Exciting Finds in 2012

                                                                       

My brother Lou Kleager has badgered me for years to find where the Kleager name came from, and I kept trying to brush him off because I thought it was impossible to find them.  I knew about this illiterate “Joseph” (as you know, one of many Joseph’s) who immigrated in 1847, but I did not know much!  I worked finding his hometown "across the pond" in the early 80’s, again in the early 90’s, even went to Franklin County, Missouri last summer … just no clues.

Several things happened at once last summer, 2012.  Some like to call it genealogy serendipity, others say; “that ancestor wants to be found and remembered”.  I personally attribute a spiritual aspect to finding out about one’s ancestors.  I believe that our ancestor still live, that we will meet them some day, and that we are eternally connected to them.  

However one labels it, last summer a series of miracles I never thought would never happen allowed us to find our ancestors in Switzerland.

Last spring I sent out about a dozen e-mails to any Swiss professional or archive that I could find on the web that might be able to help me in Switzerland. I got 2 responses and sent them both a check, a packet of about 200 pages of copies of every document I had ever found about Joseph Kleger in Missouri, and asked them to try to find “my Joseph”.

Then Lou and his wife Carmen were in Germany, and e-mailed me that they and their son Brian were going to go Switzerland to look for the Kleagers, and could I send them what I knew?  They were leaving in 2 days!  I thought they were crazy, there was no way they could find this needle in a haystack.  But, I hastily made a summary of where they might try to look, and what I knew.

AND THEY FOUND THINGS!!!  And they thought to document where they went and what they found out at each place!!  They were brilliant!  Besides some hints about where information was and wasn’t, they found a newspaper supplement written in 1928 by a local historian of about 5 pages in length titled (in German of course) “Local History Memoranda: The Klegers”.

THE SAME WEEK the 2 professional researchers in Switzerland ran into each other on the trail (and got mad at me for sending them both on the same errand), and one of them turned the whole thing over to the other WHO FOUND OUR JOSEPH MAGNUS KLEGER!  

Same week.  It was amazing.  They located him in Kaltbrunn, Canton St. Gallen , Switzerland. 

Another miracle, the Catholic church records in Kaltbrunn (of which the researcher got to look in the original – turning the pages of these 500-600 year old books) have been microfilmed by the Family History Library and are here in Salt Lake, and I can access the church records!

Other miracle, those church records directly correlate to the newspaper supplement that Lou, Carm and Brian found!!!  It’s the same family and I am absolutely sure it is our guy and our family.

I feel badly I have not shared more of this as I’m finding it, and with this blog post I am re-commiting to start blogging again.

In the meantime, I have hired a fellow that can read the old German handwritten script that I cannot read that is on the microfilm.  We meet together for 3 hours about every other week and he reads the microfilmed church records, we discuss how the person fits into the family,  and I enter the information into my genealogy software database on my laptop.  We still have a lot left to do!  There are dozens of Klegers in the Kaltbrunn Catholic Church records!!  And, just to make it interesting, there are 55 more Kleger families from near by towns of Benken, Wattwil, Ruschlikon, Nesslan and Kappel and I haven't even started looking at those records.

I also paid another guy to translate the newspaper supplement that Lou found and it is fascinating!!!!  

Between the church records and the newspaper supplement I am finding out all kinds of interesting stories to go with the names and dates.

Here is a brief genealogy for starters:

Joseph Magnus Kleger's father was Peter Paul Kleger (1785-1849)

his father was Joseph Johann Georg Kleger (1754-1826)

his father was Josepho Antonio Calestio Kleger (1712-?)

his father was Johannes Georgius Kleger (1683-?)

his father was Joseph Kleger (1652-1714) (wife Anna Gaudentia Steiner had 14 children!!)

his father was Georg Kleger (1616-1657)

his father was Georg Kleger (?-1634)

his father was Fridolin Kleger

his father was Georg Kleger (?-1591)

his father was Christen Kleger 

and his father was Heini Kleger

Heini is my 13th great grand father!!

Well, there is it.  I've started the blog again, and if you comment or e-mail me it will help with my New Year's resolution to send out more of what I have found.  There is a lot of really fun information on the family that I want to share, but for now I've whet your appetite, and re-committed myself to blog.

You will hear more soon ...

Joseph Magnus Kleger

   When Joseph Kleger appeared in the St. Louis Court of Common Pleas on November 13th, 1846 to declare his intention to become a citizen of the United States, he declared that he was 26 years old (he was really 30), and that he was a native of Switzerland.


   As part of the process to file papers of intention, an immigrant has to "renounce, forever, all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign Power, Prince, State and Sovereignty whatsoever, and particularly to:__________________".  The blank is filled in with the particular political entity to which the immigrant had previously had allegiance.

 
               The blank in Joseph's case says something that looks like "the Canton of Clarns".

