Not My Frank Lee – Take 2

In the midst of potty training & the holidays, I finally got a little piece of exciting mail. I received a letter from the Mayes County (OK) Genealogy Society yesterday. A copy of the following obit & a sticky note saying they “finally got the obit”. So here reads the blurry obit…

“Frank Lee, School Land Donor, Die; Funeral Thursday

(there is no date… nice of them huh? but math says it in 1976’ish)

Frank Lee, 81, pioneer resident of Lee Square community, eleven miles

southeast of Nowata ,died Monday at 4:00 p.m. after an extended illness.

Mr. Lee came from Indian Territory in 1895 from Springfield, MO.

He was well known throughout this area, and donated the acre of land

for the building of Lee Square school, which also served as a community center

for many year. He was active in and enjoyed the local singing conventions,

many of which were held at Lee Square.

Funeral services will be conducted Thursday at 2 p.m. in the Benjamin Funeral Home,

with Rev. Harvey Hardin, pastor of First Christian Church in Chelsea, officiating.

Interment will be in the Ball Cemetery.

Survivors include the wife, Mrs. Ella Lee, of the home, three sons,

Tony Lee, Springfield, MO, Florance Lee, Beneca, MO, and Frank Lee, Bartlesville;

five daughters, Mrs. Jim McMatin, Cody’s Bluff, Mrs. Paul Milam, Bartlesville,

Mrs. F. C. Myers, MIdland, TX, Mrs. T.O. Mason, Manhattan, KS, and Mrs. Edna Grant, Wollard, MO;

one sister, Mrs. J.C. Weaver, San Gabriel, CA, and one half-brother, Guy Murray.

Casket bearers include Louis Nitters [?], Lonnie Allison, Mayden Marney,

Georger Frauenberger, Bob Cox, and Lon Myers.”

Well, I can say this is NOT our Frank Lee. Good news is that this little piece of paper saves me a lot of endless unproductive research. The above Frank Lee, buried at Ball Cemetery with his first wife Maude P[auline] Lee. The above Frank has a son Frank of Bartlesville, OK in 1976’ish who was born 1922,… our Frank Lee was born 1900 & was definitely not living in Bartlesville, OK in 1976’ish. Our times lines don’t match up at all!

The 1895 date out of “Indian Territory” jumped out at me, but they came from Springfield, MO. That isn’t what we have known to this date.

The truth is that our Neuhaus family connection moved from Milwaukee, WI to Chicago, IL, at the same time that their mysterious “daughter” would have been pregnant with our Frank Lee b. 1900. They would have had to have met in Milwaukee or Chicago before any move to OK.

My research now turns to the old-fashioned way of requesting death records from the Cook County Clerk. Both daughters & the wife of Emil Neuhaus died before him. There has to be a record of something somewhere… and a lot of Chicago papers to search. I also need to track down the correct marriage for our Herman Neuhaus & see if there is any living cousins that can give us a helpful hint :)

I am going to work this Lee year to the very end :D

3rd Neuhaus Child Review

I’ve been back & forth on whether or not there’s indeed a third Neuhaus child & if indeed it was a female. So here’s my process:

(As noted by a fellow genealogist over at “Are My Roots Showing?” … I might be less in need of this blog if I kept research notes… LOL!)

…………………………….

On the 1895 Wisconsin State Census, for Milwaukee, Emil Neuhaus is clearly listed as having a total of 5 family members: 3 white females & 2 white males…all native born in the US.

We clearly know their nativity is false due to further censuses stating immigration in 1885, all listed as German born on each consecutive one… And we’ve located his naturalization record also stating he was an immigrant on “1-20-1885″…

Knowing he’s a household of 5, not 4… Look at this immigration manifest again:

Who is the eldest daughter? Who!?

If you look super closely, the numbers are listed consecutively 1…2…3…4…. Clara, Henricks, Marie, & Herman.

Also the manifest is September 1884. That wasn’t a red flag for me since the boat arrived at New York, & then they made their way to Wisconsin, which probably took months…add holidays & winter weather,… & they probably didn’t think they were truly here, as “arrived” until they reached their final destination.

