August September 2016

FISHER TALES (of genealogy research)     Issue 3 August/September 2016          

This is a very late report due to travels, summer events and attending a national genealogy conference in Springfield, IL. Would recommend the Lincoln Museum in Springfield to anyone or any family. There are three theater programs that are the quality of Disney productions. Lincoln’s family home and surrounding houses is now a national park. Toured the home at twilight with candlelight. Very nice effect. Went back the next day to see the second floor since that was dark the evening before.

Since I haven’t heard from any of you with stories or photos from your branch of the family, I will continue to share what I have discovered. I borrowed some archival items from the Rock Run Country historical Society in Rock City. One item was the 1932 Talebearer Dakota school yearbook which had my dad, Elvin Fisher in when he was a Junior. The page shows his class officers, and he was vice-president of a class of 12 Juniors. His nickname listed is Buster (who knew).

It also had a page about the Kittenball team with a team photo. Kittenball was an early version of softball using a ball 12 inches (305 mm) in circumference. Defensive players are not allowed to wear fielding gloves. Mike Royoko, former Chicago Daily News columnist, called it the real game.Here’s the description of the Dakota team even though they did not have a good season – winning games:

"First to mention in the lineup is Captain Lawler. our dependable infielder as well as batter. Wells, our first baseman and home-run hitter. together with Lawler. will be missed next year. Lee Meinert, assisted by Kinzer, served the important position of pitcher. Although Kinzer is only a Freshman, he has shown great possibilities at the pitcher's box. Reimer and Fehr held important infield positions. Fisher. Germain, Thoren, Schrademeier. and Zimmerman are worthy of mention as fielders. Schrademeier and Fisher. in particular, performed very creditably in their respective places."

Also, shown to the right is one of  the pages on the Basketball Team which included Elvin Fisher. "though handicapped by size he can play basketball."

Another page in the yearbook listed the 1932 Dakota School Board members.

Another surprise, my grandfather Elmer Fisher was on the board and there are photos of each board member. 
 

I also discovered in the Sylvan school history summary that in 1859 the log school was damaged by a storm. As a result, Hugh Bennehoff and Solomon Fisher had a stone school house built to replace the old school. Bruce Fisher and Emerson Fisher were school board directors there at one time.

The school location is near the Fishers’s property. Sue Fisher was a teacher there in 1872. It’s not clear if she continued to teach until 1901. The next teacher listed is Mr. George Moyer (8 mos.) in 1902. Another fact to track down and which Susan Fisher is it?

So each month, you find new things and information, but you raise new questions!  Please remember to send a few photos and family stories of your family for the next newsletter. I need your help!

Keep exploring family history, Elaine Fisher

July 2016

FISHER TALES (of genealogy research)     Issue 2 July 2016          

First, let’s trace the migration trail of our Fisher (Fischer-German spelling) ancestors, from arrival in Philadelphia in 1730, and going west of the city to settle in Berks County Pennsylvania north of the current city of Reading, then in 1809 moving westward to Milheim, Centre County, Pennsylvania, and finally moving to Illinois in 1839. To do this, I will work back from what we know and what is documented in Illinois state and federal land records.

We know that two brothers Jacob and Solomon Fisher came to Illinois in October, 1839. Jacob was the older brother, born in 1808, and Solomon was born in 1812 in Centre County PA. Their parents were Jacob Fisher and Susanna Haberacker, who were married in April 1806 in the First Reformed Church of Reading PA. The son, Jacob was married to Mary Moyers in 1831 in Pennsylvania and had 5 children by 1838. Jacob’s family and his brother Solomon traveled together to Illinois. The trip is said to have taken six weeks and three days in a covered wagon drawn by four horses. Can you imagine with 5 children?

The brothers claimed 600-720 acres of land for $800 in Rock Grove Township, in sections 25 & 26. In some cases they bought a claim from a previous pioneer (early real estate speculators) who had cleared some land and erected a small log cabin. There was a small hewn log house on the property in which the family lived initially. The land was all prairie except for 100 acres of timber. Most had not been plowed before. Their first priority was clearing land, building shelter and preparing for the winter. In 1843 Solomon built fence and erected a one story 16 x 16 ft house in preparation for his marriage to Barbara Bolender in April of 1843. In 1845, Jacob and Solomon officially registered their land purchase at the US Land Office in Dixon IL.

Their younger brother Samuel H. Fisher made several trips to Stephenson County to buy land during the 1840’s but he did not settle there until 1852 when he owned 683 acres. Soon after he arrived, he established a general store. He also later went into the grain business in Dakota with his partner, J. D. Schmeltzer. The last area of Rock Grove Village was platted as Fisher’s Addition, laid out by Samuel H. Fisher in 1869. Samuel’s home in Rock Grove was sketched and appeared in the 1871 plat book.

Here is a plat of the Rock Grove township early land owners showing Jacob, Solomon and Samuel H. Fisher’s land. Most are located west of Rock Grove village, but some are adjacent to Rock Grove village located in the lower right corner of the image below. The large tracts claimed by Solomon, Jacob and Samuel H. show the beginning of a stream on their property; providing a spring source of fresh water.

This 1800 Pennsylvania map shows their migration trail before coming to Illinois. Follow the dots. Details next month!

         

Next, more photos and stories of the descendents of Solomon & Barbara Fisher; Henry Fisher & Hannah Potthast. Henry and Hannah had seven children (see chart below that includes spouses). Last month you saw Susan Luella Fisher (1887 -1941) and Roy Cross (1885 -1592 and their two surviving children; Robert & Kenneth. If there are any errors in this information, please let me know.

