Grandpa Lange's Life in Winnipeg and Michigan

We don't know when Grandpa left Essen for Liverpool, or how long he had to stay at a hostel near the docks waiting to board his ship to Canada, but we do know he left England on 12 August 1911 and arrived at Port Huron, Michigan, on the Grand Trunk Railway on 20 August. Assuming 50 to 60 hours for the train ride to Winnipeg, he probably arrived on 22 or 23 August. It's entirely possible he may have been traveling for nearly a month.

The first record I have found for Grandpa in Winnipeg is his and Grandma's Official Certificate of Marriage. Grandpa was a 27 year-old bachelor, who worked as a store keeper, and was a Baptist. His place of birth and parents' name were listed and his father's profession was farming. At the time of his marriage he lived with his maternal uncle, Gustav Ludwig. Grandma was a 21 year-old spinster. (Don't you just love the terminology. Never mind she'd been working since she was 9 years old, no profession was typically listed for women.) She was born in Leduc, Alberta. Her parents' names were also listed.

Gustav and Wilhelmina (Schalin) Lange on their wedding day; personal collection

They were married on 9 April 1915 by C. H. Edinger, a Baptist minister, at the home of Grandpa's uncle at 386 Thames Avenue in Winnipeg. The witness to their marriage was Uncle Gustav. Mom always said Grandma and Grandpa met in Winnipeg or Edmonton when Grandma was there with a family for which she worked. After she and the family returned to Alberta, Grandpa sent her a letter, asking her to marry him and enclosed a train ticket. Not knowing what to do, Grandma asked her boss what he thought. He replied, "Minnie, he sent a ticket. He mean's business. Go."

Current photograph of 386 Thames Avenue, Winnipeg, Canada;
courtesy of Google Maps

In order to track the rapidly growing population of the western provinces, the Canadian government ordered special census of the prairie provinces to begin in 1906. These census were in addition to the nationwide census conducted every ten years on the first year of each decade (example 1911). This practice continued until 1956. Because of this special census we know that Gustav and his young family lived at 400 Thames Avenue just a few doors down the street from Uncle Ludwig. He worked as a general laborer. Grandpa's brother, Traugott (known as Fred), had immigrated to Canada and lived with Uncle Gustav and his family. Aunt Ruth was five months old so the census was likely conducted in July.

Grandpa Lange left Winnipeg in February 1917 and traveled by train to Detroit, Michigan. When he crossed the border on 24 February, he hold immigration officials his destination was 1073 Montclair Avenue, the home of his friend, Dan Stroscheim. Grandma undertook the same train trip with her baby daughter and arrived in Detroit on 30 April 1917.  Her destination was 1090 Holcombe Avenue, where Grandpa now lived.

These delightful photographs of Aunt Ruth were taken at studio in Detroit;
personal collection

On 5 June 1917 Grandpa registered for the World War I draft in Sanilac County, Michigan. He worked as a farm hand for Bert E. Mortimer, who coincidently was also the draft registrar for the county. Mom told me many times Grandma and Grandpa worked on a sugar beet farm, saving money to buy their own farm. Grandpa claimed an exemption from the draft because he was married with dependents. His appearance was described as medium height, medium weight, brown eyes and dark brown hair.

Sanilac County township map and land ownership map; courtesy of
FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com, respectively

Uncle Walter was born in December of 1917 and Uncle Arnold was born in October 1919. When he was three weeks old, Gustav and his family were traveling once again to a farm Grandpa bought sight unseen in southern Maryland.

_______________

Grandpa Lange's Trip from Essen to Winnipeg
Grandpa Lange's Life in Essen

Has My Prussia Origins Theory Gone Up in Smoke?

My maternal grandparents, Gustav Lange and Wilhelmina Schalin, considered themselves German, wrote to their siblings in German, read a German Bible, and spoke German in their home until their eldest daughter came home from her first day of school in tears because she could not speak English. However, only Gustav Lange lived in Germany, briefly, for five years from 1906 through 1911 when he worked in Essen in order to send money home and save for his passage to Canada. At this time I do not know from where in Germany our Lange or Schalin ancestors originated

The Lange-Ludwig grandparents of my grandfather, Gustav Lange, were born near present day Lodz, Poland, in the 1840s and moved to the Volyn Oblast in Ukraine in the early 1880s. The paternal ancestors of my grandmother, Wilhelmina Schalin, lived in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, about halfway between Poznan and Lodz since at least the 1790s. They moved to the Volyn Oblast in Ukraine between 1861 and 1863. I know nothing of Wilhelmina Schalin's mother beyond her name.

Migrations of the Lange (red circles) and Schalin (green squares) families;
created using Google Maps

But from where did the Lange and Schalin families originate? I assumed Germany since Grandma and Grandpa Lange spoke German as their native language, but I wanted to know more. I spent a lot of time delving into the history of Poland and Ukraine. I learned the area of Poland where the Lange and Schalin families lived was known as South Prussia after 1793 and the Second Partition of Poland by Prussia and Russia. So perhaps they were from Prussia.

When Ancestry unveiled its genetic communities, I looked at them for all the Lange-Schalin DNA tests I administered.

Lange-Schalin relatives I have DNA tested (red outline); created
using Microsoft Powerpoint

On the day after genetic communities were launched, we all shared at least one genetic community and it was Northern Germans, which included Prussia. But as Ancestry has continued to refine the genetic communities, the picture has gotten muddier. As of 30 June 2017, the genetic communities are now:

Genetic communities of the Lange relatives' DNA tests; created using
Microsoft Excel

It appears as if some genetic communities were refined and some of my Lange relatives lost some or all of genetic communities and new ones were added.

Map of Northern Germans genetic community; courtesy of Ancestry.com

Northern Germans was the genetic community we all shared when Ancestry launched its genetic communities though it does not reflect the eastern migration of hundreds of thousands of Germans to current day Russia, Poland, and Ukraine.

Germans, Netherlanders, Belgians & Luxembourgians Ancestry genetic
community; courtesy of Ancestry.com

The Germans, Netherlanders, Belgians & and Luxembourgians was a new genetic community and likely a refinement. It has a great deal of overlap with Northern Germans but extends more westward, which does not support my Prussia origins theory.

