The 8th Son

Louis, ca. 1890; taken in Ft. Wayne, Ind.

In a nutshell, Louis Napoleon Metzner was    the 8^th and last son of William and Barbara Metzner.  He was born 26 May 1872 in St. Louisville, Licking County, Ohio and died in Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan on 4 March 1930.  His only son, Albert, was my grandfather.

 

I remember as a young girl the first time I heard Grandpa Al say his father’s name – he included the middle name of “Napoleon” and I thought that was so funny!  I also remember at that moment everyone kept shushing Grandpa for having revealed it -- or shushing me for thinking it was funny – it’s not really clear anymore.  But all that shushing made me think there was something forbidden about Great-Grandpa Louis’s middle name. Silly! Nevertheless, I don’t recall we talked about Louis Napoleon too much after that.  He died when Grandpa Al was 28 – my dad, Gordon, was just 5 weeks old.  Makes me wonder what he was like, and since I don’t remember anyone talking about him, all we can go by is records we can find.  This is what we know…

Of the eight Metzner boys, Louis and an older brother Jasper were the only brothers that worked for the railroad for any length of time – Jasper for 22 years before going into the laundry business -- Eagle Laundry in Fort Wayne.  But Louis was a railroad man all the way – 39 years total.  He began working for the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad out of Fort Wayne in 1891, starting as a fireman. By 1902 he was an engineer. 

Probably the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, ca. 1920. Louis is pictured in the top row, 3rd from the left, 

and his brother Jasper is in the 2nd row, far right. 

  

According to “America on the Move” from the National Museum of American History, the fireman and engineer operated a steam locomotive as a team. The fireman managed the output of steam. His boiler had to respond to frequent changes in demand for power as the train sped up, climbed hills, changed speeds, and stopped at stations. A skilled fireman anticipated changing demand as he fed coal to the firebox and water to the boiler. At the same time, the fireman was the “copilot” of the train who knew the signals, curves, and grade changes as well as the engineer. The engineer, in short, was in charge of driving the train, and that's the role Louis had for most of his career.  

Louis got some press occasionally for his work on the railroad -- these railroad men seemed to be big news! The saddest event was reported in two Fort Wayne newspapers on January 8 and 10, 1906. The headline from January 8 and excerpted text from January 10 are presented here:

He even got news coverage for ordinary events in his life.

Fort Wayne News, Dec. 21, 1894

Newark Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio), Feb 24, 1900

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, Nov 14, 1907

In the end, these articles don’t give us a clear picture of his life. Except for the dangers associated with working on the railroad, Louis’ life was probably rather ordinary.  In 1911 he moved his family (wife and two children) to Grand Rapids, Michigan, continuing his railroad work from that location.  If you’ve read earlier posts in this blog you’ll recall that Louis may have been a bit of a dreamer – telling family tales of connections to Jesse James and Buffalo Bill.  Maybe the few photos we have of Louis speak for themselves – what do you think they say about the man?

These souvenir postcards were popular from about 1905 to 1920.  There is nothing written on the back of them so we have no idea where they were taken.  I think they speak a little to Louis' sense of humor. I wonder if he was a fun guy?

 

The search to discover more about Louis and his life is high on my list of genealogical pursuits. Keep your fingers crossed for me. 


Read more about Louis in the posts from July 11 and July 21, 2012.

The Metzner Boys

I am happy to report that John, who I wrote about in the last blog post, is the only child in William and Barbara Metzner’s family that we know met a tragic end.  The brothers of that  generation – there were eight sons in all – were rather ordinary fellas.  A few of them may have tried to find a more exciting path in life but that never really happened.  Two, and perhaps three, of the boys essentially disappeared—more on that later. 

So who are the other boys?

William and Barbara’s first son, William Henry, was born on June 9, 1848 in St. Louisville, Licking County, Ohio.  His parents and siblings relocated to Jay County, Indiana for a period of time, but when the family returned to Ohio, William Henry stayed in Indiana.  He worked there as a day laborer and a farmer – very ordinary stuff – and eventually married a local girl, Angeline Meed. They had two children. William Henry died in Oct. 21, 1921 at age 73 and is buried in Green Park Cemetery in Portland, Indiana.

