Elsie the Rebekah

Recently I received a few more pieces of my own family history. As the designated family archivist, my collection of photographs, ephemera and other heirlooms is already quite large, but these pieces I found especially interesting.


Out of the envelope came two certificates relating to my Grandmother, Elsie (Tober) Brown; her religious life, two certificates relating to her fraternal life, and two published texts from her organization, the Rainbow Rebekah Lodge No. 31, I.O.O.F., in Orting, Washington. The texts are small, pocket size pieces, and I am sure that I will blog about them soon. The certificates, however, were the prizes in this collection.


Rainbow Rebekah Lodge No. 31, I.O.O.F.


I have known for years that my great-grandfather, William Warner Brown, was a member of the Odd Fellow’s lodge in Orting. However, it has just been recently that I learned that his son, Harley (my grandfather), and my own father were both involved in fraternal societies as well. (How dare he keep that secret from me!??!? Humph.)  In conversation with family, it was a treat to learn that these documents existed.


The first piece is dated 21 Dec 1938, and it is the letter indicating that she had been elected to membership in the organization. Presented on letterhead, it simply asks that Elsie attend a specific meeting to receive the Rebekah Degree. One of the pieces I like about this document is the letterhead itself; it provides the information of when the meetings occur and where. Using this, I can pinpoint with minimal doubt how my Grandmother spent her evening on 27 Dec 1938, and where. This is quite early in her married life, and approximately 18 months before her eldest child – my father – was born. It also provides the names of the current Noble Grand and the Secretary.

Letter of invitation to Elise Brown, "Mrs. Harley Brown"
Personal collection of author.

The second carries the official seal, but is a duplicate, as indicated on the form itself. It is perforated along the top edge, and is pre-printed, “DUPLICATE – To be retained by the Past Noble Grand.” I feel it is safe to guess that the original was the top half of the page, broken by the perforation.

Certificate of Past Noble Grand, Elsie Brown
Personal collection of author.

“Certificate of Past Noble Grand
Hall of Rainbow Rebekah Lodge No. 31 I.O.O.F. Jan. 20, 1941
To the Rebekah Assembly I.O.O.F. of Washington:
You are hereby respectfully informed that our worth SisterElsie Brown has performed the services requiredto constitute her a Past Noble Grand in Rainbow
Rebekah Lodge No. 31 I.O.O.F., her term of service as Noble Grand havingexpired on the 31 day of December 1941
Yours in F., L. and T.,
(Signed) Esther L. Whitley, Secretary”

Initiate to Past Noble Grand in Four Years


These two documents together create an interesting timeline, do they not? She was initiated as a member on 27 Dec 1938. Her service as a Noble Grand ended on 31 Dec 1941, almost four years to the day!


Now I want to know… what requirements are there of a Noble Grand? What is that job, exactly?


There is still much to learn, and I am grateful to my family for entrusting me with these documents. I have a feeling I will be learning a great deal about the Rebekah organization very soon!

Our Savior Cemetery, Hay Lakes, Alberta, Canada

Images from a trip several years ago to the Our Savior Cemetery in Hay Lakes, Alberta, Canada.

All images under copyright, Ancestral Journeys, 2012. 

Julius and Pauline Kitzmann, my 2nd great grandparents. 

Rosalie Busenius, my 1st cousin, 3x removed. 

Karl Busenius, exact relationship unknown, but likely brother to Rosalia. 

Tober family. Exact relationship unknown, but likely related through the family of my grandmother, Elsie (Tober) Brown. 

One monument listing people buried in the cemetery without headstones. 

Wordless Wednesday: Moravian Church Archives, Alberta, Canada

Original building church cornerstone.

Artifacts in the Archives

Rev. Hoyler, first minister in Alberta, and left an
amazing journal of day to day life in pioneer Canada.

The Women In My Life

Genealogy is full of interesting folks, and we commonly run into the male epidemic. There is just more information on men, plain and simple. Community histories, biographies, directories, census records... they just focused on men more. That was the culture of generations past.

However, it is women's history month. Here's a sampling of some of the more interesting ladies I have discovered over the years.

Sarah Evans, date unknown.

Sarah (Evans) Lawrence (1816-1892). Born in New York, she was supposedly adopted at the age of 3 by the Kaiser family, who continued to use her birth surname of Evans. The story goes like this... Sarah's Dad was shot by an angry neighbor when he purchased the farm that had been foreclosed on. Upon his death, the children were split up. No mention of Sarah's mom. She went on to marry her adopted father's apprentice, John H. Lawrence, and together they had ten children. Eventually, the couple separated and Sarah raised the little one's with the financial help of her older children in Ohio. Two of them went on to own and edit The Ohio Farmer, along with other publications. According to the family oral history, she at various times taught school and worked for a newspaper in Silver Creek, Nebraska, editing, writing obituaries, and other tasks. Her last few years were spent living in one of her son's households in Brighton, Colorado. One of her letters from this time period still exists, and she sounds quite lonely. After a busy and eventful life surrounded by family, she spent her last days staring out of an upstairs window watching the world go by on the street below. She is buried in Brighton, Adams County, Colorado.

