Saturday Night Fun--My G-G-Grandmother Emma Amanda Sackmann

Emma Amanda Sackmann
Hillman Schmidt
(1862-1951)

Genea-Musings Blog posts prompts every Saturday encouraging followers to write in their own blogs. This week’s prompt, “Write a 100-word Life Sketch of your 2x Great-Grandparents."

I chose Emma Amanda Sackmann, my father’s maternal great-grandmother. One of the reasons I chose her is because my father knew her well and she was a beloved grandmother to my grandmother. Emma (Granny) actually lived with my father’s family for a period of time when he was young and she was the one who raised my grandmother after her parents divorced and my grandmother’s mother was committed and eventually died at Greystone Psychiatric Hospital in Morris Plains, NJ.

The Life Sketch of Emma Sackmann

We were encouraged to use AI to generate the sketches, so I am testing the waters. I gave ChatGPT three screenshots of my Ancestry Family tree timeline of my great-great-grandmother along with the prompt, “Using the following three images with text on them about Emma Amanda Sackmann, please write a 100-word life sketch about her.” This is what it came up with:

“Emma Amanda Sackmann was born on June 26, 1862, in Germania, Potter County, Pennsylvania, to John Heinrich Sackmann and Christina Dunker. She married Johannes Wilheim Hillmann in 1882, and they had two children, Herman and Louise. Emma lived primarily in New York City and Brooklyn, with occupations and residences changing over time, reflecting her role as a wife, mother, and, later, a widow. She experienced the deaths of many family members, including her husband in 1906 and her daughter in 1938. Emma eventually relocated to Brattleboro, Vermont, where she passed away on February 2, 1951, at age 88.”

Given only 100 words (well 98, in this case) there isn’t a whole lot you can say about someone, I guess this provides a very appropriate (if not bland) life sketch.

Extension of Her Life Sketch

Some of the things that were not highlighted in this brief sketch is that she was the first of her parents’ five children to be born in the United States. They emigrated from Germany in July 1856 on the ship John Herman from Hamburg as a group of 9. Her parents, Johann and Christina (Dunker) and her three older siblings Louise (4 years), Carl (2 years), and Pauline (2 months), and 4 other family members, Anna (18 year–unknown relationship), Johann (15 years–unknown relationship), and Heinrich and Catherine (possibly brother and wife). When they arrived in the US they lived in Brooklyn but then invested in the Pennsylvania (German) Land Association and moved to Germania (Abbott), Potters County, Pennsylvania to be among a small community of German immigrants. Both Emma and her younger brother were born there. 

I visited Abbott/Germania a couple of years ago and it is a beautiful country with rolling hills and in some places steeply sloping land. The immigrants were intending to farm the land but it was not going to be easy. Emma’s father died around 1870 which probably prompted the family to move back to Brooklyn. 

Emma married Johann Hillmann as a 19 year old. He was recorded being a salesman and a “liquor dealer” and owned a bar at one point. At 43 years old in 1906, she was widowed and lived alone in 1910. She married Otto Fred Schmidt between 1910 and 1915 and in the 1915 NY Census they have her granddaughters living with them. Otto died in 1924 leaving her a widow, again, but still raised her granddaughters until they were out on their own. In her later years, she resided in Vermont mostly with Ruth, her granddaughter who was not married at the time.

My perspective might be influenced by my father’s memories of her, but in researching her life I have come across several facts/observations which suggest to me that she was a very welcoming and nurturing person. Beside taking in her granddaughters and raising them into adulthood, I found in 1892 in addition to her two children, her niece Lulu Steinem is living with them and in 1900 a different niece Vera Henno is living with them and you can see in this photo Vera is reclining back and draping her arm over Emma’s knee. I’m guessing she was a beloved aunt as well as grandmother!

When I think about all she endured and experienced in her 88 years from 1862 to 1951, I am inspired by the fortitude she must have had. Maybe it was the model she saw in her own mother who was widowed at the same age with 5 children? Regardless, reflecting on Emma's life helps put my own challenges in perspective and allows me to appreciate what I do have to make my life easier…like, this computer and internet, for example!

Treasured Toy Car

Bill Breyfogle, c. 1938
color enhanced by myHeritage

My father-in-law (Bill) recently shared some of his boyhood treasures with my husband. This week as I was unpacking one of the boxes, I came across this well worn toy car. Not having any idea about its provenance, I asked my husband. He said that this was a toy car that his dad had been given when he was a little boy from a “cousin”.

I uploaded one of the photos and using Google Lens found an eBay result below that helped identify at least a manufacturer and era for it. I was curious to hear a little more about the story, so I called my father-in-law.

