Ancestors West-Vol 17 No. 1-1991 - the Santa Barbara County

38 Pages·2012·4.91 MB·English

ISSN 0734-4938
Ancestors
W E S T
Volume17,Number1March1991
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
President's Message
3
Military Reserves 1778-1816
4
AGenealogical Trip to East Germany
5
1888DirectoryofSanta Barbara, CA
9
Santa Barbara Cemeteries 18
Hunsicker-Ellison Family Reunion 23
Memorial 24
-
North County News
25
Humor in the Stacks 27
Questions & Answers 28
New in the Library 29
Book Reviews 32
Queries 33
17thCentury Handwriting 35
Odds & Ends 36
Index 37
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY PASTPRESIDENTS
Location: Goleta Valley Community Center
5689 Hollister Avenue
Goleta, California ForbesRoth 1972-73
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1303, Santa Barbara, CA 93116-1303
Areacode(805)
Board of Directors- Beatrice Mohr McGrath President 967-8954 HarryR.Glen 1974-75
Nadine Gauthier Hcppell First Vice President Programs 964-4994
1990
Al Hardy Second Vice President Membership 736-9637
Peggy BeckerMiller Treasurer 966-3278
Arlene Langstaff Doty Recording Secretary 968-1162
SelmaBankheadWest' 1975-76
Margery HughesUmmel Corresponding Secretary 687-6190
Janice Gibson Cloud Parliamentarian 965-7423
Doris Batchelder Crawford Librarian 962-3040
Julie Olson Johnston Director atLarge 683-1732
DirectoratLarge 964-5030 CarltonM.Smith 1977
Michel Nellis
DirectoratLarge 967-4288
William Root
Purpose Established in1972,theSanta BarbaraCounty GenealogicalSocietybecame
incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1986. Its aim is to promote MaryEllenGalbraith 1978
genealogy byproviding assistance and educational opportunities for those
who are interested in pursuing their family history.
Membership Fees: Active (individual) $15 Donor $50 HarryTitus 1979
Family(husband &wife) $20 Patron $100
Friend S25
Membership benefits include subscriptions to ANCESTORS WEST (quar
Meetings
terly),TREETIPS(monthly newsletter), reduced ratesfor monthlybustrips
BetteGorrellKot 1980
toLos Angeles libraries, reduced prices for special events, andfree queries
in ANCESTORS WEST.
Regular monthly meetings archeld onthesecond Saturdayofeach month
Publications EmilyPerryThies 1981
except August. Meetings begin at10:30 a.m. andarepreceded bysessions
for beginners startingat9:30 a.m. Locations ofmeetings within theCenter
are subject tochange,but are postedon thedirectoryin the lobby.
ANCESTORS WEST Editor, HarryTitus 1982
Beatrice Mohr McGrath 967-8954
Editorial Board,
Beatrice Mohr McGrath 967-8954
Virginia McCraw Paddock 969-5158
NormanE.Scofield 1983
Artwork and Design,
Cheryl Fitzsimmons Jensen 969-4974
Valerie Kalupa 968-5405
TREE TIPS Editor,
Diane Stubblefield Sylvester 967-1742 DoreenCookDullea 1984
ANCESTORS WESTis published quarterly in March,June, September and
December.Asavailable,current and backissuesarcS3plusmailcost.Library
subscription to ANCESTORS WEST is$10per year. JaniceGibsonCloud 1985-t
Articlesof familyhistory or historicalnature are solicitedand accepted as
space permits. If materials are to be returned, include a self-addressed,
stamped envelope. Copying for publication is by permission of SBCGS.
Abstractingwithcreditispermitted.Ourstaffisvoluntaryandcannotcheck KenMathewson 1987-S8
the accuracy of material submitted or accept responsibilityof errors. The
Editorial Committee reserves the right to edit copy submitted.
'Deceased
President's Message
It didn't occur to me when I first attended a SBCGS general meeting in 1977
that family history would offer friendships, travel, the joy of discovery,
and the satisfaction that comes in working and serving with some very wonder
ful people. It has been a marvelous experience, especially these recent two
years as president.
As this new term begins, the location of a permanent home for our library
becomes vitally important, since almost half of our holdings are in storage.
Be assured that this goal is uppermost in the minds of the Board and we will
continue in our search for a new location, the treasure at the end of the
rainbow. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to those of you who
included contributions for the Relocation Fund with your checks for dues. The
extent of your support is exciting and indicates that we share this goal.
...000O000...
Doris Crawford has informed the Board that she will retire as Librarian by the
end of 1991. In her pleasant and quiet manner, Doris has served us well and
with consistent efficiency. Truly, her resignation has been accepted with
mixed emotions.
