Halloween - 60 Years Ago!

Still image from a 16mm film taken by my step-grandfather Wallace Franklin "Archie" Archibald (1896-1970) on Halloween in 1961.  My younger sister Karen and I are witches.  I'm pretty sure Mom made our costumes, including the wigs.  

I recently had fifteen 16mm films (each ranging from 15-20 minutes long) from July 1958 to August 1965 digitized, as well as ten Hi8 videotapes from May 31, 1993 through March 1, 2003 (each about two hours long).  They were digitized, for FREE (well, except for the cost of postage to send them, and a 1TB portable drive for the digitized files), in the Texas Archive of the Moving Image Film Roundup, where I submitted them on Halloween in 2020. 

© Amanda Pape - 2021 - e-mail me!

John Pape's 1851 Baptism Record from Germany

Back on October 15, 2021, I participated in the 2021 Genealogy Lock-In hosted by

the Genealogy Center of the Waco-McLennan County [Texas] Library, the Texas State Genealogical Society, the Genealogy Network of Texas, and the Central Texas Genealogical Society.  This all-day, one-day-only, all-virtual event featured eight pre-recorded sessions, including some by well-known genealogy speakers.

For me, though, the best session was "So, You’ve Found Your German Town of Origin, Now What?" by Teresa Steinkamp McMillin.  Given that I have birth dates and places for many of my German ancestors, this was of great interest to me.  Just having the indexed information wasn't enough - I really wanted to see the original records.  

Her session walked through using the online Meyer’s Gazetteer to verify the town name and identify religious and governmental jurisdictions that might have vital records.  For example, here is the entry for one of the two Bödefelds (note that you can click on all images in this post to view them in a larger size):

You can also view a historic map of the area. The one I've pictured is for the other Bödefeld, and has the toggle turned on to mark the Catholic parishes (yellow C marker).

Teresa then spoke about, and demonstrated, some of the records available online.  One that she spoke about that I had not heard of before was Matricula Online, which has "church registers (mostly books of birth, marriage and death) from various European countries (currently Austria, Germany, Poland, Serbia and Slovenia)."  And luckily for me, such books from the Archdiocese of Paderborn, where my relatives are from, have recently been added to the site.

You can use the Map or Search for Places functions on Matricula to enter your town of origin, and find the name of (and a link to) the Catholic parish records for it.

This will bring up the available registers.  There are 106 currently available for Sts. Kosmas und Damian parish in Bödefeld, so you can use a slider on the date range column to narrow down the field:

Teresa explained what some of the German words mean.  Taufen are baptisms, Trauungen are marriages, and Sterbefälle are deaths.  A Namenregister is an index.

So I used the Namenregister Taufen that covered 1826-1858 and found the page indexing the baptisms for surnames beginning with P.  Here is the relevant snip from that index page:

The first Johann Pape is an older brother to my John Pape, who was born in 1849 and died the following year.  My John Pape is the second Johann.  The 473 refers to the page number in the baptisms register covering 1826-1858, and the 45 indicates it was the 45th baptism in that year (1851).  Anton is the oldest (born 1854) of John's three younger brothers.

So next I went to the Taufen for 1826-1858 and navigated to page 473.  And there was my great-grandfather!  Here is the left half of the page, and the following image is the right half.

What got me especially excited, though, was the information that I've outline in red boxes.  I could see dates and names of John's first two wives, Elisabeth Dameris and Gertrud Kramer (who is my great-grandmother).  The latter was particularly thrilling, because prior to this, I had no information on when and where John and Gertrud married.  The family story was that John went back to Germany to find a bride after Elisabeth and their two daughters died in Chicago in 1886 and 1887.  All I knew was that John and Gertrud were back in the United States by August 1889, when their first child Clara Pape was born.

I posted these images on Facebook, and asked for translations of information in the red boxes.  Here is the translation for the image above, about Elisabeth Dameris:

"married since 27 Nov 1879 with Elisabeth Dameris from Schmall____ (possibly Schmallenberg: https://www.meyersgaz.org/place/20727066)

addition: Elisabeth Dameris was 'Lehrerin dahier' = teacher here."

