Little Eugene Webster's Birth Record

In my previous post, I shared the birth record of Alicia Bell Webster, the youngest child of my maternal great-grandparents, Frederick Emory Webster and Esther Matus Villatoro. In that post I also shared the exciting news that I had found the birth record of Eugene Webster, another child of Frederick and Esther (Matus Villatoro) Webster. I also said that I would share Eugene's birth record in a future post. So, today I will share Eugene's birth record here on my blog.¹ In his birth record his first name was listed as Eugenio instead of Eugene.

I highlighted the names of Frederick, Esther, Eugenio, and the grandparents, Ebenezer and Cynthia Webster. For some reason, Esther's parents were not included in this birth record. They were included in the birth record for Eugenio's sister, Alicia Bell Webster.² Eugene and his younger sister, Alicia Bell, were both born in Bacacheri, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.

Information in Eugenio's birth record:

Name: Eugenio Webster
Event Type: Birth Registration
Event Place: Bacacheri, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
Sex: Male
Birth Date: 3 December 1915
Father's Name: Frederico Emory Webster
Mother's Name: Esther Matus Webster
Certificate Number: 38461

Frederick Emory Webster stated in his 1917 U.S. Consular Registration Application that Eugenio's full name was Eugene Rollin Webster.³ I'm glad that Frederick left such a rich paper trail due to his travels. I've learned a lot from these documents.

Sadly, Eugene and his sister Alicia Bell did not live to adulthood. I still do not know their exact dates of death. Hopefully I will be able to locate their death records in the future.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2021 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 "Brasil, Paraná, Registro Civil, 1852-1996," database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 20 June 2021), certificate image, Eugenio Webster, 3 December 1915, no. 38461; citing Corregedor Geral da Justicia da Paraná (Paraná General Justice Office), Curitiba.
2 "Brasil, Paraná, Registro Civil, 1852-1996," database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9396-Q699-B4 : accessed 20 June 2021), certificate image, Alicia Bell Webster, 10 May 1918, no. 42988; citing Corregedor Geral da Justicia da Paraná (Paraná General Justice Office), Curitiba.

3 "U.S., Consular Registration Applications, 1916-1925," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 December 2012), Frederick Emory Webster, 29 August 1917, no. 10239; citing Department of State, Division of Passport Control Consular Registration Applications, roll #32734_620305173_0258.

Little Alice Webster's Birth Record

In a previous post I shared the exciting news that I had discovered the birth record of Alice Webster, the youngest child of my maternal great-grandparents, Frederick Emory Webster and Esther Matus Villatoro.

My readers may remember that I refer to Frederick Emory Webster as "The Traveling Dentist" here on my blog. He practiced dentistry in three countries: The United States of America, Mexico, and Brazil. Because of his travels, it was challenging to know where to look for vital records for his family. I'm thankful for the recent hint on FamilySearch that led me to Frederick and Esther's marriage record.

Their marriage did not take place at the time or place I would have expected. Because they were married in Curitiba, Brazil, I decided to do some research in that locality and was able to find the birth records for their two youngest children, Alice and Eugene. Yay!

Here is Alice's birth record.¹ In this birth record I learned that her actual name was Alicia Bell Webster.

Frederick signed his name on the second page of the document. It's always fun to see an ancestor's signature.

I highlighted the names of Frederick, Esther, Alicia Bell, and the grandparents, Ebenezer and Cynthia Webster, and Raymundo Matus (should be Raymunda). The inclusion of the grandparents' names provides evidence that this birth record is for my Frederick and Esther's daughter, and not another Frederick and Esther's daughter. It's so great and helpful when grandparents are named on documents.

Because I do not speak Portuguese, I used Google Translate to help me understand this birth record. I am not seeing an actual birth date on the record, but FamilySearch states that Alicia's birth date was 10 May 1918. If Google Translate is correct, it looks like Frederick reported his daughter's birth on 11 May 1918.

Sadly, Alicia Bell did not live to adulthood. I am glad to finally have her birth record, but I still do not have her death record. I'm also glad I was able to find the birth record of Alicia's brother, Eugene. I will share Eugene's birth record in a future post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2021 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 "Brasil, Paraná, Registro Civil, 1852-1996," database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9396-Q699-B4 : accessed 20 June 2021), certificate image, Alicia Bell Webster, 10 May 1918, no. 42988; citing Corregedor Geral da Justicia da Paraná (Paraná General Justice Office), Curitiba.^↩

My Ancestors' Signatures

In my previous post, I shared the news that the marriage record of my maternal great-grandparents, Frederick Emory Webster and Esther Matus Villatoro, included their signatures. It's so fun to see the signatures of ancestors on documents. I have already seen Frederick's signature on other documents, but I don't think I've ever seen Esther's signature before. So, her marriage record is not only valuable from the standpoint of the information it contains, but also because it includes her signature.

