Halfway 'round the world

Clue after clue, but still an unsolved puzzle

For several years now, my United States genealogy research has been focusing on my grandmother’s family.  William and Karoline (Roth) Heintz were Germans from Russia.  They came to the US in 1907, arriving in the port of Baltimore on July 4^th.  Their point of embarkation was Bremen, Germany, but they travelled to there from somewhere in the province or city of Saratov, Russia, along the Volga River. 

SS Frankfurt

Ship Frankfurt, left Bremen Germany 20 June 1907, arrived Baltimore, Maryland, 4 July 1907.     -lines 7-10:  "family"

Heintz, Wilhelm, 42, farm laborer, able to read and write, race or people: German, height 5' 7", fair complexion, blonde hair, blue eyes, b Russia, Saratov / Karoline, 38, height 5' 3", fair complexion, blonde hair, gray eyes, b Russia, Saratov // Emilia, 4, fair complexion, blonde hair, blue eyes, b Russia, Saratov; Friedrich, 1.6, fair complexion, blonde hair, blue eyes, b Russia Saratov

[same information for all:]    Last permanent residence Russia, Saratov; relative or friend in country came from - brother Peter Heintz, Saratov, Delagliuslla?; final destination, Kansas, Tampa.  Passage paid by bro i[n] l[aw] [for children it says uncle]; relative where going - bro i l, Heinrich Roth, Tampa, Kansas; all in good health, no deformities

The only papers that came through the family that relate to the life of my grandmother is a family Bible currently in the possession of my cousin.  It gives birth information for William and Caroline’s three children, but some of it is either unreadable or not understandable.  I’ve checked with those in the Central Oklahoma Chapter of the American Heritage Society of Germans From Russia, but no one recognized the location listed in the immigration record, nor could they read the top edge of the page I think might give that information. 

This page is for Fred, the oldest child, who was born in Russia.  

My grandmother's page is another story.  I'll add it later.  

She was also born in Russia.

The top edge of the un-decorated page is crumbling.  Because it says 4 July in the text and gives the date of 1907 below, I believe that this is information about their immigration.  If someone is able to read what it says, please let me know, will you?  I've been waiting 20 years to find out where my grandmother came from in that great expanse of country.

Clues, though, have come my way.

My uncle has a photo album put together by my grandmother.  His wife was Amelia’s only daughter.  It has photos from about 1919 through the sixties.  Not many photos but, still, some I had never seen before.  I borrowed the album and took it to Black and White photo studio  in Oklahoma City.   They made negatives and prints for me so that I could return the album.

One of the photos in the album was an exciting clue.  My grandmother’s family had come to Marion Co, Kansas.  The immigration record gave the information that my great-grandmother’s brother, Henry Roth, was the contact person in the US.  The great clue was a photo of  “Uncle Henry’s house in Herington”.  Wow!  Whoopee!  Hooray!  A Location!  I found Henry on the census lists in Marion Co, and Dickinson Co. 

I made an Uncle Henry Trip. 

Found the house, found the cemetery.  Their names are on an early (70s? 80s?) print-out of the cemetery, but not listed on current lists - - because no markers were ever set. 

Here is what I did find for Henrich Roth and his wife Mary Beisel, who came half-way ‘round the world.

CENSUS:

1910 Kansas, Marion Co, Center Twp, Marion, 9 May

95/96  Roth, Henry, head, 43, marr 1, m 23 yrs, emig 1906, alien, farmer - general farm 94, b Russia Russia Russia, lang German / Mary, wife, 47, marr 1, m 23 yrs, 2 ch --, b Russia Russia Russia, lang German

1915 Kansas, Marion Co, Gale, lines 20-21

home - Henry Roth, 49, b Russia, to Kansas from Russia, work __?

Mary Roth, 54, b Russia, to Kansas from Russia, house keeper

1920 Kansas, Dickinson Co, Herington, 311 N 8th Street, 12 January

153/166  Roth, Henry, head, owner free, 52, emig 1907, papers, labor - rip line , b Russia Russia Russia, lang German / Marie, wife, 56, emig 1907, alien, b Russia Russia Russia, lang German

---

153/167  Martin, Charles, head, renter, 26, emig 1913, naturalized 1918, labor - rip track, b Russia Russia Russia, lang German / Marie, wife, 26, emig 1914, naturalized, b Russia Russia Russia, lang German

