Dorothy Ann Koenig, March 18, 1933 - May 28, 2018

When I read of Ms. Dorothy Ann Koenig’s passing a few days ago, from the California Genealogical Society and Library facebook page, I knew I had to write something about Dorothy.

Let me take you back to how and when we connected. Fortunately, Dorothy replied to a query on RootsWeb in 2001, and I found it in November 2008, when I was looking for some information. Her email didn’t work for me, and I was determined to find her so, how did I get it? I am sharing some of our letters to give you insight into what a wonderful generous lady she was. If you’ve never written a genealogist for help, you might be missing out. She helped me solve a major brick wall, the ancestry of my 3rd great-grandfather, I couldn’t have had a better person to guide me along. Dorothy will always be in my heart and memory for as long as I do genealogy, so, in other words, a very long time. I'm sharing some of our letters, and you can see the fun we had.

11/14/08

Dear Dorothy,

Back in 2001 you replied to several RootsWeb queries and sourced the book, "A Genealogy of the Reyniersen Family" and that is the purpose of my email to you. I can't locate it in my area (Massachusetts) and wondered if you had a personal copy of it?  My line is, I believe, Simon Anderson, then his son George who married Violetta Ten Eyck.

I do know the book is in Salt Lake City, but as is always the way, I was there three weeks ago, but then, didn't know that Anderson was in the book.

On another note, I see we both know Steve Danko, as a matter of fact, he gave me your email, as the 2001 address didn't work and this email was returned to me.  Thank goodness for your name + genealogy I found you through Google and Steve.

When you wrote the below, is that all that there is in the book that pertains to the Anderson line?

Dorothy, you wrote to Rootsweb stating:

"-- The authors list 6 children for Simon Anderson and Mary Van Anglen; the dates are birth dates:

4 Jun 1783 Mettje/Martham. 16 Oct 1803 Hendrick Suydam

25 Aug 1785 Sarahm. 18 Sep 1803 Garret Stothoff

8 Aug 1787 Dinah

8 Nov 1789 Jemima

8 Mar 1796 George

2 Mar 1799 Cornelius

There is a *possibility* that the George born in 1796 could be the one who married Violetta Ten Eyck in 1816,..."

Sincerely,

Barbara Poole

-----

The next day, she wrote back

Sat, Nov 15, 2008

subject Re: "A Genealogy of the Reyniersen Family"

Dear Barbara,  I'm glad that you were able to locate me!  The book in question is "A Genealogy of the Reyniersen Family", by Peter M. Rinearson and Arthur P. Rynearson published in 1997. It is page 67 that has the information about the family group of Simon Anderson and his wife Maria/Mary Van Anglen. Maria was the daughter of Cornelius Van Hengelen and Sarah Reyniersen.  Simon was the son of George Anderson and Mettie Van Wickle (sic). The birth and death dates for individuals in the family are given.  For your George (the son) the birth date of 8 March 1796 is given. He was baptized on 3 April 1796 in the First Dutch Reformed Church in New Brunswick, NJ.

These New Brunswick baptisms have been published in the Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society. I can confirm that little George's baptism took place on 3 April 1796. The parents' names were recorded as "Simon Aderson (sic) and Mary Van Hengler.

If you want to email me your postal address, I will xerox the page from the Reyniersen book and mail it to you so that you can have all the dates and places.

Dorothy

-----

Dear Barbara,

The book has 660 pages of rather small, dense print. I will be happy to look at the information you have compiled on your George, son of Simon. Try as I might, I was unable to open the "X-Attachment-Id: 330@goomoji.gmail" in your last message.

I use a Macintosh computer. Is there a way you could append a "normal" attachment or imbed your timeline in the body of your next email message?

I am the editor of a genealogical quarterly, "New Netherland Connections".  When the Reyniersen book was published on 1997, one of the authors contacted me, and I immediately purchased a copy. I guess the print run was rather small, and now I own a treasure :-).

