Wanzenried-Althaus: Small World

Our paternal grandparents, Fritz Wanzenried and Lina Althaus, were related before they were married. 

Fritz’s father, Christian Wanzenried (1846-1919), had an older sister named Rosina (1839-1913). That would make her Fritz’s aunt. 

Rosina married Christian Schmutz (1830-1913). 

They had twelve children, including a daughter named Maria Rosa (1863-1919). 

Maria married Gottfried Althaus. She was his second wife. 

Gottfried’s and Maria’s oldest child was Lina Althuas (1893-1981). 

She would marry Fritz Wanzenried (1884-1964) and have three children, including our father, Fred (1915-1996). 

Since you have read this far, you are entitled to know what the relationship was: Fritz married one of his aunt’s granddaughters.

Pace Ancestors and Louise Baker Tabb, 1883-1937

Louise Baker Tabb is our maternal Grandmother.

We really don’t know too much about her.

After all, she died before we were born. We had no relationship with Kenneth from whom we may have gleaned a few details.

In looking over the records, there is not much family history.

Looking over what is available to memorialize their lives, one is left with a feeling of sadness and emptiness.

The Pace ancestry, from which Louise derived half of her genes, is characterized by the early deaths of females and children.

Of note, when you look over the immediate ancestors of Louise, you quickly find a string names that show up in our family.  

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Louise’s parents were William Drew Tabb (1845-1920) and Cora Pace (1852-1886)

Let’s look a bit further back to her maternal grandparents and their family.

Cora’s parents were John Harvey Pace 1826-1873) and Louisa M Guthrie (1823-1862). (Note: Louisa lived to be 39.)

Cora had three siblings: Robert F (1844-1909); Sarah M (1847-1862); Willis A (1850-1868). As you can see, two of them died at early ages. [Cora also had an older, half-Sister, Mary Augusta “Gussie” Pace (1866-1960), from her Father’s marriage to Rachel Cressy (Cressie) (1841- ).]

Robert F Pace (Cora’s Brother) - Robert’s first wife, Mary Virginia Strattan (1850-1887) died shortly after losing a Son, Steven Willis (1887-1887) just after childbirth.

A few more words about Robert and Mary. Mary Virginia Strattan (1850-1887) married Robert on 25 June 1873 in Mt. Vernon, Jefferson County, Illinois. On Sept 7, 1887 she gave birth to a Son named Stephen Willis Pace. He only survived for two days. Mary never recovered from the birth and subsequent death of her son and she passed away twenty-one days later on 28 September 1887. She was buried beside her infant son in the Oakwood Cemetery. She was 37 years old.  Robert did not remarry until 1896, when he married Margaret E Jessup (1872- ). They had a Daughter named Cora Cherry (1900-1946). Cora Cherry died when she was 46 years old. On 5 May 1909 her husband Robert ended his life by drowning. He was 53 years old. Robert was laid to rest beside his first wife, Virginia, and infant son.    The link connects to a very dramatic article about this tragic event appeared in the Mount Vernon Daily Register. Please take a few minutes to read it. As you do, think about the similarities between this incident and our Brother's death.

Cora Pace and William Tabb married in May 1870.

US Census 1870 records them in Jefferson County, Illinois. In 1880, they lived in Saline County, Illinois. Both locations are in southern Illinois.

Cora and William had two Daughters: Gertrude “Gertie” Pace (1875-1931) and Louise Baker (1883-1937). Both were born in southern Illinois.

So, from what ancestor did Cora and William draw the name Baker for Louise’s middle name? The only family member I can find anywhere with the name Baker is Sarah Baker Knowles (1641-1692), Cora’s great-great-great-great-great Grandmother. It is however, possible that the name is derived from an ancestor of Louise Guthrie, Cora’s Mother, about whom there are no records whatsoever.

To appreciate the childhood and early adulthood of Gertrude and Louise, we need to detour for a moment.

There are question about the year and location of William Tabb’s death and where he is interred.

According to the Find-a-Grave page for Cora, William died in 1895 Jefferson County, Illinois and is buried at the Oakwood Cemetery in Mount Vernon, Illinois the same location as Cora. Other records indicate he died in 1920 in Gray County (Dodge City), Kansas. The Kansas connection is plausible because at least two of William’s Brothers, Dempsey Thomas (1843-1920) and Beverley Porter (1853-1947), had settled and were living in Gray County in 1920. [There are also records indicating William re-married on 28 November 1892: Mary P Deichman.]

I am satisfied that William died in 1895 and is buried at the Oakwood cemetery in Mount Vernon, although he and Cora are not buried side-by-side.

