Hettie pic and fam tree
The Search for the Parents of Hettie Ann Shugar
After contacting some fellow Kirkwood researchers, I learned that Peter Kirkwood's wife's name was Hettie Ann Shugar and was able to find documentation of her maiden name in the obituary of their daughter Anna Kirkwood Long. Since Peter Kirkwood's family was living in Berk's county, Pennsylvania at the time of his marriage to Hettie, I decided to look for her there in the censuses to see if I could determine who her parents were. I found two Hettie Shugars living in Maidencreek Township in Berks County in the 1870 census. (The 1870 censuses are incredibly faded and I had to rely on ancestry.com's transcriptions of the censuses to find Hettie Shugar).One was the daughter of Henry and Emma Shugar, born 1864 and the other was the daughter of Benjamin and Angeline Shugar born abt 1868. According to the 1900 and 1910 censuses, when, Peter and Hettie are married and raising their family, Hettie stated she was born about 1865.
In 1880, Benjamin and Angelina Schucker are living in Richmond TWP, Berks County, PA and their daughter Hettie, is listed as age 12, making her birth year about 1868 again as reported int he 1870 census.
Henry and Emma Shuker are still living in Maidencreek TWP, Berks County, PA on the 1880 Federal census. This Hettie is 15 years old on the census making her birth year 1865.
In 1900, Henry and Annette Shuker are now living in Hamburg, Berks County, PA, as are Peter and Hettie Kirkwood.
Benjamin Shucker is widowed and still living in Richmond TWP, Berks County in 1900.
The fact that the birth date of the daughter of Henry and Emma/Annette Shugar/Shuker matches the birth date of Hettie Shugar Kirkwood and the fact that Henry and Emma/Annette Shugar/Shuker moved to Hamburg convinces me that the Hettie Shugar who married Peter Kirkwood is the daughter of Henry and Emma/Annette and not Benjamin and Angeline.
What did confuse me a bit was the changing of Henry's wife's name from Emma to Annette in the 1900 census. I don't think Annette is a nickname at all for Emma, or vice versa.
Befuddling matters even more was the 1910 census. Henry and Evenetta Shucker are living next door to their son Obadiah Shucker and his family in Hamburg, Berks County, PA.
It wasn't until I found Henry and Amenette Shucker's graves on Find a Grave, in Greenwood Cemetery in Hamburg, that the variations on Amenette's name made sense. Census takers were not known for their spelling, especially in the very early years when people spelled phonetically. And her name probably sounded like a first and middle name( ie. Emma Netta Shuker) and most census recorders only recorded first and last names. It was from Amenette's gravestone that we learned her maiden name, Machemer.
I would love to find a death certificate for Hettie Shugar Kirkwood to corroborate my theory as to who her parents were. She reportedly died in Chicago on May 7, 1938, but I find no listing for a Hettie or Hattie Kirkwood on that date on the Illinois Death Records Database online at IRAD. Either the date is wrong, or the death certificatge was not filed in Illinois or a third possibilty is that Hettie remarried. Hettie is not living with her husband Peter on the 1920 and 1930 censuses in Lebanon. Peter does report being married and not widowed, so perhaps they were still married. I had presumed that Hettie died prior to 1920 and that is why Peter is living in a boarding house alone and that perhaps he still reported himself as being married or the census taker made a mistake, but research that was done years ago by other family members, lists her death date as May 7, 1938 in Chicago. Hopefully, one day we'll get to the bottom of this.
In 1880, Benjamin and Angelina Schucker are living in Richmond TWP, Berks County, PA and their daughter Hettie, is listed as age 12, making her birth year about 1868 again as reported int he 1870 census.
Henry and Emma Shuker are still living in Maidencreek TWP, Berks County, PA on the 1880 Federal census. This Hettie is 15 years old on the census making her birth year 1865.
In 1900, Henry and Annette Shuker are now living in Hamburg, Berks County, PA, as are Peter and Hettie Kirkwood.
Benjamin Shucker is widowed and still living in Richmond TWP, Berks County in 1900.
The fact that the birth date of the daughter of Henry and Emma/Annette Shugar/Shuker matches the birth date of Hettie Shugar Kirkwood and the fact that Henry and Emma/Annette Shugar/Shuker moved to Hamburg convinces me that the Hettie Shugar who married Peter Kirkwood is the daughter of Henry and Emma/Annette and not Benjamin and Angeline.
What did confuse me a bit was the changing of Henry's wife's name from Emma to Annette in the 1900 census. I don't think Annette is a nickname at all for Emma, or vice versa.
Befuddling matters even more was the 1910 census. Henry and Evenetta Shucker are living next door to their son Obadiah Shucker and his family in Hamburg, Berks County, PA.
It wasn't until I found Henry and Amenette Shucker's graves on Find a Grave, in Greenwood Cemetery in Hamburg, that the variations on Amenette's name made sense. Census takers were not known for their spelling, especially in the very early years when people spelled phonetically. And her name probably sounded like a first and middle name( ie. Emma Netta Shuker) and most census recorders only recorded first and last names. It was from Amenette's gravestone that we learned her maiden name, Machemer.
I would love to find a death certificate for Hettie Shugar Kirkwood to corroborate my theory as to who her parents were. She reportedly died in Chicago on May 7, 1938, but I find no listing for a Hettie or Hattie Kirkwood on that date on the Illinois Death Records Database online at IRAD. Either the date is wrong, or the death certificatge was not filed in Illinois or a third possibilty is that Hettie remarried. Hettie is not living with her husband Peter on the 1920 and 1930 censuses in Lebanon. Peter does report being married and not widowed, so perhaps they were still married. I had presumed that Hettie died prior to 1920 and that is why Peter is living in a boarding house alone and that perhaps he still reported himself as being married or the census taker made a mistake, but research that was done years ago by other family members, lists her death date as May 7, 1938 in Chicago. Hopefully, one day we'll get to the bottom of this.
