More Past Pictures

This couple was married 
15 June 1927

Jennie Phoebe Gunter
B. 4 Nov 1904
D. 23 December 2000
Jean's Grandmother

Stephen James Shavlik
B. 26 Dec 1899 
in Linwood, Saunders, Nebraska
D,.2 Jan 1975 
in Chambers, Holt, Nebraska
Jean's Grandfather 

Here they are holding their first Grandchild

Jean Marie GESCH

Photo 1953

Forensic Genealogy Conference Reveals Jewish Ancestry

Friday and Saturday I went to the Fall Genealogy Conference (October 2014) given by the Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogical Society. in Lincoln, Nebraska.  The topic was Forensic Genealogy with an emphasis on DNA as a Genealogy tool. The presenter was a funny little lady Colleen Fitzpatrick, PhD, Forensic Genealogist, from California.  Definitely a very brilliant lady who has a nack for digging out the truth in ways you may have not considered in typical genealogical searches.  She's the author of three 'award winning' books, which I bought and have no idea when I'll have time to read.  Why I do that? I don't know, but maybe I need to make Gabby's nap time reading time.


I had two questions about my DNA results and discovered that one of the questions I already had figured out so, thus, confirmed by Ms Fitzpatrick. The reason my Native American Ancestry doesn't show up on my DNA results from Ancestry.com is simply because it wasn't in the slice of DNA tested.

A couple of years ago my half cousin in Washington (GESCH) did a Y Chromosomal DNA test that would show only the male line, thus catching the GESCH DNA. This test was done to see if there was a connection to the Ashkenazi Jewish lines in Germany. My Great-Grandfather brought his family from the Northern Berlin to America in 1857, meaning because of the geographical location, there was a possible Jewish connection.  My Cousins mother, of Jewish descent, had suspicions because she had found GESCH in the lists of Holocaust victims.  The results of that test was absolutely positive.  Not only were the GESCH family of Jewish descent but they seemed to be able to pinpoint of the Tribe of Levi.  I don't know how they do that but the presenter of the conference and a DNA expert indicated if the study was tight enough it was possible.  Further study of the Ashkenazi Jews revealed that it is generally true that this group are indeed Levites.

August Frederick GESCH

The second and newest question was interesting. Why am I showing a DNA match to someone who is one of the children of my Great-Aunts through marriage to my Grandmother, MARY (MARIE) ELIZABETH REBENSDORF DEBUS GESCH's brother GEORGE REBENSDORF? This amazingly strong and loving woman of German Descent,  AMELIA ROTH (VOLZ (FOLTZ)) REBENSDORF, came to America with several children in tow (one an infant) after her husband (Mr Volz (Foltz), also of German descent died in Russia.  Not long after arriving she married my grandmother's brother, GEORGE REBENSDORF.  They blended their two families and had several children together. Clearly, saving a non-parental event that is unlikely, I should not show a DNA match to this person named FOLTZ.

Mary (Marie) REBENSDORF (Debus) GESCH

I posed the question to the presenter and the first question she asked was, "is there Jewish Ancestry"? I said that I had recently found Jewish Ancestry in not only my Paternal Grandfather (as indicated above) BUT ALSO through Paternal Grandmother when it showed up in an actual REBENSDORF close DNA match. The Jewish Ancestry in my Paternal Grandfather is not new news, but finding out that my Paternal Grandmother also was of Jewish descent is new news.  

The Ashkenazi Jewish lines is where we get the Yiddish pronunciation of Hebrew.  This is a group of people who migrated to Eastern Europe (i.e. Germany and from there to Poland and the Ukraine). They are an interesting group that are often plagued with DNA health issues in children and are often known to be brilliant thinkers.  Albert Einstein was an Ashkenazi Jew.  Colleen Fitzpatrick, the Conference presenter,  indicated to me that this group of Jewish people tended to inter-marry, because of their faith, so that it is possible I would have distant matches to just about everyone from the area or this entire Ethnic Group.

 My next task is to get a Y DNA from my Uncle for the Shavlik line and see what happens. Since I already know that Shavlik is a Hebrew name I am anticipating the results will have European Jewish Ancestry in it. My Grandfather, STEPHEN SHAVLIK's father, was from Bohemia near the Turkish Border and his mother was from Moravia. If positive this brings me to three of my four major lines with European Jewish Ancestry. I am also going add my Ancestry.com DNA results to Family Tree DNA.


                          August GESCH
                Harvey GESCH
                          Marie REBENSDORF
Jean GESCH Slocum
                          Stephen SHAVLIK
                E'Lonna SHAVLIK
                          Jennie Phoebe GUNTER

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I AM THANKFUL that all my ancestors of Jewish Descent had, at one point in time, converted to Christianity, or in-other-words, accepted JESUS CHRIST as the SAVIOR they were looking for.

