Chronicling the Family Past Together

 

Facebook has given me one more wonderful connection. And it's the best one of all: a new collaborator!

Back in February, after publishing my blog post "Immigrant Ancestors: The Schiltz Family Arrives in 1845," it was shared on the Sheldon Historical Society Facebook page. Shortly afterwards, I received a few new subscribers to my blog, and among them was one Daniel Cailteux. I immediately perked up, as Cailteux is one of my ancestral surnames—in fact, Anne Marie Cailteux was the wife of Peter Schiltz, the patriarch of the immigrating family who settled in Sheldon, Wyoming Co., New York.

I email all my new subscribers to say hello and did so then as well. In return, I received a wonderful email from Daniel, and thus began our wonderful correspondence. 

Daniel lives in French-speaking Belgium, and describes himself not as a genealogist, but as "Retraité, papa papy tourné vers l'avenir, chroniqueur passé familial œuvre de mémoire d'information," or "Retired, grandpa future minded, chronicler of the family past to create a work of memory." It turns out that we are fifth cousins, once removed, and share Anne Marie's parents Nicholas Cailteux and Catherine Bossler as a common ancestral couple; I descend from Anne Marie, and Daniel descends from her brother, Henri.

Daniel was interested in my research as he has been doing research of his own on Anne Marie (abt. 1794-1865). He shared chapters of a book he is writing about her, one of the pioneer Cailteux ancestors who emigrated from Belgium to the United States. Daniel began his project during the pandemic, relying primarily on the internet and later by corresponding with researchers of from the same family lines. He had created a good portion of a book, with several chapters completed.

After translating Daniel's French chapters into English (using Deepl translator), I was able to read about this ancestral family. Many points of our research matched, which was heartening, as I was just beginning to research this line.

Since Daniel's initial email, we have exchanged other research with each other, as well as photographs, records, and more. As Daniel aims to complete his book on Anne Marie soon, he had a few biographical holes to fill regarding one particular line - in particular that of Maria Schung—Anne Marie's niece—who also immigrated to the United States. Could I help? 

I went to work and have since forwarded Daniel a good deal about Maria Schung, her husband Mathias Trauscht, and their family, including the passenger list showing the couple's immigration to New York, their Buffalo marriage, and details of their six children's lives. Of particular note were the lives of three Trauscht children who went on to join religious orders. Two daughters, Barbara and Mary, joined the Sister of St. Joseph order, while son Peter was ordained a diocesan priest. 

I realized there was also a family connection between Mathias and Maria Trauscht and my own Baker family who lived in Sheldon: in 1879, Mathias brought property in Sheldon from my third great-grandparents Joseph and Barbara Baker, who had since moved to St. Catharines, Ontario.

I look forward to Daniel's emails. He is a faithful reader of my blog and often comments on themes that resonate with him. I get a hint of what our ancestors might have seen when Daniel shares photographs of his beautiful Belgian surroundings. It's wonderful also to get a European perspective on this immigration to the United States, and to look at our family members from his point of view.

It was a real stroke of fortune that Daniel read my blog and initiated correspondence and collaboration. I hope for many more years of working together to bring the story of our common ancestors to life.

Until next time...

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