However, I wasted some quality hours trying to locate another possible manifest match, wondering if I jumped too quickly (I hate second questing myself)…which nothing added up like this one. (Again, yet another point clearly made if I’d only kept research notes!)

But only 4 vs. 5 caught my eye… Possibilities?

1- Clara immigrated pregnant… Had child in US… Maybe also aiding in the months it took to travel to Wisconsin… (which would make this child a very young match for our Frank Lee)…about 15-16 yoa.

2 – The extra child was a “grandchild”, a “niece”, or a “sister”….

Well, I went back to the 1900 census to see what I might have forgotten or overlooked… Apparently Clara is listed as having 3 children in which 3 are living. However, as you can see below, only the son is living at home. Where are both the girls then in 1900?

A German Printer in Chicago, IL

So we can clearly & reasonably deduct that there is indeed a third Neuhaus child & SHE is female. We can make a safe assumption she’s roughly 15-16 years of age at time of Frank Herbert Lee’s birth in 1900. We will refer to her as “Gladys” Neuhaus as listed on Frank Herbert’s marriage record in 1920.

Now to locate Gladys Neuhaus…& her untold short story…

The Lee Brickwall Update

So after months of research & return of many “checks”, it boils down to this:

1. I still know nothing of the Herbert Frank Lee said to be born about 1875 in Milwaukee, WI; the father of Frank Herbert Lee born 22 September 1900 in Pryor Creek, OK.

2. I was able to locate the Neuhaus family & verify the spelling of their name. However, one daughter remains “unknown” & still the very possible mysterious “wife of Herbert Frank Lee”.

3. However, after much research on dates & exact location at the exact dates, I do believe that if indeed the family story is true (& so far has been able to prove most of it) then Herbert Frank Lee & “Mysterious” Neuhaus did indeed meet in Milwaukee, WI, before 1900! There are many Lees in the area  & I can locate the Neuhaus family in Milwaukee from their immigration until their move to Chicago in 1899.

But the question that remains, besides who is Herbert Frank Lee & “mysterious” Neuhaus wife, but why did they go to Pryor Creek, OK, prior to statehood in 1907 & not with the Neuhaus family into Chicago if she was pregnant? Was it the land rush? Was he Cherokee, as the family story holds?

I did however, get this great little letter that said that though she found nothing in Pryor, OK, for the Frank Lee I requested, she found these individuals:

“There is a Frank Lee buried in Nowata Co., OK, at the Ball Cemetery. His dates are 1868-1950. This is probably not your Frank. He is buried next to Maud Pauline Lee 1874-1937. There are three other Lee’s in that same cemetery, Bert S. Lee 1891-?, Bonnie Lee 1898-1970, and Larry Allen Lee (stillborn in 1942). I found several references to the Neuhaus family in Chicago.”

Very interesting! There is no Lees that we are aware of in our family that go by the names aforementioned. However, the references to the Neuhaus family in Chicago has peaked my interests.  What do you think?

The Death of Emil Neuhaus

I am getting my mail from Japan in pieces & today I got the death certificate of Emil Neuhaus. I love these kinds of documents & Cook County, IL, again… is so great! 

Emil Neuhaus died November 30 1937 in Cook County, IL in his residence on 1824 North California Avenue… It all sounds rather normal information….

He had retired from his job of 40 years as a printer in 1926. Clara had died before him, leaving him widowed. Unfortunately, his birth place & his parents information is “unknown” … which was the real reason for requesting this record. the informant appears to be a Mrs. Clara Irvin [sic: spelling of last name is very hard to make out]. Who is this “Clara”? Is she related? (Why did it has to be another “Clara”? Is it just happenstance or a real connection?…grrrr!) 

However, Emil died from “strangulation due to a self adjusted rope around the neck”.  The handwriting is hard to make out, but there is more to this story because after the rope around the neck there is an “&….”  then… “in the bathroom”. He is listed as a suicidal for his cause of death. At 82 years of age, this seemingly successful man took his own life in the form of strangulation. Why? Did he leave a note?

He was buried December 3, 1937 at Eden Cemetery [sic: now Eden Memorial Cemetery] in Schiller Park, IL. Turns out this is a very German cemetery… across the way from a Jewish Cemetery & another ethnic cemetery of sorts. Makes since being that he was German & stuck closely to those roots. Would he have killed himself due to the war & persecution of the Germans in the States?