He was delighted that I was interested and shared with me that he remembered meeting the person who was the original owner and he thought he was about the age of his 1st cousins, Joe and JC DeBoer (so born around 1919) and he also knew the sad fact that this man served in WW2 but didn’t return. He wasn’t sure how he was related and it might even have been cousins of his cousins and it might have been his cousin’s mother’s side. In answering questions, he shared with me that the car is pretty much as he remembers receiving it, without the back license plate or spare tire and the painting of the silver was done before he received it.

The Original Owner

I love a good mystery, so I spent some time delving into my father-in-law’s family tree looking for a man who would have been a boy in the 1920s, who would have been able to enjoy a toy car like this around 1927 and served and died in WW2. At first I thought this was going to be easy, how many people could this be?

Since Bill said it wasn’t a 1st cousin (he actually only has 2 on the DeBoer side–Joe and JC) and thought it was related to their mother’s side, I looked into her. Since she married into the family, I hadn’t done much work on her line and it was all new. She was born Johanna “Anna” Smith on 5 June 1894 to

Anna and Joseph DeBoer
c. 1915

Earl Kyse Smith (1865-1900) and Grietje Hermans “Maggie” Van Bloois (1869-1951). Earl was married before Maggie, his first wife died shortly after the birth of their first child. Anna’s father, Earl, died when she was around 6 and with 4 children under 10, and Earl’s one just a little bit older it was not surprising that her mother, Maggie remarried quickly. She married John Stouten (1869-1950) and they had 2 more children together and he brought 5 children into the marriage from his first wife who also died. Not knowing if the original owner of the toy car might be a step-sibling, I felt I needed to investigate all 11 possibilities, which meant finding all of their spouses and children. After an exhaustive search, I found 1 man who died in Pearl Harbor, James Stouten (1901-1941), the son of John Stouten and his first wife. This didn’t seem right because he wasn't a child in 1927 and didn’t match being born in the 1919 timeframe. I looked for a son of James, but couldn’t find any indication he had children.

William and Eva Van Dam DeBoer Family
c. 1911

William and twin Martin
DeBoer c. 1880

So on to the possibility of 2nd cousins, which means investigating the families of siblings of Bill’s grandparents. His grandfather was William Joost (Joseph) DeBoer, a twin with Marinus (Martin) DeBoer born on 5 Oct 1871 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and they were #4 and 5 of 11 children. Whew! That’s a lot of kids to check out, but fortunately most of them I had already researched. This exhaustive research brought no possibilities! 

On to Bill’s grandmother, Aafke (Eva) Van Dam born 24 September 1871, also in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Unsurprisingly, they attended the same Dutch Reformed Church in Grand Rapids). Eva was the 2nd of 10 children! Let’s hope that each child didn’t have 10 children! Again, I had researched many of her siblings, so it didn’t take me long to find a likely candidate. The 5th child, Harmon Van Dam (1881-1954) and his wife Dorothy Froman (1893-1965) had 6 children (3 boys and 3 girls). The youngest of these boys was Peter Charles Van Dam born 1922 and served as a Tordepoman’s Mate Second Class aboard the submarine, the SS Kete. According to the

Naval History and Heritage Command, the Kete departed “Guam on 1 March 1945 headed for her second patrol in the vicinity of Nansei Shoto. In addition to performing a normal patrol, Kete had orders to submit special weather reports, and to carry out rescue service during an air strike by carrier based planes.” After firing some of their torpedoes on a small enemy cable laying vessel, they were directed to depart the area on 20 March and proceed to Pearl Harbor. They sent their last update on 20 March. They should have arrived to Midway (a refueling stop) by the 31st of March but never made it.

Here is the Obituary of Peter C. Van Dam published in the Grand Rapids Press on April 13, 1946. I am fairly certain that Peter was the original owner, or at least the boy who passed it along to my father-in-law, Bill.

More about the Toy Car

We don’t know exactly when Peter handed down his toy car, but it would have been well before he left for the Navy, since little Billy would have enjoyed it in the late 1930’s, when Peter was in high school. 

I did some more investigation on the car, which led me to the Antique Toy Collectors of America. (Are you surprised there is a club for this? I am no longer surprised since it seems like there is a club for everything!) Their website provides a plethora of information including the 1926 and 1931 catalogs for the Kingsbury Manufacturing Co. Another website called Pressed Steel & Metal Toys of the 1920s & 1930s provided some added photos and background of the Kingsbury toy company (but none of the exact car). Little Billy’s car does not appear in 1926 catalog but a version of it appears for sale in 1931 for $3. (Adjusted for inflation that would be $69.72 in today’s money).

