Mrs. Theresa Fox Siegfried

Theresa (sometimes spelled Teresa) Fuchs was born in 1860 to Joseph and Mary Fuchs. Later, Theresa's surname was Americanized to Fox. Theresa Fuchs/Fox married Dr. John P. Siegfried about 1888, according to the 1910 U.S. Census for Ashtabula County. Dr. and Mrs. Siegfried had two children, Irene Siegfried, born in Michigan in 1890, and Rudolph Siegfried, born in Ohio in 1899.

Theresa Fuchs/Fox Siegfried passed away in February of 1920 in Ashtabula, Ohio. She was survived by her son and daughter, as well as three sisters: Mrs. Charles Erbe, Miss Kate Fuchs, and Mrs. M. Quinlan, all of New York City. Her obituary, which was carried in the February 10, 1920 Sandusky Register, stated that "Mrs. Siegfried was as former Sandusky girl." Theresa Fox Siegfried was buried next to her husband, Dr. John P. Siegfried, in Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery.

Lorenz Jaeger/Lawrence Yeager

Lorenz Jaeger was born on August 10, 1847 in Germany to Mr. and Mrs. John Xavier Yeager. On February 18, 1873, Lorenz Jaeger married Maria Schweighardt in Münchhöf, Germany.

According to Volume 38 of GERMANS TO AMERICA, the Jaeger family sailed to the U.S.A. aboard the ship Pereire from Havre to New York. The family members were listed as:


Jager, Laurent age 34
Marie age 32
Andre age 6
Emma age 4
Louise infant

Baby brother Frank Yeager was born after the family settled in Erie County, Ohio.

On file at the Erie County Probate Court is a document which stated that Lorenz Jaeger arrived in the United States in May of 1881. He renounced his allegiance to William, the Emperor of Germany, before Erie County Probate Judge A.E. Merrill.

By 1888 the Jaeger family was living in Erie County, Ohio and Mr. Jaeger stated that his occupation was that of a carpenter. Lorenz Jaeger's name became Americanized to Lawrence Yeager. Mrs. Maria/Mary Yeager died on November 2, 1891. After Mary's death, Lawrence marred Catherine Geigel, who was the widow of John Christian Dannenmann.

Lawrence Yeager passed away on August 16, 1911. He was buried near his first wife at St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio, though at this time no tombstones for Lawrence and Mary Yeager have been located.


Today a host of Jaeger/Yeager descendants live throughout the United States, including nurses, teachers, pipe fitters,medical transcriptionists, business owners, and an amateur genealogist!

Rush R. Sloane

Rush Sloane was one of Ohio’s most well known abolitionists. He was a lawyer in Sandusky, and elected the Mayor of Sandusky in 1879. In 1852 seven runaway slaves arrived in Sandusky on the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. Some men claiming to be the slave owners arrived in Sandusky and wanted the slaves to be returned. Mr. Sloane, after an investigation into the matter, found no legal authority for the fugitives to be arrested, and they were set free.

A short time later, one of the men from Kentucky proved ownership of one of the slaves. As a result, Rush Sloane went to trial under the Fugitive Slave Act. He was fined $3000 plus court costs. African American citizens of Sandusky presented Rush Sloane with a silver-headed cane, in appreciation of his efforts on behalf of the runaway slaves. The cane is on display at The Follett House Museum in Sandusky, Ohio.

While Rush Sloane was admired by many, not all Sandusky residents trusted him. In the book SANDUSKY’S EDITOR, by Charles E. Frohman, you can read about the many conflicts between Rush Sloane, and the editor of the Sandusky Register, Mr. I. F. Mack.

Rush Sloane died in 1908. He is buried on the North Ridge of Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.

Sentimental Sunday: On Grandpa's Farm in 1941

Pictured to the left are Leroy and Ada Parker's six grandchildren playing on a wagon on the family farm in Perkins Township, Erie County, Ohio in 1941. Guiding the group is Tommy Parker. Behind him are his sister Joyce, cousins Lee Baumeister, Lois Parker, and Richard Parker. Little sister Sally is acting shy by the barn.

Not long after this photo was taken, the U.S. Government took over the land owned by several Perkins Township farmers, to make way for a munitions plant during the Second World War.

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy: Week 6

A prompt from We Tree, "52 Weeks to Better Genealogy," hosted by Geneabloggers, has challenged bloggers to examine online databases at their local public library. My local library in Northern Ohio is part of the ClevNet Consortium.



To access the online databases available through ClevNet,first go to the website:
www.clevnet.org.

Click on Research Databases on the right sidebar. Under the Explore These Research Categories heading, click on Genealogy.

Ancestry Library Edition is the most widely used online database in this listing, however, access is limited to in-library use only. Patrons can access thousands of Census Records, Death Records, Military Records, and much more at this amazing database. Visit your library to see if it offers access to Ancestry Library Edition.

The Cleveland Necrology File provides cemetery records and death notices from primarily the Cuyahoga County region. Sometimes death notices for other Ohio counties are also included. I retrieved this record from the Cleveland Necrology File for a cousin on my great grandfather's maternal line:

Id#: 0553307
Name: House, Byron L.
Date: Dec 30 1960
Source: Cleveland Press; Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #118.
Notes: House. Byron L. House, beloved husband of Helen M., father of Jane F. Gregory, brother of Mrs. Ethel Minor, Mrs. Ann Doster, Mrs. Rachel Thompson Mrs. Alta Groves and Mrs. Fae Criblez, residence, 3567 Bosworth Rd. The family will receive friends From 7-9 P. M. Friday at the Zeis Funeral Home, 16105 Detroit Ave. Services at the Keller Funeral Home, Sandusky, O. Saturday, Dec. 31, at 1:30 p. m.

