Theme: Favorite Photo - Grandpa John Schoenewald & his Alaska Trip

 2021 – 52 ancestors for 52 weeks

(challenge by Amy Johnson Crow)

My challenge for 2021, I am writing 52 “stories” about my mother’s parents and paternal line instead of 52 ancestors.  I thought it would be a good way to get those stories onto the page for others to enjoy.

 

Week 4 – Theme: Favorite Photo

Oh my! How can I pick a Favorite Photo??!!  All my photos are my favorite! 

So, after much debate on which one I should highlight in this blog post, I finally decided to showcase this one:

Grandpa John Schoenewald getting his beard and hair cut by his Grand Children

Left to Right: John, Bobbie Jean, Grandpa John Schoenewald, Claudia and Joan. Location is at the house we called the “Dennis House” on the Mendiola Road along the ditch bank about 7 miles outside of the town Adrian Oregon.

The story behind this photo: 

This photo was taken in 1965. My Grandfather John, looking a little rough, after his fishing trip in Alaska.  He had been visiting his brother-in-law, Howard McLain, who was living in Sitka Alaska earning his living on a fishing boat.  What a great adventure my Grandfather must have had.  Since I was only about 9 years old at this time, I do not remember the stories that he may have shared.  But so thankful that someone had taken the time to snap a photo of us cutting his beard.  I am sure we thought it was great that we were allowed to do such a task.

When I was going through the old pictures that were handed down to me from my mother, I ran across some of the fishing ones that Grandpa must have brought back with him.  One is Howard McLain on the boat. And one of Grandpa John standing on the boat.  Wish I had one showing Grandpa fishing.  Maybe some day a relative will be going through their old pictures and find one?

John Schoenewald 1965 Alaska

Howard McLain 1965 Alaska

Howard’s boat was named “Janie”.  It looks like a typical troller boat they used during this timeframe. Below is some basic information regarding troller boats.

 

Basic information on Troller Boats:

Through the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s there were at least eight boat shops in Sitka at various times. All of the builders did other things as well, like fishing, carpentry, or mining. The vast majority of boats built in Sitka were fishing boats. These included trollers, seiners, and longliners. The fisheries were segmented largely along ethnic lines. A major factor in Sitka’s boatbuilding was the canneries, which directly financed many of the boats. The fisheries and the canneries declined after World War II, for many reasons, and very few boats were built after the mid 1950s. https://alaskahistoricalsociety.org/page/5/?s=commercial+fishing

A longliner or troller is a vessel that fishermen use to pull a line behind. Trolling involves pulling one or more lines behind a boat in motion. Longliners pull a  heavy fishing line, usually several miles long and with a series of baited hooks.

Sample Picture of a Troller Fishing Boat

Pictures of Sitka Alaska 1965 timeframe taken by Howard McLain / John Schoenewald

History of Sitka, Alaska (for those history buffs)

Alaska was owned by Russia, then purchased by the United States:

Sitka was the site of the transfer ceremony for the Alaska purchase on October 18, 1867. Russia was going through economic and political turmoil after it lost the Crimean War to Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire in 1856 and decided it wanted to sell Alaska before it was taken over by Britain. Russia offered to sell it to the United States. Secretary of State William Seward had wanted to purchase Alaska for quite some time as he saw it as an integral part of Manifest Destiny and America's reach to the Pacific Ocean.^[11] While the agreement to purchase Alaska was made in April 1867, the actual purchase and transfer of control took place on October 18, 1867. The cost to purchase Alaska was $7.2 million, 2 cents per acre.

Gold mining and fish canning paved the way for the town's initial growth. Sitka is only accessible by boat or plane as it is a series of islands in the Pacific Ocean. Vehicles are usually brought to Sitka via the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system. However, a vehicle is not an absolute necessity in Sitka, as there are only 14 miles (23 kilometres) of road from one end of the island to another. Most everything is within walking distance from the downtown area which is where the majority of employers are situated. Public transportation is also available.

