A New Generation Added To My MT-DNA Line!

A few weeks ago, I learned of the new price increase for the microfilm rentals through FamilySearch. Nudged by this recent hike in prices, I thought it'd be a good idea to order some records for my own family, which I have been neglecting for a very long time. So, I went and ordered six microfilms for myself (a total splurge.. I know.. haha) before the new prices were installed. And I'm so glad that I did. I have been putting off further research into my European family for quite a while now; the main reason being work. When I'm at my local FHC, i'm working on research for clients and not my own. My FHC is open only a limited amount of hours a week, so it doesn't leave much time for my own personal research.

I've had a week of being able to perform research on my OWN family in microfilm for the first time in a long while, since I'm waiting on a huge box-full of microfilms to arrive, for clientele research. I've found a wealth of information on parts of my German and Polish lines so far this week, including a whole new generation on my direct maternal line.. the line that contains my MT-DNA! Thanks to a good friend of mine, I was able to have my Y-DNA and MT-DNA tested recently. When the results came in for my MT-DNA, I became more and more curious about my direct maternal line ancestors; I knew there was more to find and records to go through, but I had been too busy to research into it farther. Until now!

What I knew before I started my research this week was pretty vague: My 6th-great-grandmother on my direct maternal line was Catharina Beilharz, born 16 Jan 1761 in Hohenweg, to Johann Jacob Beilharz, a day-laborer in Hohenweg, and Barbara Winkler. That's all I knew.

A little bit of information about Hohenweg before we go further. Up until 1908, Hohenweg had belonged to the Evangelical parish of Hornberg. It now belongs to Gutach, where Catharina Beilharz was married to Christian Brohammer, in 1787. And where all of their descendants were born, married and died up until the late 19th century when mass emigration was affecting the world.

Okay, back to Catharina Beilharz. From her marriage record to Christian Brohammer, I knew her date and place of birth and her parent's names. I had previously not known about Hohenweg belonging to the Hornberg parish, so I was stumped. I had noticed some Winkler's within the Gutach records, but I didn't give it much note considering I couldn't find Catharina's baptism. So I ordered the Hornberg records, since I knew that Hohenweg was near the border between the two towns, and low-and-behold.. there was Catharina's baptism record!

The second record I searched for, was the marriage record of her parents: Johann Jacob Beilharz and Barbara Winkler. They were married on 04 Sept 1759 in Hornberg. Johann Jacob was listed as a "viduus" (a widow) and Barbara, as the daughter of Conrad Winkler. No towns were mentioned, so you assume they were from the Hornberg parish.

So who was this deceased wife of Johann Jacob, and what was her name? I found her death recorded on 07 May 1758. She was listed as Lucia, the wife of Johann Jacob "Beylhartz", a day-laborer "auf der Hohenweg", aged 44 years old. I'm now able to guesstimate (I love that word!) approximate birth years for Lucia, as well as Johann Jacob (roughly). I have since found a small handful of children born to Johann Jacob and Lucia, as well as Johann Jacob and Barbara. Most of the children share the same godparents.

While searching for the death of Johann Jacob's first wife Lucia, I stumbled upon a death record on 10 Dec 1758, for a two month old child named Barbara. She was an illegitimate daughter of a Barbara "Winckler". This peaked my interest, as the child was born nine months prior to my Johann Jacob Beilharz and Barbara Winkler getting married. Illegitimate children were common prior to marriages. So off I went, looking for this child's baptism record; she was born 11 Sept 1758. Her mother is listed as Barbara "Winckler", a day-laborer's daughter from Gutach! Those Winkler's I had noticed in the Gutach records years ago, really were MY Winkler's! The godparents of this child helped verify that the mother, Barbara Winkler, was MY Barbara Winkler. Interestingly enough, the birth entry actually listed the biological father.. who must have recognized the child as his own. He was Johann Blum of Gutach. A very common surname in that town, of which I descend from FIVE times! And you thought the deep south of America was incestuous. Ha!

Now knowing that Barbara Winkler was from Gutach all along, I went out searching for her baptism record. And found it easily enough, on 20 Mar 1736. Barbara was the youngest of five children, all born in Gutach. She was the daughter of Conrad Winkler (which we knew from her marriage record) and Catharina. Catharina! The name of my 8th-great-grandmother on my direct maternal line! Yippee! Not being content knowing just her first name, I went looking for Conrad and Catharina's marriage record. They were married on 04 May 1724 in Gutach. Conrad was the son of Hans Winkler and Catharina was the daughter of Georg Aberle, both fathers being day-laborers. Catharina and her father Georg Aberle were from a town that I'm not familiar with, and honestly had a very hard time reading. Which is very uncommon with me and these Gutach records.. I mean, I've been researching in them since 2004! I know these records like the back of my hand!

