Re: Howard Sprague, mid-1800's, Pennsylvania
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In reply to:
Howard Sprague, mid-1800's, Pennsylvania
Leah Sprague 10/02/09
There is a WWI draft card for Willis Eaton Sprague who was born April 27, 1883 in Pittsburgh. He was living in Bethlehem, PA at the time and had a wife and two children.
The 1900 census shows Willis Sprague, born April 1883 and Bertha K. Sprague, born Jan 1887, living as boarders with Emma Wagonlander (no I didn't make the name up). My guess is that Willis and Bertha were orphaned. Their parents were listed as born in Pennsylvania.
The 1880 census lists Bertha Kloman 20, along with Mollie 16 as the daughters of And. Kloman 52 living in Pittsburgh. It shows Andrew as born in Germany and that Bertha and Mollie's mother was also born in Germany.
This family appears to be in the 1870 census living in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately it only lists the first initial for each of the family members except Mollie. It shows A42 and M 44 as born in Prussia.
The same family appears to be in the 1860 census under the spelling of Cloman. It shows Andrew 32, Margaret 35 and among their children Bertha 1/12. Since the census was taken June 7, 1860 Bertha was born ca May 1860. They were living in Duquesne, Allegheny County.
Andrew it seems was born 8 Aug 1827 - Mariahutte, Rhineland, Prussia and died 19 Dec 1880 in Pittsburgh.
Some of these records you can look at for free at labs.familysearch.org and Ancestry.com. For those you cannot see for free I suggest checking with your local libraries to see if they have Ancestry or Heritage Quest.
Here is some more: http://people.consolidated.net/rechmbrs/genealogy2/ft/gtp1097.htmhttp://people.consolidated.net/rechmbrs/genealogy2/ft/gtp1097.htm
Because Andrew was listed as an iron master and had a number of servants it occurred to me he might have been a wealthy man: http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/text-idx?ALLSELECTED=1&xc=1&g=pitttextall&type=simple&q1=kloman&c=pitttextdir&c=pitttexthttp://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/text-idx?ALLSELECTED=1&xc=1&g=pitttextall&type=simple&q1=kloman&c=pitttextdir&c=pitttext
Unfortunately, despite the fact he was a very prominent steel maker in the 1800's I could not find a write up on him or his son Anthony who was also big in Pittsburgh steel. BTW it was through Andrew's steel company that the one and only Andrew Carnegie got into the steel industry. Carnegie took over Kloman Steel and went onto make his fortune through it. Carnegie's autobiography mentions him quite a bit.
I would imagine there had to be some kind of estate for the heirs of Andrew Kloman to inherit. Bertha and her surviving children would have been entitled to a share. I suggest trying to get a copy of Andrew Kloman's estate papers from the Allegheny County register of Wills.
You might also try the Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society ironically at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh. You might also try the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.
Howard and Bertha's marriage may have been recorded in the city records and if we are on the right track here I would imagine the daughter of the late ironmaster Andrew Kloman marrying would have been written up in the newspaper.
I would also try to determine where Howard and Bertha are buried. It is possible they may have been buried in the same plot as Andrew. The cemetery office may be able to help you.
More Replies:
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Re: Howard Sprague, mid-1800's, Pennsylvania
Leah Sprague 10/07/09
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Re: Howard Sprague, mid-1800's, Pennsylvania
Tim Gruber 10/07/09
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Re: Howard Sprague, mid-1800's, Pennsylvania