Emma Jane Weiss (1864-1926)

This is a post from my WikiTree Project.

Emma Jane Weiss (1864-1926)

Emma Jane Weiss was born in December 4, 1864 in Brighton, Macoupin County, Illinois. She was the daughter of Henry Weiss and Catherine Holton. (There is some uncertainty about the date of her birth, See the research note on her WikiTree profile).

Emma married Henry Jacob Kolk on April 30, 1894 in Upper Alton, Madison County, Illinois. They had two sons together, Harry Holton and William Clyde.

After her marriage, Emma lived on her father-in-law’s farm with her husband and two sons.[5] She remained on the farm until about 1914, when she moved with her sons to a home at 213 W. 16th Street in Alton, Madison, Illinois. Emma later moved to the home of her son William.

Emma died at William’s home at 2514 Salu street in Alton, Madison County, Illinois on September 24, 1926. At the time of her death, Emma was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal church in Alton. She is buried in Godfrey Cemetery in Godfrey, Illinois.

This biography was first published to WikiTree. You can find the latest version of his biography by clicking here.

Sources

1. Death Certificate for Emma Jane Kolk, Alton, Madison County, Illinois, 24 Sep 1926, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, File # 0037327, Roll 219, accessed 8 Jan 2004.
2. Marriage Record for Henry J Kolk and Emma Weiss, Marriage Record, Madison County Register of Marriages, File # 3125, Madison County, Illinois, 30 Apr 1894, photocopy from microfilm, IRAD, Carbondale, Illinois.
3. Emma Weiss in the 1870 U.S. Census, Brighton Post Office, Township 7, Range 9, Macoupin County, Illinois, 25 Jun 1870, FamilySearch.org, viewed in “United States Census, 1870," database with images,,” image 9 of 46, citing NARA microfilm publication M593, accessed 7 Feb 2019.
4. Emma Weiss in the 1880 U.S. Census, WEISS, Henry & PADDOCK, Robert Families, Brighton Township, Macoupin County, Illinois, 9 Jun 1880, FamilySearch.org, viewed in “United States Census, 1880, index and images,” image 64 of 819, citing NARA Series T9 Roll 232 Page 30, accessed 9 Oct 2014.
5. Emma Kolk in the 1900 U.S. Census, Fosterburg Township, Madison, IL, 18 Jun 1900, FamilySearch.org, viewed in “United States Census, 1900," index and images,” image 18 of 25, citing NARA microfilm publication T623, accessed 31 May 2015.
6. Emma Kolk in the 1910 U.S. Census, Fosterburg Township, Madison County, Illinois, 18 Apr 1910, FamilySearch.org, viewed in “United States Census, 1910," database with images,” image 3 of 24, citing NARA microfilm publication T624, accessed 5 Feb 2019.
7. Emma Kolk in the 1920 U.S. Census, KOLK, Emma household, Alton-Ward 2, Alton Township, Madison County, Illinois, 2-5 Jan 1920, FamilySearch.org, viewed in “United States Census, 1920, database with images,” image 7 of 20, citing NARA microfilm publication T625, accessed 17 Feb 2019.
8. Obituary for Emma Jane Kolk, “Alton Evening Telegraph,” Alton, Madison County, Illinois, 24 Sep 1926, page 1, NewspaperArchive.com, accessed 15 Mar 2020.
9.  Funeral notice for Emma Jane Kolk, “Alton Evening Telegraph,” Alton, Madison County, Illinois, 25 Sep 1926, page 1, NewspaperArchive.com, accessed 15 Mar 2020.
10. Burial of Emma Jane Kolk, “Alton Evening Telegraph,” Alton, Madison County, Illinois, 28 Sep 1926, page 2, NewspaperArchive.com, accessed 20 Aug 2009.

52 Ancestors in 2020 - Week 7: Favorite Discovery

 I’ve missed a couple of weeks of Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, but I’m working on catching up. The prompt for week 7 is ‘Favorite Discovery’. I’ve had many ‘favorite discoveries through the years. My favorite discovery tends to be my most recent discovery. About a year ago it was the discovery that my father’s bachelor uncle had been married. A few months ago it was the discovery that my great-grandfather’s sister had married her second cousin; his paternal grandfather was a brother to her paternal grandmother! I'll post more about that later.

