Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Vintage Photograph: John Wolf, PA

 This photographs shared with several years ago. I do not know the date but it must have been taken before 1891. 

Vintage photographs are like little windows looking back in time.

A Window into the Past



John Jonas Wolf
29 Jun 1811, Adams PA - 16 Feb 1895 York Springs, Adams, PA
Son of John Frederick Wolf & Esther Barbara Shaffer

He was my 4x great uncle. 

His wife

Sarah Ann Chronister
14 Apr 1824 - 1891


A few other Vintage Photographs:









Wednesday, July 16, 2025

July Family Birthdays, July 16 - 31

 Is your birthday coming soon? Happy Birthday!

Maybe you share your special day with someone in our family who came before. Look below and see. I posted this series back in 2011. This version has been updated with more information. I hope you find it as much fun as I do.

Even if it is not your birthday, look at the highlighted SURNAMES. Maybe you will see a name from your family & learn a little more about them.

Click on the links to learn more about the people & places.


16 July        
1805    Gasua Chapman FORTENBERRY was born in South Carolina, son of William Jasper Fortenberry & Violette Kennington. He married Sarah Brown. He was a farmer.  They had nine children. Gasua died in 1884 in MS.

17 July        
1893    Frederick Isaac RITTER was born in Ohio, the son of Anthony Casper Ritter & Emma Alice Mowrer. He married Ella Mae Sprankle. Their children: Kathryn & Dean Ritter.  Frederick Isaac Ritter served in World War I.

18 July        
1867    Rose Ella BRUMFIELD lived in MS, daughter of Jessie Alexander Brumfield & Martha Elizabeth Alford. She married Jasper Pascal Brown in 1887. They had nine children. Rose was my great grandmother.
1925    John SNYDER

19 July        
1879    Thomas Kenneth MARK lived his life in Ohio. He was the son of William Mark & Elidia Rebecca Ritter. He was a farmer & a carpenter. He married N. Regina Gruissy in 1903. They had seven children, all born in Ohio. He lived to be 95 years of age. He was my great grandfather. 
1916    Gladys May MOORE

20 July        
1746    Anna M. GERMANTOWN
1852    William Franklin ELLZEY was born in MS, son of John Shaffer Ellzey & Saryntha Smith. He married Mary Elizabeth Gatlin. They had eight children. He was a farmer on a general farm.

21 July         
1815    Martin B. RITTER
1845    Frederick Jacob WOLF, son of John Jonas Wolf & Sarah Ann Chronister
 1882    Nathaniel GARDNER was my maternal grandfather. He was born in New York City, son of Leopold & Florence Gartner. He worked for the Western Union Telegraph Company for over 50 years, beginning as a messenger boy and becoming a branch manager. On 9 May 1921 he married Helen Francis Coyle. They had one daughter, Alberta Joy (Gardner) Brown.

22 July        
1914    Marian Louise MOORE

24 July        
1747    Casper RITTER
1866    Martha A. ALFORD married William J. Smith, son of William J. M. Smith & Rachel Ellzey. She had seven children. She died in 1926.
1914    Marian Louise MOORE

25 July        
1929    Everett Leroy WILSON was the son of Thomas Clarence Wilson & Euna Clarabelle Fortenberry. He was my 4th cousin, 1x removed.

26 July        
1806    Edward S BROWN, son of Moses Brown & Sarah Robertson, husband of Mary Polly Spurlock. He was my 3x great grandfather.
1808    Theobald RITTER
1867    Samuel J ELLZEY
 1878    Dixie Irene SMITH was the daughter of Adolphus Scott Smith & Julia Jane Simmons. Adolphus Smith was a dentist. She married Hugh Algernon Brown. 
1928    Mavis Addie DYKES

27 July        
1766    Nathaniel RITTER
1780    Johann Philip RITTER
1851    John H. WOLF
1855    Robert R. RITTER
1928    Delbert Keith BROWN was my father. He was born in Ohio, the oldest child of Roy Jessie Brown & Ivy Mark. On 8 August 1948 he married Alberta Joy Gardner. They lived in Germantown, NY. Delbert was a mechanic & trucker.

28 July        
1915    Clarence William WILSON was the son of Thomas Clarence Wilson & Euna Clarabelle Fortenberry.

29 July        
1842    John D. BRUMFIELD , born in Louisiana, son of Nathaniel Brumfield & Charlotte Temple Ott. He married Zadie Martin. Children: John D. T. & James H. John was a farmer in Washington Parish, Louisiana.  He died in 1903.
1912    Marshal HEIGLE
1922    Eugene C. PIGOTT

30 July        
1854    Elidia Rebecca RITTER, daughter of Isaac RitterIsabell Fisher, wife of William Mark. She was my 2x great grandmother. 
1872    Cora Bell MARK was born in Ohio, daughter of William Mark & Emma Abeline Flory. She married Edward Newell. Children: Edna and Maude. She died in 1905.
1889    James Ray MILLER

31 July        
1915    Ruth Geneva JOLLIFF was born in Ohio, daughter of Samuel Martin Jolliff & Margaret Maude Mark. She married Herbert Phillip Mullen, Sr. in 1936. Their son is Herbert Phillip Mullen, Jr. She was my 1st cousin, 2x removed. We corresponded at one time and she shared some genealogy information. She died in 1997.









Monday, July 7, 2025

'Our Brown Roots' on the Shelves!

My book, 'Our Brown Roots,' is now on the shelves in the 

Virginia Room of the Fairfax Regional Library, Virginia.  