1925 Kansas, Decatur Co, Lincoln

216  Roth, Henry, 58, laborer, b Russia Russia, emig 1906, alien / Mary, 61, b Russia Russia, emig 1906, alien

1930 Kansas, Dickinson Co, Lyons Twp, Herington, 311 N Ninth, 2 April

13/14  Roth, Henry, head, owner 2000, 63, first marr at 25, emig 1906, alien, janitor - railroad, b Russia Russia Russia, lang German / Mattie, wife, 66, first marr at 28, emig 1906, alien, b Russia Russia Russia, lang German

1940 Kansas, Dickinson Co, Herrington, 309 North Ninth Street, 19 April

213/ Roth, Henry, head, 72, b Russia, papers, same house in 1935, (no occupation given), other income / Minnie [sic], wife, 77, b Russia, papers, same house in 1935

DEATH:

---Record of funeral, Herington Museum, Dickinson Co, Kansas, March 2010

entry 72, 3 March 1941, deceased Henry Roth, b Russia, residence North 9th, charge to estate.  retired labor for CRI&P.  

Date of death: 3 March 1941, 8 a.m.  

Date of birth: August 29, 1867, age 73y 6m 4d.  

Services at Redeemer Ch, Rev Whlms, city, religion: Lutheran.  

Resided in state 55 yrs.  

Place of death: home (North 9th).  Cause of death: coronary thrombosis; certifying physician Dr A P Dannilson, city.  

Father: Fred Roth, b Russia; mother: unknown.  

Remains to Sunset Hill.  Size and style of casket: 6-3 - 3 panel, Gray #22, manufactured by Tribute.  Interment at Sunset Cemetery, Lot 3.

---Obituary: The Herington Times, Herington, Kansas, Thursday, March 6, 1941, p1, Henry Roth Dies at Home Monday   [Herington Museum, March 2010 LC]

-Henry Roth, retired Rock Island laborer, died suddenly at his home on North 9th street Monday, from a heart attack.  Mr Roth was 73 years old.  He was born in Russia, and came to this community 55 [sic - should be 35] years ago, entering the employ of the Rock Island.  He is survived by his wife. 

-Funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 from the Our Redeemer Lutheran church, with Rev E H Wilms in charge.  Interment was in Sunset Hill cemetery.

BURIAL:

---March 2010, from Museum, more recent printout of cemetery records do not show Henry and Mary.  An earlier printout does list them; Henry in Lot 4, space 51, Mary in space 52.  A city employee, familiar with the cemetery, came to the museum to help us locate the graves.  He could not determine where Henry and Mary are buried.  There are no headstones.

IMMIGRATION:

---Texas Passenger Lists, 1896-1959, page 40, lines 18-19

Ship Frankfurt, sailing from Bremen, Germany, on September 15, 1906, arriving in Galveston, Texas, 6 Oct 1906; friend's name Reinhardt Bessel

-Henry Rot, 39, farm laborer, able to read and write; height 5'6", fair complexion; brown hair, grey eyes, b Talofka, Russia

-Mary Rot, 44, 5' 5", fair complexion, blond hair, blue eyes, b Colonie Kiel, Russia

[information same for both]

race or people - German; permanent residence, Russia, Saratov; final destination Marion, Kansas;  $80, going to brother in law Reinhrdt Beisel, Marion, Kansas, in good health, no deformities

This is a poor-quality copy of the film. 

NOTE:

---Declarations of Intention, Kansas, Marion Co, from Janet: "This information was  found in numerous volumes filed in the Clerk of the District Court's office in Marion, Kansas.  Vols B11 and B12 generally included a picture of the applicatant.  There were also about 4-5 huge volumes that included 1870 - 1906, but due to time restraints plus the fact that those early years contained no genealogy information, I didn't extract that information.  I hope some of you with ancestors settling in Marion, but unable to go there personally, will find this helpful. "

B6 vol 1 - 26-Sep-08; Beisel, Gottfried; 17 Feb 1878; Kamanca ; Ramona; Bremen-Baltimore; April 7, 1906; Kaiser Wilhelm II

B7 vol 2 - 06-Apr-12; Beisel, Reinhart; 1 Aug 1868; Dreispitz; Barana, S.A.; So. America-NY; August 15, 1903; Balasch

B7 vol 2 - 16-Dec-12; Beisel, Gottfried; 15 Oct 1846; Dreispitz;; Tampa; Dreispitz-NY; July 3, 1876

B8 vol 3 - 14-May-17; Beisel, Reinhardt; 8 Oct 1888; Saratof; Anna b. Ks; Ramona; Bremen-NY; June 1, 1902; No. German Lloyd

