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52 Ancestors Week 10: Strong Women

I have a number of women I’d call strong women in my genealogy. I’m picking one not at random, but also understanding that there are other strong women in my tree too.

Today, I’m focusing on my 3x great-grandmother: Anna (Dexler) Hagerl. She’s actually one of the women in my website’s header:

She’s sitting in the front row, 2nd from right. Her husband, Frank Hagerl, is in the front row 3rd from the right. Surrounding them are all of their children (my 2nd great-grandmother is in the back row, 3rd from the right).

Anna was born in Germany, likely Bavaria, on 23 Nov 1849. ((Michigan, “Death Records, 1921-1947,” database and images, Library of Michigan (http://seekingmichigan.org : accessed 15 March 2018), entry for Anna Hagerl, 20 Feb 1932, state office no. 73 4155, Michigan Department of Community Health.)) Her mother was also an Anna – Anna (Stockner) Dexler, but I’m not sure who her father was just yet. ((Michigan, “Death Records, 1897-1920,” database and images, Library of Michigan (http://seekingmichigan.org : accessed 15 March 2018), entry for Anna Dexler, 18 Jan 1901, registered no. 21, Michigan Department of Community Health.))

She met and married Frank Hagerl sometime in Bavaria and before the birth of their first son, Andrew, in 1872. Then came Mike in 1875, Anna in 1876, Frances in 1878, Joe in 1880, and Margaret in 1886. ((1900 U.S. Census, Saginaw County, Michigan, population schedule, James Township, ED 37, sheet 1, page 237 A (stamped), dwelling 4, family 4, Frank Hagerl household; image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 March 2018); citing NARA microfilm T623.)) Whew!

I’m still not sure what drew them out of Bavaria. Where they ended up in Michigan had a large Bavarian population, so it’s likely they had friends and neighbors who helped pull them to the area.

Either way, it is likely that Frank left first. He’s not on the passenger list with Anna and the children, so it’s very likely. On 25 September 1889, Anna arrived with her children in tow in Baltimore, Maryland. The record shows that:

  • Anna Hagerl, 40, female, wife – from Germany and Baltimore was her destination.
  • Andreas – 14, male [he would have been closer to 17]
  • Michael – 11, male [he would have been closer to 14]
  • Anna – 11, female [she would have been closer to 13]
  • Frances – 10, female [she would have been closer to 12]
  • Josef – 8, male
  • Marget – 3, female

Anna and her family were in steerage, which was a likely crowded and without much fresh air. Steerage has never been shown to be a fun nor easy way to travel. But it was cheaper and with a large family, it was likely their only option.

The family had 3 pieces of luggage total. Here you are, completely removed from not only your family and friends, but your entire country, language, and customs and thrown into a new world. Voluntarily, of course, but that had to be a large shock. They left everything behind that didn’t fit into three pieces of luggage. ((“Baltimore Passenger Lists, 1820-1948,” database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 March 2018), entry for Anna Hagerl, aboard Main, Breman to Baltimore.))

Can you imagine what that must have been like? Six children with you? The youngest only three? Grant it there were older children to help take care of the others, but what a journey!

Thanks to the 1900 census, I do that Anna’s mother made the journey around the same time as she did. I have yet to find her passenger list! And I know that two more children came after she arrived – John and Thresa. She was 41 and 43 when she had those last two!

Besides making that journey, leaving behind everything she had ever known and coming to a new country, she faced more tragedies after she arrived. Out of four of her daughters, she lived to see three of them buried.

Her oldest daughter, Anna, died in 1914 from shock following a tonsillectomy. ((Michigan, “Death Records, 1897-1920,” database and images, Library of Michigan (http://seekingmichigan.org : accessed 15 March 2018), entry for Anna Breidenbach, 28 July 1914, registered no. 468, Michigan Department of Community Health.))

Six years later, her daughter Margaret (my 2nd great-grandmother) died of puerperal septicemia, which was common after childbirth.((Michigan, “Death Records, 1897-1920,” database and images, Library of Michigan (http://seekingmichigan.org : accessed 15 March 2018), entry for Margaret Ann Almy, 26 July 1919, registered no. 545, Michigan Department of Community Health.)) There was no child mentioned though (no death certificate either), so perhaps she had gone into labor much too early. Although my great-grandmother did talk about her siblings and family often, there wasn’t any mention of what happened here.

Lastly, Francis died in a horrible accident in 1921. She had been run over by an car and killed. The cause of death on her death certificate states: “every bone in [the] upper part of her body was broken.” ((Michigan, “Death Records, 1921-1947,” database and images, Library of Michigan (http://seekingmichigan.org : accessed 15 March 2018), entry for Frances ryder, 28 Nov 1921, registered no. 807, Michigan Department of Community Health.))

Anna, however, lived to be 82 and died in 1932, in her adopted country and home in Saginaw, Michigan.

The things this woman had seen and been through make her my spotlight for strong women. Although I’m sure to her it was just what you did in life: carried on, kept going, stayed strong, etc. I also got the impression that they were a large and loving family through the stories from my great-grandmother. That, to me, shows a lot more of her strength of character than these records can really do justice.

Besides being on my website as they are, my great-grandmother always made these amazing lebkuchen cookies every Christmas that I know have a suspicion may have been her mother’s recipe and could have even come from Anna. I have to see if I can track that down…

Fearless Females: Honoring a Female Ancestor

The Fearless Female prompts were created and posted at The Accidental Genealogist – this prompt is: March 29 — Create a free Fold3 Memorial Page or a Genealogy Trading Card at Big Huge Labs for a female ancestor… Tell us about who you’ve selected and why and then post a link to what you’ve created.

