Using Transkribus for Old German

 

Transkribus.

Transkribus is a platform for text recognition, image analysis and structure recognition for historic documents. It is a European-developed artificial intelligence tool, with an increasing number of non-European institutions joining the cooperative behind the platform. I remember seeing them at RootsTech 2025, but until now I had used it. The old German handwriting on the documents for my current search is a perfect use for the tool.

Using an extract from the Saxony Anhalt Baptism records of 1817 I shared earlier, above is an example showing the entry for Anna Dorothea Sophia Hesse, daughter of Friedrich Hesse and Dorothea Sophia Gagelmann. Once the image is loaded onto the Transkribus platform, it takes a few seconds to scan, and the tool returns a helpful transcription into German on the right side. This can be copied and pasted into Google Translate, giving a pretty good approximation of the text.

It is free to create an account, and there are different tiers from free with limited credits, to scholar to team and organization. I'll be trying out the tool further on these German texts.

Differences in the records

Most of the records on Maria Elizabeth Hesse show her birth year as 1823 or 1824 in the 1870 and 1880 US Census. Her headstone in Edwards County, Illinois shows 1823. And yet, there's a baptismal record from Roxförde, Saxony from March 1821 for a Maria Dorothea Elizabeth Hesse, daughter of Dorothea Sophia Gagelmann of Klüden (a town 3 km south of Roxförde). Maybe this is an older sister with a similar name, or perhaps this is the right baptism record.

Source: Ancestry. Saxony Anhalt Baptisms, Marriages and Burials.

One challenge is I find German handwriting from this era to be very difficult to read. I'm much better with Spanish or French handwriting on similar records.

An earlier record from 1817 shows a baptism record for another daughter of Dorothea Sophia, this time for Anna Dorothea Sophia, on 30 March 1817 in the parish of Roxförde.

Source: Ancestry. Saxony Anhalt Baptisms.

Woman at a Window

 

Caspar David Friedrich. 1822.

The painting above by Caspar David Friedrich is titled Woman at a Window (Frau am Fenster). Painted in 1822, it is on display at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin. This is a museum I visited last June on my way to meetings in Prague. The Friedrich painting features his wife Caroline as she is looking out the window of his Dresden studio at a passing ship on the River Elbe.

I share this as it is from the time when Dorothea Gagelmann Hesse was pregnant with Marie Elisabeth. Caroline may have been close in age to Dorothea, and I think this image also helps us think about Dorothea from the same time. 

Gardelegen

 

Wikipedia. Gardelegen about 1650.

Here's another view of the homeland of Dorothea Sophia Gagelmann, showing the town of Gardelegen (Province of Saxony, Prussia). It was founded in the 10th century and became a member of the Hanseatic League in 1358. The painting above shows a representation of the town in the 17th century, as fortified with a several tall churches, a town hall, and orange/red tile roofed buildings in German village architecture.

A map of the Gardelegen district and neighboring towns can be seen below. For the official website in German, see here: Hansestadt Gardelegen.

Source: Wikipedia.

In the Province of Saxony

Google Maps. North of Magdeburg, Germany.

While we await the results of our daughter's mtDNA test, it's useful to look at the region where her 6th-great-grandmother, Dorothea Sophia Gagelmann, was living between 1800 to at least the early-middle 1820s. Dorothea was the mother of Maria Elisabeth Hesse. Maria Elisabeth was born about 1821 (most trees online say 1823) in the Gardelegen area (possibly the town of Klüden), north of present day Magdeburg. This territory changed hands quite frequently during the early 1800s, and was a contested area during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815).

This corner was part of the Province of Saxony (from 1815) in the Kingdom of Prussia and Kingdom of Westphalia (1807-1813). Before that, this area may have been part of the Duchy of Magdeburg (up to 1807). The map below shows some of the complexity for this area in 1812.

Source: Wikipedia. Confederation of the Rhine.

I am still in the early stages of diving into German research, and luckily there are several sessions on the topic scheduled for RootsTech 2026. In the meantime, I am reviewing sources such as the FamilySearch wiki pages on places such as the Prussian Province of Saxony.

DNA in the news: 1971 cold case reunites long lost siblings

This article in today's Washington Post is a long one but worth a read. The article describes "a case within a case", where new approaches to DNA analysis were used to identify the victim of a 1971 Maryland homicide, and reunited two of the victim's long lost children who had been placed in an Ohio orphanage in 1952.

New feature on Ancestry: Ideas

 

Source: Ancestry.

While poking around on Ancestry, I noticed a new-to-me feature in the middle right of the ancestor profile, next to the search button. Clicking this opened up a right column box showing Ideas as an AI-powered beta feature, with three "research opportunities" for my ancestor (in this case, my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget).

