Wilda Alice Lambert

Wilda Alice Lambert 

(12/9/1873 Wabash, Indiana -3/1964 Oemand Beach, Florida)

married Gustavus Adolphus Brown (3/4/1890 Wabash, Indiana)

*Lawrence Brown 1892-1960 (Indiana/Florida)

   m.Helen Smith 1895-1966 (Indiana/Ohio)

      Betty Brown 1915-1985(Indiana/Colorado)

      Lawrence Brown Jr. 1917-1976(Indiana/Michigan)

      William Brown 1923-2019 (Indiana/Michigan)

      James Brown 1926-2022 (Florida/Michigan) [twin]

      MaryJane Brown 1926-2010 (Florida/Texas) [twin]

*Florence Brown 1894-1956 (Indiana/Florida)

   m.Owen Weesener 1890-1926

      Fred Weesner 1912-1996 (Indiana/Florida)

      William Weesner 1914-1937 (Indiana/Florida)

      James Weesner 1915-1936 (Indiana/Florida)

      Laura Jane Weesner 1918-2020 (Indiana/Florida)

*John Brown 1895-1969 (Indiana/Florida)

   m.Ruby Purdy 1896-1960 (Indiana/Florida)

      Helen Brown 1914-1974 (Indiana/Florida)

      Beth Brown 1918-1977 (Indiana/Florida)

      John J. Brown 1921-1968 (Florida)

      Lester Brown 1924-2001 (Florida)

      Clarence Brown ?/(?)

      James Brown ?/(?)

      Mary Lee Brown ?/(?)

      John E. Brown ?/(?)

      June Brown ?/(?)

*Dorothy Pearl Brown 1897-1992 (Indiana)

   m.Roy Coon 1896-1972 (Indiana)

      Phyllis Coon 1926-1993 (Indiana)

*Mary Brown 1899-? (Indiana/?)

*Mabel Mae Brown 1904-1965 (Indiana) 

   m.William Steenman 1896-1963 (Holland/Indiana) 

      Willa Mae Steenman 1947-2012 (Indiana/Ohio)

*Ralph Brown 1906-1985 (Indiana/Florida)

   m.Viola DeLorey 1917-1994 (Massachusetts/Florida)

      Pearl Brown 1937-2010 (Florida)

      Dorothy Jane Brown 1938-2020 (Florida/?)

*George Brown 1915-1980 (Indiana/Florida)

   m.Clemigrace Meadows 1921-1993 (?/Florida)

      George Brown Jr. 1940-1993 (Florida)

Wilda, who went by Alice, was of Pennsylvania Dutch Quaker descent. Someone in Michigan whose great grandmother was her sister (Bertha) said her grandmother told her that they sounded like

Germans when they spoke. So Wilda must have had at least some of the Pennsylvania Dutch accent throughout her life.

(Pennsylvania Dutch is Swiss German mixed with some English loan words following the English rather rather than Swiss German sentence structure. They were Swiss Mennonites and Amish who converted and intermarried with English Quakers in pre-Revolutionary war Pennsylvania).

Alice was born in Ohio near Dayton in Montgomery County. When one they moved to Wabash, Indiana. She would later move to Florida and divorce and remarry 3 times. Brace was her last and 4th husbands surname.

She is buried in Holly Hill, Volusia County, Florida (near Daytona).

With her husband and children/GUESSING around 1912?

Gustavus Adolphus Brown

Gustavus Adolphus Brown

(10/30/1869 Wabash, Indiana -10/14/1938 Allendale, Florida)
married Wilda Alice Lambert (3/4/1890 Wabash, Indiana)

*Lawrence Brown 1892-1960 (Indiana/Florida)

   m.Helen Smith 1895-1966 (Indiana/Ohio)

      Betty Brown 1915-1985(Indiana/Colorado)

      Lawrence Brown Jr. 1917-1976(Indiana/Michigan)

      William Brown 1923-2019 (Indiana/Michigan)

      James Brown 1926-2022 (Florida/Michigan) [twin]

      MaryJane Brown 1926-2010 (Florida/Texas) [twin]

*Florence Brown 1894-1956 (Indiana/Florida)

   m.Owen Weesener 1890-1926

      Fred Weesner 1912-1996 (Indiana/Florida)

