Teachers and Preachers in Ohio, the Keller family legacy

My husband Stephen’s family came from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland to Ohio in the first half of the 19^th Century.  They settled in Clarke, Miami, and Knox counties.  They farmed the land, preached the gospel, and educated their children.

The first of the Kellers to come west was Jacob, son of Henry, who walked from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1800, three years before statehood.   He returned from this sojourn in 1806.  While he was there, his father, Henry, came by horseback to Ohio looking for land.

By 1808 the family loaded up and traveled by wagon for a four-week trip to Ohio, settling in Fairfield County.  Over time many family members also moved, including his son Benjamin.  Henry bought 1000 acres of land through the years, later selling some of it to his children.   

When my husband’s family came to Knox County, it was a rugged, wooded wilderness populated with many game animals, dangerous bears, and wolves.  Native Americans hunted and lived in this region.  While clashes occurred between the settlers and native people, many interacted more peacefully.  The forest gave way to farms as the settlers cleared the land, and native people were eventually forcibly removed to Oklahoma territory by the United States government. 

  

Benjamin’s son Henry was born in 1829 in Pike Township, Knox County, possibly near the location of his land.  Henry was a minister overseeing the Owl Creek Church of the Brethren for twenty-five years.  Two maps dated 1871 and 1896 show a school located on the corners of Henry’s land.  It appears that the maps represent two different schools from two different dates.  Note the location of Keller properties in the upper left-hand corner of each map. 

1871 Pike Township,  Knox County, Ohio, Atlas of Knox County, Ohio

1896 Pike Township, Knox County, Ohio, Knox County Atlas

 Henry’s son Daniel was born in Pike Township in 1851.  Family stories have long been shared naming Daniel as a teacher.  He seems to be the first teacher of the Keller family though one might argue that the ministers in the family were teachers of a kind.  Most family members were German Baptist Brethren or Mennonites.  In 1880 Daniel Keller appeared with his first wife Elnora and their first child Walter in the home of his father Henry on the Pike Township, Knox County, Ohio, US Federal Census.  Seeing that the census taker recorded Daniel as a school teacher was exciting.  

1880 United States Census for Daniel Keller, Pike, Knox Ohio

My husband keeps a photo of his great-grandfather Daniel and his second wife, Ardella, in our home on a lovely curly maple table his father made.  Sitting alongside is Daniel’s school handbell, a true family heirloom.  

                                                            Collection of Stephen Studebaker

Another family heirloom is the 1910 student souvenir book given to Daniel’s daughter Lola by her teacher G. S. Strausbaugh.  This wonderful little book had a photograph of the teacher on the cover, inspirational drawings and poems, and Lola’s final report card for the year.  

                                                                 Collection of Stephen Studebaker

Lola, three of her siblings, and other relatives and neighbors were included in the pupil list.  Lola was about fifteen or sixteen when this book was given to her.  Perhaps the children attended one of the schools illustrated on the maps.

                                                            Collection of Stephen Studebaker

Early class photo with G.S. Strausbaugh and Keller children, collection of Stephen Studebaker

Three of Daniel’s six children were educators at some point.  His oldest son Walter was listed as a teacher on the 1910 census.  His sister Chloe had a long career as an educator.  Walter’s half-sister, Lola, is described by her granddaughter Nancy as having been a teacher for a short time before her marriage in 1915.  No record of this exists. 

Early photo of Lola, Walter, Mabel, and Ada, collection of Stephen Studebaker

Chloe started as a public school teacher, recorded in the 1910 census.  She continued in education, probably up to the time of her retirement.  Chloe completed three years of college and served as a principal in Lorain, a city in northern Ohio, on Lake Erie.  The first record of her in this position is in the 1920 census.  Chloe lived and worked here when a terrible tornado hit Lorain in 1924.  78 lives were lost, 500 homes were destroyed, and 7000 were homeless. 

Years of successive city directories show her as a principal at Brownell Elementary School, the final record in 1937.  She declared herself retired on the 1940 census in Pinellas County, Florida.    

Aerial view looking north, 1908-1918, Lorain, Ohio.  Wikimedia Commons

Ultimately Daniel Keller’s granddaughter Ruth met Eldon, a young man who attended Manchester College, their church school in Indiana.  When her beau graduated from college, he found a job teaching vocational agriculture at Dixon Township High School in Preble County, Ohio.  We think he took this job because it was close to Ruth, who was studying at the Indiana Institute of Art.  When Ruth graduated, she stayed at her alma mater as an instructor.  In later years, Eldon was a Sunday school teacher and deacon in the New Carlisle Church of the Brethren.  

