Children

Left: Helen Moore, my great-grandmother’s sister, died at age 4

Another Randy Seaver/Genea-musings exercise! “Thinking about your direct ancestors back through 2nd great-grandparents – in other words, ancestors #2 to #31 on your pedigree chart – how many children did they have? How many lived long enough to marry? How many died before age 10?” So here’s mine:

• #2-3: R. Wells and M. Wilson – 3 sons, 1 daughter (3 married), 0 died before age 10
• #4-5: Edward Lee Wells (1905-1955) and Velma Irene Belknap (1913-1999) – 4 sons, 4 daughters (7 married), 0 died before age 10
• #6-7: Charles Thompson Wilson (1907-1989) and Helen Dorothy Oakes (1912-1988) – 1 son, 2 daughters (3 married), 0 died before age 10
• #8-9: Robert Luke Wells (1881-1919) and Nannie Jane Clark (1880-1969) – 4 sons, 1 daughter (5 married), 0 died before age 10
• #10-11: Earl E. Belknap (1895-1960) and Florence E. Bost (1896-1961) – 9 daughters, 1 son (9 married), 0 died before age 10
• #12-13: John A. Wilson (1874-1930) and Mary A. Thompson (1872-1940) – 7 sons, 3 daughters (7 married), 1 died before age 10
• #14-15: William Oakes (1888-1928) and Mae D. Moore (1892-1971) – 1 daughter (1 married), 0 died before age 10
• #16-17: James H. Wells (1840-1904) and Mary Ann Clark (1839-1894) – 5 daughters, 4 sons (8 married?), 0 died before age 10
• #18-19: Willis Clark (1834-?) and Sarah E. Wells (1838-1923) – 4 sons, 3 daughters
• #20-21: Arthur F. Belknap (1869-1955) and Martha Gisel (1869-1925) – 1 daughter, 4 sons (5 married), 0 died before age 10
• #22-23: William S. Bost (1859-1932) and Mary E. McCracken (1862-1911) – 4 daughters, 3 sons (5 married), 2 died before age 10
• #24-25: John Alford Wilson/Rustad (1833-1889) and Mary Ann Gibson (1837-1923) – 5 daughters, 3 sons (4 married?), 3 died before age 10
• #26-27: Archibald Thompson (1838-1931) and Elizabeth Dunning (1837-1912) – 9 sons, 2 daughters (6 married?), 3 died before age 10
• #28-29: Henry Ochs/Oakes (1846-1922) and Minnie Schroeder (1857-1936) – 2 sons, 2 daughters (4 married), 0 died before age 10
• #30-31: Fred L. Moore (1863-1924) and Mina Adell Bolt (1865-1942) – 3 daughters, 2 sons (3 married), 2 died before age 10

#25 Earliest Photos

I saw this idea from Amy’s review of Week 25: “Debi shared the earliest photos of various ancestors. (I like how she broke them down by maternal and paternal sides).” So I’m going to give it a try!

Maternal

My 3rd Great-Grandfather, William Dillon Bolt (1835-1901)

My 3rd Great-Grandmother, Mary J. (Everitt) Bolt (1837-1918)

 

My 2nd Great-Grandmother, Mina Adell (Bolt) Moore Thompson, (1866-1942)

My 2nd Great-Grandfather, Archibald Thompson (1838-1931)

My great-grandfather, John A. Wilson (1874-1930)

My great-grandmother, Mary (Thompson) Wilson (1872-1940)

My great-grandmother, Mae Dillon (Moore) Oakes Smiechowski Johnson (1892-1971)

My grandfather, Charles Wilson (1907-1989)

My grandmother, Helen Oakes (1912-1988) on her mother Mae’s lap

My mother

Paternal

My 3rd Great-Grandmother, Margaret (Rhost) Gisel (1848-1939)

My 2nd Great-Grandfather, Arthur Belknap (1869-1955)

My 2nd Great-Grandmother, Martha (Gisel) Belknap (1869-1925)

My 2nd Great-Grandfather, William S. Bost (1859-1932)

My Great-Grandmother, Nannie Jane (Clark) Wells (1880-1969)

My Great-Grandfather, Earl E. Belknap (1895-1960)