Dorothy

-----

From:  Dorothy Koenig

        Dear Barbara,  Yes, I think you are on the right track.  My basic impression is that your George Anderson, son of Simon, either didn't know exactly when he was born OR that as time went by he exaggerated his age. The ages of George and his siblings as presented on page 67 of the Reyniersen Genealogy come from a handwritten copy of a family Bible record. (See pages 831-833 of volume 2 of "Genealogies of New Jersey Families" [1996]). The whereabouts of the original Bible is unknown today:

"In the year 1755 was Simon Anderson Born on the 10 Day of December.

In the year 1761 was Mary Van Anglen Born On the 30 Day of November.

In the Year 1783 was Martha Anderson Born on the 4 Day of June.

In the Year 1785 was Sarah Anderson Born on the 25 Day of August.

In the Year 1787 was Dinah Anderson Born on the 8 Day of August.

In the Year 1789 was Jemima Anderson Born on the 8 Day of December.

In the Year 1796 was George Anderson Born on the 8 Day of March.

In the year 1799 was Cornelius Anderson Born on the 2 Day of March.

In the year 1806 December 21 then Simon Anderson Departed this Life in the fifty second [year] of his age."

From the same source we also learn:

"In the Year of Our Lord 1802 in Martha [Anderson] Married to Hendrick Suydam October the 16th Day.

In the Year of Our Lord 1803 is Sarah Anderson married to Garret Stothoff on the 18th of September.

In the Year of Our Lord 1804 the 9th of September Jarominah Anderson Departed this Life in the 15th Year of her Age."

There is more on the earlier generations of this ANDERSON family on pages 371 and 372 of the same volume.

On page 5 of "New Jersey Marriage Records, 1665-1800", by William Nelson, 1990, we learn that "Simon Anderson, Somerset" and Mary Van Hauglin" received a license to wed on 11 October 1781. (I am sure that the "u" in Mary's surname is a mis-transcription of an "n" that was in the handwritten document.)

Then I found an abstract of Simon Anderson's will on page 9 of New Jersey "Calendar of Wills,1806-1809". He wrote his will on 10 November 1806, and we know from the Bible record (above) that he died on 21 December 1806. The will was proved in court on 7 January 1807.

"Simon Anderson, of Raritan River, Somerset County, yeoman, will of. Wife, Mary, use of real estate and residue of personal estate, while my widow; should she marry, then 30 Pounds yearly, during her life. Sons, George and Cornelius, lands whereon I now live that my father bought of Albert Voorhees (325 acres). Son, George, negro man, Nene, my silver hilted sword, silver watch and 6 silver tea spoons. Son Cornelius, negro man, Will; should he die underage and without issue, 1/2 of his share to my son George, and the other half to be divided among my daughters.  Daughters, Martha and Sarah, each 250 Pounds. Daughter Dinah, 300 Pounds; should she died without issue her share to be divided between all my children. Sons, George and Cornelius, cattle and farming utensils.

Executors -- wife, Mary, and son-in-law Hendrick Sedam [Suydam].

Witnesses -- Richard Rappleye, James Rappleye, Cornelius Rappleye"

There is something particularly poignant about this will when you consider that Simon Anderson's two sons -- George and Cornelius -- were only about 10 and 7 years old when their father wrote his will and died.

What exact volume and page of the "Somerset County Historical Quarterly" shows the first marriage of your George Anderson to Violetta Ten Eyck?

I definitely think you are on the right track!

Dorothy

-----

Dear Dorothy,

Did you hear me scream with joy?

I would like to pay you a little something, say $10, for your time and wonderful input. Also for copies of the 3 sources you mentioned below. For some reason, I tend to think you have the other books as well.

This morning, I was looking at your New Netherland Connections books through the NEHGS site, how easy it that, on a cold Sunday morning. The first volume explains what New Netherland means, I never knew, and always wondered. And, my TenEyck line, I always thought they were Dutch, but similar to your example (but in reverse), later discovered that they were German.