I was able to find the baptism for Conrad Winkler easily enough, on 08 Mar 1704, in Gutach. He was listed as the son of Hans and Barbara Winkler, day-laborers in Sulzbach, a community within Gutach. Finding baptisms for siblings of Conrad, I noticed that Hans and Barbara Winkler moved around quite a bit within the Gutach parish, moving from community to community between the birth of every child. Work must have been hard to come by, being day-laborers at that time. What I wasn't able to find, was a baptism for Catharina Aberle, Conrad Winkler's wife. It was no-where to be found, nor any baptisms for any children of a Georg Aberle within the Gutach parish at all. But therein lies a clue with her daughter Barbara Winkler's baptism record in 1736. Her first two godparents (there were usually three; two men and one woman) were a Jacob Blum and a Conrad Aberle. Jacob Blum was a day-laborer in Offenbach, a community within Hornberg. Conrad Aberle, whom I'm assuming is a blood-connection to Barbara's mother (Catharina Aberle), was a miller "in Hornberg".

I strongly believe that I'll find Catharina Aberle's baptism within the Hornberg parish.. and the name of my 9th-great-grandmother! The Hornberg parish records begin in the 1630's, nearly 100 years prior to Catharina Aberle's marriage in Gutach, so if I'm lucky I may find two.. or even three.. more generations! Hopefully more to come on Tuesday; cross your fingers, folks!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Ancestral Name Roulette

It's that time again! Here are the rules via Randy Seaver's blog:

1)  What year was your paternal grandfather born?  Divide this number by 100 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."


2)  Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person?


3)  Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."


4)  Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook status or a Google Stream post, or as a comment on this blog post.


5)  If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then spin the wheel again - pick a grandmother, or yourself, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, or even your children!



1)  My paternal grandfather, John E. Gombash, Sr.,  was born in 1935.  Divided by 100, that makes 19.35, rounded to 19.

2)  Number 19 on my ancestral name list is Amelia Stec (1887-1968), daughter of Jan Stec and Sophie Swiczek, who married Franciszek Grządziel in 1904.

3)  Three facts about Amelia Stec:

*  She was born in Barycz, Brzozów, Lwów, Poland and had four siblings: Katarzyna (married Franciszek Wojewoda), Mary (married George Karnas), Tekla "Tillie" (married a man surnamed Domaradzki) and Jan.

*  She immigrated on 27 Nov 1908 through Ellis Island, with her daughter Katarzyna (Catherine) Grządziel. They were going to Franciszek Grządziel in Joliet, Illinois. One of my grandfather's brother told me that Franciszek actually didn't know of their oncoming arrival, and Amelia received a horrible beating for it. What a horrible man.

*  Amelia left her husband Franciszek Grządziel sometime after 1919 and was married to a man named Franciszek Bogusz, in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1922. Amelia never divorced her first husband, Frank Grządziel. Frank what I've been told of this man, I don't blame her for getting away.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Two Degrees of Separation

I know this is two days late, but I couldn't resist this one up! It sounded so fun!! Here were the rules:


1)  Using your ancestral lines, how far back in time can you go with two degrees of separation?  That means "you knew an ancestor, who knew another ancestor."  When was that second ancestor born?


2)  Tell us in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, in a status line on Facebook or a stream post on Google Plus.

And here are several of mine!

1)  My Gombash-Adas-Domagalski Line (1886): Me (born 1986) - I met my grandfather, John Gombash Sr., a small handful of times until his death in 2005. My grandfather (1935-2005) was the son of Alex Gombash and Catherine Grządziel). Since his wife/my grandmother, Mary Louise Adas, passed before I was born.. he would have known her paternal grandmother, Josephine Domagalski (1886-1958). She died one year after my grandparents were married.

2)  My Stuempges-Weishaupt Line (1868): Me (born 1986) - I met my maternal grandmother, Elaine Stuempges Rodgers (1926-1987), as a baby. She was the daughter of Walter John Stuempges and Sylvia Martin. My grandmother knew her paternal grandmother, Anna Weishaupt. She was a native of Graber, Leitmeritz, Boehmia and was born in 1868 to Joseph Weishaupt and Maria Anna Kasper.

3)  My Martin-Märten Line (1846): Me (born 1986) - I was fortunate enough to have met my direct maternal line great-granmother sevearl times. She was Sylvia Martin Flemming (1909-2008) and the daughter of Herman Wilhelm Gustav "Gust" Martin and Maria Summ. She knew her paternal grandfather, Carl Gustav Märten, who was born 1846 in Töpperkuthen, a community belonging to Berneuchen in Kreis Landsberg, Brandenburg, Germany. He died in Polar, Wisconsin in 1934.

Genealogy Find Of The Day: Baptism of My Great-Grand-Uncle, Albert Dudash

For a while now, I've been doing the blogging theme of "FamilySearch Find Of The Day", highlighting new finds I stumble upon and discover for my family tree. I came across a great find today on Ancestry.com and I came to the conclusion I could change the title of my theme: Genealogy Find Of The Day.