I wasn’t able to find an American newspaper in English with any information about his death. I suppose it would be listed in the German newspaper that he was once a printer for…? Hmm… However, there is no online listing of Emil in this cemetery. Off to write another letter .. or two :)

Who’s The Expert?

Oh man! I finally have gotten bits & pieces of my mail from Japan to the States! In my mailbox was a thick self-addressed envelope from the Milwaukee Historical Society! How exciting!

I of course, when I found the time, tore into the envelope with much anticipation! I couldn’t wait to see what clues lied ahead for me….

Emil Neuhaus… Ok… I forgot that I had requested additional information on Emil. I was disappointed it wasn’t Frank Lee, but I still was hoping there was something on his the third child I haven’t identified….

WHAT?! I was so upset :( After looking over 8 pages of Ancestry census printouts, state census print outs, immigration card (from Ancestry) & a small list of directory listings (not as complete as mine)… I was ready to just light it with a match!

I stopped & reread the cover letter to see that they had also researched for Frank H. Lee, born 1875 Milwaukee, upon my requests & found nothing. Nothing on the birth index from 1870-1880, nothing in the marriage index for grooms from 1890-1905, no naturalization papers, noting in the Milwaukee Sentinel Newspaper before 1890…

The did find the same city directory listing I had, however, mine were more conclusive with a nationality mark or indication. There appears to a Frank H. Lee that appears around 1894, a clerk, living at 26 29th in Milwaukee, WI. the last listing for this same Frank H. Lee was in 1899, the same year in which Emil Neuhaus & his family moved to Chicago, IL.

I guess it’s time for me to seriously contemplate the point in which I am a professional genealogist. I mean I already had everything in this “packet” I received on Emil Neuhaus. Hmmm…..

Still can’t seem to pinpoint a positive match Frank H. Lee & a Neuhaus daughter together in the same location…

A Printer With A Saloon

Before 1885, there is no listing for a Heinrich Emil Neuhaus anywhere in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There is only a Henry & Theodora Neuhaus, a tailor & a midwife, in 1884.

In accordance to his claim of coming to America January 1885 (which in reality was October 1884 to New York from Germany), he begins his debut in the city directories of Milwaukee city.

In 1885, the listings for Neuhaus were:

Neuhaus, Emil, printer, r. 1045 4th
Henry, tailor, r. 634 4th
Theodora, midwife, r. 634 4th

The only three Neuhaus in the 1885 Milwaukee City, WI, directory! You can see clearly Henry & Theodora Neuhaus share a relation of sorts sharing the same residence. After further research, they are indeed husband & wife. However, Emil is living on the same 4th street a block or four away. So is Henry a relative that encouraged him to move to America & thereafter, to Milwaukee?

Almost every year he is listed as a printer, then a compositor, then an editor! Just as the family history has passed down over the years, Neuhaus was indeed in the printing business.

Almost every year, except 1888! Just three years after immigrating & settling in Milwaukee, WI, he apparently moved his family from their home at 1045 4th street to 423 3rd street where he was trying his hand as a saloon owner?

Saloon Owner!

To prove it wasn’t a misprint, I searched the business listings of the 1888 Directory & sure enough! Our Mr. Emil Neuhaus indeed had a saloon listed on page 596:

By 1890, Emil & his family moved again, this time to 1066 5th street, where he’s listed solely as a printer. So where did he get this saloon & why?

I went back as far as I could online, but skipping from 1882 to 1879, I find the only listing of a Neuhaus who can be related to any “saloon”.

Neuhaus, Christian, brewer, res. 903 Winnebago

The ONLY Neuhaus listing in 1879! He doesn’t appear in the 1882-1900 directories, so…. Did Emil take over for a family member, or was he honestly a micro-brewer on the side hoping to make a big buck? Was it a business deal gone bad? I suppose we may never know…

In 1881, there were over 200,000 saloon listing in which people paid to have their names listed, thus it’s not even a complete list!!!

Germans are known of their breweries & their beers: Pabst, Schlitz, Miller & Blatz… maybe you have heard of them? All from Milwaukee, WI! History holds that there were many many microbreweries in the city, this saloon had to have been then just one of many.

