Journeying with Jacque

The Emma Hunt and More

Today when people ask me what I do, I now reply, “I search for Emmas.” It all started with a quilt.

The Cobles were in Billings this summer celebrating Gary’s mom’s 90th birthday. Gary’s brother Joel mentioned that he was trying to decide what to do with the quilt that he had inherited; he thought that they might want to donate it to an historical society or museum since it had been made in the 1800s. They knew that it was a family quilt and that “Emma” made the quilt but had no other information and asked if I could see what I could find about a family member named Emma.

I went home and found the “perfect” Emma. Emma Matilda Clewell Frantz was the sister of Amelia who is Pa’s mother (this Emma was Gary’s great-grandaunt). Emma Matilda was born on September 10, 1884 to Daniel Clewell and died February 26, 1963. She married George Frantz in October 1913 but they had no children. Emma worked as a sewing machine operator for an upholstering company. Since she had no children, it makes sense that she would have left her quilt to her nephew.

So again, she is the perfect Emma.

Then Joel went home and discovered that the quilt was made between November 1885 and April 1888. Even if Emma Matilda was extremely precocious, it is unlikely she would have started quilting at the age of one.

I once again began to search for Emmas. I found two more Emma Matildas (who knew that would be such a popular name). Emma Matilda Jacoby Oerter was born on December 12, 1874 to Charles and Sarah Jacoby.  The other Emma was Emma Matilda Jacoby Bachman, born December 11, 1850 to Benjamin and Margaret “Rebecca” Jacoby. Jacoby was the maiden name of Gary’s maternal grandmother. Okay, now we’re narrowing it down…until Gary’s mom, Georgene reflects back on her memories of receiving the quilt and realized the quilt came from her father’s side, not her mother’s, so the two Jacoby Emmas don’t work. “I do know the quilt was from dad’s family because Aunt Elta (dad’s sister) gave it to me when Jo Ann had an open house get-together when she and Tom lived on Green Pond Road. That would have been around early 1970s and Aunt Elta said she thought the quilt was about 100 years old. It was then put in my cedar chest which was my 16th birthday present that Pappy made and stayed there until Joel got it.”

Since the quilt came from the Huber side of the family, I got out the “Big Red Book.” This is the Genealogical History of the descendants of Johann Franz Huber also known as John Francis Huber, researched, compiled, and written by Gloria C. Hartzell (there are 498 pages in this book). In 1970 Gloria met Elta Huber Bonner from our branch of the family and they worked closely together to identify ancestors and relatives and shared information they both spent years collecting.

I went to the index of this book and counted Emmas. I found 91 Emmas. Some of them are duplicates because if they were direct ancestors they are listed by both their maiden name and their married names. Some lived in other parts of the country and since the book encompasses the years 1751–1983 not all Emmas were from the right time period. I found two Emmas who are likely candidates for making this quilt, though this is just speculation on my part.

Emma Jane and Emma Maria were cousins who both lived in and had ties to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Their grandparents were Adam and Hannah Hess Huber.

Emma Jane Huber Leibert was born in 1858 to Francis and Maria Huber. She died in 1911. Emma Maria Huber Vogel was born in 1863 to Tobias and Catharine Huber. She died in 1944.

It is unclear how Aunt Elta got the quilt but beginning in 1971 there were Huber Reunions that Aunt Elta helped organize so she had many Huber connections. We may never know the whole story of the quilt, but it is in excellent condition and should certainly be treasured.

Reflections of 2023 beyond Emmas

Even after six years of retirement, I still get asked, “What do you do?” Well, if I’m not hunting Emmas, you might find me sitting on my patio with a cup of tea or a glass of wine and reading. According to Good Reads (which is connected to my Kindle), as of December 14, I read 70 books for the year (and no, I didn’t stop reading on Dec. 14). I also read one print book that a friend loaned me. I certainly can entertain myself with my reading, my genealogy research (including working on my trees), my blog, my photo book projects and my recipe calendar. I am woefully behind on most of my projects, but that just means I never have an excuse to be bored.

Ah, just in case this sounds like I’m a bit isolated and reclusive, that’s not really the case (though I have friends who seem to think I am). Gary and I take advantage of the opportunity to travel while we still feel youngish and are in pretty good health. 2023 was no exception. Our first big trip of the year was to Hawaii. We spent three days in Oahu, then went on a cruise of the Islands. We got the chance to spend time in Maui before the horrific fire. We got some wonderful pictures of the world-famous banyan tree; Gary bought a ukulele right across the street from it.

Furthermore, we later went to Palm Springs to connect with friends, attended two Renaissance Faires (Arizona and Colorado), and spent a seek in Carlsbad enjoying our time with close friends.

Our last big trip was a Globus bus tour of Europe. We started in Amsterdam and ended in Paris, visiting nine countries. Other than Italy, Monaco and part of France, these were countries (and cities) we had never been to before, and seriously, seeing the Mona Lisa in person was definitely a bucket list item. Gary and I both have ancestors who were from Holland and Germany. Gary also has ancestors from Austria and Switzerland (and possibly France). We had a wonderful time and had great experiences. It really is amazing to actually explore these countries and enjoy these special adventures.

