Family Journeys

One of my Borsum cousins thoughtfully directed me to a book that contained some great information on our family. (Thank you, Linda!) The following is excerpted from pages 691 – 693 of the 1910 book, “Past and Present of Saline County Missouri,” by Hon. William Barclay Napton.

AUGUST KATLENDER

A man who has won definite success in life because he has worked for it along legitimate lines rather than been favored by the caprices of fortune and assistance of influential friends is August Katlender, a well known farmer in Elmwood township, Saline county. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, December 3, 1844, the son of Henry and Mary Katlender, both natives of Germany and who, in early life, came to America, locating in the city of St. Louis. They were young in years and consequently energetic and soon had a foothold in the new country. Henry Katlender worked as a stonemason. His death occurred in 1852 and his wife reached the age of eighty-six years. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and were the parents of five children, namely: Catherine, Louisa, August, of this review; Henry, who lives in St. Louis; Lewis is deceased. After the father of these children died the mother married again, her last husband being Henry Lindhorst, of St. Louis, and to them seven children were born, now all deceased except Millie, of St. Louis.

August Katlender was reared in St. Louis and received a limited education in the public schools there. When he became old enough he began teaming there, following this until his removal to Lafayette county, Missouri, in 1871, where he farmed for several years. In 1893 he bought his present farm in Elmwood township, Saline county, consisting of one hundred and forty acres of good land, all under cultivation but twenty acres which is in timber. He has fenced and otherwise greatly improved the place and has a comfortable house and other buildings. He is a hard worker and has managed his affairs in such a manner as to obtain a very comfortable income from year to year.

Mr. Katlender married Dora Borsum in 1880. She is a native of Hanover, Germany, and the daughter of Conrad and Sophia Borsum, natives of Germany, who came to America in about 1850, first settling in Baltimore, Maryland, but in a short time came on to Lafayette county, Missouri, where they farmed for a time. Conrad Borsum was a shoemaker by trade; he and his wife were the parents of three children, namely: Henry, became a Union soldier, dying while in the service, of smallpox; he was in the Twenty-fourth Regiment Illinois Infantry and participated in many important and hotly contested battles during his service of over three years; Dora is the wife of Mr. Katlender, of this review; Frederick lives in Colorado. The Borsum family are members of the Lutheran church. Several other children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Borsum while living in the old country, but they died in infancy, unnamed.

Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Katlender, namely: William Frederick, who has remained single, is living at home, managing the farm for his parents; Mary Louisa is the wife of Joseph Menegali, a farmer of Salt Pond township, this county, and they are the parents of one child, August; Albert Henry is single and is living at home, assisting with the work on the farm. Mrs. Kalender was married to Charles Brace, now deceased, prior to her marriage with the subject, and five children were born of her first marriage, namely: Mary, the wife of James Cole, lives in Danville, Illinois; Mattie is living at home; Lizzie is the wife of John Hink; Sophia is the wife of Van Elsa, living in Salt Pond township on a farm; Emma is the wife of Joshua Dorsey, living in North Dakota.

Mr. Katlender rendered some efficient services to the Union during the conflict with the Southern states, having enlisted in the Missouri State Militia in 1864 and served until the close of the war, his services being mostly guard duty. Politically he is a Republican and he and his wife are members of the Christian church. This family are highly respected in Elmwood township, where they have led plain, industrious lives and attended strictly to their own affairs.

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• Transcriber’s note: I am a descendant of Conrad & Sophia Borsum -> Dora Borsum (Charles Brace) -> Lizzie Brace Hinck (William Scholle).

Cousin Jerry Shore passed along some family treasures before he died; I will be forever grateful to him. One of them was an 1888 family letter written to J W Hays in Springfield, Missouri, from one of his brothers in Tipton, Missouri. As I’m currently sorting through the facts given here and conducting research based on it, I’m not certain which brother this is. Nevertheless, there are enough clues that I’m sure he will reveal himself soon enough. A couple of real finds are the birth dates of both of their parents, James Hays and Elizabeth Overton, as well as the brother’s baby girl.

The penmanship has a beautiful flowing style, even if some of the grammar, spelling and punctuation look a bit rough around the edges. Nevertheless, it truly is a treasure, and I’m transcribing it in the same basic layout as it was written. I hope another family member enjoys its contents as much as I have.