My Great-Grandmother, Florence E. Bost (1896-1961)

My grandfather, Edward L. Wells (1905-1955)

My grandmother, Velma Belknap (1913-1999)

My father

Week 25 (June 17-23): Earliest

#4 Margaret Rhost (1848-1939)

One ancestor I’d like to meet is my great-great-great grandmother Margaret Rhost Gisel. She was born June 6, 1848 in Switzerland (or it may have been Germany at the time). Her father was Conrad Rhost and she had one full brother, named John. I have no idea who her mother was, but I believe she either died in Switzerland, on the way over, or soon after arrival because Conrad remarried to Mary Gertrude Ginder on October 9, 1855 in Fulton County, Ohio. Conrad and Mary had 8 more children.

I first found Margaret in the U.S. in the 1860 census. Conrad, Mary, John, Margaret, Mary, and Henry were living in Clinton, Fulton County, Ohio. Conrad was a farmer. John and Margaret were listed as 14 and 10 and attended school. Mary was 3 and Henry was 1.

Margaret married John Gisel in 1868. They had 9 children. Margaret and John lived in Fulton County, Ohio all their married lives. John died November 1, 1923 and Margaret lived to the age of 90. She died April 20, 1939 (11 days after her great-great grandson, my dad, was born). They were buried in Wauseon Union Cemetery.

Week 4 (January 22-28): I’d Like to Meet

#1 Minnie Gisel

Arthur and Martha (Gisel) Belknap with Minnie and baby Floyd in about 1894

This week I wanted to talk about the first-born child of my great-great grandmother Martha Gisel Belknap. Her name was Minnie Gisel. She was born March 31, 1887 when Martha was just 17 years old. On Minnie’s first marriage license her father is listed as “not known” and her surname is her mother’s. I’m afraid to know what this could mean. I hope Martha just had a teenage dalliance when she was 16 and maybe Minnie didn’t know his name when she went to fill out her marriage license.

Minnie at left, Floyd in back, and baby Earl (my great-grandfather) in about 1897

Minnie was adopted, formally or informally, by my great-great grandfather Arthur Belknap when he and Martha married on March 5, 1890. Minnie married Ernest J. Crume on May 23, 1903 in Fulton County, Ohio when she was 16. Their son Glen was born August 31, 1903. Their daughter Irma was born June 22, 1905.

In 1910, the family was living in Lima, Ohio where Ernest was a carpenter. In 1912 and 1913, Ernest was a pattern maker rooming at 132 11th Street in Toledo, Ohio. In the 1913 Toledo Directory, Minnie was listed as a waiter. In 1916-1918, they were living at 119 12th St. in Toledo. In 1919, they were living at 2034 Vermont in Toledo. On May 22, 1919, their son Glen died at the age of 15 in Fulton County. He was buried in Wauseon Union Cemetery. In the 1920 census, the family was living on Cemetery Street in Fayette Village, Gorham Township, Fulton County.

Unfortunately on December 29, 1921, Minnie also lost her husband Ernest. His obituary in the Toledo Blade in January 1922 stated:

Ernest J. Crume, 39, of 1416 Pinewood in Toledo, Lucas Co., Ohio, died at home from Nephritis and Erysipelas. He was employed at Overland Auto, and worked as a Pattern Maker for automobiles. He is the son of Henry and Elizabeth (Walters) Crume. Mr Crume is survived by his wife Minnie, who was the one who reported his death.

On April 28, 1923 in Henry County, Ohio, Minnie married again. Her new husband was named Lee Counselman. He had three previous wives and would have one more after Minnie’s death. Sadly, Minnie died at the age of 37 on February 24, 1925 in Gorham, Ohio of peritonitis. She is buried in Wauseon Union Cemetery.

Week 1 (January 1-7): First

#23 Earl and Florence Belknap

Earl Belknap and Florence Bost were married on June 2, 1913 in Wauseon, Ohio. Their marriage was announced in the local paper, “The marriage of Mr. Earl E. Belknap and Miss Florence E. Bost, occurred at the home of Mr. John Gisel on Cedar Avenue Monday evening, at 4:00 o’clock, Rev. J. H. Williams, officiating.”