The No. 340 Cabriolet is advertised as “A perfect reproduction of the artistic models seen on Fifth Ave. Finished blue with orange striping and wheels. Rubber tires and motor.” I’m thinking that earlier models were in green but the orange striping, rubber tires, and a wind up motor are still present. 

There appears to be a market for these antique toy cars (it is nearly 100 years old!), but my husband has no desire to give it up, especially now knowing its provenance!

Unexpected Inventors!

 Last week I was catching up on my free Family Tree podcasts and listened to Lisa Louise Cooke interview Randy Seaver on their Best Genealogy Websites. Mr. Seaver started his blogging in 2006 and blogs nearly 1000x in a year–all about tricks, tips, and his own family history on a Blog called Genea-Musings. I have only just scratched the surface on my explorations of his website but I signed up to read his postings. On Saturdays, he hosts “Saturday Night fun” and invites everyone to join in and blog!

So, this blog is me joining in on the fun with the prompt “Share something unexpected that you’ve found while researching an ancestor”. I am constantly amazed by findings and I often write about them in my blogs, so this entry is just one of the most recent unexpected findings.

Searching for Patents

In the recent article of Family Tree Magazine, “How to search for patents for your ancestors” by Lisa Alzo, she offered a (new to me) Google application called Google Patents (patents.google.com). I hadn’t heard any stories or knew of any inventors in the family so I randomly chose surnames to plop into the search field. As expected, there weren’t any hits for a while, until I entered Mazziotti!

Great Uncle John is 2nd from the right in the back row.
My Uncle Bob is 2nd from the right in the front row.

My great-grandparents, Emanuel and Concetta Mazziotti had 6 sons

and 1 daughter, with my grandfather Rocco Joseph Mazziotti being the oldest son. One of my grandfather’s younger brothers was John Paul Mazziotti (1912-1979). He was the third son and the last to be “born on” the J.D. Rockefeller Estate, Kykuit, in Pocantico Hills. According to his obituary he spent his working career as a millwright for General Motors.

His name popped up with one patent, filed in 1947, for a golf club! I was so surprised, who knew?! The next day I asked my 84 year old father, who knew his uncle well, if he knew about a patent in the Mazziotti family. At first, nothing came to mind and then I shared a copy of the patent and he said, “Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Actually, I have one of the clubs, he had a bunch made up and gave them to his brothers.” (My dad’s dad kept it and so did my dad.) 

You might be wondering, a patent for a golf club? Well, it turns out that the Emanuel Mazziotti family were heavily influenced by John D. Rockefeller, Sr, who happened to be an avid golfer. He had a 9 hole (played forward and backwards for 18-holes) golf course built on Kykuit so that he could play everyday. He thought that playing golf would keep him active so he could live to 100 (he made it to 97). Stories through the family say Emanuel caddied for him on occasion and shared the interest in golf with his sons. The 2nd son, Joseph Anthony Mazziotti (1910-2002), was a member of the PGA (Professional Golfers Association) since 1929 and played on the PGA tours in the 1930s and 1940s and served as a Golf Pro teaching lessons at country clubs (obituary).

So, maybe it was my Uncle John’s own interest in golfing or it was something he shared with his brother? I don’t know. But after I told my dad about this patent he said that Uncle John was an inventor and he thought had many patents while working for GM. I didn’t find others but I’m guessing he may not have received credit for those done in the line of work.

The Big Surprise!

My Uncle Bob

Tonight, as I was revisiting the work I did this summer, I came across another Mazziotti who submitted a patent. My dad’s brother, Robert Mazziotti/Massey (1941-2014), had a patent! My Uncle Bob was a lifelong friend of Mike Ilitch and worker for Little Caesar’s Pizza, starting with the Ilitch’s nearly from the beginning in 1959. He eventually became the Senior Vice President in charge of franchising and was well-known to franchisees for his inspirational speeches in Las Vegas at the annual convention. 

His patent? “Method of Providing Managers an Opportunity to Own Their Own Businesses”.

My Uncle Bob was all about helping others, he used to answer his phone with “Thank you for letting me brighten your day, what am I going to do for you today?” He loved Little Caesar’s and wanted anyone willing to work hard and invest a little money to become an owner. In a little googlesearch I came across an article about Vicky Dunn-Marshall, a CEO of VDM Managing Group that owns 24 Little Caesar’s in Franchising.com who credits Mr. I and Bob Massey with where she is today.

What fun to know that he actually held a patent for his ideas about how to help others in their businesses!

Unexpected Treasures: A Win-Win!

