Sunday's Obituary - Edna Veith

Sunday’s Obituary is an ongoing blogging prompt developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here and tallied on the Geneablogger's site.

Edna Veith
1903 - 1994

Edna Veith was one of my grandfather's sisters. She and her twin brother, Edwin, were the youngest of five children and Edna is the only child who never married. She was born on 20 August 1903 in Hollisterville, Wayne County, Pennsylvania to Gottlieb Veith and Hannah Zeiler, and died 22 February 1994 in Atlanta, Georgia.  She had moved from her parents' farm in northeastern Pennsylvania by 1920 and lived with her sister and brother-in-law, Carrie and Charles Heffner in Hoboken, New Jersey. At some point, she and her sister, Esther Veith Foster, shared an apartment at 7 East 86th Street in New York City before they both retired and moved near their nephew Art Foster and his family in Georgia.

VEITH, Miss Edna, 90, Avondale Estates, Georgia, died Tuesday, February 22 at the Budd Terrace Nursing Home, Atlanta, Georgia.
   Born in Hollisterville, daughter of the late Gottlieb and Hannah Zeiler Veith, she was the last surviving member of her family. A graduate of Wyoming Seminary, she was an executive secretary in the banking business in New York City before retiring in 1964 to Atlanta, Georgia.
  Surviving are two nephews, Harold Veith, Jr., Lake Wylie, S.C., and Arthur D. Foster, Duluth, Ga.; a niece, Mrs Warren Grant, Little Falls, NJ; grand nieces and nephews, including Mrs. David Dulay and James Foster, both of Honesdale; several great-grandnieces and nephews.
   She was preceded in death by a brother, Harold Veith Sr; two sisters, Carrie Veith Heffner and Ester Veith Foster, twin brother, Edwin Veith; also a nephew, Burton W. Foster.

My cousin-bait worked!

I don't remember whose blog I was reading when I first came across the term "cousin bait". It was mentioned that blogging about our family history is a good way to "troll" for unknown relatives. The hope was that someday someone googling a family name would come across a blog post that had mentioned the mutual ancestor and contact could be made between previously unknown relatives. I remember smiling at the term and thinking it was a great idea. I didn't seriously expect it to work for me though!

Last week, I got a comment on one of the blog posts I had made last summer in which I mentioned I was traveling back east to meet previously unknown descendants of my immigrant ancestor, Joseph Zeiler, my great-great grandfather. This poster is a previously unknown 2nd cousin (once removed)! Her family descends from my great-grandmother's brother, Theodore A. Zeiler and his 2nd wife, Carrie E. Belknap.

Elmdale Cemetery
Jefferson Township, PA

Theodore A. Zeiler
1885 - 1936

Grace E. [Brown] his wife
1873 - 1903

Carrie E. [Belknap] his wife
1871-1922






 My great-grandmother was Theodore's younger sister, Hannah Zeiler. This new cousin and I have been busily exchanging emails back and forth and comparing family information. We are both hoping that with our new connections we can find previously unseen photos for some of our ancestors. She is hoping to see a photo of her grandfather, Theodore, and I am hoping to find a photo of my great-grandparents, Joseph Zeiler and Margaret Mack.

My Heritage Pie

I know I'm a little late to this but here is my Heritage Pie. Randy Seaver first blogged about this on
16 July 2011on his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your "Heritage Pie" Chart. The following 'pie' shows the distribution of the birthplaces of my 16 great-great-grandparents.

Birthplaces: 8 in Germany, 2 in Canada, 2 in England, and 4 in United States (Rhode Island)

Paternal great-great Grandparents -

Joseph Goff Grant - born 1 Aug 1819, No. Providence, Rhode Island

Lydia Boomer Leach - born 13 May 1827, Warwick, Rhode Island

Ernest Lord Mellor - born 2 Mar 1832, Chadderton, Lancashire, England

Hannah Worthington  - born 7 May 1833, Royton, Lancashire, England

Zophar Skinner  - born 12 Sept 1843, Valley Falls, Rhode Island

Eliza Jane Carpenter  - born 12 April 1847, Coventry, Rhode Island

John William Betts  - born June 1844, Wallace, Nova Scotia, Canada

Susan Fulton - born 13 Feb 1839, Wallace, Nova Scotia, Canada

Maternal great-great-Grandparents -

Johann Martin Veith - born 9 April 1825, Altdorf, Wurttemberg, Germany

Anna Maria Heller - born 4 Oct 1828, Hudlach, Wuttemberg,Germany

Joseph Zeiler - born 21 Dec 1826, Wuttemberg, Germany

Anna Margaretha Mack - born June 1827, Wuttemberg, Germany

Christoph Badendick - born Germany

Friederike Spierling - born Germany

Gottfried Zerull - born 4 March 1812, Garnseedorf, West Prussia

Wilhelamine Kroening - born about 1835 in West Prussia

I met cousins!

I am exhausted.

