Frederick Roth II - Short Biography

Frederick Roth - Monroe and Chicago

My Great-Grandfather, Frederick Roth II was born on October 20, 1885. He was the oldest child and only son of Frederick Roth I and Mary Zweifel of Monroe, Wisconsin. His father had immigrated from Switzerland around 1880 and settled in Monroe, where he operated the Monroe House and later a tavern near the Illinois Central train station. Mary (or Maria) Zweifel was the daughter of Fridolin Zweifel and Regula Oswald (or Oswalt). Fridolin, along with five brothers, came to New Glarus from “old” Glarus, Switzerland in the 1850s. He settled just south of New Glarus, where he farmed 200 acres on sections 4, 8 and 9 in the Town of Washington.

The Roth family of Monroe, Wisconsin, about 1900; Frederick I,
daughter Rose, son Frederick II, and Maria (Zweifel).

Wilderman Family (3) - Colonists and Pioneers

Part 3 - From Frontier to Settled Territory
Find Part 2 of the Story Here . . .
Find Part 1 of the Story Here . . .

Note, this post has been revised. The original 2-Part Wilderman Family series has been updated and more information has been added. The series has been expanded to 3 Parts with most of the new information in this part.

Jacob Wilderman and Johann Meyer, and family left their small village in Baden, Germany and came to Colonial America in 1751. Jacob would marry Elizabetha Meyer and make his home in Maryland. There he would raise a family, farm, fight in the revolution and live out his live. After the Revolution, his son George would marry and head to western Pennsylvania to live in the company of other Pennsylvania Dutch settlers. Later he would pick-up once more and venture into the frontier of the Northwest Territory and settle just east of the Mississippi River in what is now Illinois.

The Wilderman Cemetery in the countryside on Section 8 in the Town of Freeburg.
James Wilderman, Sarah Jarvis and a number of their children are buried here.

Two Years of Blogging about Genealogy

“My Other Blog - Family History and Genealogy" celebrated its 2nd anniversary yesterday, September 30, 2012. On that same day in 2010, the very first post, just under 400 words and titled “Yet Another Blog” was published.

At the time, I wasn’t sure exactly what this blog was going to focus on but writing about my ancestry was certainly one of the options I was entertaining. The decision to move in that direction didn't take long, however. The next two posts, both in October of 2010 were about my family history quest and once I started down the road toward genealogy, I never looked back.

Before I started learning about my Genealogy, I had never
heard of Granby, Connecticut. Now I know that it played
an important role in my own family history.

With a total of 36 posts (including this one), the website has grown at a slow but steady pace. In addition to the output that comes out of this blog (writing and posting), there has also been some worthwhile input. I have received more than a handful of connections to distant cousins. Prior to being contacted, I did not know any of them and they have contributed a lot of great information about my family history. Hopefully, I have also been able to provide them with some good information as well.

9/30/10 - 9/30/12: Two Years of Blogging About My Family History - 36 posts, 10,000 visitors and some great new connections.

In addition to the two-year anniversary, another milestone . . . 10,000 visitors . . . was also reached in September. This is a small blog, very focused and with no marketing or advertising so I do not expect much traffic. I now receive anywhere from 600 - 900 visitors per month, which has far exceeded my expectations. Here are some highlights of the first two years:

• September 2010 - First Post: Yet Another Blog
• February 2011 - First Family Post: The Goldners of Chicago - Finding a Lost Family
• May 2011 - First Full Family Biography: David Herman - Arrived 1862
• June 2011 - First Contact with Other Researchers - Peterson/Moe Family
• August 2011 - First Short Biography: Lars P. Moe - Short Biography
• April 2012 - Accessed 1940 U.S. Census
• May 2012 - History Page Added
• September 2012 - 10,000 Visitor Mark

Right now, I am in the middle of writing about the Holcombe Family, the ancestry that first got me really excited about my own genealogy. I have two articles published with a couple more to go. I look forward to continuing with the blog and sharing my information with others for some time to come.