Northern (yellow) and southern (red) origins of Germans in the Midwest
Ancestry genetic community; courtesy of Ancestry.com

Germans in the Midwest originated from both northern and southern Germany. So it could still support my Prussia theory.

And the problem...

German origins of the Germans from Baden-Wurttemberg in the Dakotas
Ancestry genetic community; courtesy of Ancestry.com

There is no way, Germans from Baden-Wurttemberg may be considered northern Germans from the area that was once Prussia. So at this point my thinking is the genetic communities are interesting but not helpful. Pretty much what I have found ethnicity estimates to be. Sometimes they make sense; sometimes they don't.

On the settings page of each DNA test is a privacy section. That section states the following about ethnicity:

"Show the participant's complete ethnicity profile to their DNA matches. This means the participant's DNA matches will see both the participant's full ethnicity estimate and all the Genetic Communities. (If left unselected, the participant's DNA matches will only see the portion of the participant's ethnicity estimate and the Genetic Communities they share in common.)"

I have not selected this for any of the tests I administer, but I changed this setting from my test and my mother's test to select it. Then went to Mom's match from the home page of my DNA test. I could see all of her ethnicity estimates but not her genetic communities. And I should have been able to see them. So there is still work for Ancestry to do in this area.

Killed by Al Capone's Hitman

Show me a hero, and I'll write you a tragedy -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Charles H. Skalay was born on 3 May 1904 in Bainbridge Township, Michigan, to Gustav Skalay (born Skale) and Mary Schultz. Charles was the grandson of Anna Eleonore (Schalin) Skale. By 1910 Charles and his family lived at 1121 Lavette Avenue in Benton Harbor. His father worked on a construction gang building sidewalks and his mother worked on their small fruit farm. On 21 November 1919, Charles' mother died giving birth to a premature baby girl leaving his father, Gustav, with eight small children.[1] Charles dropped out of school to help his father around the house.

When the 1920 census was enumerated, Charles, his father, and siblings lived on a fruit farm in Benton Township, which was owned by his father. Charles was 16 years old. According to Chriss Lyon, author of A Killing in Capone's Playground, Charles started working as a driver for the Yellow Cab Company in 1923. He joined the St. Joseph Police Department and changed the spelling of his surname to Skelly, which was more Americanized than Skalay.[2] He moved to an apartment on State Street in downtown St. Joseph. After the St. Joseph Fire Department became a paid department instead of staffed only with volunteers, Charles took the newly created Assistant Fire Chief position, beginning work on 6 March 1928. Charles returned to the St. Joseph Police Department in June 1929 as a motorcycle officer. The department had recently been expanded due to ever-increasing crime brought about by the illegal production of alcohol during Prohibition. Berrien County had also become a popular retreat for several members of the Chicago mafia.

On the evening of 14 December 1929 the worlds of Charles H. Skalay and Berrien County's reputation as Al Capone's Playground collided in terrible fashion.

The headlines of the Extra edition published by the News-Palladium on the
morning of 16 December 1929; image courtesy of Ancestry.com

Charles H. Skalay was shot multiple times and died from those wounds while on traffic duty. His murderer was a hitman for Al Capone known as Fred "Killer" Burke. He was also one of the shooters during the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago.

Fred "Killer" Burke; photograph courtesy of Wikipedia

Burke was arrested at a small farm house on 26 March 1931 in Sullivan County, Missouri. Police learned of his location from a tip by a resident who read detective magazines. Missouri Governor Henry Caufield, signed the extradition orders a two days later, releasing Burke to officers from the Berrien County Sheriff's Department. Though Burke was wanted for murder in several jurisdictions, Berrien County was the first to have made a formal application to the governor.

Fred Burke pled guilty to the second degree murder of patrolman Charles Skalay and was sentenced to life in prison by the circuit court judge who tried the case. He served his sentence in Marquette State Penitentiary until he died of a massive heart attack on 10 July 1940.

From the Berrien County Sheriff's Office website, which was excerpted by Chriss Lyon:

"Berrien County hasn't forgotten the impact of Fred "Killer" Burke and Officer Charles Skelly both played in its history. The arsenal of weaponry found at the Burke residence, specifically the Thompson submachine guns, have become the ever-popular topic of magazine articles and television documentaries including the 2004 episode of History Detectives on PBS, and a 2012 documentary on the National Geographic Channel called 'Valentine's Day Massacre.'

Not far from where Officer Skelly lost his life stands the Berrien County Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Monument. Presently on the monument are the names of 15 fallen officers, including that of Officer Charles Skelly. His body was laid to rest in Crystal Springs Cemetery in Benton Harbor, while his name is etched into the history of Berrien County and the entire nation."

Charles H. Skalay (memorial on the Officer Down Memorial website)

I will be telling the story of Charles H. Skalay's murder in more detail in future blog posts.

______________
[1] The premature baby girl was named Helen Skalay. She died on 6 December 1919 at the Michigan Children's Home Association; she was 15 days old.

[2] The family's surname was actually Skale. Skalay was the phonetic spelling which the family adopted when they immigrated to Michigan.

DNA Discoveries: Finding Anna Eleonore (Schalin) Skale (or Skalay)

DNA Discoveries: Who Was Ernestine "Stina"?

In the ongoing, never-ending quest to learn more about my mother's ancestors, she graciously provided a sample for DNA testing less than a year before her death in 2014. When the results were available, the only matches she had that were not very distant cousins were her three children. Since her death, six of my eleven maternal first cousins have tested and another million people have had their DNA at Ancestry. So Mom's match list continues to grow.

Many of my maternal relatives share several matches with people who had a woman named Ernstine "Stina" (Seler) Beich in their family trees. Stina was married to Carl August Beich (1846-1927). Both had been born in what is now Poland and consistently listed their place of birth as Poland or Russia (the borders were ever changing). They considered themselves to be German. Stina or her husband must be related to my Mother and other Lange-Schalin relatives. So I gathered all the information from source documents I could find.