B8, vol 3 - 18 Nov 1916, Roth, Henry, b 29 Aug 1867, Samara, Rus, spouse: Mary; residency: Marion; immigrated from-to: Bremen-Galveston; immigration date: October 8, 1906; ship: Koeln

B9 vol 4 -30-Dec-26; Beisel, David; 12 Nov 1881; Saratov; Mary K, b Saratov, Marion; Bremen-NY, July 17, 1902, don't remember

CORRESPONDENCE:

---Roth family info

From: Troy Slater (slatertroy@hotmail.com)

Sent:    Mon 7/26/10 To:          gimblett@hotmail.com

Linda,   . . . Anyway, according to our records (which aren't very extensive) John Henry Roth (born 8-29-1867) was buried from Our Redeemer Lutheran Church on 3-5-1941 after dying on 3-3-1941.  The only 'mourner' that was listed was his wife, Mary.

-Mary Roth (born 6-23-1862) died on 6-29-1941 and was buried on 7-2-1941 with a vacancy pastor - Rev Klattenhoff - officiating the service.  Our records indicate there were 'no immediate relatives'.

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church / 802 E Trapp Street / Herington, Kansas  67449 / Troy Slater, pastor / (785) 258-3122

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

This is a copy of a photo that came from my great-aunt.  She is half-sister to my grandmother.  Standing on the far right, in the photograph, is my great-grandfather William Heintz, Seated in front of him is my great-grandmother, Karoline Roth Heintz.  The child she is holding hands with is my grandmother, Amelia.  The other two children are Amelia’s brothers David and Fred. 

The other people in the photo are Roths, yet I don’t know who’s who.  From facial comparisons, I’d guess that the man in the middle might be Uncle Henry.  Since all the relatives in Kansas were those of Karoline, the other couple ought to be Roth-related, too. 

In looking for other Roths, Karoline's family, I came across many with that name.  But these may be related.  I need another trip to Kansas to check on courthouse records for them.

These Roths are on an Ellis Co, Kansas, 1905 plat map, near the town of Pfeifer, mainly in sections 14, 23, 26 and 35.

On this 1922 Plat map, there are in sections 14, 16, 23, 26, and 35, still near the town of Pfeifer.

and I picked out these Roths, from the many listed in a Germans from Russia page, that are from Saratov.

Roth, Jacob    M  65  M  Head  Head Saratov N 1878 1883 Saratov   Saratov

Roth, Mary     M  67  F  Jacob Wife Saratov N 1875 1883 Saratov   Saratov

Roth, Peter    M  43  M  Head  Head Saratov N 1877 1896 Saratov   Saratov

Roth, Pauline  M  41  F  Peter Wife Kansas              Saratov   Saratov

Roth, Rudolph  S  19  M  Peter Son  Kansas              Saratov    Kansas

Roth, Edgar    S  17  M  Peter Son  Kansas              Saratov    Kansas

Roth, Amella   S  15  F  Peter Dau  Kansas              Saratov    Kansas

Roth, Ludwena  S  13  F  Peter Dau  Kansas              Saratov    Kansas

Roth, Louise   S  10  F  Peter Dau  Kansas              Saratov    Kansas

Roth, Hedwig   S  4   F  Peter Dau  Kansas              Saratov    Kansas

Roth, Wilbert  S  2   M  Peter Son  Kansas              Saratov    Kansas

Roth, John P   M  40  M  Head Head Kansas               Saratov   Saratov

Roth, Anna     M  38  F  John Wife Kansas               Saratov   Saratov

If you should be familiar with any of these Roth families and can make a connection to my Heintz family, I would dearly love to hear from you.

In the Garden

In February of 2012 I began digging new flower beds in Mom's backyard.  I had to dig up the clumpy grass that was growing there and then dig deep enough to work the soil and get the roots out.  Mom had made a first bed, years ago, around the base of the redbud tree.

That's the inner circle immediately around the tree.  This is not a good photo, but it will do for now.  Mom edged the bed with chunks of asphalt, which I thought was ingenious.  The city was tearing up a street somewhere and she loaded and unloaded and carried those pieces to make the edging.  It looks really good.  Planted in it were mostly white marguerite (or ox-eye) daisies and yellow daisies of another sort that grow about a yard tall, falling over themselves before they've finished growning.

I marked off some areas, outside of that original boundary, to make additional beds and pathways. 