My most recent favorite discovery isn’t a specific person, but instead is a source! Newspapers.com had a free weekend for Presidents Day. I didn’t really expect much because I can access the site for free from home with my library card, but this also included the Plus edition. Still, I really didn’t expect much because I’d had a subscription a couple of years ago and thought I’d exhausted my options there. But it was free, so I decided to give it a try. I started by searching for some of my Petrini cousins. I found a handful of obituaries in New York newspapers. I already had most of them from online obituaries, but I like to have the scan of the print edition when possible, so that was a plus. Not a huge discovery, but still nice.

Next I decided to search for my Weiss line. It is a large line, and I’ve been researching it for almost twenty years, so I didn’t expect to fine much. I started by searching for my grandfather’s cousin, Josie Weiss Shirk. I’d found her in the California Death Index about 15 years ago, so I knew she’d died in 1958 in Los Angeles. I’ve been looking for an obituary ever since, with no success. But this time…..there it was! 

13 Mar 1958, Thu The Pomona Progress Bulletin (Pomona, California) Newspapers.com

I also found an obituary for her husband and one of her children. By the time the weekend ended, I had 14 new articles about Josie’s family and I saw other articles that I didn’t get clipped. The good news is that MOST were not from Plus newspapers!  I can go back and look for these with my library’s subscription! My new favorite discovery!

52 Ancestors in 2019 - Week 1: First: Bonding with Emma Weiss

It’s time for a new start to 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. For more information about the project, visit her website here.

The prompt this week is ‘FIRST’! This can be interpreted in anyway you choose; first child, first college grad, etc. I’ve chosen to write about Emma Jane Weiss, the FIRST ancestor I bonded with as I learned about her. When I started my research, I didn’t know much about Emma. I knew the name Emma Weiss as I was growing up—she was my father's grandmother. But she'd died when he was only a year old, so of course, I never knew her. As I researched her and learned about her I felt as though I came to know her and I bonded to her. I caught myself wondering what her life was like growing up in rural Illinois, what she made for dinner, and what stories she knew of her grandparents, and how she survived the cold winters. Here is some of what I’ve learned about Emma:   

Emma Jane Weiss was born 4 Dec 1864 in Brighton, Macoupin County, Illinois to Henry Weiss and Catherine Holton Weiss, possibly the last of 10 children. At least that is what her obituary states[419]; but it also gives her name as Mary Jane at one point, so there is a problem with the accuracy of the article! Also, a much younger child, Bertie, listed on the 1880 census[40] as a daughter of Catherine and Henry, but I’ve been unable to learn anything further about Bertie, so I can’t verify the accuracy of that, either!

Emma grew up on her father’s farm northwest of Brighton in Macoupin County, Illinois, where he raised livestock. On 10 April 1894 Emma married Henry Jacob Kolk in Upper Alton, Illinois[46], transitioning from farmer’s daughter to farmer’s wife. Her marriage record states that would be 27 on her next birthday, making her birth year 1868, but all census records and her death record[195] indicate that she was born in 1864. It’s possible that she misled her groom to believe she was younger; it’s possible he wasn’t sure of her age when he made the affadavit; it’s possible the informants for the census and death certificate just didn’t know her exact birth year. I’ve been unable to confirm her exact age with a birth record.
Emma and Henry had two sons together, Harry Holton and William Clyde, who were raised on their farm in Madison County, Illinois. Emma became a widow in 1916 at approximately age 51. The farm was sold shortly after and Emma and her sons moved to town, where the young men took up jobs as laborers.

Emma died ten years later on 24 Sep 1926 in Alton, Madison County, Illinois from Bright’s Disease. The funeral was officiated by the rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, possibly in Alton. Emma was buried next to Henry in Godffey Cemetery, Godfrey, Madison County, Illinois.

Sources:

• 40. 1880 U.S. Census, WEISS, Henry & PADDOCK, Robert Families, Brighton Township, Macoupin County, Illinois, 9 Jun 1880, FamilySearch.org, viewed in “United States Census, 1880, index and images,” 64 of 819, citing NARA Series T9 Roll 232 Page 30, accessed 9 Oct 2014.
• 46. KOLK, Henry J - WEISS, Emma J, Marriage Record, Madison County Register of Marriages, License # 3125, Madison County, Illinois, 30 Apr 1894, IRAD, Carbondale, Illinois.
• 195. KOLK, Emma Jane , Death Certificate, Alton, Madison County, Illinois, 24 Sep 1926, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, Roll 219; File #0037327, accessed 8 Jan 2004.
• 419. KOLK, Emma Jane obit, “Alton Evening Telegraph,” Alton, Madison County, Illinois, 28 Sep 1926, page pg 2, NewspaperArchive.com, accessed 20 Aug 2009.