Carl August Beich and Ernestine "Stina" (Zander) Beich;
courtesy of Ancestry member racarroll1

I believe Ernestine to be the youngest child of Johann Gottfried Zander and his wife Anna Susanna Wilde. They were my three times great grandparents as I descend from their daughter Juliane Zander (about 1835-1906), who married Gottlieb Schalin. 

Willamette Valley Death Records; courtesy of Ancestry.com

Ernestine was born in 1846, married and had eight children before she and her family immigrated to Canada in 1893. Carl August Beich and two of the older children, Gustav and Pauline, arrived in Baltimore on 3 June aboard the S/S Weimar. The ship's previous port of call was Bremen, Germany. Stina followed on 10 October aboard the S/S Stubbenhuk.[1] With her were her children, Edward, Adolf, Rudolf, and Hulda. Only two children remained in Russia, their oldest daughter, Amalie "Mollie," who had recently married Heinrich "Henry" Konkel, and their son Julius, who was 11 years old.

Carl Beich returned to Russia in 1899 and returned aboard the S/S Tave with their son Julius, daughter Mollie, her husband, and their three oldest children. They arrived in New York City on 27 April 1899. When the 1900 census was enumerated, Stina, Carl, and their four youngest children lived in Caledonia Township, Wisconsin, where Carl owned a farm. Their son, Julius, also worked on the family farm.

On 17 November 1908 Rudolf, homesteaded land in Bruderheim, Alberta, Canada. Two years before, he had homesteaded another piece of land but abandoned it because the land "wasn't was good represented to me." By 1916 Stina and Carl lived in Bruderheim. None of their children lived with them and Carl's occupation was listed as retired farmer.

Declaration of Abandonment for Rudolf Beich; courtesy of Ancestry.com

Stina and Carl traveled to Salem, Oregon, several times in their later years to visit their children who lived there. Perhaps it was on a similar trip that Ernstine (Zander) Beich died as her death occurred on 20 August 1917 in Salem. She was interred in the Lee Mission Cemetery.

Carl continued to live in Bruderheim and traveled to see his children in Wisconsin. He died on 11 October 1927 in Merrimac, Wisconsin and was interred in St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery.

Their children:

1. Amalie "Mollie" Beich born 1871; died 25 October 1945; married Heinrich "Henry" Rudolf Konkel
2. Gustav Beich born 1874; died 1964; married Anna Behnke
3. Pauline Beich born about 1877; died 1908
4. Eduard or Edward Beich born about 1881; died before 1900
5. Julius Beich born 31 December 1882; died 4 March 1959; married Ida A. Messer
6. Adolf or Adolph Beich born 12 January 1886; died September 1962; married Grace Staudenmayer
7. Rudolf or Rudolph Beich born 20 February 1887; 23 March 1972; married Anna Krause
8. Hulda Beich born 18 December 1891; died 19 June 1973; married 1) Charles Edward Haughey and 2) Samuel Edward Alexander

Solving Stina's correct surname and her parents connected my Mother, siblings, cousins, and me to nine new cousins!

_______________

[1] Some of my Schalin family and their fellow church members immigrated to Canada on the S/S Stubbenhuk the same year.

DNA Discoveries: Finding Anna Eleonore (Schalin) Skale (or Skalay)

I first learned about Eleonore Schalin in a book by Lucille (Fillenberg) Effa entitled Our Schalin Family, 1770-2003. She was the youngest of eight known children of Johann "Samuel" Schalin and Anna Dorothea Rosno or Rosnian, who were my three times great grandparents. Eleonore was born in Maliniec, Kolo, Wilkopolskie, Poland on 9 February 1844. She married Gottlieb Skale in 1860 in Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr, Ukraine.

The Master Pedigree Database maintained by the Society of German Genealogy in Eastern Europe (SGGEE), included information about that marriage and three known children:

1. Anna Justine Skale born 4 June 1866
2. Gustav Skale born 1 Sepember 1879 in Kostopil, Rivne, Ukraine (in the colony of Maschtscha/Marzelinhof)
3. Henriette Skale born 3 January 1885 in Kostophil, Rivne, Ukraine (in the colony of Maschtscha/Marzelinhof)

What I learned through one of Mom's DNA matches was there was at least one other child: William (probably born Wilhelm) E. Skale.

Eleonore (Schalin) Skale in family tree of a DNA match; image courtesy of
Ancestory.com

After a lot of research, I was able to prove that Eleonore Schalin and Anna Lenore Schalin were the same person. 

Eleonore (Schalin) Skale first appeared in U.S. records as Annie Skaley and lived with her son William E. Skaley and his family at 1135 Broadway in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Annie said she immigrated in 1900 and had two children who were still living. (This is the only bit of information that gives me pause.) She died on 23 March 1913 of organic heart failure at her son's home and was interred at Crystal Springs Cemetery in the same city. Her daughter, Henriette (Skale/Skaley) Hoffman was the informant on her death certificate. 

1910 U.S. Federal Census for the William E. Skaley family, including his
mother; image courtesy of Ancestry.com

I have not found the passenger manifests for Anna Eleonore (Schalin) Skaley or her children Anna Justine, Gustav, or Henriette. In fact I have found no trace of Anna Justine except for her entry in the SGGEE master pedigree database. Perhaps she died young. I believe Gottleib Skale was likely deceased when his wife immigrated to the U.S. 

Gottlieb and Anna Eleonore (Schalin) Skale's children:

1. Anna Justine Skale
2. Gustav Skale (also known as Gustav Skalay or Skaley) born 1 Septement 1879 in Kostopil, Rivne, Ukraine; died 19 March 1939 in Benton Harbor; married 1) Mary Schultz about 1902 and 2) Bertha (Krause) Schonert on 31 March 1923 in St. Joseph, Michigan. He and Mary had eight known children.
3. Wilhelm Skale (also known as William E. Skalay) born 17 May 1882; died 30 Jun 1959 in St. Joseph; married Paulina Tober on 5 May 1903 in Bainbridge, Michigan. They had eight known children.
4. Henriette Skale (also known as Henrietta "Hattie" Skalay) born 3 Jan 1885 in Kostopil, Rivne, Ukraine; died on an unknown date[1]; married Rudolph Leopold Hoffman on 23 December 1905 in St. Joseph. They had eight known children. Leopold died in 1960 and I suspect Henrietta married again and was interred with that husband, which may explain why there is no death date for her on Leopold's headstone. She filed a life claim in November 1960 with the Social Security Administration a few months after her husband died and listed her birth date as 1 January 1887, which is different than the date listed in the SGGEE database. 