      William Weesner 1914-1937 (Indiana/Florida)

      James Weesner 1915-1936 (Indiana/Florida)

      Laura Jane Weesner 1918-2020 (Indiana/Florida)

*John Brown 1895-1969 (Indiana/Florida)

   m.Ruby Purdy 1896-1960 (Indiana/Florida)

      Helen Brown 1914-1974 (Indiana/Florida)

      Beth Brown 1918-1977 (Indiana/Florida)

      John J. Brown 1921-1968 (Florida)

      Lester Brown 1924-2001 (Florida)

      Clarence Brown ?/(?)

      James Brown ?/(?)

      Mary Lee Brown ?/(?)

      John E. Brown ?/(?)

      June Brown ?/(?)

*Dorothy Pearl Brown 1897-1992 (Indiana)

   m.Roy Coon 1896-1972 (Indiana)

      Phyllis Coon 1926-1993 (Indiana)

*Mary Brown 1899-? (Indiana/?)

*Mabel Mae Brown 1904-1965 (Indiana) 

   m.William Steenman 1896-1963 (Holland/Indiana) 

      Willa Mae Steenman 1947-2012 (Indiana/Ohio)

*Ralph Brown 1906-1985 (Indiana/Florida)

   m.Viola DeLorey 1917-1994 (Massachusetts/Florida)

      Pearl Brown 1937-2010 (Florida)

      Dorothy Jane Brown 1938-2020 (Florida/?)

*George Brown 1915-1980 (Indiana/Florida)

   m.Clemigrace Meadows 1921-1993 (?/Florida)

      George Brown Jr. 1940-1993 (Florida)

Gus was born in Wabash, Indiana the great grandson of a Seneca Indian squaw. He worked as a farm laborer in Wabash County and

later as a carpenter starting his own business with his sons building homes in Wabash until he moved to Florida where he divorced and remarried and the divorced again.

It would appear he was likely named after Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus who led the Protestant forces in the 30 years war of the mid 1600's that gripped Europe. He was their military hero of the war.....when Gustavus Adolphus Brown was 5 his parents are in a newspaper article hosting a church service in their home for several Protestant denominations at the same time.

He is buried at the Friends cemetery in Wabash, Indiana. 

With his wife and children/GUESSING around 1912?

With his brothers and sisters/Guessing 1930's?

Rita Frances Hains

Rita Frances Hains

(9/1884 New Orleans, Louisiana -3/15/1932 Lacombe, Louisiana)
married Arnold Jacob Bockenhagen (New Orleans, Louisiana)

*Hulda Mary Bockengahen 1913-1990 (Louisiana/Tennessee)

   m.Jacob Alphonse Cousin 1909-1958(Louisiana/Illinois)

        Rita Cousins 1934-2000 (Tennessee/North Carolina)

        Alphonse Jacob Cousins Jr. 1934-2011 (Tennessee/Ohio)

        Peter Raymond Cousins 1943-2024 (Georgia/Louisiana)

*Arnold Bockenhagen II 1915-1992 (Tennessee)

   m.Grace Larkin 1909-1991(Arkansas/Tennessee)

      Arnold Bockenhagen III 1936-2008(Tennessee)

      Helen Bockenhagen 1939-? (Tennessee/?)

      Mary Ann Bockengahen 1948-? (Mississippi/?)

Rita was a mulatto girl who grew up on St. Anne Street in New

Rita's Granddaughter
Mary Ann Bockenhagen
Hulda's niece
[Big Al's 1st cousin]

 Olreans next door to the Bockenhagen boys to which she married one. [And yes, she was Alice Rose Hains sister]

Record of the birth of Rita's daughter Hulda

Arnold Jacob Bockenhagen

Arnold Jacob Bockenhagen

(2/24/1880 Stralsund, Germany -8/30/1949 Lacombe, Louisiana)
married Rita Frances Hains (New Orleans, Louisiana)

*Hulda Mary Bockengahen 1913-1990 (Louisiana/Tennessee)

   m.Jacob Alphonse Cousin 1909-1958(Louisiana/Illinois)

        Rita Cousins 1934-2000 (Tennessee/North Carolina)

        Alphonse Jacob Cousins Jr. 1934-2011 (Tennessee/Ohio)

        Peter Raymond Cousins 1943-2024 (Georgia/Louisiana)

*Arnold Bockenhagen II 1915-1992 (Tennessee)

   m.Grace Larkin 1909-1991(Arkansas/Tennessee)

      Arnold Bockenhagen III 1936-2008(Tennessee)

      Helen Bockenhagen 1939-? (Tennessee/?)

