Harvey Watson Knight was the fourth husband of my great-grandmother, Ida Barber.
Harvey was born on 4 March 1873 in Canada as the third child of Harvey Milton and Mary F. Harsen Knight. He immigrated to the United States in 1884 and was naturalized in 1894. Harvey married Ida Barber (Fisher) (Holdsworth) (Montran?) on 27 August 1910 in Detroit.
In 1910, Harvey was a “boarder” with Ida Barber Holdsworth her daughter Madona Holdsworth. And her mother Sarah Barber. Harvey and Ida Barber (Fisher) (Holdsworth) (Montran?) were married on 27 August 1910.
On 20 Nov 1915, Harvey and Ida celebrated the birth of a son, Harvey Milton Knight. He was clearly named after Harvey’s father. Sadly on 25 September 1916, Harvey Milton died of accidental poisoning of Mercury dichloride.
In September 1918, Harvey registered for the WW1 draft; he lived at 628 Lawndale Ave., Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. He worked as an engineer for Ireland Matthews at Beard & Chatfield Aves, Detroit, Michigan. He is described as Medium height, grey eyes, and black hair.
In 1920, he and Ida still lived at 628 Lawndale, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, USA (Ward 20). He was working as an engineer at an auto shop.
In 1930, his address is 1456 Lawndale, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, USA. It does not appear that he moved though. Most of his neighbors are the same as in the 1920 census, so it appears that the street numbering was changed. He still worked as an Engineer at an Auto Factory.
He remained in the same house in 1935 and 1940 where he worked as a Stationary Engineer at an auto body plant.
Knight Marker at Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, MI.
His mother passed in 1941. I don’t know when his father passed.
Harvey died at the Ypsilanti State Hospital, Washtenaw, Michigan, USA on 19 May 1942. He is buried with his wife Ida Mae and his son, Milton in Plot 154, Oak Ridge Section, Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan.
One of my favorite features of my genealogy software, Family Tree Maker 2 for Mac, is its ability to create calendars of people in my tree birthdates and marriage anniversaries. I like it because I can use it as a reality check to verify some of the data I have; moreover, it reminds me to wish various folks who are still living well wishes. Â
It reported that Elvah and Charles W. Brown, my grandaunt and granduncle, would be celebrating their 78th wedding anniversary. I knew that Charles had passed many years ago, but I didn’t know what happened to Elvah. I looked a bit more at my tree and found that I had forgotten that Charles had remarried another woman in Alaska sometime later.  I knew that Charles had had five children but didn’t know which ones were from which mother. I knew that for my software to present the correct information, I needed to determine the relationship status of Charles and Elvah. Did she die, or did they divorce?Â
I first looked at my tree on Ancestry and looked to see if anyone else had family trees on Charles. There were several trees there that included Charles and Elvah but none with any details or sources better than mine. No easy shortcuts.
Minnesota Marriages are really easy to get information on because of MOMS (Minnesota Official Marriage System). (If you are doing marriage research in Minnesota, this site is a must!) Not only can you get the basic information, but you can order a copy online if you want to.  One really useful feature of the system is that you can enter the last name of the groom and the first name of the bride and search for both bride and groom.  A search for Brown and Elvah yielded:
CROW WING R-17 5/8/1943 BLISS, RAYMOND N. BROWN, ELVAH
CROW WING N-535 2/23/1935 BROWN, CHARLES NORQUIST, ELVAH
There they were, Charles and Elvah married in 1935.
I already found Charles in Cass County in the 1920 and 1930 using Ancestry.Com censuses, so their marrying in Crow Wing County was understandable. Probably were married in the big city of Brainerd. I quickly found Elva in the 1930 census living with her father and mother in Brainerd. I also found her in the 1920 census living with her father and mother. Perfect. Â
When searching for them in the 1940 census, I came across a first for the censuses. She was listed as “Brown, Charles – wife – male – 27 – married…- housewife” living with her mother and father, “same house” as in 1935, and the same address as in 1930. With her is her son, Glen Brown. No male Charles in the household. So it appeared that he may be her only child with Charles.Â
From Charles’ obituary in 1990, I knew the names of his children. Family Search’s Minnesota Birth Index 1935-2002 provided all their middle names and their mother’s names. Glen was born to Elva, and the others to Dora. The oldest of Dora’s children was born in 1946. So it appeared that the Elvah Brown marriage to Raymond Bliss was probably the correct Elvah, so I went with that, tentatively.
So, if Elvah was with her family in 1940, where was Charles? I found him in the 1940 census living as a lodger with Woodrow and Beulah Wilson in Township 134, Range 29, which was the Western portion of an unorganized township north of Baxter, about six miles from Brainerd. He was listed as single. Neither the head of household (Woodrow) nor Charles had worked in the previous 52 weeks. An understandable reason why Charles and Evlah had separated and why she was living with her parents in 1940. I think that in 1940, Charles had moved on and at least considered himself single while Elvah was still struggling with her identity as a married woman. I estimate they were divorced sometime in 1940. Charles is buried at the Gull River Cemetery.
