For this post, I decided to write about my great-grandparents who immigrated to the United States from the small island of Amrum, Germany. I know a little bit about their lives, but not as much as I would like.

My great-grandfather, Johann Christian Jacobsen, was born on July 8, 1901 in Sueddorf, Amrum, Germany. My great-grandmother Frieda Cäcilie "Lily" Sönksen was born April 5, 1903 in Amrum, Germany. Johann and his wife Lilly were married in Germany on June 7, 1925. Their first son, my great-uncle Al, was born in Germany on Aug 5, 1926.

Just shy of two years later, on May 18, 1928, Johann immigrated from Germany to New York. He was on the ship ten days, leaving behind his wife and twenty-one month old son Al (they would join him in New York a year later). According to the ship manifest, Johann sailed on the ship called the "New York" and it was listed that he was going to live with his cousin in Brooklyn. His occupation was listed as "joiner". (It was not uncommon for the husband to leave behind the wife and child to find work in the United States.)

A year later, Lily and her two and a half year old son Al joined Johann in New York. Something that has always fascinated me is that Lily traveled by herself with her young son to a new country, leaving her family and friends in Germany behind. An interesting fact is that Lily and Al immigrated on the same ship, the "New York" that Johann did a year earlier and were also on the ship for ten days.

Once Lily and Al joined Johann in New York, the family resided in Brooklyn. On December 12, 1929, my grandfather Rudolf was born. Unfortunately, not much is known about my great-grandparents lives in Brooklyn other than they owned a deli on 1388 Bushwick Ave.

Eleven years after immigrating to the United States, Lily Jacobsen passed away. She was only 36 and had cancer. She left behind her husband and two young sons. After Lilys death, Johann no longer ran the deli and became a cabinet maker.

Sometime later, in the 1950s, Johann and his two sons Al and Rudolf moved to Terre Haute, Indiana. I remember Johann (vaguely), he died in 1996 when he was 95 years old. I have very fond memories of his two sons, my grandfather and great-uncle Al.

1928 - Immigrants coming to the United States

(Johann is on the top right)

Johann and Lily in front of their Deli in Brooklyn

Johann and Lily in Germany

Lily with sons Al and Rudolf in New York

Old Wedding Announcements

One of my favorite parts about researching family history are the stories and newspaper articles I find; more specifically: old wedding announcements. (These were found on Newspapers.com). Attached are some of my favorite announcements that I have found.

This wedding announcement is very interesting to me. The bride and groom have a fifty-one year age difference! (James Milligan is an ancestor who is related through my Papaws side of the family). I did some more research and unfortunately the marriage ended two years later. This wedding announcement was written in the Brazil Indiana Clay County Enterprise on May 30th, 1878.

This is another wedding announcement of a couple with quite a large age difference (twenty-six years!) (Amanda Whittington is an ancestor who is related through my Papaws side of the family).  I am unsure if the relationship worked out because on Zenos death certificate six years later, he is listed as single. This wedding announcement was written in the Brazil Indiana Democrat in 1894.

This marriage announcement is probably my favorite. A secret wedding in the early 1900's! I love that the friends of the bride and groom found out about the occasion and paid them a visit with bells and other noisemakers. Fred Romas is an ancestor on my Mamaws side of the family. According to my research, Fred and Della were married for 47 years until her death in 1955. This wedding announcement was written May 6, 1908 in the Brazil Weekly Democrat.

These photos were found in a velvet album given to me by my grandmother. Unfortunately, no one knows who the children are and there are no names written on the back. These children are so adorable and I wish I knew their names! As a new mom, I take so many photos of my son (he is currently 3 months old). I cherish all the photos I take and I know that the parents of these children treasured these photos. Even though I don't know the names of the children, I can narrow down the time frame the pictures were taken based on clues from the photographs. (I love a good puzzle).


The first photo of the baby boy in the dark outfit and boots is one of the oldest photos I have in my possession. It is a tintype and most likely dates back to the 1860s or early 1870s. The photographer even hand tinted the babies cheeks pink on the photograph (common for tintypes during that time.)

The second photo is a cabinet card of a baby in the Christening gown and was probably taken in the 1890s or possibly early 1900s.

Hello and welcome to my blog!

A little bit about me: my name is Alicia and I live in Oklahoma with my husband, sweet baby son, two cats and German Shepherd. I have always been fascinated with history and genealogy. Over the past ten years, I have researched my family history and have found/been given some old family photographs (many from the 1800's). The purpose of this blog is to showcase these unique photographs as well as share some genealogy mysteries and stories I have come across in my research over the years. Enjoy!