Source: Ancestry.

Clicking further into the first bubble on Locate primary vital records, this opens up a box titled "Why it matters" with a short explanation, and I click again to reveal a suggested action plan with some recommendations for places to look for further information and sources. Although these are steps I have already tried for Bridget, it is useful and I'm curious to see what suggestions are provided for other ancestors.

Source: Ancestry.

Another example from my 3rd-great-grandmother Maria Concepcion Amado is below. This type of integration of AI into Ancestry's tools appears to be helpful, and gives me some areas to explore further.

Source: Ancestry.

Thoughts on home

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Bruin Statue, UCLA. 31 Jan 2026.

It's hard to believe we moved from LA sixteen years ago. Given how frequently I'm back in the city, a part of me never left. It's a regular feature on the blog, photos and stories from visits to the city and deep historic family connections to Los Angeles. 

I've shared similar observations in the past on the concept of home. In the time since we moved from LA, I think my ties to the city have become more imbedded in my identity. I've adopted LA as home away from home, a place I welcome and love to return, even if briefly and centered around work. In a few weeks I'll celebrate a milestone anniversary with this city. It will be twenty years since we made the leap to move with an infant and two cats across the country to start something new. The infant is now a college student and the cats are no longer with us. But Los Angeles is still here. As I write this from LAX, departing another visit, I'm looking forward to the next time and return to my long distance home.

Research Progress February 2026

On the 2nd of each month, I share an update on my progress for various DNA research questions. The questions have evolved over time, and it's useful to look back from a year ago to see how some have been resolved, deferred, or are still lingering on my wish list. Since last month's research questions post, there have been some new developments on two of my maternal line questions. For consistency I'll keep the same format as my post from January.

My Paternal Side

1 - Looking for parents of my Irish immigrant 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. As always I keep this one on the list, and intend to spend more time on it after (virtual) RootsTech.

2 - Analyzing mtDNA connections on the maternal line path descending from Sarah Westall and Elizabeth Thornhill Jones. On my list is a follow-up note to cousin Lynn.

3 - Jones YDNA. This one is also pending another male Jones tester descending from Thomas Jones of Jefferson County, Tennessee.

My Maternal Side

1 - Identifying the link between the Leyva mystery matches and my Mexican side of the tree. This one had a significant breakthrough early in January, following a consultation with genealogist Jarrett Ross, and building a WATO tree to identify the most likely generation of connection. Going forward this question will evolve to looking at the Portillo line and DNA connections.

2 - Analyzing mtDNA matches in the maternal line path of Maria Jesus Vasquez.

3 - Resolving descendancy for the daughters of John Carter (1715-1783). This one has been a collaborative effort with Jacqi Stevens of A Family Tapestry. I think we've made some progress this month but it will take a lot more digging.

4 - Campuzano YDNA. We're still waiting on the upgraded results from cousin Greg's Big Y kit.

5 - xDNA analysis using FTDNA's tools. It is interesting to see xDNA matches in comparison with Sophia's FamilyFinder results, as we can directly link those passing through me to her via my Mom's results, and see which matches are on Allison's side. More work to do now that we have an additional kit to compare.

Allison's side

1 - Awaiting mtDNA results on the maternal line path for Dorothea Sophia Gagelmann.

2 - Analyzing Sophia's FamilyFinder results on FTDNA. Her results arrived last Thursday, and it has already been interesting to see which autosomal transfers appear on FTDNA from Ancestry. As I can see kits and matches in common with Allison's brother, her Mom, Memaw and other cousins on Ancestry, this is really helpful for seeing patterns on FTDNA. 

3 [New] - Looking at xDNA matches on this branch of the tree, and seeing which are inherited from Allison vs the matches in common with my kit and my Mom's.

An epic victory at Pauley Pavilion

Photo by Patrick Jones. IU v UCLA. 31 Jan 2026.

Yesterday afternoon I returned to our old stomping grounds at UCLA to watch my Indiana Hoosiers play the Bruins in a key BIG Ten game. With a ten point lead and less than two minutes ago, this one looked like it was going to send the UCLA fans to the exits early. And yet the Bruins forced overtime. After a tough five minutes, IU forced a second overtime. At the last second of the second overtime, UCLA fouled Hoosier freshman Trent Sisley. He hit one of two free throws, and that ended it, 98-97. 

I've been fortunate to see a lot of basketball games. Yesterday's game may have been one of the most intense I've seen. The section I was in had a loud contingent of Indiana fans. The UCLA students didn't really get going until the second half. Through the end of regulation and the two overtimes, it was so loud. What a game!

Photo by Patrick Jones. Tip off.

Selfie at the end of the game. 