52 Ancestors in 2018 - Week 42: Conflict

The word of the week is ‘Conflict’!

Most families have conflicts, mine included. As children we fought over toys and tv viewing. As yound adults and even into today, my siblings and cousins argue over our favorite sports teams. And most recently we’ve debated with each other about politics. But those are stories for other times.

Today I want to tell you about a conflict that remains a mystery to me. Shortly after I began researching my genealogy, I discovered a marriage record for my great-great-grandparents, Henry Weiss and Catherine Holton. I haven’t done a lot of reserach on my Holton line; that is a goal for 2019. I did, however, find an abstract of will for Catharine Peterson on HeritageQuest.com. More recently, I came upon Catharine’s entire will as registered in Salem County, New Jersey.

Catherine left her property divided six ways among her children, Amy Carrow, Rebecca Perry Catharine Cole and Samuel Biddle ; the children of her son, Abel Biddle-- Louisa Holton, George Biddle and Abel Biddle; and the children of her deceased daughter, Sarah Holton-- Charles Holton, Rebecca Till, Mary Butler, John Holton, William Holton and Ephraim Holton .

It seems straight-forward until you get to this tidbit: 

Why did Catharine write Mary and Catharine out of her will. Was this the result of a conflict between the women? Did they marry out of their faith or marry a man whom Catharine did not like? Both women migrated to Illinois—Catherine Weiss came to Illinois sometime between 1850 and 1860, about the time Catharine Peterson wrote her will. Did Catharine feel abandoned and angry when they left? I notice that in the will Catharine Peterson spelled her granddaughter’s name wih and ‘a’; Catharine. This is the only time I’ve seen it that way. Could Catharine Peterson be hurt because her granddaughter used an alternate spelling? Or is it as simple as the fact that Catherine distributed their share of her estate to Mary and Catherine before her death. I’m not sure I’ll ever know the answer to this riddle!

One thing I should point out is that, while I am basing this on the conclusion that my great-great grandmother, Catherine Holton Weiss, is the granddaughter of Catharine Biddle, I’ve not yet proved this. I’ve not done an exhaustive search of the records to rule out the possiblity that there is another Catherine Weiss that was related to the Holtons and Biddles and the granddaughter of Catharine Peterson. That is something I plan to work on next year!

To learn more about my 52 Ancestors in 2018 project, read my introductory blog post.

52 Ancestors in 2018 - Week 39: On The Farm

 I’ve missed a couple of weeks, but I’m back with Week 39. I’ll catch up on the others as soon as I can.
This week the magic phrase is ‘On The Farm’. I have a lot of famers in my ancestry — a lot! So rather than choosing one, I’m going to give a quick synopsis of the farming background I have.

 I have farmer’s in virtually every branch of my ancestry. I created this color-coded chart to give me a quick visual on my farming background and where the farms were located. 

 The white backgrounds are ancestors who either weren’t farmers, or I’ve not yet determined their careers. For the most part, the female ancestors are blank. In general, their occupations have been listed as ‘housewife’, however, if they were married to a farmer and lived on a farm, I’m pretty sure it would be safe to label them as ‘farmers’, too!
More recent generations, my parents and grandparents, have chosen occupations other than farming,

My mother’s paternal ancestor’s were from Italy, indicated by purple. My maternal great-grandfather did not farm once he came to the United States, but I have no doubt that he at least helped his parents with farming while he was still in Italy! Both he and his wife grew up in a very small village in Tuscany, and their parents and grandparents were all farmers!
​
My mother’s paternal grandfather was also a farmer. He lived in central Illinois when he first came to the U.S. and may have farmed there. I’ve not found evidence of this, but I do know he owned a farm in Michigan, indicated by pink. Here is a picture of him on his farm, probably during the Great Depression.

 My dad’s side of the family were also farmers. My paternal grandfather farmed with his father as a young man, but moved on to other things as industry moved into the area. However as you move back, you can see that almost all of his ancestors were farmers, with farms very close in proximity. The red, yellow, and green all indicate farms in Fosterburg Township of Madison County, Illinois. The turquoise indicates a farm in the next county, Macoupin, that abuts to Fosterburg, so it was just a few miles away. Below is a plat map of Fosterburg Township illustrating just how closely located they were. 

