Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), via Wikipedia.com. (Click to enlarge.)
We are all nobly born;
fortunate those who know it;
blessed those who remember.
–Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson is now best known for four of his novels: Treasure Island (1883), Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1885), Kidnapped (1886), and The Black Arrow (1888). He also was an essayist, travel writer, musician and composer.
Stevenson was also a poet. His poem ‘Requiem’ is inscribed, as he wished, on his tomb in Samoa, where he spent the latter part of his life and died. He now rests on Mount Vaea, a spot overlooking the ocean, and this epigraph has become a song of grief in Samoan:
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Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright of our blog material.
McMurray-Benjamin Family circa 1886: Frederick Asbury McMurray, Hannah “Melissa” Benjamin McMurray, William Elmer McMurray, Harry J. McMurray, Addie Belle McMurray, Roy McMurray, and Ray McMurray (baby)
1) Family treasure chest of photos- thanks, Cousin Cindi and Cousin Julie!
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Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright of our blog material.
Notice of dissolution of the firm of Broida & Yourkansky, Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh Dispatch, 26-28 Feb 1891, via Chronicling America. (Click to enlarge.)
John Jacob “Zelig” Broida was in partnership with J. Yourkansky for quite a few years. The 1886 Pittsburgh City Directory lists Broida & Yourkansky at 71 Wylie in 1886 and 1887. By 1888 they had moved down the street to 96 Wylie, and were listed there in 1889, and 1890.
In February, 1891, the partners paid for a notice to be inserted in the Pittsburgh Dispatch from the 26th-28th of February, advising vendors and customers of the dissolution of the partnership. Any claims for payment needed to be submitted before 25 March, 1891, and any accounts that were due to the firm were to be paid to either of the partners.
On 01 April 1891, John Broida’s single proprietorship as a notions jobber was listed in the city directories located at 318 Fifth Ave., and continued there until 1895.
In the 1896-1899 city directories, “John Broida” was listed at 1102 5th Ave and “Dry Goods” as his wares.
Then in 1900-1906, “Jacob Broida” was listed at the same address, same goods. We know that John’s middle name was Jacob and he sometimes used that name. But we also know he was in Denver, Colorado, in the 1900 US Federal Census with his ill wife and two of his sons. Were others keeping the business going for him? Or had he sold the business?
In 1901, John Broida was listed in the Denver City Directory at 1628 Larimer, Denver, Colorado, selling mens furnishing goods. He resided at 1655 Eliot in Denver. His wife, Sarah Gitel Frank Broida passed away that year.
To add to the Broida entanglement, in 1902, in addition to the above Jacob Broida at 1102 5th Av., a “John Broida” was also listed in the Pittsburgh directory, at 911 5th Ave, working for Broida & Seder, a hosiery store. We know that John Broida moved back to Pittsburgh after his wife’s death, but apparently he did not go back to the dry goods business at 1102 5th Ave.
In 1903, John Broida was again listed as in the hosiery business and living at 45 Miltenberger. The year 1904 shows him still in the hosiery business, then at 915 5th Ave., and living at 1813 Forbes.
1905 still shows Jacob Broida at the store at 1102 5th, with John Broida continuing at the 915 5th Ave. work address, but living at 904 Locust.
In 1906, in addition to the Jacob Broida noted above, there was a “John Broida” listed at 1034 5th Ave, in the hosiery business, and he changed his residence to 1614 Center.
Directories for 1907 and 1908 are not available.
The years 1909-1910 are even more puzzling- Jacob Broida was still selling dry goods at 1102 5th Ave., and Joseph J Broida, L Broida (likely Louis), and Phil Broida, all John’s sons, were living at 2106 Center Ave. per the directories. There was no John Broida listed. Joseph J was working at 1038 5th Ave. in both years, but the others do not have work addresses listed. L. Broida was absent from the 2106 Center Ave. home in 1910.
Now to REALLY make it puzzling, the 1910 PA Miracode lists Louis as being in the household of his brother. The 1910 US Federal census, however, lists Jacob Broida and Fannie (John’s/Jacob’s second wife), sons Joseph, Louis, Max, Philip, and Theodore as living at 206 Hull Alley, with John/Jacob being the proprietor of a clothing store, Joseph as a merchant, Louis as a clerk in a clothing store, and Max, Philip, and Theodore working as a laborer in a shop.
No city directory is available for 1911, and Jacob Broida was selling his dry goods from 1100 5th Ave. in 1912. John and Joseph J were not listed. (There is another Jos J Broida who is listed as a clerk or agent through the years included in this directory as well.)
In 1913, two Jacob Broidas are listed in the Pittsburgh City Directory, with only “1100 5th av” listed after the first, and “dry goods 1100 5th av” listed after the second Jacob. (The Jacob Broida who is a clerk is also listed.)