By 1920 Sitka had become a small, stable community that changed little until World War II. About 1904 the Sitka Wharf and Power Company tapped Indian River for a water-distribution system that served the center of town. A water-wagon, filled at Indian River, served outlying areas. As late as 1940 the U.S. Marshal had the people in jail run the water wagon to Indian River. After the five- gallon cans were filled they were delivered to residents for $5.00 a week. Around 1942 and 1943 additional water lines were constructed to serve more parts of the town.  (Source from Internet: Andrews, 1945: 115; and Mair, A. Peter, II, and Bailey, Douglas L, "Central Interceptor Project (Contract No. 5) for the City and Borough of Sitka," Anchorage: Tryck, Nyman, & Hayes, Eng., 1983): 26-27.)

 

Howard McLain, my Grandfather’s brother-in-law, moved to Alaska sometime between 1940 and 1942.  His life story will be told at a later time.

 

The State of Alaska began its Marine Highway system in 1963.

https://dot.alaska.gov/amhs/route.shtml

The ferries of the Alaska Marine Highway make up a large part of Alaska's highway system, covering 3,500 miles of coastline and 35 communities that stretch from Bellingham, WA to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Chain. The ferries are diverse and range from mainline ferries that sail thousands of miles and make multiple stops, to shuttle ferries that provide daily links between neighboring communities. This allows riders the flexibility to access communities of choice by utilizing one or more vessel to reach their final destination through our regional hubs in Ketchikan, Juneau, Whittier or Homer.

Sample Running Times

• Bellingham to Ketchikan: 38 hours
• Ketchikan to Wrangell: 6 hours
• Wrangell to Petersburg: 3 hrs 30 mins
• Petersburg to Juneau: 8 hours
• Juneau to Haines: 4 hrs 30 mins
• Haines to Skagway: 1 hour
• Juneau to Sitka: 9 hrs 30 mins
• Prince Rupert to Ketchikan: 7 hours
• Juneau to Hoonah: 3 hrs 30 mins
• Ketchikan to Metlakatla: 45 minutes

 The Alaska Marine Highway System is a rare example in the U.S. of a shipping line offering regularly scheduled service for the primary purpose of transportation of passengers rather than of leisure or entertainment. Voyages can last many days, but, in contrast to the luxury of a typical cruise line, cabins cost extra, and most food is served cafeteria-style.  The forerunner to the Alaska Marine Highway was the Chilkoot Motorship Lines,^[6] founded in 1948.  In 1959, the year Alaska became a state. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Marine_Highway

Thank you for stopping by.  Stay tuned for more stories.

Family Matters - past and present 

Theme: Name Sake (John / Johann)

 

2021 – 52 ancestors for 52 weeks

(challenge by Amy Johnson Crow)

My challenge for 2021, I am writing 52 “stories” about my mother’s parents and paternal line instead of 52 ancestors.  I thought it would be a good way to get those stories onto the page for others to enjoy.

 

Week 3 – Theme: Name Sake

 

Today I thought I would share about the name John (Johann) as the theme this week is “Name Sake”

When I was researching my Grandfather, my Mother’s father, I realized that his name listed on his birth certificate was the same as one of the witnesses on his birth certificate. Of course, I had to do some research on that!  Come to find out, the Johann listed as a witness is my Grandfather’s uncle on his father’s side.  Even though the spelling of my Grandfather’s name usually showed up as John, it was written as Johann on his birth certificate. 

As I continued in my research, I also found that my Grandfather John’s Father (Adam) came to America from Prussia in 1899 to live in the same township as his brother, Johann.  This is the same Johann that is listed as a witness on my Grandfather’s birth certificate.

Another Johann who was close to my Grandfather’s family is his mother’s father.  His name was also Johann. Johann Kujawski. They also came to America from Prussia.

So, I would like to believe that my Grandfather, Johann (John), was named after his uncle Johann and his Grandfather Johann.  My brother is also named John.  This name runs in the family.  Who knows how many “other people” I will find named “John” as I continue with my researching?

Here is a picture of three of the four Johann (John).

Unfortunately, I did not have a picture of my Great Grandfather, Johann Kujawski.

My Great Uncle -  Johann Schoenewald            My Grandfather - Johann Schoenewald

 

 

My Brother – John Kurtz

Happy Hunting on your ancestors!  It's a fun project to see what you find.

Family's matter - past and present.

 

National Handwriting Day

 Another one of those quirky National Days. But I couldn't resist!  So I decided to showcase the handwriting of my Grandparent's and Great Grandparent's signature in honor of this National Day.

They are on my mother's side.

