52AncestorsFB

Week 16 Prompt: Out of Place

This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is “Out of Place.” The one family that comes to mind is my Rottman clan, that seemed to roam the country starting in 1870. Philip Rottman and Mary Eva Reeder (or Lasser) are second great-grandparents on my maternal side. They have been the most difficult to research (and continue to be so).

According to several records, this is their strange migration pattern:

1870 Atlanta, Henry, Georgia Birth of son John
1871 McDonough, Henry, Georgia Birth of daughter Louise
1873 Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky Birth, baptism, and death of son Gottlieb
Baptism of daughter Louise
1874 Missouri Birth of daughter Anna
Cir. 1874 Iowa Residence (from son John’s obit)
1875 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Birth of daughter Elizabeth
1877 (Jul) Franklin Twp., Linn, Iowa Sells land to Ellison
1877 (Aug) Ivanhoe, Linn, Iowa Birth of son Charles
1877 (Aug) Franklin Twp., Linn, Iowa Ellison quit claim to land purchased above
1879 (Jun) Franklin Twp., Linn, Iowa Purchases land from Carpenter
1879 (Sept) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Birth of daughter Mabel
1880 Mount Vernon, Linn, Iowa Residence (census)
1882 Mount Vernon, Linn, Iowa Birth of son George
1885 Franklin Twp., Linn, Iowa Residence (Iowa census)

The first three events make some sense. I stumbled upon the baptism records for two previously unknown children, Louise and Gottlieb. In Louise’s record, it states her date and place of birth, giving some credence to son John being born in (or near) Atlanta in 1870.

I have not found any proof of the Missouri or Pennsylvania places of birth, other than what’s been stated in censuses and marriage records. The birth of Mabel in Philadelphia seems unlikely since the family was in Iowa by July 1877 (probably earlier, but the deed for the purchase of that land has not been found), but who knows. Philip and/or Eva are mentioned in Iowa newspaper articles beginning as early as 1881.

I have not found any likely family members in any of these places either. And their few known associates in Iowa don’t provide any clues either.

So the search continues…