The following news clip was from the Sedalia (MO) Democrat-Sentinel, exact date unknown, but apparently late November or early December, 1908:

UNITED AFTER FORTY YEARS
John E. Deering Finds His long Lost Sister in Morgan County.

Separated in childhood, without having seen or heard of each other in forty years, John E. Deering, a cabinet maker at the M. K. & T. shops, has been reunited with his sister and brother. The reunion occurred at his sister’s home in Morgan county, near Glensted, last week.

The Deerings, in childhood, lived near what is now Lookout, in the northeastern part of Pettis county. During the Civil war[,] Elizabeth, aged 12[,] William, aged 10, and John E. aged 6, were left orphans while the war was in progress, and were separated by being taken in by acquaintances.

Days, months and years passed without them hearing or seeing each other. Time took them further apart until each, after vain efforts to locate the others, gave up in despair and all believed the others were dead, and that further search was useless.

About four months ago J. E. Deering, while partaking of a dish of chili at a local parlor, was approached by a lady who mistook him for his brother, William. A conversation followed and it was from the woman that the first news of Mr. Deering’s brother came, and he immediately left for Talequah, Oklahoma, where the woman said William was living. The information proved correct and John and William Deering met and greeted each other for the first time in forty-one years. An extended visit was made in Oklahoma, when one day a man giving his name as Stevens drove up to William Deering’s home and recognized him to be a Deering and asked him questions concerning his past life. It was soon learned that this man Stevens had known the Deerings years ago in Missouri, and it was from the information gotten from him that the two brothers determined to find the sister, feeling certain that from what Stevens had told them she was living somewhere in Missouri. They came to Sedalia, went to the neighborhood, but inquiry failed to give them any clue whatever and they moved onto Cooper county. They went then to Benton county, following a slender clew [sic], and after a long search turned their attention to a slight trace of the woman in Morgan county. They stopped at a farm house near Glensted for the night on Sunday last, and after an introduction found that they were at the home of Mr. Milburn, who proved to be the father of F. Milburn, of the grocery firm of Gehlken & Milburn, on East Saline, [sic] street, this city. The Deerings stated their mission and a son-in-law of Mr. Milburn, recalling a conversation held with a neighbor during which the ancestry of a family by the name of Hayes had been mentioned, he called the neighbor over the telephone, and the Hayes woman turned out to be the long lost sister.

A reunion of the brothers and sister occurred the following day[,] Monday, Nov. 23. It had been just forty-two years since the brothers had seen their sister, whose name now is Mrs. James Hayes, and who is the mother of five daughters and two sons. She is the wife of a substantial farmer.

A reunion of the Deering and Hayes families will be held in Sedalia Christmas. –Sedalia Democrat-Sentinel

John William Will died in California on March 20, 1894 leaving behind a wife and 6 children in Corvallis, Oregon. I had heard that the Oregon State Archives had quite a large probate file concerning his estate. Recently, I had the opportunity to go to Salem and make copies of the contents of that file. It was quite large, and fearing that I would run out of money for copies, I didn’t make copies of all of the contents. There is a 38 page inventory of goods that would be fun to have. Next time, I’ll be sure to bring more money.

I did get a copy of his last will, written on March 18, 1894, various “additional” inventories and legal documents describing the distribution of the assets and liabilities of the estate. I will have to post about some of those items at another time.

I found a description of “Real Property” which gives a general, not terribly specific description of property owned in Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon. Plus several lots owned in Lincoln County. The Corvallis property is listed as “North half of lot 5 in Block No. 9 in Old Town of Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon”. That is all the information we are given.

We knew from an old advertisement that John William had owned a store in Corvallis that sold- what we would consider- an eclectic mix of items. Pianos and Organs, the ad proudly proclaims, have no superiors! Also listed on the ad are “Organs, Sewing Machines, Guns, revolvers, Pocket Knives, Notions, etc.” No address is given in the advertisement so that doesn’t help narrow it down any. I had hopes the property description would help pin point where the store was located.