Elisabeth was in fact from Schmallenberg, and I have now found her baptism record there.   I also found the marriage record for Elisabeth and John in the Sts. Kosmas und Damian parish registers in Bödefeld.

Here is the image of the right half of John Pape's baptism record:

And here is the translation of the information in the red box, about Gertrud Kramer:

"and has emigrated to America with his second wife, Gertrud Kramer, born in Wennemen (https://www.meyersgaz.org/place/21116023), Catholic church 9 Jan 1859 and married in Düsseldorf 9 Oct 1888 and then emigrated to America 13 Oct 1888.

Addition: Gertrud Kramer was also a 'Lehrerin von hier' = teacher from here."

Can you see why I was so excited?!  I knew Gertrude was baptized in nearby Calle (I've now found her baptism record), but I did not know she was actually born in Wennemen.  I now also have a date and place for John's and Gertrude's marriage.  Although the records for churches in Düsseldorf are not online, the incredibly helpful parish pastor did include a record of John's and Gertrude's marriage in the Sts. Kosmas und Damian parish registers in Bödefeld.

I've spent most of the past week doing additional searches for family members in Matricula Online, and filled more holes in my family tree!

© Amanda Pape - 2021 - e-mail me!

Happy Birthday to My Mom in Heaven!

Geraldine Margaret Guokas Pape (1928-2019) in front of the home of her mother, Sara Melzina Wolfe Guokas Archibald (1907-1997), 916 W. Gardner in Houston, Texas, about 1948.  The house next door at 912 W. Gardner is in the background.

© Amanda Pape - 2021 - e-mail me!

Happy Birthday to My Baby Sister!

My sister Mary Elaine playing dress-up in her bedroom, Houston, Texas, 1967

© Amanda Pape - 2021 - e-mail me!

Jewel Moore Gresham's Years in Oklahoma, 1932-1936

Sometime before she died in 1994, my mother-in-law, Jewel Moore Gresham (born in 1914), either wrote down or dictated some memories.  This is the sixth and last part of those memories, from her post-high school years in the Marlow, Oklahoma, area, 1932-1936.

Here are links to the other parts:

Part one (Texas, 1914-1918) - Part two (near Bray, Oklahoma, 1919-1922) - Part three (near Marlow, Oklahoma, 1922-1926) - Part four (junior high school years, near Marlow, Oklahoma, 1926-1929) - Part five (high school years, near Marlow, Oklahoma, 1929-1932)

Jewel's nephew, James "Jim" Lynn Cook, 1936-2016.

Photo courtesy Alison Land.

[Franklin D.] Roosevelt was elected president, and in 1933, he started many programs for the people.  One program, the W.P.A. [Works Progress Administration], was to help build roads.  Papa¹ got on this crew of men, who, with teams of horses and shovels, they built roads in and around Marlow.  I can't remember how much was paid, but it did get some money into circulation.

In December 1932, Mabel² became ill with pneumonia.  She had just finished her nurse's training, and was going to do private duty.  The first patient was a sailor off a foreign ship, with the type of influenza that occurred in 1918.  Her patient was dead in a week, and she became ill.  In a week, she was dead.  It was December 26, 1932.

Grave marker of Beulah Mabel Moore at the Marlow Cemetery, Marlow, Oklahoma.

Photo courtesy Alison Land.

But life goes on.  This was the time that Mama³ started having health problems.  It was menopause time, and all I knew was she was impossible to live with.  She kept wanting to go back to Fort Worth⁴.  Papa would take her down there, and after a while, he would go get her.  Things would be all right for a while, but just for a while.  That went on and on.  She started reading her Bible -- and things got worse.  She was always quarreling with someone.  We went about our daily lives as usual, farming, and doing what we had to do to survive.  I most surely would not want to live those years again!!

In December 1934, Audie⁵ and Walter⁶ got married.  They went to live with the Cooks⁷.  Later, Mr. Cook had a two-room house moved on his farm, and they moved into it. 

