The mysteries of my ancestors is getting more exciting and intense as I learn new information. I just received the results of my DNA test from Ancestry.com, and most of those results I could confirm already. There were a few that were interesting, like I am 98% European, and 2% Asian. I never imagined that and would have thought of myself as 100% European.
But it did not answer entirely the question of whether Capitola Grinlinton Guth was Italian or not. There are a few reasons why I think Capitola was Italian, but, that is not proof. First of all, it would seem like Capitola is an Italian name, or at least that is what it sounds like to me. Second, Grinlinton is not a common name and the ones I found in New York married into Italian families. Many of them ended up living in the Bronx. Third, my dad had black hair, as did his father, who was Capitola's son.
The DNA tests did show that there is probably Italian blood in me. But it could also be French blood as well, because the French in the area of Alsace-Lorraine, which is where Jean George Guth originally came from, was included in the area under Italy/Greece.
So, the theory is that Georgianna Capitola Grinlinton Guth may be Italian. Maybe or maybe not, at least not known to us yet.
I did a word search on Google using the name 'Capitola' and found something interesting. There was a book written during the time of Capitola's birth/childhood. The original was written a couple of years before she would have been born. The book is called, 'The Hidden Hand' and is a novel about a girl named Capitola Black. She was an orphan who lived on the streets of New York. Here is the url for this novel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hidden_Hand_novel
Perhaps there is a connection between the person in the book (Capitola Black) and Capitola Grinlinton Guth, or, more likely, maybe her mom named her Capitola because the book/story was out and it was a nice name to name a daughter.
So, the mystery remains for now concerning whether Capitola's mom was Italian or not. Who was she? Where was she born? Did she die giving birth? Was Capitola an orphan? Why does Capitola's death certificate state that she was born in Illinois? Maybe her biological parents died and she was sent to live with other relatives?
Friday, February 19, 2016
Monday, February 16, 2015
Lots and Lots of New Guth Ancestry Information - Updated
The last blog I wrote on my Guth ancestors was about 10 months ago. I will always try to have this information available for anyone who might be related to our family, or, if someone wants to see if they are related to us, they then can connect with us.
About 4 months ago, through the internet, more specifically through Ancestry.com, I met a distant cousin. We compared notes and found that we were definitely related through the Guths. We have the same ancestor who came over here in 1854, with her son and a couple of daughters, one of which was the ancestor of my newly found distant cousin. On top of that, we found another distant cousin who is related through my ancestor, Jean George Guth, who is the father of my great grandfather, George William Guth (formerly Georg Wilhelm Guth). This newly found distant cousin is related to the daughter of Jean George Guth, who was Amelia Guth Wallace, George William's older sister.
So, I will not overwhelm this post, but suffice it to say that I will put a little basic information that I have, and in future blogs, I will include more detailed information. It is easier to grasp information when it is given in small amounts.
Let's start with my dad, George Frederick Guth.
George Frederick Guth - mother, Margaret Markwith Guth. Father - George Robert Guth (b. 1890)
George Robert Guth - Mother, Capitola Grinlinton. Father - George William Guth (b. 1862 NYC)
George William Guth - Mother, Catherina Gitz. Father - J. George Guth (b. 1826, Gumbrechthoffen)
Gumbrechtshoffen is in Alsace-Lorraine. Alsace-Lorraine has been owned on and off by Germany and France. At this time, Germany owned Alsace-Lorraine.
J. George Guth - Mother, Elizabeth Schweitzer. Father - Diebold Guth (b. 1797? Uhrwiller?).
So there you have it in a nutshell. Other families who married into the Guth family were Merdingers, Wallace, Ringer.
We also found where J. George Guth and Catherina Gitz Guth are buried. We found them at Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery in New York. I have pictures of their grave stones, but they are covered with snow and plants right now.
Here is a pic of the house/apartment where the Guth family originally lived at 5 S. Center Street in Orange, N.J.
About 4 months ago, through the internet, more specifically through Ancestry.com, I met a distant cousin. We compared notes and found that we were definitely related through the Guths. We have the same ancestor who came over here in 1854, with her son and a couple of daughters, one of which was the ancestor of my newly found distant cousin. On top of that, we found another distant cousin who is related through my ancestor, Jean George Guth, who is the father of my great grandfather, George William Guth (formerly Georg Wilhelm Guth). This newly found distant cousin is related to the daughter of Jean George Guth, who was Amelia Guth Wallace, George William's older sister.