   In Switzerland, cantons are the equivalent of U.S. states.  "In true federal style, the canton is both the basic building block of the country and a balance against the centre having too much power.  And for the Swiss, the canton is emotionally as important as the country, if not more so ... The cantons are so independently minded that it can sometimes seem as if there isn't one Switzerland but 26 mini ones, all going in roughly the same direction but each doing their own thing.  This is such a part of Swiss life that they have a word for it, Kantonligeist.  The polite translation is that each canton has it's own identity, culture and history ..." (Diccon Bewes; "Swiss Watching, Inside Europe's Landlocked Island" pages 21 & 22).

   However, there never has been a Canton "Clarns".  That fact confused the genealogists I have hired and consulted in the past, until this spring one (whom I would pay for a couple of hours a month to work with me at the Family History Library here in Salt Lake City) decided the closest to what was written was "Glarus".  There IS a Canton Glarus.

   This summer, all of the Kleger/Klager/Kläger/Kleager/Klaeger research came together in happy "genealogy serendipity", and it proved the Canton Glarus theory wrong, and proved that Joseph Magnus really did have baptism record, somewhere!

   First, my brother, Louis Kleager, his wife, Carmen Kleager and his son, Brian Kleager went on a 3 day whirlwind research trip to Switzerland!   What's more, they kept detailed notes of where they went and what they found.  It is so wonderful and helpful that they went, and that they documented what they did, and took the time to write it up.  I know from experience that one gets swept up in discovery, and tends not to document what is being done.  Thank you Lou and Carm and Brian!!

   They visited the town of Glarus, which has the Canton Glarus archives and found some Klegers, but not a Joseph Magnus Kleger in the time frame that would match the one we know to be our ancestor.  They also learned, from a janitor at the Glarus church, that every building in the town of Glarus was destroyed in a fire in 1860 - which would have wiped out records of Joseph M.'s birth that was assumed to be between 1814 to 1824.

   Then they visited the town of Benken in the Canton of St. Gallen.  Canton St. Gallen and Canton Glarus are adjacent.  We have known for a year or so there was a Joseph Kleger born in Benken and died in Franklin County, Missouri.  His baptism record is in the Catholic church records of Benken, as are his children, but he and his wife are not the right age to be parents of Joseph M. born between 1814-1824 (dates derived from the various ages he declared in U.S. documents).

   My brother and family visited the Catholic church and cemetery in Benken, but didn't find anything significant.   They noted cemetery hunting in Switzerland was rather pointless, as graves get re-used after a few years!  Therefore, most of the head stones are much more recent.

   Lou, Carmen, and Brian went on to the town of St. Gallen (in the Canton of St. Gallen), where they learned in the "Rat Haus" (City Hall) that there are presently Kleagers living there, but they would not release any information on them.

   Next up, they found the Stadtarchiv (City Archive) in the town of St. Gallen, and found some more Klager's but not really a match.  So, they proceeded to the Staatarchiv (State Archive) of the Canton of St. Gallen.  They were limited in time before closing, but found a fair number of things, including five Klager families from Benken, on which they took notes.

   Lou also found an index mentioning three biographies for Kleger, including one he was able to locate and photocopy - in German - of course.  One of these biographies was about "Die Kleger [von Kaltbrunn]".  Kaltbrunn is a town or parish that is just a  couple of kilometers from the town of Benken in Canton St. Gallen.

   At about the same time, e-mails (about 15 requests) I had sent out to Swiss archives and genealogists were finally answered, and two different women in Switzerland responded that they would be willing to be hired to look for Joseph Magnus Kleger, born between 1814-1824.

   I figured it had been so hard to this point, I might as well encourage both of them to look.  Maybe between the two of them, one would find it.  I sent money, and about 200 pages of photocopied information I have found about 'ol Joseph Magnus to each of them.

   Well, what they found was each other!  I kind of got bawled out via e-mail for sending the two off after the same thing.  So, one quit (and fortunately sent her remaining fee to the other!), and the other researcher kept looking.

   Then, on Friday the 13th (of July, 2012) I got the following e-mail from Suzanne Peter-Kubli titled "Trip to Kaltbrunn":

"Dear Clytee,
   I think, I've got him!
   In the baptism records of Kaltbrunn (Canton St. Gallen) I found this entry:
   Josef Magnus Kläger, born January 23d 1816, confirmed 22. 9. 1819
   Son of Petrus Paulus Kläger and Maria Barbara Fäh
   Godparents: Joseph Anton Magnus Kläger and Elisabeth (?).  So, Josef Magnus was named after his godfather rather than his father, which was pretty common ...
    The family Kläger lived in Freigaden, which belonged to the hamlet Rieden.  Reiden belongs to the parish of Kaltbrunn.  If you look it up in the internet, you'll find several newer houses, but in the early 19th century there were probably just a couple of small farms there.
   I was not able to find out the profession of Josef's father (I have since found that he was a 'day laborer' - no skill or regular job).  But, since Josef was not able to read or write, could mean, that he did not go to school at all but started working at an early age, maybe in one of the numerous textile factories in the lower part of the Canton Glarus.
   In any case, not having any kind of schooling means, that he came from a poor background.  When he emigrated to the U.S., he was 30 years old.  He could have been working for over 15 years.  If my assumption is correct, Josef Kläger worked and lived in Näfels, Niederurnen or Oberurnen for a long time and therefore mentioned Canton Glarus rather than Kaltbrunn as his origin".

