Parents of Franklin Hesse, Part 1
Back in the days before the Internet, genealogy research was slow. I kept my data in a 3-ring binder and worked in pencil. For queries, I wrote letters and included stamped, return envelopes. I conducted interviews with a cassette tape recorder. Everything was slower.
Newspaper searching was particularly slow. In order to search old newspapers, you had two choices:
- Find a repository that owned actual copies AND allowed visitors to touch them
- Find a library that owned microfilm copies. Either go to that library, or have the film sent to your local library through the magic of Inter Library Loan (ILL).
Using both of the above methods, I found the answer to
Who are the parents of Franklin Hesse (Dakota territorial homesteader)?
Let me tell you about the journey to one of my all-time, major, surprising genealogy finds.
In the summer of 1987, I took my mother on a road trip to her hometown of LaMoure, LaMoure County, North Dakota. At that time, mom still had two aunts, one uncle and lots of cousins living in the area. This trip was early in my genealogy “life” and I wanted to interview the older generations, as well as see where my mom was born.
We did it all. At the courthouse, mom and I were allowed to look at old records. Over a cup of coffee at the café, we met residents and talked about days gone by. We visited the farmstead where mom’s grandparents tilled the soil. Next, we went to Grandma Warcken’s house; this is where mom changed into her wedding gown nearly 30 years prior. At the county historical society, we found a photo of the threshing operation on the farm. Of course, we tramped through the cemetery.
However, the LaMoure location that sparked this particular genealogy quest was the newspaper office. They let me look at their original papers, as long as I wore cotton gloves. While there, I found newspaper obituaries for:
- Franklin Hesse
- the two wives of Franklin Hesse: Caroline Krull and Jennie Delamater
- the sister of Franklin Hesse, Carrie Freyberger
There, on the front page of the January 9, 1919 LaMoure Chronicle was a 2-column obituary for Mrs. John Freyberger (Carrie Hesse). Two columns and a photo! The headline struck the match that ignited my need to know more:
Early Life Was Spent in Philadelphia and Brooklyn –
was Orphaned in Childhood
If she was orphaned, then her older brother (my ancestor) was orphaned. The beginning of the third paragraph threw dry wood on the fire of my curiosity:
“Carrie Hesse was born at Neenah, Wis., Sept. 2, 1865. Her parents died when she was but four years of age…”
Six months after that road trip, I delivered my first child. While he napped, I re-kindled the fire of my desire to know what happened to the parents of Franklin and Carrie.
How could Carrie and Franklin be orphaned at such a young age? Sickness? Accident? Fire? Surely this type of disaster would be chronicled in the Neenah newspaper. I must actually read newspapers.
So, I started requesting microfilm rolls of the weekly Winnebago County Press. The films did not cost anything to borrow, but I was limited to two rolls at a time with a 3-week loan. My local library had one, manual microfilm reader that I discovered was most often unused in the evening. After my dear husband arrived home from work, I got my little guy all settled for the night and drove 2 miles to the library.
Remember, this was before digital copies. There was no CTL+F search function; each issue must be physically read. Convinced that there must have been an accident, I began searching the newspaper at about the time when Carrie turned four: September of 1869.
Night after night, I returned to the library, threaded the film on the machine and scanned the headlines. An orphaning incident was certainly newsworthy.
Finding nothing, I ordered more films. Carrie was now five. I kept searching. Each time I traveled to the library, I brought along a few dimes because each reproduction on that 1980s slick paper cost ten cents.
Then, one evening, 10 minutes before the library was to close and with only $0.30 in my pocket, I read:{{Winnebago County Press, March 4, 1871, page 2, column 3}}
Stay tuned. Next week’s post will have more details.