So, I will not overwhelm this post, but suffice it to say that I will put a little basic information that I have, and in future blogs, I will include more detailed information. It is easier to grasp information when it is given in small amounts.
Let's start with my dad, George Frederick Guth.
George Frederick Guth - mother, Margaret Markwith Guth. Father - George Robert Guth (b. 1890)
George Robert Guth - Mother, Capitola Grinlinton. Father - George William Guth (b. 1862 NYC)
George William Guth - Mother, Catherina Gitz. Father - J. George Guth (b. 1826, Gumbrechthoffen)
Gumbrechtshoffen is in Alsace-Lorraine. Alsace-Lorraine has been owned on and off by Germany and France. At this time, Germany owned Alsace-Lorraine.
J. George Guth - Mother, Elizabeth Schweitzer. Father - Diebold Guth (b. 1797? Uhrwiller?).
So there you have it in a nutshell. Other families who married into the Guth family were Merdingers, Wallace, Ringer.
We also found where J. George Guth and Catherina Gitz Guth are buried. We found them at Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery in New York. I have pictures of their grave stones, but they are covered with snow and plants right now.
Here is a pic of the house/apartment where the Guth family originally lived at 5 S. Center Street in Orange, N.J.
Here is a pic of the place where Merdinger's Market was. It was in the place where Epstein's is in this picture. You can see the back of the apartment or house that the Guth family lived in as it was right around the corner from this market.
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| Merdinger's Meat Market was where the yellow building is in this picture. It is now a hardware store. It is located on Main Street in Orange, N..J. |
The brick building on the left is the same building as the top picture, but from another angle. You can see how close the place of living was to the place of work. Both George Guth and Jacob Merdinger worked at Merdinger's Market. Jacob Merdinger was married to J. George Guth's sister, Magdalena.
UPDATE: J. George Guth came over to America with his sisters and a future brother in law. Marguerite Schweitzer Guth did not come over on the ship with her son, Jean George. She had passed away along with her husband Diebold Guth, in Alsace-Lorraine. The future brother in law was not Jacob Merdinger, but, Michael Merdinger. J. George Guth's sisters were; Magdalena, Elizabeth, Catherine, and Margaret. They all immigrated to NYC, but a brother named Diebold was left behind.
UPDATE: J. George Guth came over to America with his sisters and a future brother in law. Marguerite Schweitzer Guth did not come over on the ship with her son, Jean George. She had passed away along with her husband Diebold Guth, in Alsace-Lorraine. The future brother in law was not Jacob Merdinger, but, Michael Merdinger. J. George Guth's sisters were; Magdalena, Elizabeth, Catherine, and Margaret. They all immigrated to NYC, but a brother named Diebold was left behind.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Guth Research
I hope that any of my followers would have figured out by now that yesterday's post was an April Fool's joke. Anyway, on a more serious note, I haven't given up researching my Guth ancestors. I just wish I had more leads and places to look for them.
What I really would like to find, is where Georg Guth and Catherina Gitz Guth are buried. From the information I gathered on them, they came from Alsace-Lorraine in the 1850s and landed or settled in Manhattan, living on Willett. They appeared to have three children, Amelie, Maria Louise, and Georg Wilhelm, who later was called, George William. The original spelling of the last name was Gut. The 'h' was an addition sometime when they moved here.
George William was christened, it looks like, right after he was born. They were part of "The First German Presbyterian Church of Rivington Street, in NYC. Around the 1890s, this family moved to Orange (or perhaps East Orange) NJ, and lived on Cone Street (which is probably Day Street today). After that, I have no idea where George and Catherina lived or died. I have no idea what happened to Amelie, except that she married a Wallace (I think William Wallace). Maria Louise became 'Aunt Mary' and lived on a farm in Califon, NJ. She married Herman Ringer (or Henry Ringer) who came from a German family. She and Herman/Henry are buried in a cemetery in West Orange, NJ., in the Ringer family plot, I believe. I can't think of the name of the cemetery, but it was off Eagle Rock Avenue, I believe. In fact, the pictures on this page were taken from that cemetery plot.