   So, did you catch it?

   My great-great grandfather, Joseph Magnus Kläger was born January 23rd, 1816 in Freigaden, Rieden, Kaltbrunn, Canton St. Gallen, Switzerland.
   My great-great-great grandfather's name is Peter Paul Kläger.
   My great-great-great grandmother's name is Maria Barbara Fäh.

   Pretty exciting stuff.  I have more, but that's another post for another day.

   A big thank you to my brother, Lou Kleager, for helping to fund this professional research, and to him and his wife Carmen and son Brian for the research they did in Switzerland.   Love you guys!!

 

Joseph Magnus Kleger's Birthplace is Found!!

     But I'm not going to tell you where just yet, I'm going to make you hungry for it. I have been looking for his birthplace and parents for 35 years - off and on of course - but 35 years, so I'm going to make you wait just a little bit longer too!

     First I want to explore some ideas of why Joseph M.'s history was so hard for me to find.

One -
     My grandfather, Frank August Kleager, died in 1929 at age 33, when my father, Clyde Louis Kleager, was only 11.  At the time of Frank's death, he and his wife Sophie were living in Havelock, Lancaster County, Nebraska.  In the same county were two other Kleager families - Frank's brothers Joseph William Kleager and Edward Louis Kleager.  All 3 families had moved to Nebraska from their birthplace in  Franklin County, Missouri in the previous decade.
     In addition to two Kleager families, living in the same county were Sophie's parents; Louis Henry and Minnie Drewel, and her youngest brother Elmer Drewel.  She had family near by.
     But, within two years of my grandfather's death, my grandmother, Sophie (who later called herself "Eleanor") Kleager moved with her five young boys 100 miles farther west of Havelock to a farm near Alda, in Hall County, Nebraska.  She distanced herself farther from family.
     Over the years I have tried to ask my father why he thinks his mother moved away from both her own family, and her dead husband's family.  Clyde wrote in 1997: "A major part of mother's thought was a passion to keep her family together.  Her fear was that someone or group would decide that she couldn't cope with doing this financially or otherwise.  She felt that the first cue of failure would be to ask for assistance from anyone, and relatives seemed to be the most suspect in this regard."
   My dad, Clyde, only remembers meeting his grandmother Lesetta Mincemeyer Kleager a few times when she came to Nebraska.  Sophie and her boys were too poor to do anything as extravagant as going back to Missouri - where she grew up also - and visit family.  His grandfather, Joseph Kleager, died before my father was born, a year before Frank and Sophie married and moved to Nebraska. So, just by moving to Nebraska they were distanced from the Kleager family in Missouri, and after Frank's death, Sophie moved herself farther, from even the Nebraska part of the Kleager family.
   As a result, the stories and history and ancestry of the Kleagers just didn't get passed on.  My father, a great story teller with a brilliant mind that can recall details well, knows very little of his father's life, let alone of his grand parents Kleager's lives.


Two -
   My great great grandfather, Joseph Magnus Kleger/Klager/Kleager/Kleager (yes, it was spelled that many ways in documents relating just to him) could not read or write.
   That had to be a handicap all his life.  He was the son of a "day laborer", and man who had no skill or occupation, who just worked where and when he could get it.  Joseph M. immigrated from Switzerland at the age of 30, alone, as far as I can tell.  He landed in New Orleans in October 1846, and was in St. Louis by November.  Perhaps he had distant relatives near Washington, Missouri where he first lived after arriving.
   He was poor, he was illiterate, and he was alone.
   Any document had to be written by some one else, the name "Joseph Kleger" written, and then around the "Joseph Kleger" was an "X his mark".  He left no records that he himself wrote.  He never read anything.  This was not the middle ages, this was between 1816 - 1885, and there were great thinkers and writers all over the world, and in Missouri - but he was left out of that world.
   I'm not certain he knew when his birthday was.   From what he said on the ship's manifest;  he was born in 1816.  From his U. S. Army enlistment; 1817.  His declaration to become a citizen of the U.S.; 1820.  From the 1850 and 1860 census; 1823.  Maybe he never learned to do math either.  Perhaps he was so impoverished as a child he had no access to education.
   I wonder if he ever even picked up any English, surrounded as he was by German speakers Missouri.
   He did not leave much of a trail.  Certainly no letters, journal entries or written documents.  Part of why he was so hard to find because he left nothing behind.
   When he died, without a will, in 1884, his processions (from probate packet) consisted of: "1 Ward robe, 1 Bed Stead, 1 feather bed and 1 lot of clothing".  He was owed a note for $200, but owed someone else $300.  $46.45 was owed for his medical bills, $20.00 for his coffin, $6.65 for a bill to L. H. Himburg General Merchandise and Agricultural Implements, and another bill for $1500.  He lies in an unmarked grave, and there seems to be no record of what cemetery.
   In his lifetime of 68 years he had 2 wives and 7 children, he owned and sold land, he was always listed as "farmer" in the census records.  He accomplished things.  He just did not pass down any legacy that I can find of his childhood, or even his adult life.

