Merry Christmas

 

Merry ! Merry! 

Colleen 

This year's Christmas card:

 I am with my husband, our children, children-in-law and our grandchildren.

Merry Christmas from my Grandpa Brown

 This is an interesting Christmas card. It shows my paternal grandfather and his two daughters but none of his five sons or his wife. There is no date on this card, possibly mid 1940s, in New York State.

Roy Jessie Brown

8 Mar 1902 MS - 12 May 1956 MS

Son of Jasper Pascal Brown & Rose Ella Brumfield

Husband of Ivy Regina Mark Brown

and

Genevieve Audry Brown Wieland Schaperjahn

and

Jeanette Rose Brown Sparks Wager

Do you want to learn more about the Browns?

Buy my book.

Contact me: cgbp@nycap.rr.com

$95.00 + $10.00 shipping & packaging

Merry Christmas from my Great Grandparents

 This was sent by my great grandparents to my aunt, Genevieve A. Brown Wieland. 

Thomas Mark

19 Jul 1879 OH - 12 Feb 1975 OH

Son of William Mark & Elidia Rebecca Ritter

&

Nancy Regina Victoria Gruissy Mark

31 Jan 1879 OH - 24 May 1959 OH

Daughter of Augustus Ceaser Gruissy & Esther Barbara Wolf

A year was not written on this card.

Thanks to my cousin, Mike Wieland for sharing this card.

Vintage Photograph: Mary Ann Everett Gruissy

 Mary Ann was the first wife of my 2x great grandfather. I wish I knew more about her. I know her marriage date but not her birth or death dates. I do not know anything of her parents. Maybe this post will lead to more information.

Mary Ann Everett Gruissy

21 Feb 1861 Wayne Co., OH married Augustus Ceaser Gruissy

Mother of:

Margaret Jane Gruissy b 26 Dec 1861 W. Lebanon OH

Caroline Louise Gruissy b 23 Oct 1863 Sugar Creek, OH

Mary Magdalene Gruissy b 23 Nov 1865 Stark Co., OH

Matilda Catherine Gruissy b 26 Feb 1868 OH

Forget Me Not: Quimera Smith Brumfield, 1931 MS

This obituary is useful because it gives Quiver's maiden name and married name. I wish it told us more about the lady herself.

Quimera Clara Smith Brumfield

6 Sep 1855 - 11 Feb 1931 MS

Daughter of Densmore Winston Smith & Nancy L. Smith

Wife of Jesse E. Brumfield

 

 

Walthall Widow Leaves 30 Grandchildren

 

Tylertown, Feb 15 – Mrs. Quimira Smith Brumfeild, 76, widow of Jessie E. Brumfield, and a well known and highly respected member of her community, died Wednesday night at 8 p. m. at the home of her son, Ellis Brumfield, where she has lived for some time. The deceased was ill for several months before her death. She was a member of the New Zion church.

 

She is survived by four sons, Leslie Brumfield, Davis “Buddy” Brumfield, Willis Brumfield and Ellis Brumfield, all of Knoxo, and four daughters, Mrs. Fannie Brumfield Regan of Dexter; Mrs. Jessie Brumfield Kaigler of Fernwood; Mrs. Lennie Brumfield Stallings and Mrs. Eula Brumfield Ginn of Tylertown, and also thirty – three grandchildren and seventeen great grandchildren.

 

Interment took place Thursday afternoon in the Holmes cemetery with Rev. Price of Tylertown and Rev. Hughes of Knoxo, officiating.

Source: Clarion - Ledger, Jackson MS, 16 Feb 1931, page 6

Newspapers.com

Our Brown Roots

My book is almost ready to be put into your hands.

After many years of research, writing and editing the story of my father's family is close to printing. Tomorrow I will visit Troy Book Makers for a final editing session. There are a few little items to fix and then the printing will begin.

Watch my blog. I will let you know when it will be ready for sale.

Our Brown Roots began as a quest to learn more about my father’s paternal roots but quickly expanded to include many related families. The Brown family had married Alford, Brumfield and Smith and those families married Ashley, Dillon, Fortenberry, Hollis, Kelly, Kennington, Lawrence, Ott and Spurlock. The deeper our roots stretch, the wider they spread. My research, begun in New York and Ohio, quickly moved to Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and beyond. Information from Bibles, letters, interviews, documents, maps and photographs blended into family trees, timelines, outlines and family stories. 

 

Our families were in the Colonies before the United States came to be. In this book you will learn the history of those families, how their lives intertwined and the worlds in which they lived. To understand the people who populate our family tree, we must understand their worlds. What was happening in the places they lived, at the time they lived there? Learn about how our families grew as our country grew; how our ancestors used their strengths and talents to defend and build their lives, their families and our country. It is my sincere hope that this book will keep those ancestors alive into future generations. 

Questions?

This is the place to ask.

 

Reunion! Ritter Family Reunion, 1944 PA; Canceled!

Here is another in this series of Ritter family reunions, begun in 1898. The attendants are descendants of the four Ritter brothers: Paul, Heinrich, Martin & Caspar. This is a reunion that did not happen.