George William and Mary joined a church in East Orange, NJ, when George was around 19 or so. He only stayed for a short while, and we find him back in NY, living in Brooklyn as a hat maker around the 1890s, when my grandfather, George Guth, was born. He live in a couple of different places in Brooklyn but finally made the move to NJ in the early 1900s, and settled in East Orange as well. He was married to Capitola Grinlinton, who supposedly is from NY. Her father was Robert Grinlinton, and the only information I have on him is that he was a mechanic, and he may have been involved in fighting and murdering a couple of people in NYC. After I read the newspaper articles on those events, I decided that he might not be the ancestor I am looking for! Nevertheless, I have no other information on him or his wife, except that he may have been Scotch.
If anyone interested in this family has the time to research them, I would love to find where George Guth and Catherina Gitz Guth are buried, as well as Robert Grinlinton and his wife, whoever she may have been. I speculate that Capitola's mother's family may have been from the Bronx. The reason I think this could be is because some Grinlintons are found in the Bronx, and they married into Italian families. As you can tell, Capitola seems to be an Italian name, so, there must have been a reason for her being called that. Capitola's first name though, was Georgianna, I believe. She probably called herself 'Capitola' (possibly a middle name?) because of the fact that she married George Guth and didn't want to be called Georgianna if her husband was George. But there are others with the last name of Grinlinton in the Bronx, although they are dying off. Also though, my grandfather, George Guth (probably the 3rd?) was really into baseball, and for the NY teams. Seems like there was some kind of connection with the Bronx there too. I was in contact with a man who was from the Bronx, whose last name was Grinlinton, who was into baseball. I wrote back some questions, but never heard back from him. Possibly, he passed away. I will never know if he was related or not.
If you are interested in joining a Guth/Gutt/Good newsletter, here is the email:
What I really would like to find, is where Georg Guth and Catherina Gitz Guth are buried. From the information I gathered on them, they came from Alsace-Lorraine in the 1850s and landed or settled in Manhattan, living on Willett. They appeared to have three children, Amelie, Maria Louise, and Georg Wilhelm, who later was called, George William. The original spelling of the last name was Gut. The 'h' was an addition sometime when they moved here.
George William was christened, it looks like, right after he was born. They were part of "The First German Presbyterian Church of Rivington Street, in NYC. Around the 1890s, this family moved to Orange (or perhaps East Orange) NJ, and lived on Cone Street (which is probably Day Street today). After that, I have no idea where George and Catherina lived or died. I have no idea what happened to Amelie, except that she married a Wallace (I think William Wallace). Maria Louise became 'Aunt Mary' and lived on a farm in Califon, NJ. She married Herman Ringer (or Henry Ringer) who came from a German family. She and Herman/Henry are buried in a cemetery in West Orange, NJ., in the Ringer family plot, I believe. I can't think of the name of the cemetery, but it was off Eagle Rock Avenue, I believe. In fact, the pictures on this page were taken from that cemetery plot.
George William and Mary joined a church in East Orange, NJ, when George was around 19 or so. He only stayed for a short while, and we find him back in NY, living in Brooklyn as a hat maker around the 1890s, when my grandfather, George Guth, was born. He live in a couple of different places in Brooklyn but finally made the move to NJ in the early 1900s, and settled in East Orange as well. He was married to Capitola Grinlinton, who supposedly is from NY. Her father was Robert Grinlinton, and the only information I have on him is that he was a mechanic, and he may have been involved in fighting and murdering a couple of people in NYC. After I read the newspaper articles on those events, I decided that he might not be the ancestor I am looking for! Nevertheless, I have no other information on him or his wife, except that he may have been Scotch.
If anyone interested in this family has the time to research them, I would love to find where George Guth and Catherina Gitz Guth are buried, as well as Robert Grinlinton and his wife, whoever she may have been. I speculate that Capitola's mother's family may have been from the Bronx. The reason I think this could be is because some Grinlintons are found in the Bronx, and they married into Italian families. As you can tell, Capitola seems to be an Italian name, so, there must have been a reason for her being called that. Capitola's first name though, was Georgianna, I believe. She probably called herself 'Capitola' (possibly a middle name?) because of the fact that she married George Guth and didn't want to be called Georgianna if her husband was George. But there are others with the last name of Grinlinton in the Bronx, although they are dying off. Also though, my grandfather, George Guth (probably the 3rd?) was really into baseball, and for the NY teams. Seems like there was some kind of connection with the Bronx there too. I was in contact with a man who was from the Bronx, whose last name was Grinlinton, who was into baseball. I wrote back some questions, but never heard back from him. Possibly, he passed away. I will never know if he was related or not.