Memorial Day........Remembering Those Who Serve

It was raining when we left home for the 1.5 hour drive to Geneva, Nebraska 

to attend the Memorial Day Service at the Cemetery there.

A wreath was placed for each conflict that the United States Armed Forces took part in.  Flags from departed soldiers circled the Memorial Area and down the lanes of the main entrance roads.  One of those flags once draped the casket of my father, Harvey GESCH (son of August GESCH and Mary Elizabeth (Marie) REBENSDORF) a Korean War Veteran and Purple Heart Recipient.

For some reason he was missed in the placing of flags at his grave, 

but fortunately we brought two flags and placed them there.

The back of the stone indicates is service activity and Purple Heart award.

At the foot of the grave was the stone given by the United States Government.

Harvey GESCH in a picture taken around 1989 with his wife E'Lonna SHAVLIK GESCH

A picture of Harvey GESCH with his mother Mary Elizabeth (Marie) REBENSDORF-DEBUS-GESCH

Photo Thursday

Today we have a photo of an event in Nebraska History.  This picture was taken near Fullerton, Nebraska in 1895.  Burton W. HALL is pictured behind the white horse.

This is a wonderful picture of how haying took place then.  Large stacks were made in the fields.  The men on top of the stack ran around and stomped on top of the stack to pack it down after each addition was made to the stack.

E'Lonna (SHAVLIK) GESCH told that making stack's in the 1940's was only slightly different.  On the ranch she lived on near Bartlett, Nebraska the stack was powered by an old car instead of horses and she tells that she and the other children were to ones that did the stomping.  She also said that later she was allowed to drive the car.

Burton and Esther (MASTERS) HALL is the son of William A HALL.  Burton (from the Stella Area) and Esther (from Syracuse) lived in many places including Chase county, Tilden, Meadow Grove, and Palymra.  He actually passed away in Johnstown, Nebraska (I don't know why he was there but was living at Palymra at the time), but is buried in Rosewood Cemetary at Palymra.  Esther later lived in Lincoln where she passed away and is also buried in Rosewood Cemetary in Syracuse. 

Burton and Esther HALL are the parents of Onieta (HALL) CUNNINGHAM, Mike's grandmother.  Mike says he barely remembers Esther (MASTERS) HALL, but said he did meet her.

Monday This 'n That

Articles in this post: MIA, It's A Matter Of Faith, Nebraska's Best (Decendents News), Upcoming Nebraska Genealogy Events and Meetings

MIA
Yes, I've been missing in action of late. We've been having lots of babies here on the farm. Plus the garden has kept me from being infront of the computer plus the scanner portion of my printer went on the fritz so I had no way of sharing photos with you like I wanted.

I am now the proud owner of a wand type portable scanner and will be scanning pictures this week. Soooooo..............we are on a role again! I've got some great projects going!

Nebraska's Best (Decendents News)

The Monday's This 'n That post every week will include important information on the site, a DECENDENTS NEWS section where the family can make announcements, etc on current news. Does anyone remember what Decendent means?

Decendent: Proceeding from an Ancestor.................WHAT? Basically when working on your family history you choose a starting point. Generally that point is you. Everyone behind you are ancestors and everyone going forward (your children, grandchildren, etc) are decendents. However, in the instance of your decentents, you are an ancestor. There have we gone in a perfect circle now?

Basically we'd like to hear from the family about what is going on with you and your children. Keep it general and basic please since we're on the net but do keep us a bit updated. From the perspective of this BLOG the decendents of Michael and Jean Slocum are:

Billie Jean (Slocum) Hansen (5 children), Sean Michael Slocum (4 children plus caring for/adopted Kimberly's), Christopher Gene Slocum (2 children), Kimberly Jean (Slocum) Coffman (4 children) and Katrina Marie (Slocum) Shlick (2 children).

We would like to hear from the cousins of Michael Slocum and Jean (Gesch) Slocum. This means we want to know more about your families and discuss the possiblility of getting together with you for some kind of Cousins Event. It also means that we want to hear from the children of the Children of Chester A. Cunningham and Onieta Mae (Hall) Cunningham, George W. Slocum and Etta Mae (Sinclair) Slocum, August F. Gesch and Mary Elizabeth "Marie" (Rebensdorf) Gesch and Stephen J. Shavlik and Jennie Phoebe (Gunter) Shavlik.

If you are 'cousins' as described above can you let us know more about you and your children? You can EMAIL us or post on this message. We can't wait to hear from you!

It's A Matter Of Faith

I am also gathering information for an article about the faith of our fathers. What do you know about the religious life of your ancestors. If you are part of our families please EMAIL me with what you know.