Earl and Florence Belknap, 1920s

Earl and Florence’s Marriage Record

Citations:
“Ohio Marriages, 1800-1958,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XD8T-J9W : 10 February 2018), Earl E. Belknap and Florence E. Bost, 02 Jun 1913; citing Wauseon, Fulton, Ohio, reference 2:3KVTKL2; FHL microfilm 423,606.

52 Ancestors #23 – Wedding

#13 – John Gisel

John Gisel was born September 27, 1843 in Wilchingen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland to Leonard Gisel and Elizabetha Bachtold.  He had an older brother, John, who died in Switzerland in 1842.  His family came to the United States in about 1852.  It is believed that his mother died while on the journey over and she was buried at sea.  In the 1860 U.S. census for Franklin, Fulton County, Ohio, his father Leonard is listed with four children: George (aged 20), Anna (19), John (16), and Mary (15).  John married Margaret Rhost in about 1868.

In the 1880 U.S. census, John and Margaret were living in Franklin and had 7 children: Ella/Mary Ellen (aged 13), Martha (my great-great grandmother) (aged 10), John (8), Lydia (7), Libbie/Elizabeth (5), Samuel (3), and William (9 months).  They had a daughter, Anna, who was born in 1875 and apparently died before the 1880 census.  In 1881, they another son, Albert.

In the 1900 census, John and Margaret were still living in Franklin and had been married for 31 years.  Out of 9 children born to Margaret, 8 were still living.  By the 1910 census, John and Margaret were living on Cedar Street in Wauseon, Ohio.

On June 2, 1913, their grandson Earl Belknap (Martha’s son) married Florence Bost at their home.  From an announcement from the local paper:

The marriage of Mr. Earl E. Belknap and Miss Florence E. Bost, occurred at the home of Mr. John Gisel on Cedar Avenue Monday evening, at 4:00 o’clock, Rev. J. H. Williams, officiating.

In 1920, they were in the same place, John was 76 and Margaret was 71 and employed as a laundress.

John Gisel died November 1, 1923 of pneumonia and an inguinal hernia.  He was buried in Wauseon Union Cemetery.

Their daughter Elizabeth Bingman died April 9, 1924 of mitral regurgitation, and their daughter Martha Belknap died in an auto accident in Michigan in September 1925.  In the 1930 census, Margaret was an 83-year-old widow living alone on Cedar Street in Clinton Township, Fulton, Ohio.  She died April 20, 1939 at the age of 90 and is buried in Wauseon Union as well.

52 Ancestors #13 – No theme

Tombstone Tuesday – Martha Gisel Belknap, 1869-1925

This is a photo of a photo of Arthur Belknap (1869-1955) at the grave of his wife Martha Gisel Belknap (1869-1925) in Wauseon Union Cemetery in Wauseon, Ohio.  She died in a car accident that was mentioned in this previous post: A Tragedy and a Mystery.

Martha Gisel was born 21 June 1869 in Ohio.  In the 1880 Federal Census, she was living with her family in Franklin, Fulton County, Ohio.  Her parents were John Gisel (1843-1923) and Margaret Rhost (1848-1939), both were born in Switzerland.  Martha had a daughter Minnie on 31 Mar 1887 and married Arthur Belknap in Fulton County, Ohio on 5 March 1890.  They had four sons and a daughter (Floyd, Earl, Belva, Orville, and Kennard).  As mentioned in a previous post, Martha died in a car accident in Michigan on 15 September 1925.

Martha and Arthur Belknap with Minnie and Floyd, abt. 1893

Belknap – Bost Wedding Announcement

The marriage of Mr. Earl E. Belknap and Miss Florence E. Bost, occurred at the home of Mr. John Gisel on Cedar Avenue Monday evening, at 4:00 o’clock, Rev. J. H. Williams, officiating.

This short announcement in a Wauseon, Ohio (?) newspaper proclaimed the wedding of my great-grandparents Earl and Florence Belknap.  It took place at Earl’s maternal grandfather’s home in Wauseon on June 2, 1913.

Here is a close-up of Earl and Florence from a family photo in about 1923:

Here is a photo of them in later years: