Biography

More about Franz Xaver Schillinger

So to continue to the story of the Schillingers….  Franz Xaver Schillinger, my 3rd great-grandfather, seems to primarily have gone by the name Xaver.  Every record I’ve been able to locate for him in the United States has Xaver listed as his first name (the spelling varies from time to time).

One of my first finds was his naturalization records – a great find indeed!  He came to the United States in 1860 from Baden, Germany (near the boarder with France).  He immigrated to New York, finding himself a little ways upstate in West Point, Orange County.  In 1861 the US Civil War was underway, and many recent immigrants were finding themselves enlisted in the US Army.  Here is an interesting article about German immigrants who served in the war. (more…)

James Jackson Johns and Ellen Moore Parentage Research Report

I’ve been working on trying to answer the question about who are the parents of James Jackson Johns and Ellen Moore. I didn’t have a name for the parents of Ellen Moore, who is my third great grandmother, and reportedly one of the ancestors with Native American ancestry. James Jackson Johns, my third great grandfather, is often listed as the youngest son of Bartlett C. Johns, but I didn’t have anything to substantively prove that fact. So I set out to see what I could find in order to definitively prove who were their parents.

My research document is attached here, along with images of the records I used in this research.

James Jackson Johns – Ellen Moore Parentage Research Report

Pedigree Charts

Family Group Records

James Jackson Johns Confederate Service Records

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Ellen Moore and James Jackson Johns
Ellen Cornelia Moore

Ellen Cornelia Moore

James Jackson Johns

James Jackson Johns

The first part of the Johns family that I am going to start looking at this fall is James Jackson Johns and his wife, Ellender Cornelia Moore.  Ellen was born on October 13, 1839 in Coweta County, Georgia. Coweta County was formed in 1826 from lands originally belonging to the Creek Nation, relinquished to the US government as a part of the 1825 Treaty of Indian Springs.

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The Missing Thomas

My 2nd great grandfather, Francis Theodore Thomas, went missing around 1902 or 1903.  He went swimming at Rockaway Beach in Brooklyn and never came home.  His clothing was found at the beach, but no sign of him ever turned up.  For years. I didn’t know anything about him really, other than his name.  Last year, when I went to Syracuse for my grandmother’s funeral, I found an entry for him in the family bible.  In that entry, I found the name of a brother and two sisters.

In the box my dad just brought home from his visit with my grandfather, I found a picture of my gg-grandfather – the only one I’ve ever seen.  In the photo, he is seated on Rockaway Beach in the year or so before his disappearance. Seated next to him is my gg-grandmother Anna Noteboom.  Pictured below is the photo as is and a cleaned up version.

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Francis Thomas and Anna Noteboom at Rockaway Beach, circa 1900

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Francis Thomas and Anna Noteboom at Rockaway Beach, circa 1900

My 3rd Great Grandfather Walter Noteboom
Walter Noteboom, c. 1905, probably in Brooklyn, NY

Walter Noteboom, c. 1905, probably in Brooklyn, NY

I don’t know much about my ggg-grandfather Walter Noteboom.  He was born in Holland in 1845.  At some point he immigrated to the United States and married my ggg-grandmother Kate Dulk.  I know much more about her – in later years, she and her twin brother survived the Morro Castle disaster.

However, my father came home from a visit with my grandfather with a big box of family photos and documents.  Hidden away in the box was this photo of Walter Noteboom.  It was taken in 1905 – I presume in Brooklyn based on where the family was living at the time.