While researching the Lightcaps, I came across an article where Miss Mary Beard received $53.50 from members of Company A, 8th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Both my ggg-grandfather’s brother Isaac Bateman Lightcap (also know as The Bigamist) and nephew James Sanford Lightcap served in that unit and contributed. I don’t know why they sent money. Using…
Category: Dad’s Side
Aaron Leightcap / Lightcap
My paternal 4th great-grandfather was John Lightcap (abt 1778 – aft 1864), husband of Mary Chamberlin. Identifying his parents has proven frustratingly difficult. There is no proof of parentage, only supposition. So I’m tackling the problem from another direction and researching other Lightcap families in the surrounding area near his place of birth. John was…
Babies Dying and It Doesn’t Make the Papers!
Research blocks stink! And I’ve hit one! What I thought would be easy research has turned into a decidedly frustrating endeavor. I’m looking for information on the death of my father’s infant brother, Gary. In April 1946, my grandmother gave birth to her fourth child and son, Gary, at Mercy Hospital in Dubuque, Dubuque County, Iowa….
Pictures of Me
So I was going through some of my grandmother’s pictures and found a few of me as a child. This was a good reminder to me that not all history is from other generations. It’s good to take a look at your own history. All pictures taken at the home of Grandma and Grandpa Davis…
Marjorie Strelesky Journal, Part 6 of 6
Our mother’s [Ernestine (Sanders) Strelesky] body was sent to Dubuque for burial. I went with Aunt Norma – our mother’s wish. Our dad [Jack Strelesky] and Eunice, Alice and Herb went to Grandma Sanders [Josephine (Uhlrich) Sanders]. The flu epidemic was so bad everything was closed – schools, churches, department stores and all public buildings…
Marjorie Strelesky Journal, Part 5 of 6
When the family moved from Dubuque to Omaha our mother [Ernestine (Sanders) Strelesky] was very homesick and lonely for the Sanders family. Grandma Sanders [Josephine (Uhlrich) Sanders], her mother, sent Aunt Norma to Omaha to keep our mother company. As a young adult she was quite different from the person she later became. She was…
Marjorie Strelesky Journal, Part 4 of 6
The Final Story of Shep, the dog This is a story my dad told me when the family lived in Omaha. Eunice and I weren’t born yet. The family had a collie dog called “Shep.” Poor Shep, as all living things do, left this world. Our dad [Jack Strelesky] told our mother he would get…
Marjorie Strelesky Journal, Part 3 of 6
One Christmas Aunt Norma spent with us. There were a lot of letters going back and forth between Alice Strelesky and Dubuque, so Alice knew Aunt Norma was there. When her box was opened there was a present for Grandma, Irene, Eunice and me but nothing for Aunt Norma. A.N. cried. In the early years…
Marjorie Strelesky Journal, Part 2 of 6
Before Vatican II the day before Christmas was a day of fast and abstance [sic, abstinence]so Christmas Eve for supper we had oyster stew. Then came Christmas Eve. The sheet was taken down between the living room (parlor as it was called) and dining room and we saw the Christmas tree for the first time….
Marjorie Strelesky Journal, Part 1 of 6
This is part one of six journal entries that I have for Marjorie Strelesky, the sister of my paternal grandmother Eunice (Strelesky) Lightcap. —— Feb. 26, 1993 Today is my 74th birthday and I think this is a good time to start this journal. It will be about my thoughts, perhaps opinions, and memories –…
Strelesky Family Worksheet
I’ve been organizing my great-grandfather John Joseph Strelesky’s parents and sibling information in a worksheet. Included is any birth, marriage, death, and burial information that I have. Enjoy!
A Sporting Woman
A few weeks ago I received the civil war pension records for my ggg-grandfather’s bigamist brother Isaac Lightcap. The records reveal quite a character – a very attractive man who enjoys a drink… or two… or three… The bigamy speaks for itself. At first, I felt sorry for his second wife, Emily Hair. I mean,…
Death of Ellen (Lightcap) Jones Lawrence
Ellen (Lightcap) Jones Lawrence, daughter of John Lightcap and Mary Chamberlin, died on February 5, 1895, in Bloomville, Seneca Co, Ohio, at the home of her daughter Anna (Lawrence) Carson. She’s buried at Rock Creek Cemetery in Seneca Co, Ohio. The notice of her death was published in the Tiffin Daily Tribune, Seneca Co, Ohio….
Biography: Holoway W. Lightcap
Holoway W. Lightcap is the son of John Lightcap and Mary Chamberlin, my gggg-grandparents. He was born on October 7, 1826, in Milford, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey. He married Ellen Miriam Westgate, daughter of Mose Weld Westgate and Alice Brooks, on August 9, 1849, in Republic, Seneca Co, Ohio. Holoway served in the Civil War…
Obituary: Celestine (Uhlrich) Hatzenbuhler
Celestine (Uhlrich) Hatzenbuhler was the daughter of Francis J. Uhlrich and Teresa Heid and sister of my gg-grandmother Mary Francis Josephine (Uhlrich) Sanders. She was born August 12, 1868, in Galena, Jo Daviess Co, Illinois. She was one of eight children. She married Joseph George Hatzenbuhler October 29, 1894. They had six children. She is…
Levi Lightcap Shot and Killed
Here is another article about the death of my ggg-grandfather, Levi Lightcap, who was shot and killed. The article was published in Kokomo Tribune, page 1, Thursday, Dec 22, 1872. Transcription of newspaper article: ACCIDENTALLY KILLED A Young Man in a Quarrel – His Father gets Shot A few days ago, at North Judson up…
Obituary: Marjorie Strelesky
Marjorie Strelesky was the daughter of John Strelesky and Ernestine Sanders. She was a sister of my grandmother, Eunice (Strelesky) Lightcap. Marjorie was born in Sheridan, Sheridan Co, Wyoming, February 26, 1919. She died January 15, 2001, in Cedar Rapids, Linn Co, Iowa. Interment made at Cedar Memorial Mausoleum. Her obituary published in The Gazette…
Finally! Confirmation by way of Bigamy!
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…
Marriage Announcement: Holoway Lightcap and Ellen Westgate
Marriage announcement for Holoway Lightcap, son of John and Mary Lightcap, and Ellen Miriam Westgate, daughter of Mose Weld Westgate and Alice Brooks, in the Seneca Advertiser on August 10, 1849, Seneca Co, Ohio. Holoway was the brother of my ggg-grandfather, Levi Lightcap. Transcription of marriage announcement: At Republic, on yesterday, by the Rev. Mr….
Obituary: Alvin E. Sanders
Alvin Sanders, brother of my great-grandmother Ernestine (Sanders) Strelesky, was born on March 12, 1896, in Dubuque, Dubuque Co, Iowa. His parents were Ernest Vincent Sanders and Mary Francis Josephine Uhlrich. Alvin married Genevieve M Duccini about 1928. They had six children: Alvin, Richard, Thomas, Mary Margaret, Alice, and John. Alvin died August 25, 1956,…
Forgotten History 