2023 was also a year when we got to connect with family. Our first family trip was in May to watch Scott bowl in Reno, then in June we headed to Montana to celebrate Georgene’s 90th birthday. We celebrated multiple times over the week we were there. Next up was the Coble Family Reunion in Ohio. It was my first time visiting Ohio and we had a great time. It’s always special to visit with the aunts, uncles, and many cousins. Jody and Brian visited us in Vegas on Halloween where we enjoyed the wildlife on Fremont Street. Joel, Sally, and John also visited the Vegas area and we discovered a new favorite restaurant. We were fortunate to spend time with my family in Eureka Springs, Arkansas the week before Thanksgiving. It’s a delightful town with good restaurants and plenty of shopping. This is an exciting time because our family is expecting two babies in the next few months. We’ll definitely have to plan a 2024 family trip to meet the newest family members.

While we didn’t go to as many shows and concerts as usual, we saw Michael Jackson One in January, the Chicks in May, and later saw Buddy Guy at the Smith Center. We have tickets to see Mannheim Steamroller on December 29th.

On a personal note, this has been the year that I decided to “ditch the dye.” (Oh how I wish I would have made this decision during the COVID shutdown…) We were watching a show on TV, Night Office, and one of the characters had gorgeous “gray/silver” hair. I told Gary, “If my hair would look like that, I would definitely grow it out.” That was my spark. Then I started to have a reaction to the chemicals when I colored my hair and decided it was time. A friend of mine decided to grow out her hair too, so I made the commitment. I wrote how my red hair was part of my identity and how that came to be in my blog post dated July 2023 found at https://journeyingwithjacque.com/random-month-7-of-12-ancestors-in-12-months/.

I really enjoy living in our small 55+ community located within a huge metropolitan area. We have the small town feel combined with all that a large city offers. We’re going to celebrate New Year’s Eve having dinner with friends in our community…and yes, we plan to celebrate at the same time our East Coast friends are. Of course, next year we can always celebrate the way Hofbräuhaus, one of our favorite restaurants does, and ring in the New Year at midnight Munich time which is at 3:00 p.m.

And as for my New Year’s resolution, I still want to lose those 10 pounds.

Sometimes we live a simple life; sometimes we live a crazy, chaotic life. It’s all good. So when I’m asked, “What do you do?”, my answer is, “It depends.”

Sources

Coble, Jacquelyn. “Random – Month 7 of 12 Ancestors in 12 Months.” Journeying with Jacque, WordPress, 7 July 2023, journeyingwithjacque.com/random-month-7-of-12-ancestors-in-12-months/.

Hartzell, Gloria C. Genealogical History of John Francis Huber from Bucks County, PA, and His Descendants, with Related Families, 1751-1983. G.C. Hartzell, 1983.

“My Year in Books.” Goodreads, Goodreads, 14 Dec. 2023, www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2023.

Daniel Lewis Clewell – Civil War and Beyond

Daniel Lewis Clewell served in the Civil War not once, but twice. Both times he was a private in the Pennsylvania Infantry. He served as a hired substitute for one of his enlistments. (Pa, Gary’s grandfather Charles Huber, shared this information on the back of the photograph of Daniel.)

This practice was actually quite common. In order to avoid the draft which was deemed necessary in order to ensure enough soldiers, a provision was provided that “a draftee could pay a ‘substitute’ enrollee the sum of $300 (about $5,000 in today’s terms) in order to enlist in his place. Such famous Americans as Grover Cleveland and John D. Rockefeller took advantage of this provision, in effect buying their way out of service (Onion).” Abraham Lincoln also chose to hire a substitute even though he was too old for the draft and as President wouldn’t have been drafted anyway. He selected J. Summerfield Staples who was only 19 to serve for him. While Lincoln made this decision in order to be an example, hiring substitutes quickly became very unpopular because people were unhappy that only the wealthy had this opportunity.

Daniel first served in the 129th Infantry Regiment of Pennsylvania from August 15, 1862 until May 18, 1863. He then served in the 202nd Infantry Regiment of Pennsylvania from August 26, 1864 until August 3, 1865.

When Daniel died, he received a tombstone indicating that he was a veteran. The application also identifies that Daniel had been captured on October 25, 1864.

The Clewells originally settled in Schoeneck, Pennsylvania in the 1700s . They were descendants of French Huguenot refugees. Schoeneck means “pretty corner.”

Daniel (Gary’s 2nd great grandfather) was born on September 7, 1841 in Pennsylvania and died on February 11, 1928 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He married Anna Mary Bender in 1873. Anna was born on January 30, 1849 in Wuttemberg, Germany; she died on November 13, 1926 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Daniel and Anna had seven children, including Gary’s great grandmother, Amelia Clewell.

After the war, Daniel was a laborer who worked on the rolling mill in the steel industry.

According to Daniel’s obituary, when he died he was “one of Bethlehem’s oldest residents and a veteran of the Civil War.” Even though he was 87, “the news of his death came as a shock to his many friends.”

Sources

Norris, David A. “Substitutes (Civil War).” NCpedia, Encyclopedia of North Carolina, 1 Jan. 2006, www.ncpedia.org/substitutes-civil-war.

Onion, Rebecca. “Abraham Lincoln’s Substitute Soldier.” Slate Magazine, Slate, 10 Jan. 2013, slate.com/human-interest/2013/01/abraham-lincoln-the-president-paid-a-substitute-to-enlist-in-the-union-army.html.