I hope your ornaments sparkle
and your jingle bells rock!
Merry Christmas, Colleen
Leaves & Branches: Genealogy, Research & Family History
Saturday, December 20, 2025
Sunday, December 14, 2025
December Family Birthdays, December 16 - 31
Is your birthday in December? 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 December
1872 David J. MCMILLAN
1877 William Calvin FORTENBERRY, son of William Franklin Fortenberry & Mariah B. Hall, husband of Hettie Alice Alford
1879 Mary POLLACK was born in South America, daughter of David Pollack & Mary English. She grew up in Ireland and came to the USA in 1885 with her cousin, Mary Josephine (Mullane) Coyle.
17 December
1898 Elma M. BLADES
1912 Ross POWELL
1933 Hugh Frances BROWN, son of Hubert Allen Brown & Freddie Smith. He married Frances Birch and had two sons.
18 December
1918 Arnell Wessie WILSON was the daughter of Thomas Clarence & Euna Clarabelle (Fortenberry) Wilson. She married Eugene C. Pigott.
19 December
1850 John William RITTER, b OH, son of Isaac Ritter & Isabell Fisher. Husband of Ruth Anna Scott. He has the same birthday as his brother, Amos.
1858 Amos RITTER, son of Isaac Ritter & Isabell Fisher, husband of Emma Levina Smith. Amos lived 94 years
1937 Kenneth Leroy MARK, b in OH, one of 11 children of James Everett Mark & Effie Margaret Carter.
20 December
1840 Margaret Ellen SWANK
1869 Joseph Davis BRUMFIELD, b in Mississippi, son of Isaac Nelson Brumfield & Sarah J. Smith. He married Annie Quinn.
1877 Alfred M. SCHILLING
21 December
1806 Jacob WOLF, son of John Frederick Wolf
1888 Bridget COYLE was born in Connecticut, daughter of Patrick Coyle & Margaret Brady. She married Bernard William Kelly. They had no children.
1903 Isabell Esther MARK, daughter of Thomas Kenneth Mark & N. Regina Victoria Gruissy
22 December
1856 Olevia Luminda FORTENBERRY married Jeptha Josephus Alford on 18 February 1874. He was the son of Ira Payne Alford & Elizabeth Hope. Olevia and Jeptha’s son was George Howard Alford (1875 – 1958).
1897 Edna J. FORTENBERRY, daughter of Thomas Benton Fortenberry & Gabriella Sanders
1902 Elma Grace Pletcher JOLLIFF
23 December
1773 Jeremiah SMITH, b in South Carolina, son of Jeremiah Smith & Jemimah Hollis. He married Joanna Dillon on 16 December 1798. They had 13 children. Jeremiah died in 1843 in Mississippi. He was my fourth great grandfather.
1840 Rachel Ellzey Smith SCHILLING
1860 Frederick Jacob WOLF, son of William Wolf & Sarah Jane Wilson; He lived 90 years.
1873 Catherine COYLE, born in Ireland, daughter of Patrick Coyle & Margaret Brady
1882 Celia Euseba SMITH, daughter of Walter Lorraine Smith & Emma J. Warren
24 December
1835 Warren M. HUFFMAN
1854 James Monroe BRUMFIELD, son of Isaac Nelson Brumfield & Sarah J Smith
1884 Annie Myrtis ELLZEY
1886 Blake H. WALDO
1900 Lyda Mearl Brown PIERCE
1901 Marguerite Christina COYLE was born in New York City, daughter of Michael Coyle & Mary Josephine Mullane. On 29 December 1933 she married Wilfred Stewart Marshall. She died 13 march 1980 in Arizona.
25 December Christmas!
1860 Elizabeth RITTER was born in Ohio, daughter of Isaac Ritter & Isabell Fisher. She married William Hawk on 22 February 1880. They had six children, all born in Ohio: Gertrude, Forest, Lulu, William, John and Ruth. She died 1 January 1950.