      Mary Ann Bockengahen 1948-? (Mississippi/?)

Arnold was born in Straslund, Germany and came to America in 1882. Was living on St. Anne Street in New Orleans with his brothers in the 1890's after their parents died in the 1880's.

Apparently he went to visit Germany by himself at age 15 in 1895 based on ship records.

A relative in Germany from his mothers line told me a story passed down from his grandfather

Arnold Bockengahen III
Big Al's 1st couisn

about them and that they and had heard about what happened to their parents in America and lost touch with them after that. I'm guessing that maybe Arnold was sent over there to see their relatives and told them.

He was a grocer who had his store over in Lacombe. His brothers were running the store initially in New Orleans but both died at the turn of the century in the same year leaving Arnold the inheritor of the business who moved it to Lacombe for some reason.

In 1905 he had the only phone in Lacombe hanging on the wall of his store where people would go to use it.

It also appears that he may have been buying real estate in Memphis, Tennessee.

His draft card for WW 1

Gertrude Elizabeth Bertels

Gertrude Elizabeth Bertels

(3/16/1845 Oldenzaal, Holland -7/29/1934 Fort Wayne, Indiana)

married William Johannes Steenman (Holland)

*Johanna Maria Steenman 1871-1871 (Holland)

*Geertruida Steenman 1873-1873 (Holland)[twin]

*Marie Steenman 1873-1934 (Holland/Indiana)[twin]

    m.George Thyen 1869-1961 (Holland/Indiana)

      Gertrude Thyen 1899-1989 (Indiana/Virginia)

      John Thyen 1900-? (Indiana/?)

      Helena Emma Thyen 1901-1944 (Indiana)

      Josephine Thyen 1903-1982 (Indiana)

      William Thyen 1906-1982 (Indiana/?)

*Berendina Johanna Antonia Steenman 1877-1877 (Holland)

*Reinder Antonius Steenman 1879-1879 (Holland)[twin]

*Gertrude Steenman 1879-1934 (Holland/Indiana)[twin]

   m.Augustus Vodde 1879-1972 (Indiana)

      Clara Vodde 1904-1986 (Indiana)

      Edward Vodde 1905-1984 (Indiana/Wisconsin)

      Viola Vodde 1908-1982  (Indiana)

      Sylvester Vodde 1910-1963 (Indiana)

      Helen Vodde 1912-1937 (Indiana)

      Ruth Vodde 1914-1984 (Indiana)

      Dorothy Vodde 1917-2003 (Indiana)

*Johannes Steenman 1881-1881 (Holland)[twin]

*Anthony Steenman 1881-? (Holland/Indiana)[twin]

*Lena Steenman 1884-1934 (Holland/Indiana)

   m.Frank Odden 1884-? (Indiana/?)

      Frank Odden Jr. 1914-? (Indiana/?)

*William Ralph Steenman 1885-1863 (Holland/Indiana)

   m. Mabel Mae Brown 1904-1965 (Indiana)

      Willa Mae Steenman 1947-2012 (Indiana/Ohio)

*Frances Steenman 1886-1960 (Holland/Indiana)

   m.Albert Zuber 1893-1983 (Indiana)

Gertrude Steenman with her
 daughter Gertrude Vodde

Gertrude came to America in 1896. 

They entered through the port at
Philadelphia.

It is said that while walking through Philadelphia she saw a rocking chair on a porch. They all stopped as Gertrude took a break in it. No one came out to ask what they were doing on the porch so they thought no one was home. When Gertrude was done resting they continued on.

She is buried in the Catholic cemetery in Fort Wayne next to her husband.

