Provide a record for the next generation

You are the one with memories, with your memories. You are unique, your perspective is fresh. Write what you know, what you feel.

Here are a few questions that can prompt your personal history.

 

• Where did you grow up? What is the first thing you picture about that place? Who do you think of as closely connected to the place?
• What was your home like? How many rooms? Describe your picture of yourself there.
• Who were your neighbors? Describe what you did with your neighbors.
• How long did your family live in the area(s)? What do you remember about moving from one place to the next?
• How many siblings did you have? What were their names and when were they born? What do you remember about them when you were children?
• How are your siblings different now from their childhood?
• Who were other family members in the area? Describe where they lived.
• Did you live on a farm? What kind of crops were grown? What do you remember about working with the crops? 
• What kind of livestock or other animals did you keep? 
• Did you have any pets?
• Where did you go to school? Who were some of your classmates?

Your next assignment: use the questions to record the memories of your partner, your parents, your friends.

Maternal great grandparents

Anton Deneke (1836-1897)
Born on 23 April 1836 in Brakel, Kreis Höxter, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany and baptized as Franz Anton on 24 April by the priest of St. Michael-Kirche,with a single godparent Ludwig Zune [handwriting not clear for the family name]. His parents are Anton Deneke, a day laborer, and Maria Anna Franke of Brakel. Anton had a brother (Franz Joseph) and a sister (Sophia), who both died in 1843. He also had an older step-sister (Ferdinandine) and step-brother (Thomas) from his father's first marriage that ended with the death of his wife Anna Theodora Wiethase in 1832.

• Anton immigrated in 1872 to Ohio.
• He was enumerated in the city directories of Cincinnati Ohio at 355 Cutter in 1876 and 1877.
• He married Maria Anna Stephan on 15 February 1876 at St. Bonaventure church in Cincinnati. The church still is in use, at 1798 Queen City Avenue.
• Two children born in Cincinnati were baptized at St. Joseph church that was at the corner of Linn and Laurel Streets. The street designations are now Linn Street and Ezzard Charles Drive. The church was partially razed and rebuilt a small distance away to make way for freeway construction and urban renewal. The original stained glass windows are installed in the new church.
• The family moved in 1879 to a farm about two miles east of Beloit, Kansas.
• Seven children were born on the farm.
• An eleventh child was raised as their son, but was likely the son of the eldest daughter.
• Anton died on 5 March 1897 from asthma. He was almost 61 years old.

Maria Anna Stephan (1849-1924)
Born on 1 February 1849 and baptized the next day by the parish priest, as recorded in the Kirchenbuch Königheim. The handwriting is hard to decipher, but the names of her parents appear to be Franz Jakob Stephan and Maria Anna [Baur?], and her father was a forest ranger of the 16th region in [Glatten?] [Welmlingen or Welzheim?]. The witnesses of the baptism were Georg Joseph [Lanaur?] and Franz Xavier [Grinn?]. The identities of any brothers or sisters are not known.

• Maria emigrated in 1873 from Königheim.
• Perhaps identified as "434/8 Stephan Marie Königheim/Tauberb. Amerika 1873" in a summarized list of emigration cards from Baden-Württemberg. Possibly a relative is identified as "434/14 Stefan, Franz Anton Königheim/Tauberb. Amerika 1879."
• She married Anton Deneke on 15 February 1876 at St. Bonaventure church in Cincinnati. The church still is in use, at 1798 Queen City Avenue.
• Two children born in Cincinnati were baptized at St. Joseph church that was at the corner of Linn and Laurel Streets. The street designations are now Linn Street and Ezzard Charles Drive.
• The family moved in 1879 to a farm about two miles east of Beloit, Kansas.
• Seven children were born on the farm.
• She was active in celebrating the weddings of her children, and was featured as the hostess in local news reports of the 1912 wedding of Anthony Deneke and Minnie Stark and the 1917 wedding of Teresa Deneke and Francis Marksman.
• An eleventh child was raised as their son, but was likely the son of the eldest daughter.
• Maria died on 28 November 1924 from unknown cause. She was 75 years old.