Remember, Cora died in 1886. She was 34. 

Our Mother died when she was 49. Her Mother, Louise, died at 53. Louise's Mother died when she was 34. Cora's Mother, Louise, died at 39.

A pattern?

Yes.

Significant? 

You decide.

Why Does He Do It?

So as you read the posts, you may be asking yourself, “Why does he do this?”

“What’s the point?”

I wondered where this might lead when I first started trying to assemble a basic understanding about the Wanzenried family just over two and one-half years ago.

In part, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it and prove to myself that I had the patience to persevere when I ran into dead-ends.

As the project has unfolded, I realized just how little I knew about any of my ancestors, let alone how much they sacrificed to leave the world a better place than when they arrived. This venue serves as a way of consolidating information and telling an interpretative story.

It’s also an adventure of learning and sharing and discussing memories and by doing so, honoring the many gifts we have inherited. Oddly, while we are connected with them genetically, we only passingly acknowledge it in terms of our health histories and profiles. And, how about our personalities and traits and idiosyncrasies that found their way to us at a chromosomal level?

I feel strongly that we honor our Mothers and Fathers and their Mothers and Fathers by seeking to conceptualize their lives and expanding our understanding of the context in which they faced challenges and pursued opportunities. For example, how did our ancestors view the brutality of slavery from the middle of the 17^th Century through the Civil War and the Jim Crows laws and court rulings that transformed injustice and inhumanity into the bifurcated and divided society that persists still? Did it influence their values and shape their world views? If so, how?

We honor their memory by truly understanding as much as we can about their lives. Interpretation surrenders to facts.

While it is rewarding to find connections to well-known individuals, I have grown to admire just how very common most of ancestors were. Yet, they were uncommonly special. Regular people with ordinary lives, who loved and lost, raised families, built lives from scratch, worked hard, some succeeding and some failing miserably. But, they remain connected to us and we to them forever.

Imagine the hardships and dangers they faced as they moved inland into the Ohio Territory early in the 19^th century. Or, crossed the oceans in rickety sailing vessels in deplorable conditions on voyages that lasted weeks.

I have been amazed at the patterns.

We all learned how fragile life can be when our Mother suddenly passed away. But, it is clear that her Mother and her Mother’s Mother and her Mother’s Mother’s Mother all died while very young, too. Coincidence? Perhaps. But, simply knowing about the pattern leads to more inquiry.

The number of women who died in childbirth or died within months of giving birth is staggering. The number of children who died and still die at birth or while very young is equally sobering. In successive generations, Kenneth and Louise lost a newborn child as did Fred and Margaret and David and Linda.

In the end, I have been intrigued by how many people are utterly indifferent about all of this. Not disappointed mind you. Just curious about why they would not want to know more.

Like low-information voters, perhaps, they are comfortable with small bits and pieces of information to shape their reality and specifically their version of their family history. Viewed in that way, their choosing not to expose their assumptions to any questions makes perfect sense.

For me, I will continue trying to make sense of all of this. And, what it means to me.

If you are in, stay with me.


Next: Pace Ancestors

US City Boy Living a European Life

My earliest memories were being with Fritz and Lina and her two brothers, usually at either of Gotty’s farms, one in Yucaipa (in an area called The Dunlap) and Cherry Valley or at Hans’ cattle ranch about three miles from where Lina and Fritz lived in Calimesa.

During my youth, I spent many years in their presence and only regret that I am unable to recall more about their lives.

They spent hours and hours just talking, always in Swiss-German, or Schweitzer-Deutsch. They made no effort to accommodate my native tongue, gently helping me understand, gain confidence and gradually engage in stilted conversations.

Their personalities and their worldviews left lifelong impressions. 

They lived their lives as they would have had they been living in Switzerland. They were the most salt-of-the-earth people I’ve ever met. Hardworking. Enterprising. Industrious. Thrifty. Proud. Humble.

Of the three, only Hans had a telephone. Gotty had no running water in either of his houses on his two properties. He had no television. 

He had no refrigerator. My first taste of beer was at the age of three or four. Gotty gave me a taste of Burgermeister, a room temperature beer.

There were no pop-tops. No, he used a beer can opener and, of course, beer sprayed everywhere each time he opened one. 

To drive from his main residence in Yucaipa to his cherry farm in Cherry Valley, Gotty would have to driver by the Wanzenried farm, off of what was then US  Highway 99 (now Interstate 10). He would always stop.

One day, he stopped by with a large bear lying dead on the bed of his flatbed pick-up. Angered by the failure of the fish and game wardens to control bears that were damaging his fruit trees, Gotty had rigged up a shotgun with bait that would trigger it. The contraption bagged a massive prize.