Bridget (Conlon/Conlin) McGowan (1843 - ).  Born in January in Ireland, I can only imagine the cold she felt as a newborn. Although I do not know much about Bridget's early childhood, by 1850 the family had come across and could be found in Canton, Hartford County, Connecticut. By the time she died, she had lived in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Alabama, as well as Connecticut and Ireland. She married James McGowan in 1860 in Pittsburgh, and ultimately had nine children. He was also an Irish immigrant. The family seemed to follow the steel industry south. Her parents may have been George Conlin and Mary Unknown. Her brother, James, led an interesting life as a soldier, being stationed in various places around the west, eventually dying in Washington State. Since Bridget is my maternal 3rd great grandmother, the history of her brother is interesting. My father's line has history in Washington, and that is where I was raised. I certainly never imagined I would find anyone in my maternal line in the Pacific Northwest.

Ludwig & Emma Hiller, date unknown.

Emma (Kitzmann) Tober Hiller (1891- 1959)  Known my entire life as Grandma Hiller, Emma was my paternal great grandmother. Born in Volhynia, Russia, her family first arrived through New York in 1909, and settled in Alberta, Canada. Carrying their Moravian faith with them, they were surrounded by others from their homeland, I can only pretend to understand the immigration experience from the perspective of an 18 year old. In 1911, she married Paul Tober, and they lived in Canada for about five years, having one son there, Leo. In November of 1916, they boarded a Canadian Pacific Rail car and came into the U.S. via Sweetwater, Montana. They lived in Salt Lake City, Utah for just a couple of years, and had daughter Elsie. The 1920 US Census finds them in Tacoma, Washington, and Emma remained in the area for the rest of her life. In 1929, Emma and Paul divorced, and I know that my grandmother, Elsie, always had a very negative impression of her father, never forgiving him for leaving her mother. Emma worked as a cafeteria server, hotel housekeeper, and other jobs to keep the family together. Even with all that effort, there was a short time when Elsie and her brother Leo were separated from their mother, but eventually as Elsie got older, she was allowed to live with her brother as she finished high school. The oral history of Emma tells me she was a fierce, strong woman who fought for everything - and fought hard. In 1937 she married Ludwig Hiller. She passed away in Pierce County, Washington, and is buried in Tacoma.

Moravian Church

Yesterday, I wrote about a trip to Alberta, Canada, where I first learned of the Moravian Church, and my ancestors involvement in it. These are topics I haven't thought about for some time, being fairly driven to face other challenges, answer other questions and reach other goals.

So, where is the Moravian Church now?  It's not a commonly referred to religion, so I thought I would take a look at the current status.

"In essentials, unity; 

In nonessential's, liberty;

In all things, love."

~ Moravian Church of North America

www.moravian.org

According to the website, the Church has been organized for over 500 years, officially organizing in 1457. It's birth was in present day Czech Republic. By 1620, the religion was found in three major geographical areas: Moravia, Bohemia and Poland. Through a long and tumultuous history, including one failed attempt in Georgia, they finally settled in America in the State of Pennsylvania, consuming 500 acres (1735-1740). They currently have congregations in sixteen states, the District of Columbia, and two Canadian Provinces. 

To keep this simple, their doctrine is Christian based, and believe that they are given the responsibility to take care of all God offers them in life: "our time, our talents and our financial resources. We view all of life as a sacred trust to be used wisely."  

In the diaries of Rev. Clement Hoyler (see blog entry from 25 Jan 2012), he references the "Lovefeast." I was curious about this particular event, and found more information on the website (above).  Revitalized within the Moravian Church in 1727, it is used to celebrate church anniversaries, festivals of the church year, congregation celebrations, etc. 

"The lovefeast is primarily a song service, opened with prayer. Often there is no address; the hymns in the ode, or order of service, furnish the subject matter for devotional thoughts. If many visitors are present, the presiding minister often says a few words, explaining the purpose of the service, just before the congregation partakes of the bun and coffee, or whatever is served. On special occasions an address may be added, giving opportunity to remind the congregation of the history of the anniversary or the deeper import of the day."

There are currently eight congregations in Alberta: Bruderheim, Calgary Christ, Calgary Good Shepherd Community, Edmonton, Millwoods, Rio Terrace, Heimtal, and Good News in Sherwood Park.  Although I searched the North American website fairly carefully, I was unable to find a current number of members. According to Wikipedia, the worldwide count currently is around 850,000, with the largest concentration being in Tanzania. They are active in education and missionary work throughout the organization. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravian_Church) 

Beauty in Writing

A few years ago, I was able to take a trip to Alberta, Canada, with my lovely Aunt Patti. The trip was to celebrate the birthday of one of my grandmother Elsie's relatives. It was an incredible opportunity to meet some of our Tober relations and be a part of a very special occasion.