The 1880 Census for Jay County, Indiana lists Agaline[sic] Metzner and her two children, Sarah and John L., living with Angeline's mother, Nancy Meed.  It is interesting to note that Angeline's husband, William Henry Metzner, is not living with them.  Where was he?  An exhaustive search reveals nothing of his whereabouts.  It is a puzzle, but by the 1900 census he is again living with Angeline. What happened in the 20 years between the two censuses is unknown.  Their son John L. died in 1898 at the age of 20.  I have not yet found out when, where, or how he died.

James was son No. 2.  He also led a rather uneventful life.  He lived at home with his parents until he was 30, but by 1900 he was living on his own and working as a “common laborer.”  James never married.  He was born on Dec. 16, 1849 and died July 7, 1905, age 55, from tuberculosis. His obituary very succinctly describes him:

The Newark Advocate, July 7, 1905

    

Son No. 3 – Washington – is one of the mystery brothers.  He just dropped out of sight.  Washington was born around 1852, probably in Licking County, Ohio.  At the age of 18 (in 1870) he was living at home with his parents and working as a “common laborer.” That’s the last we hear of him.  When his father William died in 1882, the will stated that Washington’s address was unknown. Then, after Washington’s mother died in 1908, her probate records identify Washington’s death date as March 27, 1909. It doesn’t say where, and so far no death record has been found for him through on-line research. Perhaps, in order to close the estate, the family had to have Washington declared legally dead.  

I am sure there are records out there for Washington but finding them has proven very difficult.  He may have used another name or changed the spelling of his last name.  I've looked for George Washington Metzner -- even looked for Metzler, Metzger, and all variety of other spellings, with absolutely no luck.  So Washington will remain a mystery for the time being.    

John (1854-1878) – the one from the last blog post, who died due to injuries in the railroad accident, was son No. 4.

Jasper Metzner, ca. 1910

Next was Jasper -- No. 5.  I’ve written quite a bit about him in posts on 7/11/2012 and 7/21/2012.  He and his brother Louis (my great-grandfather) were probably quite close even though 16 years apart. Both were railroad men working the Grand Rapids route out of Ft. Wayne. We know that Jasper (1856-1938) tried to branch out beyond his small-town life in St. Louisville, Ohio – he traveled and tried to experience life to its fullest.  But when all was said and done, he ended up staying pretty close to home, eventually owning and operating the Eagle Laundry in Ft. Wayne. 

Railroad men were mentioned frequently in the Fort Wayne newspapers.  Several articles were found for Jasper.  One of the most interesting misidentified him, calling him Joseph instead of Jasper.  Here it is:

 

Fort Wayne Sentinel, September 6, 1894

Jasper died in Franklin, Indiana at the Masonic Home on Feb. 24, 1938 at the very respectable age of 81. Good for him!

Lafayette was son No. 6.  He has fascinated me for years – first because of his name and second because he too seemed to drop out of sight, just like his brother Washington.  In his mother’s probate records of 1908 his residence was listed as unknown and the family stated they believe he had died in 1900.  We will never know why he lost touch with his family but it's interesting that that happened with two of the boys.  Were they escaping a troublesome family?  Or did they have the same far away dreams of Jasper?  We don’t know.  But I can tell you I was thrilled in the course of my research when Lafayette finally popped up!!! And he actually hadn’t gone very far. 

Lafayette lived with his parents until 1880 where he was listed in the census for that year in Licking County.  A year after his father’s 1882 death, Laf was in Fort Wayne, Indiana with his brother Jasper.  He, like his brother John before him, worked as a brakeman for the Grand Rapids and Indiana line.  A year later, in 1884, Laf moved to Grand Rapids, and continued his work on the railroad from that town for at least three more years.

1887 Grand Rapids City Directory

Grand Rapids as Lafayette would have seen it between 1884 and 1887. 

Then around 1887 he married a woman named Viola and they began moving around the country. Perhaps he was looking for a better job, not wanting the danger of working on the railroad – or perhaps he just had the wanderlust and wanted to see what else life had to offer.

He and Viola made their way out to Denver by 1896 but for some reason ended up back in Chicago in 1900. There, Laf was employed as a stove moulder and Viola worked as a “medium” – telling peoples’ fortunes.  The following year they headed west once again, this time landing at Salt Lake City. Finally, in 1907, they settled in Los Angeles and remained there for the next 40 years.  Laf was gainfully employed through those years as a custodian for the Los Angeles school system.