First bed in was a "dry" bed.  We transplanted a lavender - I have no idea what variety - except that it has large, bright, red-purple flowers.  Two sage bushes were moved and a lot of spring bulbs.    To that I added thyme and more lavender - Provence this time - all around the outside edge of the bed.  This was a bed that wouldn't need as much water as the others, would last pretty much year-round, and be in the full sun for most of the day.  It works.  Some things I planted didn't survive, some did but just didn't do well in last year's drought and have recovered with the plentiful spring rains this season.

This is the transplanted lavender.  

The dianthus didn't do well last year in the heat, 

but has done beautifully this spring.  

The thyme in the dry bed didn't do more 

than hold its own last year; it has thrived and spread nicely now.

This artemesia (Powis Castle) I planted in the Spring of 2012.  It is in full sun and takes the heat well.  I planted three pots that came from Skyridge; I trim it regularly so that the rocks show underneath.  It is now about two and a half feet tall and an irregular strip about 4 feet long.  And it smells so good!  

I try to plant what will:

Withstand our summer heat

Be interesting in the winter

Smell good

Look good

Last spring I planted in the dry bed two Achillea - or Yarrow.  They struggled.  With the rain this year, they flourished.  Two photos show them earlier this year and then recently.  They have done well, and I will probably plant more in a bed all to themselves.  They are tall and tend to sprawl, so I have propped them in places.  They have kept their color for a full month now, at least, and are a lovely gold.

You can also see the Provence lavender in flower

 at the back edge of the bed.

Here are the Provence shrubs before flowering, 

while still filling out the space I gave them.

The stand below is in the original bed.  Leftover pieces from the porch posts were tied and a hand-turned bowl from my brother added to hold birdseed.  It was too deep for the seed and didn't get used, so we planted in it.  The Creeping Jenny, though, didn't like the heat we've had so far, even though it was in the shade for most of the day.  I'll have to find a replacement.

I've recently discovered Bethlehem Lily.  We had some in our own yard two years ago, then I began seeing it every time I turned around.  I was surprised to find some near our new beds last year and marked it with stones to protect them.  One of these days, when it cools off, I'll work this little circle into a larger bed along the pathway.

Mom's yard has honeysuckle in several places - along a chain link fence and attached to this stockade fence in the corner of her yard.  I love honeysuckle:  it covers, it smells, it looks good, it lives and lives and lives (with an occasional trimming of dead vines).

Another view of that unknown transplanted - - - wait, I'm on the Internet; I can look it up!  Well, it's Spanish lavender.  Learned something new today.

Besides all the perennials I've moved or planted, we spend lots and lots of Mom's money on annuals.  We've discovered some really nice ones this year.  I'll tell you about them another time.

Closing for now with a photo from the summer of 2012

 -- geraniums in the original bed.

Cemetery Alert!

That's what I used to say when travelling with my husband down country roads.  Cemetery Alert! Cemetery Alert!  Not that we always stopped, but it was just to make sure we noticed.

Mom and I left town Sunday morning for one of our Cemetery Adventures.

I have been corresponding with a gal in Oregon who was originally from Oklahoma.  I asked if Earlene had photos of markers from her family in Vici, Oklahoma.  She had a list; Mom and I prepared.

So, on Sunday, June 30th, with the temperature in the high seventies - rather than our usual 100+ - we left Midwest City heading northwest.  The first interesting thing we came to was on the Northwest Expressway - a protest.

Apparently this particular church supports Planned Parenthood and this group finds that objectionable.  So do I.






From I-44 we picked up Highway 3 and headed for Okarche.  Nothing was open on Sunday morning except the churches, so I stopped in the middle of the highway (remember, it's Sunday) to take a photo of this house and yard.  What a great way to start off.

At Kingfisher we looked around briefly, then turned west for Watonga.  Again, a brief tour - you have to remember that these are all small-ish towns and brief is as good as it gets.

It was Sunday morning and I noticed as we drove that the utility poles looked like a line of crosses along the road.  Most of them are T-shape, but these had a length added to the top to carry another set of lines.  This photo is washed-out, for some reason, but still conveys what I watched for miles and miles.

From Seiling we kept our northwest direction, along Governor George Nigh's "Northwest Passage", as the signs kept reminding us.  Wikipedia has a good article, including this paragraph:

"In the early 1980s, Governor George Nigh was able to obtain $97.1 million to upgrade the highway between Oklahoma City and Colorado, despite opponents labeling the project 'The highway to nowhere'."  

It may have been nowhere to those political opponents, but it sure is a blessing for we ordinary people who like to travel.