This article mentions people who usually attended from Ohio. My Ritter family was living in Ohio at that time.

Unfortunately, the Ritter reunion, begun in 1898, had to be canceled because of World War II and "unfavorable conditions."

Ritter Reunion Canceled Due to War Conditions

 

Ritter family reunion will not be held this year because of the gas shortage and other unfavorable conditions due to the war, Elias Ritter, North Market Street, announced today. Omission of the reunion was decided on by consent of the family. The reunion was to have been held during the last week in August at Rolling Green Park.

 

The Ritter family reunion is always an important event of the summer here as the family is one of the largest and most prominent of the section. Several hundred persons always attend and come from many states, about 25 or 30 attending from Ohio.

 

The family is looking forward to an even larger and happier gathering after the war.

The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA

2 Aug 1944, page 9

Newspapers.com

 

 

Reunion! 1917 Ritter Family Reunion, PA; 19th Reunion!

Here is another in this series of Ritter family reunions, begun in 1898. The attendants are descendants of the four Ritter brothers: Paul, Heinrich, Martin & Caspar. Each newspaper report give us a little more information into this family.

It is difficult to determine how many more reunions were held by the family. There are short notices in the 1920s telling of reunions to be held but no account of the actual events. Also, smaller reunions were held. We can tell those were not the full gathering from 1898 because they boast of a "fifth annual" or similar event which does not reach back to the origin of the big family group. 

The number of family members at these reunions varied each year. In 1902 "fully 1,000 representatives" were there. 1906 reported 2,000 people and 1909 claimed 800 were there for the activities. The 1916 reunion was "slimly attended" but his one had "several hundred" members of the family present. 

Reunion for the Descendants of 4 brothers:

 

Paul Ritter, 1713 Germany – 1799 PA

Heinrich Ritter, c 1715 Germany - Jan 1797 PA

Martin Ritter, 1718 Germany – 1789 PA

Casper Ritter, c 1720 Germany – 1792 PA

 

 

 

Iowa Visitors at Family Reunion

Several Hundred Descendants of Clan Meet at Dorsey Park

 

 

Several hundred members of the Ritter family, attended the nineteenth annual reunion, held yesterday at Dorsey Park. Ritters and their descendants from many parts of the state and as far west as Des Moines, Iowa, were present at yesterday’s gathering, which was one of the best yet held. 

 

The Ritter family historian traces ancestors as far back as 1732, when four brothers, Casper, Martin, Phillip [Paul] and Henry [Heinrich], settled in parts of Lehigh and Bucks county. They came to this country from Zwebrucken, Germany and were thrifty and energetic farmers.

 

Yesterday’s program consisted of the opening selection “America,” audience; prayer, Rev. J. E. Freeman; address of welcome, P. S. Ritter [possibly Parson Scott Ritter], this city, president; Howard Ritter, this city, vice-president; C. Viola Ritter, this city, recording secretary; John Bear, R. F. D. No. 1, corresponding secretary, I. J. Ritter, this city, financial secretary, and Mrs. C. Diefenderfer, Casasauqua, treasurer. The executive committee will be appointed later. The time and place of the 20^th annual reunion will be selected when the executive committee is appointed. 

 

 

The Allentown Democrat, Allentown PA

9 August 1917, page 5

Newspapers.com

I am related to the Ritter family through my paternal grandmother, 

Ivy R. Mark Brown.

Reunion! 1916 Ritter Family Reunion, PA; A Happy Day!

Here is another report of the Ritter family Reunions. This was a small group who came together to celebrate their heritage.

This newspaper account of the Ritter family reunion stands out because it mentions all four of the original brothers who Other clipping mention only three brothers. This correctly identifies Paul, Henry, Martin and Casper Ritter.  

About 60 members of the Ritter family clan held a reunion at Sand Spring Park yesterday. Once the largest reunion in this vicinity, the mutual interest of the descendants of Paul, Henry, Martin and Casper Ritter apparently has fallen away from family reunions. A happy day was spent by all in attendance, but no date was set for a reunion next year.

 

Peter S. Ritter presided at the meeting yesterday and he was reelected president and all the other officers were re-elected as follows: Vise [sic] president, H. Ritter; recording secretary, Miss C. Viola Ritter; corresponding secretary, E. H. Ritter of Egypt; financial secretary, Israel J. Ritter; treasurer, Mrs. Edwin Diefenderfer of Catasauqua.

 

The committees of last year were as follows:

 

Executive: Walter Hoffman, Leroy Ritter, John bear, E. J. Hitter and Oliver Frantz.

 

History: I. J. Ritter, Wilson Ritter, H. W. Stephen and Dr. F. O. Ritter.

The Allentown Leader, Allentown PA

10 August 1916, page 3

Newspapers.com

The reunion was also reported in "The Morning Call' newspaper.

There is more to the above clipping which you can read on Newspapers.com.

The Morning Call, Allentown, PA

10 August 1916, page 5

Newspapers.com