The 5 Ancestors I’d Like to Meet (and what I'd say to them)

“A people without a history is like the wind over buffalo grass.” – Native American Proverb

Of course, I’d like to meet all the ancestors that I’ve spent time researching. I have countless questions to ask and it would be wonderful to be able to actually ask them! For this post, I’ve narrowed it down to the top 5 ancestors that I’d most like to meet and what I’d ask them.

Lena Schmid

1.     Lena Schmid – My 3^rd great grandmother, Helen “Lena” Juliana Schmid, was born June 2, 1864 in Würrtemberg, Germany and died November 29, 1934. She was married to Albert and they had nine children (eight of whom made it to adulthood). I’d like to ask her about her childhood in Germany, and what it was like to move her family to America.

2.     Marie Elizabeth Gauche – My 4^th great-grandmother was born in 1797 and died in 1889. Her family was from Lorraine, France. However, her father died in Piemonte, Cuneo, Italy and Marie was born in Italy. I’d like to know what the family was doing there and what prompted the move to Italy. I’d also like to know what prompted her to come to America and how they came to live in Brown County, Ohio.

3.     Michael Francis Paul – My 3^rd great-grandfather was born in 1841 in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio and died in 1912 in Middletown, Butler, Ohio. I would like to know more about his time serving in the Civil War.

Michael Francis Paul, wearing his Civil War
uniform

4.     Magdalena Bronner – My 4^th great-grandmother was born in Ingwiller, Germany and died in 1905 in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. I would ask about Ingwiller and what it was like to grow up there.

5.     John L. McKenzie – My 4^th great-grandfather was born in 1780 in Dundee, Scotland and died in Scott County, Virginia in 1837. He married Marth Patsy Cox and had 10 children with her. Previous to that, he married Ellen Boggs and had a son with her.  I would ask him about his life in Scotland – What kind of house did you live in? What were your parents like? How was life after moving to America? I would also ask about his time fighting in the Revolutionary War.