Alpheus McClelland Rote and Ella E. Ward, and their Children

Alpheus McClelland Rote, my great grandfather, was born March 1865 in Pennsylvania. He was the son of William Rote (b. October 1814 in Pennsylvania, d. 11 Dec 1880 in Pennsylvania) and Magdalena, also called Martha, (b. July 25, 1823 in Pennsylvania, d. June 8, 1891).

Ella E. Ward, my great grandmother, was born March 28, 1861 in Mount Holly (or Mount Holly Springs), Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of John E. Ward (b. about 1840, d. ?) and Elizabeth (b. about 1840, d. ?) .

Alpheus Rote and Ella Ward married in 1883. In 1884, Alpheus was listed in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania City Directory, as was his mother, then a widow, at a separate address. Alpheus also appears in the Harrisburg city directories for 1890 through 1896. In 1884, Alpheus was listed as working as a laborer; in later directories, as a brakeman.

Most of the 1890 US Census records were destroyed in a fire, including those most likely to list Alpheus and Ella.

Alpheus and Ella are listed in the 1900 US Census for New Castle, Pennsylvania. Alpheus' occupation is given as "Heater Tin Mill." Ella is reported as having given birth to 7 children, of whom 6 had survived. There were six children living in the home: 

Mabel, daughter, b. April 1886 (14)

Galen, son, b. March 1888 (12)

John, son, b. February 1893 (7)

Emma, daughter, b. April 1895 (5)

Howard, son, b. June 1897 (2)

Minnie, daughter, b. August 1899 (9 months)

In 1908, the Rote home was struck by lightning. My blog post, linked, includes a transcript of the newspaper report.

In the 1910 census, Alpheus and Ella are shown as still living in New Castle. Alpheus is working Odd Jobs, and Ella is listed as having 5 children, with 5 surviving. The children in the home are: Mabel, Gail [sic] W., John, Emma, and Howard. Minnie, the youngest, had died sometime since the previous census.

In the 1920 census, Alpheus and Ella are still living in New Castle. Alpheus is now reported to be a Storekeeper working at a Confectionary Store*. Living with Alpheus and Ella are their children, John, who works as a  (probably Sales) in the Phonograph industry**, and two grandchildren, John H. and Ella L. Faller. It took some doing, but I eventually confirmed that these were Mabel's children***.

In the 1930 census, Alpheus and Ella are still living in New Castle. Alpheus is now listed as the Proprietor of a Confectionary Store, which he owns. Living with them are their daughter, Emma O. Cavander (I think this is a misspelling of Cavender), and three grandchildren, Anna G. Cavender, Henry J. Faller, and Ella L. Faller.

Alpheus died September 29, 1936 and Ella died November 14, 1936. Their obituaries report that Ella Faller was still living with them at the times of their deaths.

*   *   *

Mabel Rote married John Henry (or Henry John) Faller May 13, 1912. The couple had two children: Henry John Faller and Ella L. Faller. Mabel died in early January, 1919; her funeral was held January 10, and she was buried in Greenwood Cemetery on the 13th. Her husband died March 23, 1963. 

Galen Weiker Rote married Lulu P. Craun, of Toledo, Ohio, August 29, 1911. The couple had two children: Marian Virginia Rote, who died as a child, and Luella Jean Rote. (Luella was my mother.) Galen died August 10, 1941. Lulu died February 21, 1966.

John Charles Rote, Sr. married Alice Mae Wimer, 18 Nov 1924 in New Castle. The couple had three children, Janet Louise Rote, John Charles Rote, Jr., and Arthur Lyle Rote. John, Sr. died June 22, 1982. Alice died February 24, 1978.

Emma O. Rote married a Cavender, about whom nothing more is known. The couple had a daughter, Anna Grace Cavender. Emma's date of death is unknown, but sometime after 17 Jun 1944, when a visit to New Castle (she was then living in Detroit) was reported in the New Castle News.

Howard J. Rote married Ruby Mae Brooks June 5, 1919 in Youngstown, Pennsylvania. The couple had two sons, James Russel Rote and Fredrick C. Rote. Howard died January 1974; Ruby died February 1983.

Minnie Rote never married, having died as a child sometime between June 13, 1900 and June 13, 1910.

I have no further information about the seventh child noted by the 1900 census, although I speculate, given the gap between Galen's birth, and John's, that this child might have been born between them.

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* The census reports Alpheus as an employee, rather than the owner of the store, but this may be erroneous. Will probably need to research business licenses to get full information.

