A visit to the grave of Great Great Grandma & Grandpa

[tamrock]

Week before last me and my sister had to clean out our 93 yr mothers apartment in Iowa as she is now in need of more full time care. My mother had kept all kinds of stuff like her dads military discharge papers from 1918 to just about every birthday, Christmas and valentines card going back to her childhood to the 1930s. It took most the week and several trips to the thrift store to clean the place out. As I went through all the photos of our family and other documents I came across my dads birth certificate and notice his dad and my grandpa, who I do remember some was born a farmer in Fairfield, Nebraska. So on my way home from Iowa across Nebraska I thought I'd just go visit my my grandpa's parents grave. Their names were Henry Jackson and Lydia [Templeton] Brandenburg and they came to Nebraska from Liberty, Union County, Indiana in around the mid 19th century?

This little trip to the cemetery took me around 50 miles off my trip home and the grave-site is close to the little almost deserted town of Fairfield, Nebraska about 3 miles on a dirt road from there. The cemetery is very well kept and as I left I saw 2 Bald eagles in a cornfield. To me it said we Germans and along with others, who came to country long ago have been and will be nothing, but true red blooded free Americans now and for evermore. Hopefully the future people of this country will never loose this idea of a free America... God help them if they do.

Looking online at various grave and ancestry website I believe I've taken my father to sons lineage to the first Brandenburg to arrive in America from Germany back in the 1st half of the 18th century. It seems as soon as the first Brandenburg's got settled in the area of Frederick, County Maryland and had a lot of children they struck out from there on the Cumberland road and headed as far west as they could looking for more land to farm.

This is the lineage I believe I came from by father to son:

1) Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg b. 1722 Germany d. 1796 Frederick Co, MD

2) Aaron ? Brandenburg b. 1761 Middletown, MD d. 1825 Liberty, Union Co, IN

3) Henry Harrison Brandenburg b. 1786 Somerset Co. PA d. 1874 Liberty, Union Co, IN

4) Henry Jackson Brandenburg b. 1827 Liberty, Union Co. IN d. 1902 Deweese, Clay Co. NE

5) Rufus King Brandenburg b. 1854 Liberty, Union Co. IN d. 1919 Stuart, Guthrie Co. IA

6) Ira ? Brandenburg b. 1892 Deweese, Clay Co. NE d. 1963 Des Moines, Polk Co. IA (I remember grandpa some & his funeral I do recall)

7) Bill Charles Brandenburg My Dad b. 1926 Stuart, Guthrie Co. IA d. 1994 after a day of fishing with his buddy Loyd at Lake Rathbun, Iowa, buried in Ankeny, IA

8) Then Me Grant Charles Brandenburg b. 1956 Minneapolis Minnesota. I had a dream once that I was at a motel and was to stay in room 2038. In the dream I thought this ain't no Super 8 with that many rooms. Once I traveled all the elevators and stairways to the room I was given, I put the key in the door and opened the room. The first thought I had was wow it's a luxury room and I don't get these kind of expensive rooms on the road. At that point a thought came to my mind and it was, this isn't my room number, but this is the year I die. I'll be 80 years old then and really only God knows when for sure when he's done with me on earth, so we'll see?. Hopefully I can talk to all these fathers of mine when I get to where they are, as I'd love to hear their stories. I doubt I'll get to post any of those stories with all of you though.

 

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[Mackaydon]

Kudos to you, GCB for that story and your research. If your dad had brothers or sisters, I have no doubt that either they or their kin would appreciate having this same information.
Annually, my clan gets together in Canada for friendship and updating The Clan MacKay Book to reflect-new births and deaths. The annjual get together has been going on for about 90 years.
Don......

 

[RustyGold]

Awesome post, great story!

 

[can_slaw]

What a cool post! Not sure if they are related or not, but there is a Brandenburg family in my home town of Poynette, WI.

 

[kingskid1611]

That is so special to be able to go back and look at that. I, on the other hand, can't go past my grandpa. He was left in a catholic orphanage in Washington state and we can't crack it from there. Congrats for a brilliant family history.

 

[WannaDig3687]

I was wondering what you were up to when you gave me a "like" over in the genealogy forum.


