Searching for Annie's Maiden name

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

I was recently contacted by two very distant cousins who are looking for more information about their ancestor, Annie, who I have in my tree. I had her listed as Anna Katy Simitiz and one of them asked where my information came from. When I looked it up I determined that her name came either from the cousin who was asking or another cousin who has a tree at Ancestry.com. So I decided to find a more reliable source. I do not have a subscription to Ancestry.com so I turned to several other sources and often I had access to only an index.

Annie was the wife of Emory O Holmes. Emory was my 3rd cousin, 2x removed so what I had researched on him was minimal. Emory O Holmes was the son of Watson Arabia Holmes and Mary Jane (sometimes Jennie) Loan and was born 22 Sept 1884.

[Iowa Births and Christenings, 1830-1950 @FamilySearch (index only). Three records. Emory Holmes, 4th child of Watson A. Holmes (b. Canada) and Mary J Loan Holmes (age 30 b. Iowa), born 22 Sep 1885 Pleasant Valley Twp, Johnson, Iowa.]

I have Annie's birth as 4 Aug 1879, the exact date given by cousins. On the 1910 census she was born abt 1882 and on the 1920 census Born abt 1881. I could not locate an Annie Shimitz on the 1900 or 1880 censuses at FamilySearch despite the number of spelling variations that I tried.

I also did not find a marriage record by searching for Annie Shimitz so I decided to search instead for Emory Holmes and quickly found their marriage record at FamilySearch, however, her name was listed as Annie Hutz.

MARRIAGE LICENSE


State of Illinois, Cook County } ss, THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
TO ANY PERSON LEGALLY AUTHORIZED to SOLEMNIZE MARRIAGE GREETING:


Marriage may be Celebrated between Mr. Emery Holmes
Of Iowa City in the County of ---- and State of Iowa of the age
of 22 years, and Miss Annie Hutz of Chicago
in the County of Cook and State of Illinois of the age of 22 years.


Witness, PETER B. OLSEN, County Clerk and Clerk of the Court of said
Cook County, and the said Court, at my office in Chicago, this 16 day of
Jan'y A. D. 1903. [signed] Peter B. Olsen
County Clerk and Clerk of the County Court


STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF COOK} ss, I, Denis Hayes a Catholic Priest
hereby certify that Mr. Emery Holmes and Miss Annie Hutz
were united in Marriage by me at Chicago in the County of Cook and State of Illinois, on
the 18 th day of January 1903
Denis Hayes
______ __ R_ses Church


Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871-1920, FamilySearch.org

Emery Holmes was said to be of Iowa City and thus far I have only found one Emory Holmes in that area. The record says that Emery was age 22 and I suspect he lied just a bit. Annie's age is off by just a year (actually a few months). Emory and Annie Holmes had a son, Leonard J Holmes, who was born in Illinois 1903. I am confident that this is the correct marriage record.

Now that I had the maiden name of Hutz I went back to searching in the census indexes. I could find nothing for Hutz but I did find Anna Hotz.

Iowa State Census, 1885 @FamilySearch (index only). 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

So now I had found the Simitz name associated with Annie. The question was why were three children named Hotz with the Simitz family? Note that there were two girls in the home named Mary and also two children, Mary Simitz and Rosa Hotz both age 4.

I next looked at the 1880 census where I found two listings for Frank and Barbara Simitz. Tomorrow I will tackle sorting them out.

The 99+ Genealogy Things Meme

Becky Wiseman has brought back this meme at Kinexxions that she originally ran in 2009. There are a few other versions out there and she provides links.

Feel free to modify the list to suit your needs... If you wish to participate in the meme, simply copy the text below and paste it into your blog (or into a note on facebook or Google+ if you don't have a blog) and annotate the list accordingly. We're on the 'honor system' here, no one is going to check up on you! Participation is up to you, no tagging of other bloggers required. And, if you've done it before, you can do it again.

So let's play! I modified a couple to suit myself. Numbers 104-113 I found on Sheri's list at The Educated Genealogist. My comments are [in brackets].

