ancestry – Forgotten History

Bausman Brothers

January 9, 2013 By Kathryn Lightcap 1 Comment

This past summer I had the opportunity to meet a distant Bausman relative when I traveled to Steamboat Rock, Iowa. Janice showed me amazing Bausman family photos. The one I'm sharing today is of the Bausman Brothers. I took this photograph of a photocopy. Unfortunately, Janice did not remember where she got her photocopy. Nicholas Sr. and Mary (Casper) Bausman had ten children; six sons living to adulthood. One of these sons was my maternal grandfather's grandfather, Nicholas Bausman Jr, the man sitting on the right. Lawrence Lincoln Bausman, the young man … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ancestry, bausman, Mom's Side, photos Tagged With: charles bausman, george bausman, john bausman, lawrence lincoln bausman, louis bausman, mary casper bausman, nicholas bausman jr, nicholas bausman sr

Publishing My Family History

September 2, 2012 By Kathryn Lightcap 3 Comments

For the past several years, I've been working on a family history book of my maternal grandparents, Stanley "Spud" Davis and Marian Bohnsack. After my grandma died late last year, completing the book became a priority. I knew it was something she'd appreciate and completing it is my way of honoring her and my grandfather's legacy. I'm self-publishing through Blurb.com and I used their software, BookSmart. Read my review of BookSmart at my other blog. I ordered a proof and should receive it in a couple of weeks. I've already decided to tweak a couple of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ancestry, bausman, Davis, Deininger, Hicks, Mom's Side, research, Wulff Tagged With: blurb, book, family history, genealogy, self-publishing

Finally! Confirmation by way of Bigamy!

March 1, 2012 By Kathryn Lightcap 2 Comments

Who knew I’d get so excited to find out that my ggg-grandfather Levi Lightcap’s brother Isaac was a bigamist? But boy, am I glad! And I’m not referring to the moral ramifications of his deception. I’m talking about the genealogical gold mine that I received after requesting Isaac's Civil War pension file from the National Archives. After both of Isaac's widows applied for his pension, a paperwork bonanza ensued. A special investigator starts sorting out the mess, and who wins? ME! (Definitely not the wives, and that's a story I'll address another … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ancestry, genealogy, Lightcap, research, seneca, ohio Tagged With: bigamy, isaac bateman lightcap, john lightcap, levi lightcap, mary chamberlin

Daughters of the American Revolution Application Approved!

December 13, 2011 By Kathryn Lightcap 1 Comment

People start genealogy researching their family history for many different reasons. Mine was pretty simple. I wanted to join the Daughters of the American Revolution. I wasn't sure when I started if it would be possible; my mom told me it wasn't going to happen through her family line. This left my dad's family as the only possibility. What I didn't realize was how long the process was going to take. I think I've been researching this between 8-10 years. My mom had researched the Lightcaps and thought that line looked promising. Unfortunately, this … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ancestry, Dad's Side, Firestone, research Tagged With: adam krill, captain andrew ream, christian smith, daniel firestone, dar, daughters of the american revolution, lancaster county, levi lightcap, mary smith, pennsylvania, rebecca firestone

Frank and Fannie (Hainey) Strelesky Family Chart

December 8, 2011 By Kathryn Lightcap Leave a Comment

I've been working identifying the family of my great-grandfather, John Joseph "Jack" Strelesky, for quite some time. To say it's been challenging is to put it mildly. Jack was one of eight children born to Francis Strelesky and Frances Hainey. He was the oldest boy. His siblings, in order from oldest to youngest: Agnes, Rose, Marie, [Jack], Amelia "Mildred", Levina, Albert Frank, and James Alexander. All were born in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. I've created a three-generation family chart of my Strelesky research. If you can add anything to my research, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ancestry, Charts, Dad's Side, Sanders, Strelesky Tagged With: agnes strelesky, albert frank strelesky, amelia strelesky, dora gladwin, ernestine sanders, frances strelesky, francis hainey, james arthur moore, john joseph strelesky, joseph christoph weber, levina strelesky, louis larsen, marie strelesky, rose strelesky, theodore smith, william zindel

Singer Catholic Cemetery

December 7, 2011 By Kathryn Lightcap 1 Comment

I've been wanting to visit Singer Catholic Cemetery in Guilford Twp, Illinois. Clement, the infant brother of my great-grandmother, Viola (Bausman) Davis Hickman, is buried here. I tried to find this cemetery by myself but was unable. Fortunately, my mom's friend Tom Townsend had been to the cemetery and graciously volunteered to take my parents and me. My visit to Singer Catholic Cemetery in Oct 2011 revealed a cemetery in major need of brush removal and trimming around the headstones. While we were at the cemetery, the man who owns the cemetery land … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ancestry, bausman, Casper, cemetery, Davis, Mom's Side, nicholas bausman jr Tagged With: catherine hebenstreit, clement bausman, guilford twp, illinois, nicholas bausman jr, singer catholic cemetery, viola bausman