The meat was spoiled but the bearskin, a brilliantly-sheened black, was intact; so, Fritz and Gotty unloaded it and Fritz skillfully skinned the bear and tanned the hide. The bearskin became a fixture in Gotty’s home, despite the fact even then there was a severe penalty for killing bears. (All of this was, of course, hush, hush.)

Lina would help Gotty during harvest each year. She “packed” fruit, meaning she arranged fruit of all kinds, apricots, apples, pears, peaches, and cherries, is wooden shipping boxes and crates. She would stand for hours, meticulously packing single pieces of fruit, at times in their own paper wrappers, each neatly arranged in rows in layers separated by thin cardboard sheets. At the end of the day, there were dozens of boxes of fresh fruit, ready to be shipped.

This was wholesale packing at its best in the early 1950’s.

I would have been three of four years old. My job was to separate the stems, leaves and over-ripe fruit.

At the end of each day, Gotty insisted on paying Lina. When she refused, a colorful argument in Schweitzer-Deutsch ensued. Crisp ten- and twenty-dollar bills were thrown back and forth.

I gladly accepted pay for my work, usually fifty-cent pieces and silver dollars. It was then I learned the real difference folding money and coins. 

My first exposure to all of this was when I was three or four years old. Lina would have been about 60. She continued packing fruit for at least another 10 years.

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The drive to Gotty’s farm in Cherry Valley was on a very winding, mountainous road in dry mesquite country. Rattlesnakes enjoyed sunning themselves in the roadway and there hundreds of them. One day while riding with Gotty, he stopped, killed a rattlesnake with a shovel, cut off the tail and gave it to me. It had eight rattles. 

Fritz and Lina owned a 1950 Chevrolet station wagon, they type which would eventually come to be called “woodies” by surfers. This image gives you a pretty good idea of what it looked like.  

Driving after dark was always a problem. If you look closely, you will see a brake/  tail light in the middle of the read door. The light was easily grounded; when it did, the light didn’t work.  Whenever we would drive the car to Cherry Valley to pack cherries and fruit, it would be dark long before our trip home. On the way, Lina would stop and it was my job to jump out the car and run to the rear of the car to see if the light was working. 

Each time I did, I remembered the rattlesnake with eight rattles. 

I know there were times when I said the light was working when it wasn’t, just so that we would not have to fiddle with it. 

When we drove into Los Angeles, some 70 miles away, usually to sell cured hides and fresh fruit, the day was planned so that we would be home before dark. Traffic even in the early 1950’s in Los Angeles was a nightmare. After all, two-lane, divided highways, complete with traffic signals and unrestricted access, were intended to handle the volume. Inevitably, we were delayed and drove home in the dark. Thankfully, Fritz almost always drove on these trips and knew all of the tricks to keep the taillight lit.

Occasionally, Lina, Mathilde and I packed the car with fresh fruit and set off for the day in Los Angeles to peddle fruit. Fritz did not like the sales part of raising fruit, so he stayed home. We drove into areas that are today’s ‘hood,’ areas heavily populated by minorities, mostly Hispanic and Black.

We would pull up, put a small homemade sign reading “Fresh Fruit” on the hood of the car and started selling. Mind you, we had no business licenses of any kind, although the scale we used had been certified.

At first, it was slow, so, Lina gave me small basket of fruit and I would became a door-to-door sales representative, using only a script she made me memorize. I was 5 or 6 years old, the formative years. Word of mouth did the trick and in no time, mothers with their kids were lined up. 

It was then that I found out how much we are all alike. I already knew that language did not make us different. Here I found out that cultures and skin colors are only barriers if we fail to look beyond the obvious differences.

We were really good at what we did. We sold out every time. The rate on return was sparkling, that is, until one time were busted for not having a business license. The fine was $50.00. Lina sobbed all the way home.

Over time, that business model gave way to another one. Each year, Fritz would erect a fruit stand and the entrance to the farm, which was off US Highway 99. By this time I was 7 or 8, old enough to hold poles while they were tamped, boards while they were nailed and signs while they were hung. In several hours, we had a roadside fruit stand, rustic, but very functional and very profitable.

We sold fruit they raised in their 10-acre orchard, plus whatever we helped Gotty pick on his farms. Attracted by a mostly by single sign facing westbound traffic that simply said “Fresh Fruit,” cars and trucks parked haphazardly along the highway. It was not unusual to deplete the inventory before noon, even though my grandfather attempted to keep up, furiously picking fruit while the stand was open. 

