Edna Mae was born on June 13, 1903, in Lapeer, Michigan, to Charles H. and Sarah M. Glover Barber. She married Jay C Guilds on March 20, 1941, in Pontiac, Michigan. She died on June 4, 1942, in Pontiac, Michigan, at the age of 38, and was buried in Metamora, Michigan.
According to her death certificate she died from Toxaemia of Pregnany at full term and primipara age 38. The baby was stillborn.
In the 1900 censusMartha was working as a servant for William and Roxy Cowden.
Martha’s 1900 Census Record
On 3 May 1905 Martha married William Ebel(t) Jr., the son of William and Caroline Blanck Ebel(t), in Big Rapids, Michigan. The witnesses were Martha’s brother Conrad and William’s sister, Caroline Ebelt, and they were married by E. G. Franck. William’s last name was actually Ebelt, not Ebel. Their marriage record can be found here.
Martha Mielke and William Ebelt Marriage Record
They had a son, Edwin G. Ebelt, born on the 26 May 1906. According to Michigan Death Records William died 25 Aug 1906 in Green Township, Mecosta, Michigan.
Martha then married William’s brother, Frederick John “Fred” Ebelt, on 7 Sep 1908 in Big Rapids by A L Bray and the witnesses were Seth Blossom and Fred’s sister Caroline. Fred was born on 12 February 1884 in Mecosta Township, Mecosta, Michigan.
Martha Mielke Ebelt and Frederick John “Fred” Ebelt’s Marriage Record
In 1909 they had a daughter Josephine. In the 1910 census, Fred, Martha, Edwin and Josephine were living in Mecosta, Michigan. Also living with them were Fred’s father William(61) and younger brother Albert (18). The census record for this is very faded so I did not include a picture of it.
By the time the 1920 census rolled around, Fred owned his own dairy farm on Mocka’s Mill, Mecosta, Mecosta, Michigan. He and Martha had children Edwin and Josephine living with them.
Fred and Martha’s 1920 Census Record
Fred died on 16 May 1928 and is buried at Highland View Cemetery in Big Rapids, Michigan. According to his Find a Grave Record he died in Barryton, Mecosta, Michigan.
In the 1930 census, Martha and Josephine were renting from her brother Conrad. She was working as a laundress.
Martha and Daughter Josephine’s 1930 Census Record
In 1940, Martha and her daughter’s family were living in Big Rapids at 572 Division Street. Her daughter Josephine had married Richard Donley and at the time of the census they had one child, Richard Jr. Richard Sr. worked as a principal at the 3rd Ward School.
1940 Census
On 23 Feb 1974, Martha died in Big Rapids, Michigan. She is buried at Highland View Cemetery. Click here to see the FindAGrave.com record.
It’s very useful in genealogy research to know where your family members were born and it gives you hints as where to look when you are searching. Tonight as I read an article from Olive Tree Genealogy about a 5 Generation Birth Locator Chart, I couldn’t help myself and had to start making some charts of my own.
I think I might also do this for deaths, both places and cause of death. I would also like to do one for cemeteries.
Today is Veteran’s Day here in the U.S., so I thought that I would choose a veteran for my next Journey Through My Family Tree series.
Nicholas Andrew Robb
Birth: 23 November 1907 in Michigan
Death: 29 August 1946 in Detroit, Michigan
Relation to Me: Great-Aunt’s Husband
Parents: Nicholas Robb (1882 – 1970) &
Mary Turner (1882 – ?)
Siblings:
1. Helen Robb Bertrand (1910 – ?)
2. Bernard Robb (1913 – 1987)
3. Allen Robb (1915 – ?)
4. Iola Isabel “Robbie” Robb Rotto (1916 – 1996)
5. John J Robb (1918 – ?)
~1910 (age 3): Living with his Father and Mother in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan.
~1920 (age 13): Living with his Father, Mother and 5 siblings in Detroit.
~1930 (age 23): Living with his Father, Mother and 5 siblings in Detroit.
~1936(age 28): Marriage to Dorothy Irene Mielke on 24th October in Detroit.
~1940 (age 32): Living with his wife Dorothy in Detroit.
~1943 (age 35): Enlisted in the United States Navy Reserves on 21st July.
~1945 (age 38) Discharged from service on 28th Nov.