A little more searching on the Brainerd Daily Dispatch found that Charles and Elva had another son in 1936. Â Knowing that I was able to find his birth record. Their child Henry Lester Brown was born on 24 Nov 1936 and died on 17 Jan 1937, at about seven weeks old. Â There are a number of articles regarding Charles in 1938 and 1939 regarding his not supporting his family, being ordered by the court to pay, etc.
I don’t know of an online source of Minnesota Divorce Records before 1970. If anyone know of one, let me know in the comments below. In the meantime, I guess I’ll look and see if anything shows up in the Brainerd paper.
As I mentioned before, I was excited to find the Huber/Trumpi Marriage Record in the Wisconsin Marriages 1836-1930.  It gave me John Huber’s birthplace, parents’ names, and Bertha Trumpi’s parents’ names.  I decided to order the film of the record via the Family Search and have it delivered to my closest Family History Center. I was very pleased that it was only $7.50 (instead of Wisconsin’s $20) and that I would have the opportunity to get a couple more records of potential relatives off that spool.
The spool came in last Wednesday, and I was able to get to the center last Saturday. Â I loaded up the film, and away I went. Â Rolled to the right record (thanks to the reference number in the Index), and there they were. Â I had to fire up the machine next to it, start up the capture software, and then capture the image. Â A bit cumbersome the first time, but after I got the hang of it it went well. Â Great scans of the image at 400 Pixels per inch. Â Nice. Â Save the files to a thumb drive. I then saved the images of the other folks I might be interested in and was done in just a few minutes
The most interesting new bit of information from the image was the “Names of subscribing witnesses.”
Gebert Huber and Anna Altman with John and Bertha Trumpi Huber (bride & groom)- 2 Mar 1905 – New Glarus, Green County, Wisconsin
Gebert Huber and Anna Altman. It was particularly cool because I have a photo of John and Bertha with two other individuals, presumably the best man and bride’s maid – aka the witnesses. So a new bit of information and new questions.
There are at least two Anna Altmans in the New Glarus/GreenCounty area that could be the Anna in the photo. Looking at the families there, I’m not seeing anything that links them together.  The Altmans came to New Glarus many years earlier.  However, maybe they or someone close to them were the “aunt and uncle” that brought Bertha to the States. Lots more to dig into.
Gebert Huber — same last name as my Johann/John Huber.  Coincidence or family.  It is often the brother of the groom.  Could this be a brother?  Maybe I can find where Gebert came to the states.  Maybe he came for the wedding.  Again, so much more to dig into.  The research never ends.
I’ll probably look into Rev. A. Roth and see exactly who he was. He performed an “ecclesiastical” ceremony.
I am incredibly pleased that Family Search has its Family Heritage Centers around the country and provides the service of providing images for research.  I had never used the service before and am extremely glad that I did.  It worked well for me.  I highly recommend using it if you can.
Today is the 119th anniversary of the birth of my Grand-Uncle, Clyde Leroy Brown. Born 12 Feb 1894, in Minnesota, he was the oldest of 13 children of Arthur Durwood and Mary Elizabeth Manning Brown. He grew up in Crow Wing County, Minnesota.
About 1902 he moved with his parents to Kidder County, North Dakota.Â
41st Infantry Division Insignia
In May of 1917, Clyde enlisted in the North Dakota National Guard. His regiment, the North Dakota 1st (aka 164th Infantry Regiment of the 41st Infantry Division). On 1 May 1918, his regiment headed to Europe as part of The American Expeditionary Forces. In France, the 41st Division received the disappointing news that they were designated a “replacement division” and would not go into combat as a unit. In October 1918, Clyde was assigned to the 116th Supply Train, which was the first of three support assignments. The War ended on 11/11/1918. He remained in Europe for another nine months being assigned to the Provisional Motor Transport Company Unit, then finally, Motor Transport Company No. 831. Before leaving France, he married Yvonne Caumont.Â
SS Imperator / USS Imperator
He and Yvonne arrived in New York aboard the USS Imperator on 10 Aug 1919. The Imperator was the largest ship of its day, being larger than the Titanic when it was built. Â Clyde was discharged on 11 Aug 1919 in Hoboken, New Jersey.Â
Clyde and Yvonne settled in Baxter, Crow Wing County, Minnesota. In the next ten years, they have moved to Rosing, Morrison County, Minnesota, USA and had seven children,
Marie Clarence Marcelle William Bernice Artie Baby (name not known)
Yvonne died in January 1932.
The intervening years are a mystery. I haven’t successfully found him in the 1940 census nor any other records until 5 Dec 1942, when he married Susan Harman in Crow Wing County, Minnesota.
He married Alice Marie Tyson about 1957.
He may have lived for a period in California, but by 1961 he returned to Minnesota, and he lived on Route 4, Brainerd.