Virginia Room 
10360 North Street
Fairfax Virginia 22030





Shelley Cox, Administrative Assistant at the library kindly sent me photos of my book, after it was processed, in place at the library. 
I am excited to know my book can reach out to others who may be members of our family's branches or to others who may be researching their families.
I hope to visit the library during my next visit to Virginia, where our daughter's family lives. I hope to take my grandsons with me to see my book on the shelf!







Friday, July 4, 2025

Revolutionary War Soldier, Johannes Ritter


Johannes Ritter, Sr.

17 Feb 1743 Milford, Bucks, PA - 27 Feb 1743 PA

Son of Heinrich Ritter & Maria Elizabeth Tutt

Husband of Maria Elisabeth Keck

My 5x great grandfather

Revolutionary War Soldier


 

There are many resources for discovering if your ancestor was a Revolutionary War soldier. For example:

Fold3

Daughters of the American Revolution

Sons of the American Revolution

 

Sometimes you can find information in an unexpected place. I was searching Newspapers.com for my Ritters in Pennsylvania. Using the surname, Pennsylvania and a wide range of dates & looked to see what I could uncover. 




Selinsgrove Times - Tribune, Selinsgrove, PA

29 August 1935, page 1


 I found my ancestor in a list of soldiers from the county who had served in the war.




I had already learned that Johannes was a soldier in the Revolutionary War but it is always nice to have another source to confirm my findings.


Read more about Johannes Ritter, Sr.


More Revolutionary War Soldiers in our family:

 

 

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

July Family Birthdays, July 1 - 15

  Is your birthday coming soon? Happy Birthday!

Maybe you share your special day with someone in our family who came before. Look below and see. I posted this series back in 2011. This version has been updated with more information. I hope you find it as much fun as I do.

Even if it is not your birthday, look at the highlighted SURNAMES. Maybe you will see a name from your family & learn a little more about them.

Click on the links to learn more about the people & places.





1 July                     
1876       Clementine Florence WOLF b. in Ohio, daughter of Joseph Wolf & Anna Eliza Kohr

2 July                     
1865       Amanda Adarene FORTENBERRY b. in Mississippi, daughter of William J. Fortenberry & Elizabeth Martha Cutrer.  She married William S. Ellzey c. 1883. Amanda was the mother of ten children. She died in 1949.
1881       Edith Edna RITTER

3 July                     
1825       Rees P. BROWN b. in Mississippi, one of seven children of Moses Brown & Nancy Perkins.  Children: Samantha & Anna Brown.
1866       Elizabeth Ellen NEE

4 July     Independence Day                
1823       Nathan RITTER, son of Jacob Ritter, husband of Hannah Schantz
1940       William Andrew MARK b in Ohio, son of Charles Forest Mark & Bertha Flickinger. Married Linda Lou Danner. Children: Robin, Michelle & William Mark. 

5 July                     
1879       William Isaac RITTER b. in Ohio, son of John William & Ruth Anna (Scott) Ritter. He married Louise Sophia Schultz.  They had six children.
1885       Spencer Sylvester McDANIEL

6 July                     
1753       Elizabeth RITTER
1879       Willie Edgar SMITH  was the son of Walter Lorraine Smith & Emma Julia Warren. He died in 1879 at the age of 13.
1927       Vern James SIMONS
1935       Virginia Burton NEE

7 July                     
1831       Richard WOLF, son of Andrew Wolf
1884       George B. WOLF
1900       Lola Dean FORTENBERRY was the daughter of Joseph Gazie Fortenberry & Corine McDaniel. 
1920       Elnora Marie RITTER

8 July                     
1800       Hollander SMITH
1857       Alfred FORTENBERRY Jr.
1889       Carrie Belle WOLF
1937       James Paul BALL b. in Louisiana, son of James Alton Ball & Mildred Olga Brown. He married Wreatha Jean Sorrell. Children: David, Roger, James & Lisa Ball. 

9 July                     
1852       Albert Harrison BALLIET b. in Pennsylvania, son of Stephen Ballet & Ann Lowrey. He married Josephine Edna Ebert. He died in 1907 in New York State. 
1870       Joseph Gazie FORTENBERRY
1939       Frederick Ralph BROPHY

10 July                   
1795       Lydia KNAUSS, wife of Daniel Ritter
1894       John Ellsworth HAWK b. in Ohio, son of William Hawk & Elizabeth Ritter. He married Ethel Miller. 

11 July                   
1787       Jonathan RITTER, son of Johann Daniel Ritter 
1852       Eliza H. MORRIS
1878       Mayme Indiana SIMMONS
1894       June THORNHILL son of James Miles & Violette Eliza (Fortenberry) Thornhill. June died in 1910 at the age of 16 in Mississippi.  

12 July                   
1789       Needham Judge ALFORD
1872       Louis Flemon ALFORD b. in Louisiana, son of Needham Edwin Alford & Mary Luzina Strafford. He died in 1938.

13 July                   
1938       Charles Philip MORRIS

14 July                   
1864       John BRADY b. in Cavan, Ireland, son of Thomas Brady & Catherine Gibney. He married Mary McCartin. Children: Thomas, Bernard & John Brady all born in New Jersey. John Brady was my 2nd great grand uncle. 
1891       Irene Elizabeth ELLZEY 
1915       Ruth Ann RITTER

15 July                   
1816       Mehala SMITH
1842       Mary Elizabeth FORTENBERRY
1872       Catherine BRADY
1875       Helen E. VOELKER
1920       Jerry Sidney COMEAUX
1932       Patricia Ann BROCK lived her life in Mississippi where she married Fay Seward Smith, son of Denny Herbert Smith & Mavis Marie Brown. Their children: Patricia, Michael & Kim Smith. Patricia & Fay were warm, generous people who showed us hospitality when we visited them in Mississippi. Patricia helped with my genealogy research & with the Alford Family Association