In my post about their marriage record, I also said that I needed to add Esther's signature to my blog's "My Ancestors' Signatures page. I have now done that. On that page I have signatures of other ancestors including the signature of my 6th great-grandfather, John Waterman. His signature was from his Last Will and Testament dated 3 January 1742/3 when he was about seventy years of age. If you would like to check out the "My Ancestors' Signatures" page on my blog, click HERE, or you can just go to my blog's home page and click on the "My Ancestors' Signatures" tab.

Seeing the signatures of our ancestors on documents is such a treat. Do you collect your ancestors' signatures?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2021 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

Found at Last: The Marriage Record of my Great-Grandparents

I recently clicked on a hint in my FamilySearch Family Tree. And I'm so glad I did! The hint was for the marriage record of my maternal great-grandparents, Watson (Frederick) Emory Webster and Esther Matus Villatoro.¹

I did not have their marriage record before this new discovery. Their first child, Carlota Adelia Webster, was born on 11 January 1910 in Arriaga, Chiapas, Mexico. The rest of their children were born in Brazil, including my maternal grandfather, Debs Warren Webster. Rather than being married in Mexico, it turns out that Frederick and Esther were married in Colombo, Colombo, Paraná, Brazil on 23 February 1918.

Here is their marriage record. I cropped it and highlighted it for better viewing.

Rough translation of this cropped section: Dr. Frederico Emory Webster and Esther Mattos, single, Dentist, fifty-four years of age, native of United States of America and resident of Curitba, legitimate son of Ebenezer P. Webster and Cynthea M. Webster....

The information in this section matches known information. Frederick's calculated birth year from his stated age matches his known birth year of 1864. His known parents were Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster and Cynthia Maria Webster. Frederick was known to have been living in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil in 1917 according to a U.S. Consular Registration Application. Frederick and Esther's place of marriage in Colombo was only about nine or so miles from Curitiba according to Google Maps.

Rough translation (referring to Esther Matus): twenty-four years of age, Dentist, native of Mexico and resident of Curitiba legitimate daughter of Nicanor Mattos and Raymuno Villatoro....

The information in this section also matches known information, although Raymundo should be Raymunda and Mattos should be Matus. I am intrigued that Esther was referred to as a Dentist. This is the first time I have heard or read anything about her being a Dentist so this is interesting.

The marriage record lists the children of Frederick and Esther and gives their birthdates, which is amazing: Carlota, 11 January 1902?, Edna 23 September 1912....

Carlota's year of birth must be wrong. Esther would not be old enough to have a child in 1902. Additionally, according to a US Consular document, Carlota was born in 1910, which would make more sense. This document supplied me with the date Edna was born. I knew she was born in September 1912, but I wasn't sure which day she was born. One of my options was the 23rd, so that is likely her birth date.

In this section, my maternal grandfather, Debs Warren Webster, was listed as Debs, 27 April 1914 (correct date), Eugene, 4 December 1915....

It's so fun to find the signatures of ancestors on documents. Here we have Frederick and Esther's signatures at the bottom of their marriage record. How awesome is that? I don't think I've seen Esther's signature before. I'll need to add it to the "My Ancestors' Signatures" page on my blog.

My mom was from Brazil and could speak Portuguese. Unfortunately, I do not speak Portuguese so I turned to Google translate for some help with Frederick and Esther's marriage record.

This marriage record contains so much valuable information. After the discovery of this marriage record, I was able to find the birth record of Frederick and Esther's youngest child, Alice, who was born about two weeks after their marriage. I was also able to find the birth record of their fourth child, Eugene. I will share these two birth records in future posts.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2021 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 "Brasil, Paraná, Registro Civil, 1852-1996," database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9396-Q6SZ-L1 : accessed 20 June 2021), certificate image, Frederico Emory Webster and Esther Mattos, 23 February 1918, no.160; citing Corregedor Geral da Justicia da Paraná (Paraná General Justice Office), Curitiba.^↩

My Updated Haplogroup

Today I had a very nice person contact me to tell me that we are mtDNA matches on Family Tree DNA. Isn't that awesome!? We had a nice chat sharing family trees, etc. During our chat she told me which haplogroup she belonged to and I told her my haplogroup was B4'5. I logged into Family Tree DNA and my haplogroup had changed. It was no longer B4'5.

I had my mtDNA tested at Family Tree DNA in 2013. At that time I ordered the mtDNA Plus test. That test result gave me my mtDNA Haplogroup as B4'5.

