December 6, 2015

Another week of our Mission has come and gone as quick as all the rest which is rather scary.  Things continue to be rather slow on the British Services Zone.   However, that is a good thing as it has given us both time to concentrate a little more on our own research.  Lorene is becoming an expert in correcting errors on Family Search and I am becoming more confident with Ancestry.  It still is rather difficult for Lorene to find new names, and I have been able to find some new names that need to be verified,but the names, dates and places seem to be a good match.

Last night helped put some of my feelings about my grandmothers family come alive and the following is a summary of what felt and learned:

A Trail of Personal Discovery

As missionaries we have been encouraged to share Elijah moments with our zones, and as a fairly new missionary I had always thought those moments were to be about our experiences with our guests to the Family History Library.  However, I have come to realize that such moments also include our experiences with our own family research.  Last night while I was sleeping, I had a dream and a very strong impression that made me realize how pleased I will be to meet my great-grandparents and my great uncle, Gustav Janousky.  This impression was manifested to me as a banner on my FamilySearch Family Tree which simply said: "You will be pleased someday to meet Charles, Clara, and Gustave".

Many years ago when I first expressed an interest in Family History, my Grandmother Walker told me that her parents and step-brother, Gustav, immigrated to the United States from Germany before she was born.  She further told me that Clara, for whom my grandmother is named, was initially Gustave's nanny.  With only their names, dates of birth, and information as to when and where they lived in the United States, I began a search that has lasted many years.

Thanks to my wife's encouragement over the years to do my family history, perseverance, and modern technology, I have been able to piece my grandmother's story together.  I have found several U.S. census records that include my grandparents, ship passenger lists, pictures, and marriage and death records which have verified what she told me.  We all have a story to tell and now is the time to ensure that future generations will know our stories through our own family histories.

In my quest to discover my great-grandparents and great uncle, I found the passenger list that tells me that they immigrated from Prussia on the ship "Rugia," they left from Hamburg, were going to live in Washtenaw County which is in Michigan, and arrived in New York on May 2, 1892.  After being in the United States for only a few days, Charles and Clara were married in Ann Arbor, Washentaw, Michigan on May 7, 1892.  Now, seven-year-old Gustave had a mom again.

Until recently I had run into a brick wall with my great-uncle Gustave.  Gustave is included in a special 1894 Michigan Census and in the 1900 U.S. Census living with my great-grandparents,  his two half-brothers and half-sister, my grandmother, in Ann Arbor.  However, that's where his trail ended.  Recently I found Gustave's death certificate which brought a sad closure to my sleuthing.  Gustave died in 1909 at the age of 22 just before the 1910 Census, and had been recently been discharged from the U.S. Navy. The fact that as a recent immigrant Gustave enlisted in the U.S. Navy tells a whole lot about his allegiance to his new country and also makes me proud to be a military veteran myself.

The research of the census records helped to fill out my grandmother's family unit.  Four boys and two girls (one of which is my grandmother) were born to Charles and Clara in Ann Arbor, and all but one were buried in the same cemetery in Ann Arbor as my great-grandparents, which makes me feel that they were a very loving family.  After my grandmother married in Ann Arbor, she and my grandfather moved to California in the early 1950's and they are buried in same cemetery as my parents.  Researching the Death Certificates of Charles and Clara have provided clues about my great-great grandparents that have sparked an interest in finding the next generation.  Hopefully, I will be as successful in finding out and tell their story too. 

This journey of confirming and discovering the story of Charles, Clara, and Gustave is a personal witness to me that the scriptures are true as they tell us "the heart of the fathers will turn to the children and the heart of the children will turn to the fathers."  Further-more, I know that just as the Holy Ghost is a Being of Spirit that can come to us, Elijah has a tangible spirit that can come to us also. It is through this spirit of Elijah that I have taken this journey and will be pleased to someday meet Charles, Clara and Gustave.  

Steve and Lorene