Bellinger Beginnings

 While the Strandt and Henrickson paternal lines are fairly recent immigrants to our country, our maternal lines go much further back. Carl Strand(t)'s family goes back to 1870, and may or may not have been ethnically German. Mildred's paternal line goes back to 1709 and is German.

Mildred Viola Trueman Bellinger was born in 1900 to Charles and Elnora Trueman Bellinger. Mildred was interested in family genealogy too and had traced the Bellinger line back to the late 1700's in New York. I've been able to go a little further back and trace the Bellinger family back to 1709. To a Johannes Nicholaus Bellinger. Nicholaus was born November 17, 1664 in Rodenback, Bad Durkheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. This land is located in southwest Germany. It was originally part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1214 the land was given to the Duke of Bavaria. The people of this land were Roman Catholics until the 1560's when they adopted Calvinism. A strong Protestant movement was formed. In 1618 The Thirty Years War was fought on this land. Then in 1689 The War of the Grand Alliance was fought. French troops devastated the area. After 2 back to back wars the lands and people were depleted. In 1708/1709 the area suffered one of it's harshest winters on record. The harshness of the winter caused many of the vineyards in the area to fail. After war, and harsh natural conditions, the people had had enough.

In Spring of 1709 Queen Anne of England invited the people of the Palatine to come to the British colony in America. England would sail the people to America, in return, they agreed to work for the British by harvesting tar and pitch for the British navy. Also, they would act as a buffer between the English and the French and Indians. The people of the Palatine accepted Queen Anne's offer. They sailed down the Rhine river to Rotterdam. From there they made their way to England. At one point there may have been up to 32,000 Palatines in England. Some stayed in England, some were shipped to Ireland, and some were sent to America. Johannes Nicholaus Bellinger, his wife, and his sons, were shipped to America.

Johannes Nicholaus settled in New York with other Palatine refugees. There is a plaque with his name on it, memorializing him and the other refugees who left Germany and came to America. 

The Bellingers stayed in New York with other Palatine and German refugees until Philip Bellinger. Philip, born in 1783 in German Flatts, New York moved his family to Defiance, Ohio sometime between 1830 and 1840. His son, Oliver Bellinger, moved his family from Ohio to Michigan between 1842 and 1845. We know from Mildred's family history that she wrote down, that Oliver and his family walked from Ohio to Michigan. First going to Grand Rapids, and then settling down in Allegan. Oliver's son, David, is Mildred's grandfather. David fought in the Civil War. His unit marched under General Sherman on Sherman's march through Georgia to the sea. David enlisted in August of 1862 and stayed until June 1865. In August 1865 he married Loretta Foster. Their oldest son was Charles Bellinger. Charles was the father to Mildred.

The Bellingers have been in America since before it became a country. They were refugees fleeing their homeland looking for a better life. They fought in the American Revolution and the Civil War. Mildred was very proud of the Bellinger line, and I am too. 

More Namesakes

 I wanted to write briefly about some names I came across in my family tree research. Going back on the Thompson line to my great, great grandfather Andrew Thompson. His mother was Hannah Kent. Her father was James Kent. James was born in 1790 in Allegany County, New York. He died in 1850 in Watson township, Allegan, Michigan. I don't know too much about James, but he must've been very political or into politics. He names 2 of his sons after presidents. In 1824 he names his fourth son Andrew Jackson Kent. Andrew Jackson was not yet president of the United States but was very popular and well known at the time. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican party. James had another son born in 1832. This son was named Martin Van Buren Kent. He often shortened it to Martin V. Kent. Martin van Buren became Andrew Jackson's Vice President in 1833. Before that he was a governor of New York. He is considered one of the founders of the Democratic party. He became president himself in 1837. 

I just thought it was funny that James named 2 of his sons after presidents. And both were actually named after these men before they became president. 

#Namesake

 This week's theme is "Namesake." In researching the family tree I've discovered it was quite common to name children after relatives. In one way this is good. If I see the same names used over and over again I can pretty much assume I have the right person. On the other hand this can also be confusing. When you have a son named after his father, and then 2 brothers both decided to name their eldest sons after their father, it doesn't take long before you have potentially 4 people in the same family with the exact same name. And if they all live in the same town it can get very confusing. Fortunately I haven't run into that too much. :)

In many countries it was tradition to name children after family members. There was often a naming pattern. Sometimes it was followed. Sometimes not. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Germany both had traditional naming patterns.

In Sweden, the naming pattern was:

• First son, after the father's father
• Second son, after the mother's father
• First daughter, after the mother's mother
• Second daughter, after the father's mother
• Third son, after the father
• Third daughter, after the mother
• Fourth son, after the father's eldest brother
• Fourth daughter, after the mother's eldest sister

Germany, Norway, and Denmark had very similar naming patterns. 

I thought I'd use the Strand family to illustrate this. 

William Strandt married Mary Elizabeth Pulsipher. William's parents were Carl and Wilhelmina Strandt. William is the second son born to them, but his name of William is the masculine version of his mother's first name, Wilhelmina. Mary's parents were Albert and Eva Pulsipher. Mary was the second daughter born and named after her father's mother, Maryetta Stone Pulsipher.