Doris has offered to help in our search for a new librarian and in the sub
sequent training period. The Board believes the Librarian should have an
assistant and so the search begins for the two positions. Please give these
important posts your consideration. For further details, call me at 967-8954,
or Doris at 962-3040.
DO YOU HAVE AN ESTATE PLAN?
Have you thought about providing support for the Santa
Barbara County Genealogical Society in your estate plan?
Such gifts are deductible for state and federal tax pur
poses and will be very beneficial to the society. They
may be large or small, but any amount will be
appreciated.
Our society will provide at no charge a qualified
attorney to assist you in remembering the society in
your estate plan. For a gift that will last forever,
remember us.
For information, phone [phone].
ANCESTORS WEST, SBCGS, VOL. 17, NO. 1, MARCH 1991
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A GENEALOGICAL TRIP TO EAST GERMANY
July 9 - 13, 1990
by: Maria & Howard Menzel
"You will be going to another country - Viersig yahr, nicht! (40 years,
nothing)" was the malice tinged comment of the young female desk clerk
at Frankfurt's Ramada Inn as we made arrangements to store some of our
luggage at the hotel during our brief venture into what was then still
the DDR, or Deutschen Demokratic Republik, commonly called "East Germany"
by Americans. We were to return from East Germany with a very clear
understanding of what she had meant and with an abiding resentment of
Russia for the damage it had done to two generations of East Germans
and their country.
The next morning, July 9th, we took a cab to the Hauptbahnhoff in down
town Frankfurt to board an 8 AM train to Erfurt where we had arranged
(we thought) to rent a car to drive the 20 kilometers to GOTHA, our
destination and where we had reserved (we had been reassured) a room for
the next four nights for the purpose of meeting our namesake penpals
and doing some research on Howard's father's family. Our visas were not
needed because we crossed the border into East Germany eight days after
border restrictions had been lifted. Originally we had to obtain them
in order to get our hotel reservation.
The border town was EISENACH, famous as the birthplace of Johann Sebastian
Bach and site of Martin Luther's refuge when he was sought for trial as a
heretic. Living under the protection of the autonomous Duke of Saxony,
Luther found time to translate the New Testament into German, thereby
laying the foundation for the written German language. The time was
1521 and the room where he worked in Wartburg Castle under the name of
Junker Georg is still there with his desk and Bible. An East German
train crew replaced the western one at this border crossing and we
resumed enjoying the passing countryside from a comfortable compartment.
At the several station stops in East Germany, we observed workmen chipping
rust from the station platform ironwork and applying fresh coats of
dark green paint which was perhaps the first such maintenance in 40
years. We were to see many other such examples of a new awakening and
rebirth of spirit throughout our short stay in this land.
We arrived in ERFURT, capitol of the county of the same name, at about
12:30 PM. Crossing the Bahnhofsvorplatz leading to the Erfurter Hotel,
we entered the lobby and asked the desk clerk about our car rental only
to learn that the rental agency no longer existed. An enterprising
young assistant clerk appeared and announced that he had a "colleague"
from whom we might be able to rent a car. Several lengthy phone calls
later, he advised us that his colleaque's car had not yet been returned
by the current borrower and could we return later and see if, by then,
it had been returned. We walked a few blocks into town, but really saw
very little as our minds were on reaching GOTHA. ERFURT, by the way, is
one of 15 counties of East Germany which were later to be consolidated
ANCESTORS WEST, SBCGS, VOL. 17, NO. 1, MARCH 1991
into the five new states of a reunited Germany. Their capitol cities
have the same name as the corresponding counties. Returning to the
hotel, we learned that the rental car had not yet been returned. We
were now anxious to get to our hotel room in nearby GOTHA, so Howard
decided to check out cab fares with one of the taxis outside. On
learning from one of the drivers that he would take us there for only
18 marks, we decided to go by cab rather than wait for the westbound
train. On arriving in GOTHA twenty-five minutes later, the driver
demanded the fare of 50 marks displayed on the cab's meter, rather
than the negotiated price. He had let us off at the foot of
Judenstrasse, at the head of which the Hotel Slovan was located about
100 yards distant, explaining that the street was closed to automobile
traffic. As we discussed the fare disagreement, a passerby, overhearing
our conversation, stopped and inquired if we were "Menzel from
California", or something to that effect. Of all people, it turned
out that he was our penpal, Gerhard Menzel, on his way to the hotel
for his daily check on our reservation. Despite our travel agent
having received verification of the reservation from the central
reservation bureau in Berlin, which handled hotel reservations for all
of East Germany, apparently the reservation had never been forwarded
to GOTHA for they claimed to have no record of it. It was either a
case of bureaucratic bungling or, because of the continuing collapse of
political structure of the country, the Berlin people ceased operating
or had just taken the money and run.