I doubt that their life in Los Angeles was extraordinary.  He worked, she kept house, they had no children.  Viola died sometime in the 1930s but Laf lived on until September 10, 1947.  He was 84 years old.

The 7^th son of William and Barbara Metzner was another William, at least as far as the 1870 census is concerned.  The census recorded him as 4 months old, and that’s the last we hear of him.  There are no records of his death and he is not found in the 1880 census when he would have been 10 years old.  So where was he?  He was not listed in his father’s 1882 will so it’s presumed that young William died between 1870 and 1880.

And finally, the 8^th son was Louis Napoleon, my great-grandfather (left).  He has his own story to tell so I’ll save that for another blog.

And of course we can’t forget about the girls – William and Barbara had three – I’ll save them for another post, too.

Happy Reading!   

The story of John "Frank" Metzner

I am always surprised in the course of my genealogy research when I find a large 19^th century family where all the children survive to adulthood.  It happens so rarely, but for William and Barbara Metzner, parents of eleven children, all did survive.  Of course, Barbara may have given birth to others that died in infancy, but there is no record to prove that.

-          William Henry      (1848-1921)

-          James                    (1849-1905)               

-          Washington           (1852-unknown)

-     John                      (1854-1878)

-          Jasper                    (1856-1938)

-          Delana                   (1859-1954)

-          Lafayette               (1862-1947)           

-          Caroline                (1866-1910)

-          Henrietta               (1868-1950)

-          William                 (1870-unknown)

-          Louis                     (1872-1930)          

Over the years I’ve dug into the lineage of each of the children, hoping it would lead to other clues about William and Barbara and also to my great-grandfather Louis N. Metzner (1872-1930), the youngest of the eleven children.  Certainly it did but, in the course of doing research, it also uncovered unanticipated family events.  In the case of this family it was the very sad events surrounding the death of their fourth son, John.    

John was only 23 when he died so we find him in very few public records. He appears in the 1860 and 1870 census and in the city directories of Fort Wayne, Indiana. While those provide bits of important information, it doesn’t really tell us much about his life.

1870 U.S. Census, Licking County, Ohio

  

What we do know is that by 1870, at 16 years old, John is working as a “common laborer,” probably picking up odd jobs here and there.  But by 1877 he has moved to Ft. Wayne (from Licking County, Ohio) and is working for the railroad (the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad) as a brakeman.  The next year--the year he died--he is listed having the same occupation.  This time his younger brother Jasper has joined him in Ft. Wayne and is also working as a brakeman.  They are 23 and 21, respectively, very young to hold such responsible and dangerous jobs. 

1878 City Directory for Fort Wayne, Indiana

What does the brakeman do?  

According to the B&O Railroad Museum website one of the most dangerous jobs on the early railroads was that of brakeman. It was not a job for the faint of heart. It required strength and coordination, not to mention courage. The brakeman had to climb to the roof of the railcar and turn the wheel that engaged the brakes on each car. The air brake was invented in 1869, but not widely used because it was deemed too expensive.  It was not until the 1880’s when railroads finally began widespread use of air brakes that the job became less hazardous.

The Neversink Valley Museum says that besides the responsibilities of applying and releasing the train’s brakes, the brakeman was also responsible for coupling and uncoupling the train’s cars. In the days of link and pin coupling, switching cars was an inherently dangerous operation where the brakeman had to stand between two cars and attach or detach them. He risked being crushed during this operation or having arms or fingers maimed while lining up the basic link and pin mechanism then is use.

John Metzner was switching cars when he met his end.  The description of the event is difficult to read – one can only imagine how traumatic it must have been for all those involved, especially for his younger brother Jasper.

Four articles were printed in various newspapers and provide some insight into that terrible day.

 

From the Kalamazoo Gazette, April 1878

When I read about this terrible accident all I could wish was that John was rendered instantly unconscious and did not have to endure the pain of his horrible injuries...and my heart sank for his brother Jasper who rushed to his bedside then accompanied his body home.  What a traumatic family event. 

John's body was taken to Licking County where he was buried in Evans Cemetery on April 3, 1878.  He was the first of William and Barbara Metzner's eleven children to die.