Richard Butler (1836-1915)
Richard A. Butler was baptized on 7 December 1836 in Thomastown, county Kilkenny, Ireland. The baptismal record indicates his parents are "John Butler & Mary Kenedy" and his godparents are "Duiis Gorg & Betty Kenedy Newhouse," but it provides no additional information. Existing family information from other researchers shows that Richard had two older brothers (Martin and Thomas) and two sisters (Ann and Catherine).

• His parents immigrated to Syracuse, Onondaga county, New York by 7 February 1837. 
• The family moved to a farm near Waunakee, Dane county, Wisconsin after 7 December 1852. John and his sons built a limestone block home that is in use today.
• His father deeded a farm to Richard in 1857.
• Richard married Mary Ellen Cummings on 2 February 1863, likely at St. Mary of the Lake church that is about 8 miles southeast of Waunakee.
• Richard and Mary Ellen had four children between 1864 and 1869, of whom Mary Ann, Margaret, and John survived to 1870.
• The family was enumerated in the U.S. Census on 24 August 1870, and the household included Mary (age 26), Mary (4), Margaret (3), John (1), Flinn James (40) a farm laborer, and Commons Mary (59) a domestic servant. [It is possible that Mary Commons' family name was misspelled, and that she is related to Mary Ellen Cummings-Butler.]
• Six more children were born from 1870 to 1879, of whom Catherine B., Ellen Cecelia, Anastasia L.,Margaret, and Agnes survived to 1880. The child John died in 1875.
• The family moved to a farm near Glasco, Cloud county, Kansas after Richard sold his farm in 1878. Richard's brothers Martin and Thomas had moved to the Glasco area before 1878.
• Four more children were born from 1880 to 1885, of whom Sadie, James Thomas, and Elizabeth Gertrude survived.
• Richard continued to farm and raise cattle through 1913.
• He died at his home on 10 September 1915 of pneumonia with a possible hemorrhage into the abdominal cavity. He was 79 years old.

Mary E Cummings (1846-1921)
Mary Ellen Cummings was born in Ireland. Various sources give her birthplace as "Plaberstown" and "Cass" or "Kass." Only a community with a similar name—Pleberstown—exists in county Kilkenny, Ireland today. The community is near Thomastown. Towns with names similar to Cass or Kass are unlikely because of their locations distant from Thomastown. Her birthdate is in dispute, given as 30 October 1841, 31 October 1843, 1 October 1844, 31 October 1844, and 31 October 1846. Statements of age in the U.S. Censuses are not sufficiently reliable to select a likely date. Her parents are Dennis Cummings and Margaret Walsh. She had at least one sister, Margaret.

• She immigrated with her parents to Massachusetts in 1852.
• The family resided in Madison, Dane county, Wisconsin in 1854.
• The family was enumerated in the U.S. Census on 21 June 1860 in Westport township, Dane county, Wisconsin.
• Mary Ellen married Richard Butler on 2 February 1863, likely at St. Mary of the Lake church that is about 8 miles southeast of Waunakee.
• Richard and Mary Ellen had four children between 1864 and 1869, of whom Mary Ann, Margaret, and John survived to 1870.
  
• The family was enumerated in the U.S. Census on 24 August 1870, and the household included Mary (age 26), Mary (4), Margaret (3), John (1), Flinn James (40) a farm laborer, and Commons Mary (59) a domestic servant.
• Six more children were born from 1870 to 1879, of whom Catherine B., Ellen Cecelia, Anastasia L.,Margaret, and Agnes survived to 1880. The child John died in 1875.
• The family moved to a farm near Glasco, Cloud county, Kansas after Richard sold his farm in 1878. Richard's brothers Martin and Thomas had moved to the Glasco area before 1878.
  
• Four more children were born from 1880 to 1885, of whom Sadie, James Thomas, and Elizabeth Gertrude survived.
• Mary Ellen died on 17 December 1921 at her home near Glasco. She was 75 years old.