Nusbickel

Lest We Forget – The Hadden – Wagner Families Wall Of Honour

ianhadden1955 1 Comment

At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, we pause to reflect and remember those who went before us, bravely sacrificing their youth and in too many cases their lives, for our freedom.

Poppy
The following is the list of those known brave ancestors, some from my family and some from Ellen’s, who gave so much. Today especially, we remember them. They shall not be forgotten.

World War I

GAMMIE, James (1895-1918), Private, Canadian Expeditionary Force, killed in action

GAMMIE, Peter (1893-1984), Private, Canadian Expeditionary Force (enlisted, not sent overseas)

GORDON, Alexander Garrow Duncan (1891-1917), Private, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, killed in action

MERNER, Albert Edward ‘Herbert’ (1897-1917), Canadian Expeditionary Force, killed in action

TRIGGS, James Little (1899-1916), Cabin Boy, Royal Navy, killed in action

TRIGGS, Phillip (1899-1967), Cabin Boy, Royal Navy

FINDLATER, William (1880-1918), British Army, died at home from wounds

FILKIN, Carl William (1897-1976), Canadian Expeditionary Force, lost left arm to shrapnel gun shot wound in France

World War II

SENATO, Nicola F. (1913-1945), U.S. Army, killed in action, Japan

NUSBICKEL, Thomas Raymond (1923-2002), U.S. Army

GAULL, George Leonard ‘Lenny’ (1920-2013), Canadian Armed Forces

MORGAN, Bruce Evan, M.D. (1924-2007), Navigator, Canadian Air Force

WAGNER, Carl Francis (1917-1993), Canadian Armed Forces

WAGNER, Gordon Gilbert Henry (1914-1994), Canadian Armed Forces

Collaboration in Genealogy – An Example Of Doing It Right

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While I was travelling through Scotland and Ireland, I received an email from Ancestry.com notifying me that another Ancestry member with the user name kforsman72 had sent me a message.

I will often receive these types of emails that are typically from people asking for more information about someone in my online public Ancestry tree. This message was different.

The message I received stated “I just wanted to let you know that I came across the graves of the Kletzings in Section 5 of Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago. The graves include Josiah, Kate, Arba, Clarence, Florence Amy, and Kathryn Gall. I’ve created memorials and uploaded photos of the graves to Find-A-Grave, in case you are interested in viewing them.”

Once I was home from my trip, I went to the Find-A-Grave site where I searched for and found the Kletzing memorials reference in the Ancestry message.

KLETZING Josiah gravestone from findagrave

Grave site of Josiah and Kate Kletzing, Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois (Photo by Kate Forsman, 2015. Used with permission)

The memorial pages provide the information found provide information from and a photo of the grave of my wife Ellen’s first cousin, three times removed Catherine ‘Kate’ (Nusbickel) Kletzing, her husband Josiah Kletzing and some of their children.

Kate Kletzing was the daughter of Frederick Nusbickel and Elizabeth Wagner, an older sister of my wife’s 2X great grandfather Rev. Jacob Wagner. Kate was born 1 March 1855 in Rose, Wayne County, New York and according to U.S. census records she married Josiah Kletzing around 1880. Josiah and Kate had five known children, three of whom are documented on the gravestone. Kathryn Gall, who is listed on the gravestone, was Josiah Kletzing’s second wife whom he married in 1915.

I now know kforsman72 to be Kate Forsman and from what I can determine Kate does not have the Kletzing family in her family tree. No, Kate took a photo of the Kletzing grave and set-up the Find-A-Grave memorial pages to help out other genealogists and researchers. That’s a good thing.

But Kate took it a step further, checking on Ancestry to see who might have this Kletzing family in their tree. She found me and through that initial message, she helped me add some valuable evidence to my research database.

Well done, Kate. I believe the genealogy community is made of great folks who love to help others and Kate has demonstrated why I hold that belief.

Can You Help Find Photos of the Nusbickel Ranch in San Dimas, California?

ianhadden1955 3 Comments

I have written previously about Frederick Henry Nusbickel and that is how Charlene Wire found me.

As it turns out, the family of Charlene’s husband Dick knew the farm well. They worked on the farm many years ago. In fact, Dick’s maternal grandfather, Leonard Starner managed the ranch for more than thirty years.

I am trying to help Charlene and Dick Wire locate some photos of the Nusbickel citrus ranch. Dick spent the early years of his life on that ranch, just as his mother had before him. He rode on the tractor driven by his grandfather Leonard Starner through the orange groves and as a result, Dick has many fond childhood memories from that time.