** This may have bearing on my speculations in Was Granddad in Show Biz?, about my grandfather, Galen.

*** See the following posts to read about how I unraveled this small mystery (most recent, first):

• A Fortunate Discovery 
• Searching RootsWeb for Henry John Faller
• New Data on Rote and Faller
• The Mystery of John H (Henry J) and Ella L Fuller or Faller

The Mystery of John H (Henry J) and Ella L Fuller or Faller

At the time of the 1920 US Census, January 8, 1920, my great-grandparents, Alpheus McClelland and Ella (née Ward) Rote were living on Patterson Avenue in "New Castle City," Lawrence, Pennsylvania. My great-grandfather’s first name was misspelled as Alphus, but other information from the census, the location, his middle initial and age, Ella's name and age, and the names and ages of the two adult children living with them, John and Emma, are strong indications that this is actually my great-grandfather.

Figure 1: Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920—Population
State: Pennsylvania; County: Lawrence; Name of Incorporated Place: New Castle City; Sheet 9A

Living with Alpheus and Ella in 1920 were two children listed as their grandchildren, as can be seen in Figure 2. When I attach the census record to Alpheus on Ancestry.com, they are identified as Emma's children, but I have reason to doubt this.

Figure 2: 1920 US Census, Detail of Alphus [Alpheus] M Rote and Household

The grandchildren’s names are given here as John H. Fuller and Ella L. Fuller, ages 5 and 4 9/12, giving them estimated birth dates of 1915 and September 1916, respectively. The two were born in Pennsylvania, as was their father, and their mother was born in Ohio.

When this census was attached to Alpheus, Ancestry.com interpreted the children as Emma’s children. However, Emma was born in Pennsylvania. The only one of Alpheus’ children to be born outside of Pennsylvania was Mabel, who was born in Ohio, and it is she who I believe must be the children’s mother.

Ten years later, on April 6, 1930, Alpheus and his family were living on Crease Street, and the children turn up again in the census, where the household is split between two pages:

Figure 3: Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930—Population
State: Pennsylvania; County: Lawrence;  Incorporated Place: New Castle; Sheet 16A

Figure 4: Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930—Population
State: Pennsylvania; County: Lawrence;  Incorporated Place: New Castle; Sheet 16B

Here are close-ups of the names in the household:

Figure 5: 1930 US Census, Detail 1 of Alpheus M Rote and Household

Figure 6: 1930 US Census, Detail 2 of Alpheus M Rote and Household

Over the past decade the family composition has changed slightly. John Rote has moved out and his sister Emma, now using the name Cavender, is still (or once more) living in the household, now with a daughter of her own, Anna G. Cavender. Once again, there are two additional grandchildren, now identified as Henry J. and Ella L. Faller The remaining details about the children are consistent with the 1920 census and it seems most likely that the child identified as John H in 1920 goes by Henry J in 1930.

Based on this, I have the following individuals:

First Name	Last Name	DOB	Place Born	Mother	Father
John H[enry] or Henry J[ohn]	Fuller or Faller	abt 1915	Pennsylvania	Mabel M Rote	Fuller or Faller
Ella L	Fuller or Faller	abt July 1916	Pennsylvania	Mabel M Rote	Fuller or Faller

I have not yet been able to locate any information about Alpheus after 1930; I do not know when or where he died. There are a number of individuals who may correspond to other members of the household, but I have not yet been able to discover any more information about the Fuller or Faller children, and they, with their mysterious origins and presence in their grandfather's house, is a mystery that appeals to me.

So, among my many other genealogical goals, I hope to uncover the mystery these children present. To that end, I shall attempt to:

1. Discover the full names of each of the children, along with their exact birth dates and birthplaces,
2. Confirm or disprove that Mabel M Rote is the children’s mother,
3. Identify their father (full name, birth date, date of death, and parents' name, if at all possible),
4. Demonstrate a “reasonably exhaustive search” and explain the research process as I go, and
5. Record my research and findings.

As I research these individuals, I will post updates regarding the progress of my search and its results, positive or negative.

ETA: This post, with it's approach to documenting my researches on a specific individual, was inspired by the blog Pinpointing Dennis Buggy's Irish Origins.

Genealogy Helps Link Us Together

The past couple of weeks have been exciting for me, as I am getting to know a couple of second cousins I've never met. We found each other through Geni.com and have been corresponding via email.

Ever since I was a child, I've been curious about my mother's family. My dad's family in Florida we visited nearly every year, so I knew them well, but aside from my maternal grandmother who moved to El Paso shortly after we did and lived there until her death when I was seven, I never had the opportunity to meet my mother's family.