Rest in Peace John.

Hitting the Brick Wall

I’ve done an exhaustive search for good genealogical evidence for William Metzner (1807-1882) of Licking County, Ohio, and his wife Barbara Powell Metzner (1828-1908), and I think I’ve “hit a brick wall” – a phrase well-used among genealogists. It basically means I'm stuck – and for William and Barbara, the search has probably ended in America, or nearly so. 

Other than being documented in U.S. Census records, which contain a wealth of genealogical information, William and Barbara left land records of property purchased in Licking County ... and William left a will.  The will has great potential. I’ve only seen an extract which identifies his children and where they were living at the time of his death -- if it was known.  The will has helped me move forward, fleshing out each of the children—among them Louis (our ancestral grandfather) and his brother Jasper -- both of whom I've written about in earlier blog posts.

William's grave marker, Evans Cemetery, Licking Co.

Next step is to get a complete copy of the will and see if anything more can be discovered about William and Barbara.  In the meantime, a few other bits of information have been uncovered for both of them.

William’s death is recorded in the “Record of Deaths, Licking County, Ohio” as follows:

Male. Metzner, William. Died 1882 June 8. Married. Age 75 years 3 months. Died at St. Louisville. Born in Germany. Occupation Farmer. Cause of death “dropsy.” 

There was no newspaper notice at the time of his death, or at least not one that could be found.  Perhaps there was no fanfare when he died. Makes me wonder if he was well-liked.  Did he have a nice circle of friends that would have attended his funeral?  I wonder? 

What we do know is that in 1880 (according to the census) he had a ruptured scrotum. Two years later he was gone, having passed away from dropsy. In modern medical terms dropsy is edema, a condition where fluid collects under the skin.  It’s unlikely that William died from dropsy – dropsy was probably just a symptom of a bigger problem such as heart failure.

After William’s death on June 8, 1882, his wife Barbara disappears, in a sense.  She isn’t found in any public or private records until January 23, 1908 when this short notice is published in the Newark (Ohio) Advocate:

That is followed five days later with her obituary:

Source: The Newark Advocate, 28 January 1908

Barbara's obituary at least provides a clue to the year she and William were married (61 years ago, so about 1847). Unfortunately, it does not tell us where the marriage took place.  The obit does imply that she may have been Catholic before her marriage -- another clue!  We don't know the names of her parents or siblings and without those the brick wall has been hit again.  Ah, genealogy...

But there are plenty of other Metzner stories to tell and people to research, so the hunt goes on. 

Right: Barbara's grave marker at Evans Cemetery in Licking County. Her husband William is engraved on one side and their son John, who died in 1878, on the other.

 

St. Louisville

The name Metzner is interesting.  While I’ve never met another person by that last name outside of my immediate family, an uncle and his children, a set of grand- parents, and of course Aunt Helen – I get very excited when someone I meet asks me if I’m related to so-and-so. Then I find out that it’s a Metzger or Metzler – not a Metzner they know – ah, bubble burst! And yet, in all the research I’ve done, I’ve come across hundreds of Metzners in genealogy records, especially in Indiana and Ohio.  Most, I imagine, are distant cousins, aunts, and uncle.

  

Left: Metzners settled in Jay County, Indiana (circled in red) and Licking County, Ohio (circled in green).

Indiana and Ohio are the states most of our Metzner ancestors settled when they arrived in America. Generations later, many still call these states "home."  

John Metzner (1805-1888) arrived in 1838 and eventually settled in Jay County, Indiana after a few stops along the way. His brother, and our direct ancestor, William Metzner (1807-1882), also set up homesteads in Indiana and Ohio. 

While it’s not certain when William arrived in America, we do know he was here by 1847 because he purchased a piece of property in St. Louisville, Ohio in November of that year.  It was Lot 12 of Coffman’s Addition in the heart of the little village – likely a convenient location to set up his harness-making business.  

In this 1875 map of St. Louisville, Ohio, Coffman's Addition is in the center of town. Lot 12, the first piece of property purchased by William Metzner in 1847, is the rectangle of land marked by the "C" in COFFMAN."

