Written Word Wednesday ~ Clues for Our Descendents

Please take the time today to write a "handwritten" note.  Whether it be in a formal journal or on a scrap of paper just write a little something about yourself, what you did today, the weather, or maybe what you had for dinner.  We all appreciate the handwritten notes we find from our ancestors and how it gives us clues to their lives.  Lets do the same so our descendants will also have available to them a clue into our lives.  We may not think our lives are anything special. Most of us have a very set routine. . . work, dinner, bed, then back to work the next day and so on.  What do we do on the weekends when we have more free time? What tv shows do we watch routinely?  How many hours do we spend searching clues to our ancestors lives? What family members do you feel closest to?   What do you wish was asked on the census records of our ancestors but wasn't?  Write about that tidbit of information about you.  It may be easier if you are writing "to" someone as opposed to just statements. What if you wrote a note TO your descendants?  "Dear Descendants ... whomever you may be.. I'm writing this so you will have a peek into my life ... "   Wow.. if I found a note like that from an ancestor of mine!  I would love it .. to know they were thinking about the future. While we may think our life isn't interesting ... I bet our ancestors thought the same thing about theirs.  So write your note, a handwritten note,  and tuck it away for others to find when you are no longer here.

Warm Regards,
  

Mystery Monday ~ A Killing, An Orphange and the Disappearance of Martin Moe

     My Grandmother, Bertha Rasmussen (nee Moe) never knew what really happened to her family. She had no memories of her parents and was raised by Nuns in a Catholic orphanage, "Home of the Guardian Angels" in Los Angeles, with her brother Harold Theodore Moe. 
     Beginning in the 1970's I wrote to the orphanage, where she and her brother were raised, in order to obtain any type of family information. I wrote repeatedly for several years and each time I wrote I would get a tidbit of information and would be mailed a document or two.  Each revealing a clue but never the entire story of why she and her brother were brought there.       

Application for Admission

     The orphanage's "Application for Admission" states the Father's name was "Martin Moe" (other documents indicate father born in Norway). Their Mother "not known".  It stated "Moe Harold - 6 yrs 9 months" and "Moe Bertha - 4 years 11 months" were born in Mexico.  It also states parents were married in Mexico. They were admitted into the orphanage August 27, 1908.
      My Grandmother remembers being told by the Nun's her mother was killed by the "Indians".  They told my Grandmother that she was shot in the head. (My grandmother did have a small scar).

The Killing of my Great Grandmother and two of her children

      Finally, after years of exhaustive searching my cousin found this article!  It coincides with the story she was told. Unfortunately, this article does not have their mother's name, just "Mrs. Moe".  The article states Mrs. Moe, her father, and two children were killed.  We know Martin Moe, Bertha and Harold Theodore Moe survived, so the children killed were probably their siblings. The date of the article is in 1905, therefore my Grandmother, Bertha Moe, was 1 yr old and her brother, Harold Theodore Moe, was 3 yrs old when this occurred.

Letter indicating Martin Moe's death

Once the children were left at the orphanage, their father Martin Moe, was not heard from until this letter was received from his employer "G.B.C.Co".  It indicates he died on August 20, 1908. We assume he was buried there in Sonora Mexico.
Update:
Bertha Moe my grandmother  (1903 - 2000) had an opportunity to be adopted a few times but rejected the family's and chose to remain an orphan in the convent.  She left the orphanage at 16 yrs, married, became a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother and lived to be 87 years. She is found in census records in the orphange as a "servant" and after her marriage.
Harold Theodore Moe (1901 - 1947) left the orphanage at 14 yrs, worked various jobs such as barber and hospital aide.  He got in trouble with the law, stole a patient's radio and spent a year in San Quentin prison for it. My mother once told me she thought he had a child with an unmarried woman. My mother said she never saw that child. Unfortunately, he died as a result of alcoholism at the age of 46. He is found in census records in the orphanage as a "servant". Once he was no longer in the orphanage he can not be found in census records - although he should be in California as my mother saw him on occasion in Los Angeles area.
Father - Martin Moe - one document indicates he was born in Norway.  We read of him in that article of the killing of their mother. Then not again until the letter indicating his death in Culiacan, Sonora, Mexico.  I can not find him in any census records at all.  It is believed he spent most of his  life working mines in Mexico.
Mother of Bertha and Theodore - documents state mother and father were married in Mexico and the children were born in Mexico. Therefore she should be in census records from Mexico. I have no knowledge of her name. I have no records on her.

Block Wall!  I'm stuck at Martin Moe and his unnamed wife. Since documents indicate they married and had children in Mexico I would expect to find them there, anywhere between 1850 - 1908.  If anyone has any tips on how to locate them I would appreciate it.

Warm Regards,
  

Wordless Wednesday ~ The Booth Family Relocates in California

I don't recall finding in any census records with my Grandparents living in Ontario, California.  But the photograph states that's where they are moving to.   Two sets of my Paternal Great Grandparents are in this photo ~ which is nice ~ and my Dad (Walter Booth) is the little boy on the far right.  That's my Great Grandmother's writing on the photo ~ Laura Ferrier (nee Mulder).

Warm Regards,