for 1880, so initially thought that it verified them attending a boarding school. Possibly, though, the “Matilda” and “Ida” listed with Hermann were Emelie and Annie respectively, with the school using their formal names, family using their middle names as Germans often did. If Emelie and Annie were additional children, however, there would have been a child born each year in the family- not impossible, but somewhat unusual, and the births were off by a year. The question remains about why they might have been enumerated both at school and at home.

To confuse the matter further, the City of St. Louis actually did TWO enumerations for the 1880 US Federal Census- one in June, which is the one with Emelie and Annie listed in the school grouping but not listed as such with Herman, and then another in November, when those names were also not listed with Herman’s family. There is another twist too- Herman’s wife is listed as Louisa in one but Lizzie in the other. Ancestry.comas a Missouri marriage record forHermann Heidemann to Elisabeth Kastrups, and some Ancestry trees have her listed as ‘Elizabeth Louisa Kastrups’ so that could explain the two different names for her. That marriage date of 17 Oct 1863 could fit, though the oldest child I could find was Edward, born in 1869; that would be an unusual amount of time to go with no children, though they may have lost some children early in their marriage.

And then dear Herman Heidemann- the 1895 St. Louis City Directory lists 4 men with the same name: one a carpenter, one a cooper, one a teamster, and one with no occupation listed, and they all lived in different homes.

Ancestry.com family trees only added to the confusion- many persons apparently have mixed up the Hermans. The 1870 census on Ancestry did not help much, although there was a Herman in Chicago but that family did not have the older children.

Obviously, we could use some help in sorting this tangle of Heidemanns, but probably need someone more closely related with better knowledge of the family. I do feel confident about Emelie marrying Fred Spahn- I have heard the Spahn name before in Helbling family discussions. Please contact us if you have any more information about the Heidemann family and Emelie Heidemann Spahn.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1) 1880 US Federal Census entries for Emelie and Ann Heidemann- Year: 1880; Census Place: Saint Louis, St Louis (Independent City), Missouri; Roll: 722; Family History Film: 1254722; Page: 655D; Enumeration District: 100; Image: 0738; via Ancestry.com.

2) 1880 US Federal Census entry for Hermann Heidemann family- Year: 1880; Census Place: Saint Louis, St Louis (Independent City), Missouri; Roll: 722; Family History Film: 1254722; Page: 66B; Enumeration District: 106; Image: 0136; via Ancestry.com

3) Hunting For Bears, comp.. Missouri Marriages, 1766-1983 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

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Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Helbling Family (Click for Family Tree)

Last Monday our Mystery Monday: Emelia and Aunt Lizzie post included the above image in hope of someone seeing it and being able to help us solve the mystery of Emelie and Aunt Lizzie and how they fit into the family. We now think we have a solution, although we do not know for sure who each of the persons are in the photograph- yet.

Trolling through my Ancestry.com family tree to try and find an “Emelie” was fruitless, but “Lizzie” was a hit: Elizabeth “Lizzy” Barbara Helbling surfaced after I had entered some data from old notes, specifically some from cousin Mary Lou, who did so much great Helbling research back in the days before the internet, and was so generous in sharing it.

Lizzy was born 25 Feb 1839 in Lawrenceville, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, to Franz Xavier Helbling and Mary Theresa Knipshield. Lizzy was therefore the sister of Franz X. Helbling, Jr., thus the aunt of ‘our’ Gerard William “G.W.” Helbling, son of Franz. The photo album belonged to G.W. and his wife, Anna May Beerbower Helbling, so she would have been “Aunt Lizzy” to May who was putting the captions in the album.

I thought the image was probably taken in the 1930s, but Aunt Lizzy died 25 Dec 1928, so it would have to be sometime in the 20s. She is likely the very elderly woman on the right in the photo, since she was listed as age 81 in the 1920 US Federal Census, and died at age 89.

If this was taken in Peoria, she was a pretty spry lady- she was living in Pittsburgh, PA in 1920 so would have probably taken the train to Peoria in her 80s. Spry also with sitting on the ground for the picture and possibly a picnic- getting up might have been hard!

So who then is Emelie? Emelie is the daughter-in-law of Lizzy, as Emelie married, probably in 1892, Frederick A. J. Spahn, the son of Lizzy and John Spahn. Emelia/Amelia was listed as a Practical Nurse in the 1920 US Federal Census, so she may have traveled with her mother-in-law as Emelia and Frederick were living in Lizzy’s household in 1920 in Pittsburgh. (How convenient to have a nurse around for someone 80 years old!) Emelie L. Heidemann was the daughter of Hermann and Louise Heidemann, born about 1840 and 1843, respectively, in Germany.

Researching Emelie in the census was challenging at first, since her given name was spelled so many ways, and I did not have a maiden name. Thankfully an Ancestry.com tree did have a maiden name, so searching using that last name as a clue, I was able to find her family. Her death certificate confirmed her maiden name, as it listed Hermann Heideman as her father, and that she was the widow of Fred J. Spahn.

Emelie was born in 1870, so would have been 50 in 1920. She might be the woman on the right in the dark dress, or the upper left with glasses. Fred is not listed in the caption in the photo album, so he may not have come on the trip- or could have been the photographer! (He died in 1837.) We will need to find a photo of both of them, and one of Lizzie, to try to match up images and identify these folks. Hopefully someone else out there has this same photo with identification. Please let us know if you are a Spahn or Helbling relative!

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1) Emelie Heidemann in the 1880 US Federal Census- Year: 1880; Census Place: Saint Louis, St Louis (Independent City), Missouri; Roll: 722; Family History Film: 1254722; Page: 655D; Enumeration District: 100; Image: 0738; via Ancestry.com.

2) 1920 US Federal Census for Elizabeth “Lizzie” Barbara Helbling Spahn Bushman- Year: 1920; Census Place: Pittsburgh Ward 26, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1526; Page: 19B; Enumeration District: 739; Image: 1122; via Ancestry.com.

3) Family photo album.

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Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.