Tracing the Herzke Connection

My aunt Dee Dee called me right before Christmas excited to tell me about a cousin she reconnected with.  She described how close they were when she was a kid and was amazed to hear from him after all these years. He had a bunch of family that photos she was anxious to share with me. The icing on the cake is that he is not only my cousin, but he is my neighbor, living less than an hour away.

I am not sure if we had ever met when I was growing up and his family name hadn't come up while researching the genealogy of the Packhisers and Krolls. Several other relaives names came up during my conversation with Dee, including Judy Carr and Erwin Reich, who where friends and relatives of my grandparents, Erwin and Lydia Packhiser, but they were not known to me.

I was trying to understand where they fit in to the family genealogy and decided to touch base with my mother Jeanne. Mom not only recognized the names, she had already seen the photos. Both her and Dad remembered our newly found cousin, who they called "Corky".  He is the younger brother of Barbara Sivertsen...finally a name I recognized. I remembered going to her house in the 1960's when my mom would visit, but I didn't realize she was a cousin...

It all seems to lead back to my Great Grandmother Ottilie J. Kroll.

Say Ottilie 

before we go any further let's decide how to pronounce Ottilie. The common American pronounciation is OTT-TIL-LEE.

Grandma Kroll was a German immigrant and the German pronounciation would more commonly be:
Ah-Teal-ya

Start with what we already know

Let me list what I already know about "Grandma Kroll" that is... Ottille Herzke Kroll.

I know she lived in a house at 112 Monhagen Ave, Middletown, New York.

When I was a kid growing up, in the 1960's this had become the home of her daughter Elsie, whom we called "Heshie". I spent alot of time at this house mowing grass, picking weeds and trimming bushes. My Grandmother, Lydia, whom we called Ami (Ahm-Mi), lived across the street at 115 Monhagen Avenue. I knew from family lore that Ami's Mother lived here when after her father passed away.

112 Monhagen Avenue, home of Ottilie J. Kroll

In addition, my Mom had told me stories of the Kroll farm in Chester, N. Y.  Rich with stories of horseback riding, and playing in the barns. A favorite story was the time when they were young kids and were playing in the hayloft, a forbidden place to be, and Mom accidently fell through the hay chute landing at her grandfathers feet as he was milking the cows, unharmed but with a lot of explaining to do.

Kroll Grave site in Wallkill Cemetery, Middletown, N. Y. (Photo (C) 2014  by Frederick Walton)

Ottilie J. Kroll Grave site in Wallkill Cemetery, Middletown, N. Y. (Photo (C) 2014  by Frederick Walton)

I knew she was buried at the Wallkill cemetery and during a 2014 visit to Middletown, I spent an afternoon locating, cleaning and photographing her Grave. Beside finding her final resting place, I have documented her birth date (1873) and her Death Date (1955).

I also knew (Family Lore) that she was a German immigrant, so her birth place was Germany.

1953 Birth Certificate for my Grandmother Lydia Kroll

 Somewhere along the way, I obtained a copy of my Grandmothers birth Certificate.  This confirms that Ottilie was born in Germany, as was her husband. We learn that the J in her middle name is for Juliana. and it confirms her birthdate of 1873. This also confirms the location of their farm in 1904...Blooming Grove. As a bonus, on the rear of the 1953 reissued birth certificate is Ottilie's signature! Confirming once and for all the proper spelling of her name. O-t-t-i-l-i-e