Gerhard Menzel was one of three "Menzels" we had corresponded with
Using a telephone directory address list obtained from the GERMAN
GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA. Although not related, Gerhard having
come from Silesia which is now in Poland, we were destined to become so
fond of Gerhard and his wife, Sieglinde, that we "adopted" them as
relatives. The crooked cabbie was paid his demands and the three of us
walked up the hill to the Hotel Slovan where, though unable to find a
room reservation for us, a vacant room was located on the second of
three floors. Our room overlooked the Judenstrasse and we were to soon
learn that at about 6 o'clock daily a very noisy street sweeping
machine made its presence felt. Though fairly clean and with a private
bath, the bed mattresses were lumpy and the quilt covers unclean, the
latter situation was rectified by a judicious complaint to the chamber
maid. Later that afternoon we were to have coffee with Gerhard, his
wife and Hans Gunter Menzel, another of our correspondents and who had
offered to provide us with an interpreter in the form of a colleague of
his who taught Russian and English at Reyherschule II, a local secondary
school. On meeting Gerhard's wife, Sieglinde, she presented Maria with
a gorgeous bouquet of roses from her garden and these brightened up
our somber room during our stay.
The following morning we met Gerhard and Sieglinde in the lobby with
our interpreter, Regine Franke, the charming young school teacher who
so generously donated her time throughout our stay in GOTHA. The five
of us piled into Gerhard's tiny, three-cylinder "Wartburg" diesel
automobile which he had to keep accelerating to prevent stalling.
ANCESTORS WEST, SBCGS, VOL. 17, NO. 1, MARCH 1991
L to R: Maria Menzel, Gerhard Menzel, Pastor Scriba. Regine Franke
& Sieglinde Menzel viewing Churchbook entry of Louise (Roth) Menzel's
birth in 1857 at the church of St. Peter & Paul, Molschenben, Germany
It had been manufactured in nearby EISENACH. Our destination was the
nearby St. Augustine Lutheran Church and the office of Superintendent
Eckhardt Hoffmann with whom an appointment had been arranged. Howard's
paternal great grandparents had been married in this church, a former
Augustinian monastery, on 6 February 1842 and his grandfather was
baptised here on 26 May 1840. As Pastor Hoffmann supervised the Lutheran
churches in the area, protocol dictated that we secure his cooperation
in furthering our genealogical research. Gerhard had indicated it would
be futile to approach the local civil authorities. Pastor Hoffmann, a
man of about 50 years old, was very busy at this time due to the
anticipated revitalization of churches made possible by the collapse of
communism. Maria remembered him as becoming receptive to our request
after learning that Howard had been a public official in California,
where Superintendent Hoffmann had spent a sabbatical some years earlier.
We were to learn that he had played a local contributing roll in the
demise of the DDR and was well respected in the community. Supt. Hoffmann
gave us permission to contact Frau Biedermann, a part time staffer and
researcher of the church, to see if she would be interested in doing some
research for us. This would have to be arranged by correspondence as she
was currently away on vacation. This was accomplished in January 1991
when she wrote us offering to undertake a research effort at the rate
of 6 DM (Deutsch Marks) per hour. We replied telling her the rate was
satisfactory and that we had set aside 120 DM for the initial 20 hours
of research. The matter of further research could be explored later
when she might have a better idea of how much more it might cost.
ANCESTORS WEST, 3BCGS, VOL. 17, NO. 1, MARCH 1991
With our letter of acceptance we included an advance payment of 40 DM
and an additional 20 DM to be given to Supt. Hoffmann for his
discretionary fund with our best wishes.
Arrangements were also made with Supt. Hoffmann to have one of his
associates, Pastor Scriba, meet us later in the day at the nearby
village of MOLSCHLEBEN at St. Peter and Paul's church where grandmother
Louise Roth Menzel was born and baptised. We met at the rectory, then
walked to an adjacent house where Pastor Scriba knocked on the door
and obtained a huge church key from the church custodian. On our
approach to the church we noted that the grounds had been neglected
much as we were to find the church had been - both inside and outside.
Pastor Scriba had been given the assignment to get St. Peter and Paul's
up and running in six months. Despite its years of obvious neglect,
the 500 year old church is still beautiful. Pastor Scriba proudly
opened up a large hand carved triptych behind the altar. Carved in
1518, it depicted biblical scenes and was hinged so it could be closed
when church services were not being held. Of interest, just off the
altar, was an entry door above which there was a bust painting of two
male figures who were obviously royalty. This we learned was the door
through which the emperor, king or duke entered the church.