   So, it's been hard to learn much about Joseph Magnus Kleger's origins.  Now that you appreciate that ... there is more coming soon!

Charlene Elsie Kleager Foreman - the answer

Last post I asked who was Charlene Kleager Foreman?

Well, she is related to Joseph William Kleager (my great uncle, brother of my grandfather Frank August Kleager), the oldest son of Joseph and Lesetta Mincemeyer Kleager.

Joseph William married Halle Ellen Renick in Missouri in 1906, and they had 3 children: James Joseph "Jim", Clara Lisetta and Bertha Josephine. (Notice we are keeping with the "Joseph" theme there!).

Unfortunately, the mother Halle died a few months after Bertha's birth in 1911 of valvular insufficiency. That left Joseph a widower with three children under the age of three.  I don't know who helped with the children, though I am sure Joseph's family did.  Lesetta Mincemeyer Kleager raised a lot of children!

Joseph married and Iva E. Ernie in 1914.  I only know that because of a marriage license, I have no idea what happened to her; if she died, or they were divorced. No one in the family has talked about it.

Joseph married again in, 1917 to Josephine Jost in Missouri.  About 1921, they moved to Lancaster County, Nebraska near where his brothers Frank and Edward had already located, to farm.

There still seems to be some mystery here.  Is she a child of Joseph William Kleager with his second wife Josephine - Joseph was been 56 at the time of her birth and Josephine 45, not impossible but tricky.  Or, was she a grand daughter of Joseph, the daughter of one of his daughters, Clara or Bertha?

I sent to Nebraska Vital Records for a birth certificate, and none could be found!  That is curious.  Why is there no birth certificate?

JoAnn Munden (who is a Drewel, not a Kleager, but grew up in the same area around Lincoln) said her sister Virginia remembers when she was small going to visit Kleagers, (not sure which ones), and there was a little girl a few years younger than her.  She told that the girl (not sure it was Charlene, but the timing fits) "sang like Texas Mary, a famous singer".

Then Virginia said I should ask my Dad, as Virginia seems to remember that it was my Dad (a M.D.) may have been one of the first to say that Charlene had cancer.  Virginia seemed to think Charlene was the girl with the beautiful voice who died of cancer.

My Dad, who would be Charlene's first cousin, told me in a phone conversation that he remembers that Josephine was step-mother to Jim, Clara and Bertha, and maybe there were some issues with that in terms of how she treated those kids. He then said "but later there was a baby and Joe and Josephine went ga-ga over that little baby".  He thought he remembered the she was a grand daughter that they raised as their own.

He also remembers that Charlene went to a one room school near Lincoln, and for a while the teacher at the school was Kenny Kleager (my Dad's brother), and the only student was Charlene!

LaRue Kleager Bryant had a picture of Lesetta Kleager with a child, Lesetta's great-grand daughter Charlene, the grand child of Joseph Kleager.

I wrote Ron Bryant to ask his mother, LaRue Kleager Bryant (also a first cousin), if she remembered who Charlene was.  LaRue wrote back that Charlene was a grand daughter of Joseph's, and that Charlene was the daughter of Bertha.

However, the plot thickens.  There was no birth certificate, right?  But, there IS a death certificate which I received from Nebraska Vital Records:

   
The death certificate says she is the daughter of Joseph William Kleager and Josephine Jost!   Did they legally adopt her, or did they just raise her as their own?

Now the 1940 Census for Nebraska has been indexed, and I think the census confirmed the theory (opposite of the death certificate) that Charlene was a grand daughter.

I know this is hard to read, but the second entry is down is:
Kleager, Joseph, Head, age 61
(--------), Josephine, Wife, age 50
Jewitt, Bercha, Daughter, age 29
(--------), Charlene, Grand Daughter, age 4

The last name for Bertha (which was misspelled Bercha), is hard to read, it was indexed as Jewitt, but it could also look like Jewell.

But there is Charlene, as Bertha's daughter, with Bertha and Charlene living with Bertha's father and step-mother, Joseph and Josephine Kleager in North Bluff Election Precinct, Lancaster County, Nebraska.

Charlene's life is a sad tale all around.  She married Wayne Foreman, had a infant son, Kenneth Wayne Foreman, who was born and died in 1953, when Charlene was 18.  Charlene developed a "choriocarcinoma", which is a cancer originating from a fetus or pregnancy (so possibly from pregnancy of the baby that died), and then 9 months later died, at age 19, from the choriocarcinoma.

The baby is buried in the same cemetery as Charlene, Lincoln Memorial Park.  That is the same cemetery where my grandparents, Frank August Kleager and "Eleanor" Sophie Drewel Kleager Weise are buried.  It was the headstone for Charlene that set me on this quest to discover who she was, and how she was related!

Who is Charlene Kleager Foreman?

 I have a favorite website;  Find A Grave .com. It is an interesting, great, free website in which anyone can take a picture of a tombstone, and enter the picture (and what ever else they know about the person buried there) into the database.  Then, anyone search the database by a variety of means to see tombstones of their ancestors, or anyone else for that matter!  It's a wonderful "crowd sourced" website that is growing all the time.