Sooooo....
I guess this is my opportunity for confession. When I first started hanging out in the MDS forum, your name caught my eye. I've been trying to research my ancestors for years. Here is a partial name of one line. Warning it may be a little shocking (it was for me)

View attachment 1559861

That's pretty cool. I don't know if you noticed, but there are a lot of Brandenburgs who settled in Ohio, also. I have not made any connections between us, though. Count your blessings, lol.
I have learned that German names stem from the region they came from. So we are from different regions. Here is a link that is for the Brandenburg name.

https://www.houseofnames.com/brandenburg-family-crest

 

[tamrock]

Kudos to you, GCB for that story and your research. If your dad had brothers or sisters, I have no doubt that either they or their kin would appreciate having this same information.
Annually, my clan gets together in Canada for friendship and updating The Clan MacKay Book to reflect-new births and deaths. The annjual get together has been going on for about 90 years.
Don......

I did find a Brandenburg family reunion that takes place at a Methodist Church in Kemptown, MD every 3rd Sunday in September. They just has their 90th reunion in 2017.

 

[tamrock]

I was wondering what you were up to when you gave me a "like" over in the genealogy forum. Yes I was finding some of my ancestors of mine with roots in Ohio. Some just kept going west. One fella I found buried in Oregon in the 19th century. His roots tied back to the same ancestors to which I believe I came from. For all I know he ventured out on the Oregon Trail and ended up there.


Sooooo....
I guess this is my opportunity for confession. When I first started hanging out in the MDS forum, your name caught my eye. I've been trying to research my ancestors for years. Here is a partial name of one line. Warning it may be a little shocking (it was for me)

View attachment 1559861

That's pretty cool. I don't know if you noticed, but there are a lot of Brandenburgs who settled in Ohio, also. I have not made any connections between us, though. Count your blessings, lol.
I have learned that German names stem from the region they came from. So we are from different regions. Here is a link that is for the Brandenburg name.

https://www.houseofnames.com/brandenburg-family-crest

It is interesting. I can only imagine how many people out there that share the same common ancestors that you do.

 

[devldog]

Tamrock, this was a great post. Congrat's on doing the research on the genealogy on your family. It means a lot to know about the origins of your family and where they came from and who family members were. That was some dream you had some time back. One day all our questions and pondering will all be answered. We will one day be joined together for that Great Family Reunion. You sound like you have close ties to your family too. We are both about the same age. I was born in 1956 also.

 

[old digger]

Nice research! I did some family genealogy, but the third and fourth generations are so scattered it is difficult to get any information. By the way, Parents and mom's side of the family are buried just northeast of Ankney in the Elkhart cemetery.

 

[tamrock]

Nice research! I did some family genealogy, but the third and fourth generations are so scattered it is difficult to get any information. By the way, Parents and mom's side of the family are buried just northeast of Ankney in the Elkhart cemetery.

My dad and brother are buried north of Ankeny, Iowa

 

[tamrock]

Tamrock, this was a great post. Congrat's on doing the research on the genealogy on your family. It means a lot to know about the origins of your family and where they came from and who family members were. That was some dream you had some time back. One day all our questions and pondering will all be answered. We will one day be joined together for that Great Family Reunion. You sound like you have close ties to your family too. We are both about the same age. I was born in 1956 also.

According to the Bible, none of us have or will be given the knowledge of when it's our time to go, but instead live ever day as if it is your last day. In doing that you'll be guaranteed not to screw up your odds of getting to the promise Land. I took that dream with a grain of salt. Not sure what it was all about other then I kept reciting the number 2038 as I was on my way to find that room number. I do that in like 3 story motels. They'll hand me the key and say your in room 215. I'll be going over in my head 215, 215, 215 as I'm lugging my luggage to the place I'm in for the night. I have my hands full and if I don't do that and forget the room number, I'll need to but my luggage down, get the key out of my pocket and see again what they said at the front desk.

 

[old digger]

Grant, I don't think you'll have to worry about which room number or also have to worry about any of your luggage.

 

[tamrock]

Grant, I don't think you'll have to worry about which room number or also have to worry about any of your luggage.

that's what I like about naked you come in and naked you go out.