William Johannes Steenman

William Johannes Steenman

(12/28/1847 Oldenzaal, Holland -8/29/1921 Fort Wayne, Indiana)
married Gertrude Elizabeth Bertels (Holland)

*Johanna Maria Steenman 1871-1871 (Holland)

*Geertruida Steenman 1873-1873 (Holland)[twin]

*Marie Steenman 1873-1934 (Holland/Indiana)[twin]

    m.George Thyen 1869-1961 (Holland/Indiana)

      Gertrude Thyen 1899-1989 (Indiana/Virginia)

      John Thyen 1900-? (Indiana/?)

      Helena Emma Thyen 1901-1944 (Indiana)

      Josephine Thyen 1903-1982 (Indiana)

      William Thyen 1906-1982 (Indiana/?)

*Berendina Johanna Antonia Steenman 1877-1877 (Holland)

*Reinder Antonius Steenman 1879-1879 (Holland)[twin]

*Gertrude Steenman 1879-1934 (Holland/Indiana)[twin]

   m.Augustus Vodde 1879-1972 (Indiana)

      Clara Vodde 1904-1986 (Indiana)

      Edward Vodde 1905-1984 (Indiana/Wisconsin)

      Viola Vodde 1908-1982  (Indiana)

      Sylvester Vodde 1910-1963 (Indiana)

      Helen Vodde 1912-1937 (Indiana)

      Ruth Vodde 1914-1984 (Indiana)

      Dorothy Vodde 1917-2003 (Indiana)

*Johannes Steenman 1881-1881 (Holland)[twin]

*Anthony Steenman 1881-? (Holland/Indiana)[twin]

*Lena Steenman 1884-1934 (Holland/Indiana)

   m.Frank Odden 1884-? (Indiana/?)

      Frank Odden Jr. 1914-? (Indiana/?)

*William Ralph Steenman 1885-1863 (Holland/Indiana)

   m. Mabel Mae Brown 1904-1965 (Indiana)

      Willa Mae Steenman 1947-2012 (Indiana/Ohio)

*Frances Steenman 1886-1960 (Holland/Indiana)

   m.Albert Zuber 1893-1983 (Indiana)

William came to America in 1896 through the port of Philadelphia. It was so that his son Anthony would not get drafted by the Dutch government for a war in their colony of Indonesia at that time.

William is said to have owned a restautant and barber shop.

It appears that he came to America 20 years before and got citizenship in Fort Wayne, Indiana in July of 1876. I have the copy of it from my mother all wrinkly and falling apart.

I'm guessing he didn't make the voyage to scope out America with his young daughter Marie who was going on 3 at the time.

When he returned to Holland to get his wife and daughter they must have changed their minds. Then 20 years later the draft came up so he whipped out that citizenship paper from 20 years before and they headed to America.

He worked as a janitor.

He died in the afternoon at his home at 1004 Pape Avenue in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Alice Rose Hains

Alice Rose Hains

(6/12/1882 New Orleans, Louisiana -10/7/1979 Memphis, Tennessee)

married Ellis Joseph Cousin (8/2/1902 New Orleans, Louisiana)

*Jennings Emile Cousin 1904-1992 (Texas/Tennessee)

   m. Mildred Louise Johnson 1914-1990 (Tennessee)

      Pamella 1935 (Tennessee/--?)

*Roland Joseph Cousin 1906-1954 (Louisiana/California)

*Olga Cousin 1907-1984 (Louisiana/?)

*Jacob Alphonse Cousin 1909-1958 (Louisiana/Illinois)

   m. Hulda Bockenhagen 1913-1990 (Louisiana/Tennessee)

      Rita Cousin 1934-2000 (Tennessee/North Carolina)

      Alphonse Jacob Cousin(s) 1936-2011 (Tennessee/Ohio)

     Peter Cousin(s) 1943-2024 (Georgia/Louisiana)

*Thomas Anthony Cousin 1910-1980 (Louisiana/California)

*Benjamin Cousin 1912-1950 (Louisiana/Tennessee)

*Marguerite Cousin 1913-2011 (Tennessee/Florida)

   m. Charles Holland 

      Charles Holland Jr.

Alice was a mulatto girl who grew up next door to her future brother-in-law in New Orleans on St. Ann Street. One of the 3 main streets for the Mardi Gras in the French Quarter.

[And yes, she was Rita Frances Hains sister]