1862 Mary Fortenberry ELLZEY
1870 Thomas MULLANE, son of Daniel Mullane & Brigid English
1881 Mary Louise FORTENBERRY
1901 Luther Vernon FORTENBERRY
1902 Willie Webb MORRIS
26 December
1861 Margaret Jane GRUISSY was born in Ohio, daughter of Augustus Ceaser Gruissy & Mary Ann Everett. She married Seth Benner Morrison on 24 October 1880. They had eight children. Margaret died 8 March 1946.
1937 Mildred Fay TURNAGE
1942 Jimmie Joe MORRIS
27 December
1739 Johann Jonas WOLF, born in PA; son of Johan Jacob Wolf & Anna Barbara Orth; He was my 5x great grandfather.
1764 John RITTER, born in PA; son of Casper Ritter
1857 Mary Jane ELLZEY
1863 Letitia Susan BLADES
1907 Milton Sydney WEISSBERG was born in Buffalo, New York, son of Frank Samuel & Florence (Gartner) Weissberg. On 26 December 1937 he married Anne Bloom. They had a son and a daughter. Milton was a lawyer. He was my first cousin, once removed.
1917 Claudia Martha BRUMFIELD, daughter of John Edward Brumfield & Ada Beatrice Fortenberry; wife of Elmo Fortenberry
28 December
1799 William M. FORTENBERRY, born in SC; son of Isaac Fortenberry; husband of Christian Brown
1839 Frederick Calvin WOLF was the son of Frederick Wolf & Louisa C. Goetz. He married Eleanor Getz. Frederick died in 1907.
1879 Patrick Joseph COYLE, born in Ireland; son of Patrick Coyle & Margaret Brady; husband of Nancy Guilette
1914 James Albert BRUMFIELD, son of John Edward Brumfield & Ada Beatrice Fortenberry
29 December
1777 Esther Barbara SHAFFER, wife of John Frederick Wolf. She was my 4x great grandmother.
1874 Susan Isabel RITTER
1886 Martha BRACEY
1890 Ina Lucille BROWN, born in Mississippi, daughter of Jasper Pascal Brown & Rose Ella Brumfield. She married Dewitt William Alford. They had seven children: Devoe, Doris, Bruce, Zelda, Mary, Louise and Lindy. Ina died in 1972.
30 December
1842 George Washington FORTENBERRY, born in South Carolina, son of Calvin Kennington & Narcissa (Simmons) Fortenberry. He married Emily Pittman.
31 December
1763 Appollonia WOLF, born in Pennsylvania, daughter of Johann Jonas Wolf & Appollonia Dick.
1787 Willis D. DILLON, son of Richard Dillon & Anne Lawrence; husband of Mary Jane Smith
1886 Clark Rudy WOLF
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Forget Me Not: Reuben B. Ritter, 1895 PA
The research I have done on the Ritter family shows generally large families. Here is an example to show the size of the large farming families. Rueben was one of 12 children.
Reuben B. Ritter
d 17 October 1895 PA
Son of Martin Ritter & Anna Margaret Bogert
Husband of Mary Marcks
One of a Family of 12
Reuben B. Ritter, who died yesterday, aged 85 years, was a son of the late Martin Ritter and was one of 12 children. Mr. Ritter was a farmer but retired about 20 years ago. He is survived by these brothers and sisters: Solomon, Charles, Jacob and Elizabeth Ritter.
Source:
Newspapers.com
The Allentown Leader, Allentown PA
17 October 1895 PA, page 1
Monday, December 1, 2025
December Birthdays, December 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 December
1817 Daniel RITTER, son of Henry Ritter & Lydia Knappenberger
1886 James Monroe OTT, son of William W. Ott & Sarah Euseba Elizabeth Ellzey
1888 William Clarence BROPHY
2 December
1890 Eslie Guy MARK, b Ohio, son of William Mark & Elidia Rebecca Ritter. He served in World War I. He was a painter. In 1922 he married Golda Mae Warner. They were married for more than 50 years. They had three children: Guy, Glenn & Dana.