 The red indicates farms owned by my dad’s paternal grandfather and his brother. The yellow and green are farms owned by his maternal ancestors. And the blue? Well that came as quite a surprise to me. It turns out that those farms were owned by farmers who are probably part of my sister-in-law’s ancestry! It just shows that you never know who you will connect with!

To learn more about my 52 Ancestors in 2018 project, read my introductory blog post.

52 Ancestors in 2018 - Week 34: Non-Population

 It’s Week 34 of the 52 Ancestors challenge, and the magic word this week is ‘Non-Population’! I’ve been wanting to look for the non-population schedules for some time. Shortly after I started my family history journey, about 15 years ago, I’d found 24-year-old Samuel Weiss living with his parents in Brighton, Macoupin County, Illinois. He was marked as ‘Idiotic’ on the census form.

 That seemed a pretty cruel classification at the time, but I’ve since learned that there was a precise definition for the word ‘idiotic’ when used for census purposes. I also learned that I might find more information on a ‘non-population’ schedule of the census, in this case the DDR, otherwise known as the 1880 Special Schedule of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes. I didn’t know where to find these, but this week’s challenge has inspired me to explore. I found that these schedules are available on Ancestry.com, so I did a quick search to see what I could find.

  I do not have an Ancestry subscription, but I am lucky enough to live in a library district that DOES have a subscription that can be accessed in the library by anyone with a vaild library card. And a few years ago, Ancestry made this worth even more by allowing me to have my discoveries emailed to me. Since I do not frequently have time to run to the library to find one item, I keep a list of items to search for, and frequently my list of ‘finds’ gets quite long. I’m not as good as I could be about processing my finds when I get home. This is a long way to explain my surprise when I discovered that I’d found Samuel in the DDD over a year ago and had done nothing about it! I didn’t even remember I’d found him!

  Once I realized I’d already found Samuel in the schedule, I quickly downloaded the page and examined it. The first thing I learned is the precise definition of ‘idiot’ when used in the 1880 census. You can read the detailed description from the schedule page below*, if you are interested. What I learned about Samuel made me sad. Here is what I learned.

As mentioned on the population schedule, in 1880 Samuel lived in Brighton in Macoupin County, Illinois. The DDD tells me that he was partially self-supporting (the population schedule indicates that Samuel worked on a farm, presumably his father’s). His head size was classified as ‘natural', apparently a synonym for ’normal’. The sad fact that I uncovered?; the supposed cause of his idiocy was a fall little Samuel had taken when he was only six months old! How sad, and probably guilt-inducing, for his mother!

According to Find A Grave, Samuel died at age 36 and is buried in Rosebank Cemetery, Dickinson County, Kansas. He may have been living with an older brother who had migrated with his family to Kansas sometime before 1900.

* From the 1880 Special Schedule of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes:

“The object of this Supplemental Schedule is to furnish material not only for a complete enumeration of the idiots, but for an account of their condition. It is important that every inquiry respecting each case be answered as fully as possible. Enumerators will, therefore, after making the proper entries on the Population Schedule (No. 1), transfer the name (with Schedule page and number) of every idiot found, from Schedule No. 1 to this Special Schedule, and proceed to ask the addition questions indicated in the headings of the several columns.

The word “idiot” has a special meaning which it is essential for every enumerator to know. An idiot is a person that the development of whose mental faculties was arrested in infancy or childhood before coming to maturity.

It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the stupidity which results from idiocy and that which is due to the loss or deterioration of mental power in consequence of insanity. The latter is not true idiocy, but dementia or imbecility. The enumeration desired for the Census is of true idiocy only. Demented persons should be classed with the insane.

Enumerators may obtain valuable hints as to the number of idiots, and their residences, from physicians who practice medicine in their respective districts.”​

To learn more about my 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project, read my introductory blog post.

52 Ancestors, Week 8: Josie Weiss

 I'm already 8 weeks into my  52 Ancestors in 2017 challenge and it seems to be going ok. This week I am switching things up and taking a break from my Petrini family. Instead I am going to talk about my Weiss line.

This past weekend I spent some time on the updated California County Marriages database at Family Search and quickly found several marriage records I didn’t already have. These were all for descendants of Josie L Weiss, one of my favorite ancestors. I’m not really sure why she is one of my favorite. I’ve never met her and I really don’t know a lot about her, but I’ve always enjoyed getting to know her.

