Sunday, November 14, 2010

Jennie Allen
1865-1962


My Great-Aunt Jennie Allen lived a very long and eventful life. Several other of the Allen family members were long-lived, John D. Allen lived to 95 and Jennie's sister, my grandmother, was 87 when she passed away. The other seven didn't fare as well, but with the advance of medicine today they might also have lived as long. There were five girls and four boys. Of the nine, there were only four grandchildren, which is somewhat odd for the time period. Lillian and Ann never married, Lillian was a nurse and Ann worked at an Insurance Company. Mollie, Jennie, Charles, and Lewis (Babe) married but had no children. My grandmother, Nell, had only my father; John E. had a boy, and a girl and Jude had just one boy.

Jennie was raised in Lancaster, Ohio where her father was a grocer. They undoubtedly spent considerable time at her mother's home in Fultonham, Ohio. John D. Allen had been a Grocer in that town and married Mary Lake, adopted daughter of Enoch B Lake and his wife, Mary.  Mary's biological father was Christopher Retallick Short, and her mother died after giving birth to her daughter on the ship to America.  When Christopher Short arrived in Ohio, the older boy remained with him, but Mary was adopted by the Lakes.  The Lake home eventually came to be owned by the five Allen girls and was maintained by them to be used as they needed.  Ann probably spent the most time there. I "think" I remember her, but the only two sisters I have positive memories of is Nell, who was my grandmother, and her sister, Jennie.
The Allen Home in Fultonham, Ohio 

In 1887 Jennie married Noah Fenton Bowers. He was kind of the boy-next-door,  next door to her grandparents in Fultonham, that is. Noah was from a local farming family, the last Bowers son living at home - however, he did not inherit the Bowers farm (his sister Elizabeth did).  In the 1900 census, Jennie and Noah are renting a farm close by, as a matter of fact, they are house #109 in the Uniontown Precinct (Fultonham). Jennie's adoptive grandfather, Enoch B Lake is close by - house #145. Now, while we are on the subject of the 1900 census, let it be known that the Minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Fultonham, James H. Rogers, lives in house #144. Remember that name, we'll come back to it in a minute.
Noah Bowers

I have searched the 1910 Census records for Noah and Jennie and have never been able to find them. I did see that Mr. Bowers died in 1914 and he is buried in the Fultonham Cemetery. Jennie was to live another 48 years after her first husband died.
Jennie Allen

Rev. Rogers and his family, on the other hand, are found in the 1910 Census in Stockton, California, where his occupation is shown as "clergyman."


So, the next step is to move on to the 1920 Census. Now, it was no surprise to me because I already knew, but in 1920 we find Jennie married to James H. Rogers and they are living in Pinole, California. Whoa, how actually did this come about?  Annie Mariah Waddel Rogers died 10/2/1911 and is buried in Stockton, California at the Stockton Rural Cemetery.  While we know Jennie probably knew the Rogers family & may have attended services while Rev Rogers was officiating at the Fultonham ME Church, how did they "get together" after their respective spouses had passed? He was, after all, in California and she in Ohio. I wish I knew, but alas...no one left who might know what transpired.  A romantic story, perhaps.
Rev James H Rogers & Jennie Allen

Because I had been confusing James with his son Dwight, I decided to do a little research on James and his first wife & family.  James was born in Wales and emigrated to America in 1880 at the age of 20. He made his way to Ohio,  within three years of his arrival he was married to Anna Mariah Waddell, daughter of Alexander Waddell. Alexander was a lifelong resident of Raccoon, Gallia County, Ohio, a carpenter by occupation and a pillar of the community. His obituary contains the statement "His house was for many years a home for Methodist preachers, and his hospitality and generosity were known far and near." I would suspect James was one of the Methodist preachers Alexander Waddell took under his wing.  Perhaps it was even arranged before James Rogers got on the boat for America. 


James and Anna moved on to Fultonham and later to Stockton, Ca. There were seven children, two of the names I knew - Avanelle and Dwight. I met them when we visited Aunt Jennie in Berkeley during the 50's and early 60's, but I don't remember them.  


