Stay Away From the Water - Part 2

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

Amanuensis Monday, hosted by John Newmark at Transylvanian Dutch.

Last week I shared the sad tale of the drowning of Frederick Grabowski. Thirteen years later the family was to loose a child to the water. Emil Grabowski was born November 1895 in Syracuse, New York to John Grabowski and Rosa Schmidt. He was the nephew of Frederick and grandson of Andrew Grabowski and Helena Schonafski.

The Telegram, Monday August 3, 1903, page 12

SEVEN YEAR OLD BOY DROWNED IN CANAL

Emil Grabowski Was Fishing With a Companion When He Fell In

Emil Grabowski, 7 years old, of 1004 North State street, was drowned in the Oswego canal at the foot of Court street about 3:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon. The boy was fishing off the canal bank when he lost his footing and slipped into the water.

Frank Smith, 6 years old, was with the Grabowski boy when the accident ocourred [sic]. The two boys were standing close together and when his companion fell into the water the Smith boy became scared and ran home and told his parents.

Hart's, McCarthy's and Wenz's undertaking wagons were soon on the scene. The body was recovered shortly before 7 o'clock by Undertaker Wenz. While the undertakers were dragging for the body a large crowd gathered. One man was standing on a log watching the proceedings when some one moved the log and the man fell in the water. He was rescued without any difficulty.

The Grabowski boy's father was killed at Cazenovia a year ago last winter. The boy is survived by his mother and a smaller brother.

The Post Standard, Syracuse, N.Y., Monday Morning. August 3, 1903, page 6

BOY IS DROWNED WHILE FISHING

Emil Grabowski Slips Into the Oswego Canal

PLAYMATE THE ONLY WITNESS

Frank Smith, Aged 9, Has Difficulty in Making Parents Understand That His Companion Is Lost

With a fishing line wound around his hand, the body of 7 year old Emil Grabowski, of 1604 North State street, was pulled out of the Oswego canal by Henry Lueberman, Undertaker Frank C. Wenz' assistant, at 6:45 o'clock last night. Three undertakers dragged the canal bottom with grappling hooks for two hours before the body was located and brought to the shore.

"They've got him," shouted someone in the crowd and with this everyone surged forward resulting in another person being precipitated into the water. A man living in ear street was standing on a small log on the canal bank when somebody stepped on the other end, turning over the log and throwing him into the water. He got a good dunking, but was immediately rescued by Mr. Lueberman.

Young Grabowski started out early yesterday to visit Frank Smith, the _ year old son of Frederick Smith of Turtle dtreet. Yesterday afternoon the boys started on a fishing trip. With their poles and lines they went to the Oswego canal, near Court street, and directly back of George Zett's stables, where the Grabowski boy slipped and fell in.

Playmate Notifies Parents.

There was no one nearby to rescue him and the Smith child ran home to tell his parents. It was with difficulty that he made it clear that his playmate had fallen into the water and was drowning, but all that could be found of the missing lad was his hat, which was floating on the surface of the water.

Hatr's and McCarthy's undertaking rooms were notified and there was a lively race between the ambulances through North State street. They were called to about the same time - 5 o'clock. After dragging nearly two hours they gave up the task and were uncertain if the boy was drowned or was only missing. Undertaker Wenz had also been notified of the drowning and sent his men to the scene. They were more successful, securing the body after a few minutes work.

The Grabowski child's father also had a tragic death. He was employed by the People Ice Company and about eighteen months ago, while assisting in filling the company's ice house on Cazenovia lake, was struck on the head by a crank from a piece of machinery and almost instantly killed.

Neighbors gather about the home of the child's mother, Mrs. Rose Grabowski, last night, and endeavored to console her, but with little success. Of the family which consisted of four less than two years ago there are now living Mrs. Grabowski and a son about five years old. The body of the older brother is at Wenz undertaking rooms in North Salina street, where it will remain until funeral arrangements are completed.

Stay Away From the Water - Part 1

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

Amanuensis Monday, hosted by John Newmark at Transylvanian Dutch.