Today's "Genealogy Find Of The Day" highlights the baptism record of my great-grand-uncle, Albert Dudash. He was married to my great-grandfather's sister, Elizabeth "Betty Gombash". Below is an extract and image of the record:

First Hungarian Reformed Church, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Entry Number: 96

Date of Birth: 01 November 1908

Date of Baptism: 07 November 1908

Name of Child: Albert

Gender: Male

Legitimacy: Legitimate

Father: Dudás György, csömöri szül. (born in Csömör), ref. (Reformed), bányász (miner)

Mother: Diószeghy Juliánna

Residence: Whitsett, Pa

Sponsor: Fazekas István

Sponsor: Bóczán Jánosné (Mrs. János) szül. (born) Gyüre Erzsébet

Priest: Kalassay Sándor

FamilySearch Find Of The Day: Zsa Zsa Gabor's Maternal Aunt

Today while browsing through the Budapest marriage records in district VIII, I stumbled upon the marriage record for one of Zsa Zsa Gabor's maternal aunts: Rozália Tillemann.

Zsa Zsa Gabor was the daughter of Vilmos Gábor and Jancsi Tillemann, a family of Jewish origin who are from Budapest, Hungary. Below you'll find the document and extract of Jancsi Tillemann's sister's marriage in 1923. You'll notice that Zsa Zsa's father was actually a witness to the marriage!



Entry: 1334
Place of Marriage: Budapest, District VIII
Date of Marriage: 07 October 1923

Groom: Rein Manó
Occupation: nagykereskedő (wholesaler)
Religion: Izr. (Izraelita; Jewish)
Place of Birth: Budapest
Date of Birth: 26 October 1895
Residence: Budapest District VIII, Ér street 2
Father: Rein Schnierl
Mother: Marcusson Breine

Bride: Tillemann Rozália, elvált (divorced)
Religion: Izr. (Izraelita; Jewish)
Place of Birth: Budapest
Date of Birth: 05 October 1898
Father: deceased Tillemann Jóna (Jósza) Hersch
Mother: Reinharcz Chave Feige

Witness: Heltai Simon, Budapest District VI, Rózsa street 71
Witness: Gábor Vilmos, Budapest District IV, Muzeum boulevard 31

FamilySearch Find Of The Day: Anna Weishaupt's Baptism in 1868

With the recent update to the FamilySearch database "Czech Republic, Church Books, 1552-1935", I was able to obtain a copy of my 2nd-great-grandmother's baptism record. The following are an image and extract of that record:

Date of Birth: 06 May 1868, 9a.m.

Date of Baptism: 07 May 1868

Place and House Number: Graber, Number 64

Name of Child: Anna

Religion: Catholic

Gender: Female

Legitimacy: Legitimate

Father: Weishaupt Josef, häusler in Graber N. 64; son of the deceased Franz Weishaupt, häusler in Graber N. 64 and the deceased Anna Maria, daughter of the deceased Josef Müller, häusler in Johnsdorf N. 28.

Mother: Maria Anna, daughter of the deceased Franz Kasper, feldgärtner in Graber N. 90 and Maria Anna, tocther of the deceased Josef Reichenbach, gärtner in Graber N. 4.

Sponsor: Anna Hesse, daughter of Anton Hesse, (occuptation unknown) in Graber N. 6.

Sponsor: Anna Weishaupt, daughter of the deceased Franz Weishaupt, häusler in Graber N. 64.

Sponsor: JOhanna Hackel, daughter of Josef Hackel, (occupation unknown) in Hermsdorf N. 33.

Sponsor: Josef Führich, son of Franz Anton Führich, (occupation unknown) in Graber N. 22.

Sponsor: Josef Petters, son of Ignaz Petters, feldgärtner in Johnsdorf N. 22.

The Family Tree of Tim Tebow, Quarterback of the Denver Broncos

If you know me well, you know I have a hobby of picking up and researching random celebrities' family trees. I've previously researched and posted about Aaron Rodgers, quarterback of the Green Bay Packer and also Lady Gaga.. far many more not publicly posted about. So when I began researching into Tim's family, I was pleasantly surprised at the wealth of information I was able to find.

 I began with some public data: his name, date or birth and the names of his parents. I was able to easily find the marriage record for his parents (12 Jun 1971 in Alachua County, Florida) and then found the birthdays for both of his parents from the Public Records databases on Ancestry.com. Knowing that Tim's father was a Junior/II, I figured finding Tim's grandfather under the same name would be easy enough.. and boy was I right! What I found when I entered their full name (Robert Ramsey Tebow) was Tim's grandfather's application into the SAR.. the Sons of the American Revolution! You can find the images to the left (part 1) and below (part 2). These two documents hold a wealth of information that Tim's grandfather knew and had researched, obviously with the help of the publication "The Hayes Family, Origin, History and Genealogy", by Royal s. Hayes. Tim's grandfather had researched his roots back to the Revolutionary veteran, Captain Joseph Hayes.

Have you researched into Tim Tebow's ancestry?

What interesting things did you find? :)