Willis Deininger Letter

November 14, 2011 By Kathryn Lightcap 1 Comment

In 1977, Willis J. Deininger wrote to his niece and my grandmother, Marian (Bohnsack) Davis, about their family. It's funny, because I worked a long time to figure out Willis' mom's siblings. After I invested a lot of time and effort into the research, I found this note in one of my mom's binders. It would have been much more helpful to have found this before I spent all that time. Willis' note states "This is all I can find in her [Louisa (Muegge) Deininger's] old bible, there is nothing about her parents or dads parents names. Sorry I can't help you more. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ancestry, Deininger, Mom's Side, research Tagged With: bardell, Bohnsack, brush, Deininger, dunstan, geselbracht, jowaski, lyles, menzemer, muegge, reschkowsky, studier, ulreich, wagner, weik

Biography: William Passmore

November 4, 2011 By Kathryn Lightcap 5 Comments

William Passmore is not a direct ancestor of mine. His daughter Elizabeth Edna Passmore married James T. Davis, a nephew of my gg-grandfather John B. Davis. Passmore was the coroner for the suicide of William Davis, brother of James T. Davis. His ties to the Davis family are why I'm posting his biography published in Portrait and Biographical Album of Jo Daviess and Carroll Counties, Illinois (1889), p257. William Passmore, his wives Elizabeth and Sarah, and children Anna Marie, Salina, and John Yonatt are buried in Council Hill Cemetery. Unfortunately, I was … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ancestry, biography, cemetery, jo daviess, illinois, Mom's Side Tagged With: council hill, devonshire, elizabeth hughes, elizabeth youatt, england, illinois, john passmore, mary jane roberts, richard passmore, sarah hughes, william passmore

U.S. Daughters of 1812

September 13, 2011 By Kathryn Lightcap Leave a Comment

My gggg-grandfather, Christian Smith, served in the War of 1812. He was drafted into Captain Jacob Catterlin's 2nd Regiment Ohio militia in Fairfield County, Ohio, and served from 1 Sept 1813 until 1 Mar 1814. Christian was discharged at Upper Sandusky, Ohio. A couple of months ago, I applied for membership into the U.S. Daughters of 1812. Yesterday, I received confirmation that I've been accepted! I'm so excited and pleased that I was able to prove direct lineal descent. I've been researching my family history for a long time; I thought I knew about … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ancestry, Dad's Side, research, Smith Tagged With: fairfield county, ohio, u.s. daughters of 1812

Firestone Genealogy

August 5, 2011 By Kathryn Lightcap 1 Comment

So, I've been researching Mary (Smith) Lightcap's parents, Christian and Rebecca (Firestone) Smith. Rebecca's parents are Daniel and Anne (Lang) Firestone. There has been a lot of research done on the Firestones - thank goodness! Sometimes it seems that I'm the only person researching certain family lines. How wonderful to make a family connection where research has been done and where the research has been CITED. I don't know how many times I come across research and there's nothing to back it up. I HATE that. George Ely Russell compiled Firestone … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ancestry, Dad's Side, Firestone, genealogy, research, Smith Tagged With: anne lang, christian smith, daniel firestone, Firestone, george ely russell, mary smith, rebecca firestone

DAR

July 12, 2011 By Kathryn Lightcap 1 Comment

When I first started researching my family tree, I had one goal - trace my heritage with the goal of joining the Daughters of the American Revolution. Well, almost 10 years have past and I am *this* close to having the proof. Of course,getting the proof will probably take awhile. I have to get will and probate records. I also have to deal with a name change. Explaining that through proof should be interesting. The revolutionary war records spells my ancestor as "Firestine" and most of the documents I have state it as "Firestone". Fun! Anyway, it will … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ancestry, Firestone, Smith

Unidentified Photos from Viola Bausman

April 14, 2011 By Kathryn Lightcap Leave a Comment

My great-grandmother, Viola (Bausman) Davis Hickman, left a lot of photos when she died in 1974. Her daughter-in-law - my grandmother- Marian (Bohnsack) Davis has had them since Viola's passing. Well, now my grandma is 90 years old and suffering from Alzheimer's. When I went to visit her a few weeks ago, I went through boxes of old photographs. My mom also went through tons of photos. There are so many beautiful and unidentified pictures that it's heartbreaking. I recently added 21 of these unidentified photos to my flickr page. If anyone looks … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ancestry, bausman, genealogy, Mom's Side, research Tagged With: bausman, Casper, davis, hebenstreit, Hess, hesselbacher, schoenhard, stephan

Davis – Blewett Information

March 31, 2011 By Kathryn Lightcap 3 Comments

About the year 1770 a man by the name of --- Painter brought his small son to a family by the name of Kempthorn who lived in Cornwall, England and left him for them to care for. He went to the continent and sent back money to pay for the child's expenses. Mr. Painter appeared to be well to do. After about 5 years, the money stopped and it was assumed that he had died. The Kempthorn's were evidently poor people and could not afford to keep the child so he was adopted by a man named Davies. This boy's name was probably Jacob, and he married Elizabeth who lived … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ancestry, Blewett, Davis, genealogy, jo daviess, illinois, Mom's Side, research Tagged With: blewett, cornwall, crowan, david mayo davis, davis, elizabeth vivian, jacob davies davis, painter, scales mound