Frederick Grabowski was the son of Andrew Grabowski and Helena Schonafski. He was born about 1864, came to the United States c. 1885 and married Lena ____ c. 1887. They had one son, Frederick A Grabowski, born July 1888 Syracuse, Onondaga, New York.

I found this article several years ago. It lists his survivors as an aged mother and sister. I was therefore unable to determine how he fit into the family.

The Evening Herald: Syracuse, Friday, August 1, 1890; pg 7

DROWNED IN GILBERT'S POND

Frederick Grabowsky Sank While His Helpless Wife Looked On.

Frederick Grabowsky, a Pole, went swimming in Gilbert's Pond, near St. Joseph's cemetery, about 8 o'clock last evening. When he returned home he complained of the heat, and concluded to take a bath. His wife accompanied him to the pond. After wading out into the water some distance he suddenly disappeared, and did not rise to the surface. There is a deep hole at this point. Undertaker Frank Wenz dragged the pond and recovered the body in a short time. Mrs. Grabowsky was almost frantic and she could barely be restrained from plunging into the water. The remains were transferred to the family home, No. 404 Spring street.

Grabowsky was twenty-five years old and was employed in the scalding room of Thomas Ryan's brewery. Besides a widow and one child, the deceased leaves an aged mother and one sister, both living in this city.

Recently I found this article which helped me place him in the family tree. I don't know wwy the first article didn't list his father or other siblings.

The Syracuse Daily Standard, (Date illegible, 1890), page 4

DROWNED IN GILBERT'S POND

Frederick Grabowsky Loses his life While Bathing.

A sad case of drowning occurred in Gilbert's pond in Pond street near St. Joseph's cemetery at 8:30 o'clock last evening. After Frederick Grabowsky, who lived with his wife and child in a comfortable home in Spring street, took a notion to go bathing and started for Gilbert's pond, which is within a stone's throw of his house. The young man being unable to swim went into the pond where the water was supposed to be shallow. He had been in the water only a few moments when he slipped into a hole about twelve feet deep and was drowned. Grabowsky's wife stood on the bank of the pond with a baby in her arms, and as her husband sunk into his watery grave she tried to jump after him but was held back by some boys. Undertakers Wenz and Gang were summoned and after dragging the pond for an hour or more one of Mr. Wenz's assistants pulled the body in the shore with his grappling hooks. Grabowsky's mother, who was almost distracted when the body of her son was drawn from the water, had to be helped to her home. The remains were removed to Wenz's undertaking rooms in North Salina street. The unfortunate man was a son of Andrew Grabowsky, a laborer, and leaves a wife and one child. He was in his 26th year, and was employed at Ryan's brewery.

SNGF - A new Meme Going Around

For this week's round of Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Randy has challenged:

Your missin, should you decide to accept it is to:

1)  Participate in the Ancestors GeneaMeme created by Jill Ball on the Geniaus blog.

2)  Write your own blog post, or add your response as a comment to this blog post, in a Facebook Status post or note, or in a Google+ Stream item.

The Rules:

The list should be annotated in the following manner:
Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize (colour optional)
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type
You are encouraged to add extra comments in brackets after each item 

Which of these apply to you?