The first reference I have for Josie is an 1880 census record which shows four-year-old Josephine L Weiss living with her parents and older brother in Shipman Township, Macoupin County, Illinois. This is the only document I have which refers to her as Josephine. All other records refer to her as Josie. I assume once she was old enough to voice a preference she let it be known that she preferred Josie to Josephine — I know I would have!

Josie was the daughter of John Adam Weiss and Catherine F. Yaraum, born in Kansas 17 Jan 1876. At some point after her birth, but before she was 5, the family moved back to Macoupin County, Illinois, where John and Catherine had married. With no 1890 census, it is difficult to track the family, but John and Catherine are back in Kansas, in Marion County, for the 1900 census with their younger sons. Josie is not with them, but she may be in Kansas. Josie was married to Ralph J. Shirk, possibly 30 May 1900. I have a source, a tree prepared by another researcher, but I am not certain it is reliable. However, this is just before the 1900 census was taken, and it’s possible Josie and her new husband will be found nearby. I need to look for Josie and Ralph in the 1900 census. They are found near her parents in Marion County, Kansas in the 1910 census.

By the 1920 census Josie and Ralph and their four children are in Ontario Township, San Bernardino County, California, where Ralph if farming an orange grove. Ten years later, Ralph is farming his own farm in La Verne, Los Angeles County, California. When Clay Justin Weiss, Josie’s older brother, died in 1925, his obituary stated that Jossie (sic) was a resident of Labura, California; this is probably La Verne. Ralph and Josie were still in La Verne at the time of the 1940 census.

Josie and Ralph had four children.

• Mina M (1903-1964)
• Olive Frances (1905-1990)
• Verna Elizabeth (1907-1994)
• Dwight Weiss (1909-1993)
  

Josie died 12 Mar 1958 in Los Angeles County, California. She is buried alongside Ralph in La Verne Cemetry, La Verne, Los Angeles County, California.

You can view the family group sheet for the family of Ralph Shirk and Josie Weiss here.

Sources

• “1880 U.S. Census,” WEISS, John A. and William H.  families, Shipman Township, Macoupin County, Illinois, 25 Jun 1880, FamilySearch, 27 May 2015.
• WEISS, Clay J, “obituary,” received by email, 20 Aug 2003.
• “1920 U.S. Census,” SHIRK, Ralph Household, Ontario, San Bernadino County, California, 19 Jan 1920, Heritage Quest Online, 7 Feb 2005.
• “1930 U.S. Census,” SHIRK, Ralph Household, La Verne, Los Angeles County,  California, 5 Apr 1930, Heritage Quest Online, 7 Feb 2005.
• SHIRK, Josie; Ralph; Dwight, “California Death Index, 1940-1997,” Ancestry.com, Feb 2005.
• “SSDI,” SHIRK in CA, Feb 2005, ancestry.com.
• SHIRK, Ralph, “Family Data Collection,” Edmund West, Ancestry.com, 7 Feb 2005.
• “CADI,” Mina FORD, 17 Jul 2006, ancestry.com.
• SHIRK, Josie Weiss, “Memorial,” # 20468780, Find A Grave, merridancer, accessed 22 Feb 2017.
• “1910 U.S. Census,” SHIRK, R J  household, Colfax, Marion County, Kansas, Ward 20, ED 96-476, 14 May 1910, NARA microfilm, T624, FamilySearch, image 14 of 18, accessed 22 Feb 2017.
• “1940 U.S. Census,” SHIRK, Ralph J  household, La Verne, Los Angeles, California, ED 19-716, 26 Apr 1940, NARA microfilm, T627, FamilySearch, image 14 of 18, accessed 22 Feb 2017.

California County Marriages at Family Search

 It's been awhile since I've worked on my WEISS line, but that changed this weekend. I've been pretty focused on my Italian ancestors for the past year or two, but thanks to a hint found on Michael John Neill's Genealogy Search Tips blog, I took a small detour this weekend. Michael reported that the California County Marriages, 1850-1952 database on Family Search has been updated.

A very quick search turned up five marriage records for my Weiss family that I did not previously have! ​Now I am taking a short break from my Italian research to process the new information I have. I plan to do a more thorough search to see what other records will show up in the database when I need another quick break. It was a very productive weekend!