Another website - Oklahoma Highways.com - has this to say: 

"OK 3 is the longest state highway in Oklahoma, by far, and has to be one of the top three longest state highways in the country."

This website is fabulous!  Eric Stuve not only gives information about the highways -- there are photographs.  Hooray for him!

That's another drive to add to my list of travels for the future - follow Highway 3 from one corner of the state to the other - over 600 miles.

Back to our current trip - we finally arrived in Woodward about 1:30 in the afternoon, having driven 191 miles for a drive that my distance calculator says is less than 150.  That's a lot of back-tracking and circling neighborhoods and downtowns.  

We looked around for a few minutes, ate lunch at Subway, and checked into the hotel for a nap.  After resting, we drove to Elmwood Cemetery where we wanted to find four graves and photograph the markers.

It's a very nice cemetery and I'm sorry that I didn't take photos of anything other than the markers.  There is a white stone wall running along the north side of the cemetery that encloses the graves in the way that churchyards in Great Britain do.  I don't think I've seen one in Oklahoma or Kansas walled like that.  I'll bet I can find some photos online, if I look hard enough.  Hmmm.  No one else seems to find that wall as nice as I did - no photos turn up.

Elmwood is a nice cemetery.  Yes, I know I already said that.  It has a digital directory!  Just what I needed, as the office was closed.  The directory told me exactly where to find the names, but the huge map in a frame outside the gazebo housing the directory had light colored numbers of the blocks and was impossible to read.  What a disappointment when they had installed such a good, helpful system.  They opened at 7 a.m. Monday morning, so we retired to our room for the rest of the day.

Back at the cemetery in the morning, the office was open but vacant, so I checked the map on the wall and finally located the other markers we were to snap pictures of.  On the way back to the hotel we passed this sculpture by Bradford J Williams and stopped to photograph it.  

There was no way to get a clear background in this photo.  Mom likes the statues very much and wants a copy in her yard.  I told her that for probably $5,000 or $10,000 she could have one.  Looked it up this morning and found that the $10,000 would get her a table-top version.  


We left Woodward headed for Vici and the Sunnyside Cemetery.  We wandered.  

First stop was to circle through Sharon, Oklahoma.  We found a little house we liked, with a Welsh-name family living there.  Do we look for Wales everywhere?  You bet we do!

At the end of a dirt road we found this pastoral scene.  As I came closer to the goats, they began to move away and I ended up with just one sort-of close-up.

But I really wanted the windmill.  We saw a lot of modern turbines along the highway, and a surprising number of these old windmills, including one that was actually working.  Shattuck, Oklahoma has a windmill museum and one of these days . . . 

Next stop: Mutual, Oklahoma.  There isn't much there except the school.  On the main road someone has parked a collection of old farm implements.  

Did someone design this to look like a creature?

Looking at my map book, "The Roads of Oklahoma", by Shearer Publishing in 1997, we turned south on County Road 216 to head for Highway 34 and the cemetery.  I see on the Internet that my book is no longer available from the publisher.  That's too bad.  It's been sold, 'updated', colored, and re-bound.  I guess I'll have to keep repairing my copy.  It's been invaluable to me; probably the best atlas I've ever owned.  

The improved road ran out and we were on gravel, raising a bit of dust.  

Clipping down the road, I screeched to a halt.  Mom wanted to know what was going on.  I had seen a turtle crossing the road and didn't know if I hit him.  Walking back, I could see him closing up his shell.  I squatted down and waited.  He peeked.

We finally made it to the Sunnyside Cemetery.  It was nice, with plenty of monuments (easy to walk and look) and we found what we needed.  On to Vici and a cool place to sit and have a drink.  Here's what we found - - -

Very nice inside, friendly people, good food.  It can't get better than that.  It's on our Yes! list.  This little park is downtown and a nice place to sit for a while:

Heading east along Highway 34, it was time for another screeching whip-off-the-road moment.  Cestos is where Earlene lived as a child, the lady for whom we were taking all the photos.  This sign, and an abandoned building that probably was once a store, are all that are left.  

East again, this is the scenery we delighted in.  It was good to see so much hay in the fields.  These last few years have been so horribly dry that hay was either imported from other states, or animals sold off, as farmers and ranchers couldn't afford to feed them.  A field of hay bales is a glorious sight this year.

If you're feeling claustrophobic and need some wide-open spaces, 

Oklahoma is the place to be.

Oklahoma! where the wind comes sweeping down the plain . . .

Back once again at Watonga, 

these massive grain elevators are still at work every day.

The End