One of the original homesteads in Alberta for ancestors of Elsie Tober.
I had relatives born in this house.

One of the highlights for me was a trip to the Archives office of the New Sarepta Moravian Church. What an amazing collection! And one of my first ventures exploring the world of private collections. We walked out that day with a wealth of knowledge, requests for photo copies pending, and an amazing treasure: The Hoyler Diaries, 1896 - 1909, Rev. Clement Hoyler. This text was published by the Canadian Moravian Historical Society in May 1990, Edmonton, Alberta.

I remember I started reading it on the plane ride home. I quickly realized how vital and important this document would be to my efforts to paint a picture of my ancestors life. Not only was this piece valuable in terms of putting them in historical context; the struggles, the effort of the community, the religious impact in their lives, it actually listed many of them by name in their day to day life. I was so excited to see all of this, it was just pure joy to read through, and to learn about them as people, not just as dates and locations.

Here are a few excerpts:

February 22 (1896)
"Bro. Phillip Busenius and I left for 9:00 a.m. for Bruderheim. To begin with, mainly between South Edmonton and Edmonton the going was rough. The reasons were a problem between the harness and the sleigh and a poorly shod horse. In Edmonton we bought two bolts which we secured to the end of the shafts of the sleigh. Now we tied the harness to them. This was to help us to control the horses when going downhill. We arrived in Fort Sasketchewan in good spirits around 1:45 p.m. where we had something to eat. Around 2:30 p.m. we continued our trip to Bruderheim. At 5:30 p.m. we arrived at Bro. A. Lilge's house where I spent the night while Bro. Busenius continued on to Bro. Ludwig Lilge's home where he stayed."

March 4 (1900)
"A stormy day. The attendance in the morning was 90. I preached about Isaiah 63:1-3. In the afternoon Sunday School and Bible class were held. The service was again attended by 90. I preached about "The seat of mercy," Hebrews 9:5 and Romans 3:25. There was no choir practice. I visited Phillip Busenius' sick child."

February 4 (1901)
"In the morning I drove to Ferd. Busenius' where Julius is very sick. After I had returned, I had to write a letter for a certain Trellenberg."

October 1 (1904)
"We visited Stebners, where we ate lunch. From there we drove on to Julius Debert's on the large Hay Lake. They live there quite romantically right across from an island. They have their own boat. It was somewhat rainy today."

April 28 (1909)
"At noon the wedding of Diewert-Paul took place. I spoke about Hosea 14:8. We spent part of the afternoon at Paul's, the parents of the bride. A heavy snowstorm raged. We held no prayer service in the evening."

Emma and Paul Tober

My great grandmother was a tough lady. I never had the pleasure, but memories run strong in my father's generation.

The Kitzman Homestead, Alberta, Canada

Emma Kitzman was born in the Volhynia region of Russia on 16 October 1891 (happy early birthday!). On the 22 of March, 1911, she married Paul Tober, in Canada, and they immigrated to the United States in November of 1916 through the Canadian/Montana border, coming across in Sweetwater, Montana. They had two children, Leo G Tober (born 7 March 1912 in either Edmonton or Strathcona, Alberta, Canada) and Elsie H Tober (my grandmother). Elsie was born six years later on 13 June 1918 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Paul had a homestead in New Sarepta, Alberta in 1903, and he was one of the founding members of the New Sarepta Moravian Church. He was listed at this time as a citizen of Canada, however, he was also born in Zhitomir, Volhynia, Russia.  He later became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Both are found in the 1920 Census in Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington, but divorced on 20 Feb 1929. From our families oral history, the marriage was not a happy one, and Emma was remembered as mistreated. The family has always had the impression that Paul deserted Emma with the kids, and ran off to a new life. He was not talked about very much when Elsie was still alive, as she regarded him very negatively.

In 1930, Emma was listed as a server in a cafeteria in Sumner, Pierce County, Washington, and in 1937 married her second husband, Ludwig Hiller.  "Grandpa Hiller" was born in Russia on 11 October 1884. Both Emma and Ludwig passed away and are buried in Tacmoa, Pierce County, Washington. Oral history again brings us tidbits of information, and one of the family remembers that Ludwig thought Hitler was an "ok" guy, because he brought Germany out of a depression prior to WWII and he never believe that the holocaust existed.  Emma never allowed her children to speak German, and always enforced the English language in the home, even though she spoke little of it herself. Emma, Paul and Ludwig were all "Germans from Russia", part of a historic religious freedom migration, dating back to the 1400's. Many family members of the Moravian faith stayed in Alberta, and their descendants live there today.  Some of the original homesteads still exist, mostly considered historical ruins.

New Sarepta, Alberta, Canada Moravian Church