Sunday, November 28, 2021

Children of Amarylis Crane and Edward J. M. Poth

Amarylis Crane (1877-1952) daughter of William Henry Crane and Nellie Rose Hogan

and Edward John Michael Poth (1874 - 1956), son of Adam Poth and Anna Maria Clemens/ Clements,

were married in Chicago on June 28, 1905. These are Stephen D. Poth's paternal grandparents.

They had three children:

1. Amarylis E. Poth (Aug 1, 1906 in Illinois - 1953) - Des Moines, Colorado

m. John Herman Nunes

2. Edward Marshall Poth (Oct 30, 1910, Chicago - March 15, 1981, Maricopa Arizona)

m. Mildred Alice Noll

3. Charles Douglas Poth (July 19, 1917, Des Moines - Nov 17, 1983, Denver)

m. Frances Hope Hoart

Amarylis Poth with her little brother Douglas:

The Poth family camping:

See:

Amaryl Crane

Edward J. M. Poth

Sources:

Cynthia Poth Nanto tree on Ancestry dot com

Photos from Frances Hoart Poth family albums

Amarylis Ann Crane (1877-1952), English teacher, "reader", mother, Stephen Poth's paternal grandmother

Amarylis Ann Crane (October 24, 1877, Illinois - August 1, 1952, Denver)

from Chicago, Des Moines, Denver

English teacher, reader in theatrical and musical programs, mother of three

This is Stephen D. Poth's paternal grandmother.

Amarylis Ann Crane, Doug Poth's mother, was born in Iroquois County, Illinois, the second child of William Henry Crane and Nellie Rose Hogan. She lived a couple of years in her early childhood in Kansas where her father was a farmer for a short time, but from the age of four, grew up in Chicago.

The1900 Census shows Amaryl's family in Chicago, ward 15, on Nebraska Avenue. She is 22 years old. (Not pictured is the line for occupation - I can't decipher her occupation, unfortunately):

Marriage and family:

On June 28, 1905, Amaryl marries Edward J. M. Poth in Chicago. Edward is an engraver, living with his sister and her husband in another part of Chicago. I wonder how Amaryl and Edward met?

In 1906, they are living in Chicago and have one daughter, Amaryllis E., who was born just a few months after Amaryl's father died. In 1910, their son Edward Marshall Poth was born.

Sometime before 1913, the family moved to Des Moines, Iowa. They lived at 3411 Crocker Street in Des Moines, in a house built in 1912. (this image from 2021):

Busy public life in Des Moines:

We are fortunate to have many brief clippings from the Des Moines Tribune starting in 1913 when Amaryl was 35 years old, that give us a glimpse into her busy and creative life in Des Moines:

On Labor Day weekend in 1913, she was involved in a musical at her (country club??) as the "reader" - a role she would play at other times and venues, with the Elmwood Trio.

In 1914, she was a "lady player" in a golf tournament, "consolation solace" round.

Amaryl was an active member of a discussion group called "The Emerson Chautauqua Circle". In January 1917, she hosted the group at her home:

The next week, she led the discussion:

And so on. On July 19, 1917, her third child, Charles Douglas Poth was born. Amaryl was 39 years old.

Charles Douglas with his mother Amaryl Crane Poth, 1917 or 1918:

And just a few months later Amaryl hosted the Emerson Circle again. Amaryl must have had help with childcare and housework. This is part of the invisible labor of women that doesn't get documented.

She hosted a Halloween themed evening for her daughter Amaryllis:

English teacher, director:

The 1920 census shows that Edward is an engraver and Amaryl is an English teacher, working "on her own accord." I wish we had more details about that.

In December 1920, she directed a one-act play at St. Ambrose Parish center:

And in 1921, she gave readings at programs at the Catholic Women's League, and the Daughters of Isabella (auxillary to the Knights of Columbus) in Des Moines.

We know that the Poths were still in Des Moines in 1924, but we are unclear as to exactly when, and why, they moved to Denver.

Move to Denver

In any case, by 1930, the family had relocated to Milwaukee Street in Denver. Sometime after the death of Amaryl's mother in 1932, Amaryl's sister Mabel moved from Chicago to Denver and lived with the Poths. In 1940 they are living at 1635 Adams Street and Doug is 22 years old.

I hope that more newspapers will become available and we might catch a glimpse of Amaryl's life in Denver during the empty nest years.