If you type in the surname "Kleager",  one of the cemeteries with multiple listings is the Lincoln Memorial Park in Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska.

                                                                                                                          photo courtesy of Chris Kleager Nervig
           Grave stones of Frank A. Kleager (1896-1929) and Sophia S. Kleager Wiese (1894-1987)

Lincoln Memorial Park is where my Grandfather, Frank August Kleager, was buried in 1929.  Almost 60 years later, my Grandmother, Ella Elizabeth Sophia "Eleanor" Drewel Kleager Wiese was buried next to him.

There are two other "Kleagers" in that cemetery on the Find A Grave website that I recognize:  Joseph W Kleager (28 Nov 1878 - 28 Jan 1963).  He is my great uncle, Frank's brother, who also moved from Missouri to Lancaster County, Nebraska shortly after my grandparents moved to Nebraska. There is also Josephine Kleager (4 June 1889 - 10 Aug 1971), who is Joseph's wife. 

But there is also a picture of a grave stone and entry of a person I cannot place:
Charlene Kleager Foreman
Born Aug. 7, 1934
Died Apr. 14, 1954

She was only 20 when she died, and was married.  Who is she?





Added by: Jenny Watton

I have contacted the person who put this entry on the find a grave website (Jenny Watton): she is unrelated, and just a nice person who takes pictures of gravestones in that cemetery when she goes to see her grandparent's graves, and adds them to Find A Grave.  She doesn't know who Charlene is.

To try to figure out who she is, I started with the Kleager brothers who moved from Franklin County, Missouri to Lancaster County, Nebraska around 1917 to 192: Frank (my Grandfather), Edward, and Joseph.  

I know this girl is not a granddaughter of my grandfather Frank.  

Joseph, had only one son, James Joseph Kleager, born 1908.  So far, I have discovered James in the 1930 census, at age 22, living with his 17 year old wife, Bertha and his in-laws, Harry and Pauline Densmore (they were 38 and 36) in Omaha, Nebraska.  James' wife Bertha Densmore Kleager died later that year, in 1930, at age 18.  I don't know any details of her death. James eventually he remarried a Mary.  But I haven't been able to find out if he had children.

Edward's boys were Fred, Lawrence and George.  Charlene could be the daughter of Fred, who was born in 1910, he could have had her when he was 24, but Lawrence (born 1918) and George (born 1921) would probably both be too young to have had her in 1934.

So, she could be the daughter of Fred Kleager OR James Kleager.  

Does anyone out there in Kleager-blog land know who Charlene Kleager Foreman was? 

I am going to keep hunting!  Let me know if you have any ideas!

Christ Muengemeyer (MIncemeyer) in the Civil War

   My great grandmother, Lesetta Mincemeyer Kleager, told a story she remembered even into old age.  She was about 5, outside the family farm house with some brothers and sisters, and saw a man who was dirty and scruffy coming across the field towards them. The children were scared, and "ran to Mama", trying to hide because they did not recognize him.  Turns out it was their father, Christ Mincemeyer, returning home from serving during the Civil War.

   LaRue Kleager Bryant, who grew up with her grandmother Lesetta living in their home, told me that story in July, 2011.

   My great-great grandfather, Christian "Christ" John Muengemeyer (Mincemeyer), served in Company C of the 54th Enrolled Missouri Militia from Oct. 1 to Nov. 15, 1864.  His commander was Lt. Col John T. Vitt.

   What does that mean, and what did he probably do in the war?

   What he may have done,  around October 1st, 1864, was to hastily enroll, and eventually get on a boat  and cross the Missouri River in retreat.  Well, not maybe exactly retreat, more like evasion of engagement.  Let me explain.

   The town of Washington, Missouri and the surrounding Franklin County, was a divided community as was the State of Missouri during the "War Between the States".  Missouri was the only slave state that remained in the Union.  Early settlers to the area had come from southern states, and several were slaveholders.  Later settlers included a large influx of German immigrants, (defined as German speaking, from several areas) - like all my ancestors.

   Many of the Germans immigrated to escape tyranny and seek freedoms that didn't exist in their home lands, and they had no sympathy for slaveholders or the cause of succession from the Union.  According to Ralph Gregory: "Some persons were biased against them as foreigners and some were jealous of their practical success.  The Germans risked much by their unconditional stand for the Union...." As a result, there were neighbors of competing loyalties, and at times that difference was very damaging and dangerous.

   During the conflict, Missouri was terrorized by guerrilla bands loosely associated with the Confederate cause who roved all over the state killing, destroying homes and crops, and robbing.  There were also some Confederate groups trying to recruit (force) soldiers for the southern cause and to harass and damage Union positions.  There were some Unionists also roaming in bands seeking revenge on southern sympathizers.  It was a terrible time of not knowing who to trust, fear, and panic on both sides.

   The Enrolled Missouri Militia (E.M.M.), of which Christ was enrolled, was organized partly in response to these "bushwackers", guerrilla groups, and Confederates who were so feared in the area.  The E.M.M. was a state paid and state serving militia.  The 54th and 55th Regiments of E.M.M. were organized in Franklin County.  Much of their duty was to guard the railroad and bridges.