1.  Can name my 16 great-great-grandparents
2.  Can name over 50 direct ancestors
[Well, not off the top of my head and I'm not going into my database to count the exact number but well over 50]
3.  Have photographs or portraits of my 8 great-grandparents
[I have a least one photo of 7 of the 8. I hold out hope that there is a cousin out there that has a photo of James C Kelly to share]
4.  Have an ancestor who was married more than three times
[Not that I've discovered but there are a couple of cousins that fit the bill]
5.  Have an ancestor who was a bigamist   
[No bigamists in the tree that I can think of off the top of my head. At least one polygamist cousin]
6.  Met all four of my grandparents [Grandpa Carlisle died when I was a month old]
7.  Met one or more of my great-grandparents
[All had died before I was born]
8.  Named a child after an ancestor
[Both my children are named for ancestors]
9.  Bear an ancestor's given name/s
[I was named for my great-grandmother, Charlotte T.K. Hollington Berry Sanders.
10.  Have an ancestor from Great Britain or Ireland
[Most of my ancestors were from the British Isles]
11.  Have an ancestor from Asia
12.  Have an ancestor from Continental Europe
[Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands]
13.  Have an ancestor from Africa
14.  Have an ancestor who was an agricultural labourer
[A long line of farmers]
15.  Have an ancestor who had large land holdings 
[Define large?]
16.  Have an ancestor who was a holy man - minister, priest, rabbi
[My granduncle was a Baptist minister]
17.  Have an ancestor who was a midwife
[I assume so. Anna Camfield Carlisle was called when a baby was coming but was never refered to specifically as a midwife]
18.  Have an ancestor who was an author
[Several cousins but no ancestors that I've discovered. I do have a DESCENDANT I'm quite proud of]
19.  Have an ancestor with the surname Smith, Murphy or Jones
[Susannah Smith, currenly lots of bricks by her name]
20.  Have an ancestor with the surname Wong, Kim, Suzuki or Ng
21.  Have an ancestor with a surname beginning with X
22.  Have an ancestor with a forename beginnining with Z
[Zerrababel Eager]
23.  Have an ancestor born on 25th December
[A DESCENDANT was]
24. Have an ancestor born on New Year's Day
25.  Have blue blood in your family lines
26.  Have a parent who was born in a country different from my country of birth
27.  Have a grandparent who was born in a country different from my country of birth
[My paternal grandparents were born in Canada]
28.  Can trace a direct family line back to the eighteenth century
29.  Can trace a direct family line back to the seventeenth century or earlier
30.  Have seen copies of the signatures of some of my great-grandparents
31.  Have ancestors who signed their marriage certificate with an X
32.  Have a grandparent or earlier ancestor who went to university
[Grandma went to business school. Great-grandma went to Normal school]
33.  Have an ancestor who was convicted of a criminal offense
34.  Have an ancestor who was a victim of crime
35.  Have shared an ancestor's story online or in a magazine (Tell us where)
[Doesn't my blog count?]
36.  Have published a family history online or in print (Details please)
37.  Have visited an ancestor's home from the 19th or earlier centuries
[Carlisle home, Buchanan, MI. It was torn down a few years sgo.]
38.  Still have an ancestor's home from the 19th or earlier centuries in the family
39.  Have a  family bible from the 19th Century
[Cousin has the Bible, I'm happy to have photocopies]
40.  Have a pre-19th century family bible

The Rest of the Story

My husband's great-grandfather was August Grabowski (1863-1943). While searching newspapers at Newspaper Archive several years ago I found the following.

The Post Standard, April 26, 1905, (pg not recorded)

Charged with Stealing Ducks

Accused of stealing eight ducks, valued at $1 each, August Grabosky of No. 118 Park street alley was this morning arrested by sergeants Silas Bergen and Herman Eabold. Mary Smith of Sixth North street was the complainant.

Stealing ducks - really!? Not the type of news story I was hoping for! As I continued to work on my husband's tree I learned that there were three men in Syracuse, NY in 1905 that this article could have referred to, including my husband's great-grandfather. As I gathered more records I was able to determine through census records and other newspaper articles that the August Grabowsky named in the above clip was someone that probably is connected to my husband's family but as yet I have been unable to determine just how.

Even not knowing how the other August Grabowsky fits into the tree I was happy to find the following article from a different paper at Old Fulton History.

The Syracuse Journal, Wednesday, April 26, 1905, page 2

8 FAT DUCKS

Mr. Smith Didn't Want Them Around So He Sold Them Unknown to His Wife and Trouble Follows

Mrs. Mary Smith of Sixth North-st. was the owner of eight fat ducks. Her husband had frequently complained about the ducks, advising her to sell them. She refused to do so. A few days ago she discovered that the ducks had disappeared. Lated [sic] she learned that the fowls were in the possession of August Grabosky [sic] of 118 Park-st., a driver on one of the dog catcher wagons of the S.P.C.A.