One day a California Highway patrolman stopped to issue a warning about the stand causing a traffic hazard. Lina sent him on his way with a free basket of peaches. Law enforcement never seemed to mind after that.

When we closed for the day, we had to take down the signs, which were large and bulky. If we didn’t, drivers would drive up the short gravel driveway to their home and honk their horns. To save the trouble of taking down the signs, they decided to close the gate and lock it. Even then, passersby would stop, climb the fence and come up to the house in search of fresh fruit.

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When not tending to his orchards, Fritz was a butcher. He had a quaint, European-scale commercial butcher house.

He butched live animals: beef cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and, regrettably, lambs.

My earliest memories are filled with the smell of scalding water in a tank large enough to submerge a large hog. After it had been bled out and disemboweled, we raised it with a block and tackle hooked on to a tripod, dunked the carcass, then slowly raised it, scraping off the bristly, coarse hair as we went along. 

I recall seeing small calves living is narrow stalls being readied for slaughter for veal.

The man was a master with variety of knives, each finely sharpened for its special purpose.

Butchered critters were cut and wrapped according to the customers’ instructions and then frozen. I didn’t think too much about the process until he gave me a goat to raise without explaining we would butcher it when it was grown. I vividly remember the day we slaughtered it. This splendid, vibrant animal was alive one moment, dead the next and in short order reduced and converted into small white packages, each tied off with a heavy string.

Fritz cured the hides from the cattle he butchered, a remarkable process in of itself.

Some customers wanted smoked meats. He had special seasonings he mixed to coat and roast hams; he had special blends of seasonings he mixed with other cuts of meats to make sausages. He used wood from the apple trees in the orchard to carefully smoke a variety of them. My favorite was (and is, if I can find it) Landjaeger.

Not a single instruction nor a single blend of ingredients were ever reduced to writing. Everything was from memory.

There was no wasted motion.

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Not surprisingly, our grandparents enjoyed a meat-centric, European diet. They ate mostly fruit they had dried (apples; peaches; apricots) or canned and, with the exception of lettuce, only canned vegetables.

They raised chickens for meat and eggs. The eggs to could not use or preserve (water glass), they sold.

Lina’s baking was legendary. Pies, cookies (annis), breads (zopfe and guggelophe).

They bought in bulk, made their own soap, and had their own well and filled two large water storage tanks every other week.

The found a German-owned winery near Fontana and bought basic red and white wines in gallon bottle. He enjoyed a glass of red wine with cheese lunch every day.

Fritz strongly objected to anyone eating ice cream, believing the additives caused cancer. (This was in the early 1950’s.)

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Finally, whenever you see a picture of Fritz, you will see small white patch on his nose. His explanation was that a blunt end of a tree branch had punctured it and it had never healed. He never saw a doctor; instead, he applied an ointment (he called it ‘salve’) along with a bandage and piece of white tape religiously every morning. (My guess is that it was a basal cancer cell.)

He was my hero. If he needed a bandage on his nose, so did I. I would go for weeks with one.

I was 15 when he died.

When I viewed into the open casket, for the first time I saw him without the patch.

His nose, like him, was perfect.


Next: Why does he do it?

The Althaus Influence

Time for the Althaus Family

The matriarch of the Fritz Wanzenried branch of the family tree was Lina Althuas (1893-1981).

If there was a picture in an encyclopedia next to the expression “They broke the mold after she was born,” Lina’s picture would be it.

She and Fritz were married for fifty years before he died in 1964. She cared for her older daughter, Mathilde, an epileptic prone to grand mal seizures, until well into her 70’s when she was physically unable to continue.

Throughout her life, she made an indelible mark on everyone she touched.

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Lina was born in Basel, Biersfelden, Switzerland on October 6, 1893 to Gottfried Luduig (1850-1937) and Maria Rosina (nee Schmutz) Althaus (1863-1919).

Her father was married twice. He and his first wife, Marie Riedesel (1848- ), had ten children:

1.   Maria (1873- ). Married Frank Leutwyler (1871- )

2.   Georg (1875-1875)

3.   Louise (1876- )

4.   Georg Christian (1878-1879)

5.   Wilhemine (1880-1880)

6.   Georg Luduig (1881- ) married Wilhemine bald (1884- )

7.   Carl (1884-1906)

8.   George Heinrich (1887- )

9.   Christian (1888- )

10.   Gottfried (1890-1977). Did not marry.

There are no records regarding Marie’s death, but it is probable that, given the number of children she birthed in such a short period of time (10 in 17 years) and the number of her children who died at such a young age, she must have died shortly after giving birth to her final child in 1890.