 

[tamrock]

I need to update my ancestry. Before in my research I had coupled my 4th great granddad Henry Harrison Brandenburg to an Aaron Brandenburg. I came across a site that suggested some uncertainty of who the father of Henry H Brandenburg really was. Long story short is I began to look more at the Brandenburg's of Warren County Ohio. Seeing historical listings of land deeds and military pension records, particularly those of the Revolutionary War, I discovered an Anthony Brandenburg born 1762 in Germantown, PA. He had 12 children and a son Henry H Brandenburg who is the father of Henry Jackson Brandenburg born in Union County IN and his son Rufus King Brandenburg also born in Union Co, IN who's son Ira Brandenburg the grandad I remember who fathered my dad Billy Charles Brandenburg. It was really interesting to find out about all this and particularly interesting to read the court appearance in September 1833 for Anthony Brandenburgs, age 71 plea to receive a military pension for his service in the Revolutionary War as an Indian Scout, which he did receive by his oral account and no Witnesses to prove his eligibility. Though some of it does bother me as he had a hand in the removal of Native Americans, but that's how it was then. I had a hunch the was something behind the middle name of his grandson being Henry [Jackson] Brandenburg. All these years no one in my family really ever said or could tell you the history of how long we've been around, other than every Brandenburg male was a farmer, until the great depression came along and that way of life was gone for my grandad who up and took the family on a place call Seattle, but instead they came upon a well to do sweet potato farmer in Gooding, Idaho who had room for a down on his luck farmer with 6 kids and a wife with work as a farm hand until things got better. My dad went to visit that house in Gooding, Idaho maybe a year before he died and my mom said he just felt he had to go see one last time, but he never really ever said why.



Anthony Brandenburg Senior
(m. Pamela Curtis)
Lived in Germantown, Philadelphia County, PA; near Harrodsburg, Kentucky;
Somerset County, PA; and Warren County, Ohio
Anthony Brandenburg Senior
b: ca 1762, Germantown, Philadelphia, PA (pension record)
m: ca 1784, Harrodsburg, KY (pension record, birth of 1st child)
d: 6-8 Sep 1842, Clear Creek Twp, Warren Co., OH (226, 394)
bur: probably Dodds Cem., Warren Co., OH (pension, census, deed)
occ: Farmer (census)
fa: Jacob, Samuel or Samuel Jacob Brandenburg (tradition)
mo: Susannah ‘Susan’ Schuester/Shuster (Keever Family Reunion)
military: Virginia (Kentucky) Militia and Indian Scout, Revolutionary War
(pension record)
Pamela Curtis
b: 1761-1770, unknown (census)
d: 1830-1840, Clear Creek Twp., Warren Co., OH (census)
bur: probably Dodds Cem., Warren Co., OH (census, deed)
fa: unknown Curtis
mo: unknown
CHILDREN
* 1. Mary ‘Polly’ Brandenburg
b: 6 Apr 1785, near Harrodsburg, KY (census, tombstone, 226)