 

Howell Family with George
(middle row 3rd from right)
and granddaughter Virginia Irene
(2nd from left)

A Win-Win Strategy

Years ago, I was introduced to the book “Strategy of the Dolphin: Scoring A Win in A Chaotic World” (1990) by Dudley Lynch and Paul L. Kordis. It was the summertime and I remember reading it while lounging on a 1960s green sleeper couch at our cottage. It’s a great couch to sit on because there is a larger picture window overlooking the lake. (The couch, now very much “shabby chic” over 30 years later is still there.) I don’t remember who recommended the book to me, but at this time I had begun teaching high school and spent summers those first years doing paid  internships and professional development experiences. Maybe it was someone at the internship at Ford Motor learning about CAD-like computing to take back to the classroom?

Anyway, back to the book. 

The main premise of the book is that one can be successful with a Win-Win mentality. They use a metaphor of a dolphin to describe how a dolphin loves to win but doesn’t like to do it at the expense of others. Being creative and flexible and thinking outside the box for solutions that benefit everyone can be a successful strategy. For me, this book was a head nodding experience that resonated and has stuck with me for 30 years. I hadn’t consciously thought about this book in decades but when I reflect on my experience this summer, I can see its imprint on me in all aspects of my life, including family history.

I have always been service oriented, a member of Alphi Phi Omega (National Service Fraternity) in college and now an active Rotarian (our motto is “Service above Self”), it gives me joy to serve others. This summer, I decided to join the Tecumseh Historical Society. After my second visit to the Historical Museum where I found some amazing photos of my husband’s ancestors and helped to identify some unidentified photos (See Serendipity or Determination?), an officer in the club  invited me down to the basement where the archives are located and suggested that I might find some great finds but it was a restricted area and I could only go accompanied by others. At the same time, an email from the archivist was soliciting volunteers. I’m in! They welcomed me and were happy to invite me to help organize the archives.

By the time this all happened, it was mid-August, but for the last month I have spent one afternoon a week on a project that was assigned to me. I am organizing, cataloging and preserving the files in two drawers of a filing cabinet. I have learned a lot about Tecumseh and also about archival preservation and come across some very unexpected treasures!

Some Tecumseh History 

One of the local heroes is Musgrove Evans, a man born in 1785 in Pennsylvania with a thirst to explore west. He was a surveyor who came to Lenawee County and platted out the town of Tecumseh in 1824. He helped to settle the town but went further west to Texas after his wife died in 1832.

His surveying equipment is proudly on display at the Tecumseh Historical Museum.

Interestingly, this summer I came across a biography (more likely an autobiography) on p. 238 of Knapp & Bonner’s 1903 book Illustrated History and Biographical Account of Lenawee County, MI of Jim’s great-great grandfather George Howell in which states he not only learned how to use surveying equipment but was the possessor of Musgrove Evans’ instruments!

Imagine my surprise! 

Imagine my surprise!

When my husband and daughter saw the instruments and I showed them the text, we all agreed that maybe Musgrove Evans had many such instruments and maybe not this exact one. Note that George was not born until 4 years after  Musgrove Evans left Tecumseh.

Well, further research indicated that George’s father became a surveyor for other communities in the area, so it is not surprising that young George might have been taught by his father and his father was the original recipient of Evans’ compass and chain.

Fast forward to yesterday. I was doing my due diligence at the archives, working on the “E” file and found an envelope labeled “Musgrove Evans Surveying Equipment”. In it were a variety of handwritten titles and descriptions that looked like they had been used to help describe a display at some point. And among them was this placard mounted on some display board:

The last line is what stood out at me “It is now the property of Geo. Howell”. I recognized the handwriting because I had seen it this summer at the Bentley Library on an alumni response card and also a registry at medical school, it is Dr. George Howell, my husband’s great-great grandfather’s handwriting.

 

According to the archivist, the items found in the envelope were put in the envelope by her when she was cleaning out drawers of an old desk upstairs in the museum. My guess is that at one time, this placard was displayed with the other ones in the envelope. I am still investigating how the compass and chain made it back to the museum but for now I’m convinced that he did in fact own a compass and chain of Musgrove Evans!

This is not the only treasure that I’ve found while working. Last week, I had completed a task but still had a little time before my “shift” was over, so (with permission) I pulled out the Macon box and started reading through its contents. And came across a most wonderful photo of the 1910/1911 one-room school house photo in Macon. All of the people were identified on the back, so I quickly identified “Irene Conklin” and flipping it over I saw this sweet 13 year old girl on the left in the 4th row peeking around another girl that could easily be identified as Jim’s grandmother (and granddaughter of George Howell) as a teenager!