Lina’s father remarried and with his second wife, Maria, had three more children:

1.   Lina (1893-1881)

2.   Hans (1903-1998). Married Ella Kristocrat (1908-2008).

3.   Rosalie (1905-1992). Married Hans Burkard (1898-1980) and had two children: Frank (1928- ) and Martha (1933- ).

Gottfried’s Nickname

The only person who called Gottfried by his given name was his sister, Lina. The name we grew up knowing him by was “Gotty,” although it was never reduced to writing. It’s spelling, therefore, is uncertain. Let’s stick with Gotty Generally, the only time his first name was used at all was in arguments over money. No, not disagreements over how much one owed the other. It was always over how much the other person did not owe. The family transformed turning down money from one another into an art form.

At least four of Gottfried Althaus’ children emigrated to the US:  Gottfried and his half-brother Hans in 1920, Lina in 1914, and Rosalia in 1927. There were very strong bonds between the first three. For a variety of reasons, Rosalia, who lived in Pasadena, was largely an outcast.

When Fritz and Lina Wanzenried returned to Los Angeles after marrying in 1914, the lived in and around El Monte for several years. Fred and Mathilde were both born in Los Angles; their younger sister, Rosemary, was not. 

 At the time the US Census was taken in 1920, the same year Gotty and Hans arrived in the US, they had moved to Yucaipa, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. Fritz’s occupation was listed in that Census as fruit farm manager.

Gotty and Hans settled in Yucaipa after arriving, and most probably lived with the Wanzenrieds. The two would live together for quite some time. Both the 1930 and 1940 US Census shows them living in Yucaipa. By 1930, Fritz had moved his family to Riverside where he was a dairy farmer. 

The Santa Ana River, which runs through Riverside, was prone to overflow its banks flooded. A severe flood in March 1938 submerged the area, including Fritz and Lina’s dairy farm located at 10008 Magnolia Avenue. They lost everything.

Prior to the damaging flood, the family had planned to relocate. There had been flooding before. In the 1940 US Census, the Wanzenried family resides in the Beaumont enumeration district just east of Calimesa, California living in a new home their son, our Father, built for them. Not surprisingly, the home was built on a hill to safeguard against the possibility of flooding in the future.

The white-stucco, red-tile roof home is still standing.

(Look of a red dot in the middle of an open area to the east (right) of Calimesa Boulevard. You may have to magnify the screen.)

In 1953, Hans married Ella Kristocrat (1908-2008).

Next: Memories of US city boy living like a European

About Our Cousins

Numerically, there really isn’t much to the Fred Wanzenried branch of the Wanzenried family tree.

That is simply an observation, not a criticism.

After all, it's quality over quantity, right?

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Fred (1915-1996) was an only Son in a family of five. He married Margaret Ellerton (1917-1967), who was the only child to live to adulthood, in 1942.

They had five children, four of whom lived to adulthood.

Steven (1942-1942) died at childbirth.

Richard (1943-2005) had no children.

Nancy (1945- ) married Jerry Randolph (1944- ) in 1968 and they populated the branch nicely with four Sons:

1.   Greg (1972- ), who married Cameron King (1970- ) and has two daughters: Luma (1999- ) and Lola (2002- );

2.   Eric (1975- );

3.   Jonathan (1981- ), who married Brandy Kennedy (1981- ) and has three sons (Gavin (2007- ), Jace (2010- ) and Cody (2004- ) and one daughter (Evelyn (2014- ); and

4.   Matthew (1983- ).

Dave married Linda Pospisil (1949- ) in 1971 and had three sons, two of whom lived to adulthood: 

1.   Jeremy (1975-1975) died shortly after birth;

2.   Nicholas (1976- ) married Tiffany Tsumpis (1979- ); and

3.   Michael (1979- ) who married Lucy Harris (1977- ).

Kendra married Stan Shaff (1950- ) in 1972 and has two children: 

1.   Scott (1976- ) married Rosalia Murillo-Iniesta (1976- ) and has one daughter; and

2.   Kristin (1980- ), who thoroughly enjoys the company of Bryce.

For now, that’s it.

The Wanzenried namesake resides with Nicholas and Michael.

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The Fritz Wanzenried branch of the family tree includes a relatively small number in addition to the Fred Wanzenried branch.

Fritz (1884-1964) and Lina Althaus (1893-1981) had two daughters.

1.   Mathilde (1918-1995), who did not marry; and

2.   Rosemary (1920-2010) married Eugene Anderegg (1920-2011) and they had two sons: (1) James (1948- ) who married Sandra Mitchell (1947- ) and had two sons: Michael (1974- ) and Robert (1977- ), who married Shelly Jensen and has two sons; and (2) Fred (1950- ).

