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LATEST ON THE SEEHAWER, BOESEN, AND GORMLEY BRANCHES

SPENCER

SEEHAWER

BARROWS

SPAWR

NAESS

SEEHAWER, BOESEN,
GORMLEY

Germany, Denmark, and Ireland to
Wisconsin, Illinois, and Nebraska

The building above was the home of Rudolph Seehawer's youth in Neuhof, Zempleburg, West Prussia (now in Bydgoskie province, Poland). The photo was taken in August 2000 by a cousin.

GRANDPARENTS GREAT-GRANDPARENTS 2ND GREAT-GRANDPARENTS 3RD GREAT-GRANDPARENTS

+Gertrude Seehawer
1899-1965
Athelstane, Wisconsin
Oakland, Oregon Rudolph Seehawer
1866-1944
Neuhof, West Prussia
Athelstane, Wisconsin
Chicago, Illinois Johann Seehawer
1829-1909
Pempersin, West Prussia
Schmilowo, West Prussia
8PHOTO
Johann Seehawer
Pempersin, West Prussia
DESCENDANTS
ANCESTORS

+Ralph Edward Spencer
8PHOTO

+Anna Marie Wiedenhoft
Pempersin, West Prussia

8PHOTO OF RUDOLPH AND MARY ELLEN +Rose Kottke
1835-1903
Wittun?, West Prussia
Neuhof, West Prussia Paul Kottke
West Prussia

+Anna Elisabeth Venske
West Prussia

+Mary Ellen Boesen
1880(?)-1953
Chicago, Illinois
Buffalo Co., Nebraska
Athelstane, Wisconsin
Iron Mountain, Michigan Charles Boesen
1850(?)-1879(?)
Denmark/Germany
Racine, Wisconsin Christopher Boesen
Denmark/Germany

+Metta ?
Denmark/Germany

+Alice Gormley
1857(?)-1937
Racine, Wisconsin
Chicago, Illinois
Buffalo Co., Nebraska
Athelstane, Wisconsin
8PHOTO
John Gormley
1833-1884
Ireland
Racine, Wisconsin
Buffalo Co., Nebraska
8PHOTO AND DESCENDANTS

+Mary Sheridan
1832-1918
Massachusetts
Racine, Wisconsin
Buffalo Co., Nebraska

MISSING PIECES (Do you have one of them?)

Exactly when, where, and how did Charles Boesen die?
Did Charles Boesen's parents come to America? Are there other descendants of this family?
What is the correct date of Alice Gormley's birth?
What happened to Alice's second husband George A. Tappan?
What happened to the family or families of Alice's daughters from her marriage to George Tappan? (Knickerbocker and Cushy)
Where are our German cousins now?
Where did John and Mary Gormley come from?
Where are the rest of their descendants?

Charles Boesen-Alice Gormley marriage record

Record of Charles Boesen and Alice Gormley (Gormerly) marriage from St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Racine, Wisconsin, November 4, 1874

Left:

Right:

We're looking at the second, third, and fourth lines from the bottom. This was the only record in the 1880 census for a "Harvey B*" in Chicago. That, along with the names Alice and Mary and the birth places of everyone, have convinced me that this is Alice Gormley Boesen and her children. It also gave me the clue that they pronounced "Boesen" as "Bason."

Many of us have been searching everywhere for a death record for husband Charles Boesen, who supposedly was run over by a team of horses and killed in 1978. But notice that Alice is listed as "married," not "widowed." If that's case, where is Charles? I have found a Charles Bayson in Minneapolis, a 26-year-old painter from Denmark. That man was boarding with a local family in the 1880 census and a few years later married a local girl and had a family there . . .

Notice, too, that Mary is listed as a year old here, even though the birth certificate she had created in 1941 said she wasn't born until 1881. She said she was born in 1880 when she got married and in the 1900 and 1910 censuses.

Rudoph Seehawer arrived in New York City Aug. 25, 1892, on the ship Havel.

LINKS TO RELATED SITES

Mary's Photos

Gertrude Seehawer Spencer's papers and photos ended up at my aunt's house after Gertrude's death. My cousin allowed me to scan these photos.

Seehawer kids--Emil, Marie, Gertrude, "Bob"--about 1910

Mary Ellen (Boesen) Seehawer with grandson Carl--early 1920s?

Rudolph and Mary Ellen (Boesen) Seehawer--about 1930

Four generations: Gormley, Boesen, Seehawer, Spencer--1937

Gertrude Seehawer Spencer and her mother (Mary Ellen Boesen Seehawer) at the Oregon coast--between 1947 and 1953

Axel's Photos

These links are all off my site, so please let me know if you try them and they no longer work.

Johan Seehawer (husband of Rose Kottke)

Reinhold and Ernestine Seehawer

Reinhold Seehawer home

Paul Seehawer, 1924 (student)

Paul Seehawer, 1930 (officer)

Paul Seehawer, 1942 (Russia)

Our Irish Ancestry
A page about John and Mary Gormley, our Irish ancestors.

