S.M.A.R.T.ER in 2014

Has it been two weeks already?


10 Jan 2014 was the first #genchat of 2014, and as the host, I decided to be a little tricky. I threw a surprise up at the very end, with my new #genchat challenge! Each chat on Friday evenings will include a little extra bonus for those that are willing and able to take me up on it. Nothing too serious, all in good fun and with the purpose of continuing the conversation, the thought process, the education after the chat is over.


Besides, every time we do #genchat, at the end of the hour the comments are always, "it's over already? Can't we chat some more?"  This is your chance to chat more.


I cannot very well issue a challenge to all of the participants without being willing to face it myself. The first challenge was to write a S.M.A.R.T. goal that some how related to your genealogy for 2014. I've decided this year to try to balance my research time more evenly between my paternal and maternal lines; I've been quite focused on Oscar for several years. I need to take some time to let all my other ancestors whisper into my soul.


Therefore, my S.M.A.R.T. goal is focused on Eilert Heerten, and his family.

Headstone for Anna and Eilert Heerten.
Personal files of the author.

Eilert traveled to the United States with his brother. My goal is to identify that brother with certainty, and trace his spouse and descendants to determine if there are currently living descendants. The deadline for this research to be conducted is 1 Aug 2014. After utilizing all of the resources that I have reasonable access to, I will complete the process by producing a research report outlining my findings. 

S.M.A.R.T.ER in 2014

I do like a good challenge.


I am happy with my established goal, and I think that I have a good start on establishing a pedigree from Eilert's brother to current day.


During the chat, though, I stated that one of my goals for 2014 is to "grow #genchat." I do want to expand the community, and the reach, of these chats, as I think they have proven to be a valuable resource and genuinely beneficial experience for the participants. I am deeply proud of #genchat, and everything it has become. I would love to just host chat after chat after chat.


Here is my #genchat goal, more defined:


In 2014, my goal is to promote and market the #genchat community so that there are 75-100 people on the chats on a regular basis (regular = at least one chat a month for six months at this participation level). I will accomplish this by reaching out to societies, offering Twitter "lessons," and partnering with organizations in the genealogy community. I will host as many chats as possible from national conference venues and attempt to engage an audience that is not as active on social media. The timeline is as follows: 

• Host three #genchat's from society meetings (in person or virtually) in the first six months of 2014. 
• Partner with a national organization by 1 March 2014 to help promote #genchat and increase participation. 
• Recruit a team of #genchat cheerleaders to assist in carrying the #genchat message into the far corners of the country by 1 Jul 2014. 

#genchat is a very special community to me, and one that I treasure. It is also one of my highest priorities for 2014, both as a genealogist and as a business owner. I am committed to maintaining the chat's high level of quality, while equally committed to keeping the atmosphere fun, non-judgmental and positive. 

If I am able to accomplish these two goals, I will certainly be S.M.A.R.T.ER by the time 2014 is over. I am very much looking forward to the research challenge, as well as working to make #genchat bigger and better in its second year. 

Way out in the middle of nowhere...

Way out in the middle of nowhere is where my 2x great grandfather, Eilert Heerten, decided to settle. 

Homesteading in Keya Paha County, Nebraska, the property is nearly in South Dakota. The last time I was there... well, let's just say I couldn't yet read, write or cross the street by myself.

The red point on the map represents Springview, Nebraska; the
closest town.
Google Maps

A recent discovery on this particular family (and an exciting one!) started me thinking... was Eilert involved in any fraternal societies? If so, how? Where?

One benefit I have as the researcher is the surname I'm working with: Heerten. Find a Heerten in the U.S., and I'm related. Pretty much guaranteed. Not "I just met them online because we're researching a mutual 6th great grandfather" related; but the "oh, yes, I talked to her last week and her daughter just got a trophy for gymnastics" related. Eilert came to the U.S. with his brother, Sweeney, and as far as we know, they were the only two of their generation to do so. Everyone else stayed home in Germany. And so, if you find a Heerten in the U.S., I'm related.

The second benefit I have is that I know exactly where Eilert and his family settled. I can say this with such certainty because their direct descendants are still working that land. He became a naturalized citizen in Menard County, Illinois, and finalized his homestead in June, 1890.

These two points allow me to be fairly easily intimately familiar with the family tree once more, at just a glance. It's been a while since I actively searched on this line, but a quick refresh was all I needed to get going again. I started by taking a second look at the family headstones, nearly all located in the Ainsworth Cemetery in Brown County, Nebraska. With a new focus on fraternal organizations, I was specifically looking for any symbols or markings that may indicate involvement in any organization. A quick run through the images, and... nothing. Not a single standard symbol from any member of the family, in the Heerten line or a collateral line.

I have looked before for city directories or even state directories that might include this area. It is so remote, though, and has such a low population, I have never been able to locate any. I did a quick search, and once again came up empty.

My next move was to try the Grand Lodge of Nebraska (Masonic). Simply because they are the largest of the fraternal societies, I felt it more likely that there would be a Masonic lodge in the area than any of the others. I found this list, which made me realize that the Masonic mission is still very much alive in the State of Nebraska. From this list, however, I was not able to determine those that might be closest to the Heerten's.

Stop and Evaluate: What do I need? 