Do you think Anderson is a Dutch name? Of course what was written about the family in the Genealogies of New Jersey Families, may give some information on that.

You asked me about Violetta and George's marriage, the below came from Mary Hobein.

"Somerset County Marriages (Somerset Co. LDS microflim 1023875 also in Somerset County Historical Quarterly)

George Anderson and Violetta Ten Eyck Nov 31, 1816 (John Boggs)"

And from a webpage (person contacted, but no reply) Alletta Teneick (daughter of Jeremiah Teneick and Jane) was born September 22, 1797, and died 1840 in Dane Co., WI. She married George Anderson on November 28, 1816.

NOTE: If you would like, you could scan the pages instead of mailing them. But, I would like your address anyway.

You have really helped me, I had no idea who I was writing to at first. I gather you know Henry Hoff?

Again thank you.

Barbara

-----

Dear Barbara,

I am not a professional genealogist, i.e. I don't accept money for what I'm able to do. But I will be happy to xerox the sources mentioned. I will need your street address!

I have the highest regard for Henry Hoff. I have worked with him, talked to him over the phone, but I have never had the pleasure of meeting him in person.

I'm glad you had an occasion to scream with joy :-).

-----

Dear Dorothy,

The envelope arrived yesterday, what a nice surprise. Of course I tore into it, and got to reading it immediately. I liked not having to wait until Monday for it as well. Thank you so much.

What an undertaking to do such a large book of 600+ pages, and then a second book. For now, I will wait on writing Mr. Rynearson, as I know the book will be at least $60 or more. Of the four libraries that I contacted, the first two replied with a no, but one said yes, and the other NYPL said to send request to another place. So, I will continue with the inter-loan process for now.

You will be receiving a little thank you from me, it goes out tomorrow.

I've enjoyed my time with you these past two weeks. I usually do all my own research myself, but in this case, it was almost a necessity to have help from you. Thank goodness I found you!

Most sincerely,

Barbara Poole

-----

Dear Barbara,

That was fast! I am glad that your curiosity has finally been satisfied, and now you have all those collateral lines to research as well. It's been a pleasure for me too.  Dorothy

Dear Barbara,

Many thanks for your thank you note with the enclosed postage stamps. It was a very thoughtful gesture and just the right touch!  Dorothy

(I believe I sent her $25.00 worth of stamps.)

I have decided not to use the Comment feature for my blog. If you would like to leave a comment for me or ask a question, please write me at my email: BarbaraPoole@Gmail.com. Thank you.

My reason is because since November 2017 to May 2018, I received no comments, but upon investigating I found that I had indeed received 167 legitimate ones and 1,000 were in the spam folder. Google Blogger had made some changes that I was unaware of.

1630 Phipps Cemetery is One of the Oldest in Massachusetts

Buried in one of the oldest cemeteries in the United States, are Thomas Rand and his wife Sarah Edenden, who are my 9th great grand-parents. Phipps Cemetery in Charlestown, next to Boston, MA was established in 1630, and all the stones are in their original plots, none have been moved. Surrounding this cemetery is a locked iron fence and housing (apartments or condos?) on three sides. Fortunately, somebody will unlock the fence once you give them 24 hrs. notice. I was given the time slot between 8:45 - 2 on a Saturday. The photos below are of the tombstones, part of the cemetery, and surrounding apartments.

HERE LYES BURYE^D

THE BODY OF

THOMAS RAND

AGED 56 YEARS

DECEASED AUGUST

Y^e 4 1683

HERE LYES Y^e BODY OF

SARAH RAND WIFE

TO THOMAS RAND

AGED ABOUT 63 YEAR^S

^{DIED JUNE 26 1699}

Google Map

My blog with instructions to find who is buried in the old Boston cemeteries: http://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/2018/04/how-do-you-find-your-ancestors-in.html

Alphabetical listing of names: https://archive.org/details/alphabeticindext00bost

Map:  https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/Phipps%20Street%20Map_tcm3-24968.pdf