In 1893, Emil & his family have a Mrs. Augusta Neuhaus (widow of Frank), & a Max Neuhaus, a carpenter, residing with them. Are they family? They are not his children. His son, Herman, has entered formal schooling, listed as a “student” at age…

1897 is the last city directory listing for Emil Neuhaus. He’s an editor! He works at The Fram, located at 1136 7th street, on the Der Fuehrer, a semi-monthly German Spiritualist paper.

City Directory Resource

I can’t find a Lee that links our Frank Herbert Lee anywhere to anyone! So I wet digging even deeper…

There are many resources out there. Most every family historian & genealogist is familiar with censuses, vital records, & newspapers. Many are also familiar with wills & probate records. Right? You probably have had your hands on a few of the above, more than once :)

However, the one I always feel gets over looked, mostly due to its lack of digital nature, are the city directories! – (What a great genealogy society or historical society project! Digitalize the directories!!… Wink! Wink!)

To me, these are a gold mine in genealogy from about the turn of the mid-19th century…even heavier weighted gold if before 1850!

Many early state censuses were still on a “tick” system or “number” system until after 1900, listing only number of household members by gender & race. So sometimes, many censuses leave you in more doubt :(

These city directories can, & often do, include the missing person from a census. If your ancestor isn’t on the censuses (or when the 1890 census fails due to its disappearing fire act…lol) or the directories, there’s a good chance they aren’t living in this area at the time. However, they can be missed on a census but appear in the directory! What a great way to confirm a location!

Another affirmation is when you find their city directory listing & it includes an occupation! In my Neuhaus family, for example, they were said to be printers & indeed at least one of them was! How many times have you heard that an ancestor was of an occupation you cannot locate on the census? Or have you heard a story where they used to own an off the wall business never listed on a census? Did you check every year of the city directories?

When you look at the whole picture year to year, you can tell so much about family immigration/migration, when a child came of age in the time & earned their own listing, even if living at home! If you can go back far enough, you often can find missing links to parents, siblings, cousins, etc.

Through directories alone, I’ve watched the early years of a business start with one person grow into a family operation for a few generations! I’ve even found the “no way!” events in life I would have NEVER known without a directory filling in the 5-10 year gap between censuses :)

Directories also help with locating when an individual left the area & moved on…as they appear no further in the listings.

You can even learn of a death within the year, since many will list a woman if the man has past, or even better, it’ll say “wid. or widow of ….”!

Lastly, directories can also tell you so much about the times with the ads, the occupations, & what the listings include. One day phone numbers started appearing, but at first not everyone had one! To a sociology major like myself, directories speak volumes about the people & our society as history took its place :D

For an example of directory use into a story of one’s history, stayed tune for my next post: Heinrich Emil Neuhaus

The Folds of Time

You have to be kidding me! Is this really possible? I’m pretty sure it’s illegal in some natural set of laws!!

After much clicking & back clicking & redefining my search perimeters… I find an immigration document for…wait for it… No…wait…are you ready?

 

Who is the third child? Who!?

Clara Neuhaus,… Herman, & Marie… but who is the one in the middle… in the folds?

On my photo editing software & some manipulation of my computer screen I tried to see whatever I could see, but I still can’t make out much of anything other than there is another person with them… uggh! To me it appears to be… Heinrichs Emil…. The father? This is definitely not “Gladys”… Is the third child lost in the folds & age of time?

What’s your opinion? Think there’s another lost in the folds of time?

The 1900 Census said 3 children were all still living… Who is #3?

In 1884 even the eldest child would have still been too young to be left behind in Germany,… And it appears to be a single number, possibly “9”. Thats definitely not Emil’s age….

The manifest was folded & looks to have been very well weathered, so the crease of the fold is dark & can’t be opened completely, thus the scanned microfilmed image lends no help ;Q

Many families experienced what we call “chain immigration” where a family member comes first, or a few come, then a few more, or the rest of the family until they are all immigrated to their new homeland. However, Emil & his family were able to travel together.

You’re probably wondering why Clara is listed as head of household & not Emil, huh? Clara on many records is 10 years Emil’s senior, making her the eldest family member. Usually when making a list of persons they were listed in age/birth order.