William and Mary's first born child was Eva Wilhelmina Strandt. She is the first daughter and named after both her grandmothers. Her maternal grandmother's name coming first. Their next child born was Carl Albert Strand. He is the first son and is named after both his grandfathers, with his paternal grandfather's name coming first. Their next born child was Ruth Bessie Strandt. Bessie is a nickname for Elizabeth and comes from her mother's middle name. "Ruth" is a new name in the family, and shows that the naming pattern isn't always followed. Their last born child was Howard Charles Strandt. "Howard" is also a new name in the family. "Charles" is the American version of Carl and goes back to William's father again.  

When Carl Strand and Mildred Bellingar married and had children, they used family names for some of their children. First born son was Howard Charles, named after his father's youngest brother. Viola Mildred had her mother's name as her middle name.  Carl's sister Ruth passed away in 1928. Her name was given to his daughter Yvonne as her middle name. Unfortunately she also passed away young. It wasn't until their youngest son, and last born child, that they got back to traditional family names. Frederick Carl Strand was the youngest son, and named after his great grandfather Carl Frederick Theodore Strandt. "Frederick" was a common name in the Strandt family, on both Carl's side and his wife's Wilhelmina's side. 

I find children being named after family members more common in the 1800's. In the 1900's parents started to get away from it. Family names are still used, but more often as middle names. Then, I've run into some families where none of the children are named after anyone in the family. All are given "new" names. Looking for naming patterns definitely makes researching more interesting!

Beginnings 2. George S. Henrickson

Beginnings 2

George S. Henrickson

The  Henrickson family in America started with George S. Henrickson. That was his American name, though. His Swedish name was Sven Goran Henrick Johansson. He was born January 19, 1875 to Johan Karl Jonasson and Ingrid Christina Henrikson Fahna Svensdotter. He was born in Moheda Kronebergs Lan Smaland, Sweden. Moheda was the parish they belonged to in the county of Kroneberg. Kroneberg is located in the province of Smaland, in the southeastern part of Sweden. Smaland is the home of IKEA and Astrid Lindgren, who wrote the Pippi Longstocking books. Sven's older sister Amanda Christina died in November of that same year. In July 1877 his sister Amanda Emma Christina Johanesson was born. In Sweden it was the custom that if a child died, the next child of that sex was named after the deceased child. Hence, two sisters named Amanda. 

Sven's father was much older than his mother. In fact, his mother Ingrid worked for Johan as a housekeeper before marrying him. Johan was known to the local police. He had been arrested for public drunkeness and petty thievery. At some point Johan took off and left the family, leaving Ingrid to care for her 2 children alone. She moved in with an older sister who was blind and unable to take care of herself.

In April of 1892 Sven began his journey to America. He left Moheda and made his was across Sweden to Malmo, where on November 29, 1892, he boarded the ship Kopenhamn and sailed to Lubeck, Germany. From Lubeck he would have taken a train to Copenhagen, Denmark. From Copenhagen he boarded the ship named Hekla and sailed to America. He finally arrived in New York City on December 19, 1892. He was 17 years old and traveled with one piece of baggage. His occupation was listed as Workman. One interesting thing to note. On the passenger list from Sweden to Germany Sven's ticket is listed as paid for. This means that his ticket was already bought for him. His mother had an older brother who was already living in America. In Indiana. He was a tailor and owned his own shop. We can only assume that this was the person who bought Sven's ticket and sent it to him. His mother wouldn't have had the means. 

In 1893 Sven is now going by George Henrickson and living in Ironside, Michigan. His occupation is listed as Miner. Sven quickly changed his name to the more American sounding George S. Henrickson upon arriving in America. I'm not sure why he changed his last name. One story goes that he thought there were too many Swedes in America named Johansson already and he wanted to be different. Johansson is the most popular last name in Sweden so that could very well be true. There is another theory that George wanted to distance himself from his father and that's why he chose to go with Henrickson as his last name instead. 

On February 21, 1900 George marries Malvina Christina Anderson, who is the daughter of Swedish immigrants. George attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. A college founded by Swedish immigrants. There George studied to join the Lutheran Church as a minister. So, from 1893 to 1900 George has worked hard enough and saved enough money to be able to go to college. Quite a feat for someone pretty much on their own, although I'm sure his uncle helped some. His uncle was very involved in his Lutheran church and I wonder if that had an influence on George? Maybe as a way to be different from his father too?

Exactly 9 months later George and Malvina's first child, a daughter named Selma, was born. The family lived in Florence, Wisconsin. In 1902 son Sidney was born in Chicago, Illinois. The next 4 children were born in Norway, Michigan. The next 3 children were born in Iron Mountain, including Raymond Henrickson. In 1916 daughter Esther Marie is born in Allegan, Michigan. The remaining children are all born in Allegan. George and Malvina are now living in the house her father bought in 1878.

George and Malvina stayed very active in the local Lutheran church. George and Malvina both played piano/organ. George often attended conferences in Chicago and other places. He was Secretary and Treasurer. He seems to have been well thought of and smart for the positions he held and was nominated to fill until his older years.

George died on April 11, 1941 of pernicious anemia after suffering from it for 5 years. He spent the last 8 months of his life hospitalized. His sister Amanda had passed away in December of 1940.