So, how about the Anderegg branch?

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Eugene was an only son of Ernest (1891-1974) and Mabel (nee Neale) Anderegg (1901-1955). He was born in Merced, California.

Ernest Anderegg was the oldest six children born to Joseph Andergg (1857-1940) and Babette (nee Schock) Anderegg (1868-1962), both Swiss immigrants:

1.   Ernest (1891-1974). Born in New York City and died in San Bernardino, California.

2.   Paul (1894-1942). No record of marriage. Born in Pennsylvania and died in Merced.

3.   Rose Anna (1895-1997) married Frank Ellsworth (1895-1965) and had no children. Rose was born in Pennsylvania and died in Merced; Frank was born in Kansas and died in Merced.

4.   John (1901-1994) married Marie Tillery (1912-1973) and had three children: John (1936- ); Shirley (1936-1996); and James (1939- ). John was born in Pennsylvania and died in Merced; Marie was born in Alabama and died in Merced. All of their children settled and remained in the Merced area.

5.   Joseph (1904-1982) married Anna Bosch 1907-1987) and had three sons: Raymond (1934- ); Ernest (1936- ); and Walter (1937- ). Joseph was born in New Jersey and died in Los Gatos, California; Anna was born in Switzerland and died in Merced. All of their children appear to have settled and remained in California.

6.   Eugene (1910-2004) married Albina Oletta (1920-2005). No record of children. Eugene was born in New Jersey and died in Merced; Albina was born and died in Merced.

The Anderegg family appears in records in California for the first time in Riverside in 1917, meaning the family moved after Eugene was born in 1910 and before 1917. When Ernest registered for the draft of World War I in 1918, he resided in Riverside, California. He served in the US Army from 1918 to 1919.

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It appears as though, the Anderegg family was in the midst of a move to central California when Ernest was discharged from the service in 1919. There are no records about his marriage to Mabel, who was a southern California native. Our uncle Eugene (Gene) was born in July 1920 in Merced, meaning that Ernest may have returned from the service, married Mabel (probably in Riverside) and moved to central California where Gene was born.

In the 1940 US Census, Ernest and his family resided in Highgrove, which is in southern California, with Mabel’s parents, Harry (1858-1946) and Susie (nee ____) Neale (1875- ). Harry and Susie married in 1892, had a son, Harry (1893- ) and emigrated to the US from England in 1899.

The Census forms indicates the Ernest, Mabel and Eugene lived in Merced in 1935, meaning they relocated to southern California between 1935 and 1940. Their residence in 1940 was on Mount Vernon Avenue, about 7 miles from the hillside location we so commonly associate with the Anderegg family.

Gene served in the US Army and following his discharge married Rosemary Wanzenried on August 19, 1946 in Santa Ana, California.

All of this means we have the two cousins we grew up with, Jimmy and Freddy, but also a number of once- and twice-removed cousins residing in the central valley of California.

Time for a family reunion!

The Migration of Two Families: Tabb and Ellerton

When Kenneth Met Louise

As a beginning point, I have arbitrarily selected two members of two families that would eventually merge when Louise Tabb and Kenneth Ellerton married.

The two, Edward Tabb and William Joseph Ellerton, were contemporaries in an area now known as West Virginia.

They came from and produced large families. Unintended pregnancies were the norm, as family planning had not yet evolved. And, because of the high infant mortality rate and the high incidence of women dying during shildbirth, many couples intentionally had large families in hopes that enough offspring would survive to help with the work on family farms and to care for family members, including elders who were part of an extended family.

For the period of time in question, some members of these families moved westward and settled in Kansas and Texas.

Introduction to the Tabbs and Ellertons: Virginia Origins

Edward Tabb (1780-1834) was born in Berkeley County, Virginia Colony.*(Please see endnote about Virginia and West Virginia.)

For the purposes of this post, our lineage in the Tabb branch traces from Edward through William Kemp Tabb (1819-1881), William Drew Tabb (1845-1920) and Louise Baker Tabb (1883-1937).

In 1805, Edward married Elithy Turner (1787- ), also a Berkeley County native. They were married in Berkeley County, which is in the eastern region of the state.

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The other half of this narrative, William J(oseph) Ellerton (1773-1859) was born in Virginia Colony.

In my work, our lineage traces from William through Samuel Ellerton (1808-1884), John Hite [Hight] Ellerton (1840-1907) and Kenneth Ellerton (1879-1951).

In 1796, William married Sara H Phillips (1780-1869), who was born in Virginia Colony, as well. They were married in Harrison County, West Virginia, in the north-central region of the state.

