Sunday’s Obituary: Aaron H. Kelly, 1947

Immigrant Caspar Hoffman left four young children when he died. The youngest was his daughter Louise. Like her siblings she eventually went to San Francisco, but then wed John B. D. Kelly and lived in Snohomish County, Washington. They had three children, the oldest their only son, Aaron. He was born 17 August 1893 in Snohomish County. He appeared in the census with his parents through 1920 on farms near the Snohomish/King County border. During World War I he served, between 10 April 1917 and 6 December 1918, in the U.S. Navy as a Seaman 2nd class. Aaron was enumerated on 3 April 1930 in Snohomish Road, Maltby Precinct, Snohomish County as a boarder in the Nels W. Pearson home. He was a farmer on a dairy farm. He registered as Aaron Hoffman Kelly for the World War II draft on 25 April 1942. He lived with his mother at 3803 Meridian and worked at the University Dairy in Seattle. He was recorded as 6' 1" tall, weighing 190 pounds with brown hair, hazel eyes and a ruddy complexion.

At the age of forty-nine he married Isabelle Mullin on 22 June 1943 at the University Methodist Temple, Seattle, King County, Washington, Rev. James Brett Kenna officiating, witnesses Bernice O. Jobson (Aaron's sister) and G. F. Martinson. I don't know if Mullin was her maiden name or not. By 1947 he resided in Woodinville and worked as a deputy sheriff in Snohomish County. In that capacity he must have spent time at the county courthouse in Everett. It would then have looked similar to this postcard though today it is dwarfed within the county complex.

As indicated in his obituary, he died on 30 May 1947. He was in the Providence Hospital in Everett where he died from complications following surgery related to a peptic ulcer. He was fifty-three. His widow was a witness to the marriage of his sister Bernice O. Jobson to Hugh J. Stack 17 July 1950. I have yet to find evidence of children of Aaron or his sisters.

Aaron's name was recorded in a scrapbook of his San Francisco cousin, Irene Anderson, as John. One census recorded his name as the homophonic counterpart, Erin. His signature on his marriage certificate authenticates Aaron.

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  1. 1900 U.S. census, Snohomish County, Washington, population schedule, Bear Creek Precinct, ED 210, sheet 15B, dwelling 319, family 322, John B. Kelly household; National Archives microfilm, T623, roll 1750.
  2. 1910 U.S. census, Snohomish County, Washington, population schedule, Bear Creek Precinct, ED 269, sheet 4B, dwelling 83, family 84, John B. Kelly household; National Archives microfilm, T624, roll 1668.
  3. 1920 U.S. census, King County, Washington, population schedule, Maple Leaf Precinct 2, ED 351, sheet 5A, dwelling/family 41, John B. Kelly household; National Archives microfilm, T625, roll 1925.
  4. 1930 U.S. census, Snohomish County, Washington, population schedule, Maltby Precinct, ED 31-89, sheet 2A, dwelling/family 41, Nels W. Pearson household; National Archives microfilm T626, roll 2519.
  5. Aaron H. Kelly, Certificate of Death State File # 231 (June 4, 1947), Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics, PO Box 9709, Olympia, WA.
  6. "Aaron H. Kelley (death notice)," The Seattle Times, Seattle, WA, 1 June 1947, p. 21, col. 4; digital images, GenealogyBank.com (http://access.genealogybank.com : accessed 24 May 2010).
  7. Descendants of Caspar Hoffman (1837-1877) Hoffman Family Notes by Irene Hoffman Anderson including photographs, information provided to which the author was a witness plus information handed down to her by older family members and completed Aug. 1, 1979; copies provided to the author by her sons.
  8. King County Marriage Certificates, 1855-1990, Kelly - Mullin 1943, King County Archives, Seattle, WA, digital images online, Washington State Digital Archives (http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/ : accessed 14 November 2010).
  9. “Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration” draft cards, Aaron Hoffman Kelly card no. 2158, Draft Board 4, Seattle, Washington; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 14 November 2010); from National Archives records.

Tombstone Tuesday: At Albrecht Cemetery & "Is it a genealogy poem?"

I just read Harold Henderson's post at Midwestern Microhistory from last month in which he asked if Wallace Steven's poem "A Postcard from the Volcano" was a genealogy poem. I was so impressed that I created a scrapbook page with the poem and some ideas it inspired. Click on the image to see it larger.

The images are: 1. the gravestone of Jacob Weible, M. D. who died 5 June 1875 at the age of twenty-four; 2. the gravestone of Casper Hoffman, his second wife, her second husband and infants (see previous post); 3. A document from Kaspar Hoffman's probate packet in Carroll County, Illinois; 4. the gate to the cemetery. The name on the sign is Albrecht but it is also called Albright and also Fehler for a family in the area.