What 19th century provinces now belong to Poland?
Explains the history of the area Rudolph Seehawer came from. It was in West Prussia, Germany, until the end of World War I, when it became part of Bydgoszcz Province (now Pomorskie Province), Poland.

Pempersin photos, maps, and 1809 census images
Johann Seehawer, Anne Wiedenhoft, and their first child, Michael, are on page 4 of the census.

Gormley son in 1907 Buffalo County, Nebraska, atlas
John and Mary Gormley and four of their children (and Alice's future second husband, George Tappan) were in the Cedar township of Buffalo County, Nebraska, in the 1880 census. Their son George W. Gormley seems to be the only one who stayed there very long. He appears in the 1907 atlas (the entry says he had been in the county since 1881, but he was there in the 1880 census). The map will take a few minutes to download. When it's finished, scroll down to Section 28 to see the Gormley land.

"The Truth"
The religion known informally as "the Truth" (they say it has no formal name) is a significant part of the Seehawer family history. The "workers" (ministers) arrived in Athelstane, Wisconsin, in the late 1920s, and Mary Ellen (Boesen) Seehawer, several of her daughters (including my grandmother), and a daughter-in-law "professed" (joined). Their decisions had an impact on the family that is still seen today. There are many other sites about the religion on line; if you are interested, I urge you to search Google for words such as "workers," "profess," "truth," and "conventions," and you will be surprised at all you find.

NOTES

Ancestors of Johann Seehawer: The information from a German genealogy book, Altansassige deutsche Bauerngeschlechter in den Kreisen Zempleburg und Wirsitz in Westpreussen (Hans Jurgen von Wilckens, Hamburg, 1971), has been entered into an Ancestral File that can be found at the LDS Web site. To explore it, go to www.familysearch.org and search for Johann Seehawer.

LATEST ON THE SEEHAWER, BOESEN, AND GORMLEY BRANCHES

June 28, 2008
Oakland Pig Roast

Greetings to all the cousins I saw there! Please forgive me--I am just going to repeat what I wrote about it last year because my feelings haven't changed.

I am grateful to Uncle Joe and Aunt Nita for all of their work to make this reunion happen and to all of the relatives who made the effort to be there. My grandmother, Gertrude, was the last of her siblings to die in 1965. Even though that was more than 40 years ago, it has been impressive to see how close my grandmother's, Bob's, Emil's, Marie's, and Carl's children have stayed ever since--all the Spencer, Seehawer, and Bielenberg cousins. Lately I have started worrying about whether the family will stay in touch when our parents' generation is no longer able to make sure we do it. It's time for my generation to make a commitment to keeping the family together. I really think it's worth it, but it's one of those things that people sometimes don't appreciate until it's gone. Hint: it should be a lot easier for us because most of us use e-mail!

Nov. 5, 2007
Norman Mann
A Seehawer cousin visited us over the weekend and informed us of the death Oct. 8 of one of our in-laws, Norman Mann. I am sorry to say I never got to know him, but I extend my sympathy to his family. You can read his obituary here (you'll have to scroll down).

Aug. 22, 2007
Pempersin Connections
I received an interesting note yesterday from a genealogist whose Semerau ancestors are from Pempersin. Her family tree includes Seehawers/Seehabers/Seehafers who married into her family there, and she has other names in common with ours (e.g., Rux). She has been told that anyone from Pempersin is related to everyone else in Pempersin, and I don't doubt it, although we don't know yet exactly how we're related. She is the one who provided me with the link to Pempersin page that I have just added above.

CREDITS

1965: My grandmother, Gertrude Seehawer Spencer—The foundation of my Seehawer and Spencer research! Names of my Seehawer great-grandparents and second great-grandparents and of my Gormley third great-grandparents and all their children; photos.
1980-present: Debbie, a cousin who is the granddaughter of my grandmother's brother Emil Seehawer—Information on Seehawer and Boesen descendants and ancestors that she got from Seehawer letters her grandparents ended up with and from her own research; copies of Seehawer photos.
1998: A descendant of John Walter Gormley—John Walter Gormley's descendants.
1999 to present: Bert, a cousin who is a descendant of my great-great-grandfather's brother—The link with Johann Seehawer and Anna Wiedenhoft and the name of Rose Kottke's mother.
2001: Axel, grandson of my great-grandfather Rudolph Seehawer's brother Reinhold—Photos of my great-great-grandfather Johann Seehawer and other German relatives.
2003: Dick, a helpful stranger who is also researching Seehawer (Seehafer) ancestors—Shared records he transcribed from the Vandsburg, West Prussia parish for Pempersin and Sittnow. They filled in a lot of gaps for me.
2006: Marjorie, a cousin-in-law whose husband was a descendant of my great-great-grandfather Johann Seehawer's brother Friedrich Wilhelm Seehawer—Information on the August Gustav Seehawer branch (in America).