Bits and pieces

I continue to make little genealogical discoveries here and there – time for an update!

• Dale and I traveled to Omaha to see our kids and we made a stop at the Sydney Bar in the Benson neighborhood of Omaha. It was built by none other than E.H. “Eulie” Olson, a first cousin to my great-grandfather P.W. Pearson. Eulie’s grandson, Bob Olson, has become an email correspondent and Facebook friend. Hoping to find a way to meet up with Bob sometime. I have more discoveries to share about this branch of the family! Stay tuned!
• On that same trip, Dale and I stopped in Wilber, Nebraska to see if we could find some Rademacher records in the Saline County Courthouse. We found naturalization papers for Joseph Rademacher, Dale’s great-great-grandfather. We also found papers for his (Joseph’s) brother, Frank Rademacher, who was the first of our Rademacher family to come to America. His naturalization paperwork was initiated in Wayne County, Michigan. Michigan is home to a lot of German settlers from the Westphalia region, and there are lots of Rademachers in Michigan as well. Now I wonder if they’re all related to us – and if that’s why Frank went to Michigan in the first place. Every courthouse visit turns up more clues!
• An obituary for Christian Pearson turned up a few months ago, thanks to cousin Lee Martinson. This week, the Saunders County Historical Society helped me find an obituary for his wife Johanna. I was hoping to see mention of Johanna’s sister Bengta and her nephew Eulie (the same Eulie above) but no such luck. But here is her obituary anyway, in case you’re interested. It confirms her membership in the Swedish Baptist Church in Weston.

“Wahoo Democrat” November 13, 1913

Mrs. Johanna Pearson

Mrs. Johanna Pearson was born in Sweden August 1, 1850 and died at her home in Weston at 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday, November 12, 1913.

Mrs. Pearson was one of the homesteaders of Saunders County. With her husband she went through the (unreadable) of the early days rearing a family. Mr. Pearson, the husband, died October, 1907. The deceased was the mother of 8 children, six of whom are living, all grown to manhood and womanhood. They are P.W. Pearson, Ceresco; C.O. Pearson, Swedeburg; F.F. Pearson, Swedeburg; Ernest A. Pearson, Waverly; Mrs. Lydia Novak, Weston; Mrs. Peterson, Omaha.

The funeral will be from the Swedish Baptist Church at Weston on Friday, November 14th at 1:00 o’clock p.m. Interment will be in Bethel Cemetery northwest of Weston.

• My Ancestry.com subscription notified me of a record match – Christian and Johanna’s youngest daughter Lydia’s marriage record. Turns out she and Joe Novak were married in Woodbury County, Iowa on April 18, 1913. If you have an Ancestry subscription, you can see the record here. They were married by a Justice of the Peace in Sioux City. I’m guessing Joe was probably Catholic while Lydia was likely Swedish Baptist.  And I’m further guessing this was a problem for both the bride’s and groom’s families, and probably why they didn’t have a church wedding. Joe was killed in an automobile accident just two years later. He is buried in the Weston Cemetery and you can see his tombstone here. Lydia’s second husband was Richard Parr. They lived in Encampment, Wyoming for many years – not too far from Carbon, Wyoming where the Brodd family had lived in the 1870’s. I have more loose ends to follow up on Lydia that I’ll share another time.

• I’m continuing to prepare for my Scotland trip in June and trying to do all the online research that I can in advance so that my library and archive time can be used for non-digital record research. I’m collecting a lot of my advance research on some Research Pages that might be of interest to my Fraser cousins. They’re still a work in progress and I have much more information to add in the coming weeks. I have some fun surprises uncovered already – I’ll do the “reveal” while I’m actually in Scotland.