Sometimes an apparent lack of faith in one of our ancestor's can give us a clue of many things. Are they hiding their faith? Were they persecuted for their faith? What do you know about your ancestors faith? Did they have a favorite Hymn or Song? How did they live out their faith?

Watch for my progress in this area. REMEMBER our goal is to make these people 'real' and not forgotten and not just names on a Family History Genealogy sheet.

Upcoming Nebraska Genealogy Activities and Meetings

Nebraska Educational Television's (NET) documentary of the OCGS "Tombstone Tour" can be found at: Tombstone tour: Finding the value in Nebraska cemeteries

Sunday, June 3, 2012:  2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, Walt Branch Library,  6701 South 14th St., Lincoln.  Rayma Shrader will be at Walt Branch Library from 2-4 PM to assist LLCGS members and anyone else interested in genealogical research.  Bring your questions about 1940 census, puzzles related to where to search next, etc. Invite folks who are curious about genealogy and they can learn how to begin using library resources. 

5 June 2012: Family History Library (Latter Day Saints) 8:30 pm 3000 Old Cheney Road, Lincoln. IMMIGRATION

7 June 2012: Tri-State Corners Genealogical Society (includes Richardson County) Meetings are 7:30 p.m. the first Thursday of each month at the Pioneer Plaza Meeting Room, 1820 Barada Street, Falls City, NE.


16 June 2012: Family History Library (Latter Day Saints) 8:30 pm 3000 Old Cheney Road, Lincoln. EMIGRATION

16 Jun 2012: The Otoe County Genealogical Society will be hosting a presentation on "Witching Unmarked Graves" from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. at the Unadilla Cemetery in Unadilla, Nebraska, and afterwards at the Park Hill Cemetery in Syracuse. Cost is $5.00, which includes a witching rod and presentation material. Checks need to be made out to "OCGS" and mailed in along with your name and contact information by June 1st to P.O. Box 465, Syracuse, NE 68446. If you would like more information regarding this event, please contact OCGS president, Mary Hanke at hankemary@cox.net.


16 Jun 2012: The Greater Omaha Genealogical Society will be hosting a FREE gernealogy class, titled, Part I: "Finding Family on the Internet—Is It Accurate?" Once thought to be primarily the tool of business and science, the internet is being taken over by genealogists. What’s out there? Part II: "There’s More in the Courthouse than Vital Records." Learn what helpful records can be found in the courthouse to document your family history. This class will be held from 9:15 a.m. to 12:00pm at the Mormon Trail Center, 3215 State Street in Omaha. Classes are free, but pre-registration is requested. Please call (402) 706-1453 or email at genclass@aol.com.


23 June 2012: Extra! Extra! Read All About It – using newspapers for genealogy research.
Presented by Susan Petersen of LongLostRelatives.net  11:00 am W. Dale Clark Library, 215 S. 15th St, Omaha, NE 

Tuesday Family Trivia

This Weeks Trivia Question:

Often 'farm families' moved to town for one reason or another.  Usually it was when the children were old enough to take over the farm and the parents found town living easier for them.  This also meant that the couple would need some kind of income in their later years.

In the picture this man and his wife ran a business common many years ago.

This is a picture of Warren Sinclair and his 'town business'.  Who can name the business and the business location?  (I've given you a big hint here by giving you his name)  There are also several other stories about Grandpa Sinclair.  Who can share?

Last Weeks Trivia Question:

There are three categories for 'homesteaders' that qualify for certificates through the Nebraska State Genealogcial Society.

FIRST FAMILY	Settled in Nebraska by 1867
PIONEER FAMILY	Settled in Nebraska between 1868 & 1879
CENTURY FAMILY	Settled in Nebraska by 100 years prior to current date

Our question was for you to see which of the ancestrial families in the links above qualify as 'First Families' or 'Pioneer Families'.

I have to say that I was surprised by Jean's line.  Some that I thought would be First or Pioneer Families didn't qualify according to the above date. 

Mike's Line:  Hall and Masters qualify as First Families.  Sinclair and McCleary appear to qualify as Pioneer Families.  There are numerous families that then qualify as Century Families.

Jean's Line:  Gesch and Shavlik qualify as a First Family.  Krska and Gunter qualify as Pioneer Family.  Many other 'lines' qualify as Century Families.

Some of these might change as I go through the process of gathering all the proof information to submit these families for certificates.  I will have to gather proof of the time the families came to Nebraska and then prove through birth and death certificates on down the line the either Mike or Jean are actual descendants of these people.

Last year and early this year have proved bring us huge surprises in our family tree.  I'm curious what the rest of this year will bring.  I will be working on the eight family lines above this year.