 Eldon Studebaker and Ruth Workman Studebaker, collection of Stephen Studebaker

Three of Ruth and Eldon’s four children became involved in education.  Nancy taught German and was a high school librarian for many years.  Dan served on his hometown school board for twenty-four years.  Stephen was a teacher for 35 years.  Twenty-three of those years were spent teaching on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona.  Steve’s daughter, Stephanie, has worked in education in many capacities.  Ted found another path,  working with people as a counselor.

   

The Missing Southeastern Kentucky Census Reports, what happened to James Noah Miller?

1840 Harlan County, Kentucky Census

The idea of using the census as part of my research keeps taking me to the census records I can’t find for some of my Kentucky kin.  It’s not the ones I have.  It’s the ones I don’t have.  Census records contain a wealth of information, so not having them can create mysteries that seem unsolvable.

My 2^nd great-grandfather James Miller and a woman and child to be the correct ages of my second great-grandmother Lucretia Bingham and their daughter Sarah are found on the 1840 census in Harlan, Kentucky.  James and his family lived next door to Noah Hendrickson, his brother-in-law.  James drops off the face of the earth after that.  He never shows up on another census with or without Lucretia.  Lucretia is traceable until she died in 1904.

1850 Harlan County, Kentucky Census

The 1850 census shows Lucretia with her three children in the household of her sister and brother-in-law, Noah Hendrickson, in Harlan, Kentucky.  This is probably the same location but without James in the area.  The 1860 census is missing for the entire family.  On the 1870 census, she is in Knox County, Kentucky, with three children.  Lucretia and an adult child and a grandchild show up on the 1880 census for Knox County, Kentucky.  These would now be located in modern Bell County.  I have yet to find another census showing James Miller.  The death certificate of James’ youngest daughter, born about 1863, shows James as her father.  My great-grandmother, his middle child,  listed James Miller as her father.

Where is James on any census after 1840?  James lived at least until 1862, possibly fathering all five of Lucretia’s children.  There are stories of Civil War involvement and James possibly being shot by his own men as he ran out the back door at his brother-in-law, Noah’s house.  But he is missing from the 1850 and the 1860 censuses.

Where was Lucretia on the 1860 census?  Family stories told of Lucretia working for “toting” privileges around the time of the 1850 census.  This means she worked in someone’s household and took home any leftover food for her family.  She was destitute, with no husband to help support the family.  These missing census results continue to fuel the Miller family mystery.

Burying grounds for Lucretia, her sister, and Noah Hendrickson.
 The daffodils mark their graves.

Guess Which Ancestor is Coming to Dinner, Elizabeth Steele Studebaker of Miami County, Ohio

 

Elizabeth Steele's great-grandson Isaac Studebaker

What a wonder it would be to dine with Elizabeth Steele Studebaker, my husband’s 3^rd great-grandmother.  Elizabeth Steele continues to live through the name she has passed down to her heirs, with all six of her sons carrying her maiden name as their middle name.  Her story is discussed and speculated around the tables of many of her descendants. It conjures up tales of longing and independence on the frontier.

Elizabeth was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in 1793.  Her husband, Abraham Studebaker, was born there as well.  She must have known him growing up in the same County.  He left for Miami County, Ohio, when he was only 15 years old, taking out land patents there in 1805.  It appears that he went back to Pennsylvania to marry Elizabeth in 1813. Abraham then returned to the Ohio frontier by horseback with his new bride.

The country was still wild and untamed when they came.  The troubles with Tecumseh were fresh in the minds of the settlers.  Living with relatives when they first arrived, they finally moved to their own land sometime after 1814.  Her husband built a log cabin where she raised her family of eleven children. This cabin was often used for services of the German Baptist Brethren Church, to which they belonged.  Six years after she died in 1842, he built a large brick home for his children and his new wife. 

The new wife's house

Stories are told that she must have been very lonely, living so far from her family in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.  Her niece recalled her returning to Pennsylvania alone, by horseback.  This trip would have taken more than twenty days. She left the children at home, the oldest ones, to care for the younger ones.  One story suggested her trip might have occurred in 1836 after the last child was two years old.  She is said to have stayed with her family for several months, leaving her husband and neighbors to wonder if she would return.

So many questions arise from this story.  What was her trip like? What route did she take? Did she have any of the children with her? Was she scared? Why did she stay so long?  Yes, she would be a fascinating dinner guest.   

Elizabeth's 3rd great-grandson Stephen, at their graves

First photograph from The Studebaker Family in America, 1736-1976, v. 1, by Carlock, Faust & Miller, p.188.  Second photograph from The Studebaker Family in America, 1736-1976, v. 1, by Carlock, Faust & Miller, p.57. Third photograph with permission of the photographer's son, Stephen Studebaker.