William’s circumstances must have changed around 1854.  That November he purchased 40 acres of farmland in Jay County, Indiana – the same county his brother John was living – so he left St. Louisville and for the next 12 years raised his family on that farm.

The gray square at the center (above) is the location of the William Metzner farm in Bearcreek Township, Jay County, Indiana. In the detail map below, notice a W.F. Metzner owns property just southwest of William's.  

We can also trace where our William Metzner family lived based on the births of his eleven children:

-          William Henry               b. 9 June 1848             Licking County, Ohio

-          James                             b. 16 Dec 1849             Licking County

-          Washington                    b. 1852                         Licking County

-          John                               b. 7 March 1854           Licking County

-          Jasper                             b. 4 April 1856             Jay County, Indiana

-          Delana                            b. July 1859                 Jay County

-          Lafayette                        b. 27 Sept 1862             Jay County

-          Caroline                         b. February 1866           Licking County

-          Henrietta                        b. April 1868                 Licking County

-          William                          b. May 1870                  Licking County

-          Louis*                             b. 26 May 1872             Licking County

*our g-grandfather

Their births tell us that the family was in Licking County, Ohio from at least 1848 to March of 1854, then Jay County, Indiana by April of 1856.  By the close of the Civil War, April 1865,  they were in their final year in Jay County. Circumstances again must have changed, causing William to sell the farm in March 1866 and move his family back to St. Louisville. 

William and wife Barbara bought and sold several pieces of property in St. Louisville between 1866 and 1871. They owned Lots 5, 6, and 14 in Coffman’s Addition until Barbara’s death in 1908. It is presumed the family home was on one of these lots.

  

Above: : Lots 5, 6, and 14 were purchased in 1866 after returning to St. Louisville. 
Lot 12 was their original lot, purchased in 1847. 

I visited St. Louisville in 1997 – I wish I had taken some photo of this interesting little town or knew, at the time, where Lots 5, 6, and 14 were situated.  I would have taken a few pictures and perhaps found the old homestead.  Good reason for another genealogy trip – my favorite kind of vacation. 

Helen's Clues.

When I first began doing genealogy my Aunt Helen Metzner McCarthy Kramer was living in Grand Rapids.  I remember she sat down with me one day to answer questions I had about our Metzner roots.  I didn’t know quite the right questions to ask (I was young and an inexperienced researcher), but she helped a lot. 

She gave me two clues.  The first was that she was named after her grandmother Barbara Metzner (Barbara was Aunt Helen’s middle name).  And secondly, she remembered as a girl, when the family went to visit Grandma Barbara, the train stopped at a station in Utica.  I remember clearly asking her what state Utica was in but she didn’t know.  Well, as many of you know, there is a Utica in Michigan, and that big one out in New York.  What I didn’t know at the time is there is also one in Licking County, Ohio, and for some reason, that’s where I started my search – call it a hunch.

Above: Helen Barbara Metzner, 1903, at 6 years old, the age she would have been traveling to visit 
her grandmother, Barbara Metzner, in Ohio.

Licking County is almost in the dead center of Ohio.  The train station that Helen remembered was in Utica at the top of the map.  The Metzners lived in St. Louisville, about 7.5 miles south of Utica. 

In those early days of my genealogy research (1977 to be exact), I wrote lots and lots of letters to county courthouse, churches, and cemeteries, or I went to the State Library in Lansing, Michigan to look at census records (today the internet has circumvented most of that type of effort). Anyway, I was so new at this genealogy business that the first thing I did was find a genealogist in the area of Utica, Ohio     (I think I wrote a letter to the local library and they passed my letter along to John Rugg of Granville, OH).  At the time I was a poor college student so funds were shakey, but Mr. Rugg took on my request to find Metzners in the area…and boy did he find Metzners!

I knew he was on the right track because he found a Barbara Metzner and a Louis Napolean Metzner – those two names I recognized – and though the other names he provided were foreign to me, he gave me the leads I needed to move forward.  

