Family History Notes and Photos by Bob Mesenbrink

Well, it's been quite a ride. I started this just a few days ago thinking it would be interesting to learn a little bit about Pomerania, where Augusta Nipkow and her family came from. And I started writing Part 1 of this series not knowing what I would find. But since records are added at a rapid pace these days, there was more to be found than I realized. First off, although I believe that Augusta was born in Butow as was said, I did not any direct evidence of that. Nothing I found contradicts it though. Her parents moved around a lot, and they certainly left proof of that. And although her parents moved around a lot, her grandparents and extended family probably didn't. Working back, here's what I found: 1872 - Nipkows left from Stettin and settled in Jackson County Iowa 1872 - Nipkows lived in Hohengrape 1865 - Augusta born in Butow 1862 - Otto born in Klutzow 1858 - Parents, Friederich and Wilhelmina Huebner married in Klempin 1827 - Birth of Daniel Frederich...

In Part 1, I presented the information I had on Augusta Emilie Nipkow and her parents, Fredrich Nipkow and Wilhelmina Huebner and their origins in Pomerania. Augusta said she was born in Butow, which I have concluded (at least for the time being) is the present-day village of Bytowo, Poland east of Stettin (Sczcecin). Their immigration record says they came from Hohengrape, present-day Chrapowo, Poland, which is southeast of Sczcecin. My next step in research is to determine what records are available for these villages. At the time the Nipkows left there, these were German villages, Prussian to be exact. Wikipedia has a " List of municipalities in the Province of Pomerania" which indicates that Butow was in the District Saatzig. A website full of information on German locations is  http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/. It lists Hohengrape being in the Soldin district. Other place names higher up in various bureaucratic hierarchies are Berlinchen, Brandenburg, Berlin, Landsberg,...

I thought it might be fun, and perhaps a bit risky, to go through the steps I take in researching a family. I don't know where this will lead, if anywhere, at this point. But to be honest, I did uncover a good hint the other day while researching on Ancestry, so that gives me a decent place to start. The family that I am talking about is that of my great grandmother, Augusta Emilie Nipkow, who married Henry William Mesenbrink. Henry William and Augusta Emilie Nipkow Mesenbrink Married September 20, 1882 Henry and Augusta were married in the Lutheran Church near Spragueville, Iowa, near the Mississippi River in Jackson county. Their families had moved there in the recent past, Henry's family having come from Minnesota to rejoin his brothers by 1869, and Augusta's family having come from Germany in 1872. Augusta taught Sunday School and apparently had strong Lutheran roots. This is important to me because of the part of Germany that Augusta came from. Her obituary stat...

I am always amazed at the distances our ancestors traveled at a time when it was not very easy. Immigrants would come across the ocean, spending weeks on boat, oftentimes in horrible conditions. And then they would travel by horse and wagon, stagecoach, river boat, or train to their new homes. Karen Marie Kjeldgard was my wife's great grand aunt. She is the best example I have found of an immigrant who made major moves. She was born in Skarp Salling, near Aalborg, Denmark, May 11, 1857 to Peder Kjeldgaard and Mariane Jacobsdatter. Peder was a tailor and no doubt passed his knowledge on to his daughter, Karen. They left Denmark in 1875 and settled near Elk Horn, Iowa. Karen Marie Kjeldgaard Hollenbeck Karen married Coleman Edward Hollenbeck May 10, 1879. What is remarkable about the marriage is where they married - Fort Fetterman, Wyoming. Fort Fetterman was in cold and remote northern Wyoming, near present day Douglas, and in the 1870s, was actively involved in indian s...

I have updated this since first publishing it in 2015, adding the last paragraph discussing Martha's possible Indiana origins. There are too many ancestors, even relatively recent ancestors, who it seems nearly impossible to know anything about. Martha A. Brennan is one of those. I believe she came from Ireland, died young, perhaps even in childbirth. Her daughter was Lillian Davis (Stephenson), my great grandmother. Martha was the first wife of William Davis, marrying him in Jefferson county, Iowa, 18 December 1862. The Davises had settled in that area, which explains why William married there. I'm not sure what lead Martha there. Their daughter, Lillian Evelyn Davis, was born 15 April 1864, Galesburg, Illinois. William Davis became a railroad worker, and perhaps got his start in that industry in Galesburg, which was a major railroad hub as the railroads expanded west across the Mississippi during that time. And perhaps Martha had family there as well. If Martha was from I...

It seems like Ireland has always had a lot going on, and often not much to the benefit of the Irish. The Squibbs, many of whom were wealthy, landed, gentry in England, had a presence in Ireland as well, although for just a brief time in the long history of Ireland. Of particular interest to me are the ones that were in southern Tipperary, in lands between Cahir and Clogheen. A Col. John Squibb was listed as a co-owner of Castlegrace, just east of Clogheen, in Pender's Census of 1659. Castlegrace is reported by the Down Survey website (http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/) to have been owned by Thomas Butler, who held the title Baron Cahir, both in 1641 and 1670. So, why is John Squibb listed as running the place in 1659? History is essential to understanding genealogy. In the 1640s "Adventurers" from England and Scotland invested money in Cromwell's army and navy to invade Ireland and replace the Irish with English settlers. In return for their investments and back pay, the ...

The following is a story that I added to one of my trees on Ancestry. I thought by posting it here, I'd get a few more readers. David Brady was my 3rd great grandfather.Another post on David Brady is at  http://mesenbrinkphotos.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-twenty-children-of-david-brady.html . The information on David Brady's origin is sketchy. He is said to have been born in 1785 in Sussex county, New Jersey. When he died on July 12, 1878, he was 93 years, 1 month and 14 days of age according to his death certificate. Based on that, he was born May 28, 1785. His ages from the 1850, 1860 and 1870 censuses, when you consider the actual enumeration dates, confirm that birth year exactly. His obituary gives his birthplace as Sussex county, New York (not New Jersey). But there is no Sussex county in New York, so this is clearly an error. A biography in Glover's 1906 county history states his birthplace as Sussex county, New Jersey. Otherwise, there isn't a lot of evide...