In the1930 census, James and Jennie are living in Los Angeles.  Sometime before my folks visited them in the late 1930's (I wasn't around yet) they had moved to 849 Neilsen St in Berkeley, Ca. This was their last move. James died in 1948 at the age of 87 and Jennie stayed on in the Berkeley home until she passed in 1962 at the age of 96. I remember her house quite well, it had a built-in dinette in the kitchen, which I thought was really "cool" but best of all she had one of the early TV's with a round screen, and I distinctly remember watching Howdy Doody on it. Jennie seemed very, very old to me but I liked her very much. I remember being thrilled by the beautiful flowers in her garden that she maintained well into her 90's.




Jennie Allen, Florence Darling (my Mom), Avanelle Rogers and; Me, in front!!

I wish I could find where Jennie and James are buried, likely in Berkeley, but they don't show up on any of the Find-a-Grave searches.  




Sunday, September 12, 2010

An Interesting Deierling Tidbit
I have been contacted by someone who can hopefully shed some light on my Deierling theory concerning the Ohio, Missouri & Wisconsin Deierling families. As I've posted, I've always thought there was a connection and according to this new "cousin" Sandy, who contacted me a week or so ago, Jacob, Phillip and Gottleib may have been brothers. Sandy's aunt told her about the relationship years ago (we are never interested enough when we are young to write things down) and unfortunately the aunt recently passed away. The aunt definitely said the family came to Ohio first before they settled in Missouri and that they were definitely related to the Wisconsin Deierlings. Brothers? Cousins? One of the two I am sure at this point. I am hoping Sandy can find information in her aunt's papers - the name of Jacob's father would help a lot. It it is Phillip I will be thrilled.
German naming conventions are complex but explain the repeating of a name in a family. I suspect the Deierlings in America come from two or more lines, explaining why the name Jacob shows up so often. So, I have to be careful not to jump on the idea the three men mentioned above are brothers - just because I want it to be so. I DO think all the Deierlings ARE related, the name is extremely unusual and is dieing out as many of them, my line and the Wisconsin line have Americanized the name to Darling.
So, we have:
Jacob Philip Deierling b. 1816 in Bavaria, Arrived in America 1853, settled in Missouri, a farmer.
Philip Deierling b. 1822 in Bavaria, Arrived in America before 1855, probably in New Orleans, settled in Wisconsin, a grocer.
Gottleib Deierling b. 1828 in Bavaria, Arrived in America 1853 on the same boat with Jacob, settled in Ohio, drove a stage coach for awhile, later a farmer.
Just to add to the confusion, there is another Deierling in Wisconsin, another Jacob.
Jacob Deierling b. 1817 in Germany, Arrived in America 1849, settled in Wisconsin, was a Barber and the whole family disappears between 1856 and the 1860 census. None of them are in the 1870 Census. I did find his dtr Charlotte in 1880 where she shows as married and in Kentucky. I believe his oldest son Jacob was in the Civil War and died there. I do think this Jacob was related to Phillip (of Wisconsin) as one of Philip's sons was a barber, another a cigar maker and the girls (most of whom didn't marry) worked in hat shops and candy stores - a common theme.
OK, this family disappears but another Jacob of similar age shows up in Ohio in the 1860 Census
Jacob Deierling b. 1820 in Bavaria, Arrived in America before 1851, and I can't believe my eyes, the census says he is a Musician. He and his wife Sarah had 6 children in 10 years before he passed away at the age of 49 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Don't have a clue who these 2 Jacob's are, but must keep them in mind because Sandy's aunt may have said something about being connected to the Wisconsin and Ohio Deierlings, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily Philip and Gottleib.
Well, now that was a ramble. Genealogy is like a puzzle, putting all the pieces in the right place is difficult and takes an enormous amount of time. I'm crossing my fingers that Sandy comes up with something concrete so I can put some of this supposition to rest and register some more relatives correctly.
Note: All these born dates are "about" dates and are usually off by a year or so. I am always amazed at the variety of ages people report on the census - I think some people just have no clue how old they are and every 10 years they just make it up.