   There was an actual invasion of Washington, Missouri in the fall of 1864.  The invaders were a Confederate army led by General Sterling Price.  The city of Washington was notified by telegraph of the approach of the army of about 10,000 men.  Panic ensued.  At first,  the 600 poorly trained Enrolled Missouri Militia were instructed to put up breastworks, and all able men in the city and area were to prepare to defend the city.
 
   In the end, the local commanders decided the number of the enemy was much too large to engage, and troops and civilians ferried across the Missouri River to the north.  Townspeople hid food and precious things, or took them with them across the river.

  There were 2 ferries operating out of Washington; the "Bright Star" and the "Evening Star." They were steamboats, that the Confederates wanted to capture for their own use.  The steamboats, plus little skiffs, were used to carry the E. M. M. and citizens across the river to Augusta.  Some went farther down the river to St. Charles.  The thought was, that without resistance, the city could avoid shelling, the outnumbered militia would be safe, and the ferry and other boats would be secure from the Confederates stealing them.

   By the time Price's Army got to Washington, the defending militia was gone, but many townspeople remained.  According to Ralph Gregory: "Washington's small military force returned to the town October 5.  The town was not greatly damaged, but almost every sound horse had been taken, much food carried off and a lot destroyed.  The railroad depot was burned an the track torn up for a short distance."

   I can't find what the 54th Enrolled Missouri Militia did for the rest of October, and the first part of November, the rest of the time Christ was enrolled.  But, apparently, he spent time away in his service, long enough for his children to not recognize him when he came home!



 

 Bibliography for this post:
Gregory, Ralph. Washington, Missouri--The Civil War Years.  1962.
Siddali, Silvana R (editor). Missouri's War The Civil War in Documents.  Athens: Ohio University Press, 2009.
Kiel, H. G.  The Kiel Files.  Washington, Mo.:  Four River Genealogical Society Library.  Binders of files compiled from various sources, from the Civil War binder under surnames beginning with letter "M".

Anna Kubli Mincemeyer

   My great-great grandmother, the mother of Lesetta Mincemeyer Kleager (who married Joseph Kleager), was Anna Kubli.  She was born in Switzerland, and was 15 when she married her 41 year old widower husband, who brought at least one child (about age 3) into the marriage.

   Her husband, John Christian Mincemeyer, who sometimes went by "Christ" and in other sources "John", was a farmer, who had to spend at least a few months involved in the Civil War.

    Anna bore 10 children between 1855 and 1877.

    Anna and Christ's oldest daughter, Caroline Mincemeyer Brune, died in 1878 at age 23, leaving a 4 year old daughter, Annie Brune.  It is believed that Annie Brune's father left his child with Anna and Christ, and moved on, descendants are not sure to where.

    The grandmother Anna raised the grandchild Annie Brune.  The grandchild, Annie Brune, was older than her uncle (Anna's youngest) Herman.  So Anna bore 10 children and raised 12, counting her step-son and her grand daughter.

   She was  widowed in 1888, when she was only 50, and her youngest was only 11.  She lived 37 years as a widow.

   She looks pretty calm for all she's been through.

   I have never seen a picture of her before, and found one on ancestry.com recently.  I don't know the year of the picture, but she was born in 1838 in Switzerland and died in 1925 in Franklin County, Missouri.

   I can't make out what is on the table, I'm guessing a "still life" of fruit maybe.  Since she seems to be sitting in front of a curtain, I assume it was taken in a photo studio.  I find her hands interesting.  Are they arthritic?  Is she nervous?  Do they hurt?  They seem quite twisted.

   Anyway, it's always a thrill to see a picture of an ancestor that one had not seen a picture of before!

Who is Maria Serephina Kleger Baumgartner Bauer?

     Maria Serephina Kleger has to be some relation to Joseph M. Klaeger, but I have not yet established how!

     Maria Serephina Kleger married John Baumgartner on 29 December 1849 in Franklin County, Missouri.  John Baumgartner bought land in 1852 next to land owned by Joseph Kleger (which was bought in 1850) in Franklin County.

      Serephina's husband John Baumgartner died November 6th, 1873 (he was only 48).  A year and a half later she married a widower, Michael Bauer in April 1875.  Bad luck, Michael Bauer died 5 months later!!

       Joseph M. Kleager/Klager/Klaeger is my great great grandfather, father of Joseph Klager, father of Frank August Kleager.  Joseph M. can't read or write, was born about 1816 in Benken, St. Gallen, Switzerland, immigrated to St. Louis about 1846, served in the US Army from September 1847 to October 1848 during the War with Mexico.  In December of 1848 he married Elizabeth Janne in Franklin County, Missouri.  Elizabeth died and he married Josephine Klager in 1857.  Josephine was the daughter of George Klager and Teresa Mueller.

      What is the relationship between Joseph and his second wife, who had the maiden name of Klaeger?  Were they first cousins? What is the relationship between Joseph and Seraphina?  Was Seraphina Josephine's sister?