During this particular era, families still tended not move very far. That changed in the late 18^th Century as the Ohio Territory and the interior opened, largely as the result of the passage of the Northwest Ordinance by the Confederation Congress in 1787. Although their birth records are not specific, it is very, therefore, likely that both William and Sarah were born in/ near Harrison County, West Virginia.

The unions of Edward/ Elithy and William/ Sarah occurred nine years apart in what is now West Virginia, in locations just under two hundred miles apart.

Tabbs: Kentucky and Illinois

John and Elithy remained in Virginia until the late 1820’s or early 1830’s. Their first five or six children (there is a question about the number) were born in Virginia between 1807 and 1823. Their oldest child, Ruth (1807-1853), married Ambrose James Wheeler in 1828 in Caldwell County, Kentucky. And, Ruth and James’ last child, John Leland Tabb, was born in Hardin County, Kentucky in 1832, indicating the family lived in the Bluegrass State at the time of his birth.

The records for the Edward Tabb family are spotty. Suffice it to say, most family members married and remained in Kentucky for most of their lives. Two of his Daughters married men named Wheeler, who are distantly related, and had large families, most of whom also settled in the area.

John and Elithy 's fourth oldest child, William Kemp Tabb (1819-1881), married Lucinda Cornwell [Cornwall] (1819-1870), a Kentucky native, in Todd County, Kentucky.

Questions about the Tabb Lineage

Full disclosure requires a short discussion about the connection between William Kemp and his father, Edward Tabb. An authoritative website called The Tabb Family in the United States (TTF) does not recognize William Kemp as Edward Tabb’s Son. In its work, TTF indicates that Edward and Elithy had a Son named William, only its research suggests William’s middle initial was “A,” and not “K” or “Kemp.” However, TTF has been unable to locate any additional information about this individual. While I am nearly certain TTF’s William A is actually William Kemp and have been able to identify scores of records about William Kemp Tabb, I have not been able to find any documents linking him to his presumed Father, Edward Tabb. If and when I do, TTF will change its records to reflect our Tabb branch of The Tabb family in the United States. Here is an excerpt of an e-mail from George Tabb, the director of TTF: Several Tabbs from Berkeley County, Virginia moved to Kentucky during this time period.  My opinion (based on the census info I have seen along with the information you provided) is that William A. and William K. are one and the same person.  Since I have little info on William A. and the census records support William K, I suspect that William K. is his correct name.  If that is the case, you have discovered a whole new line of the Tabb family.  Let me know what records indicate that William K. is the son of Edward.  Many thanks! In its absence, I am confident that I have traced the Tabb family back to Robert Tabb, circa 1515.

They had nine children, the first eight of whom were born in Kentucky between 1841 and 1856. The youngest child, Elihu Henry Tabb (1858- ), was born in Washington County, Illinois, which is in the St. Louis area. The eighth of the nine children, Elihu’s older brother who lived about eighteen months, died in Crittenden, Kentucky in 1857, suggesting the family moved to Illinois moved to Illinois in 1857 or 1858.

William and Lucinda’s third oldest child was William Drew (1845-1895). William and Lucinda’s children tended to settle in southern Illinois, although two Sons, Dempsey and Beverley, migrated up in Kansas.

In 1870, William Drew Tabb, one of the Tabb children who remained in Illinois, married Cora A Pace (1852-1886), who was born and lived in Jefferson County, Illinois. The Pace family was a long-time, established family. Jefferson County is located in the Saint Louis area, just south and east of Washington County. They were most likely married in this area. They had two Daughters, Gertrude Pace and Louise Baker.

Louise Baker Tabb remained in the area and most likely met her future spouse, Kenneth Eugene Ellerton, while living there. For unexplained reasons, they married in Houston, Texas.

Louise had a number of relatives living in southern Illinois in 1916. Given the seemingly harsh circumstances of her upbringing, relatives would have been important sources of support.

By the time Louise met Kenneth, her Sister, Gertrude, who had realy raised her, had married. But, she remained in southern Illinois. She died in East Saint Louis in 1931, when she was 55 years old. 

 Her Aunt named Mary Elizabeth Horton (nee Tabb) (1847-1924), whose Husband died in 1880, and her Daughter, Myrtle (1867-1942), lived in Washington County. Another Aunt, Sara Ann Hoit (nee Tabb) (1851-1934) and her husband, Charles (1849-1935) lived in Jefferson County. Sara’s Son and Louise’s Cousin, Charles Waldo Hoit (1894-1969), lived in Franklin County, just south of Jefferson County.

