Mini-Biography Challenge: Melvin H. "Tom" Eggers

Just catching up on January's mini-biography challenge that Tom Bopp presented Feb 14th...


Tom spoke, with a power point back up, about his Grandfather, Martin H. "Tom" Eggers, born 18 Feb 1894 in Farrar, Perry Co., Missouri. He lived almost 92 years there. See the photo of baby Martin or "Tom" and his big family in Farrar. This 1895 photo is of the family of Henry Eggers, Grandpa Tom's father.

Perry County, Missori was the area was where many Saxons (from Germany) emigrated to (1839) and founded today's Missouri Synod of the Luthern Church. Language in Grandpa "Tom's" home was German, and their church didn't begin services in English until the 1950s.

"Grandpa Tom" was apart of "Eggers & Co." from 1920 to 1966, and was the Postmaster from 1929 until 1959.

Of the many memories Tom Bopp has of "Grandpa Tom", two stand out:



1) " His appearance did not seem to change much as he aged. Photos showing him holding me in 1942 look almost the same as the 1977 photo of him playing with my son."



2) He was 'way ahead of his time, arranging for his daughters to attend high school in Perryville, Missouri, even though they had to pay rent and live away from home. " See the photo of Tom Bopp's mom playing basketball at that distant high school. Tom says that he thinks of this as "Title Neun" or a precursor to Title IX of today - (I think this has a special meaning to today's educators. )









Coming Attractions at the Honolulu County Genealogical Society on April 11th:
Member, Ann Sloat, will present a mini-biography of her grandmother Sarah Sweeley:
Born: 18 April 1888 Lodi, Clay Co., South Dakota --- Died: 19 Feb 1975, Los Angeles, California
Teacher, supreme story teller, determined survivor, chin up optimist.
She sounds like a wonderful woman to learn about!

Mar 8th Meeting

The March meeting of the Honolulu county Genealogical Society was highlighted by the presentation of Bobby Stevens (photo at right)- His presentation was in two parts. The first was about "Backup Strategies" for genealogical (or other) data on your computer. For immediate backup he recommends use of a thumbdrive or external hard drive. He recommends a weekly back-up to a CD/DVD or online storage, such as at http://www.mozy.com/. Mozy offers 2 GB of free storage, which would probably be enough room for someone's Family Tree data. For archival he recommends the use of gold plated CD/DVD as offered for sale at http://www.blogger.com/www.bhphotovideo.com or http://www.delkin.com/ at a cost of about $2.00 per CD or less, depending on the quantity ordered.

Part two of Bobby's presentation was about "Plea Books" or what you can find by searching books from Court records,Plea Records and Minutes. He systematically uses the microfilms at the local Family History Library to search for records of his ancestors in Halifax County, Virginia. He has found many interesting and surprising findings by using this type of research. Thanks to Bobby for his excellent presentation.


Biography Challenge - Olla L. (Piles) Weaver
This month, Stan Jones (photo at right), answered the mini-biography challenge with a story about his Grandmother, Olla Weaver, maiden name Piles. His story was very heart warming and enjoyed by the membership. Below is the obituary from her unfortunate and untimely death. Her photo is at left.
"Burns Suffered Thursday Fatal To Mrs. Weaver. Funeral services for Mrs. Olla L. Weaver will be at 1 p.m. Thursday in Brintlinger's Funeral Home where friends may call after 2 p.m. Wednesday. Burial will be in Tuscola Cemetery. Mrs. Weaver, 76, of 845 N. Union St., died at 1:55 a.m. yesterday in Decatur and Macon County Hospital. She had been a patient since last Thursday when she was burned when her clothing caught fire while she was preparing a meal on her gas stove. Mrs. Weaver had been a resident of Decatur for 57 years coming her from Atwood. She was born in Pesotum, March 13, 1886, a daughter of Frank and Jennie Coffrin Piles. Mrs. Weaver was a member of the Grace Methodist Church, the Friendly Circle Bible Class and the Quilters Guild of the church. She married Robert McClelland in Tuscola, during 1905. Later, in 1928, she married Otto D. Weaver in Bloomington, Ind. He died in 1936. Surviving are two daughters, Mrs. Mary L. McDaniel and Mrs. Clarence (Doris) Jones, both of Decatur; three grandchildren; 7 great-grandchildren. One daughter preceded her in death."

The meeting concluded with refreshments and a group went to have lunch at the Tree Tops Buffet at the top of the valley.

Jan Meeting; Biography Challenge

We had a very interesting (I think) meeting Saturday, Jan 12th. Besides the election of officers I discussed our new Honolulu County Genealogical Society Blog. Using Tom's laptop and projector I explained how I have made reading blogs very easy, free, and timely with the internet. Using a power point presentation I explained downloading a Firefox web browser, opening a Google Account, customizing an iGoogle homepage, and adding the gadget "Google Reader' to the homepage. How to make a comment on any of our Blog postings was also discussed. I hope that our members will find our blog, whether through a blog reader or visiting the site periodically: www.honolulucountygenealogicalsociety.blogspot.com

A brief Biography Challenge has been issued to our society (by me:-)) ... and that is for everyone to compose a biography about their mother or father, a grandparent, or uncle, even themselves, and write it on one page. Then one should volunteer to read it at one of our meetings. I do this in the hopes that we procrastinators will finally get something down on paper besides a date, or place, to describe life in our families, especially those lives that we knew. If you have images or pictures, I can project them when you read your story. I can also put the story on this blog if you agree (see the last blog Jan 12, 2008). Harriet Hoffman read what she'd composed about her great-great grandfather who lived in Germany, his portrait had been hung for many years on her wall at home. I think that by her telling us briefly about her GGGrandfather, we all learned a little bit. The volunteer or the February meeting is Bob Stevens, and Stan Jones volunteered for the March meeting. Such great members we have!