Jeremiah Fitch, Half of his Cemetery Stone

Trying to find a certain cemetery stone in this small cemetery could be a hassle, if you didn't know where to look. This past Saturday, I was very lucky for the following three reasons. First, the leaves hadn't emerged, thus there were very few shadows. Although, I've been here many times, this was my first visit in early Spring. Second, this is a very popular tourist spot, many school groups, scout troops and regular tourists go through here to see where Paul Revere was buried, and other well-known people. Third, if you don't know where to look, it could be a problem, there is nobody to help you. However, I knew exactly where to look, thanks to a map I recently located online. I did a post, so you can find if your family member is buried in Boston.
SEE: How Do You Find Your Ancestors in the Boston Cemeteries?

The Boston Athenaeum is on the left. The backs to the above buildings are not entrances.

Jeremiah Fitch

Born:  5 May 1621, England

Died:  3 May 1692, Boston, Massachusetts

Relationship: He is my 7th great-granduncle.

The sun was facing me, so my photos were rather dark. I lightened them quite a bit. You can see Jeremiah's stone from a distance, below. Tremont Street is in front.

Another day, lots of leaves and people.

How Do You Find Your Ancestors in the Boston Cemeteries?

The Granary Burying Ground, Boston, MA

How does somebody go about trying to find a person in this cemetery? The Granary Burying Ground is one of the oldest in the United States, and perhaps the most historic. What about in the other cemeteries in Boston? Recently I discovered my 7th great granduncle was buried here. This cemetery is well known to me, as I recently wrote a post about Louisa May Alcott's father being this cemetery, and I took the above photo for the post. http://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/2016/07/what-did-louisa-may-alcotts-father.html

How was I ever going to find my Jeremiah Fitch? Not by walking around all day, that's for sure But it did take me much of the morning to find the PERFECT site to help you discover if your family members are buried in Boston. And, I am happy I won't have to waste time among the tourists! A special map for the tourists is shown at the bottom of this post.

The instructions are very simple, so I hope my example and additional words make it easy for you. The first link is https://www.boston.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation/historic-burying-grounds-initiative It brings you to Search Historic Headstones, a very long page.

The above is almost impossible to read, so go to the link to read about the two options. I used option 1, shown below. https://www.boston.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation/search-historic-headstones

To see if your surname is in this database, use the drop-down feature for Last Name, and choose the cemetery, but if you don't know which one, all individuals with that surname will show up in any cemetery. Nice feature. Since I knew the cemetery name, in figure 2, I have several choices.

OPTION 1

https://www.cityofboston.gov/Parks/HBGI/search.asp

 FIGURE 1 (find surname in drop-down box, and choose cemetery)

FIGURE 2, with results

Once you find the name and correct cemetery, write down the location number. In my example, the G stands for the Granary Cemetery, so I only needed to remember  B713 for Jeremiah Fitch. Below is a listing of the cemeteries, to get the map, you need to scroll below to the Site Maps section. This is a very long page, so I had to break it into several screen shots.

The Site Maps section shows two choices for the Granary Burying Ground, a right and a left. I chose Right, and got a rather large image of part of the cemetery. Once enlarged, you can see all cemetery numbers, and the layout including the street, and where the Boston Athenaeum is located. See at the bottom for map.

https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/Granary%20Right_tcm3-27896.pdf

The first image is at 25% , and the 2nd at 67%

 The B section I am interested in, can be seen clearly below.

The initial website I found was at https://www.boston.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation/historic-burying-grounds-initiative
From this, I found the other links. Additional information is available, such as HOURS.