Emil & his family arrive in New York on the 18th of October in 1884. [sic: Emil claims he came to America in 1885 on both his census & January 1885 on his naturalization card…which I presume is when he reached Wisconsin.) The family is said to have originated for this trip from Saxony (Kingdom State). They departed from Bremen, Germany, where the ship came up a large river & then made its way back down this channel to the open sea setting sail for their new homeland… America of freedom & riches.

They made a stop at Southampton, England before making it to New York. They embarked with 874 passengers on board to make about a 19 day journey aboard a steam liner with 4 masts. Can you imagine?

Why did they end up in Wisconsin? What lead them to America in 1884, besides the obvious world wide wave of propaganda? Was there more family in America that they met up with? So many questions… And when does this get us back to Frank Lee & his family?

Always A Little Proof In The Pudding

After finding Marie Neuhaus Tuttle’s death certificate, I finally had a clue as to her parents & her family prior to the Lee or Tuttle connections.

The family story held Frank Herbert Lee was raised by “family” in Chicago, IL…on his mother’s side. They were “German” & were “printers” there in Chicago. Remember, every family story is like a good game of “operator” or “telephone”, but there are always hidden facts in the story :)

With Emil Neuhaus, wife Clara, from Marie’s death record, I went hunting!

 

A German Printer in Chicago, IL

TADA! The 1900 US Federal Census shows that Emil Neuhaus was living in Chicago, IL with his wife, Clara, and one son, Herman. They were all born in Germany! And the men are working as printers!!

It also notes that Clara was the mother of 3 children in which all 3 are living in 1900. Three? Well Marie is one, Herman is two, … who is number three? Is that our mysterious “Gladys” on Frank Herbert Lee’s (1900) marriage record to Mardell Beamer?

After further research I find a 1895 Census for the Sate of Wisconsin with Emil Neuhause & 2 males & 3 females living in Milwaukee, WI! So the other child is a female, this has to be our “Gladys”, biological mother of Frank Herbert Lee? And in Milwaukee? Could it be that Frank Lee & Gladys actually meet in Milwaukee & married, then went to OK, where they had their son in Pryor Creek, OK?

So how did Clara Marie Neuhause get on Frank’s delayed birth certificate? I am “hypothesizing” that it was twisted with Wilbert Tuttle. A man in his 80’s at the time of the affidavit, was probably a little confused. Having met & married Marie Neuahaus with Frank already in her care, to him she was always his mother. She was most likely born Clara Marie, named after her mother. To keep the name confusion to a minium she went solely by Marie Neuhaus. Marie was indeed born in 1882. These are all facts that were hidden in the family story line.

Now to try & find the Neuhause immigration & migration to the US, WI, & IL. Where is the missing child? Is she “Gladys”? Where in Germany are they from? Why did they come to America? And how did they get to Wisconsin & then to IL to become printers?

Death of Marie Tuttle

FamilySearch.org wins my heart this week! Another happy dance!

While I am still waiting on the official copy from the state of Illinois, Familysearch.org just gave me a visual copy of Mrs. Marie Tuttle’s Death Certificate!

According to this death record, Marie Tuttle was born Marie Neuhaus on April 14, 1882, in Germany. Her father was Emil Neuhaus & her mother was Clara Neuhaus, both also born in Germany.

Most likely she was also Clara [Marie], but to keep the name confusion down she went solely by Marie.

Marie died November 13, 1921 in Chicago, IL, due to peritonitis [sic; abdominal pain] with complications from salpingitis [sic: inflammation of the fallopian tubes] at 6:40 PM. She was buried at Arlington [Heights] Cemetery on November 16, 1921.

The informant was Wilbert Raymond Tuttle, her husband from the 1920 Census.

It is appearing that Marie Tuttle is our Clara Marie Neuhaus Tuttle, listed on Frank Herbert Lee’s delayed birth certificate. This doesn’t help the mystery of Frank’s parents, but when put into a timeline perspective, Wilbert Tuttle was in his 80’s when he gave that affidavit of personal knowledge to Frank’s birth. Any amount of confusion could have set in…

The fun part… my husband’s line definitely has a strong German lineage from various sides of this Lee line!

Off to find Emil & Clara Neuhause… :D