52 Ancestors: #9 Joseph Schmitt

52 Ancestors: #9 Joseph Schmitt

This year, Amy Johnson Crow has issues a new 52 weeks blogging challenge:

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

on her No Story Too Small blog.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor. Not only should this get me blogging more, but also to take a deeper look at some of the people in my family tree.

My approach: I plan to make this a Tuesday Theme, and, use it to enhance my WikiTree ancestor profiles. That is, focus on a different ancestor on my WikiTree list of profiles, each week (include possibly adding new profiles), Great idea! Thanks to Randy Seaver's post for bringing this to my attention!

Daughter, Arrion, near sign of the city in Europe were Joseph and Elsie lived with Michael was born

[I don't have a photo of Joseph]

#9 Joseph Schmitt (1802-1874) is #16 on my Ancestor Name (Ahnentafel) List, and is my 2nd-great-grandfather. He was married to my 2nd-great-grandmother, #17 Beatrix (Elsie) Fad (1805-1886) - more on her next week.

I am descended through:

* their son, #8 Michael Smith (1829-1902), who married #9 Margaret Nellie (Maggie) Soderstrom (1846-1901)… follow either link, if you missed them first time around… ;-) 

Now that we are into the "round of 16" - the 2nd great-grandparents - I'll take a bit different approach with this weekly theme. And, it may change from week-to-week, depending on the particular family.

For Joseph and Elsie, here, I'll share a bit about them together this week and their one other son, Valentine. Then, next week with Elsie, since we know so little about her, I'll share some information on their three daughters who married.

To read about my daughter's visit to Joseph's home town, click here:
http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/2013/01/stories-from-europe-arrion-visits.html

To see the ship listing of the family arriving in New Orleans from France, click here:
http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/2012/07/wordless-nearly-wednesday-new-orleans.html

To see more about the family in St. Louis, MO, click here:
http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/2012/07/treasure-chest-thursday-joseph-schmidt.html

Note that youngest child, a son, Valentine (1846-1912), was actually born in Missouri, in the St. Louis area, in September of 1846, before the family moved to the Rock Island, Illinois, near the little town of Hampton. Here is a little postcard and story about Hampton:
http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/2013/10/wordless-nearly-wednesday-hampton.html

We (my daughter and a cousin have taken the lead on this family branch) found Cemetery Records for Joseph, Elsie, and Valentine at St. Marguerite's Cemetery, in Scott County, Iowa, within the last couple of years. It is also interesting that all of Joseph and Elsie's family outside of Michael, the oldest son, retained the Schmitt surname, whereas Michael appears to changed to Smith very soon after coming into the country.

Valentine married Augusta Delli Littig (b. 1846, Illinois; d. 1921) and their 9 (identified) children were born in the Quad Cities area, some in Illinois, some in Iowa. Their youngest, a son, Raymond Edward Schmitt (1887-1965), was born in Davenport, Scott Co, Iowa, but spend his adult life in Wausau, Wisconsin. See a photo, and learn a little more about him, here:
http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/2013/09/wordless-nearly-wednesday-raymond.html



Families are Forever! ;-)