3 December
1809 Euseba FORTENBERRY was born in South Carolina, daughter of William Jasper Fortenberry & Violette Kennington. Euseba married Wyatt Smith. They were my third great grandparents. They had nine children.
1810 Barbary RITTER, daughter of Johannes Ritter Jr. & Anna Mariah Ritter
1872 Corine McDANIEL
4 December
1777 Johann Heinrich RITTER, son of Johannes Ritter Sr. & Maria Elisabeth Keck, husband of Magdalena Brouse
1842 William George SMITH
1883 Dixie B. SCHILLING
1884 Lillian Vera MOORE was born in Ohio, daughter of Peter Jonathan Moore & Caroline Louise Gruissy. She married Ernest Elliott Lowe on 22 September 1966. He was a farmer. Their daughter was Jessie Mary Lowe
1897 Elam MILLER
5 December
1810 Adam WOLF, son of Adam Wolf
1828 Louisa Margany JAMES married Hollis Horton Fortenberry. Their son was H. K. Fortenberry.
1853 William Jackson FORTENBERRY, son of Burrell Taylor Fortenberry
6 December
1899 TWINS: Paul & Pauline MORRISON, born in Ohio, children of Seth Benner Morrison & Margaret Jane Gruissy. Paul married Elnore Marguerite Castor and had one daughter. Pauline married Elmer Maurer and had five children. Paul died in 1960 at the age of 60. Pauline died in 1979 at the age of 79.
1921 Fay Seward SMITH, son of Denny Herbert Smith & Mavis Marie Brown, husband of Patricia Ann Brock. He was a kind and gentle man who helped me with my genealogy research.
7 December
1866 Morgana Dean THOMPSON
1912 Glen Ralph BROPHY
1925 Ellen Pearl ELLZEY was the daughter of Grady Henry Ellzey & Bertha Fortenberry. She married James Conrad McDaniel. They had two children.
8 December
1785 Jacob RITTER, son of Johannes Ritter Sr.
1854 Jeptha Josephus ALFORD, b in Mississippi, son of Ira Payne Alford & Elizabeth Hope. He married Olevia Luminda Fortenberry. Their son was George Howard Alford.
1871 Samuel Martin JOLLLIFF
9 December
1814 William John FORTENBERRY, son of William Jasper Fortenberry
1843 Isaac Ezra WOLF, b in Pennsylvania, son of John Jonas Wolf & Sarah Ann Chronister. He married Mary Cathrina Wireman in 1866. Their son was Clarence Lee Guy Wolf (1875 – 1945).
10 December
1898 Nonie Dola VARADO married Napoleon Blades, son of William Ephraim Blades & Morgana Josephine McDaniel.
11 December
1820 Cynthia Ann ALFORD, daughter of Edwin Barksdale Alford
1878 Hope RITTER
1888 Albert GARTNER was my grand uncle, brother of my maternal grandfather, Nathaniel Gardner. My mother, Alberta Joy (Gardner) Brown was named for Albert. Albert was a nurse who died c 1920 from complications of Diabetes.
12 December
1777 Anna Mariah RITTER
1921 Helen Virginia SAMPSEL married Ernest Miles Mark, son of Amos Martin & Lillian Myrtle (Hoverstock) Mark. They were married on 22 February 1946 in Ohio. They had four children.
13 December
1895 Ottilia LOBAUGH was the daughter of John Adam & Christine (Wolf) Lobaugh.
14 December
1891 Grady Henry ELLZEY was the son of William Franklin & Mary Elizabeth (Gatlin) Ellzey. He married Bertha Fortenberry. Children: Wesley P. Ellzey, Odean Ellzey, Carell James Ellzey and Ellen Pearl Ellzey. Grady was my second cousin, twice removed.
1914 LaVerne ELLZEY
1916 Anna Belle HEIGLE
15 December
1836 Twins: Martha M. and Mary Magdalene BROWN, born in Mississippi, daughters of Edward S. Brown & Mary Polly Spurlock.
1857 Susan A. Ryals FORTENBERRY
1885 Edgar John ELLZEY
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