Amaryl died Aug 1, 1952. Edward died a few years later in Scottsdale, Arizona. Their gravestones are found in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Wheat Ridge, Jefferson County, Colorado, near their daughter Amarylis Poth Nunes' gravestone.

Children of Nellie Rose (Hogan) and William Henry Crane (Stephen Poth's great grandparents)

These are Stephen Poth's great grandparents (Stephen Poth < Charles Douglas Poth < Amarylis Crane < William H Crane and Ellen Hogan) and their children

Ellen (Nellie Rose) Hogan (1857, Chicago - 1932, Chicago) [daughter of Honora Burke(?) and John Hogan (both from Ireland)]

William Henry Crane (1848, Wisconsin - 1906, Illinois), [son of ? possibly Mr. Crane from Wisconsin (1827-1902)]

Nellie R. Hogan (age 17) and William H. Crane (age 26)

were married July 25, 1875 in Cook County, Illinois.

Their children:

1. William D. Crane ( May1877 - Nov 27, 1913, Chicago) - plumber in Chicago in 1900

2. Amarylis Ann Crane (Oct 24, 1877 - Aug 1, 1952, Denver) -
m. 1905 Edward John Michael Poth

3. Florence Helen Crane (Sep 1882, Chicago - ?)

4. Mabel Mary Crane (June 8, 1884 - ?) - lived in Chicago all her life as stenographer, bookkeeper, caregiver to mother; sometime in the 30's (after her mother's death) she moved to Denver and lived with the Poths.

5. Roland Roderick Crane (May 6, 1888 - May 29, 1935) singer, actor
m. Margaret Stitt

6. Ralph Frederick Crane (July12, 1891-May 7, 1969) clerk, advertising salesman, WW1
m. Helen K. Kelly

7. unknown Crane (the 1910 census indicates Nellie had seven children, with six currently living)

1900 Federal census, Chicago ward 34:

Sources:

Cynthia Poth Nanto family tree on Ancestry dot com

Ellen (Nellie Rose) Hogan (1857-1932), Chicago mother of seven, Stephen Poth's great grandmother

Ellen (Nellie Rose) Hogan (Aug 1857- Mar 15, 1932)

This is Stephen D. Poth's great grandmother (Steve < Charles Douglas Poth < Amarylis A. Crane < Ellen Hogan)

Nellie Rose Hogan, Doug Poth's maternal grandmother, was born in Chicago and lived there her whole life with the exception of two or three years in Kansas.

Parents:

Nellie's parents were Honora and John Hogan, both born in Ireland. Honora married a second time (presumably after John's death) to John Graham, and we find the Graham family in 1870 living in the 5th ward, Chicago, with Nellie and her siblings.

Marriage and children:

On July 25, 1875 in Chicago, Nellie Rose married William Henry Crane at age 17. They had two children in Chicago, William D. and Amarylis Ann, and then moved to Kansas to farm.

A few short years later the family moved back to Chicago, where they had four more children.

Widowhood and older age:

In 1906, when Nellie Rose was 48 years old, her husband died.

Our next glimpse of Nellie Rose is at age 53, in the 1910 census. She is head of a busy household on Jefferson Avenue in Chicago. Living with Nellie are two of her children, Mabel (24) - a stenographer for a wholesale hardware establishment, and Ralph (18) - a clerk at a steel mill - as well as her widowed, elderly mother Honora Graham. Also living in the house are two lodgers - young women working as milliners in a hat shop.

This census indicates that Nellie had had 7 children, with 6 currently living.

Nellie Rose lived in many Chicago locations in her lifetime.

Her son Ralph indicated Nellie's address to be 1122 Marquette Road in Sept 1919, on his World War 1 transport record.

In 1920 Nellie is still living with Mabel and Ralph, now at 66th Street in Chicago. Mabel is now a bookkeeper at a bank, and Ralph is a solicitor for an advertising firm.

In 1930 Nellie is living with Mabel in a different location, in a rented home at 1607 East 69th Street. Mabel is a filing clerk at a bank. Nellie's son Roland and his family are living nearby at 625B West 73rd Street. , so it is easy to imagine that Nellie saw her grandchildren frequently.

Nellie Rose passed away two years later at age 74.