Luella Jean Rote Lloyd

My mother, Luella Jean Rote, was born in Sandusky, Ohio, and she grew up there. Her only sibling was a sister, Marion Virginia Rote, about  two years older, who died (of scarlet fever, according to my dad's unpublished and unfinished autobiography) when my mom was seven. As mentioned before, my mother's mother, Lulu or Lula Craun, died when I was a child. My mother's father died years earlier, while my mother was still in college.

Most of the family stories my mom told were of the good times she had with her sister. I was pretty sure she had cousins, but I didn't hear much about them. One thing that always fascinated me, as any romantic child would be fascinated, was that her grandfather, her father's father, had owned a confectionery store. She spoke of how much she loved to visit, and I always had the impression that her enjoyment of the store came more from her love for her grandfather than for the candy, sodas, and milkshakes she might have obtained there.

My researches into my mother's family lines has yielded far less information than those into my father's. Some lines in my father's family have been traced (and here, I must stand on the shoulders of genealogical giants) into the 1200s, since the Lloyd family has a number of prominent individuals, among them Thomas Lloyd,  lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania under William Penn between 1690 and 1693. The Rotes are a more mysterious lot. According to Ancestry.com, the Rotes in America are descended from a very small number of immigrants. Most Rotes entering the United States departed ports in Norway or Germany, with a few others departing from England, Ireland,  Prussia, and Italy, and most settled in Pennsylvania. Even the origins of the name are obscure, although most sources indicate it comes from the German names Rot, Roth, or Rothe, all variants of the word rot, meaning red.

However, my questions have been much less concerned with tracing the Rotes into antiquity, and more with trying to understand my mother's family. So, it has delighted me to have, after so many years, finally found close relatives on my mother's side of the family. I'm currently in contact with two women, both granddaughters of John Charles "Jack" Rote, my mother's father's next younger brother. We've been having a grand time sending emails back and forth, as we trace the connection, fill in gaps, and share pictures. I've learned that my great-grandfather's confectionery store passed into Jack's possession, and later into one of his son's and then a daughter's hands, and remains in the family to this day. Should you have the opportunity to visit New Castle, PA, I hope you get a chance to visit Rote's on Arlington Avenue and, please, tell them you were sent by a long-lost relative. Someday, I hope to visit, myself.

ETA (19 March 2013): Today I am, very much delayed, updating this post. Three days after I published the post, I received the following correction:

I don't think we know that Jack took over the same store from Alpheus, just that they both had confectionaries. Jack's obit worded it as "he opened a store", rather than that he took over from his father. And the chain of possession from Jack was to his son Art … then to Art's son Danny …, and then to Art's daughter Dale ….

My apologies to all and sundry for the unconscionable delay in making the correction.

Rote Home Struck by Lightning on 24 June 1908

I just found a newspaper article that mentions one of my great-grandfathers, Alpheus Rote. According to this story from the June 26, 1908 issue of the New Castle News (the newspaper of New Castle, PA), lightning struck his home and a nearby tree.

Here's a transcript of the information:

Struck by Bolt of Lightening; Yet are Unhurt

Electrical Storm Plays Queer Tricks With City Engineers, a Young Woman and a Horse

To be rendered unconscious and then knocked out of carriage by a lightning bolt and still escape unhurt, is the remarkable experience of three of the members of the city’s engineering corps while engaged in city survey work on Willard street Wednesday afternoon.

The three men, Assistant Engineer C. E. Kimbrough and Assistants Stanley Tresser and Leslie Wilson, were sitting in the two-seated crackey which stood under a tree near the home of Alpheus Rote at No. 55 Willard street. There had been practically no violent electrical demonstration near them, when suddenly the corner of the Rote home was struck by a bolt of lightning.

For several seconds a bluish-green flame played all about the house and the tree under which the horse and carriage with the three men in it stood. Kimbrough and Wilson were knocked out of the carriage and fell to the ground. The horse was knocked senseless and did not recover for several minutes.

Neither men nor beast were hurt in the slightest that they could notice, save that the two who had been knocked out of the carriage were slightly bruised. The Rote home was badly wrecked, portions of the timbers being hurled many feet away.

Sitting near the window of the room at the corner of the house which was struck by the lightning, was one of the daughters of the Rotes. She was engaged in putting on a shoe when the bolt struck, and flying debris, consisting of lath, plaster and pieces of studding flew all about her. She escaped without a mark, not even a piece of plaster having struck her.

Isn't this a great story? I wish the article had mentioned the name of the daughter.