Since I left home last week, I have driven almost 900 miles (from NJ to PA to NY to RI to MA) and met up with one first cousin once removed and one second cousin  (Skinner), one Aunt (Grant),  four third cousins and two third cousins once removed (descendants of Cassie Zeiler),  two second cousins and one second cousin once removed (Foster), and three first cousins once removed and one second cousin (Blackmar),. I've also spent the most part of three days in county and town courthouses (Lackawanna County in Pennsylvania, and Central Falls and Cumberland, Rhode Island) and visited three cemeteries in Pennsylvania, and three in Rhode Island. I've taken 133 pictures, and gone through five sets of batteries for my Flip-Pal scanner (which goes through batteries much quicker in hot weather). And most of the time it's been over 90 degrees (101 degrees in Providence today!).

I loved seeing all these cousins and I thank them all for sharing their time and information with me.

I have many vital records, cemetery records, wills and deeds, town histories, compiled family records, and lots of scanned copies of documents and photos. It will take me weeks to sort through all the information I've received and get it all into my database! I will also make copies of it all and distribute the information to these cousins.

Perhaps the most intriguing discovery so far is my g-g-g-grandfather Ernest Lord Mellor's death record at the Cumberland Town Hall in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Cause of death: Gun Shot.

I think I have a mystery to investigate!

Veith siblings

On Monday, I am planning to meet up with some cousins who are also descendants of  Hannah Zeiler and Gottlieb Veith. I am descended their son, Harold, and my 2nd cousin is descended from Harold's sister, Esther.

Children of Gottlieb Veith and Hannah Zeiler, Hollisterville, Pennsylvania

My grandfather, Harold Theodore Veith is the man on the right and his brother Edwin is on the left (in the cap). The 3 daughters are Carrie, Esther, and Edna but I'm not sure which is which. I'm hoping my cousin might know!

Third cousin meet-up

I'll be traveling back east soon to northeastern Pennsylvania to meet up with at least 2, and possibly 3 or 4 third cousins. We are all descended from the children of Joseph Zeiler and Anna Margaretha (Margaret) Mack of Jefferson Twp, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.

According to the 1900 census, Joseph Zeiler and Margaret Mack married around 1856. This census indicates they had 8 children but only 5 were living in 1900. These children are:

Mary Zeiler born August 1857
Karolina (Carrie) Zeiler born 28 June 1859
Casoline (Cassie) Zeiler born July 1863
Theodore A. Zeiler born Dec 1865
Hannah Zeiler born 21 May 1869 (my great-grandmother)

All these children, (except Karolina who had no children of her own) have living descendants and some of us will be meeting for the first time. It looks like we might have at least one descendent from each branch! I'm hoping that we can all exchange photos, documents, family records and family stories.

Second Cousins

I sent a letter last week to Jill, a 2nd cousin I have not seen in at least 40 years. My mother, Dorothy Veith, and her father, Burton W. Foster, were first cousins, and thus, Burt was my first cousin once removed. However since Burt was near my mother's age, we kids called him Uncle Burt. He and his family lived not too far away from us in Cresskill, New Jersey during the 1960s and early 1970s until they moved to Pennsylvania.

Burt's parents were Arthur Foster and Esther Veith. Esther was my grandfather's Harold T. Veith's sister. They had two children, Arthur D. Foster, born in 1926 and Burton W. Foster born in 1928.

Burt and Art Foster, about 1929

Dorothy Veith and Harold C. Veith with their cousins Burt and Art Foster
at their grandparent's farm in Hollisterville, PA
 summer 1936

The exciting thing is that Jill and I are going to meet each other for the first time as adults in a few weeks time. We talked briefly last night and she told me that she and her brother both had pictures of our mutual g-grandparents, Gottlieb Veith and Hannah Zeiler. She also said one of Art Foster's daughters is interested in genealogy! I think I may have met her when I was young too but lost track of that side of the family. I did contact Art Foster once when I first started getting interested in genealogy back around 2001, and he told me he had a pile of information he was putting aside for me. Unfortunately, he died before it was ever sent. Maybe this newest 2nd cousin will be the one who might have the portraits hanging on Gottlieb's wall that I noted in my post last week, My Grand-father's Siblings. Wouldn't that be truly exciting?

My Grandfather's Siblings

I posted previously about my mother's paternal grandparents, Gottlieb Veith and Hannah Zeiler. Gottlieb and Hannah had 5 children live to adulthood including my grandfather, Harold Theodore Veith.

8 August 1919
left to right: Edwin, Hannah, Edna, Harold, Carrie, Esther, Gottllieb

Children:
Carrie M. Veith born April 1889
Harold Theodore Veith born 19 May 1891
Esther Veith born 10 April 1895
twins Edwin and Edna Veith born 20 August 1903.

Picture was taken in the family home in Hollisterville, Salem Twp, Wayne County, Pennsylvannia

Hannah Zeiler

Last month I posted about Gottlieb Veith here . Hannah Zeiler was his wife.

Hannah Zeiler was born on the 21 May 1869 in Jefferson Twp, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvannia to Joseph Zeiler and Anna Margaretha (Margaret) Mack. Both of Hannah's parents immigrated to the U.S. from Wurttemberg, Germany in the 1850s.