m: William Wilkins, ca 1817, unknown (158, birth of 1st child)
d: 31 Aug 1861, Randolph Co., IN (census, tombstone)
bur: Hopewell Cem., Fountain City, Wayne, Co., IN (tombstone)
* 2. Henry Harrison Brandenburg
b: ca 1786, near Harrodsburg, KY or Somerset Co., PA (226, 394)
m: Rhoda Goble, 25 May 1809, Warren Co., OH (263)
d: 1874-1876, probably Union Co., IN (394, census)
bur: unknown, probably Union Co., IN (census, deed)
* 3. Catherine Brandenburg
b: 11 Sep 1788, Turkey Foot Twp., Somerset Co., PA (226, tombstone)
m: Edward Price, 25 Nov 1813, Warren Co., OH (263)
d: 24 May 1844-1846, Wayne Co., IN (deed, husband’s Will)
bur: unknown, probably Wayne Co., IN (deed, husband’s Will)
* 4. Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Brandenburg
b: 5 Jul 1790, Turkey Foot Twp., Somerset Co., PA (226, tombstone)
m: Issac Clements, 20 Oct 1814, Warren Co., OH (263)
d: 23 Jan 1868, Randolph Co., IN (tombstone)
bur: Arba Cem., Arba, Randolph Co., IN (tombstone)
5. Jacob Brandenburg
b: 30 Aug 1793, Turkey Foot Twp., Somerset Co., PA (census, 71)
m: Elizabeth Ann Freel, 9 Apr 1818, Warren Co., OH (263)
d: 10 Dec 1854, Darke Co., OH (394)
bur: unknown, Darke Co., OH (394)
* 6. Margaret Brandenburg
b: ca 1797, Turkey Foot Twp., Somerset Co., PA (census, 71)
m: Jesse Wooley, 1 Oct 1839, Warren Co., OH (263)
d: post Jul 1860, probably Clinton Co., OH (394, census)
bur: unknown, Clinton Co., OH (census, county history)
* 7. Nancy Brandenburg
b: ca 1799, Turkey Foot Twp., Somerset Co., PA (54, 71)
m: William Galbreth, 22 Jul 1820, Warren Co., OH (263)
d: 1866-1870, Hancock Co., IN (263)
bur: unknown, probably Hancock Co., IN (263)
* 8. Hannah ‘Anna’ Brandenburg
b: 11 Sep 1803, Turkey Foot Twp., Somerset Co., PA (33, 44)
m: none - single, but 2 illegitimate children, unless they were adopted (census)
d: 4 Mar 1891, Warren Co., OH (tombstone, 556)
bur: Miami Cem., Waynesville, Warren Co., OH (tombstone)
* 9. William Brandenburg
b: ca 1805, Turkey Foot Twp., Somerset Co., PA (50, 41, 71)
m: Elizabeth Wooley, 6 Sep 1829, Warren Co., OH (263)
d: post 2 Oct. 1843, Warren Co., OH (deed)
bur: unknown, probably Warren Co., OH (deed)
* 10. Samuel Jefferson Brandenburg (son’s death record)
b: ca 1808, Clear Creek Twp., Warren Co., OH (census, 226)
m: #1-Sarah Melissa Bone, 15 Feb 1824, Warren Co., OH (marriage license)
m: #2-Barbara Morningstar, 8 Jul 1847, Warren Co., OH (marriage license)
d: 8 Nov 1850-1852, Warren Co., OH (wife’s 2nd m., census)
bur: probably Dodds Cem., Warren Co., OH (daughter’s tombstone)
11. Anthony Brandenburg Junior
b: ca 1811, Clear Creek Twp., Warren Co., OH (census, 226)
m: none - single (census)
d: post 8 Jul 1860, unknown (census)
bur: unknown
* 12. Abraham Brandenburg
b: ca 1817, Clear Creek Twp., Warren Co., OH (census, 226)
m: Elizabeth [unknown], pre 1880, unknown (1880 Indiana Census)
d: post 1 Aug 1850, unknown (census)
bur: unknown
Note: Anthony Brandenburg Senior’s daught