Upon returning to the rectory, Pastor Scriba disappeared for a moment
to a side room to bring back the "Kirchenbuch" record of births for
the years 1850 to 1865. On page 147, at entry number 11, the birth
record of Anna Louise Therese Roth, Howard's paternal grandmother was
entered. It was indeed a very thrilling experience to be looking at
a 133 year old record and worth the approximately 7000 miles we had
travelled to see it. And, of course, it gave us more surnames to
research! Although we had been shown the record of uncle Otto Menzel's
birth in the church book record of births earlier in GOTHA at
St. Augustine's church, the discovery at MOLSCHLEBEN was the highlight
of our trip. This little village, it appeared, had not changed for
hundreds of years and still retains its old world charm. It was like
being transported back to the Middle Ages.
To be continued
**********
"Church officials estimate the earth has been home to 69 billion human beings,
five billion of whom left some kind of record. The Mormon family history data
base, however, includes fewer than 10 million names. John (Darwin) will help
manage a key goal: a database that the church hopes will eventually include
everyone who ever lived." frQm ..InformationWEEK) Nov.; 1989
Don't give up.
ANCESTORS WEST, SBCCS, VCL. 17, NO. 1, MARCH 1991
With this issue, we begin publication of the 1888 Santa Barbara City Directory
and thank Clif Smith for providing the copy. It will serve as a welcome
substitute for the 1890 Census. During that time period, directories for the
City of Santa Barbara were also printed in 1886 and 1893. L. L. Paulson
published the first county directory in 1875.
ANCESTORS WEST, SBCGS, VOL. 17, NO. 1, MttCH 1991
Ill Santa jiajoi.wsa Oii'r liinixrvonv.
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AND-
Nokmal * School,
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(Established in 1SS7.)
Clock Building, State Street, : Santa Barbara, Calif. k»» ^» »5»
O Ahadie,Mnfl. IUfOoia, rea. DolaOuerraflt., City Hall Plazft.
m The following branches are tautdit; Aiiuott, J. B., compositor, rea. Ortegaat.,bet. lintliamiCastillo.
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O IW.c-keeping, single and double entry, A11110TT, O. I»., lawyor,rea. HaleyBt.,bot. DolaVina and Hath.
AitiiOTT, 8. B., farmer, rea. Haleyat, bot. DelaVina amiBath.
CO Penmanship, Commercial Law,
ABRAHAM, A. J., butcher, lion Ton Market, 008 State at., rea. S.
Commercial Correspondence,
cor. Chapulnami Montecitoata.
CO Commercial Arithmetic, I£tc, Etc. Adleii, A.,bricklayerami contractor, roe. Dela Vina at.,bet.Dela
Acamkmic.—All the English branches taught. Guerraami Canon Perdido.
CO Aduibk, Miss Paulinr. drestmakor, res. Anacapa at., bet. De la
w Sti:nui;kai'MY amj Tyii; WkrriMJ.-Competcnt teachers
o Ouerraand Canon Perdid".
CO in both branches; the best and most improved Aouilau, Fhank, drug clerk with A. M. RuiiS, ros.Santa Barbara at.,
tvpe writers used. bet. Haley and Cota.
I AHliltN. MISSES, millinera, G41 8t*ile at.
Nokmal I.lKi'AkTiMKNT.—Students given the benefit of
A11tiUN,MMS R, roa. <U1Ktuto nt.
teachers of long experience and holding State cer-
AMEltN, MISS T., rea. (Ml State at.
nlicates;;therelore pupils when graduated can take Alaouba, Mrs. Naiioiso, rea. Caatilloat., bet.Mason andYnnonali.
a. certificate in any grade. Aloantau, DaMasio, laborer, ros.(iutiorrez at., bet Do la Vina and
s Boakii and Lodging furnished to full-term students at Bath.
AtiDucu, M«a. A., rea.231East Haley at.
$16 per month.
Aleukia, Nahoiso, laborer, ros. Piguoroa at., bet. Anacapaand Santa
3.7.^1 laving no vacation, the school is always open Barbara.
Albxandku,Wallace, book-keeper for Santa Barbara Lumber Co.,
fur admission of students.
res. Commoruial Hotel.
o J. ]£. MliTZGER, Alexander,William, rea.Valerio at., bet Stateand Anacapa.
Alloott, Phank, carpontor, res. Caatillo at., bet. Ortega and De la
Principal aud Proprietor.
Ouorra.
'I^l'or Circulars containing prices of scholarships, Allen. F. E., olork, (with thoGroatWurdrobo)res.722Statoat.
etc., apply as above.