Sources:

1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 census

Illinois marriage index, death index

US Army Transport Passenger Lists (for her son)

Cynthia Poth Nanto family tree on Ancestry dot com

Saturday, November 27, 2021

William Henry Crane (1848-1906), briefly farmed in Kansas, many years in Chicago, Stephen Poth's great grandfather

William Henry Crane (Dec 1848 - May 3, 1906)

This is Stephen D. Poth's great grandfather (Steve < Charles Douglas Poth < Amarylis A. Crane < William Henry Crane)

William Henry Crane, Doug Poth's maternal grandfather, was born in Spring Prairie, Wisconsin, about 85 miles northwest of Chicago. We know that his parents had also been born in Wisconsin, but we do not know anything about his childhood.

William married Nellie R. Hogan on July 25, 1875 in Chicago. Their first two children William and Amaryl were born around 1877.

The young family did not stay in Chicago long. We find them (William age 34, Nellie age 23) in 1880, in York Township, Stafford County Kansas, farming.

Two years later, however, they are back in Chicago and had two more daughters and two sons. In 1900 the family - parents and six children - are living at 117 113th Street in Chicago, in a home that they own. I am not sure what William did for a living (that line on the census is unreadable, unfortunately).

We believe that William died in 1906 at age 57, a year after his daughter Amarylis was married.

sources:

1880, 1900 census

Cook County, IL marriage index

Cynthia Poth Nanto family tree on Ancestry dot com

Friday, November 26, 2021

Edward J. M. Poth (1874 - 1956), engraver in Des Moines and Denver , Steve Poth's paternal grandfather

Edward John Michael Poth ( Sept 30, 1874 - Sept 28, 1956)

This is Stephen D. Poth's paternal grandfather

Youth:

Edward was born in Buffalo, New York, and we know that when he was a baby, his mother (Mary E. Poth/ Maria Clemens/ Anna Maria Clements) was raising her large family alone, as a laborer in a German immigrant neighborhood, in Buffalo New York.

We do not know anything else about Edward's youth, but we know that he overcame his difficult early childhood to become a successful engraver and raise a family.

Beginning engraver:

In 1900 at 25 years old, he was living in Chicago with his older sister Elizabeth and her husband Charles. Both Edward and Charles were engravers.

Marriage and family:

In 1905 he married Amaryl Ann Crane in Chicago. We are so lucky to have this wonderful photograph of the young couple:

The Poths had two children, Amaryllis and Edward Marshall, in Chicago.

Move from Chicago to Des Moines:

Sometime before 1915, the family moved to Des Moines Iowa.

We see in the 1915 Iowa state census that Edward had had an 8th grade education, is currently working as an engraver, earned $1500 the previous year, etc.

In Iowa their youngest child, Charles Douglas Poth, was born in 1917.

Here is Edward's WW1 Draft card, 1918:

Edward worked for the Iowa Lithography Company, about 2.5 miles from his home.

Edward sustained a head injury in November 1919 and spent several weeks in the hospital. Des Moines Tribune article, Dec. 10, 1919:

Newspaper clips show Edward was on a "crack bowling team" in 1916, played golf in 1919, and played bridge with his wife and other couples in 1920.

I love this photo of the family camping:

Move from Des Moines to Denver:

Sometime between 1925 and 1930, the family moved to Denver.

At least from 1933, and up through at least 1945, Edward worked for the Rocky Mountain Bank Note Company in Denver.

Edward died in 1956, in Scottsdale, Arizona, two days shy of his 82nd birthday, having survived the death of his wife in 1952 and his daughter in 1953.

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Elizabeth Poth, first generation American, supportive sister, Stephen Poth's great aunt

Elizabeth Poth (January 1868 - Dec. 3, 1939)

Stephen D. Poth's great aunt.

Elizabeth was born in Kentucky to German immigrant parents. We do not know much about her young life, except that in 1875 when she was seven years old, she was living with her siblings and mother in Buffalo, New York, most likely in poverty. Her father had left the family and her mother was a laborer.

We flash forward to 1900, and we find Elizabeth living at 25 Nebraska Avenue, Chicago, Ward 15, with her husband of 12 years, Charles Cerveny, her little brother Edward Poth, and her husband's nephew. All three of the men are engravers by trade. The house is owned outright with no mortgage.

We can infer that Elizabeth was supportive of her youngest brother Edward, who goes on to have a long career as a lithographer. The two siblings had shared a difficult childhood.

Elizabeth and Charles lived in several places in Chicago over the years, and then sometime before 1930, moved to Pasadena California. She and Charles lived the rest of their lived in California.

