Hamilton County Genealogical Society Receives Numerous Recognitions at OGS 2013

Jeff Herbert, Sunda Anderson Peters, Deb Cyprych, Kenny Burck, and Jim Dempsey

The culmination of the 2013 Ohio Genealogical Society Conference held in Cincinnati gave our local chapter plenty to cheer about. Our chapter was the recipient of the Outstanding OGS Chapter Award which nicely coincided with our 40th Anniversary.

Jim Dempsey and Sunda Anerderon Peters

In addition, several members were the recipients of additional recognitions. Jim Dempsey was awarded the "Outstanding OGS Chapter Officer" for all of his work as both the HCGS Webmaster and his tireless efforts to preserve Hamilton County records.

Kenny Burck,Sunda Anderson Peters,
Maureen Applegate

Kenny Burck received the prestigious OGS Fellow Award. This is awarded to a person who does their job over and above what is required. Among Kenny's accomplishments"

• Served as a Vice President to OGS for 7 years
• Served as a Conference Chair 4 times
• Chapter Management Chairman for 14 years
• Publisher of many genealogical books
• Held officer, including Chapter President, for many years in his local chapter

Deb Cyprych and Sunda Anderson Peters

Our wonderful Tracer editor, Deb Cyprych, received the Frances Dana Gage Award in the Newsletter category.

Jeff Herbert, Sunda Anderson Peters,
 Maureen Applegate

Chapter President, Jeff Herbert, received the U.S. Grant Award  for the following publications:
“Hamilton County Ohio, Burial Records, Vol. 19 Old St. Joseph German Cemetery, 1845-1879” & “Hamilton County Ohio, Burial Records, Vol. 20 St. John German Cemetery, 1849-1879”








The Tecumseh Award was awarded to Kenny Burck for “A Guide to Genealogical Resources in Cincinnati & Hamilton County, Ohio 6th Edition”, complied by Connie Stunkel Terheiden & Kenny Burck.

On Friday about 40 chapter members celebrated our anniversary with cake, company and stories. It was exciting to see so many active, committed members who have continued the legacy that began with a small group holding its first meeting at a home in Wyoming 40 years ago.

Photo Credits: John Tholking
Submitted by:  Kathy Reed

Imagine My Delight . . .

I just got home and opened my copy of the Ohio Genealogy News for the Fall of 2012. Boy, did our Chapter ever look good!  On p. 5 there was an article entitled "OGN Wins NGS Award."  To quote the first paragraph,

For the third time, the Ohio Genealogy News has won the top honor in the National Genealogical Society's annual Newsletter Competition.  OGN took first place in the major genealogical and/or historical society category and was awarded the prize at the NGS 2012 Family History Conference in Cincinnati.  Deb Cyprych and Jennifer Hershberger, OGN co-editors for the previous five years, accepted the award on behalf of OGS.

Credit:  http://ogs.org

I turned to p. 6 and saw a mention of our own Patrica Van Skaik of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County receiving the Griffin Yeatman Award from Hamilton County Recorder Wayne Coates in July. "This award recognizes volunteers who help preserve Hamilton County history."

If that wasn't enough, Shelley Bishop who writes A Sense of Family blog and has been linked to this blog had an article published on Using Genealogy Blogs for Ohio Research (pp. 16-20).  In it she referenced our blog and referred to "University of Cincinnati's online database of Cincinnati Birth and Death Records from 1865-1912" where she found her great-grandfather and his siblings. She also referred to a post on the Great Flood of 1937 and an "update about online access to local deed indexes."

I think this speaks to the incredible contributions made by our members to not only Hamilton County genealogy but also to Ohio genealogy.  Congratulations to Jennifer Hershberger, Deb Cyprych, and Jim Dempsey for putting the Hamilton County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society on the map -- and thanks, Shelley, for the mention.

Submitted by Kathy Reed

What I Learned Reading The Tracer

I was excited to receive my August 2011 copy of The Tracer.  It seems that every time I dig into my copy lately, I find something directly related to my research.  This edition was no exception.  I've been researching my ancestors who served in the Civil War, some of whom were German.  So of course I was drawn to Don Heinrich Tolzmann's article on Germans in the Civil War. Mary Ann Faloon submitted and article on "More Irish Genealogy Learning Opportunities Available from Home" and Jim Dempsey helped us get a better handle on Probate Court records.  What really caught my eye in this issue, however, was Judy Craven's article on "The Mystery of Passenger #171 . . ."

Scanning the article, I realized that Judy had included a list of 204 passengers from Bremen to Cincinnati in 1852.  Better yet, many of the passengers came from the Oldenburg region of Germany with town names so familiar I can rattle them off in my sleep.

My Vonderheide ancestors emigrated from Holdorf, Germany.  The first family of "my" Vonderheides that came to Cincinnati were included in Judy's list.

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Although not in my direct line, this Herman and Elisabeth were the aunt and uncle of those who were to arrive 29 years later.  They probably were the link that made my g-grandparents decide on Cincinnati.  Judy questioned in her article whether or not Arnold Muthing, passenger #171, could actually be her great-grandfather, Adolph, using his brother's name.  Judy went on to describe her evidence for why she had concluded that "This must be Adolph!"

How did this impact me?  First of all, I grew up in Pleasant Ridge and was in a Girl Scout troop with Carol Muething.  Her mother, Mildred, was one of our leaders.  A quick phone call to Judy confirmed that she knew that family well and that they were related to her.  Secondly, I was encouraged to think that if Judy could find Vonderheides on a Passenger List that I should be able to also. 

For years it amazed me that I could not find "my" family in Germans to America or on a passenger list.  After all, I knew more than most.  I had a copy of  my gg-grandfather's naturalization papers and I knew they had arrived in the U.S. in June, 1881 when my g-grandfather was 7 years old.  Encouraged by Judy's success, I searched one more time.  Here is what I found:

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The person who transcribed this record recorded the name of passenger #157 as H. o. d. Heide, age 42. Here is the transcription for his wife and three children:

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My Vonderheide family of 1881 included Hermann Heinrich (age 42), Elisabeth (age 43), Joseph and Heinrich (Henry) twins (age 11) and August (age 7).  The ages for the parents were correct.  Elisabeth could have had the nickname of Liselle.  What was clearly "Heinr." on the original record was transcribed as "Heiur", and "August" was transcribed as "Margurt".  The poor transcription of the names was understandable, but the ages were clearly wrong.  And how did they EVER decide that their surname was HeideHeide?

I have overwhelming evidence that this is the exact time frame for the arrival of my ancestors in Baltimore.  I have the Naturalization record, a written family history and census documents that all support this date.  I'm not surprised that the people responsible for recording the names of the people in steerage were not too concerned about getting the ages of the children correct.  Everything else fits.

So I want to thank Deb Cyprych and Judy Craven for their work on The Tracer and publication of this article.  Without their contributions, I would have never solved this mystery  -- The Mystery of Passenger #157 and his family. And Judy can add her name to the list of HCOGS members from this area.  Anybody for a DNA test?