Happy Birthday Grandbabies!!!

October is the official month of the grandbabies! All three of  my grandchildren were born in October. We have spent a lot of the month celebrating their birth. These are the people who hope one day will be interested in all of the work I have done assembling their histories!

Church in Schwarme, Germany.

This is a picture of the church in Schwarme, Germany, which contains many of our family records.

German Church

This is a picture of the Church in Schwarme,Germany, that Anne Elisabeth Masemann Grashoff Streff attended.

Streff / Masemann-Grashoff Marriage Record

This is a copy of the marriage license from the State of Illinois for Anne Elisabeth Masemann's second marriage.

The Year 1900 in the life of Margarethe Elisabeth Masemann Grashoff Streff

This is a copy of the 1900 Federal Census in Loda, Iroquois, Illinois. Elisabeth is listed with her second husband, Mathias Streff, Step-son William Streff, daughter Anna Grashoff, and grandchildren Anna, Willie, and Ernst Sherkenbach as their mother had died the year before.

Obituaries of Elisabeth Grashoff Streff

 These are the obituaries of  Anne Elisabeth Masemann Grashoff Streff.

Death Record of Harm Grashoff.

This is a copy of the Evangel Church Records of Reide, Germany. In it you can see recorded the death of Harm Grashoff. His wife and children came to the United States after his death.

Birth of Harm Heinrich Grashoff in Reide, Germany

This is a copy of the birth record of Harm Heinrich Grashoff born October 12, 1821, in Riede, Germany to Johann Hinrich Grashoff and Anne Adelheit Lange. Harm was the first wife if Elisabeth Masemann and the father of my great grandfather Johann Heinrich Grashoff who was an immigrant to the United States.

Marriage Record of Harm Grashoff

This is a copy of the marriage record of Herman Grashoff and his first wife, Margarethe Elisabeth Schweke. You can see the translation below it. A very nice gentleman from Germany made copies of the local church records for me and sent me the photos of the Grashoff home and headstone. As you can see it states that Harm is the son of Joh Heinri and Adelh Lange. They were married October 13, 1851, in Reide, Germany. Harm would be the Great Great Grandfather of Frances Banset whose funeral was held today in Omaha, Nebraska.

Elisabeth Masemann Grashoff and her Granddaughter Frances

The baby being held in her Grandfather's, John Grashoff, arms is Frances Chandler Banset. She is beside her mother Beth Grashoff Chandler and her older sister, Florence. Florence is holding the hand of her grandmother, Maggie Grashoff. Beth is the daughter of John who is the son of Elisabeth Masemann Grashoff. The other two in the photo are Anna Grashoff and William Streff.

Frances Mildred Chandler Banset

Our family lost a branch today. Frances Mildred Chandler Banset passed away today after surgery to repair a broken hip. Frances was the daughter of W. Roy Chandler and Elizaeth (Beth) Grashoff. Frances was my grandpa Grashoff's niece. They visited here in Iowa frequently both Fran and her sister Florence. Frances was a very sweet woman who will be missed. May 16, 1913 to September 7, 2012.

Wednesday's Child!

In honor of Wednesday's Child, this blog post is about Elisabeth's daughter who died back in GErmany. Rebekka was born December 22, 1863, in Reide, Germany, She died August 10, 1872, in Reide, Germany prior to her nineth birthday. So sad to lose a child.

Personal Note

Once again, this is not really family history, but important to our family. My oldest daughter, Nicole Karol Chaffin Morgan, got the results of her PET scan today which were negative. My understanding is that means there are no signs of cancer at this time! Woo Hoo for successful chemotherapy and radiation! She of course has to continue to followup but we thank God for this gift of health!

Evangel Church Records, Reide, Germany

This a transcription I received from Dr. Fritz Garvens from the Evangel (Lutheran) Church in Riede, German.

Husband of Anne Elisabeth Masemann birth record

This is a photocopy of the birth record of Harm Heinrich Grashoff born October 12, 1821, in Reide Germany, to Johann Hinrich Grashoff and Anne Adelheit Lange. Harm died on March 10, 1877, in Reide Germany. Harm was the first wife of Anne Elisabeth Masemann Grashoff Strief.

Harm Grashoff Headstone.

This is the Grashoff family headstone where Harm is buried in Reide, Germany.

The old home place in Germany!

This is a photo of the home that Elisabeth lived in with her husband, Harm Grashoff, in Germany.

Elisabeth in Germany

This is a copy of the church record showing the Marriage of Harm Grashoff and Elisabeth Masemann.

More on Elisabeth Grashoff!

Elisabeth's death record states that she was born in Germany and died of a partial bowel obstruction. It also tells us that she will be buried in Buckley, Illinois.

More on my ancestor, Anne Elisabeth Masemann Grashoff, Streff. This is a picture of her tombstone in St. John's Cemetery In Buckley, Iroquis, Illinois, USA. She is buried beside her second husband, Mathias Streff. Her first husband, Harm Heinrich Grashoff was buried back in Germany. Elisabeth lived to be 79 years old and spent the last part of her life in Aurelia, Iowa, with her children.

More on Anne Elisabeth Masemann

Maggie and John Grashoff, Beth, Florence, and Francis Chandler, Elisabeth Masemann Grashoff Streff, Anna and William Streff.

Elisabeth arrived in America in 1881. We first find her in Illinois with her children: Lizzie, Johann, and Anna. Elisabeth married Mathias Streff April 8, 1884, in Gilman Illinois. He died in 1902. Elisabeth did come to Iowa and live with her children. After she passed away, she was sent back to Illinois and buried with Mathias, her second husband.

My begining in genealogy!

This lady began my interest in genealogy.  Anne Elisabeth Masemann was born April 2, 1836, in Schwarme, Diepholz, Lower Saxony, Germany to Heinrich Wilhelm Massemann and Rebecke Meyer. She was married to Harm Heinrich Grashoff on April 23, 1860. She had four children that I know of: Margethe Elisabeth "Lizzie", Rebekka, Johann, and Anna. Rebekka died while still in Germany at age eight. Elisabeth's husband died on March 10, 1877, in Germany. Elisabeth came to America with her three children in 1881 for reasons yet unknown. As a young person, I was fascinated with this woman's journey to a new world as a widow with three children and that began a lifelong obsession!

Lost Too Soon

My Grandparents, Albert and Alma Grashoff, second child was stillborn. Grandma related that she felt the baby died while she was in labor. Grandma said of her seven children, Romona was be far the most difficult. Romona was born dead on December 3, 1928, on her older sister's fifth birthday.

New Family Twig

My cousin's daughter, Ashley, and her husband added the latest twig on the family tree. Jaycee Marie Bernu was born on her mother's birthday on August 5, 2012. Congratulations on the new bundle of joy!!

Update

I have been updating my database and binders this summer.  I am sourcing and documenting the matzdorfs now!

Celebration!

This is not exactly a genealogy post, however, it is a very important event in our family history! My daughter, Nicole Karol Chaffin Morgan completed her chemotherapy last week! We are anticipating a long health life for her!

creative life designs: Friday Five {and a freebie}

creative life designs: Friday Five {and a freebie}

It has been a LONG time!

I have actually been doing some family history research ... but it has been a long time since I have been here! In December my oldest daughter was diagnosed with lymphoma and that has been keeping me busy since that time. We have actually made some pretty good headway in her research on her husband's family.