I created a fold3 memorial page for my 2nd great-grandmother, Theresa (Kiebel) Langeneck Schmidt.

fold3 memorial

Theresa is the one of the first immigrants I ran into on my family line. There are only four of my 2x great-grandparents who were born in another country, including her. Because of that, I tend to treasure them as they are rather mysterious to me and tend to be more fun (and frustrating) to research.

Theresa first came over to Pennsylvania with her parents sometime between 1907-1910 (when her youngest sister was born and when she married in PA in 1910). Shortly after she married Frederick Langeneck, my great-grandfather was born (7 months after the marriage – makes me wonder if it was a forced marriage because she was pregnant). They moved back to Austria-Hungary after that. The family story is that Frederick had to go back to fight in World War I on the Austria-Hungary side. We believe he died over there in 1916 and I have found documents stating that a Frederick Langeneck did die there, but it turns out there are several Langenecks there and Frederick is a common name, so I need to confirm that. Either way, Theresa returned in 1920 with her ten-year old son, my great-grandfather, and went to Michigan where her parents and siblings lived.

When Theresa and her son returned to the United States, she came with $16 dollars and had to wait until a relative came and received her at Ellis Island. She was held as an LPC , a likely public charge. Because she was a widow with a child, she was likely considered to be a possible burden on society. It was likely a male relative who had to come and claim her and show she wouldn’t be a burden, that she had family to help her. The two stayed at Ellis Island for at least 9 dinners, so a bit over a week while waiting for someone to come and get them.

In 1921, she married Michael Schmidt and had two more children. She died young, in 1934, of heart disease.

Theresa, as it turns out, is a family name. Her mother’s name was also Teresa and she named her first daughter Theresa. My great-grandfather then named his first born daughter Theresa (although we called her Betty). I can’t get further back on her mother’s line to see if it continues because the German documents are difficult for me to read. I hope to be able to get further on that line someday soon though!

Fearless Females: Family Heirlooms

The Fearless Female prompts were created and posted at The Accidental Genealogist

I’m trying to catch up and I know not all prompts will apply! So I’m on the 6 March prompt: Describe an heirloom you may have inherited from a female ancestor (wedding ring or other jewelry, china, clothing, etc.) If you don’t have any, then write about a specific object you remember from your mother or grandmother, or aunt (a scarf, a hat, cooking utensil, furniture, etc.)

My great-grandmother, Erma (Almy) Witherell died when I was 14. As per usual when someone passes, there was a great many things to go through, especially since my great-grandfather had died 2 years before her (we often say she died of a broken heart). I have vague memories of being at my grandparents home (they had a duplex which they shared with my great-grandparents) and there being a lot of items. Many items were saved, I believe, as some were passed on to me as the family historian.

My sister and I were allowed to choose one piece of jewelry from my great-grandmother’s collection at one point as well. I don’t remember what my sister chose, but I still have mine:

Great grandma's necklace

I have no idea when my great-grandmother bought it, if it’s old, or even if it’s valuable. I am not much of a jewelry person in that regard. Nonetheless, I do love this necklace and still wear it to this day. It’s valuable to me because of who owned it before me and the memories I have of her.

Funny enough, when my grandmother died, I was also allowed something of hers so I choose her hope chest (which is FILLED with all the family photos from her side and my grandpa’s) and a small jewelry armoire. My grandpa chuckled at that, mentioning he remembered buying that for her one Christmas. Again, nothing special as he probably purchased it at some random store (like Target or something), but to me it’s special because of who had it before me. Grandma did have a lot of jewelry (both women were quite stylish) so it reminds me of her every time I see it, even though I do not own a lot of jewelry. What I do own is in there but it’s mostly full of old paraphernalia of mine – photos, old driver’s licenses, old university IDs, journals, etc. etc.

The value in these items is purely sentimental but that is what an heirloom is about! Do you have any heirlooms that have been passed down in your family?

Fearless Female: Marriage

The Fearless Female prompts were created and posted at The Accidental Genealogist

The 4th and 5th prompts are on marriage with grandparents/great-grandparents, etc., and how they met. I do have records and some pictures of my grandparents marriage, but I really want to share my favorite story of how my paternal grandparents met, as told to me by my grandfather’s sister.

011 grandma and grandpa wedding

Before my grandfather’s funeral, the officiate did a unique thing (to me anyway) where the close family all came and sat in a circle and shared stories about my grandfather. It was an awesome way to remember him and I really think he would have loved that.

My aunt, his sister, told the story of how they met. I felt it was so completely my grandfather and I loved it! This is from memory so I’m not positive I’m going to get all the details correct, but the essential parts are there.

My grandmother worked at a store and my grandfather had to stop by for a delivery. The manager (owner?) asked my grandfather if he’d help him out with a problem he had. Apparently there was a leak in the basement that caused quite a mess so he asked if my grandfather could help clean it up. He said yes of course and went downstairs to start cleaning up the mess. A little while later, my grandmother came down to see if she could help – and found my grandfather cleaning up the mess with what was available around him – disposable pads.

I can picture my grandmother nearly falling over with laughter but not wanting to embarrass my grandfather who really meant well! Everything turned out wonderfully, (obviously, since I exist) as this picture – one of my favorites of the two of them – shows:

127 G-Pa and G-Ma

Do any of you have good stories about how a couple in your family met?

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