Mrs. Smith swore out a warrant for Grabowsky, charging him with petit larceny. Grabowsky was arrested early Wednesday morning by Sergeant Silas Bergon and Herman Eabold. In Police court he denied that he had stolen the ducks. It devoloped [sic] that Mrs. Smith's husband had sold the ducks to Grabowsky, whereupon the Justice discharged him.

So it always pays to dig a little deeper!

August M Grabowsky of 118 Park Street Alley was born 8 Aug 1874 in Germany, the son of Julius F Grabowsky and Elizabeth Smith. This family of Grabowsky's seemed to consistently spell their name either Grabowsky or Grabosky.

Annie C Hotz - Timeline

This is the fifth and final installment in a series detailing my research of Annie Katy Hotz (Shimitz) Holmes and her family. I hope that by presenting the information I've found in this format that my cousins may be able to learn more about Annie and her ancestors. I have included me suggestions for further research.

1846, October - Mother, Barbara Vrchoticky born Bohemia

c.1848 - Father, James Hotz/Kotz/Krotz born Bohemia

1870 - Parents census records

Clear Creek, Johnson, Iowa, USA, page 13, family 89. Barbara WHITE, age 24 b. Bohemia. With parents Frank & Catherine WHITE.

"The nucleus of the Union township colony was formed by Peter Kodl (Cole) and Frank Vrchoticky (usually known as Bily or White), and soon after Thomas Neuzil, Hibl, Hrade, and others from Iowa City and Newport township followed." SOURCE: THE BOHEMIANS IN JOHNSON COUNTY By B. Simek (pronounced Shimek) http://www.elyiowa.com/history/bohemians_in_johnson_co_shimek.pdf

English River, Washington, Iowa, page 30, family 212. James Krotz, age 22 b. Bohemia. In home of Frank & Annie Krotz.

1874 - February 4. Parents marriage.

James Hotz and Barbara WHITE. Johnson County, Iowa, USA. FamilySearch.org. Iowa Marriages, 1809-1992. Index.

Since this is an index record the original should be found and evaluated.

c.1876 - Sister, Mary Hotz born.

1879 - August 4, Annie C Hotz born.

On the 1895 census Annie's place of birth was listed as Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa however at the time of the 1880 census the family was living in Lime Creek, Washington County, Iowa. Births were not registered until 1880.

Catholic church records may exist in both places and should be checked for Annie's baptism record. Sisters Mary and Rosa may also have baptism records.

1880 - Census - Lime Creek, Washington, Iowa, page 6C.

James Kotz, age 32 b. Czechoslovakia
Barbara Kotz, age 29 b. Czechoslovakia
Mary Kotz, age 4 b. Iowa
Annie C Kotz, age 1 b. Iowa (indexed as KATZ at FamilySearch)

1880 - August 17. Death of father.

James Kotz, age 36 born Bohemia, died Lime Creek, Washington County, Iowa. Iowa Deaths and Burials, 1850-1990 at FamilySearch.org.

Since he is listed in the death index the original record should be located. The index also says he was buried in Richmond so cemetery records could be checked. A search should be made for a probate file. Additionally, I would do further research on the parents of James, shown on the 1870 census, and try and locate probate files for them which may list the children of James as heirs.

c.1881 - Sister, Rosa Hotz born Richmond, Washington, Iowa.

I did not find a record for her in the index however a search of the birth records should be made.

1884 - Frank Shimets marries Barbara Choe, 15 Jan 1884.

Iowa Marriages, 1809-1992 @FamilySearch, index only.

The original of this record really needs to be examined!

1885 - Iowa State Census, Highland, Washington, Iowa, page 15, family 79:

Franklin Simitz, age 35
Barbra Simitz, age 38
Mary Simitz, age 4
Mary Hotz, age 9
Anna Hotz, age 6
Rosa Hotz, age 4

c.1888 - Half-brother, Frank J. Shimitz born Washington County, Iowa.