Sources:

1875 New York state census

1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 federal censuses

Find a Grave index

Maria Clemens (1842 - ?), immigrant, mother, laborer, Steve Poth's great grandmother

Maria Clemens (Sept 11, 1842 - ? )

This is one of Steve Poth's Great grandmothers on the Poth side.

Maria was born in Schoenneberg, Germany in 1842 and at age twenty, married Adam Poth in the Evangelical Reformed Church.

Marriage Record:

Their first two children were born in Germany and then at some point, probably in 1865 or 1866, the couple immigrated to the United States. It is unclear whether Margaretha and Adam traveled with them.

We know very little about their lives in the United States but we know they started out in Ohio and Kentucky and then Maria, with or without Adam, settled in Buffalo New York.

We can infer from the 1875 New York state census, that Maria's life was very difficult. We find her (Mary E. Poth) age 33 and her five children (John (age 9) , Elisabeth (age 7) , Charles (age 5) , Anna (age 2) and Edward (8 months) living in a neighborhood of German immigrants in Buffalo, Erie County. Maria is a laborer. There is the note "husband left her." A German shoemaker named Lorenz Knissing is listed at the same address.

It is hard to imagine the difficulty she must have faced. What was the nature of her work? Did she have any support taking care of her children?

Sources:

Germany, Lutheran baptisms, marriages, and burials 1500-1971

Germany, select marriages 1558-1929

New York state census, 1875

California Death index (for daughter Elizabeth) - name Anna Maria Clements

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Adam Poth (1835 - 1891), immigrant, Steve Poth's paternal great-grandfather

Adam Poth (April 1, 1835 - May 20, 1891)

This is Steve Poth's paternal great grandfather (Adam Poth > Edward J. M. Poth > Charles D. Poth > Stephen D. Poth)

Adam Poth was born in Vogelbach, Bayern (Bavaria), Germany. His father was Adam Poth and his mother was Elisabeth Klein.

Adam married Maria Clemens there in 1863, in Obermiesau, Pfalz, Bavaria.

Their first two children were born in Germany, and then the family immigrated to the United States, and lived in Ohio, Kentucky, and New York. They had seven children (the youngest was Edward John Michael Poth).

Adam does not appear with the family in the 1875 Buffalo, New York census. There is a mention on that census that he'd left the family.

Adam died in 1891 in Kentucky and is buried in a single grave.

Sources:

Germany, select births and baptisms

Germany, Lutheran Marriage records

Find a Grave index

1875 New York State census

Sarah Ann "Sally" Hogue (1812-1865), grieving Civil War mother , Mary Lou's 2nd Great grandmother on the Fisher side

Sarah Ann ("Sally") Hogue ( abt 1812 - 1865)

This is Mary Lou's second great-grandmother on the Fisher side. (Mary Lou Brown < Una Fisher < John Jackson Fisher < George Washington Fisher < Sarah Ann Hogue)

Sarah, nicknamed Sally, lived her whole life in Rockbridge County, Virginia. We do not know anything about her parents or her growing up years, or whether she grew up in a slave-holding family.

Sarah married George Watson Fisher in 1834, at the age of 22, in Rockbridge County. George was a Cooper. He would have made barrels and casks and other wooden household items. They had eleven children. The 1860 census shows the large family living in District 4 of Rockbridge County, with a household worth $100. It appears the family lived very humbly.

As the Civil War started, one by one their four older sons, John, James, William, and David, served in the Confederate Army. Family recollections indicate that two of them were killed in battle and two died in Northern prisons. As the war drug on, the Confederacy was calling up younger and younger boys.

So, a grieving frightened mother sent her younger son George Washington (Two's paternal grandfather) away to walk almost 200 miles into the far west of West Virginia (West Virginia split from Virginia in 1863 and became a Union State) to escape being drafted. She packed him some food, a hatchet, and a gun and sent him on his way. George was 15 or 16 years old.

Sally had four younger children at home. We don't know anything about Sally's life after the war, whether she and George stayed in Rockbridge County, or relocated. Family records indicate they both died in 1865, just a year after war's end, but we do not have any concrete sources to back that up.

Map of Rockbridge County, 1860

Sources:

1850, 1860 census Rockbridge County VA

Family lore

Cynthia Poth Nanto family tree on Ancestry dot com

Susanna Lunsford (1840-1914), quilter, friend to all, Two's maternal grandmother

Susanna Lunsford (Sept 28, 1840 - April 25, 1914)

Susanna, aka "Susaner", Two's maternal grandmother, grew up on a farm in Cabell County Virginia (the western most part of Virginia that became West Virginia in 1863). She was the oldest of ten siblings. Neither she nor her mother could read or write.