The death certificates for Gustav and Wilhelm/William list some version of Schalin as their mother's maiden name. Neither informant knew the name of their father, which I believe supports my theory that he died when they were young and still living in what was then Russia. However, both of their marriage registrations listed Gottlieb Skale (or some version) as their father.

German Baptists in Poland

When my maternal grandmother's parents immigrated to Canada from what is now Ukraine in 1893, they did so with many others in their German Baptist church congregation. The group settled in Leduc, just south of Edmonton, Alberta, homesteaded land, built a church, and raised their families.

Photograh taken in 1903 in front of the First Baptist Church in Fredericksheim.
My great grandfather helped build the church; courtesy of Lucille Effa Fillenberg

What exactly were German Baptists and why did they leave their farms in eastern Europe?

Though no one has been able to discover from where in Germany the Schalin family originated, they may have come from Prussia. We know that the family lived in Maliniec, which was in South Prussia, the part of Poland, Prussia partitioned in 1793. Prussia encouraged its citizens to settle in its new territory. And sometime during their lives in Maliniec, they had become German Baptist.

The religion was considered a separatist cult by Lutheran church leaders and Baptist ministers were persecuted. As I read more about the German Baptist faith, I learned its flowering in the various partitions of the country that was once Poland was down to one man: Gottfried Friedrich Alf, a school teacher.

Alf was a pious man concerned about his spiritual condition. By prayer and supplication he believed he found inner peace and forgiveness of his sins by trusting Christ. About 1853 Alf began preaching to his students about his religious experiences. This sparked a religious awakening for some parents and adults in the village.  Alf was soon consoling and praying with people almost every day. When the parish pastor heard about Alf's activities, he forbade him to continue. But Alf didn't stop. The parish pastor escalated Alf's "corrupting" actions to church authorities. The Lutheran Consistory dismissed Alf from his teaching position and banished him from his home.

But the genie was out of the bottle, so to speak. Alf was invited by many communities to lead religious revivals. He traveled constantly and was detained and imprisoned many times. Finally, Alf decided to leave the Lutheran church.

Gottfried F. Alf (1831-1898); photograph courtesy
of Donald N. Miller's "The German Baptist Movement
in Volhynia"

A neighbor, Heinrich Assman, told Alf about Baptists he had encountered. He talked about their church organization, discipline, and holy living, as well as their beliefs about baptism by immersion. These beliefs aligned with Alf's thoughts on religion and he decided to become a Baptist.  He traveled to Hamburg in 1859 to study and was ordained there.

After returning home he continue traveling and preaching and awakening others to his new faith. He became the chief Baptist revivalist in Poland. Alf believed the German Baptist faith appealed to the consciences of people to recognize they were sinners and needed to repent and look to Christ for salvation. Only then could they be baptized.

So knowing the history of the German Baptist faith where my ancestors lived, has enabled me to draw some conclusions about the family's timeline. I believe they converted to the German Baptist faith not long before they moved to Russia (near now Tuchyn, Volyn, Ukraine) sometime between 1861 and 1863 and they likely moved for religious, as well as economic reasons.

Homesteader Recipes: Rabbit Stew and Dumplings

When my great grandfather, Wilhelm Schalin, immigrated with his wife and children to Alberta, Canada, from Russia (now Ukraine), they came with several other members of their church and settled south of Edmonton in a place they named Fredericksheim. An Indian reservation had been cleared and land was available to homestead. The Canadian Pacific railroad only went as far west as Winnipeg so they had to travel another 800 miles by horse and wagon.

Once they settled on the land they homesteaded, they had to clear it, survive the coming winter, and begin farming the next spring. During the winter, the families survived on rabbits they trapped and flour sent by the government from Winnipeg. The following recipe for rabbit stew and dumplings is a typical recipe from Fredericksheim's pioneer past.

Rabbit Stew and Dumplings

1 rabbit
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash pepper
1/4 pound salt pork
1 large onion
1/2 medium turnip, sliced
3 carrots, quartered
3 potatoes, quartered
salt and pepper to taste
dumplings (see page 94)

Soak rabbit overnight in cold water. In the morning dry meat well. Cut into serving pieces. Dredge in flour; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cut pork and fry in skillet. When pork is nicely browned, remove pieces to stew pot, leaving fat in skillet. Put the pieces of rabbit in hot fat and brown on both sides. Remove to stew pot with enough water to cover meat. Simmer for 1-1/2 hours or until tender. Add vegetables and simmer until done.

15 minutes before vegetables are tender, drop in the dumplings, cover tightly. Cook for 20 more minutes.

Feather Dumplings

2 cups flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 egg, well beaten
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2/3 cup milk

Sift dry ingredients. Add egg, melted butter and enough milk to make moist, stiff batter. Drop by teaspoon in to hot water or simmering stew. Cover tightly and cook 20 minutes.

These recipes are from the book, From Pioneer Kitchens: 100th Anniversary, which was collected and published by Southern Alberta Pioneers and Their Descendants.

Book has been digitized by the Alberta HeritageDigitization Project

The Polish Partitions

Some of you may remember the song, "(What a) Wonderful World," written Sam Cooke:

Don't know much about history

Don't know much biology

Don't know much about a science book

Don't know much about the French I took

I've found it's hard to put my ancestors' lives into context without knowing and understanding history. I'm still working on my French. <smile> I won't mention biology and science; they weren't positive school experiences.

