Archive for the ‘Steffenson genealogy’ Category

Reviewing past research yields new results

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

I had a conversation recently with a new genealogy friend about the value of reviewing family history research that we’ve done in the past.

We talked about how we may have missed clues years ago that would be obvious to us now that we know more about our families – and more about genealogy research techniques and records.

We also talked about the availability of new tools, especially those via the Internet such as databases, indexes, and digital images.

With that in mind, I decided to try to find the birth record of my great-grandmother’s sister.

I knew from the 1900 U.S. census that Emma STEFFENSON had been born in Michigan in September 1883. The family was living in Mason County, Michigan, in 1900 and had arrived in the area sometime in the 1880s. So, my assumption was that Emma had been born in Mason County.

However, in a previous search of Mason County birth records I had not found Emma’s birth record. Nor had I found her listed in the microfilmed index for Michigan births, 1867-1915. For years I thought Emma had probably been born outside of Michigan – like several of her siblings — or that her birth had not been recorded in Michigan.

I decided to search for Emma STEFFENSON’s birth on FamilySearch’s Record Search, a pilot project of FamilySearch Labs.

I ran a search for “birth/christening” records in “Mason, Michigan, United States” for the first name “Emma.” I left the last name blank.

I had decided to start with Mason County since that was the most likely birth place, and I left the last name blank because my STEFFENSONs have appeared in records with various spellings of their surname.

That search request gave me 153 results.

Then I narrowed the results further by selecting the “birth date” option and selected “1880-1889.”

That gave me 58 results.

I narrowed the results again by selecting the “last names” option and selected the letter “S.”

So now I had a list of the seven individuals with the first name “Emma” and a last name starting with the letter “S,” born between 1880 and 1889 in Mason County, Michigan.

Of those seven, the most likely result was a birth for “Emma STEVEN” on 22 Sept. 1883 in Ludington, Mason County, Michigan, to parents “Ivan STEVEN and Mary STEVEN.”

Emma’s parents’ first names would have been Swan and Mary. When I checked the digital image, however, Emma’s father’s first name did indeed look like “Swan” to me, rather than “Ivan.” The birth place for Emma’s parents was “Sweden,” which is consistent with other research results for this family.

I’m almost positive that I’ve finally found the birth record for my great-grandmother’s sister.

My success is mostly due to this new research tool, but it’s also because of my increased knowledge about genealogy research techniques in general and this family in particular.

It’s very possible that in previous searches I had overlooked Emma’s birth record because the last name was different that what I had expected to find.

Now if I only can find my great-grandmother’s birth record or birth place …

Posted in Michigan genealogy, Steffenson genealogy, genealogy research tips | 2 Comments »

Missing in Time: Nels Steffenson

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

My great-grandmother’s brother, Nels STEFFENSON, disappeared around 1892. At least, that’s what probate records in Mason County, Michigan, claim.

My great-grandmother, Celia, and her brother Nels were the children of Swan STEFFENSON and Mary HANSEN.

The entire family has been a bit elusive. For starters, their last name is spelled differently in almost every record I’ve checked. It’s STEFFENSON in the 1900 census, but it’s STAFFSON in the 1910 census and STEFFSON in the 1920 census. It’s STAFFANSSON on Swan’s (and yes, it it appears to be Swan – not Swen) naturalization records, but it’s STEPHENSEN in his wife Mary’s obituary.

The family first appears in the 1900 U.S. census in Mason County, Michigan. Celia had married William James HALL in 1898 in Mason County, and there is evidence that the family came to the area in the 1880s – but from where? Celia was supposed to have been born around 1877 in either Virginia or West Virginia, but her brother, Otto, was supposed to have been born in Sweden around 1879.

But back to Nels …

According to Mary’s obituary, published in the 11 June 1923 edition of The Ludington Daily News, Nels had not been “heard from in many years, but is supposed to be in Washington.”