      This is what links Joseph and Serephina:

       In Joseph's probate file in Franklin County, Missouri is a "note" (a loan) from Seraphina Baumgartner to Joseph M. Klaeger (who signs with an "X") for $300 with interest at the rate of 8% per Annum.  The note is dated February 16, 1874:

    On the back of the note it is recorded when the interest was paid.  Always on February 16th in the following years: 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879 paid to Seraphina Bauer (she remarried Bauer), 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885:

     Interest payments stop in 1885.  Joseph died December 14, 1884 intestate without a will.  The estate was settled in May and June of 1885, and in the list of payouts is to Seraphina Baumgartner, $300 for "note".

     How were these two related, why was she willing to loan him $300, how did a woman have the $300, why wasn't the loan from her husband??

     I would like to know more about her!

Picture Mystery - St. Louis Photographers

   "There's an app for that" is a popular phrase currently.  Well, apparently, "there is a website for that also"!

    Using google, I found a website called genealogyinstlouis.accessgenealogy.com.  It has a link called "Early St. Louis Photographers".   Open that, and there is a chart of historic St. Louis Photographers and years that they were in business.  About 1500 of them!  Way more than I thought there would be.
 
    There are no "Heller" photographers on 1010 Olive Street in St. Louis, but there are:

                         Frederick Keller at 1010A Olive Street in 1910
                         Thresher and Keller at 1010 A Olive Street in 1900
                         Goldsmith-Keller at 1012 Olive Street in 1915 and 1919

    So, if this picture was taken between 1900 and 1919, and the Joe Kleager was say between the ages of 15 to 25, he would have been born between 1875 and 1900 roughly.

    So, back to the list from Part One.
    #1 Joseph M my great great grandfather is too old (1816 - 1884)
    #2 Joseph Kleager my great grandfather is too old (1850 - 1916)
    #3 Joseph Kleager son of August who was son of #1 (1881 - 1952) a maybe
    #4 Joseph William Kleagaer son of #2 (1878 - 1963) also a maybe
    #5 The "Other" Joseph Kleager married and moved to Arkansas by 1865, too old
    #6 Joseph Klager way too old (1796 - 1856)

    That leaves #3 or #4.  Both were fathers.  #3 is a little bit younger, and #4 moved to Nebraska in 1918, and #3 lived in St. Louis.  I'm guessing #3, who was a first cousin of #4.

     Anyone else think differently??  Any other way to approach this?  This is like a sixth grade story problem!

     Other input welcome!!

Also, I made a mistake. Brenda Jenkins Kleager lives in Huntsville, Alabama, not Arkansas. Sorry!

A Kleager Picture Mystery - Part One

     Brenda Jenkins Kleager lives in Arkansas and is married to the grandson of my great uncle George Kleager.  She does family history research, and we have recently re-connected on the web.  She scanned the following picture, front and back, and sent it to me.  She found this picture a couple of years ago by googling the name Joe Kleager, and found this from a woman who buys pictures from antique and thrift stores that have names on them, then sells them online for $15.

Front with the matting involved.  In the lower right hand corner it says: "Heller" (or "Keller"), 1010 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO.

The back.  She had to use a contrast feature plus add light to see the writing: "dad Joe Kleager".

So, the mystery.  

What year, or even what decade was this picture taken?  

I think that is crucial to figure out which "Joe Kleager" it is.

This fellow looks fairly young to me, say maybe late teens to mid 20's?  I would welcome any other opinions.  There are skilled people out there who could date the picture by the type of matting, and/or by the hair style, collar, bow tie or suit.  But I am not one of those.  Are any of you??

Living out side of St. Louis would not have been a reason to eliminate one of these because there was rail road access to St. Louis that was very accessible from Franklin County and I have read that many of the Kleagers went to St. Louis for various reasons.

Here's the "Joe's" I know, and a few of the facts about them:

1. Joseph M. Klager:

    -my great great grandfather

    -born about 1816 in Switzerland 

    -arrived in New Orleans about 1846 

    -enrolled in St. Louis in  the U.S. Army in 1847 for the War with Mexico, 

    -married 1848 in Franklin County, Missouri to Elizabeth Jenny

    -1850 has a son Joseph, in 1858 a son August

    - can't read or write

2. Joseph Klaeger 

    - my great grandfather

    - the son above, born 1850 in Franklin County, Missouri 

    - worked as a teamster driving a wagon before marriage, including some time in St. Louis 

    - married in 1875 to Lesetta Mincemeyer

    - in 1878 has a son, Joseph William

3. Joseph Kleager

     - the son of August, son of #1

     - first cousin of #2

     - born 1881 in Bourbon, Missouri

     - married about 1906

     - lived and worked in St. Louis as an adult

4. Joseph William Kleager

    - son of #2

    - born in 1878 in Franklin County, Mo

    - married 1906 to Halle Ellen Renick

    - moved to Nebraska in about 1920

5.  The "Other" Joseph Kleager

    - the guy who confused me for years and years

    - roughly same era/age as #1, slightly younger

    - probably some sort of cousin of #1, but I have not established that

    - sometimes listed as Joseph J. Klaeger

    - married to Barbara Nier in 1864

    - sold land to Joseph M. Kleager #1 - in 1865 which is when I knew there were TWO Joseph's

    - moved from Franklin County to Arkansas sometime around 1869

6.  Joseph Klager

    - lived from 1796-1856

    - married to Catharina Barbara Glauss

    - death record in St. Francis Borgia Catholic Church of Washington, Missouri  

    - same parish records as Joseph Kleager #5 and Joseph Kleager #1  

    - not sure how he is related, but assume he has to be

    - could be the father of either #1 OR #5, unless 1 and 5 are brothers with the same name!!!