My brother knew a surveyor in Corvallis and asked him if he would know about where this lot was. His friend supplied him with a map of “Marysville”. Marysville was what Corvallis was called when it was first established. Here is the Old Town Corvallis Map. Lot 5, block 9 appears to be on 2nd Street between S.W. Adams and S.W. Jefferson- closer to Jefferson. There is some confusion about the blocks because the blocks along the river have some of the same numbers as blocks farther into town. So this is an educated guess based on the information we have now. This location appears to be right across the street from the Post Office. Here are some pictures of the lot now.

This is from the intersection of 2nd and Jefferson looking Southwest. We think the building on the corner would be lot 6.

Click to enlarge photo, this works with all the thumbnails in this post.

Lot 5 looking from the Post Office steps across 2nd at possible Lot 5.

Looking East across the lot and 2nd street at the Post Office.

It’s sad there is no building there now but it looks like it would have been a good location.

Much thanks to my brother and others who helped get the map and the photos.

Things are slowly coming up to speed. Something that may not be immediately obvious is that I’ve added several obituaries to the files contained here. Naturally, you will find the index by clicking on the “obituaries” link on the right side of this page. It is my intention to eventually have these obituaries linked from within bios that will contain all of the information that I have on given family members.

Blessings!

Somehow it seems fitting that this web site should be launched today.

On 01 September, 2007, my beloved father, Ronald Eugene Mueller, would have celebrated his 69th birthday. It has been 9-1/2 years since he was called home to be with the Lord. I still miss him.

And yet, his untimely, premature death has a lot to do with my genealogical pursuits today. You see, the reality of the brevity of life was driven home to me by his sudden departure. Although I had an interest in family history prior to that time, it took his death to inspire me to earnestly seek our roots and find living cousins.

The pain of loved ones lost is tempered by the joys of making new family acquaintances.

To the dear family members with whom I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting in these past few years, you are wonderful.  I am so delighted to be related to you.   Thank you for opening up your homes and lives to make room for me and my immediate family.  Thank you for your cherished stories, your photographs, your time.  Thank you for your love.

Dad, thank you for your legacy.  I look forward to that day we’ll be together again. I love you.

Ahh, such a grand undertaking, starting a genealogy blog. So many things to consider, so much planning to get in the way of actually getting anything accomplished. But in the end, it is probably best just to jump in with both feet and learn as we go.

Thus, here we are.

Just what do we hope to accomplish, anyway?

I’m glad you asked.

First and foremost, we wanted to be able to share the “nibbles” of information that we find on our genealogical travels. Web pages automatically generated by genealogical software just don’t really provide what we want. There’s layout and formatting issues, and the question about how to get the software to display certain pieces of information. For example, we might have rumors about g-grandaunt Ruth, or tidbits on gg-grandfather Thomas, but it’s difficult to find an appropriate place to enter it into the database, much less to get it displayed on a web page. We do have rumors, unsubstantiated stories, circumstantial evidence, and even hypotheses that we’d like to share, provided we convey to other researchers that the information may not be entirely factual. So, when a piece of information is unverified, there will be a statement to that effect on the subject’s page. We will also attempt to document sources of information and evidence for conclusions.

Secondly, we wanted to be able to have a way for people to comment on information posted here. Did we get it wrong? Do you have additional information? At some point, we may even wish for other cousins and family members to be able to create their own posts that fall within our family tree.

Finally, we wanted the site to be easy to manage. Static web pages are the most versatile, but they can quickly become quite cumbersome. Genealogical databases are generally easier to maintain, but preclude some of the objectives and preferences mentioned above.

So, we chose WordPress. It is open source, widely used, “copylefted” under the GNU General Public License, standards-compliant, and operates with robust, time-tested server-side software such as Apache, MySQL, and PHP. In short, it is fast, reliable and free of charge. It is ideal for running on our Linux server, and does not force users into operating with this or that particular client platform or web browser. For open source geeks like Brett, these qualities are a must.

As a side benefit, WordPress is well-known for being easy to administer and create posts. Charlyn would undoubtedly assert that trait as being most important. Who can argue with that?

Time will tell as to whether we made the right choice.

But for now, we hope you will find useful pieces of family information, and that you’ll keep coming back for more. You will let us hear from you, won’t you?

God’s blessings,

Brett