Mary’s probate records (found in Mason County under the name Mary STEFENSON) sheds further light on the mystery. According to an affidavit dated 16 June 1923:

“Otto STEFFENSON, being duly sworn, says that he is a son of the above named Mary STEFFENSON, now deceased; that the only children or heirs at law surviving said Mary STEFFENSON are deponent, Otto STEFFENSON and Celia STEFFENSON HALL, respectively a son and daughter, and deponent further says that there was another son, Nels STEFFENSON, who was born, to-wit, 49 years ago, and who left Ludington during the year 1890 in company with his father, then living, and a mill crew, and went to the State of California; that two years later the father returned to Ludington, leaving the son Nels in California; that since said year of 1892 when the father returned, various of the relatives have written to said Nels STEFFENSON, but that all of such letters were returned undelivered, and that no one to deponent’s knowledge has ever heard from or been able to discover any trace of said Nels STEFFENSON since the year 1892; that in the year 1892 said Nels STEFFENSON was unmarried.”

A probate hearing was set for 9 July 1923 to determine the legal heirs of Nels STEFFENSON at the time of his disappearance. At the hearing, Otto STEFFENSON said that Nels had “disappeared 30 years ago on or about the 17th day of July 1890” and that he had not been heard from since.

Nels’ heirs at the time of his disappearance were determined to be Otto E. STEFFENSON and Celia M. HALL, which meant the two siblings split their mother Mary’s modest estate later that year.

However, this story leaves me with many questions.

1. Why did Nels stay in California? And why didn’t he communicate with family members after he and his dad parted in 1892? Or did he? The obituary says Nels was believed to be in Washington, but later probate records indicated he disappeared in California and there was no mention of Washington. Was the obituary in error? Or had Nels communicated with someone from Washington after 1892? And if so, why no mention of that in the probate documents?

2. Why is there no mention of Emma, the fourth sibling in the family? She appeared in the 1900 census records of Swan and Mary STEFFENSON as a 16-year-old daughter, but I have not yet found further mention of her. The probate records regarding Nels’ legal heirs make no reference to Emma. More interesting is the fact that Mary’s obituary doesn’t mention a daughter – deceased or otherwise – but it does mention Nels, the son that supposedly hadn’t been heard from in 30 years.

I’ve not spent a great deal of time with this mystery, but I do wonder about it from time to time. Any thoughts?

A separate but related mystery is that my great-grandmother Celia not only had a brother who “disappeared,” but one of her sons did as well. I can’t even imagine what that must have been like for her.

But that’s a story for another day.

Posted in Michigan genealogy, Steffenson genealogy | No Comments »

Born on General Lee’s Plantation? Say What?

Friday, March 7th, 2008

According to her obituary, my elusive Swedish great-grandmother, Celia Marie STEFFENSON, was born on 26 Feb. 1877 “on General Lee’s plantation in West Virginia.”

I’ve often puzzled over that.

Of course, obituaries are only as reliable as the person giving the information for the obituary, the reporter writing the obituary, and/or the editor editing them. So the obituary could be in error.

But, there was a family story that Celia was a “hillbilly,” and various genealogy sources claim she was born in West Virginia or Virginia. But born on General Lee’s plantation? Did he even have a plantation in West Virginia?

But wait, I’m thinking of the famous General Robert E. Lee from the Civil War. Maybe the obituary meant another General Lee. But if so, who? And why was it noted in the obituary?

I do know that Celia’s father, Swan STEFFENSON, worked in the lumber industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the family lived in Ludington, Mason County, Michigan.

I also know from Celia’s mom’s obituary that some time between 1873 and 1883, Celia’s parents twice “returned to Sweden, thinking to remain there, but finally returned to America as the land of their permanent choice.”

It wasn’t unusual for labor agents to recruit Europeans arriving in America to work in the lumber industry in West Virginia. This was close to the timeframe of Celia’s birth, so it’s possible this Swedish family was recruited to work in West Virginia. That may be why my Swedish great-grandmother was born in West Virginia.

But born on General Lee’s plantation? Any thoughts?

Posted in Michigan genealogy, Steffenson genealogy, West Virginia genealogy | 1 Comment »