Hannah was the 4th of 5 children, all born in Jefferson Twp, Pennsylvannia. Her father, Joseph, was a farmer in the Elmdale community his entire life.

Since Hannah was just 18, and a minor when she married Gottlieb, her father had to give his written consent to the marriage.

Gottlieb Veith and Hannah Zeiler
marriage certificate - 8 March 1888
Jefferson Township, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania

I love this marriage certificate! The image at the bottom is that of H.A. Smith, Minister of the Gospel.Witnesses to the marriage were Hannah's brother, Theodore A. Zeiler, and Kate Lowert. Kate was probably a friend of the couple.

Gottlieb and Hannah had 5 children. Their oldest child, Carrie M. Veith was born in April 1889, 13 months after the marriage. Harold Theodore Veith, my maternal grandfather, was born 2 years later on  19 May 1891. Esther Veith was born on the 10 April 1895 and the twins, Edwin Veith and Edna Veith were born on 20 August 1903.

I don't know too much about Hannah. My mom once told me that Hannah did not like her much since she was a 'modern woman' and didn't know how to cook!

Gottlieb and Hannah Veith

Hannah died at home on 30 August 1942 at 10:35 PM of a heart attack. Her husband, Gottlieb was the informant on the death certificate. She was buried 3 days later in the Hollisterville Cemetery,  Hollisterville, Wayne County, Pennsylvania. When Gottlieb died 5 years later, he was buried in the same plot as was their oldest daughter, Carrie.

Hollisterville Cemetery, Hollisterville, Salem Twp, PA

Gottlieb Johannes Veith

Gottlieb Veith was my great-grandfather on my mother's side.

Gottlieb Johannes Veith

My mother's paternal grandfather was Gottlieb Johannes Veith. Gottlieb was born in Altdorf, Germany on 3 November 1866 to Johann Martin Veith and Anna Maria (Annie) Helle. Altdorf is a small town in the southern state of Baden-Württemberg, around 10 miles south of Stuttgart. Gottlieb traveled on the Holland-America ship "Zaandam" which left from Amsterdam and arrived in New York on 3 April 1886, when Gottlieb was 16 years old. The ship's manifest indicates that he had one piece of luggage when he arrived in New York. It is not known if Gottlieb traveled with friends or who he stayed with when he first arrived in the United States. Gottlieb's son, Harold, told one of his grandchildren that Gottlieb left Germany to avoid being conscripted into the military. Gottlieb had at least one brother who stayed in Germany, as did his parents.

Veith Farm around 1920

Gottlieb was living in Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania and working as a teamster when he  married Hannah Zeiler at age 21 on the 8th of March 1888 in Jefferson Twp, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. My mother's cousin Art Foster told me Gottlieb and Hannah moved into the new farm they had just bought in Salem Township, Wayne County, Pennsylvania soon after marriage and were there for the Great Blizzard of March 11-14, 1888.  However, the Wayne County death records for both Hannah and Gottlieb recorded how long they lived in "the community" prior to their deaths. These records indicate they lived in the rural Wayne County community since about 1895, not 1888 (when they married) so I will need  to search for a deed that indicates when the farm was purchased.

Gottlieb Veith

Gottlieb and his wife raised 5 children while living on their farm. He died there on 27th of February 1947 from a cerebral hemorrhage. His wife, Hannah, predeceased him by 5 years. The farm was sold soon after Gottlieb died.

What Writing Reveals - Part 2

Last week, I posted that the act of writing up some of my research revealed many of the gaps I had in my documented 'facts'. For instance, once I started writing, I quickly realized that I had no real evidence that all the sources that I had for my g-grandfather, Gottlieb Veith, were documenting the right or even the same man. For some of the facts, I had no source information. Since my great-grandparents were added to my family tree in the very early stages of researching my family, I added some of the facts from family knowledge (but didn't document who had told me what - and none of those people are still alive) and some from published sources but my source citations were so scanty that I can't figure out what the sources are.

Somewhere along the line in my genealogy research, I learned to always document any fact that I add to my family tree. Luckily I did learn the importance of source documentation fairly early in my research although I didn't necessarily always apply that knowledge. One of my mistakes  was that if I had a fact in my tree already, I didn't document where I had found that same fact again in a different source. Because of this sloppiness, I don't really know if I have found several independent sources for each 'fact' or not. And having independent sources for any fact is necessary to solve any discreprancies that creep up.

One example of the problems this has led to involves the marriage of my g-grandparents Gottlieb Veith and Hannah Zeiler.

In my family tree database, I noted that the 'marriage certificate gives Gottlieb's mother's name as Anna Maria Heller'. However, there is no note in my records who the father was on the marriage certificate. Even worse, I have no idea where that certificate is. Does this even mean I had it at some point? Or saw it somewhere? I have Gottlieb's father as Johann Martin Veith but no source was noted for that name. Did I not document it was on the marriage certificate because the name was already in my database? Or was the name not on the certificate?

I really don't know the answer and since I can't find the marriage certificate in any of my files, I need to send away for it (again??).

Sigh... If only I knew then what I know now about documenting sources...