Back in the beginning of my research my main goal was to find out who my Grandpa’s dad was. It took me years to find out! You can read about that story here. The initial surname I was researching at the time was Moersch. It is a unique name and one that was pretty straight forward for my area and date range in St. Louis, MO. As I collected records I abruptly stopped at one.
I was confused to find one document in particular.
I had a list of my grandpa’s maternal family history including a list of his mother, Anna Frieda Moersch (my great grandma), and her siblings. As I filled in the blanks on each sibling by research, documents and cross referencing I discovered a marriage application for a Clementine A. Moersch. I had no idea who Clementine was. Her application was submitted in the same genealogical area where my Moersch Family was living. She was also within the same generation I was researching.
who could she be?
My focus shifted and now I was going to try and find other records for this mysterious Clementine. After a few more moments I found her death certificate. This young women was a somebody! She happened to be a forgotten sister of my Great Grandma Anna Moersch.
Getting to know Clementine became a new quest in my genealogy research.
Clementine was born to Louisa Mossett and Andrew Moersch in the year 1900 in St. Louis, MO. She was the youngest sibling to my great grandma and is my Great Grandaunt. Combing through albums I came across a picture of her. Luckily, this picture was labeled! She is a young, maybe 12 or 13, in the picture. Clementine married Alfred M. Fox in December of 1917. She died some short years later at the age of 23. She passed away from Pulmonary Tuberculosis after suffering from it for over a year.
She has stuck with me, her discovery, for the rest of my days. Clementine taught me to keep my eyes and mind open! She also showed me to leave room to be surprised. Maybe your list doesn’t include someone or your family story is so well known that you think it can’t vary. It might!
Importantly, Clementine is back in the family tree.
Did you discover someone new in your tree?
Do you have double first cousins in your tree? Me too! Check out my post about it here 🙂
I have an Etsy Shop where I sell vintage and vintage inspired goods 🙂 Check it out here!
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