There should be a record of this birth and it should be examined to see if it gives any clues that might apply to Annie.

1895 - Iowa City, Johnson, Iowa, Ward 3

Barbra Shimitz, age 49 born Bohemia
Annia Shimitz, age 16 born Iowa City, Iowa
Rosa Shimitz, age 14 born Iowa City, Iowa
Frank Shimitz, age 7 born Iowa City, Iowa

1900 - Census record for Annie needs to be found.

By 1900 Annie's mother, Barbara, was a widow, living with her youngest child, Frank. She stated that she had had four children and all were still living.

The census record for all three of the Hotz daughters should be located. Chances are that eldest daughter, Mary Hotz, was married by this time and the record should also be located.

1903 - January 18 Annie Hotz married Emery Holmes, St Rose of Lima Catholic Church, Chicago, Cook, Illinois.

The marriage license and church record have both been located.

1903 - April 14 Birth of son, Leonard Joseph Holmes

Family members have said he was born in Chicago, Cook, Illinois. Census records do indicate that he was born in Illinois.
I did not find his record in the Cook County birth index. I did not find a baptism record for him in the St. Rose of Lima records. His birth record and/or baptism records should be located.

1905 - Iowa State census

Sometime between 1903 and 1906 Annie and Emery returned to Iowa. A search of the 1905 census may help determine when.

1906 - December 11 Birth of son, Lloyd Edward Holmes, Pleasant Valley, Johnson, Iowa

Louyd Edward Holmes, child of Emory O Holmes and Anna Della Hotz. Iowa Births and Christenings, 1830-1950 at FamilySearch, index only.

Original record should be checked to verify Anna's name. Other records have her middle initial as C. and family indicates she used the middle name Katy.

Beyond this I would gather every census record.

My cousin tells me that Annie and Emery divorced and that Annie remarried. Both the divorce record and her second marriage record may include her maiden name.

I am told that Annie's death record does not list her parents names but it should still be included as part of a complete record of Annie.

More Records for Annie

This is the fourth in a series detailing my research of Annie Katy Hotz (Shimitz) Holmes and her family.

Three very kind people, Deborah Andrew of The Sum of All My Research, Donna Hague Wendt of Another Day With Donna ..... Genealogy - Family History Blog and a reader who wishes to remain anonymous, all went to the trouble to look up the 1880 census that was recorded in the index at FamilySearch for the James KATZ family. Thank you all! Here is a cropped image of the record.

Personally, I think it looks like KOTZ but certainly the handwritting leaves room for other interpretations.

Deborah Andrew also found a possible record for Annie in the 1900 census. Due to the immigration information included for that Annie I don't believe it is for my subject but I'm hanging onto it in my file in case it makes sense later.

The majority of my research has been conducted at FamilySearch where they have added Chicago Catholic church records. They are browse only and I missed them altogether. Annie in Austin of The Transplantable Rose was not only kind enough to point out the record set to me, she found Annie and Emery's church record and told me exactly where it was! Thanks Annie!

For Annie's marriage to Emery Holmes we now have three surname variations created from a single life event!

1. On her marriage license she was recorded as Annie HUTZ.

2. Her name on the record of her marriage at St Rose of Lima is Annie HOTZ. The marriage license number is a match. Witnesses were Robert Shrader and Celia Shrader. No parents names were given.

FamilySearch.org. Illinois, Chicago, Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925. St. Rose of Lima (Chicago), Marriages, 1882-1915, page 116 (image 63 of 97).

3. Also included with the St Rose of Lima records is a hand written index where her name was written ANNA HOLTZ.

FamilySearch.org. Illinois, Chicago, Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925. St. Rose of Lima (Chicago), Marriage index, 1882 (no page number, image 40 of 110).

So we now have Katz, Kotz, Holtz, Hotz, Hutz and Shimitz. In my next (and last post) I'll recap what I have in an easier to follow timeline format. I will be including missing items, records that need more scrutiny and other thoughts as to where my cousins can look for more answers.