Last month I upgraded to the full sequence mtDNA test at Family Tree DNA. It was completed on June 8, 2021. Interestingly, my haplogroup has been updated from B4'5 to B2.

According to Family Tree DNA, Haplogroup B2 is found in Brazil and "is seen among Native Americans." My mom was from Brazil so this makes sense. Interestingly, my ethnicity estimates have pretty consistently included Native American ancestry. My maternal great-grandmother, Esther Matus Villatoro, was from Arriaga, Chiapas, Mexico.

Here's my latest Ancestry DNA Ethnicity Estimate. Of course, as the title says, this is just an estimate. But it is still interesting.

One of the college courses I'm taking this semester at BYU-Idaho Online is Introductory Genetic Genealogy - FHGEN 352. It's an interesting and informative class. This week we have been learning about autosomal third-party tools.

I'm taking three more classes this semester: U.S. Geographic Specialization - FHGEN 351, Visual Media - COMM 130, and Career Development - GS 170.

As you can imagine, homework is keeping me pretty busy these days. 😀

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2021 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

My 9th Blogiversary

Oops! I missed my 9th blogiversary. It was actually on April 5th.

Wow! How has it already been nine years since I began this blog? I haven't been blogging as much this past year. I have been keeping myself busy though. I just finished my third semester at BYU-Idaho's Online Degree Program. I am now officially a senior. Yay! My goal is to graduate next year, in April 2022.

THANK YOU

Thank you to my wonderful readers for taking the time to read my posts and for leaving comments over the years. I appreciate your support very much!

BLOGGING YEAR IN REVIEW

Here are my posts from the last year (since my last blogiversary)

David Debs Webster ~ My Newly-Discovered Granduncle - April 13, 2020

Genealogy Treasures in Great-Grandpa Carl's WWI Draft Registration Card - May 24, 2020

Enhanced Photos Using the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer - June 21, 2020

My 6th Great-Grandfather's Signature - July 23, 2020

Dr. F. E. Webster, The Painless Dentist - July 29, 2020

Lesson Learned. Always Check for Additional Pages - August 5, 2020

He Believed His Brother Was Insane - August 27, 2020

Phebe (Barker) Waterman ~ Revolutionary War Pension Payment Record - November 11, 2020

Ole Anthon Christopherson's Last Will and Testament - December 16, 2020

Ole Anthon Christopherson's Land Record Plus a Map of His Property - January 10, 2021

Thank you Minnesota Historical Society for Ole's Death Certificate - March 14, 2021

Again, thank you for taking the time to read my posts!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2021 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

Thank you Minnesota Historical Society for Ole's Death Certificate

Sometime last year, I went to the Minnesota Historical Society's website and ordered the death certificate for Ole Anthon Christopherson, who was my paternal 2nd great-grandfather. In my Legacy Family Tree I had his cause of death as asthma but I couldn't remember where I got that information (yep, this is an example of why citations are so important 😉).

I did not initially find Ole's death certificate information on the Minnesota Historical Society's website. It turned out that his name was listed as Ole Arthur Christopherson instead of Ole Anthon Christopherson. It's important to use various search strategies when searching for an ancestor. I'm glad to say that I was able to find and order his death certificate.

If you have ancestors from Minnesota, I highly recommend the Minnesota Historical Society's website. It's amazing! They have digital newspapers, maps, and more. I searched for Ole's death certificate in the Minnesota People Records Search link under the Research Tab on the website.

Here's Ole's death certificate.¹

Information gleaned from Ole's death certificate:

Place of Death: Benson, Swift, Minnesota

Full Name: Ole Anthon Christopherson

Sex: Male

Color: White

Marital Status: Married

Date of Birth: April 20, 1837

Age: 77 yrs, 0 mos. 2 ds.

Occupation: Retired Hotel Keeper

Birthplace: Norway

Name of Father: Michal Christian Christopherson

Birthplace of Father: Norway

Maiden Name of Mother: Seryanna Olson

Birthplace of Mother: Norway

Informant Name: Abe Christopherson

Informant Address: Benson Min

Date of Death: 8 pm on May 12, 1914

Cause of Death: Asthma

Duration: 1 yrs. 3 mos. 0 ds.

Place of Burial or Removal: Benson Cemetery

Date of Burial: May 15, 1914

Ole's occupation in his death certificate is consistent with his previously stated occupations in two US federal census records. In the 1900 US census Ole's occupation was listed as a "Boarding H. Keeper" and there was one boarder listed in his household.² In the 1910 US census Ole's occupation was listed as Manager in the Hotel Industry.³ His wife's occupation was listed as a Cook in the Hotel Industry.⁴ There were six boarders listed in their household.⁵

Ole's cause of death was asthma. What was the treatment for asthma in the early 1900s? I have another 2nd great-grandfather, Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster, who also suffered from asthma. 