More importantly, Dick is now an extraordinary watercolour artist. He is currently working on a series of paintings depicting buildings and scenes from the Nusbickel ranch. As you can see from the two examples below, Dick’s talent is extraordinary but he needs some help. There are more ranch buildings and scenes to be painted in order to complete his series.

NUSBICKEL Frederck Henry - Orange Grove Pump House - watercolour by James Richard Dick WireNUSBICKEL Frederick Henry - Orange Grove Barn San Dimas California - watercolour by James Ricard Dick Wire

“The Pump House” and “The Barn” by James Richard ‘Dick’ Wire, depicting buildings from the Nusbickel Ranch, San Dimas, California. Photos privately held by Charlene and James Richard ‘Dick’ Wire. Used with permission.

Leonard Starner with his wife Essie lived on the farm and raised their children there, including Dick’s mother Millie. The 1930 U.S. Federal Census shows the two families living on Foothill Boulevard ranch in San Dimas, California.

NUSBICKEL Frederick Henry household 1930 US Census - Copy

I’m not sure how Frederick Henry Nusbickel got into the citrus growing business. Frederick, you see, was born in Lyons, New York in 1881 and Lyons, New York, a small town located about half-way between Rochester and Syracuse on the south side of Lake Ontario isn’t exactly citrus growing territory. Frederick Henry Nusbickel came from a well-to-do family, his father also a Frederick Nusbickel was a successful hardware merchant. As a result, Frederick Henry was able to attend and graduate in 1903 from the prestigious Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

In 1905, Frederick Henry married Maisa Parker, soon after starting his career in the California citrus business. Following Maisa’s death in 1922, Frederick Henry married Marjorie Bixby Herlihy (nee MacPherson), the widow of Dr. John Stephen Herlihy. Frederick Henry, my wife’s second cousin twice removed, passed away in 1951.

STARNER Leonard and Essie with children Glenn Mildred Earl and lower Kenneth and Don abt 1942 from Charlene Wire

The Starner Family at the Nusbickel Citrus Ranch, San Dimas, California about 1942(bottom row (l-r): Kenneth and Don; Upper row (l-r): Glenn, Mildred, Earl, Essie and Leonard). Photo privately held by Charlene and James Richard ‘Dick’ Wire. Used with permission.  

If you have, or know someone who has, or even someone who might have, photos of the Nusbickel ranch that was located on Foothill Boulevard in San Dimas, California, please contact me by leaving a comment below, by email at ian.hadden@rogers.com, or through Facebook. Let’s help Dick Wire complete that series of paintings!

Lest We Forget – The Hadden – Wagner Families Wall Of Honour

ianhadden1955 Leave a comment

At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, we pause to reflect and remember those who went before us, bravely sacrificing their youth and in too many cases their lives, for our freedom.

The following is the list of those known brave ancestors, some from my family and some from Ellen’s, who gave so much. Today especially, we remember them. They shall not be forgotten.

World War I

GAMMIE, James (1895-1918), Private, Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force, killed in action






GAMMIE, Peter (1893-1984), Private, Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force







GORDON, Alexander Garrow Duncan (1891-1917), Private, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, killed in action





MERNER, Albert Edward ‘Herbert’ (1897-1917), killed in action






TRIGGS, James Little (1899-1916), Cabin Boy, Royal Navy, killed in action

TRIGGS, Phillip (1899-1967), Cabin Boy, Royal Navy

FINDLATER, William (1880-1918), British Army, died at home from wounds

World War II

SENATO, Nicola F. (1913-1945), U.S. Army, killed in action, Japan

NUSBICKEL, Thomas Raymond (1923-2002), U.S. Army


GAULL, George Leonard ‘Lenny’ (1920-2013), Canadian Armed Forces


MORGAN, Bruce Evan, M.D. (1924-2007), Navigator, Canadian Air Force






WAGNER, Carl Francis (1917-1993), Canadian Armed Forces


WAGNER, Gordon Gilbert Henry (1914-1994), Canadian Armed Forces 

Contact me with your stories, questions and comments at ian.hadden@rogers.com

Sometimes My Genealogy Stars Are Aligned

ianhadden1955 1 Comment

As luck would have it, I stumbled into a gold mine of family records while I have continued to pursue my wife Ellen’s ancestors. As I have recorded through many blog posts, Ellen’s ancestry is rich and compelling, with roots that include United Empire Loyalists and American Revolutionaries  I can trace her ancestors back to the 1620’s in New England, their arrival occurring just a few years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Ellen appears to be one of the few people who can claim U.E.L. (United Empire Loyalist) and D.A.R. (Daughters of the American Revolution) status (although neither has been applied for to date).