Coverage in the Cleveland Necrology File includes:

The Cleveland Plain Dealer - 1850-1975
The Cleveland Herald - 1833, 1847-1848, 1876, 1878-1879
The Cleveland Press - 1941-1975

The Cleveland News Index is an index which covers articles, including obituaries, from four area Cleveland Publications. Once you have the citation of an obituary, it is easy to contact a library in the ClevNet network to request the full text of the obituary for a nominal fee. My great grandmother Irene's first cousin Naomi Cross was a nun in the Cleveland area. The Cleveland News Index provided these citations for her obituary. Luckily I knew Sister Bertha's given name from family records.


CROSS, NAOMI : (Obit.).
Plain Dealer 26 Jun, 1981, pg. 11 sec. B

CROSS, NAOMI : McGory Funeral Home (Obit.).
Cleveland Press 27 Jun, 1981, pg. 37 sec. A

Heritage Quest Online is another database available at ClevNet. (This particular database requires network libraries to have a subscription in order for their patrons to have access.) Available at home to library card holders, Heritage Quest provides Census Records, full text of thousands of family history books, and access to Revolutionary War files. While looking through the Revolutionary War pension file of my grandson's ancestor, I learned that Timothy Tuttle like to sing inspirational songs before going to battle! I was surprised to come across such personal information about a soldier who lived so long ago.

These are just a few highlights of ClevNet's online databases for genealogical research. Also included are several newspapers, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Ohio, and access to Ohio Historical Society Searchable Databases. Check out ClevNet's resources to learn more about your Ohio ancestors!

Naomi Cross, "Sister Bertha"

Sister Bertha, who was born Naomi Cross,is seen at the left of the group below, at a wedding in the Hough area of Cleveland.















Naomi Cross was born in 1897 in Sandusky, Ohio, to Harry and Sophia Cross. Naomi's great grandfather Charles Cross was the first Catholic Mayor of Sandusky, and her grandfather James Cross was a Union Veteran of the Civil War.During her youth, Naomi was a member of Sandusky's Holy Angels parish, and she attended Holy Angels Parochial School. Naomi Cross became a nun with the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine. She was known as "Sister Bertha." Rev. Robert C. Wolff wrote in his book about Sister Henrietta, who was a driving force in doing mission work in Cleveland's Hough area, that Sister Bertha was a key person in Sister Henrietta's ministry. Rev. Wolff stated about the Hough Mission Center, "Henrietta organized the larger programs; Bertha carried out the details of assembling, cooking, portioning and distributing food." Rev. Wolff wrote that from 1967 to 1981, Sister Henrietta and Sister Bertha were inseparable.

Sister Henrietta wrote of Sister Bertha in a 1970 issue of Catholic Universe Bulletin that "Sister Bertha is one who doesn't spare herself, she gives her all to look after the poor, just as Saint Vincent de Paul did." Sister Bertha died in 1981, from cancer. She is buried at Cleveland's Calvary Cemetery. In a 1981 Catholic Universe Bulletin, Sister Henrietta wrote about Sister Bertha, "When Sister Bertha, worn out in the service of God, closed her eyes quietly last week, she left behind a legacy of kindness and goodness and the most unselfish love...Everyone knew her and loved her..." While most of her life Sister Bertha ministered in the Cleveland and Summit County areas, she learned her core Christian values in Sandusky, Ohio.

Sister Bertha's tombstone at Calvary Cemetery can be seen at this link. Over one thousand cemetery records from Cleveland's Calvary Cemetery can be accessed at the Calvary Cemetery Search Engine, an ongoing project.

Tombstone Tuesday: Abner Strong

Abner Strong was born in Lee, Massachusetts on April 7, 1780. He married Sally Bassett in Homer, New York in 1801. In 1815, Mr. and Mrs. Abner Strong moved to Lyme Township in Huron County, Ohio. Abner had a farm in the area of Lyme Township known as "Strong's Ridge," named after the Strong family, pioneer residents of the region.(Major Joseph Strong, older brother of Abner, was the earliest family member to settle in Strong's Ridge.)

Rush Sloane, the grandson of Abner Strong, wrote of Abner in Volume V of the New Series, Firelands Pioneer, that he was a man of earnest principle, and was firm in his principles of temperance. "He was a strong abolitionist, a friend of the slave and never failed to aid them." Hewson Peeke wrote in his 1916 edition of A STANDARD HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY, OHIO: "Abner Strong of Strong's Ridge Lyme, Huron County, Ohio, was always ready to receive, care for and send to Sandusky, in good conveyance, the fugitives who reached that 'Strong' and safe station."

Abner Strong died at Bellevue on February 3, 1859. He was buried at the Strong's Ridge Cemetery, located just east of the intersection of State Route 113 and Route 4.His wife, Sally Bassett Strong, died in 1865. She is also buried at Strong's Ridge Cemetery.



The children of Abner and Sally Bassett Strong were: Cynthia, Eunice, Pelatiah, Alonzo, and Benjamin. Obituaries for Mr. and Mrs. Abner Strong are found in Volume V of the new series of the Firelands Pioneer, available fulltext at Google Books.