Which one is he??????

     

More Edward Kleager Pictures

Larry Kleager, Edward Kleager's grandson sent me some more family pictures.

        Edward Kleager is my great uncle, the brother of my grandfather Frank August Kleager.  Edward was eight years older than Frank, and moved to Nebraska from Missouri in 1919.  Frank moved to Nebraska in 1917.

        Both Frank and Edward lived the rest of their lives in Nebraska.  

        Frank died in 1929 at age 33.  

         Edward died in 1972 at age 84.

This is three generations of Kleagers:
Lawrence Edward Kleager, his son Larry Lee Kleager and his father, Edward Louis Kleager.

Edward and Jenny's family in the 1940's.
Standing: Jenny, Edward, George, Esther, Lawrence, Dorothy.
Seated: Fred, Irma.
Missing from the picture; Ruth.

Edward Kleager and grandson Lynn Kleager on tractor, Jenny standing.
A shed, Nebraska prairie farmland, a barn and a windmill in the distance.
About 1951.
Ed and Jenny lived near Palmyra, Nebraska.

Edward and Jenny Phillips Kleager (and the photographer's shadow!!).
Early 1950's.

Irma Kleager "taking a bath" with nephews Larry and Lynn Kleager.
Around 1951-1952. Larry wrote "that's how we bathed at our grandparents because they didn't have running water, but I think Irma was just having fun with us".

The 3 Spellings of Kleager and My Favorite Tombstone

I was able to take a family history trip to Missouri that I hope to blog about for a long time to come.  It was neat to have to "family" part of a family history trip include one of my sisters, a brother-in-law, and one of my daughters.

We spent a day with my father's cousin, La Rue Kleager Bryant and her son Ron.  They took us, among other places, to the Holy Martyrs of Japan Catholic Church in Japan, Franklin County, Missouri where some of the Kleagers are buried.

There is an area where one can stand and see 3 different tombstones, from one family, with the 3 different spellings of Kleager: Kleager - Klaeger - Klager.

Henry Klaeger,  August's son.  Nearby, Henry's mother's tombstone "Wife of Aug. Klager" (Laura Arnold Klager).  August Kleager was a brother of my great grandfather, Joseph Kleager.

This is August  Kleager's tombstone, and one of my favorites.  

August & Laura had four children: Joseph (of course), Henry, Lana and Adolph Louis.  All four were alive at the time of August's death.

But apparently, not all four were willing to contribute to a headstone for their father!

What an epitaph:

"Bought by Henry only"

A Klager Coat of Arms!!

     A Paul Klager of Connecticut contacted me that he found this blog on the web.  He has been very gracious in e-mail exchanges with me.  He has a Coat of Arms that has been passed down from  first born son to first born son for centuries.  He is the current first born son, and in possession of this document that he scanned for me.

   This Coat of Arms was issued to Peter Klager, who was a Prussian Major. Paul Klager wrote that the translation of the inscription on the bottom is:

Mr. Klager, Peter, Prussian Major
born on 11th February 1460
From the large coat of arms collection of the Citizen
and Royal and Imperial court Landscape and coat of arms
painter Joseph Stien in Vienne in suburg
Kingerstrassen in #1009

From page 108


Here it is!

   Paul Klager, the person who has this, says that his great-grandfather, Jacob Albert Klaeger, was born in Ruschlikon, Switzerland on March 29, 1890, and immigrated to the Canada, and eventually to the New York City area.

   Ruschlikon, Switzerland is only 20 miles from Benken, Switzerland, where I believe our Kleager ancestors are from!!  There has to be a connection, if it can just be found.  So, somehow, I believe we are related to this Peter Klager.

   Here is my poor attempt at another image with different contrast:

      My brother has bugged me about finding a "family crest" for years, and I never thought there was such a thing.  Having this blog is paying off - I am making connections with more and more Kleagers/Klaegers/Klagers, and learning more all the time.  I will keep working at trying to figure out relationships.  This is exciting stuff.  Thanks, Paul!

Letter to a Son in World War II

This is a Memorial Day post!

My grandmother was Ella Elizabeth Sophia Drewel Kleager, and in her later years called herself "Eleanor".  She became a widow at the age of 35 in 1929 at the start of the Depression, with 5 boys aged 11, 11, 9, 7 and 5.

During World War II all FIVE of her sons were in the military at one time.  In August, 1945 she wrote to one of them (we don't know which one):

Kind of makes you think.