As I try to find an answer, I realize that I am more likely to find useful information if I reach out to a couple of folks first:

• A good state map of Nebraska would be very helpful. I have requested one via the Nebraska Tourism Commission. 
• I have reviewed the History section of the Springview, Nebraska website. It would be unlikely for them to mention anything specifically about fraternal societies, but I read it to be sure anyway. I followed up with an email, asking about the general history of societies in the area. 
• Knowing that Eilert and Sweeney immigrated from Germany, it would be beneficial to look at the general populous, to determine if they were in a community that was heavily influenced one way or another. Were their neighbors also German? Or did they originate from another country? Finding a general sense of the heritage of the community may help me narrow down exactly what it is I am searching for; which organizations would have formed naturally in this area? 

The current population of Springview is less than 300 people. I guess if I exhaust all online resources, I'll just have to drive out there and start asking around! 

What am I left with? 

Essentially, just another course of research that is in "pending" status. I am still waiting to hear back from organizations in the Denver area on another family member, and now I am waiting for resources from northern Nebraska. (Not to leave out the very southern edge of South Dakota, certainly!) Hopefully I will have an update on at least one - if not both! - soon after the start of the new year. 

Where Were They? Turn of the Century Mark

With 2012 quickly coming to a close, I thought this would be an appropriate entry in my Where Were They? series.


My initial thought on this topic, the turn of the century – as in 1899 to 1900 – was this: did they have their own Y2K?  Remember that? Remember how the world was “going to end” when we hit 2000?

What was going on in 1899 that would have made folks fear or anticipate the new century?

The United States National Museum Building,
now the Arts and Industries Building,
pictured at the turn of the century.
(Source: http://siarchives.si.edu/history/exhibits/century/usnm.htm)

Reviewing a few websites was absolutely necessary, and although what I found was interesting, it was not earth shattering.

• America is a world power. The west has been settled, the Spanish-American War of 1898 – less than 100 days of it – was a success, both on the battlefield and with the populous.
• Our native people had been shuffled onto reservations. Buffalo were essentially gone. Automobiles, or “the horseless carriage” and telephones were household words and tools. Frank Lloyd Wright was starting his career in Chicago, John D. Rockefeller had started the Standard Oil Trust company. Andrew Carnegie had constructed the world’s largest steel mill in Pittsburgh.
• The transcontinental link had been completed in 1869, and by 1900 the nation had “193,00 miles of track, with five railroad systems spanning the continent.” (Source: America at the Turn of the Century: A Look at the Historical Context)

Although still mostly rural than urban, America had become the stand out in world success. Industry, politics, innovation and technology, war. There were many poor, there were many that were overworked in factories; but President McKinley still ran on a platform of prosperity for his re-election in 1900, which he won. (Source: Macrohistory and World Report, The United States to 1910)

Life was not easy. Can you imagine, though, seeing all of that come to be reality? Would it have changed your view of the world, your daily routine? Picture yourself as a young adult, having been born and raised in a rural setting, then walking down the city sidewalks to see the evening sky lit with electric lights for the first time.


Getting Personal

The big question in this series is this: how did this event affect the lives of my ancestors (or yours)?
As always, I will start with the family of Oscar Brown, because, well, his life fascinates me, and there are lots of questions there still.
In 1899-1900, Oscar, his wife Frances, and two of their five children were living in Central City, Merrick County, Nebraska. By this time, Oscar had given up on his homestead and moved into a “city”, living primarily off of his Civil War pension. In April of 1901, his pension file includes a notation that he had suffered from small pox for the last six months.  No occupation is listed for either Oscar of Frances in the 1900 U.S. Federal Census. By the time of his death in October of 1906, his household goods had been assessed at a mere $10.00.

Living in rural Nebraska, would they have ridden in an automobile yet? Perhaps there was one or two in Central City. I have to assume the railroad advancements during the past ten years had affected them in some way, even if it was just to get mail faster.

For a man who had served in the Civil War, was a regional Deputy Sheriff in Missouri, then went on to become a State Senator for Nebraska, these last few years of his life, living in essential poverty, must have been difficult. His pension file, and again in Frances’ widow’s pension, states that his health declined quickly, beginning around 1900.  He could not work, could not support his wife and children, and likely, with adult children in the area, they were helping to support him. Would he even have cared that city streets were gaining cable cars?

Eilert Heerten. Another man whose life remains a bit of a mystery. He is my maternal 2nd great grandfather, and arrived in America from Germany in 1869. He, too, would have lived through this transition period in our country, and just as with Oscar, he lived in a rural area.


His family has settled on land in Keya Paha County, Nebraska. In 1900, he is farming with two adult sons, and has three other children in the household, along with his wife, Amke, or “Annie”. Financially, he appears to be doing better than Oscar, but he’s also 15 years younger. Perhaps he was more interested in the developments across the country, more attuned to what was happening “out in the world.” However, Keya Paha County is more remote, farther from the main rail lines, and therefore, farther from the news.

Did this New Year’s Eve 113 years ago have any affect on these families? Did they celebrate “bigger'”? Did they ignore the entire event, because they still had to get up and take care of the farm the next morning, just as with any other day?


Questions such as this may never be answered, but they are still worth asking.

Where were your ancestors when 1899 became 1900?