John Jacob “Zelig” Broida had a brother named Jacob who also lived in Pittsburgh- might he have sold his business to his brother Jacob?
More research is apparently needed.
Searching for more information about Zelig’s brother Jacob Broida, who likely was born about 1852, probably in Russia/Lithuania, and his wife Chaneh “Jennie” Broida (1822-1904), might be a start. We know that he had emigrated to Palestine by 1935 per his brother Pincus Broida’s obituary, and was still there on 01 Dec 1939 when he was listed in his brother Abraham’s obituary. We believe he died in Palestine.
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Notice above published 26-28 February 1891 in the Pittsburgh Dispatch, n.v. (“46th year”), n.n., page 3, column 7.
2) We have been unable to find any other information on John’s partner, J. Yourkansky.
3) Special thanks to Mitch Gooze for his excellent research in the city directories. His spreadsheet made finding the specific location information easy!
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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright of our blog material.
OK, so is this a family history blog or is it boring history class???
Well, to fully understand our family’s history, we need to know the history of the time and place in which they lived. It is the only way to get a feel for the pressures they faced in their daily lives- did they live in the city and have to worry about armed gangs roaming the streets, or out on the frontier where Indians were fighting to preserve their own lands from encroachment? Did they live on a farm and experience the seasonal calendar of crops and livestock? Or were they seafarers who worried about storms and the quality of wood used for the hull of their ship? How did our ancestors meet their daily needs for food, water, and shelter? How did they travel to new homesteads, new places to meet and marry? What wars did they fight in, whether soldier or civilian? Where are they buried, and why there? Answering even some of these questions begins a story about those who came before, and those who have made us who we are. They take the ‘boring’ out of genealogy- who begat who and when is just not that interesting! But if you tell a story of how two parents met, their challenges as they raised their children, and the legacy of grandchildren left behind, THAT makes interesting genealogy, and interesting lessons to apply to our own lives.
Today, 13 July, is the 228th anniversary of the Northwest Ordinance, officially known as “An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio.” The Second Continental Congress passed this act in 1787, creating the first official territory of the new country. The territory comprised those lands west of the Appalachian Mountains with the upper Mississippi River becoming the westernmost boundary; the northern boundary was British Canada and the Great Lakes, down to the Ohio River as the southernmost boundary. Our Benjamin and Ford ancestors lived in this territory, so knowing a bit about it will enhance what we understand of their lives. Others of our families moved into these territories or early states, and may have been there even before: Aiken, Russell, Springsteen, Beerbower, McMurray, Roberts, Daniel, and Murrell.
What makes the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 so important is that it explained how the Federal Government would expand via public domain land, and create new states, rather than the previous method of the states just expanding ever westward with their competing claims for land. Note in the first image how Virginia and Georgia claimed property far to the west- in Georgia’s case, even through much of what is now Alabama and Mississippi. When searching for very old records, one would need to look in records for those original states claiming property, even though the hometown might now be in Indiana!
The Congress approved a bill of rights for the citizens in the Northwest Territory, and guaranteed that the new states would be equal to the original thirteen colonies in all respects. Slavery was outlawed in the new territory, and thus would be outlawed as the areas became states. (The NW Ordinance was therefore a contributing factor to the Civil War.)
Earlier ordinances (1784, 1785) for this territory, provided for self-governing districts and representation to Congress. In 1787,the ordinance required surveying and land grant units to be determined on a township basis, which was six miles square. A settler had to buy at least one square mile (640 acres) and pay at least one dollar per acre. (Land prices in the Midwest now range from about $5,000-10,000 per acre, or even more.) Each township had one section set aside for a school, and the 1787 Ordinance mandated that education would be provided in the territory.
Northwest Territory of USA- 1787 via Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. (Click to enlarge.)
The 1787 NW Ordinance also outlined the steps that parts of the territory would need to take to become a state. Initially, Congress appointed a governor and judges; when a part of the territory reached 5,000 adult free males, it would become a territory and govern with its own legislature, although the governor still had veto power. Attainment of a population of 60,000 allowed a territory to petition to be admitted to the Union as one of at least 3 but no more than 5 states carved from the Northwest Territory. Ohio was the first of the new states, in 1803, followed by Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
We will ‘explore’ the Northwest Territories and our ancestors who walked those lands in upcoming posts.
Please note that these articles are submitted by various writers and many are op-ed type articles, some with an agenda and some not necessarily fact-checked. It is a great map, however, for the 1787 NW Ordinance, and we appreciate that they allow use of their graphics.
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Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright of our blog material.
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
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Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright of our blog material.