Longevity in my Danish Line of Utah Women

This group of women with their roots in Denmark is a remarkable line.  Longevity must be in the genes, or at least for my sake, I hope it is. 

Last week’s blog was the story of my Danish 2^nd great-grandmother, Anne Elizabeth.  She was born in Denmark in 1849 emigrating when she was twenty-five.  She stayed active until quite late in life, interacting with her community as long as possible.  She died in Utah, dying at the very respectable age of 99.

Anne Elizabeth center, Emma Marie far right

Emma, my great-grandmother, was born in Denmark in 1868.  She emigrated with her mother, Anne Elizabeth, when she was six.  She married and had eight children with her husband.  When her husband died in 1913, she continued her work as a seamstress to support the family.   By 1930, the children were gone, and she and her mother lived together in Utah until her mother died in 1948.   In the following years, she lived with several of her children in Arizona and California.  Her life ended in a nursing home where she required total care, living blocks from two of her daughters.  She died at the age of 103.

            Emma’s daughter, my grandmother Gretta, was born in 1896 in Utah.  She grew up in Utah and Idaho.  She moved to Seattle, where she married.  After the birth of a child, the family moved to San Francisco.  Sometime between 1930 and 1932, she divorced and married again.  Gretta, her daughter, and her new husband lived in Colorado and Arizona.   She traveled extensively, both on her own and with her sisters.  Her final move was to California.  She lived in her apartment in a senior residence until she fell and broke her hip, eventually dying at 103.

L to R, Emma Marie, Gretta, Anne Elizabeth, child Gwen

            My mother, Gwen, was born in 1919.  While growing up, she lived in Washington, California, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona.  Following her marriage to my father, we lived in Morocco, Spain, and England.  She lived for many years in the southwest after my father’s retirement.  After my father’s death, she moved into an apartment in a senior living facility.  During the last three years, she required a high level of care, but she still knew her family and friends until her death at age 96.

          

Author’s mother, Gwen

 

        This remarkable group of women lived long, full, independent lives.  I take from each of these women lessons for my life.

 

Anne Elizabeth Cramer Kaiser, Early Utah Midwife

    Anne Elizabeth Cramer, courtesy of the author

    

 

    Anne Elizabeth Cramer Kaiser, my second great-grandmother, was born in a small village in Denmark in 1849.  In 1874, Anne brought her family to the United States of America. They sailed on the Wyoming, a ship built in 1870 in Newcastle, England.  This three-week transatlantic voyage could not have been easy for the mother of three young children.  She brought her younger brother and two elderly parents on this journey. They sailed to the port of New York and traveled to Utah via the new transcontinental railroad.  Her husband, Carl Anton Kaiser, arrived at Castle Gardens, New York, the following year in 1875.  

                                                            

The Wyoming

Before Carl arrived, the family settled in Huntsville, Box Elder County, Utah, in 1874.  They became Latter Day Saints in Denmark and followed their faith to Utah. Carl farmed, and Anne raised the children and carried on the tradition of the women in her family by providing midwife services to her community.  By 1875, the family was living in Brigham City.  Both husband and wife led very active lives within their community and church.  Anne joined the choir and continued to sing with them for thirty-five years.  She sang with a combined choir at a special conference where she heard Brigham Young give his last public speech.

     Carl became a citizen in 1882.  He worked in the historic Baron Woolen Mills in Brigham City.  He acquired a passport in 1889.   According to church records, he returned to Europe, going to Bohemia in June of 1890 for his Mission.  He and another Latter Day Saint were arrested and imprisoned there after a false report that they had been ready to perform a baptism. Finally, on October 7th, 1890, he was released and allowed to return to the United States.

                                                                

                                                    Carl Anton Kaiser, courtesy of the author

     Anne continued her work as a midwife and furthered her studies, obtaining her degree in obstetrics in April of 1893, three years before statehood.  While Utah was still a territory, she received her license to practice midwifery from the Board of Medical Examiners in Salt Lake City.  

                                         License to Practice Obstetrics, courtesy of the author

She continued to practice for another thirty-eight years, delivering family, friends, and children of the community.  She delivered some 2000 babies, many of them in Box Elder County.  Her records are held by the State of Utah as some of the first birth records in the area.  She delivered my grandmother and most of my great-aunts and uncles.  

                                          Birth Record, courtesy of the author

She was a member of the Business and Professional Women's Club of Brigham City.  In 1934, she was made an honorary lifetime member of the club.  My grandmother told me Anne traveled in all weather, walking, bicycling, riding a horse, driving a buggy or bobsleigh in the winter, and riding the train to carry out her profession.  This brave working woman reminds me she is the reason I am here.  She died in Brigham City in 1948 at the age of 98.

                                                                    

                                            Anne Elizabeth Cramer, courtesy of the author