With such a lengthy and deep ancestry in North America, spread over hundreds of years, family members in subsequent generations have been found in all corners of the United States and Canada.

In the past couple of weeks, I have devoted time to tracking down the family members directly connected to Ellen’s second great aunt, Elizabeth Nusbickel (nee Wagner). Elizabeth was the sister of Ellen’s second great grandfather Jacob Wagner. Both Jacob and Elizabeth had immigrated to the United States along with their parents Heinrich ‘Henry’ and Anna Marie ‘Mary’ (nee Eckhard) Wagner around 1833, settling in Wayne County, New York. Henry provided for his family by both farming his land and by plying his trade as a cooper. The photo, above right, was taken by Ellen’s uncle Gordon Wagner in 1976 and was provided to us by Gordon as part of his genealogy work charts and papers on the Wagner family. The photo, which I scanned, depicts Stewart Smart (a cousin) with a barrel made by Henry Wagner over one hundred years prior to the photo.

Elizabeth Wagner married Frederick Nusbickel around 1843. Elizabeth and Frederick had five known children, the youngest, Catherine or ‘Kate’ was born in 1855 in Rose, Wayne County, New York. Around 1880, Kate married a Lyons, Wayne County, New York school teacher named Josiah F. Kletzing. Subsequently, Josiah and Kate left New York state and moved to the Chicago, Cook County, Illinois area where they settled down and raised their family.

While I have used the Ancestry website to view and save many records connected to the families, when the Ancestry ‘well ran dry’, I turned to FamilySearch.org to explore the Cook County databases that are available. This is where I got lucky. Through FamilySearch, I was able to locate and save vital records for the births, marriages, and deaths for the five known children of Kate and Josiah. In the case of their daughter Kathryn Kletzing, I was able to go one generation further by finding an image of her 1912 marriage license to Ralph Clayton Moulding as well as the birth records for three of their four children.

Fortunately, I was possibly one of the last people to access the record images online. Yesterday, FamilySearch ‘announced’ through it’s wiki that these images would no longer be available directly through FamilySearch. The wiki now explains, under the “Image Visibility” section, that, “Due to the provisions and guidelines of a newly revised contract with Cook County, FamilySearch has removed all images for Illinois, Cook County vital records from its historical records collection online; free indexes to the collections will remain.”

This affects the following databases:

  • Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates, 1878 – 1922
  • Illinois, Cook County Birth Registers. 1871 – 1915
  • Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1878 – 1922
  • Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871 – 1920


Although the images are no longer available online, they can still be acquired through microfilm viewed at a local Family History Centre, through the Cook County website for a fee, or through a Family History Library “photoduplication” request. I feel lucky that timing was on my side in the past few days as none of the now current acquisition methods is nearly as convenient as my experience.


Contact me with your stories, questions and comments at ian.hadden@rogers.com

Elizabeth Nusbickel Van Slyke

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She was born Katheryn Elizabeth Fredreka Nusbickel on July 25, 1877 in Lyons, Wayne County, New York, United States. She was the first child and eldest daughter of Frederick Nusbickel (Jr.) and his wife, Anna Marie Kletzing. She was also my wife’s second cousin, twice removed.


She preferred to be known as Elizabeth and she was able to enjoy the relative prosperity gained through the family hardware business that was located on the northwest corner of Water and Broad streets in Lyons, New York. Elizabeth attended the Lyons High School, graduating in 1897. The graduation class photo, shown below, includes Elizabeth, seen standing in the back row on the left side of the large pillar. Notably absent from the photo are all the boys from the class. The only men present are school principal, Mr. Worthy Hanks Kinney, on the left in the back row, and teacher, Mr. Francis Gardner, on the right. (The photo is from school files and was re-printed by the Geneva Times newspaper in September 1960).




On June 25, 1902, Elizabeth married Oakley Earl Van Slyke, a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity and Congregational clergyman who had graduated from Syracuse University in 1900. The announcement of their engagement included the note that Oakley was one of four students who won scholarships to continue their education at the Ph.D. level in Boston.

Oakley and Elizabeth were residing in New York state when their daughter Alice was born in 1905 but had moved to California by the time their son, Oakley Earl Van Slyke, known by Earl, was born in 1911. Oakley (Sr.) appears to have followed a path different from his ministerial calling as he worked initially as a nurseryman on a citrus farm in Glendora, California before going into the real estate business, first as an agent and then as a broker in the South Pasadena area.

Elizabeth passed away on July 23, 1952, two days short of her 75th birthday, in Santa Ana, California and was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Contact me with your stories, questions and comments at ian.hadden@rogers.com