The note appears to be in the hand of Henry Hoffman, administrator of the estate of his late brother Kaspar. (Note different spellings of the name.) It was signed by George Weible who was a neighbor. Young Jacob was his son. Mr. Weible acknowledged receipt of the full amount of all his claims against the estate. It is dated 28th March [18]79. There were debts to most family members, but while the Weibles were not relatives, they were related in the way of friends and neighbors. The lives of the mostly German immigrants in Derinda Township were intertwined in various ways, but most often I don't write about these others. Perhaps I should.
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Scrapbook page credits:
All from Oscraps:
-sandy paper: Fei-fei's Stuff - .. Like Home
-flower overlays: Fei-fei's Stuff - Profiles no. 2
-striped paper (blended): Fei-fei's Stuff - Party On Add On
-wrinkled paper (reduced and blended): Vicki Stegall - Rock On (sneak peek)

Family Recipe Friday: Grandma's Coffee Cake

I don't think anyone has tried to follow this recipe since I found it, but it seems to elicit memories in Dick's family and that is the important part. He says he didn't like it because it was too much like bread, but he does recall his grandmother holding a loaf in the crook of her elbow and slicing off pieces. His brother remembered the flavor when he saw this. Their cousin is the one who told me about it originally. Grandmother was Catherine (Hochrein) Hoffman Klich. She came to the U.S. from Bavaria in 1894 to live with her Uncle Michael Keller in Massbach, Illinois. She cared for his ailing wife until her death. The Hoffman family lived close by.
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Scrapbook page credits:
Kit Information: Grandmas Home Cooking (July 2010 Club Deco kit): all contributing designers
Fonts Used: Vintage, Chalk, Tw Cen MT Condensed Extra Bold, Kristen ITC

Treasure Chest Thursday: Alma Rose posed with pooch

This photo of young Alma Rose and the pooch is quite charming. I wonder if it was her dog or the photographer's? The photo is a postcard mailed to her Aunt Bertha. Bertha was very fond of her older sister Maggie, Alma's mother and kept in touch, even visiting after Maggie moved to Colorado. It passed down to Bertha's daughter Ruth who shared it with me so that I could share a scan of it. I think all these old family photos are real treasures.

 

Alma E. Rose was born on 29 October 1894 to Emil and Margaret K. (Hoffman) Rose in Illinois. She was the second grandchild of immigrant John Hoffman of Savanna, Illinois. Her brother Clarence turned two fifteen days earlier. In 1900 Alma and her mother lived in Pearl City in Stephenson County, Illinois. Margaret, also known as Maggie, was working as a milliner and claimed to be a widow. Clarence was living with his grandfather Hoffman. Frank Rush became step-father to Alma and Clarence and in 1910 they all lived on Main Street in Pearl City where Frank had a barber shop. His full name was James Frank Rush. Not long after, the family moved to eastern Colorado and took up farming.

About 1916 Alma married widower Hugh L. Jenkins who had a son, Roy M. Jenkins. Hugh was a farm worker near Lamar in Prowers County, Colorado. Alma gave birth to a daughter, Margaret Rose, in 1917 and a son, Hugh L. Jenkins, Jr., at the end of 1918. Alma’s mother died in 1924, buried in Home Cemetery near McClave in Bent County, Colorado. Her step-father lived with the Jenkins family in 1930. Prowers County is part of the area affected by the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, but Alma and Hugh must have continued to live there as both were buried in Lamar’s Riverside Cemetery with Hugh’s first wife Lillian M. Jenkins. Alma died on 20 February 1949 at the young age of fifty-four.

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1900 U.S. census, Stephenson County, Illinois, population schedule, Pearl City, Loran Township, ED 100, sheet 6A, dwelling 95, family 99, Margaret Rose household; National Archives microfilm T623, roll 346.

1910 U.S. census, Stephenson County, Illinois, population schedule, Pearl City Village, Loran Township, ED 110, sheet 1B, dwelling/family 22, James F. Rush household; National Archives microfilm T624, roll 327.

1920 U.S. census, Prowers County, Colorado, population schedule, Precinct 6, ED 185, sheet 5A, dwelling 87, family 94, Hugh L. Jenkins household; National Archives microfilm T625, roll 169.

1930 U.S. census, Prowers County, Colorado, population schedule, Precinct No. 6, north, ED 50-11, sheet 7B, dwelling 144, family 149, Hugh L. Jenkins household; National Archives micropublication T626, roll 248.

Leon Barton, “Find A Grave Memorials,” Home Cemetery, McClave, CO, Memorial# 31922399 (Margaret Rush), Dec. 3, 2008, digital images Find-A-Grave (http://www.findagrave.com: accessed 28 October 2010)

Leon Barton, Riverside Cemetery, Lamar, CO, Memorial# 54570168 (Hugh), 54570097 (Alma), 54581885 (Lilian), Jul 06, 2010, digital images Find-A-Grave (http://www.findagrave.com: accessed 28 October 2010).

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Scrapbook page credits:
-template: MommySpice - O-Scraps October Copycat Challenge featuring MissMoxie
-background paper: TaylorMade Designs - Composure Plus
-blue patterned paper, buff tag, ribbon, flower: Merkeley Designs - Get Together Add On
-stamp: Fei-fei's Stuff - Crazy Beautiful
-swirl: Fei-fei's Stuff - Something Pop
-circle frame: Fei-fei's Stuff - Cool Bliss
fonts: Ahnberg, ScriptSERIF, James Fajardo

Hoffman Hotel - Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

I loved Randy Seaver's SNGF topic tonight! He urged us to visit the www.ImageChef.com website and explore their FREE offerings and there create one or more posters. When I saw the old painted sign on the old building it just reminded me of being in Savanna, Illinois, and trying to imagine John Hoffman's hotel there long ago. So here is my little poster.

Mary Donner, First Wife of Henry Hoffman

The immigrant Henry Hoffman apparently lived in Jo Daviess County, Illinois after his arrival in the state in 1854. He did work on the early railroads and that may be how he came to know a Bavarian woman living in more central Illinois in the town of Peru in LaSalle County. He went to the LaSalle County courthouse in Ottawa on 2 April 1858 where he obtained his naturalization papers and a marriage license for himself and Mary Donner (see the license in this post.) They were married two days later. In the 1860 census they were both recorded in Derinda Township, Jo Daviess County. They had no children and Mary died of heart trouble on 11 September 1872. Her funeral is recorded in the German language records of the nearby St. John's Lutheran Church in Massbach (that Henry did not attend) but she was buried in the Elizabeth City Cemetery. The age on the tombstone allows calculation of her birth date as 22 April 1819, making her almost nine years older than Henry.

The cousin who has this photograph says that it depicts Henry's first wife. She claims they developed a close relationship that was evidenced by their correspondence during the time in 1865-66 that Henry spent away in the Union Army. There is no sign today of their letters, however. Henry remarried and had children, but it appears that was not the happiest of unions, at least according to his widow's comments to a pension claims examiner.
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Scrapbook digital materials by Retro Designs kits Flight of Fancy and Golden Memories

John Hoffman of Savanna, Illinois, with Three Daughters

I have been creating digital scrapbook pages with family photos and stories since 2004 and a number of more recent pages have been posted in this blog. (see scrapbooking label link) When I read that the August 1st 2010 Carnival of Genealogy topic was "Scrapbooking Your Family History!" I knew I had to join in. I've created a new page with a photograph of John Hoffman, youngest of the Hoffman family immigrants, with three of his daughters. Though elderly, he looks so handsome and all the daughters have lovely smiles. This is one of the many photos, letters, and other memorabilia shared by his granddaughter, Ruth Whalen. If you look closely, I believe the ribbon on his vest is his GAR Ribbon. The photo appeared in the February 2000 issue of the newsletter, but looks much more interesting here, but remember to click on the image to see it full size and make the text legible.

If you enjoy scrapbooking your family, especially digitally, I used to host a monthly "challenge" to help folks come up with ideas and a little push to get pages done. You can find other sites now with these types of ideas.
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This page has the following credits:
Lavender Time, Part 1 (Digital Crea)
-pictorial paper, clock: Chouk77
-dried plants, ribbon: Fanette
Lavender Time, Part 2
-hat, leaves: Albina Design
-bird string, patterned paper: Ange
-purple paper: Sev Design
frame: Retro Designs - Shabby Chic Rooms, Part 3, Freebie Frame (Retro Designs)
fonts: Fraktur BT, Ziggy Zoe, Korinthia
>>photo courtesy of late granddaughter of John Hoffman
>>letter: signature on last page of 1865 letter by John to aunt in Switzerland:
.....The letter, in old German script, was written after John's cousin, Jacob Homberger, died while they were in the Union Army on the Texas coast at the end of the Civil War. The aunt, as a widowed mother, successfully applied for a pension based on Jacob Homberger's service. John's letter became part of her application making it available today from the National Archives. Dick's translation of the letter appears in the April 2002 issue of the newsletter.