And the program from her Macon graduation exercises before she headed to Tecumseh for High School.

I feel good that I am helping in the archives and delighted that I am finding a few gems along the way. As I live the "Strategy of the dolphin" this is a total Win-Win and I can’t wait until I go back next summer to volunteer in the archives! 

My Godmother, Great Aunt Mary

 Everyone should have a godmother like my great aunt Mary! She was indeed a great person, but the “great aunt” is actually referring to the fact that my godmother was my grandfather’s sister, thus “great aunt”. She also happened to be my father’s godmother and in fact she was a godmother to many many children and they were all lucky to have her.

Mary Grace Mazziotti was born in 1920 in Elmsford, NY, the youngest child of 7 and only daughter. I get the impression that her 6 older brothers protected her but also didn’t make her life easy which in turn made her a strong woman. Thinking of my Aunt Mary makes me smile. She wasn’t pushy as a godmother, but she did plant and sow the seeds with care and did take the opportunity to challenge me in my thinking about religion. During those difficult times in life, I can hear her calm wise words of assurance. Thank you, Aunt Mary!

She's the little girl hold her Pop's hand.

Of course, I only remember her as an “older” woman (I hesitate saying “older” because she was younger than I am now when she became my godmother!). When I knew her, she always had a bright smile and usually a cigarette in her brightly polished and manicured hand. She spent half her year in Ft. Lauderdale with my Uncle Walter and I remember her fondly with her bronzed skin, blond-ish curly hair with a colorful cloth muffin cap, snazzy sandals with multicolored stones, and a bright flowered one piece swim suit.

Aunt Marion and Aunt Mary

She and Uncle Walter lived in NY in the winter months with her brother Uncle Dotto and his wife Aunt Marion Winkelman. Uncle Dotto was the youngest son and I have come to learn that they actually were in the same grade in school and graduated together, along with Marion. The two couples came to visit us in Michigan most summers and my mother, the amazing hostess, would make them feel so comfortable whether we were at our house or at the cottage. Aunt Mary and Uncle Walter were at many of the major events in my life, like dance recitals, birthdays, and of course my wedding. I was so very lucky to have all four of my grandparents into my 20s and feel extra blessed that I had their siblings too!

Recently, I have been consulting with a 3rd cousin and “foster cousins” to my great-grandparents Emanuel and Concetta Mortelliti Mazziotti trying to identify people in group photos and hoping that our collective knowledge would help. Two of these photos were wedding photos, one in 1926 and one in 1949 and in both Aunt Mary showed up! 

In 1926, she was the flower girl in the wedding of the foster brother (Rocco Bellantoni 1903-1994) of her father Emanuel Mazziotti. (Side note: Rocco’s father (Rocco) was the foster father with his first wife Grazia Bova to Emanuel in Scilla in 1876. Emanuel came to the US in 1900 so he had never met his foster brother,Rocco, born with 2nd wife Grazia Pirrotta, until he emigrated in 1921 naming Emanuel as his contact in the US. He might very well have lived with the Mazziotti’s when he first arrived and Aunt Mary would have been a very little girl, probably capturing his heart).

In 1949, she was the matron of honor and is in a bonnet directly behind the bride, Santa (Sarah) Farfalla, her 1st Cousin. I’m not surprised that Aunt Mary was asked to be in weddings, she was just one of those kinds of people you wanted to be around. This was only my impression, so I decided to do a little deep dive into my Godmother Aunt Mary’s life prior to me coming along and thought the newspapers would help!

The earliest mention that I found in various newspaper repositories Newspapers.com, Oldnews.com, Fultonhistory.org (great collection of NY newspapers), Newsachive.com was as a 9 year old, she played a “fairy” in the school play (with Marion Winkelman). In the next 10 years, I found (although it could be more!) her name shows up 26 times usually in The Daily News (Tarrytown, NY). The topics were varied from attending a birthday party for a friend or relative, a Junior Choir Production, hosting a wedding shower, graduating junior and senior high, perfect attendance in school, placing 2nd in an Amateur Night singing competition, hosting or participating in the High School Italian Club, Chi Beta bridge events, Tally Ho Club, Hiking Club, Skating Party, senior play, Delta Phi Sigma chapter creator, to eventually her wedding announcement. 

Although these brief mentions are just snapshots into her life, it painted for me a richer picture of just how much of a social butterfly Aunt Mary was! After reading these, it reinforced my impression that Aunt Mary was a joy to be around and everyone wanted her there, I know I did!

And I wish everyone had a godmother like my Aunt Mary!

Aunt Mary and Uncle Walter c. 1986