Isn't this fun!   Now I need to go through my treasure box of stuff and create one for my father's side.  

Thanks for stopping by!

National HAT Day

Today is one of those quirky day of celebration!  National Hat Day

It made me think of my mother who in her later years always has a visor hat on.  It shades her eyes as they are sensitive to the light; especially as she ages.  She has fun with her visors. Always decorating them to match her outfits.

Here's to you Mom on National Hat Day!

Patricia Kurtz 2020

Do you have any family member that National Hat Day brings to mine?  

Family Legend - Are we related to "Jesse James"?

 

2021 – 52 ancestors for 52 weeks

(challenge by Amy Johnson Crow)

 My challenge -  for 2021, I am writing 52 “stories” about my mother’s parents and paternal line instead of 52 ancestors.  I thought it would be a good way to get those stories onto the page for others to enjoy.

 Week 2 – Theme: Family Legend

Are we related to the “famous” Jesse James?  

I grew up hearing that story from my Grandfather John Herman Schoenewald  (my mother’s father).  Though thinking back, it was never told how or why we were related.  Just that we were.  As kids, we thought that was neat and never questioned it.

 Now that I am into digging into the family history – I have lots of questions.  However, my Grandfather is not around to give me any answers.

 Attached is the family tree from Familysearch.org showing how we are related to Jesse James.  It shows going up the line through the Hollingsworth family.

 I did a quick analysis but soon found that it would take a lot more work to actually “prove” each generation so this project has been put on hold.  Either I will continue with the research or future generations can research.

I feel pretty confident that we are connected up to Thomas Wells (1653-1718) and Frances Smith (1657-1733) but connecting them to their parents needs more “proof”.

 When researching up through the Jesse James line, there was information connecting Jesse James to his Grandparents (John Martin James 1775-1827 and Mary Gartner Poor 1790-1827) but the next generations needs additional “proof” to connect them.

 Also, it looked like one of the connecting people from our line to their line is a Lawrence Smith (1629-1700) who may be connected to “royalty”.  However, I did not go into a lot of research on this assumption since I was not able to connect him to our family line yet.

 Digging into your family history is quite fun but it does take time to do it right and to be sure you have the correct family line connected to your tree. 

 Someday all the branches on this attached tree will be researched and it will either tell us that we are related to Jesse James or we are not.  It may take several generations of family genealogists to complete this project.   If anyone reading this feels they would like to do some research – feel free.

Flow Chart showing the relationship from me to Jesse James per Familysearch.org

Week 1 – Theme: Beginning - 2021 – 52 stories for 52 weeks

 

2021 – 52 ancestors for 52 weeks

(challenge by Amy Johnson Crow)

 

My challenge for 2021, I am writing 52 “stories” about my mother’s parents and her paternal line instead of 52 ancestors.  I thought it would be a good way to get those stories onto the page for others to enjoy.

 Week 1 – Theme: Beginning

There are so many topics that could be used for this theme.  The beginning of their journey to America, the travels across the ocean or what life may have looked like the day they stepped on American soil.  The beginning story of their first child. A new beginning in a town/city they moved to or how they lost their farm in the depression and had to start over.  The beginning of a new chapter of their life after a death of a spouse. The word beginning can mean a lot of things. For this theme, I have chosen to use it as a my “mantra” – just begin - like the Niki’s “just do it”.  There is no time like the present to start with my stories. So, here’s to the future – the best story is yet to be written.  I challenge you to start your stories!

 

Digital Art Project by Bobbie Jean Kurtz

  

The Beginning – My First Project:

 The first project I decided to dive into was an album for my Mother’s 88^th birthday about her life.  This project ended up being the best ever!  I had so much fun putting together all the information I could gather in the short amount of time I had (of course I started way to late). I was lucky that she had a baby book and her high school year books that added to her story.

 It really was the beginning of my research.  I find it so fascinating how you can recreate someone’s life with the documents. 

My Mother’s Father was a logger and her Mother cooked at the logging camps during the years before my Mother started school.  All the fun of the outdoors.  What an experience for a little girl to have. Maybe it was the foundation that was imbedded in my mother to enjoy the outdoor chores more than the indoor chores. And her married life consisted of living in remote areas.  They say the first 5 years of a child’s life is the most important to teach. So, it makes you wonder.

Here is the cover of the book I created for my Mother.