Many months ago I wrote how I was looking for information on one of my ancestors. It's my great great great grandmother, Kate Clouser. I was looking for her supposed husband's name, who was the father of her son, George. Searching high and low, I have come no closer to finding anything about him, besides the fact that his information is elusive.
Today, however, I took a trip to the Lebanon County Historical Society. The place rocks! The historian, Brian (?) was so very helpful in leading me to the information I needed to solve some pieces of the puzzle. He spent hours helping me dig for information, and I am so thankful for his time and expertise! While we were not able to find anything about George's biological father, we did find that Kate got married in 1885, when George was about 18 years old. He (Brian) found the name of the church she attended, the marriage information – to whom, and when. He found where she's buried, and even a copy of a last will and testament of her father.
It turns out, her father bequeathed (nice word, eh?:) his entire estate to her. I assume this is where she lived out the rest of her life. Who would give up something like that? When I put these two pieces of information together – that she received his estate, and that she married Andrew Hasser – I was able to clearly see her information on the census records I already have printed for George Shindel, post-1885. There she was, on ALL my print outs. Right next to her son, living in the same house my parents now own, was Andrew and Catherine Hasser.
I don't know why I never noticed there were more people living in the house before. It's as if their names were invisible, but right there in front of my face. How wild is that? I can't quite get over it.
So months and months of searching have finally brought me some awesome information. The house that my parents are currently trying to sell has been in my family for generations and generations and generations. How far back, I have yet to explore. Ever since I have been searching for information on Kate and her family, I have been drawn to this house, particularly with the idea that I'd like to use it for my private facilitating work. I'm not entirely sure how that will work, but I'm still drawn to it. I hope it can be a place not only for healing within my own family, but perhaps for others as well.
Awesome find!
Today, however, I took a trip to the Lebanon County Historical Society. The place rocks! The historian, Brian (?) was so very helpful in leading me to the information I needed to solve some pieces of the puzzle. He spent hours helping me dig for information, and I am so thankful for his time and expertise! While we were not able to find anything about George's biological father, we did find that Kate got married in 1885, when George was about 18 years old. He (Brian) found the name of the church she attended, the marriage information – to whom, and when. He found where she's buried, and even a copy of a last will and testament of her father.
It turns out, her father bequeathed (nice word, eh?:) his entire estate to her. I assume this is where she lived out the rest of her life. Who would give up something like that? When I put these two pieces of information together – that she received his estate, and that she married Andrew Hasser – I was able to clearly see her information on the census records I already have printed for George Shindel, post-1885. There she was, on ALL my print outs. Right next to her son, living in the same house my parents now own, was Andrew and Catherine Hasser.
I don't know why I never noticed there were more people living in the house before. It's as if their names were invisible, but right there in front of my face. How wild is that? I can't quite get over it.
So months and months of searching have finally brought me some awesome information. The house that my parents are currently trying to sell has been in my family for generations and generations and generations. How far back, I have yet to explore. Ever since I have been searching for information on Kate and her family, I have been drawn to this house, particularly with the idea that I'd like to use it for my private facilitating work. I'm not entirely sure how that will work, but I'm still drawn to it. I hope it can be a place not only for healing within my own family, but perhaps for others as well.
Awesome find!
Wow!! that's awesome!
ReplyDeleteSuper cool! Never knew that!!!
ReplyDelete