If you've done this in the past, indicate which answers have changed. (And please link back to Becky)


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 (color optional)

Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type

1. Belong to a genealogical society.
2. Researched records onsite at a court house.
3. Transcribed records.
4. Uploaded tombstone pictures to Find-A-Grave.
5. Documented ancestors for four generations (self, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents).
6. Joined Facebook.
7. Helped to clean up a run-down cemetery.
8. Are a member of the Genea-Bloggers Group on Facebook.
9. Lectured at a genealogy conference.
10. Spoke on a genealogy topic at a local genealogy society.
11. Been the editor of a genealogy society newsletter.
12. Contributed to a genealogy society publication.
13. Served on the board or as an officer of a genealogy society.
14. Got lost on the way to a cemetery.
15. Talked to dead ancestors.
16. Researched outside the state in which I live.
17. Knocked on the door of an ancestral home and visited with the current occupants.
18. Cold called a distant relative.
19. Posted messages on a surname message board.
20. Uploaded a gedcom file to the internet.
21. Googled my name.
22. Performed a random act of genealogical kindness.
23. Researched a non-related family, just for the fun of it.
24. Have been paid to do genealogical research.
25. Earn a living (majority of income) from genealogical research.
26. Wrote a letter (or email) to a previously unknown relative.
27. Contributed to one of the genealogy carnivals.
28. Responded to messages on a message board or forum.
29. Was injured while on a genealogy excursion.
30. Participated in a genealogy meme.
31. Created family history gift items (calendars, cookbooks, etc.).
32. Performed a record lookup for someone else.
33. Went on a genealogy seminar cruise.
34. Am convinced that a relative must have arrived here from outer space.
35. Found a disturbing family secret.
36. Told others about a disturbing family secret.
37. Combined genealogy with crafts (family picture quilt, scrapbooking).
38. Think genealogy is a passion not a hobby.
[Actually I'm passionate about my hobby.]
39. Assisted finding next of kin for a deceased person.
    [Unclaimed Persons]
40. Taught someone else how to find their roots.
41. Lost valuable genealogy data due to a computer crash or hard drive failure.
    [Not much and easily found again]
42. Been overwhelmed by available genealogy technology.
43. Know a cousin of the 4th degree or higher.
44. Disproved a family myth through research.
    [I'm not a Princess :-( ]
45. Got a family member to let you copy photos
    [Have taken my old flatbed scanner on the road].
46. Used a digital camera to “copy” photos or records.
    [Several thousand images worth]
47. Translated a record from a foreign language.
48. Found an immigrant ancestor’s passenger arrival record.
    [Husband's ancestors. I've seen my ancestors ships of arrival listed in books]
49. Looked at census records on microfilm, not on the computer.
50. Used microfiche.
51. Visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
52. Visited more than one LDS Family History Center. [Haven't been to one yet]
53. Visited a church or place of worship of one of your ancestors.
54. Taught a class in genealogy.
55. Traced ancestors back to the 18th Century.
56. Traced ancestors back to the 17th Century.
57. Traced ancestors back to the 16th Century.
58. Can name all of your great-great-grandparents.
59. Found an ancestor’s Social Security application.
    [Husband's grandmother]
60. Know how to determine a soundex code without the help of a computer.
61. Used Steve Morse’s One-Step searches.
62. Own a copy of Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.
63. Helped someone find an ancestor using records you had never used for your own research.
64. Visited the main National Archives building in Washington, DC.
65. Visited the Library of Congress.
66. Have an ancestor who came over on the Mayflower.
    
67. Have an ancestor who fought in the Civil War.
68. Taken a photograph of an ancestor’s tombstone.
69. Became a member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.
70. Can read a church record in Latin.
71. Have an ancestor who changed their name.
72. Joined a Rootsweb mailing list.
73. Created a family website.
74. Have more than one "genealogy" blog.
75. Was overwhelmed by the amount of family information received from someone.
76. Have broken through at least one brick wall
77. Visited the DAR Library in Washington D.C.
78. Borrowed a microfilm from the Family History Library through a local Family History Center.
79. Have done indexing for Family Search Indexing or another genealogy project.
80. Visited the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
81. Had an amazing serendipitous find of the "Psychic Roots" variety.
82. Have an ancestor who was a Patriot in the American Revolutionary War.
83. Have an ancestor who was a Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War.
84. Have both Patriot & Loyalist ancestors.
85. Have used Border Crossing records to locate an ancestor.
86. Use maps in my genealogy research.
87. Have a convict ancestor who was transported from the UK.
88. Found a bigamist amongst the ancestors.
    [Actually a cousin]
89. Visited the National Archives in Kew.
90. Visited St. Catherine's House in London to find family records.
91. Found a cousin in a foreign country.
92. Consistently cite my sources.
93. Visited a foreign country (i.e. one I don't live in) in search of ancestors.
94. Can locate any document in my research files within a few minutes.
95. Have an ancestor who was married four times (or more).
    [Several cousins]
96. Made a rubbing of an ancestors gravestone.
97. Organized a family reunion.
98. Published a family history book (on one of my families).
99. Learned of the death of a fairly close relative through research.
100. Have done the genealogy happy dance.
101. Sustained an injury doing the genealogy happy dance.
102. Offended a family member with my research.
103. Reunited someone with precious family photos or artifacts. 
104. Joined a group at GenealogyWise
105. Joined a National Genealogy Society
106. Used Google+ for Genealogy
107. Have an ancestor who came to America as an indentured servant.
108. Have visited a NARA branch.
109. Have taken online genealogy or history course.
110. Have an ancestor who served in WWI or WWII.
111. Discovered a blacksheep ancestor.
112. Joined a lineage society.
     
