Death Certificate for Theresa Williamson

The second item I received today was the death certificate for my natural great-grandmother, Theresa (Hambsch) Williamson. Theresa died on 12 February 1925 from complications after the birth of my grandmother. This certificate does not do more than document what I already knew, other than providing the cemetery where Theresa is buried (Holy Trinity Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY). After Theresa died, her older two daughters went to live at the St. Joseph's home for girls in Queens, NY, while my Grandmother was taken in by her Godparents.

Hambsch Map

Google Maps announced today a new feature that allows you to save and publish customizable maps. Maps are a great tool in family history research because you can use them to help determine where your ancestors may have gone to church, school, etc. Since Martin Hambsch is on my brain (see my previous entry), I used him as my first Google Maps Experiment. Click here to see where Martin lived after he arrived in the U.S in 1891.

Naturalization Records for Martin Hambsch

Martin Hambsch is my Grandmother's natural maternal grandfather (my great-great Grandfather). Today I received a copy of his naturalization records. Before 1906, there were two steps to becoming a U.S. citizen. First, you had to declare your intent to become a citizen, then, five years later, you petitioned to become a naturalized citizen. Martin declared his intention to become a U.S. citizen on 6 November 1893 in the Superior Court of New York City (while living at 34 Rector St in Manhattan). He petitioned for U.S. citizenship on 6 April 1899 at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. By this time, he was living at 41 Ralph St in Brooklyn.

The petition clearly states he arrived at the Port of New York on 9 Jun 1891, lived 5 years in Manhattan, then lived in Brooklyn from then on.

Here is Martin's 1893 declaration of intent:

These are the two pages of Martin's 1899 petition to become a U.S. Citizen:

Ludwig Hampsch Death Certificate

I am trying to flesh out my Dad's ancestors from Brooklyn. Luckily, there are a lot of great resources. The Italian Genealogical Group has many of Brooklyn's Marriage and Death records indexed online and the Church of Latter Day Saints' Family History Library has the actual certificates on microfilm, which they'll send to you, eight at a time, for a nominal fee. By searching for all the surnames of interest in the various indices, I have a list of records I'd like to review. I hope that, in addition to identifying everyone in the families, they'll give me some other clues to help extend my understanding of my Family's History. The first batch came yesterday. Of those eight, four are of interest.

The first is Ludwig Hampsch, who died of Cholera in 1905 when he was 9 months old. Ludwig is my great-great Uncle (my paternal grandmother's uncle).

Martin Hambsch Death Certificate

In the same envelope as Walburga Hambsch's death certificate was Martin Hambsch's death certificate. He was Walburga's husband and my natural great-great Grandfather. He died on 16 July 1918 in Brooklyn. Significant new items from his death certificate include:

• His death date (16 July 1918) and likely birthdate (2 Oct 1865 in Germany)


• Where he is buried (Holy Trinity Cemetery -- See the Walburga Hambsch entry for more on it)


• His father's name (Jenophin Hambsch)

Again, another disappointment: instead of his mother's name, his wife's maiden name (Walburga Algeier or Allgaier) is listed. It is common for mistakes on a death certificate because the person who is giving the information is usually distraught. This may be one of those cases (or a big coincidence).

Walburga (Allgaier) Hambsch Death Certificate

Another item from the New York City Archives showed up today: Walburga Hambsch's death certificate (she died on 2 October 1924). Walburga is my grandmother's natural maternal grandmother. It's a great source that provided me some significant new data on our family:

1. Walburga's death date (2 Oct 1924) and her likely birthdate (22 Feb 1866 in Germany).


2. Walburga's likely maiden name (Allgaier)


3. Walburga's likely father's name (John Allgaier, born in Germany)


4. Where Walburga is buried (Holy Trinity Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY -- don't rush to visit, supposedly this is a very bad part of Brooklyn these days).

There is one big disappointment: the word "Unknown" is written where Walburga's mother's name would be listed.

Walburga (Allgaier) Hambsch Death Certificate (2 October 1924)

Entrance to Most Holy Trinity Cemetery circa 1921

The Hambst Family in the 1900 U.S. Census

A few weeks ago I found the Naturalization Index Card from 1899 for my grandmother's natural grandfather, Martin Hambst (Hamsch, Humbsch). Tonight I was able to use the address listed on that card to find him and his family in the 1900 U.S. Census. I had been having problem because Martin and Walburga Hambst were not turning up in any of the indexes for that census year. It turns out there were two good reasons. First, they are listed as Kaumphs or Kamphs (I think they must have had heavy German accents as they only immigrated in 1889 and 1891 or 1892. The enumerator probably wrote what he heard). Second, someone later did some sort of annotations or notes on the actual census page that obscures the first names of Martin, Walburga and their son, who I think is Andrew. Luckily, Grandma's mother Theresa's name is clear. Also, all the other data matches data from other sources, so I am pretty confident this is them.

By the way, the 1900 census is great because it gives a reported month and year of birth while the others usually only have the year of birth or just an age.

Here's some of the detail from the census page listing the name, birth dates, and ages. Also, it shows that at this time (1 Jun 1900), Walburga was the mother of three children, two of whom were still living.

Source: Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls. Census Place: Brooklyn Ward 28, Kings, New York; Roll: T623 1067; Page: 23A; Enumeration District: 512.

Naturalization card for Martin Hambsch

Found my first naturalization record today, which, much like finding an ancestor on a ship's passenger list, is exciting because it's a big step towards my goal of tracing all my children's ancestors back "to the shore" when they immigrated to the U.S.

Here's an image of the index card for Martin Hambsch born 2 Oct 1865 in German. I believe Martin is my Grandmother's biological grandfather.

Citation: Ancestry.com. New York Petitions for Naturalization [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. Original data: Soundex Index to Petitions for Naturalization filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts located in New York City, 1792-1906. New York, NY, USA: National Archives and Records Administration, Northeast Region.

You've got to remember the basics...

Ancestry.com saved me from a stupid mistake of not following one of the basic premises of census research: I didn't look at the rest of the page while searching for my Grandmother's natural parents. I was looking in the 1920 for Harry Williamson, with his unnamed wife (who's maiden name was Hambst), and either one or both daughters: Claire or Francis. Using Ancestry.com's great search feature, I found them fairly quickly (see line 29-31 of the attached photos), even learning that my natural great-grandmother's name was Theresa:

Even though I store very little of my research on paper by putting most in the computer, I do like to pull out a census form and copy everything down so I can think about each item. So that's what I did. But, I never looked around the rest of the page. Luckily for me, as I was backing out of the form, I noticed that Ancestry.com had three other people listed as part of the household. Duh! So going back into the form, I quickly realized that not only had I found my natural great-grandmother, but her mother and two brothers (see lines 32-34 for Walburga Hambsch and her sons Anthony and Peter). Wow. What luck!