So, how did the Ellerton family end up in southern Illinois?

Ellertons: Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and Texas

William and Sarah had ten children, the first two of whom were born in Harrison County, West Virginia. The rest were born in Ohio. Based on the birth date of the third child, a Daughter named Jane (1802-1894), the family moved to Jackson County, Ohio in the late 18^th Century or beginning of the 19^th Century.

A word about the spelling of the name. Because I have not been able to definitively identify the parents of William, we start with his records. In addition to the spelling with which we are acquainted, the name is spelled variously, ‘Elerton,’ ‘Elarton,’ ‘Ellarton,’ ‘Eliton’ and ‘Elliton.’ Some of the records purported to be for William’s Father, also include a variation of the name as Allerton.

This is significant because Allerton is a name of prominent Pilgrims who arrived at Plymouth Rock in 1620. So far, I have found no connection.

The name was spelled differently even within William’s own family. Some of his children’s records are ‘Elarton,’ while others are ‘Elerton’ and ‘Ellerton.’ There is no pattern and the only explanations I can give are low-level literacy, avoiding creditors, or shabby recordkeeping.

[Records for our great-great Grandfather, Samuel, mostly show the name as either ‘Elarton’ or ‘Ellerton.’]

It should be noted that William Ellerton, after moving to Ohio, likely served as a private in Captain Jared Strong's Company of Ohio in the War of 1812. According to the book The County of Ross: A History of Ross County, Ohio, a William Ellerton was amongst its first settlers. The roster for Strong’s Company was drawn from men who lived in Ross County. On some rosters the name appears as William Elliton, while on others it is Joseph Elliton. 

William and Sarah lived in Ohio until the early 1850’s. Then, the records for these two are incomplete. Although it is not clear when they moved, the two died in the 1880’s and are buried in Henry County, Iowa. Henry County, in southeastern Iowa

Based on the Census records of some of their children, they moved west to Illinois prior to the 1850 US Census. Keeping in mind that William and Sarah’s children were born between 1797 and 1824, the records indicate the older children stayed in Ohio and the younger children moved to Illinois. Interestingly, some of the children, who remained behind in Ohio and did not make the initial move to Illinois, later moved to Henry County, Iowa, presumably to live nearer their parents.

Their fifth oldest child, Samuel Ellerton (1808-1884), moved west with them, settling in downstate Illinois (DeWitt County) in the early 1830’s.

In 1833, he married Eliza Hight (1811-1886), a Virginia native. The few records about her. These two appear in the 1850 US Census in Marion, Illinois. Marion is the county seat of Williamson County in southern Illinois, located south of Franklin County and near Jefferson County, where the Tabb family had settled.

Samuel and Eliza had four children. The two older children, Lenorah Jane (1835-1916) and Chester (1837-1862), were born in Ohio, meaning that Samuel and Eliza moved to Illinois in the late 1830’s. Their Son, John Hite [Hight] Ellerton, was born in 1840 in DeWitt County, Illinois, which is in downstate Illinois near Springfield. His younger Sister, America Emma (1845- ) was also born in Illinois.

[This downstate location is straight east of Henry County, Iowa, where Samuel’s parents, William and Sarah, would eventually settle, perhaps moving there after their children were married and settled. There are no US Census records in 1850 for these two.]

Shortly after marrying, Lenorah moved to Texas. 

Their second child, Chester was a Civil War casualty, dying on 30 August 1862.

In 1867, John Hite [Hight] Ellerton, who remained in Illinois, married Nancy Wells Dunn (1814-1911), who was born in Menard County, Illinois. Menard County is just west of DeWitt County, Illinois.

Nancy lived in Kansas when she and John married, but they settled and lived in Illinois until the mid-1870’s. Their first three children were born in DeWitt County, Illinois. As the family seemed to disintegrate, it found its way to Texas and their fourth child was born.

Kenneth Eugene Ellerton was born in Grayson County, Texas in 1879. Assuming Kenneth met Louise shortly before they married in 1916, if they met in southern Illinois, he would have been there for some reason other than to visit relatives. As nearly as I can determine, by the 1910’s, there were no longer any Ellertons or relatives in Illinois.

Similarly, from a family standpoint, I can find no reason why Louise would have been in Texas where she may have met Kenneth.

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* In 1863, a part of Virginia split away and was admitted to the United States as the State of West Virginia. Bear in mind, it was after Virginia had seceded from the United States and during the Civil War, that West Virginia was formed by seceding from a seceded state. To keep things simple, when referencing events that took place and individuals who lived and died prior to the formation of the United States let alone the creation of West Virginia, I use West Virginia, nonetheless.