Here's an example of why I find knowing the history so important. I thank my European history instructors everyday. And I read...a lot. My husband is continually amazed at the odd titles of old, used books that arrive by mail.

Marcin, or Martin, Schalin was my four times great grandfather. He was born about 1770 and married Anna Dorothea Rosno on 11 May 1791. They settled in a village known as Maliniec. If you wanted to find it on the map today, you would need to search for Maliniec, Kolo, Wojewodztwo Wielkopolskie, Polska. Four generations of the Schalin family lived in this village until Gottlieb and his family moved farther east between 1861 and 1863. The Schalin family considered themselves German. They spoke German for much of their history. In fact, Gottlieb's granddaughter and her husband spoke only German until the early 1920s when their oldest daughter went to school in Maryland and could speak no English.

When I began my family history research, I asked myself why did a German family live in Poland. It turns out for much of the time they lived in Maliniec Poland didn't exist at all.

Map of the three partitions of Poland, 1772-1795, courtesy of Wikipedia
and edited using Microsoft Powerpoint

In 1569 the Union of Lubin created the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which included modern day Ukraine, led by elected kings. The period between 1648 through 1764 saw the decline of the commonwealth as a result of several foreign invasions and internal disorder. One such invasion resulted in the first partition of Poland in 1772 when Austria, Prussia and Russia took about 30 percent of the country and added it to their dominions. What was left of Poland became known as the First Polish Republic. Russia did not want to see a rebirth of a strong country on its border and invaded in May 1792.  Poland capitulated in 1793 and the country was partitioned again -- this time by only Prussia and Russia. Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a popular general and veteran of the American Revolution was chosen as Poland's leader. He issued a national proclamation in 1794 calling for a national uprising under his command. Austria, Prussia, and Russia gobbled up what remained of Poland the next year, erasing the country from the map until 1807 when Napoleon created the Duchy of Warsaw from lands ceded by Prussia. After Napoleon was defeated the Kingdom of Poland, or Congress Poland, was established in 1815 in a personal under the Russian tsar. Technically, however, there was no sovereign Polish state until 1918.

We do not know where Marcin Schalin was born but we know he lived in Poland by 1791 and the family remained in the same village until sometime between 1861 and 1863. So during the that time, without moving, the Schalin family lived in:

• Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (included modern day Belarus and Ukraine) (1569-1795)
• Prussia Partition (1793-1807) (Prussia called this area South Prussia)
• Grand Duchy of Warsaw (in personal union with king of Saxony) (1807-1815)
• Kingdom of Poland, informally known as Congress Poland (in personal union with tsar of Russia) (1815-1867)

According to Albert W. Wardin, Jr.'s book, Gottfired F. Alf: Pioneer of the Baptist Movement in Poland, "The Kingdom of Poland was a strange construction. Its king was the tsar of Russia, who held strong executive powers. At first the kingdom possessed a rather liberal constitution that provided for an assembly, civil service, judicial system, and Army. The constitution also granted personal liberties, including religious tolerance. The Polish population was, by and large, hostile toward its Russian overlords. As a result of the Polish uprising of 1830-31, the kingdom came under full Russian control. Its constitution was destroyed and its assembly and army disbanded. The Russian regime curtailed civil rights and Polish institutions. After another uprising in 1863-64, the Russian government abolished the Kingdom of Poland, calling it Vistula Land, and completely subordinated it under Russian administration."

The Russian tsar freed the serfs in 1861, as a result much land became available in what is today Volyn', Ukraine, then known as the Russian Partition. Is it any wonder the Schalin family moved to the greener pastures of that vast eastern European plain, which has been known as the bread basket of Europe.

Ancestor Score and 500th Post

Cathy Meder-Dempsey, author of Opening Doors in Brick Walls, introduced me to the Ancestor Score method of measuring your genealogy research achievements.

My Dad was our family genealogist for nearly 20 years. He started his research pre-Internet and continued until his health made continuing the research more difficult in about 2002. I didn't realize he had nearly stopped researching until November 2012 when he had a massive cerebral hemorrhage that required months of brutal physical, occupational and speech therapy followed by 24-hour by 7-days a week care.

When he and Mom moved into an assisted living facility in May 2013, I brought all Dad's genealogy files home and took over the research.

My Ancestor Score, as best as I can remember it at that time.

My Ancestor Score in 2013; created using Microsoft Excel

To be fair to Dad, he did not work on Mom's side of the tree as her father was an immigrant and had a very common German surname and a book had recently been written about her mother's side of the family to which Mom and Dad contributed.

His big brick wall was his paternal grandmother, Effie (Beard) Jennings (1871-1906). He learned her maiden name in 2001 but knew nothing else about her. My research goals are not necessarily to push our family tree back further into time, but rather to tell Dad stories about our ancestors so he knows his research continues. But this year I did make a commitment to learn more about Mom's father's side of the tree. I joined the Society of German Genealogy in Eastern Europe and hired researchers in Poland to help me. There have been some early successes! So tracking my Ancestor Score made sense.

My Ancestor Score as of 6 February 2015, the third anniversary of this blog;
created using Microsoft Excel

This is also my 500th Tangled Roots and Trees post!

Worldwide Genealogy: Researching Eastern European Ancestors

My mother's father was born in what is now Zamosty, Ukraine. In 1888, the time of Gustav Lange's birth, Zamosty was part of the Volhynia region of Tsarist Russia. His family apparently moved to Lutsk when he was a young boy as his father died there about 1905.

Zmosty, Ukraine; courtesy of Google Maps

Mom's mother was born in Alberta, Canada, in 1894, though my Schalin great grandparents had immigrated for religious reasons from the Tutschin area of the Volhynia region the year previously. Both of my mother's parents considered themselves German but we have no idea from where in Germany the Lange and Schalin families originated.

Late in 2015 I was contacted by two different people who were related to "my" Lange family. Well, I believe it's obvious I need to stop putting off learning how to research Eastern European ancestors so that is my genealogy goal for 2016. If you have any tips or pointers, please pass them along. Thank you.

Today is my day to contribute my bi-monthly post to Worldwide Genealogy -- a Genealogical Collaboration. I hope you will click over to my post and read more details about my recent Lange contacts and why this line has been such a brick wall for me.