If you are interested in joining a Guth/Gutt/Good newsletter, here is the email:
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Did you know the meaning of the German word 'Gut' is good? It could mean good, in the sense of value, but it more probably has to do with occupation, like a dealer in goods, for example, a store clerk.
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Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Do I Really Have a Murderer for an Ancestor?
I know this seems silly to put on this page, but, it really does have to do with Guth genealogy, and I will attempt to explain why in a moment. You see, I was doing research on an ancestor, who has an uncommon last name, so he should not be too hard to find, right? Well, I found Robert Grinlinton at 123 Mulberry Street in New York City in 1860. I assume he is my ancestor, but it is possible that he was another Robert Grinlinton.
Robert Grinlinton is the grandfather of my grandfather, George Robert Guth. George Robert Guth, the son of George William Guth, was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1890. His mother's name was Georgianna or Capitola Grinlinton. I have records saying she is from NY, but, on her death certificate it says she was born in Illinois. Georgianna Capitola's father's name was Robert Grinlinton, who she said was 'Scotch'.
I found another resource for New York newspapers, and did a search for Robert Grinlinton. It appears that Robert Grinlinton did live on Mulberry Street, but he murdered a man named McGrath. They got into a fight and he must have either hurt McGrath and killed someone else or actually killed McGrath.
In another article, years later, a man who lived on Mulberry Street named Rufus Grinlinton got into a fight with his brother, Robert, and Robert gave it to him. Rufus' address was 120 Mulberry. I believe Robert's was 123 Mulberry. What was it with this Robert Grinlinton man? He seemed kind of violent. Was he really related to George Robert Guth, or do we look for another?
Another unsolved mystery. But there are clues. I know my grandfather had a violent temper too. He would start fist fights with people on the road. Maybe there is a connection after all. I close this article red-faced knowing what kind of ancestors I probably had.
Robert Grinlinton is the grandfather of my grandfather, George Robert Guth. George Robert Guth, the son of George William Guth, was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1890. His mother's name was Georgianna or Capitola Grinlinton. I have records saying she is from NY, but, on her death certificate it says she was born in Illinois. Georgianna Capitola's father's name was Robert Grinlinton, who she said was 'Scotch'.
I found another resource for New York newspapers, and did a search for Robert Grinlinton. It appears that Robert Grinlinton did live on Mulberry Street, but he murdered a man named McGrath. They got into a fight and he must have either hurt McGrath and killed someone else or actually killed McGrath.
In another article, years later, a man who lived on Mulberry Street named Rufus Grinlinton got into a fight with his brother, Robert, and Robert gave it to him. Rufus' address was 120 Mulberry. I believe Robert's was 123 Mulberry. What was it with this Robert Grinlinton man? He seemed kind of violent. Was he really related to George Robert Guth, or do we look for another?
Another unsolved mystery. But there are clues. I know my grandfather had a violent temper too. He would start fist fights with people on the road. Maybe there is a connection after all. I close this article red-faced knowing what kind of ancestors I probably had.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
The Search For Essex County Cemeteries
The mystery continues. Now that I know that the Guth Family (George and Katherina, nee, Gitz) are in New Jersey instead of in New York in the late 1800's, I will start searching the cemeteries now to see where they might be buried. I already tried Rosedale Cemetery, and they are not there. They were Presbyterians, so I am open to looking into Presbyterian church cemeteries. It is possible that they had property already in New York, but I don't know how likely that would be. I am collecting a list of cemetery names and addresses that are in Essex County tonight. I have a feeling that they did not live too long into the 20th century, if they even made it that far. I will update on any findings I get. My husband said that if I find them that we might be able to visit when we are on our way to Boston. Now, the key is finding them!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
The Guth-Gutt-Good Newsletter Page
Here is a web site that is researching the Guth/Gutt/Good Surname. There are directions on how to subscribe to receive the email periodically.
http://www.guthguttgood.com/
http://www.guthguttgood.com/
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