Van Woert and Van Ness, They were listed in a Bible

Plains Cemetery, Oneonta, Otsego Co., New York

In 2003 I found, online, a typed transcript of a Bible showing births and marriages of the Van Woert family of New York. At that time, I already knew who this family was, and even made a trip in 1999 to Oneonta, New York to take photos of their cemetery stones at the Plains Cemetery. There were two generations, for a total of four photos, as shown in my post of February 2010
http://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/2010/02/tombstone-tuesday-van-woert.html

Finding this Bible transcript didn't help me at all, since I had the information, but instead of throwing it away, I decided to post this transcript, in case it helps anybody with this Dutch family. I'm not sure if the original website is active, I just decided to do a Google search, using Van Woert and Van Ness, and yes, there is a new link, but the material is the same.

Below is the transcription, and the one I printed in January 2003. I wasn't able to get permission to post, since I believe it isn't an active site. The below Bible and other links to miscellaneous sites may be seen at Van Wert, Ward, Rutgers and allied names.

"In the Family Bible of Peter Van Woert

[In this typed record, the format is inconsistent. To clarify, instead of using the original's ditto marks, I have inserted the word intended to be copied.]

In the Family Bible of Peter Van Woert, on a loose leaf, was a Record of the Van Woert Family

[Grand] Should be parents. Jacob Van Woert, born July 1, 1754.
Sarah Van Ness, born Mar. 26, 1754.

Children
John Van Woert Born Dec. 21[doublestrike 11], 1781. at Albany N.Y.
Peter Van Woert Born Feb. 15, 1784. at Albany N.Y.
Elizabeth Van Woert born Jan 15, 1788. died Dec. 12, 1790.
Adrian Van Woert Born Mar. 16, 1790.
Elizabeth Van Woert Born Feb. 18, 1793.
Jacob Van Woert Born Dec. 15, 1796.
Parents came to Oneonta N.Y. in 1806 or 1807.
Peter Van Woert married Rhoby Potter, May 17, 1810.
Rhoby Potter was born Mar. 26, 1792, died July 5, 1842.

Their Children.
1. Jacob Van Woert born Aug. 9, 1811, died Aug. 22, [no date entered]
2. Nancy Van Woert born Aug. 18, 1812.
3. Jacob Peter Van Woert born Oct. 7, 1814.
4. Stafford Potter born May 16, 1819.
5. James Schoonhoven Van Woert born Apr. 23, 1821.
6. Joseph Allen Van Woert born June 9, 1823.
7. Elizabeth Van Woert born Aug. 1, 1825.
8. Maranda Ann Van Woert born Aug. 2, 1827.
9. William Burlingame Van Woert born Sept. 25, 1829.
10. Cornelia Ganet Van Woert born Mar. 15, 1832.

Parents, James S. Van Woert married in 1843 to Catherine Noxen.

Their Children:
1. Mary Baldwin born Mar. 6, 1845.
2. Jane Jones born Mar. 14, 1847.
3. Rohby [sic] Haladay born 1851.
4. Peter Van Woert born Dec. 12, 1859.
Jacob Van Woert married Jane Bornt.

1. Clinton Van Woert
2. Hattie Cummings

John Scrambling married Nancy Van Woert
1. Peter
2. Hellen Winsos [sic]
3. Rhoby Williams

Peter Bundy married Sarah
1. Celestia Thorp
2. Harrison
3. Maranda Enderling

Stafford married Elizabeth Bronson
1. Eddie
2. Herbert
3. Celestia
4. Lillian

James married Catherine Noxen
1. Jane Jones
2. Rhoby Holaday [sic]
3. Peter

Joseph married Mary [F]owler [letter unclear]
1. Hamilton
2. Ella Hale

John Deitz married Elizabeth
1. Rhoby Travis
2. Marie Young

[The next three entries were typed in the margin to the right of the previous three.]

Lewis Van Woert married Maranda ---
William Van Woert married Marie F[?]leming
Delos Hathaway married Ganet

 Copied by Mrs. Zillah Van Cle_t [unclear letter] Bull.

Oneonta Chapter, N.S.D.A.R. 1935.