Remembering Mom

Today is the one-year anniversary of Mom's death and I think I am finally able to share with you the eulogy her minister prepared for her memorial service, which was truly beautiful and uplifting.

Mom's high school yearbook photo; personal
collection

Beloved we have come together to remember and celebrate the life of Dorothy Lange Jennings who was born on June 20, 1930 and who died this past Tuesday, September 9, 2014. We have come to remember a very, very dear friend, mother, sister, and wife. To the family we express on behalf of this church and community our deepest sympathy and love. You have truly lost a most beloved and remarkable person in your lives. It is our prayer that you will be comforted and blessed today in this memorial service and especially by the grace and love of God. May the very precious memories that now gather around you of your mother, wife and sister fill you with gratitude and joy.

I believe it was in the early 80s that Ted and Dot moved to Pamlico County and built a beautiful home on Dawson Creek. Previously they have been living in the Washington, DC area and on a trip back north they passed through New Bern and crossed the Neuse River Bridge. They were thinking at the time of a place to retire and Ted, who has always loved the water, boats, and race cars, thought that this might just be the ideal place. They began to look around and found waterfront property on Dawson Creek and there they built their new home. When I met Ted and Dot in 1985 they had already become members of Bethany Christian Church and were faithful participants in all the activities of the church. The graciousness of their hospitality and love made visiting with them one of my favorite things to do. Though they were relative new residents in the community when I first met them they soon found their way into all our hearts. I know of no couple who is more dearly loved by the members of this congregation and community than Ted and Dot.

Dad and Mom about the time they moved to North
Carolina, c. 1978; personal collection

Dorothy came from an amazing family. Her family is amazing not because they are renown in the world but beause theirs is a family shaped by the love of their parents. They infused all their children with a great sense of dignity, of what is right and wrong, of hard work and a desire to be the best they could be at whatever they did. Schalene on her blog included a piece written by Dot about her parents. Her parents were immigrants from Europe who first settled in Canada. They eventually made their way to Brandywine, Maryland. They came there in 1919 and bought a 196-acre farm. It was there that Dorothy was born. All the children in the family, and there were nine of them, worked hard to help put food on the table and to pay for the farm. Their father started a poultry business. He sold eggs in Washington, delivering some even to Senators in the Senate Office Building. On a tree on the family farm their son Arthur carved these words as a tribute to their parents: "1919 came here. Sold pulpwood, eggs to pay for 196 acres. Thanks to Mom & Dad. We all had a good life. In God we trust."

Uncle Arthur's tree carving; personal collection

Dorothy has often spoken to me about her family roots and it is clear that her upbringing contributed greatly to the wonderful person she became. Her mother was an excellent seamstress and Dorothy inherited those same skills. She made all of Schalene's clothes when she was a child and she sewed for other people as well. She had an old Singer sewing machine which she used then, and even in Croatan Village where she and Ted lived, she still used that same machine. Dorothy was also an artist. She painted some amazing pictures. I think she did take some lessons at Pamlico Community College, but the talent she had was a natural inborn talent. But most of all she was a devoted and amzing mother to her children. Schalene wrote of her mother: "She guarded her children as fiercely as a momma bear but never once blamed the teachers as many parents do today when their children get in trouble. We were punished if we misbehaved in school. The teacher was always right."

Dorothy was also determined that her children would succeed at whatever they did or at least never give up on things they set out to do. Again Schalene has written of her mom: "Mom was sure I must have musical talent. Her father played a brass instrument in a marching band and the violin. I should have piano lessons. We bought a used piano and I began taking lessons with the wife of our church's musical director. I had wonderful form, but absolutely no talent. I played the piece as well the first time as the fiftieth. But Mom wouldn't let me quit. Until one day, when I came home from school, she told a story on herself. She was in the kitchen getting ready to clean up after breakfast and she heard someone playing the piano. Since the only person in the house that played was me, she was sure I was late for school. She came in the room to tell me to stop practicing and get to school and discovered our Beagle walking up and down the keyboard, shredding a tissue. Quitting my lessons was only one of the very few battles I won. My argument was simple. If she couldn't tell the difference between my playing and the dog's, I had no talent."

Also, this one last word in tribute to her mother: "She is stronger than anyone I know, but let Dad take care of her for 55 years of their 57-year marriage. Now during the last two years she has become the caregiver." And an excellent caregiver she was. She oversaw the selling of their beautiful house in Quail Woods so they could be together in Croatan Village. They needed to be together and not separated -- for his sake and for hers. Dot and Ted have had a wonderful marriage and life together. Their love for each other has always been evident. Their love produced a family that loves each other dearly. Even in these last several weeks when her condition became truly debilitating Dot's greatest concern was about what was going to happen to Ted and I did my best to assure her that everything would be OK. Her children would be there for her and for Ted as they both have been there for them.

Mom and Dad in April 2014 on our last vacation together;
personal collection

Beloved, when life has been lived to its fullest, there is absolutely nothing more important than the relationships we share with each other and also with God. You can have your wealth and your fame and all that goes with it, but give me family and let me live in loving relationships within the family and also with God. It is not simply that this is what will be important when we breathe our last breath. It is what is important now as we live. It is what sustains us and makes us who we are. Just think what a better world it would be if there were more moms and wives like Dot Jennings and more parents like the parents she had. When you live in gratitude for the relationships of love and caring that you have had, life is just better. I believe you are formed into a more complete and whole person. And I know you are living in a manner that is in harmony with the will of God for you and for the world.

One of the beautiful and compelling metaphors used in the Gospel of John for heaven is that of a house. In John Jesus says to us: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so I would have told you." A house is a place where family members dwell. To say there are many rooms in God's house is to say there is a room for everyone. The vision we have here of our dwelling with God in the life to come is a vision of family dwelling together in a single house -- God's house.