~1946 (age 38): Died on 29th August. Buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Detroit.
My grandmother told me that Nicholas died after coming home from World War II due to injuries he received. Her recollection is that Nicholas fell off a ladder while on a ship and badly cut his shin. Less then a year after he came home, he died of a blood clot.
My Aunt Dorothy was only 17 when she married Nick, who was 28. Aunt Dorothy converted to Catholicism before she and Nick married and during that time lived with our Great-Great Uncle and Aunt, Walter Eugene and Margret Mielke.
To see more of the journey through my family tree go here.
In a previous post, I discovered some clues in my McKnight/Guilds mystery.
After Beatrice divorced her husband, she married Henry McKnight.
Well by the time the 1940 census came out my Grandma Beatrice is married to Henry J. McKnight. All of the children from Beatrice’s first marriage, along with the child that Beatrice and Henry had together are living with the couple.
My Grandpa Bernie and my Uncle Richard both went by McKnight for the rest of their lives, I don’t know if at some point after marrying Beatrice, Henry adopted the children. My dad’s middle name came from my Grandpa Bernie’s younger half-brother Alton.
What I do know is that Beatrice and Henry owned a laundry mat in Pontiac and that they lived quite close to where my Dad grew up. He told me when he got in trouble, he would ride his bike over a couple of streets to his grandmas.
Bless your ancestors!
SueAnn
(1) Ancestry.com. Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.Original data: Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867–1952. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics.
(2) Year: 1940; Census Place: Pontiac, Oakland, Michigan; Roll: T627_1801; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 63-105. Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643
I have old box of pictures from my Grandma’s house. Some of the pictures, she gave me a little bit of info with. In this set is my Grandfather Oscar Rowan Lindsay, his mother Edith Basham Lindsay and his best friend Bob Scroder.
I have old box of pictures from my Grandma’s house. Some of the pictures, she gave me a little bit of info with. In this set is my Grandfather Oscar Rowan Lindsay, his mother Edith Basham Lindsay and his best friend Bob Scroder.
This is what my Grandma wrote “Oscar’s best friend’s name was Bob Schroder and he was killed in World War II serving the Canadian Army..”
If anyone has any idea who these people are please let me know. I would love to get these pictures back to Bob’s family.
I love a good mystery, especially when it comes to genealogy. I have been reading a lot of Genealogy Related Mystery books lately and it got me thinking about some of the mysteries in my family tree. One of the biggest is a story my daddy has told me all my life, that I could never prove. Well last night, I couldn’t sleep, so I dived into the mystery and got some answers! My Daddy always said that our last name should have been Giles (his spelling), but that an adoption had occurred that made us McKnight’s. Last night as I was researching, I found a marriage record for Beatrice Mae Jones, my great-grandmother, to a Jay Guilds (pretty similar sounding to Giles) on 10 Nov 1922. Unfortunately for me, I do not have full access to ancestry.com right now to get the actual marriage certificate. However, what information I could gleam off the index listing leads me to believe this is the right one. Now fast forward to the 1930 census. Grandma Beatrice is living with her father, Charles Arthur Jones, Stepmother Goldie Guilds (notice the last name?) and her three children, Bernard (my grandfather), Wilma Mae, and Richard (Dick).
Hmmm…her husband is nowhere to be found on this census, which isn’t entirely unusual in the 1930’s during the great depression. I haven’t found a census entry for Jay yet, but I am still looking. However, when I searched Beatrice’s name I did find this:
Wow, my jaw hit the floor when I saw this! I couldn’t believe it especially the cause of divorce “Extreme and repeated cruelty; non-support.
One other interesting thing about this mystery, did you notice the name of Beatrice’s step-mother? That’s right Goldie Guilds. Goldie is the younger sister of Jay C. Guilds. I having a feeling that made for some interesting family gatherings.
While the mystery isn’t completely solved and I may never know what exactly happened between Beatrice and my biological great-grandfather, Jay, every brick wall knocked down gets me closer to finding my family.
(1) Year: 1930; Census Place: West Bloomfield, Oakland, Michigan; Roll: 1019; Page: 29B; Enumeration District:0138; Image: 1119.0; FHL microfilm: 2340754. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.
(2) Ancestry.com. Michigan, Divorce Records, 1897-1952 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Michigan. Divorce records. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan.rolls.