Bible Records 30, NY State p. 110

home page Updated Apr. 6, 2001"

Georgia O'Keeffe, The Fabulous Exhibit, Oh Her Paintings and Her Clothes

When I heard that the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) was having a Georgia Totto O'Keeffe exhibit called, Art, Image and Style, I was rather excited, since she is my 4th cousin, once removed. It was widely attended when we were there on Sunday, so I was limited as to what photos I could take. There were too many people looking at her painting, The Brooklyn Bridge, so I couldn't take it. The majority of the items shown were photographs of Georgia and a lot of clothes, beautiful, original, and simple. However, to my disappointment, there were few paintings, perhaps eight or so, but I was familiar with two, so I was pleased to see them. All photos are enlarged to see the details in her clothes. Georgia is my 4th cousin once removed.

There were not many pieces of her artwork. But, I loved her clothes and learned she made many of her own outfits. She was fashionable from an early age, as she knew her style.

The photos were taken in the order I saw the items, and all quotes were taken from the place cards.

Portrait of Georgia O'Keeffe, 1908. About 21 years old.

September 6, 1948. About 61 years old.

The painting is In the Patio IX, which was about 1964, and the "Chute" dress by Emilio Pucci, was about 1954.

"The V was a significant form for O'Keeffe. Photographs of her young and old reveal how she continuously used V necklines as a visual frame for her long neck."

"Her modern black dresses with white trim, flat shoes, and thick stockings were so radically out of character with traditional feminine dress codes that they generated local curiosity and gossip."

Photos were taken by her husband, Alfred Stieglitz. She fearlessly appeared both as a male and a female.

Kimono-style coat, late 1920s-early 1930s.

Black Pansy and Forget-Me-Nots, 1926.

2 Yellow Leaves, 1928.

Smock; 1950s-60s. Apron; 20th century.

The print, 1968 is, Georgia O'Keeffe with Chair, 1958. "She mostly likely designed this madras dress, cleverly creating the abstract and seamless interaction of the red and purple areas."

Stump in Red Hills, 1940.

Ram's Head and White Hollyhock, New Mexico, 1935.

"She her frame maker fashion a scalloped and punched sheet metal frame. In later years, she was drawn to the blue scallops that run uniformly around the hemline of Marimekko's 'Varjo' dress and the edge of Ferragamo's suede flats." (See dress and shoes below, with scallop design.)

March 1, 1968.

I asked a guard if I could take photos because I hadn't seen anybody do it. Fortunately, the answer was yes, and that led to a nice conversation. I shared some of my genealogy information about where she was born (Wisconsin), and told him I had her tree on my iPad. He was interested, so I shared my ancestry tree right there with this mighty impressed man now interested in genealogy technology.

"O'Keeffe bought her first wrap dresses from Neiman Marcus in Texas in the late 1950s. She owned at least one of the store's first iterations of the dress called a 'Model's Smock.' It was made of pink cotton, long-sleeved, unlined, with no buttons or zippers, only a matching belt. She then purchased other versions of the same style, wearing them in layers or with a light blouse underneath, and accessorizing them with one of her belts, pins, scarves, or hats. She liked her wrap dresses so much that she took a well-worn one apart and made a paper pattern from it. Local dressmakers recreated it for her in different colors and materials. She had two dozen examples in her closets when she died."

Georgia O'Keeffe with Painting in the Desert, N. M., 1960 by Tony Vaccaro. She is holding her painting, Pelvis Series, Red with Yellow.

Blue II, 1958.

Another exhibit I went to is, Georgia O'Keeffe, Photography Exhibit With a Couple of Paintings you can see my post at: https://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/2024/01/georgia-okeeffe-photography-exhibit.html

While doing some research for this post, I discovered a genealogy gem. The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico has a wealth of information on their web page, but the best thing, for me was the detailed timeline of her life. Please see at:

https://www.okeeffemuseum.org/about-georgia-okeeffe/timeline/

Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts

Interesting article about Georgia's sister.

Ida O’Keeffe Is Finally Getting Her First Solo Museum Exhibition, an article in Smithsonian.com, dated June 1, 2018.