If your experience in family has been a good and blessed one -- and I admit that is not the case for everyone -- but if it was, the image of house and home conjures up feelings and thoughts that are filled with gratitude and joy. Your house may not have been a mansion, and it may be that in the house of your upbringing there are now some empty rooms. They are empty because loved ones have departed from this life. But still I dare say that when you think about that house you think about the joy of times when family was together, when love and caring were evident, when laughter filled the rooms, and when the family was whole and complete.

Dad after Mom's memorial service; about a month later he was diagnosed
with a tumor of the brain lining; personal collection

In this world we live a fragmented life. Breaks in relationships happen. Unwanted separations from one another come and are unavoidable. It is the nature of life in this broken and dying world. But the image Jesus gives us of our dwelling with God is that of a house where we are together again and where there are no more separations. This is a comforting and reassuring image of life to come. Even if your famiy life in this world was not so good, the promise is when you trust in Jesus you can be sure that life in the family of God is now and will be forever a blessed life.

It is into the fuller expression of that life that our beloved Dorothy Jennings has now entered. This is the promise that Jesus made to her and to us. In the book of Revalation it is described in this way: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'See the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."

***

A special thanks to the Women's group of Bethany Christian Church in Arapahoe, North Carolina, who saw to the refreshments and decorating of the fellowship hall after Mom's service. And to all the attendees of Mom's service, who stood up and shared such wonderful memories of Mom.

52 Ancestors #32: The 32 Great Great Greats

It would have been so easy to reprise a 27 December 2013 post about Henry Crawford Tucker and his 32 children, but I will adhere more closely to the optional prompt and write about my 32 three-times great grandparents.

Fan chart of my family tree made several months ago using
TreeSeek.com  and my partialtree on FamilySearch.org

The two halves of my tree -- Dad's side and Mom's side -- could not be more dissimilar. On Dad's side, all but four of my 16 three-times great grandparents came from families that have been in what became the United States of America in Colonial times. I could keep the Colonial Dames (CDA), Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), United States Daughters of the War of 1812, and other lineage societies busy for years submitting applications. The 4 three-times great grandparents, who were "outliers," came from Scotland. Their children, James Muir and Margaret Semple, married in 1873 and immigrated to the U.S. in 1887.

Mom's side of my tree, on the other hand, is filled with unknowns. Mom considered herself to be 100 percent German yet no one has any idea from where in Germany her ancestors originated. Her mother's parents were German Baptists, who lived in the Russian Empire (it is now Ukraine), and immigrated to Canada in 1893 due to religious persecution. Previous to Russia, they lived in what is now Poland. I suspect there is some Polish blood thrown into the mix. What I know about my maternal grandmother's ancestors is due in large part to Lucille Marion (Fillenberg) Effa (1934-2015) and her 2003 book, Our Schalin Family. It proved to be an invaluable starting point for my research.

Lucille Marion (Fillenberg) Effa; courtesy of the
Vancouver Sun

Mom's Dad immigrated to Canada from the same region of Russia in 1911. His family was Lutheran but had a similar history. I know even less about them. My big breakthrough to date was learning the names of his four grandparents, which I never would have accomplished without joining the Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe (SGGEE). Such a small, small step forward in what will be a long journey.

Dad's Side

1. John William Jennings, Sr. -- born about 1777 in Amherst County, Virginia; married Anna Mariah Waldron, 1805; served in Captain William Flood's Company, 5th Infantry Regiment, Virginia Militia during the War of 1812; died 19 December 1858 in Amherst County
2. Anna Mariah Waldron -- born in 1782 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia; married John William Jennings, Sr., 1805; died 24 October 1868 in Amherst County
3. Thomas Jewell -- unknown birth date; died before 1833 when Jesse, James and Terisha Jewell were made guardians of orphaned Catherine Jewell in Amherst County
4. Unknown -- but may have been Sarah "Sally" Guilford, who would have also died before 1833; I am still working on proving this theory
5. James Harvey Beard -- born 7 September 1780 in Bedford County, Virginia; married Mary McMullen or McMullin, 1811; served in a Virginia Militia artillery battalion during the War of 1812; died 26 September 1781 in Bedford County
6. Mary McMullen or McMullin -- unknown birth date; married James Harvey Beard, 1811; died before 1850 when her husband married Rhoda Parker
7. Daniel Mitchell -- born about 1781 in Virginia; married Sarah "Sally" Wood, 1816; died after 1860
8. Sarah "Sally" Wood -- born 1792 in Virginia; married Daniel Mitchell, 1816; died after 1860
9. Robert Muir -- born about 1800 in Northern Ireland; married Henrietta Brown, 1828; died 20 April 1869 in Stonehouse, Lanarkshire, Scotland
10. Henrietta Brown -- unknown birth date; married Robert Muir, 1828; died before 1856 in Scotland
11. Peter Semple -- 5 May 1822 in Dalserf, Lanarkshire, Scotland; married Janet Torrance, 1844; died 29 March 1904 in Dalserf
12. Janet Torrance -- 27 July 1825 in Stonehouse; married Peter Semple, 1844; died 16 November 1896 in Dalserf
13. Alfred Riggin born about 1811 in Tennessee; married Sarah "Sally' Piper, 1833; died after 1850 
14. Sarah "Sally" Piper -- 7 March 1813 in Ohio; married Alfred Riggin, 1833; died 30 July 1887 in Troy, Madison, Illinois
15. James Wells -- born about 1808; married Mary Hearelson on an unknown date; died 19 July 1861 in Troy, Illinois
16. Mary Hearelson 8 November 1814 in North Carolina; married James Wells on an unknown date; died 12 December 1882 in Troy

Memorial monument for Peter Semple, which is located in the Dalserf
Parish Church Cemetery; photograph taken for me by Andrew Scorgie
in 2013 while in Dalserf photographing my ancestors' home town