We ended the meeting with "delivery pizza" and other refreshments brought in by members. It was delicious! There was plenty of time to "talk story" with each other at this meeting.

Besides the meeting, I want to mention the excellent new PBS television series (Channel 10 on cable) entitled "The Jewish Americans." It is three parts and last Wednesday I saw "They Came to Stay; A World of Their Own" the first two-hour segment about immigration from about 1650 to about 1900. This Wednesday, Jan. 16th at 9 pm the second segment will be aired "The Best of Times, The Worst of Times." The last segment "Home" should be aired Jan 23rd. Steve Danko describes it in his blog at http://stephendanko.com/?p=2144

Love to hear from any of you reading this. Click on the "Comment" link below. Thanks, Donna Hague Wendt

Biography Challenge: Harriet Hoffman's GG-Grandfather Samuel Stiebel

Harriet Hoffman is the first member to answer the society challenge to write and read a one-page biography she's written about an ancestor. She chose Samuel Stiebel, her great-great grandfather. I've challenged each of our Honolulu County Genealogical Society members to write a one-page biography about a parent, grandparent, etc. as an incentive for them to complete it and as a way for the rest of us to hear about their family. Thank you Harriet!
*****************************************************************************************************************

SAMUEL STIEBEL (1804-1878)

+Schanette "Jeanette" Bettmann(abt. 1810-1855)

+Regina Straub (1818-1869)

You, Samuel Stiebel, are my great-great grandfather. I have looked at and cherished your photograph on my family gallery wall for years and years. This is all I knew of you. I never dreamed in my wildest imagination that I would be able to "visit" you. But I am, and soon. I am coming to Langenschwarz, Germany in March of 2008. I have written the remarkable story of our discovery of you in a family history chapter titled, "Stiebel...Langenschwarz,Germany - Just Words On A Tombstone." I have found you...probably with a little help from yourself. I like to think so.
According to the Jewish records archived in "Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Wiesbaden", Germany, where Herr Hans-Joachim Ruppel, the local archivist in Burghaun County, obtained copies, you were born September 16, 1804 and died August 29, 1878. You married Schanette in Langenschwarz, Germany, June 10, 1834. That would have made you 30 years of age when you married Schanette and she 24 years old. I would think you both would have been considered old to be married in those days.

Twenty one years after marriage and after ten children, your wife, Schanette (Jeanette), died. A photo of the stone of your wife, Schanette, is below. It has endured for over 150 years in this place.

Dorothy Ruppel provides a transcription from burial books of the Jewish Cemetery Project in Langenswartz , Germany:

"Jeannette Stiebel, geborene (nee) Bettmann,

Frau des Federhändlers (wife of feather-salesman) Samuel Stiebel,

45 Jahre (years), gestorben(died): 14.08.1855 morgens 5:00 Uhr (o'clock a.m.),

Beerdigt (buried) 15.08.1855"

Notes:" nächste beerdigte Person laut Synagogenregister (next buried person in synagoge-registry) , Tochter des Abraham und der Gütel Bettmann"

(Note: Does this mean that another Bettman was buried next to her?)

^^^^^^^^

Great-Great Grandfather Samuel you died on August 29, 1878, 23 years after your first wife. I have these names and dates from the Synagogue Records held by Dorothy Ruppel , and your stone is pictured here:

"Samuel Stiebel, born 16.09.1804 in Langenschwarz,
Married to Schanette / Jeanette Bettman on 10.06.1834 (had together 9 children),
After death of Schanette on 14.08.1855, he married again on 16.03.1858 in Langenschwarz,
His second wife: Regine Strauß, born on 15.01.1818 in Rothenkirchen, died on 14.02.1868 in Langenschwarz (no children).
Samuel died on 29.08.1878"

Great-Great Grandfather Samuel, I want to tell you about one of your great-granddaughters, Ruth Ginsberger Bergman, who wrote a most remarkable history* about your son Herz (Henry) Stiebel, his wife, May, and their daughter (your grand daughter), Julia Stiebel. It is a forty plus page, beautifully written novel, displaying great literary talent. It was typed on an old manual typewriter, using carbon paper for copies, way before 'white out' and 'Word' on our computers. Can you imagine the labor of love that went into that endeavor?

In her book, Ruth wrote that you, Samuel, and your wife, Jeanette, had agreed to let your eldest son Herz leave Germany and go to America in 1856 to join your brother, Mendel who had emigrated to Baltimore, Maryland. She believed that you felt that Herz should go because "Germany was the land of conscription, and the United States had proclaimed itself the land of the free." (Authors note: Schanette (Jeanette) died in 1855, however the decision that Herz could go to America may have already been made before Jeanette, died. Ruth actually wrote that Samuel's oldest "child" went to America, she probably meant oldest "son" who was Herz. Herz had two older sisters.)

Great-great grandfather Samuel, the German records indicate that after Schanette (Jeanette) died, you remarried to Regina Straub, from Rothenkirchen, on March 16, 1858. Certainly three years was a most appropriate time for you to mourn. You were 54 years old and Regina was 45 years old when she married you, and you did not have any more children. Perhaps she had an earlier family of her own too. You lived another nine years after Regina's death. How sad to bury two wives.

I am looking forward to "visiting" you and your parents, my great-great-great grandparents Isaac (Yitzchak bar Baruch Stiefel) and Roshen Goldschmidt Stiebel. I understand your homeland, Langenschwarz, where you were born and died, is magnificent. I want to "walk where once you walked", and to feel your presence. You, now, are so much more than just a picture on my wall.

*Complete text is in our family history chapter : "Henry and Jenny Stiebel Story as told by their daughter Julia Stiebel."