Related Reading:
History Page Added
The Flow of Information
The Genealogy Mother Load

Holcombe Family (2) - Colonial Generations

Part 2 - Nathaniel Holcombe of Salmon Brook

Thomas Holcombe would arrive in New England sometime between 1630 and 1633. A few short years later, he would be living on the outskirts of Connecticut's first settlement, Windsor. There, he and his wife, Elizabeth, would raise a large family and prosper. Their youngest son, Nathaniel, would be only nine years old when Thomas died. After that time, Nathaniel's stepfather, James Enno and his older brothers would probably have a great influence on him as he grew to manhood in the wilderness at Poquonock.

If you missed Part 1 of the story, go here . . .



The original settlers at the remote outpost at Poquonock, circa 1640. 

Holcombe Family (1) - Colonial Generations

Note: Thomas Holcombe of Windsor, Connecticut, and his descendants are well-documented in both written texts and on the Internet. This report presents a narrative of the early generations in my personal family line and is not meant to be a full and complete history of Thomas Holcombe or the Holcombe family.

Part 1 - Thomas Holcombe in the New World

It is unclear exactly when Thomas Holcombe arrived in New England. It could have been as early as 1630 on the Ship Mary & John or as late as 1633 on the Ship Thunder. As passenger lists for many of the Puritan voyages did not exist, the actual date that he first set foot on New England soil will probably never be known. Regardless, his arrival 10 - 15 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth places him in the company of the first few hundred or few thousand white men to live in the English Colonies of North America.

Drawing of the ship Mary and John. While it is unclear if Thomas Holcombe came
to the New World on this particular ship, it represents the type of vessel that
was plying the Atlantic Ocean between England and America in the 1630s.

Ole Peterson & the Peterson Family (3)

Part Three - Olaus and the Next Generation

If you missed Part 1 of the story, go here . . .
If you missed Part 2 of the story, go here . . .

The family of Peter Olsen Moe and Anna Augundsdatter Lad came to Wisconsin from Norway in 1864 and eventually settled in the Town of Blue Mounds. Their eldest child Ole, who went by the name Ole Peterson had come over a couple of years earlier. After a brief stint in the Union Army, he would set down roots in Blue Mounds and would be a founding father of the Village of Mount Horeb. By the turn of the century, large parts of his farm would be absorbed into village limits. After his death, Ole would leave a large family in the Blue Mounds / Mount Horeb area to carry on. One of children, Olaus would build a house just a few doors down from the Peterson farmhouse, operate his own business and raise his family.

Present-day north-central Mount Horeb showing the heart of the former Ole
Peterson farm with the farmhouse (toward the top). Also note Ole's Main
Street house, the Olaus Peterson house and Peterson Plumbing and Heating.

Ole Peterson & the Peterson Family (2)

Part Two - The Petersons, a First Family of Mount Horeb
If you missed Part 1 of the story, go here . . .

The family of Peter Olsen Moe and Anna Augundsdatter Lad were farmers from the fiord's of Norway. They would leave their home and venture to America between 1862 and 1864, settling in the Town of Blue Mounds in south-central Wisconsin. Son Ole came first, but he was not an early settler to Blue Mounds. The first settlers had come as early as the 1830's and were mostly "easterners" that were heading west after America's independence. Later, starting in the 1840's and accelerating in the 1850's and 1860's, European immigrants from Germany, Switzerland, Norway and other places began to populate the Blue Mounds area.

The Peterson farmhouse; built in the late 1870's or early 1880's. It still
stands today on what is now Grove Street in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin.

Ole Peterson & the Peterson Family (1)

Part One - Before there was Peterson, there was Moe

The Peterson family, their descendants and allied families have lived in the Town of Blue Mounds, the Village of Mount Horeb and other surrounding communities for about six generations. Ole Peterson, who arrived in 1862 would have a large family and thus the Peterson name would be fairly prominent in the area during the later half of the 19th Century and for much of the 20th Century. In the telling of family history, Ole is often sited as the starting point . . . the immigrant who came to America and started a family in this new place.

Sogn e Fjord and Hafslo are located in west-central Norway. This
is the ancestral home of Peter Olsen Moe and Ole Peterson.