Anthony Brandenburg Pension Record (see #226), some punctuation and paragraphs
were added by Pat Bristley:
State of Ohio, Warren County,
Court of Common Pleas of the term of September 1833:

On the sixteenth day of September, 1833, personally appeared in open Court
before the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Warren & State of Ohio, now
sitting, Anthony Brandenburg, aged seventy one years and upwards, who first being duly
sworn, according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration, in order to
obtain the benefit of the act of Congress, passed [on the] 4th of June, 1832,
That at Harrodsburgh in the State of Kentucky, in the year 1779, and about the
first day of April, he entered the service of the United States by volunteering under Col.
John Bowman, to go on a Campaign against the Indians. And that he belonged to a
company commanded by Captain William Herring, Josiah Harlan was the lieutenant, the
aforesaid Col. Bowman commanded the regiment or Squadron.
That in the month of April, aforesaid, Captain Herring’s company marched from
the said river to the Ohio, which river we camped at what is now Cincinnati, at which
point the expedition was embodied under said Col. Bowman. From thence we were
marched to Oldtown on the Little Miami, near to where Xenia now is, where we had an
engagement with the Indians in the month of May of said year. And in which battle, seven
or eight of Col. Bowman’s men were killed and three or four Indians.
Our object was to destroy said town, but in this we did not altogether succeed. But
we did burn about one-half of said town, and took from them one hundred and sixty head
of horses, or thereabouts, and took them into Kentucky and sold them at auction at the
mouth of said River. Then from which place I accended the Ohio and some of the men
descended said river, we all having been dismissed at said point. But I received no written discharge. We were dismissed the last of June or first of July in the aforesaid year, having
served three months, during all of which time I was a common soldier.
On the first day of April, 1780, as well as deponent can remember, at
Harrodsburgh in Kentucky, he again entered the service by Volunteering under Captain
Hugh McGarvy, the lieutenant was Jacob Keller. We were attached to the expedition
commanded by Col. George Clark, which expedition was embodied at the Falls of the
Ohio river [now Louisville, KY]. Our company rendezvoused at Harrodsburg, from
which place we were marched to the Falls of the Ohio, about the first day of July in said
year. From the Falls of the Ohio a part of the expedition was taken in the river in boats to
where Cincinnati now is, and the residue was raised by Col. Logan, to said point. The
whole expedition consisted of one thousand men, as it was said.
From thence we were marched to Old Town which we found vacated. From
thence we marched to a town called Pickaway [an Indian town] on Mad river, where we
were engaged in battle with the Indians for about three hours and lost about twenty men,
having whipped the Indians. I took fourteen scalps. From thence we were marched back
to where Cincinnati now is. From which place we all returned home.
I was required and was actively engaged, after my return home, in guarding the
frontiers of our settlements against the Indians until about the first of September, 1780,
when Captain McGarvy dismissed us. We received no written discharge. In this last
service I was engaged actively for six months.
In spring in the year 1781, and about the first of April, again I volunteered under
said Captain McGarvy, to go on another expedition against the Indians under said Col.
Clark, but the expedition failed in consequence of Clark’s men being killed. On the way
down the Ohio, at the mouth of the Big Miami river, things were under the command of
Col. Daughnie. I was engaged, however, in the service for two months in scouting the
Indians under said Captain McGarvy, and in making canoes at Leetown on the Kentucky
river for said expedition, but was not discharged regularly by any one.
I was born in Germantown, near Philadelphia, but in what year I cannot state,
though from the best information I am in possession of, I am now 71 years of age &
upwards. I have no record of my age. When I entered the service, I lived near
Harrodsburgh, Kentucky, from which place, after I finally left the service, I went into
Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in the year 1787. From thence in the year 1807, I
removed to Warren County, Ohio, where I have ever since resided.
He [Anthony Senior] further states he knows of no witness living, by whom he
can prove his service. He is known to John Brooks, a clergyman, & Peter Proud and many
others of his neighborhood, by whom he can prove that he is & had been thought to have
been a soldier of the Revolution, as before stated, and that he is a man of good moral
character. He also states that from the infirmities of age, he cannot state the facts relative
to his Service with more particularity than he has above done. And he hereby relinquishes
every claim whatever to a pension or annuity, except the present, and declares that his
name is not on the pension roll, or the agency of any state.
Sworn to & subscribed this his
day & year first af’s [aforesaid]

Anthony (X) Brandenburg
mark

 

[smokeythecat]

2038? Hmmmm......May be nothing, but.......I have seen quite a few published pictures of clouds of one sort or another that really do look like angels or Jesus coming in the sky. I saw one myself last summer but couldn't seem to get off the road to get a pic, and it was gone. Maybe something bigger is coming.

 

[tamrock]

2038? Hmmmm......May be nothing, but.......I have seen quite a few published pictures of clouds of one sort or another that really do look like angels or Jesus coming in the sky. I saw one myself last summer but couldn't seem to get off the road to get a pic, and it was gone. Maybe something bigger is coming.

So what might that bigger thing be there Smokey?

 

[piegrande]

That is so special to be able to go back and look at that. I, on the other hand, can't go past my grandpa. He was left in a catholic orphanage in Washington state and we can't crack it from there. Congrats for a brilliant family history.

A lot of people have had great luck with one of the family matching services. I used Family matching on Family Tree DNA, others have used family matching on Ancestry.com. This finds people closely related to you with great accuracy. This has been used to solve very old murder and rape cases.

My father told us that two brothers of his great-grandfather had come to Brooklyn with the other siblings, around 1850, and had gone on to Australia. Using family matching I found a 4th or 5th cousin in Australia, which would support family memories.

 

[devldog]

that's what I like about naked you come in and naked you go out.

Another plus is No IRS and No Taxes.

 

[tamrock]

A lot of people have had great luck with one of the family matching services. I used Family matching on Family Tree DNA, others have used family matching on Ancestry.com. This finds people closely related to you with great accuracy. This has been used to solve very old murder and rape cases.

My father told us that two brothers of his great-grandfather had come to Brooklyn with the other siblings, around 1850, and had gone on to Australia. Using family matching I found a 4th or 5th cousin in Australia, which would support family memories.

My wife does couples counseling. A couple she saw the husband did the matching dna thing and it matched to a girl that could only be his biological daughter. The daughter was from a previous relationship the husband had long before he was married to the woman he is now. He never knew about this daughter of his, but his wife now was having a real issue with it and that new info was putting a lot of strain on their marriage. She just wasn't getting over it. I guess it blew her world apart and she felt their marriage could never be the same with that new information.