Mom's Side

1. Unknown Lange -- father of Friedrich Lange, who died before 1866
2. Unknown -- mother of Friedrich Lange
3. Unknown Schenschke -- father of Wilhelmina Schenscke, who died before 1866
4. Unknown -- mother of Friedrich Lange
5. Unknown Ludwig -- father of Gottfried Ludwig
6. Unknown -- mother of Gottfried Ludwig
7. Unknown Irgang -- father of Ernestine Irgang, who died before 1866
8. Unknown -- mother of Ernestine Irgang
9. Johann Samuel Schalin born 26 August 1796 in Maliniec, Poland; married Anna Elisabeth Buech, 1822; died 2 December 1847 in Maliniec
10. Anna Elisabeth Buech -- born 18 April 1802 in Gross, Poland; married Johann Samuel Schalin, 1822; died on an unknown date
11. Johann Gottfried Zander born about 1796; married Susanne Wilde on an unknown date; died on an unknown date
12. Susanne Wilde born about 1805; married Johann Gottfried Zander on an unknown date; died on an unknown date
13. Unknown Fabriske -- paternal grandfather of Auguste Fabriske, my great grandmother
14. Unknown -- paternal grandmother of Auguste Fabriske
15. Unknown -- maternal grandfather of Auguste Fabriske
16. Unknown -- maternal grandmother of Auguste Fabriske

The registration of the marriage of Carl August Lange and Carolina Ludwig,
which gave me the names of their parents, my only breakthrough to date
on my maternal grandfather's side of the family; image courtesy of SGGEE

Mattias Steinke, of the German Genealogy Facebook Group, graciously transcribed the record for me:

nr 307 Lange, August residing in Ludwischin Schepple (Ludwiszyn-Szepiel), county of Luck, son of the deceased Friedrich Lange and his deceased wife Wilhelmine nee Schensche, born in Kamen, (russian) province of Petrikau with Caroline Ludwig, daughter of Gottfried Ludwig and his deceased wife Ernestine nee Irgang of Adnarka (?) county of Luzk, born in Grabina, province of Petrikau, bride of lutheran confession. Groom is unmarried and 25 years old. Bride is unmarried and 19 years old. The banns were at the 7th, 15th, and 22nd September. When and where the marriage were: the seventh October 1886 in the church of Rozyszcze by pastor Kerm.

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge optional theme 32.

52 Ancestors #19: 1949 Road Trip

Ancestor Names: Gustav LANGE (1888-1963), Wilhelmina (SCHALIN) Lange (1894-1960), Dorothy Ailein (LANGE) Jennings (1930-2014)

My mother was the eighth of nine children born to Gustav and Wilhelmina (Schalin) Lange. Grandpa immigrated to Canada in 1911 at age of 23, and Grandma was the first child born to her parents after they immigrated to Canada in 1893. Gustav and Wilhelmina married in Winnipeg in 1915, moved to Michigan in 1916, and purchased a farm in southern Maryland in 1919. Their last six children were born on that farm.

In 1949 my Mom and her parents drove from Maryland to Alberta, Canada to visit family my grandparents hadn't seen in over 30 years. Mom's sister, Millie, may have accompanied them, but I do not know for sure. Mom would mention the trip from time to time; and as we were clearing out her house prior to selling it, she reminisced as we went through old photograph albums.

Somewhere in the United States on the way to Montana, 1949; Mom is on
the left. From my personal collection

Oh, how I wish I would have been in family historian mode and asked questions about the people in the photographs and the places they saw along the way. But I didn't. I was project manager mode. I was working to a schedule, checking things off the task list, and trying to keep Mom excited about her decision to move into an assisted living facility.

These photos were taken in Montana. To the left Grandpa Lange is
is in the light shirt holding a cup. It looks they were watching a
living history demonstration of some sort. On the right (left to right)
are Grandpa Lange, Grandma Lange, her sister Hilda Wendell and
John Wendell. From my personal collection

A small digression so you may appreciate why I focused on the route my Lange/Schalin ancestors took on that Summer of '49 road trip...

My husband says my family can't be together for 5 minutes before a map is out; and we are tracing routes for possible vacations, reliving old vacations, or answering a geographical question that has come up in conversation. He is simply amazed by the phenomena and we never let him down. It's genetic we abashedly tell ourselves as one of us is going to get a map.

So how did Mom and my grandparents drive to Canada? I know they drove because they took Mom's new car and that she and Grandpa did the driving. From the photograph albums I know the relatives they visited.  Grandma's sisters Aunt Hilda in Livingston Park, Montana, Aunt Julia in Red Deer, Alberta, and Aunt Lena and Grandpa's brother Richard Lange in Winnipeg. They also saw Grandma's sister, Aunt Martha, but I believe she and her husband drove west or took the train from Ontario for the visit. They also stopped in North Dakota to visit the Tridtke or Fridtke family, but I do not know who they are.

Shell Oil map of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Part of the route my Mom
and Grandparents drove in 1949 on an extended family visit.

I have acquired a 1945 map published by the the Canadian Government Travel Bureau of the main automobile routes between the United States and Canada (Eastern Sheet), and Shell Oil maps of British Columbia and Alberta and Saskatchewan and Manitoba published about the same time period. Based on the order of the photographs in Mom's album, I believe the route of their trip was Montana, Alberta, Manitoba, and North Dakota and back to Maryland. Using modern roads the trip is just over 5,500 miles. They were on the road for just over two months.

This photograph was taken in Red Deer, Alberta, likely at the home of
Julia (Schalin) Kirkham. Grandpa Lange is at the far left, then Felix George
Allen, my Mom, her Aunt Martha (Schalin) Allen, and Grandma
Lange; From my personal collection

Mom and I are different in another way as well. I used to come back from vacation and none of my photographs would include a person. It's only since I've become interested in genealogy that I may remember to photograph people. Mom's photographs rarely included the sights they saw along they way; they are all of people. Family were always in her heart. When her minister gave the eulogy at her memorial service, he told such moving stories of Mom's childhood; it was almost as if he was her brother and grew up along side her. Those were the stories she'd told him about her family over the nearly 30 years they knew each other.

And so one last photograph from Mom's album of their 1949 road trip.

According to Mom's album this photograph was taken in Winnipeg,
the home of Pauline "Lena" (Schalin) Parsons. I assume these men
are Parsons/Schalin family but I have no idea who they are. From my
personal collection

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge optional theme There's a Way.