Kinfolk Klippin

Kinfolk Klippin's #9, August 1990 This issue's topics:
The family reunion was... 1990 Reunion
After the reunion... Newberry Library in Chicago
I made a mistake... Correction for Jacob C. Roll burial
Another mistake was in... Correction for 1934 reunion picture
If you have looked for... Henry Charles Schumacher obituary
Another one of the old home places... Miller homestead sold
On October 10, 1948... Grandma's birthday pictures
Jacob Wall and Mary Shafer... Marriage

The family reunion was...
August 5 at Nichols Park in Jacksonville. Once again, we were lucky enough to have nice weather. I don't have the official count, but it seems to me that there were fewer in attendance than last year. Some of the Alton gang showed up after an absence of many years. Also, the Kern family was well represented for the first time in a long time. As always, the day was far too short to be able to visit with everyone and I look forward to next year. The 1991 reunion will be the first Sunday in August at Nichols park in Jacksonville in the pavilion on the southeast corner of the park. I hope to see all of you there!

After the reunion...
I headed for Chicago for a week of research on the Wahl branch of the family tree. I had heard that the University of Chicago library has some genealogical information but it turns out to be limited to well known families. The Chicago public library has two genealogy sections; one has city directories and Chicago data and the other has biographies of (again) well known families. Our ancestors were neither famous or infamous enough to qualify in either library. The Newberry Library in downtown Chicago is basically a research library for scholars and it also contains a lot of genealogical information. Libraries from around the country send copies of family histories, etc. to the Newberry library. There were some references to Wahl and Schumacher families but none of the information that I was able to find pertained to us. However, I wasn't feeling too well that week and I may have overlooked something. May get back up there again sometime just to double check. If you are doing any genealogical work, look up the "Index to the Newberry Library" in the reference section of your local library. This index lists all of the families that have some form of genealogical data or reference at Newberry.

I made a mistake...
in issue #4 (December 1989 issue) when I said that Jacob C. Roll is buried in Gardner Cemetery. He is buried in the Farmington (also known as Farmingdale) Cemetery, Gardner Township outside of Farmingdale. His marker is a slim, white one and is only halfway out of the ground. His name was is carved in an arc instead of a straight line and part of it is underground. It reads "cob C. Rol" with only part of the first "l" showing. At least that's the way it was a couple of months ago but Harold Wahl has been digging around down there and may have uncovered it by now.

Another mistake was in...
the picture of the 1936 reunion. Number 30 is Fred Schumacher, not Fred Cox. If you know of anyone who has a copy of this picture that they picked up at the reunion, please let them know of the mistake so they can correct it.

If you have looked for...
the obituary of Henry Charles Schumacher and couldn't find it, look under William Schumacher in the May 9, 1897 issue of the Springfield Journal on page 4. In a previous issue of Kinfolk Klippin's, I printed the account of his accident. The accident happened on Thursday, May 6 and was reported in the Friday morning edition of The Journal. A follow-up story was printed on Saturday, May 8 and another one on Sunday. The Saturday story reads as follows:

His Condition Unchanged. William Schumacher Not Likely to Recover of His Injuries. William Schumacher, a farmer residing near Bradfordton, who was injured in a runaway at his home Thursday, is still in a precarious condition. Doctor Berry of this city visited him again yesterday and found his condition unimproved. He states that it is improbable that the man will recover from his injuries. Mr. Schumacher is paralyzed from his waist down, and his head and face are badly bruised, besides several of his teeth being knocked out. He was conscious during the day, but was able to talk but little. His chief injury is to the spine, which caused the attack of paralysis. The attending physician states that the man may linger for some time, but he is likely to pass away any moment.

The Sunday story says:

Died of His Injuries. William Schumacher Did Not Survive the Hurts He Received. William Schumacher of Gardner township, died at 6 o'clock Friday afternoon from injuries received in a runaway which occurred at his place on Thursday. The story of the runaway, and the injury of Mr. Schumacher was published in The Journal of Friday. It was not then expected that he could survive his injuries. The deceased leaves a wife and five small children. He was 65 years old. Germany was his birthplace, but he had lived in Illinois for many years. Funeral services will be held at the late residence at 2 o'clock this afternoon. Rev. M.F. Troxell, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church will officiate. The internment will be made in the Crowder Cemetery west of the city.

Another one of the old home places...
is gone. In the last issue of Kinfolk Klippin's, I included a couple of pictures of a house on one of the farms owned by William Kern. This farm was later sold to the Miller family (descendants of George Jacob Wahl's youngest daughter, Florence Ella). The property was sold recently and Lorene (Miller) Smith tells me that the house has been torn down by the new owner.

On October 10, 1948...
my great grandmother, Katherine (Schumacher) (Wahl) Griffith turned 81 years old. She lived in Manchester, Illinois at the time. Someone organized a birthday get together for her at the farm of her youngest daughter (Genevieve (Wahl) Ashlock) a few miles outside of Manchester. Members of the family gathered from around the state. Many pictures were taken and copies were given to each of the families that were represented. I inherited Dad's set of pictures. Grandma was the center of every picture taken that day. I made some Xerox copies of the pictures and had them at the reunion to see if other folks had remembered that day and the pictures that were taken. Surprisingly enough, no one I talked to remembered even though they were there. (Such short memories -- it's only been 42 years!!) What really was surprising was that no one else had remembered seeing any of the pictures of their own families. Do you have any? Also, can you help me identify who is in the pictures? If So, please write.

Jacob Wall and Mary Shafer...
were married in 1854 according to the Sangamon County marriage records. Unfortunately, the records for those days do not contain any information other than the names of the individuals so we don't know if this Jacob Wall is "our" George Jacob Wahl. Newberry Library has a set of books which lists immigrants from Germany prior to 1856. I looked for just about all of the name variants that I could think of including Wahl, Wahls, Wall, Walls, Whal, Wohl, and Woll for George, G, George Jacob, Jacob, and J. Although there were some matches as far as name is concerned, ages did not match. I have seen no other Jacob Wall in the Sangamon County census listings but until we find some record of when George Jacob Wahl immigrated, we cannot be sure one way or the other.

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