Strong Roots, Beautiful Leaves

While working on my husband’s genealogy, I found myself at another brick wall. Emily Danforth Rhoads was born June 10, 1815. She married Benjamin Talbert Rhoads on April 28, 1838 in Warrick County, IN. She died January 10, 1869 in Warrick County, IN. Emily and Benjamin are buried in Bethany Cemetery in Warrick County. This information was supported with tombstone inscriptions and marriage index records from the county. My research goal was to first confirm the location of birth for Emily. Despite many searches, I wasn’t having any luck. When I’m needing inspiration and ideas, I turn to other researcher’s family trees (only to look for ideas, not to use as ‘facts’). While doing this, I found a post from a man who (I’ll call him John) was struggling with the same problem I was. He was a descendant of the Danforth family, and he just could not find any records before Emily’s marriage to Benjamin. This man submitted his DNA, hoping for some answers. Boy, was he in for a shock…. Emily Danfo...

John William McRae was born July 8, 1881 in New Albany, Indiana. He was the eldest child of William Rice McRae and Sarah 'Sallie' Cooper. John married Lula Hoover on December 13, 1905. At this time, John was living in Carmi, White County, IL while Lula was from Griffin, Posey County, IN. Not too many days into their marriage (the first newspaper article was published on December 29, 1905), John was dreaming or half asleep when he started talking about Kansas. This peaked Lula's attention, and she started asking more questions. As it turns out, John had previously married a Miss Lou Gillahan on March 18, 1903 in Johnson County, KS. While in Kansas, John went by the name Will. In the spring of 1904, John and Lou had a child together, Raymond. By that fall, John went back home to Griffin, IN. When he returned home, he told people he was single while others he told he was divorced. In November 1905, John wrote to Lou in Kansas and asked for a divorce. The next month is when he ...

Manlove Walls and Celia (Hazzard) Walls were born and raised in Sussex County, Delaware. They married in the same area. Manlove was named after his mother's maiden name. When Celia was a teenager, she molded bullets for the Revolutionary Soldiers. By 1797 the couple were living in Virginia. By the 1810 census, they were living in Breckinridge County, Kentucky. Around 1814 they moved to Indiana. Manlove had moved to a plot of 160 acres of land, granted to him through delayed payment from federal legislation. This land was in Greenfield Township, Orange County. They appeared in Orange County, Indiana on the 1820 census.  Per census and burial records, this is where they spent the remainder of their lives. The couple had at least four children: Levin Derby, Thomas, William Conway, and Jemima. Their oldest child was Levin Derby Walls, named after his paternal grandfather. Levin was born October 19, 1795. As mentioned above, the family was living in Breckinridge County, Kentucky by 1810...

Williamson 'Wesley' Woods (1874-1948) married Mary 'Etta' Hobbs on February 18, 1894 in Brown County, Indiana. Wesley was one of at least six children (Rebecca Elizabeth, George Alma, Franklin, Henry Thurston, and Alva Clarence). Etta was one of 11 children (Anna Eliza, Ella Mae, George Benjamin, Ada Jane, William Thomas, Bessie Iona, Amanda Eva, Washington Moser, Hattie Olive, and Harry Hugo). Wesley and Etta decided to move to New Harmony, Posey County, IN sometime after their marriage. Etta gave birth to their first child, Iona May Woods on November 26, 1894 in New Harmony. Just over two short weeks later, Etta passed away on December 11, 1894. She was buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in Nashville, Brown County, IN with several of her family members. Williamson Wesley Woods Mary Etta Hobbs Woods While Wesley had to work and could not raise a child by himself, he sent young Iona to live with her maternal grandparents, Benjamin and Mary Hobbs. Etta lived here for about two...

Louisa AKA Minnie was my 3x great grandma. She was born November 23, 1863 in Indiana. She married Wilhelm Frederick Kuhlenschmidt on September 4, 1880 at Zoar Evangelical Church in Elberfeld, Warrick County, Indiana. Wilhelm later 'Americanized' his name to William. They had 12 children, only one not surviving to reach adulthood. Minnie died suddenly on June 15, 1927 from a cerebral hemorrhage in Campbell, Warrick County, Indiana. She is buried at Zoar Evangelical Church Cemetery in Elberfeld. "This is the story of Louisa Kuhlenschmidt's death, based on the recollections of the stories told by Edgar and Raymond Kuhlenschmidt. When her son William's wife was due to give birth to a new grandchild, Louisa went to his home. According to Edgar, Louisa had some skill as a midwife and was called upon to help with the births of grandchildren. When Doris June was born, Louisa came out of the bedroom, asked for her pills, sat down, and died immediately." I have tried th...

Friederich "Fritz" Simon Kuhlenschmidt definitely lived an eventful life. Fritz was born April 29, 1820 in Langenholzhausen, Lippe, Germany (actually Prussia at the time). He was baptized May 7, 1820 at Evangelisch, Langenholzhausen, Lippe, Germany. His wife, Amalia Wilhelmina Bodemeier, was also born here on March 7, 1819. The couple married August 13, 1843. Their first two children, Friederich Charles and Friederich Ernst, were also born in Germany. Fritz trained as a brew master in Berlin, Germany. By 1848, the family decided to move to America. During this time period, more than a million German citizens came to America to escape economic hardships and political unrest, riots, rebellions, and a revolution that broke out in 1848.  This must have been a hard decision to move across the world to an unfamiliar land with two small children while Amalia was also pregnant. It must have been heartbreaking for the family to see the outbreak of the Civil War so close to their arriv...