   

Dora Edna Fisher (1880-1927) & William Reed Keister (1880-1959)

Their daughter; Blanche Viola Keister (1903-1990), Harold Best & family

Photos submitted by Sherry Newman, daughter of Dora Lea Nagle

If you have family stories or photos to share, your family could be in the next newsletter. It would be nice to hear from descendents of Jacob and Mary or Samuel H. as well. Hope to hear from you before the end of Aug.  Keep exploring family history, Elaine Fisher

Land purchase certificate update

Due to some questions about the US Land Office Purchase certificates, I should explain that there are a total of 9 certificates which is why I didn't include images of these documents. However, to satisfy the curious I am posting one of Jacob's and one of Solomon's so that you have evidence that the Fishers/Fischers were indeed pioneer families in Illinois shortly after it became a state. These earliest purchase documents are from 1845.

I hope you will follow the blog and add your comments and questions.

June 2016

One of my goals since I retired in 2015 was to spend serious time on family research and find sources to document our German Fischer family history. For that purpose in June, I spent a few days at the Allen County library in Fort Wayne IN. The library has a genealogy center that boasts to be the second largest collection of resources in the US. One type of resource is family histories and they have thousands! One shelf is devoted to Fisher families from Adam to Zachariah. However, no Jacob or Henry Fischer family history yet!

In browsing these Fisher family stories, I learned the following interesting tidbits:

• Fischer, in German, meant a person who earned a livelihood by fishing. So several Fisher family histories have included a family crest (usually involving a fish).
• One Adam Fischer family history tells of the family being elevated to baron status by the local king, however the son killed one of the king’s deer. This was a hanging offense at that time and place. However, the son was not hanged, but was sent to America circa 1741.
• It seems that there may be Fischer character traits that we inherited as mentioned in a summary of various Fischer families.  The Fischers’ were slow and deliberate in decision making, hardworking, a closeness to the soil and great affection for animals. Also mentioned were dry humor, enjoyment of the outdoors and fishing and travel fever (wanting to see beyond the next hill).

In Fort Wayne, I also attended a genealogy conference focused on German immigrants (Palatines to America) and the related research resources. I learned that the Philadelphia Historical Archives is where most early Pennsylvania German newspapers and family journals would be found. That will be on my next road trip. When our ancestors arrived in the 1600’s or early 1700’s, there were less records kept and less government documents to use. The shipping records in Rotterdam were destroyed so we have to rely on  U.S. records for our research. The earliest official Pennsylvania census was 1790 and our family is thought to have arrived in 1730 or earlier. Most Germans who arrived at that time were described on the passenger list as being Palatine (whether they were actually from the Palatinate region or not.) Early church records of marriages may indicate the actual German village or region of birth.

Since Germany was not a country then, but a collection of duchies or small kingdoms; you have to identify the village and parish they lived in. The church parish records were the only detailed records at that early time. The area along the Rhine River was also often the site of wars and destruction. These wars led residents to consider escaping by emigrating (often without permission/documentation) to America.

One of the exhibitors at the conference, Family Tree Tours, conducts small group tours that include a day or two in the village of your ancestors. However that is the $64 million question – where did they live Wuerttemberg? The region of Wuerttemberg is noted in family stories recorded by Ruth Mabel Dreibelbis Vitz in 1936 research and documented in The Fisher Family, Descendents of Henry Fisher booklet. The sources for her research are not given. So, I am thinking of going on the Germany tour in Sept. 9-19, 2017 even if I haven’t pinned down the town they came from. Check out their web site and consider joining me: http://familytreetours.com/tours/group-tours

My previous research at the Naperville Family History library included early Illinois land records from the Bureau of Land Management. In looking for our pioneer ancestors Solomon and Jacob Fisher, who came to Rock Grove Illinois in 1839 we think; I found their land purchases registered in the Land Office in Dixon IL. On July 1, 1845 certificates of register record payment by Solomon Fisher for 160 acres in sections 25 & 26 of Rock Grove Township. On October 1, 1845 certificates of register record payment for 240 acres paid by Jacob Fisher, and certificates of register and payment by Solomon Fisher for an additional 240 acres in sections 25 & 26. On March 1, 1848 Jacob Fisher registered payment for an additional 40 acres in section 26. January 1, 1849 Jacob registered payment for an additional 40 acres in section 28. (Next local trip is to the Rock Grove Township office to view early land records and perhaps take photos of the property today.)

My direct descendant of Solomon Fisher is Henry Fisher who married Hannah Potthast Nov. 2, 1876. One of his children, Elmer Jerome is the grandfather to my family. Elmer’s sister, Susan Luella Fisher, married Roy Cross. I scanned a photo of the couple and two of their children Robert and Kenny Cross.

(Below)

This is a Sept. 11, 1984 photo of my dad, Elvin Fisher when he planted some corn seed from Georgia. The 9 ft. tall corn that resulted made the Freeport Journal-Standard news! I think it wasn’t the seed, but the fertile planting location (a former pig lot). There’s that farming heritage.

I hope to write each month of my progress in documenting our Fischer Family history. This will keep me on track and I hope will be of interest to you. If you have been doing research, please share what you have discovered. I hope you are inspired to write your family stories and share photos. If we identify photos, scan and share them, it helps us all and is available for the future generations. Time flies and memories fade so let’s do it now!

So many ancestors and so little time,

Elaine Fisher