Thomas Gurth Moore (1902-1935) in the early 1930s

In January 1935, Gurth⁸ died in Austin, Texas.  Mr. Cook loaned us his car, and Walter, Audie, Mama and Papa and I went to the funeral.  Gurth and Katie⁹ had a small house on the edge of Austin.  Tom was 19 months old, and Wesley was 3 months.  

Jewel's nephews, Thomas "Tom" Clayton Moore and Julian Wesley "Wes" Moore, mid-1930s

After the funeral, Papa and Mama told me to stay and help Katie.  Gurth had a cow, and since Katie didn't know how to milk, she needed someone to milk the cow.  I don't remember how long I stayed with her, but I finally went home on the bus.  Later on in the year, Katie decided to come to our house and leave the kids with us and try to get work as a waitress in Oklahoma City.  That didn't last very long, and by the end of summer, she took the kids and went back to Austin.  

Time goes on and we were always doing what had to be done to survive.  In 1936, Audie became pregnant with Jim¹⁰.  She had a terrible time, and finally had to be hospitalized.  I guess by that time, the morning sickness stage was over, and she started eating, and recovered fast.  They stayed with us while she was ill.  Looking back, I believe the trouble was when she had the morning sickness, she just quit eating, and became so malnourished, she couldn't keep anything down.  At that point in time, doctors didn't know a heck of a lot.  Jim was born September 26, 1936.

---------

Jewel's written memories end at this point.  Sometime after 1935 but before 1940, she moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, where her older sister Ivis Moore Mew (1905-2004) was living, now married, and still working as a nurse.  Jewel met Francis Edward Gresham (1911-1990) in Corpus Christi, and they married there on October 26, 1940.  

NOTES

1.  Papa is Jewel's father, Tandy Clayton "Clayton" Moore, 1878-1964.

2.  Mabel is Jewel's older sister, Beulah Mabel "Mabel" Moore, 1910-1932.

3.  Mama is Jewel's mother, Nancy "Nannie" Flora Jones Moore, 1882-1969.

4.  In this 1933-36 time period, Nannie still had siblings living in Fort Worth and nearby cities:  Dorinda Isabell Jones Drosihn (1876-1956) in adjacent Denton County, Penelope Frances “Neppie” Jones Sullivan (1878-1950) in Fort Worth, Dorothy Allie Jones Davis Hamessley (1889-1969) in Dallas, and Walton Hixon Jones (1885-1954) in Paluxy in nearby Hood County (where I live!).

5.  Audie is Jewel's older sister, Audie Ruth Moore Cook, 1911-1969.

6.  Walter is Audie's husband, Walter Ernest Cook, 1911-1999.

7.  Walter's parents were Ernest Ward Cook (1883-1955) and Margaret Josephine Davis Cook (1883-1967).  The Cooks lived three miles north of Marlow (according to Ernest's World War II draft registration card), across the north Stephens County line, in Grady County, with a Rush Springs (the next town north of Marlow on Highway 81) address.

8.  Gurth is Jewel's older (and only) brother, Thomas Gurth Moore,1902-1935. 

9.  Katie is Gurth's wife, Katherine "Katie" May Sprouse Moore-Mayhew (1908-2005).  She married John Beldon Mayhew (1910-1982) on October 5, 1937, and her life got a little easier.

 

10.  Jim is Jewel's nephew, James "Jim" Lynn Cook, 1936-2016, the little boy pictured at the beginning of this post.

© Amanda Pape - 2020 - e-mail me!

Jewel Moore Gresham's High School Years in Oklahoma, 1929-1932

Sometime before she died in 1994, my mother-in-law, Jewel Moore Gresham (born in 1914), either wrote down or dictated some memories.  This is the fifth part of those memories, from her high school years in the Marlow, Oklahoma, area, 1929-1932.

Here are links to the other parts:

Part one (Texas, 1914-1918) - Part two (near Bray, Oklahoma, 1919-1922) - Part three (near Marlow, Oklahoma, 1922-1926) - Part four - (Junior high school years, near Marlow, Oklahoma, 1926-1929) 

Jewel Moore Gresham's Marlow (Oklahoma) High School diploma, May 19, 1932

The tenth grade was fine.  I could not understand algebra, but I loved geometry.  Made good grades.  Mabel¹ graduated from senior high in 1929, and by Christmas of that year, she was in Corpus Christi in nursing school.²  Then Papa³ let Audie⁴ and I take the car⁵ to school.  We even went home for lunch. I really can't remember too much about school -- it was just routine, and nothing bad happened.  

