Kinfolk Klippin

Kinfolk Klippin's #3, November 1989 This issue's topics:
Now that you have seen... Purpose of Kinfolks Klippin's
Is this the county seat?... Confusion in Iowa
If you are a descendant of... William the Conqueror descendants
We have almost "an embarrassment of riches"... Carman & Roll data
The computer now has... Amount of computer data
If you want to continue... Staying on the mailing list
George Jacob Wahl... Biographical sketch of George Jacob Wahl
George Jacob's will... Will of George Jacob Wahl
The partial copy of the map on page 3 shows... Plat map explained

Now that you have seen...
a couple of issues of Kinfolk Klippin's, let me introduce myself and tell you why I decided to publish a family newsletter. My great-great-grandfathers were George Jacob Wahl and Henry Charles Schumacher. Which means that I am related to most of you directly or by marriage through these lines. Last year, four of us - cousin Harold and his wife Jean, brother Thomas, and I - became interested in finding out more about our family. Kinfolk Klippin's came about because through it I hope we can get more folks to the reunions, find more family history, find out about current generations, share the family history (some of which is pretty interesting) that we have, and maybe meet some cousins that we haven't known about before. This month's issue was sent to 94 families.

Is this the county seat?...
Earlier this year, the search for my mother's birth certificate led me to Davenport, Iowa. I figured Davenport was probably the county seat because of its size. I first stopped at a donut shop for coffee and donuts and asked the waitress (who was in her 50's) if Davenport was the county seat. She said she didn't know if it was or not. I asked her if she lived there. She said: "I've lived here all of my life but I have no idea if it's the county seat." I went to the service station next door and said to the man behind the counter: "Is Davenport the county seat?" With a puzzled look on his face, he said: "The what?" I said: "Is Davenport the county seat of this county?" He turned to a young woman who was working with him and said: "Is this the county seat?" With a puzzled look on her face, she said: "The what?" Rather than trying to explain what a county seat is, I quickly asked if there was a court house in town. She said: "Of course!" and then gave me directions on how to get there. At the courthouse, I told the woman behind the counter what I was after and then waited for her to look through the records. To make some light conversation while waiting, I said: "You folks here at the courthouse really need to do some public relations work. There are a lot of people in this town who don't realize that it's the county seat." With a puzzled look on her face, she said: "The what?" I said: "I'm beginning to understand the problem!"

If you are a descendant of...
Henry Charles Schumacher and Amelia H. Roll, then you are also a descendant of William the Conqueror! This is according to Carrol Carman Hall who put together a great book titled "The Carman Family 1631 - 1981; The Grandfathers."

We have almost "an embarrassment of riches"...
of information about the Carman family and the Roll family. Both families had members who were friends of Abraham Lincoln. Waters Carman was one of the men whose life was saved by Lincoln during the "flatboat incident." John E. Roll made the pegs that were used in the flatboat that Lincoln built. Pierson Roll, as a friend, was granted a special favor by President Lincoln. Lincoln boarded with Caleb Carman at New Salem. Both families used the services of his law firm. Both families are mentioned in the books that are written about the early days of Lincoln's life in Sangamon County. Both families had prominent members. In addition, a lot of genealogical research has been done by various members of the Carman family over the years.

The computer now has...
over 1100 names of family members and spouses as far back as the early 1600's. It would like to have even more!

If you want to continue...
receiving Kinfolk Klippin's, then you must send me a note or postcard by December 15 telling me you want to stay on the mailing list. I hope to hear from all of you but I know that some may not be interested in this type of thing. If you are not, don't write. I repeat, I hope to hear from all of you.

George Jacob Wahl...
came to Sangamon County from Baden, Germany some time between 1853 and 1858. He bought 40 acres of land in Salisbury Township and became a farmer. His first son was born in Baden and his other twelve children were born in Salisbury Township. His children were Henry, Charles, Mincy, George, Jacob, Sarah, Loatta, Cora, Louis Sylvester, James Alfred, Florence, Harry, and John. He had at least two wives and possibly three. The name of his first wife is not known. His last wife was Malvina Cox who he married Feb 20, 1865. He was born about 1820 and died in 1890. The reason his exact birth year is difficult to determine is because Malvina had a terrible time trying to be truthful with the census takers when it came to age. Not only did she fib to them about her age, she also fibbed about her husband's age. And she wasn't consistent from one census to the next. Based on the information she gave the census takers, she only aged 3 years between June 1870 and June 1880 while George Jacob aged 22 years in the same period. His obituary, dated January 6, 1890, lists his age as 70 -- so he aged 13 more years in the last 10 years of his life. Maybe it was all those kids that made him age so fast but I suspect that by 1890 Malvina was starting to accept the reality of aging. She remarried in 1892 and listed her age as 47, whereas in the 1880 census her age is shown as 27. Curiously, George Jacob Wahl apparently never went by the name George, but instead used his middle name. Thus, most of the official records, except his will, show him as Jacob Wahl. (Actually, most of the official records except his will show him as "J. Wall" or "Jacob Walls"!) George Jacob was around 33 years old when his oldest child, Henry, was born and he was 67 years old when his youngest child, John, was born. He was never prominent enough to have been included in any of the biographies that were published in the late 1800's. Of his 13 children, we only know about the descendants of five of his sons -- George, Jacob, Louis, James, and Harry. Harry moved to Petersburg, Illinois and the other four stayed in Sangamon County. Even though they lived in the same area, they did not keep in touch with each other. In fact, it appears that some of them never even told their children that they had aunts and uncles.

George Jacob's will...
was probably dictated on his deathbed. It reads as follows (misspellings and all):

State of Illinois Sangamon County Jan 6, 1890. The last will and testament of George Jacob Wahl is that George Wahl my son to have one bay mare name Susan. allso my wife to have one third interest in my real estate the balence to be equaly divided between the children towit George Wahl Lewis Wahl Alfred Wahl Flawrence Ella Wahl Hary Wahl and John Wahl this is my last will and testament. Whereof I set my hand and fix my seal George J Wahl his mark X.

The seal is represented by a hand-drawn squiggly circle with the word "Seal" written inside it. The will was witnessed by Hosea J Baker and John Lacy.

The partial copy of the map on page 3 shows...
the landowners in parts of Salisbury and Gardner Townships, Sangamon County, in 1874. The land marked "J. Walls" is George Jacob Wahl's farm. "H. Shoemaker" is Henry Charles Schumacher who bought his farm from his father in-law, Pierson Roll. The land marked "P. Roll" is part of the land that Pierson Roll owned. He owned more land in Fancy Creek Township.

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