113. Visited the Allen County Public Library.

Thomas Berry and the Church of England

Thomas David Berry was born 8 September 1829 in Blockley, Worcester, England and Baptized on Sunday 18 October 1829 at St Peter and St Paul's Church in Blockley. So began Thomas' lifelong association with the Anglican Church. 



St Peter's and St Paul's sits in the center of town and a church (perhaps the original foundations of the current church) are traced back to at least 1086 and the Domesday Book. In The history of Blockley in the county of Worcester, Alfred J Soden 1875 is found:

In his collections, Bigland describes the parish church of Blockley as consisting of a "spacious nave, and north aisle of the middle ages. The chancel, of the Saxon style, is probably the same structure that is described in Domesday Book."

Rev Soden describes in detail many of the changes, reconstructions and additions made to the church. A major renovation was undertaken in 1838 but overall I believe the church appeared as depicted in this 1871 picture for all of Thomas' time in Blockley.

Also included in the book is this diagram of the inside of the church.

I was unable to find any photos of the inside of the church that I can share here but there are photos of St Peter and Paul's Church, at Church Crawls. The pictures of the interior make the church seem much smaller than the outside views. I wonder at the age of the baptismal font. Was it the one used when Thomas was baptized or was it the one used when for his children?

The Berry family were poor and the men worked six days a week as agricultural laborers and the women and children worked in the silk mills. I don't know how much of a role the church would have played in their day to day life. I assume, but have not verified, that his parents and two of his children are buried in the cemetery. Thomas, his wife Jane and five of their seven children left the poverty of Blockley behind in 1874 to start a new life in Canada.

The family was enumerated on the 1881 census in Gloucester, Russell County (now part of Ottawa, Carleton County), Ontario, Canada. Dist 104, sub dist E, div 2. pg 31, family 142. Thomas gave his occupation as miller and for religion was written England. I have not discovered which church they would have attended at that time but that is where Thomas' youngest child, Amelia, would have been baptized.

Thomas moved to the Bytown section of Ottawa by 1899. On the 1901 census he listed his occupation as sexton. I also had recorded that he was listed as sexton and that he lived at 118 Nelson St. in the 1899 city directory so I started looking on google maps for Anglican churches near Nelson St and I quickly found two. All Saints on Chapel St wasn't old enough but St Alban's on King Edward Ave seemed very likely and I learned quite a bit about the history of the church but found nothing to link the Berry family to it.

So I decided to revisit the city directories to see if I could determine when he moved to Nelson St and when he was first listed as sexton rather than laborer. He is found just outside the city in the 1888-1889 directory and at 66 Nelson St in the 1889-1890 edition. His occupation was given as laborer until the 1895-1896 Ottawa City Directory when he was listed as the sexton of St. John's Church.


I quickly found St. John the Evangelist Church in Ottawa but after reading the history of the church I learned that the current St John's was Grace Church until 1913. The St John's that Thomas Berry was the sexton of was located at the corner of Sussex and Rue George, less than 3/4 of a mile from where Thomas lived. St John's on Sussex St burned in 1912 so there are no recent photos of the church. I was able to find a photo from c.1870.

Thomas died in 1907 and his wife, Jane, in 1914 and with their deaths my branch of the Berry family's association with the Anglican church ended. My great-grandfather Joseph and my grandfather, Kimberly were both members of the Congregational Church.

In writing this for the 109th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy I spent several hours learning more about the Church of England and learned much about the history of the religion and a little of the theology but I am left with many unanswered questions such as how Thomas felt about his church and why he chose St John's rather than another?

Carnival Poster by footnote Maven.