Audie graduated in 1930.  She went off to college at Stillwater, Oklahoma⁶ for one semester.  I guess there was no money for her to go back, for by 1930, the Depression was pretty bad.  We always had food, and I really didn't know that there was anyone who was hungry.  By that time, Audie, who took sewing at college, was sewing dresses for us, and I learned to sew from her.  We took a weekly paper, The Kansas City Star.  It had patterns in it -- they cost 15 cents.  So we would order a pattern, and after we used it, we would loan it to other girls in the area, and they would loan us theirs.

Above:  [The Weekly] Kansas City Star Mail Order 1655 [sewing pattern]; postmarked 1925; Ladies' One-Piece Apron / anne8865 / CC-BY-SA 3.0

Below:  pages 94-95 from The Saturday Evening Post of December 12, 1925, with color version of page 95 from 1926 Ford Model T (USA) /  Michael / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Click on image for a larger view.  The story on the left is typical of the types of stories in this era that Jewel, her family, and her neighbor liked.  The car in the ad might be similar to the 1926 Ford Model T Jewel's father bought for $485.

We also took The Saturday Evening Post.  It came every week, and it had wonderful stories in it.  When we had read it, we would pass it along to our neighbor, M. C. Hallmark⁷.  He loved to read.

My last two years in school were uneventful.  The high school principal one day told me that if I kept my grades up, I would graduate with honors.  His name was Mr. Teakell⁸.  He also taught history.  He chose me to be his office girl.  At the end of the 11th grade, the juniors always gave the seniors a banquet.  The local churches would bid on the meal, and the lowest bid got the job.  It was a gala occasion.  When we became seniors, we had the same function provided by the junior class.  

I graduated in 1932, and was salutatorian.  And I made a speech on graduation night.  The valedictorian was Glenn Rubendall.  After school was over, it was field work.  By this time, the Depression was going strong.  I can't say our lives changed too much.  When you don't have anything much, you don't miss doing without a few more things.  

Above:  Program for Jewel Moore Gresham's May 19, 1932, Marlow (Oklahoma) High School commencement.

Below:  one of Jewel Moore Gresham's calling cards from high school.  She used only one L in her first name the rest of her life, but her name was spelled with two Ls on junior high and high school documents.

NOTES

1.  Mabel is Jewel's older sister, Beulah Mabel "Mabel" Moore, 1910-1932.

2.  Papa is Jewel's father, Tandy Clayton "Clayton" Moore, 1878-1964.

3.  Mabel (and her older sister Ivis Moore Mew, 1905-2004, then single) trained as nurses at Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas.  On the 1930 US Census, they are living in a large house with other student nurses and the Catholic sisters who trained them and ran the hospital, at 1436 Third Street.

4.  Audie is Jewel's older sister, Audie Ruth Moore Cook, 1911-1969.

5.  Clayton used $485 of his $1,000 inheritance from his parents in 1926 to buy a 1926 Ford Model T to drive to his Aunt Sue Moore Dinkins Robertson's funeral that year.

6.  At that time, the only college in Stillwater, Oklahoma, was Oklahoma A&M College, the forerunner to today's Oklahoma State University.

7.  Marion C. (M. C.) Hallmark (1905-1997) and family are listed just after empty-nesters Tandy C. and Nannie Moore (Jewel's mother, Nancy "Nannie" Flora Jones Moore, 1882-1969) in Wall Township, Stephens County, Oklahoma, on the 1940 US Census.  However, that census also indicates they were living in Grady County, Oklahoma, on April 1, 1935, (which is also where they were on the 1930 US Census), so this memory would be sometime after March 1935.

8.  Leonard Lester Teakell (1902-1970) is listed as a high school principal on the 1930 US Census for the city of Marlow, Oklahoma.  He was still a high school principal on the 1940 US Census for that city. 

© Amanda Pape - 2021 - e-mail me!