He retired from the Northern Pacific Railway Company.
Clyde died on 4 Aug 1971 in Crow Wing County and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Block 10, Lot 87, Section: SEC.
If you have photos or additional information regarding Clyde Leroy Brown, please leave comments or email me directly.
Actions for the future:
Confirm the baby, name, and story. Find Clyde and his children in the 1940 Census. Investigate Susan Harman Investigate Alice Tyson See if he shows in any Northern Pacific Railway documents.
Sometimes the world opens up for you suddenly based upon a tiny bit of information.
Caption
I decided to focus on John Huber and Bertha Trumpi. They arrived in the States separately, both in 1903. They settled in the Swiss Colonies of Wisconsin, were married, and had a child, my wife’s grandmother, while there. They moved to Alabama before 1910, had another child, then moved to Michigan before 1920. I had neither of their parents’ names, although because of some photographs, I was pretty sure that John’s father was Jakob and possible names for his mother (Frieda & Kath). I knew absolutely nothing about Bertha’s parents.Â
I found them in the 1905 Wisconsin Census. They were married by then and living in Dane County, Wisconsin. From that, I knew that they married between 1903 and 1905. I searched and searched and just couldn’t find them. I noticed a Johana marrying during the time but discounted that. Â
I recently took a class (I think it was a Legacy webinar) where the old surname boards on various systems were mentioned. The webinar reminded me to be sure to use surname boards as a resource. So, feeling frustrated about my not being able to find John and Bertha’s marriage information, I posted a query to the (free) Ancestry Board – Dane County, Wisconsin. It was the first time I had posted to a board in over a decade.  I posted:
I’m looking for information regarding the marriage of John Huber and Bertha Trumpi (Trumpy, Trumphi). Bertha arrived in the US about 1903. She and John were married before 1 June 1905 most likely in Green or Dane County. They lived in Primrose, Dane County in the 1905 Wisconsin Census.
I was astounded — In 8 hours and 10 minutes, I had a reply.
Wisconsin Marriage Records
Groom – Johann Huber born Windlack, Switzerland.
His father Jacob Huber, his mother Kath Stuckinger. They married 2 March 1905 in New Glarus, Green Co., Wisconsin.
Bertha Trumpe
Father Bernard Trumpe Mother Bertha Koch
This would more than likely have taken place in the Swiss Church in New Glarus…
Of course, I felt stupid having seen Johana before. Knowing the date I easily found the entries on Family Search. (I don’t know why my searches for Trumpi, Trumpy didn’t find her before. )  I thought about ordering a copy of the certificate from Wisconsin. They want $20.00 and will send you a copy of the certificate if they find it. (I’ve had bad experiences with doing that in other states and didn’t want to go down that path.) I saw Family Search has the microfilm available, so I decided to order that media. I’ve never ordered microfilm to look at a Family Heritage Center, so I thought I’d try that. The film is still in processing, but I did find three other marriage records on the same film that I’m interested in seeing as well. (All Trumpi’s in New Glarus, Wisconsin.)  So, I’m looking forward to seeing the microfilm. Â
Jakob Huber
Kath Huber
In one fell swoop, I had solidified John/Johann’s parents’ names, which was really great because I had a family photo that contained them.Â
I wasn’t sure until I found this index if they were parents, uncles, and aunts or what; now I’m sure. The record also included Bertha’s parents’ names. It moves my Darling/Huber tree,  Generation 4, from 50% to 100%. I still have to fill in many blanks, but I at least have names, places, and places to start.
I looked for Bertha Trumpe and found a family tree containing a “Bertha/Retha Trumpe” who came to the States in 1905 and eventually moved to California. Family oral history indicated that Bertha’s mother came to the states and went out to California. I looked a little closer at those entries and found that Retha came over from Glarus, Switzerland, to see a daughter, Bertha Trumpe, in New Glarus, Wisconsin. I looked carefully at the 1900 and the 1910 census records and didn’t find anyone else named Bertha Trumpe near New Glarus so I’m sure it is the right parent.
Retha came to the States very pregnant with three children. She was so pregnant that on the second day of the trip, she gave birth to a boy. Of course, that raises the question of why she would leave Switzerland when pregnant. What happened in Switzerland still needs answers.  It was a descendant of the baby boy born on the cruise that had the tree, missing Bertha that tuned me into the family thing.Â
I also wonder greatly why a Swiss family would move from Wisconsin to Alabama. Certainly against most migration patterns. That will take some more investigation.
The tree I found indicated that Bertha/Retha Trumpi married Kaspar Hefti in 1914. Also, I see where other Hefti’s have married other Trumpi’s. So there are many family relationships to untangle. It will definitely keep me busy for a while. I’ll start what I call a deep dive for Trumpi’s in the New Glarus area from 1880 to 1920 and see what I find. It is always exciting to find new cousins.
A quick, well-focused question on the right location or surname board can make a huge difference.Â