Susaner married George Washington Leadman sometime before 1860. They made their home in Cabell County near Mud Bridge, and then Teays Valley in Putnam County.

George Washington Leadman and Susanna Lunsford, 1860's

Susaner and George had nine children, the eighth child being Two's mother Ollie Mae.

In 1892 George died. Susaner was 51 and would live another 22 years as a widow. She lived near lots of family, including grandchildren.

In 1900 she was living as head of household on a farm that she owned, with her daughter Lucretia, and her youngest son, John Elza, age 14.

In 1910, we find her still in Teays Valley, still with Lucretia and John. John is now head of household, together with his wife and young children.

Two (Una Fisher) had fond memories of her grandmother Leadman:

Two told how Susanna made a quilt each Christmas for a family in need at their church. The family belonged to the Beales Chapel Methodist Church.
An early memory for Two was that her mother sent her over to Grandmother Leadman's to get a dried onion, but Grandmother wasn't there. Two picked the first red rose of spring instead (and Two's mother wasn't happy that she'd taken that flower).
When Grandmother Leadman lived at [Two's Uncle John Elza's] farm, he would have a big watermelon festival. People from all over would come to enjoy the watermelons. This would have been around 1905-1914, when Two was old enough to remember, and before her Grandmother passed away.

GW Leadman and Susaner Leadman gravestone, location ?

She was a kind and

affectionate wife

a fond mother

and friend to all

Sources:

1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910 federal census

Memories from Una Fisher (Two) as told to her daughter Mary Lou.

Gravestone image from Ancestry dot com

Cynthia Poth Nanto tree on Ancestry dot com

Monday, November 22, 2021

Rosena (m. Seufert) (1831-1907), Bavarian farm woman, Sanford side

Rosena _____ (abt. 1831 - June 25, 1907)

(This is Frank and Janis Sanford's second great-grandmother on the Sanford side)

Rosena lived on a farm in Bavaria, Germany, enjoyed good health all her life, and by the time she was older in age, she'd been married twice and had six living children. Two of her children (Rudolph Seufert and Sabina Seufert) had immigrated to the United States. Rosena had "considerable property" when she died.

An image of a Bavarian farm circa 1900

We can also guess that she was Catholic, given what is known about Bavaria*, and the fact that her son Rudolph belonged to a Catholic parish in Ohio.

In 1905, her son Rudolph, daughter-in-law Agnes, and baby grand-daughter Eva visited her in Germany for three months over the summer, traveling by ship to and from Ohio via Baltimore.

*The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918. While many German territories that joined the German Empire in 1871 were Protestant, Bavaria was one of the few major German powers to remain Catholic.

The Kingdom of Bavaria in green, within the German confederation (dark gray) 1815

Sources:

July 22, 1907 Evening Review, a daily East Liverpool Ohio newspaper (the Facebook of its day), page 4

Baltimore Passenger Lists, 1905, Rudolph Seufert

Cynthia Poth Nanto family tree on Ancestry dot com

Beulah Fisher (1903-1979), cousin and geneaologist, Two's cousin

Beulah Fisher (April 30, 1903 - April 13, 1979)

Let's spotlight someone who provided a tremendous amount of Fisher geneaological information to the family in the 1960s and 1970s.

Beulah was Two's first cousin on the Fisher side, just a few years younger than Two.

Beulah had been married to a Mr. Martin, and widowed, and then lived with her parents and grandparents in Wood County West Virginia. In 1942 she married William Edward Toney and they lived in places like Huntington, Milton, and Barboursville. Her mother lived with the couple in her old age.

As far as I know, the Toneys did not have children. After her husband died in 1971, Beulah lived another eight years alone, and focused on geneological work during that time.

Here is a letter Beulah wrote to Two:

I am grateful for the work that Beulah did on family history. She painstakingly typed out pages of information and made copies for each of the Fisher cousins.

She wrote:

"It is too bad we wait until all the older ones in the family are gone before we start to work on our family history. I hope to add to this as I receive new information."

What would Beulah think of recent advances in technology that allow us to so easily search sources and share information? I think she'd be thrilled! I wish we knew more about Beulah. She died in 1979 and is buried in the Staten cemetery.

sources:

1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 federal census

West Virginia birth index

Social Security Death Index

Cynthia Poth Nanto family tree on Ancestry dot com