The informant on Ole's death certificate was Abe Christopherson. Ole had a brother named Henning Abraham Christopherson. Apparently Henning went by his middle name as I've seen him listed as Abraham on many records.

A big thank you to the Minnesota Historical Society for Ole's death certificate. The ordering process went well and I received his death certificate without any problems.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana Last

© 2021 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 Minnesota Division of Health, death certificate 14525 (1914), Ole Anthon Christopherson; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.^↩
2 1900 U.S. Census, Swift County, Minnesota, population schedule, Benson Village, enumeration district (ED) 270, sheet 8-B, Anthon Christofferson; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : 14 March 2021); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623.^↩
3 1910 U.S. Census, Swift County, Minnesota, population schedule, Benson Ward 2, enumeration district (ED) 157, sheet 11-A, Anton Christopherson; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : 14 March 2021); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624.^↩
4 Ibid.^↩
5 Ibid.^↩

Ole Anthon Christopherson's Land Record Plus a Map of His Property

In a previous post I wondered if I could find land records for my paternal 2nd great-grandfather, Ole Anthon Christopherson. I think I found a land patent record for him. I did a search in the Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records website and found a land record for Anthon Christopherson in Swift County, Minnesota.¹

Here's a screenshot of the Patent Details.

Information gleaned from this record:

Accession Nr: MN0180__.195

Document Type: State Volume Patent

State: Minnesota

Issue Date: 3/30/1880

Cancelled: No

Names On Document: Christopherson, Anthon

Land Office: Benson

US Reservations: No

Mineral Reservations: No

Authority: May 20, 1862: Homestead Entry

Document Nr: 3766 Original (12 Stat. 392)

Misc. Doc. Nr: 5678

BLM Serial Nr: MN No S/N

Total Acres: 80

Metes/Bounds: No

Land Descriptions:

State: MN

Meridian: 5th PM

Twp - Rng: 121N - 039W

Aliquots: S½SW

Section: 20

County: Swift

It is so great that a map is included with this land patent. Within the large square is a smaller square. That is Section 20. And within Section 20 is a rectangle containing the 80 acres that Ole Anthon Christopherson acquired. The Issue Date was 30 March 1880. This matches known information for Ole and his family. He and his family were enumerated in the 1880 U.S. federal census living in Torning, Swift, Minnesota.² In that census he was listed as Anthon Christopherson and not Ole Christopherson and his occupation was a farmer.

Here's a map of Torning in Swift County, Minnesota. Comparing Ole Anthon's land record map to this one, it seems to match the 1880 census locality for Ole Athon and his family in Torning.

Here's a closeup view of Ole's 80 acres of land that he acquired in Swift County, Minnesota according to this land record. It's the rectangle in the southwest corner of Section 20.

This map shows that Ole Anthon Christopherson's property was at the corner of 10th Ave S (state highway 29) and 40th St SE. 

And here's a zoomed in view of that same intersection in Torning, Minnesota using GoogleMaps. Isn't this so cool!?

More evidence that the Anthon Christopherson who acquired land in this land record is my 2nd great-grandfather, Ole Anthon Christopherson, is that a Michael C. Christopherson and a Peter Christopherson also acquired land in this same area. Ole Anthon's land was in Section 20 and so was Michael's and Peter's land. Anthon's father was named Michael Christian Christopherson and Ole Anthon had a brother named Peter. It is very likely that the family members would have wanted to live close to each other.

Here is Michael C. Christopherson's land in Section 20.

And here is Peter's land in Section 20.

As you can see, Michael and Peter's land were right next to each other. And Ole Anthon's land was in the southwest corner of Section 20.

The way I found out about Michael's and Peter's land was by clicking on the "Related Documents" tab right next to the Patent Image tab. Michael C, Anthon, and Peter are at the top of the list. This list also shows who else owned land in Section 20.

Land records are so amazing and helpful. It's really wonderful that Ole Anthon Christopherson, an immigrant from Norway, was able to acquire land in his new country, the United States of America.

This post is getting pretty long already and I haven't shared Ole Anthon Christopherson's Patent Image yet, so I'll do that in a future post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2021 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 Bureau of Land Management, “Land Patent Search,” digital images, General Land Office Records (http://glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch : accessed 17 December 2020), Anthon Christopherson, Swift County, Minnesota, Homestead Certificate No. 3766.

2 1880 U.S. census, Swift County, Minnesota, population schedule, Torning, p. 6, dwelling 56, family 56, Anthon Christofferson, image, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYB8-R88 : accessed 6 May 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication T9.^↩