The search for our particular line – through William Metzner* (1807-1882) – hasn’t been an easy one.  The family is not particularly well documented, but after a little bit of intensive research I was able to trace a simple family lineage beginning with William:

• William Metzner (b. 1807 Germany; d. 1882 in Licking Co., Ohio), father of...
• Louis Napolean Metzner (b. 1872 in Licking Co., Ohio; d. 1930 in Grand Rapids, Mich.), father of...
• Albert Louis Metzner (b. 1902 in Ft. Wayne, Ind.; d. 1970 in Grand Rapids), father of... 
• Gordon Louis (b. 1930 in Grand Rapids, d. 1970 in Cleveland) and Albert Junior (b. 1932, d. 1984, both in Grand Rapids)

*William is the brother of John Metzner (1805-1888) of Jay County, Indiana.

William arrived in the U.S. from Germany sometime in the late 1830s or 1840s.  He first appeared in the 1850 U.S.Census and then for the last time in 1880.  Each of those records is shown below and represents the beginning of the search for our Metzner family.

ABOVE: This difficult-to-read 1850 Census from Licking County, Ohio tells us that William Metzner, age 41, male, is working as a harness maker; he owns personal property valued at $300, and was born in Germany.  Listed with him are his wife Barbary[sic], age 31; sons William (age 2) and James (age 9 months); and a boarder George Shiely who is working as a mason.

 * * * * *

 
William's family has grown considerably by 1860 (BELOW) and he's moved them to Bearcreek Township in Jay County, Indiana, the home of his brother John.  Notice the family name is incorrectly recorded as Metsner.  William is 52, male, and working as a farmer.  It notes his real estate is valued at $600 and his personal property (i.e., the contents of his home, farm animals, and farming equipment) is valued at $320.  It also tells us he was born in Saxony, a region in Germany.  In the same household is his wife Barbara, 33, female, who is doing housework. And now they have five children, four boys and one girl (Lena).  The birthplaces of the children also reveal that the family moved from Ohio to Indiana sometime between the birth of John and Casper (Jasper), so approximately 1855.

 

* * * * *

By the 1870 census (BELOW) William Metzer[sic] and his family have returned to St. Louisville in Licking County, Ohio. The reason for their return is unknown but perhaps William didn't like farming, which  he was doing in Indiana.  By now he is about 62 years old, even though the census records his age as 55, and he has returned to harness making.  He appears to be doing quite well. His real estate is valued at $3000 and personal property at $500.  Besides his wife Barbara, who is "keeping house," eight children are listed, some with occupations of sorts... Washington, 18, is a common laborer, as are his brothers John, 16, and Jasper, 14 (the boys are most likely laboring in their father's harness-making shop). Two sisters, Mary (a.k.a. Lena), 12, and Caroline, 9, are listed as "help at home."  Six-year-old Lafayette "goes to school," while Henrietta, age 2, and William, age 3 months, are at home.  It's interesting to note that none of the children over age 6 are listed as attending school.  It's entirely possible that working at home or in the harness shop took precedence over an education -- not uncommon for 19th century American children.

 

* * * * *

The final census that William appears in is 1880 (BELOW). This one is chock full of interesting information.

William Metzner, white male, age 74, married, is listed as having a "Ruptured scrotal"; the little hash marks (/) tell us he is disabled and cannot write (it's presumed this means he can neither write English or German). He was born in Saxony and his mother is listed as born in Helbourgh.  The Helbourgh clue is of considerable importance if we want to find the family in Germany, and it matches published information about his brother John Metzner of Jay County, Indiana. That published information identifies their mother as Hannah Reisenberg, born in Helburg, Germany -- more on that in a later blog. 

Listed with William in the 1880 census is Barbary, white female, age 52, wife, married, keeping house.  There are hash marks and a capital "G" in the sections for "Cannot Read" and "Cannot Write" -- does this mean she cannot read and write German but is able to read and write English?  We don't know.  It also lists her birthplace, and her parents' birthplace, as Germany. 

Listed below Barbara are three of their sons who are still living at home -- James, age 30, is working as a common laborer. He was not living at home in 1870 but may have come back to help the family as father William grew increasingly disabled. Next is Laffayette, age 16, who is attending school (per the second hash mark notation) -- and lastly Lewis (or as we know him, Louis), age 10, also attending school. Lewis is our ancestral grandfather and the future father of Albert Louis Metzner (1902-1970) and Helen Barbara Metzner (1897-1984).

This is just the tip of the iceberg for this family. Many stories and interesting bits of history have been uncovered about them over the course of 34 years of research.  I hope you'll stay tuned for all the inside scoop.