Back on the West Coast

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Los Angeles. 25 Sep 2018.

A bit of fortuitous timing has me back in Los Angeles, allowing an escape from the "snowcrete" and historic cold snap impacting Northern Virginia. In addition to the warmth, I have tickets to two Indiana basketball games happening in LA, a trip to Pauley Pavilion later today for the matchup against UCLA and Tuesday's late one against USC.

Time to fly

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Shoreditch, London. 5 Dec 2025.

Comparing across generations

A new kit result has arrived at FamilyTreeDNA, and I can now see some really interesting patterns of DNA inheritance comparing from my Mom's kit with mine and my daughter's FamilyFinder results. In addition, I can see some match names in common to kits on Ancestry who match with Allison, her Mom, her brother, and their Memaw. There are some fascinating xDNA matches, and because Sophia's results include my cousin Catherine as a match, this will let us triangulate the xDNA segments. There's a lot here to explore further and more to do over the weekend.

I am still in the process of reviewing which matches connect into my Mom's side of the tree, and which ones point to Allison's side.

Back to reality

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Puerto Rico. 26 Jan 2026.

It pains me to look out my window now and see layers of immovable ice and not the views above and below. We escaped "Winter storm Fern" and the historic low temperatures for a resort near Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Now we pay the price for our timing, as the ice isn't going away and it won't be warm enough for many days to make it leave. Our stay was amazing and part of me wishes we had extended our time instead of coming back.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Puerto Rico. 24 Jan 2026.

I'm catching up on a lot that I missed while we were in a location with limited wifi. And that's just the work side of things. As for family history research, no progress was made while we were at the beach, so things will be a little slow as I ramp back up. A big focus over the next few days is going to be trying to dig out of this ice.

My journey down the Carter line of descendants is about to shift, as I move to my other research questions before my update next week.

Thanks Puerto Rico

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. San Juan, 4 Mar 2024.

It's been another lovely stay in Puerto Rico. Hopefully heading back today, with many memories and more photos to follow. Puerto Rico is one of our favorite places, going back to 1999.

From an earlier time

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Luquillo, PR. 19 Feb 2022.

Parker v Baxter

 

FamilySearch. Davidson County, TN. 1875.

The chancery case files involving the estate of Thomas Crutcher is the case that keeps giving. In October 1874, more heirs descending from Elizabeth Curtis Crutcher, sister-in-law of Thomas through his brother Anthony, filed a petition in the chancery court in Nashville. These documents fill in the gaps on the extended family. The first group of pages are a set of depositions with Virginia Earhart Taylor, daughter of Elizabeth Crutcher Earhart. She provides testimony on the whereabouts of her cousins. She says Elizabeth Virginia Maxey left one son, Albert R. Munn, who died in Coles County, Illinois. She had no living children in 1874. Munn was to receive $978.00.

The 1874 petition was filed on behalf of Frances Parker and cousins against the clerk of court Baxter, 30 years after the death of Thomas Crutcher. Once again, FamilySearch Full Text Search was the key to locating this file. Frances Parker stated that the share owed to Mary Crutcher Maxey was still in the hands of the clerk of court, Mary was deceased, and so her share should pass to the other heirs.

According to the petition, Frances was owed one fourth of the share. Mary Maxey's heirs were owed a fourth, The heirs of Martha Osborne were due to split one fourth, the heirs of Elizabeth Earhart were due one fourth, and Sarah Rogers was due one fourth.

Washington and Sarah

 

FamilySearch. Barren County, KY. 23 Dec 1824.

Sarah Crutcher and Washington Rogers were married in Barren County, Kentucky in 1824. They moved to Boone County, Missouri about 1831, and can be found in several land deeds in Pike County and Boone County. The family is listed in the 1850 US Census in Boone.

Ancestry. 1850 US Census. Boone County, MO.

They appear again in the 1860 US Census in Boone County.

Washington Rogers died in 1867. Sarah is listed in the 1870 and 1880 US Census in the household of her daughter Mary Elizabeth Williams in neighboring Audrain County. Sarah died there in 1886.

In the matter of guardianship

 

FamilySearch. Clinton County, IL. 15 Sept 1851.

Thanks once again to FamilySearch Full Text Search, I've been able to continue along the path of records for the estate of Thomas Crutcher to Clinton County, Illinois. The snapshot above names David Earhart, John Albert Earhart, Elijah Earhart, and Virginia Thomas Earhart as orphan minors due proceeds from the estate of Thomas Crutcher. The same page shows Elizabeth and Thomas Perry Maxey named as orphan minors also due proceeds from the Crutcher estate. Elizabeth and Thomas were children of Mary Ann Crutcher Maxey, a daughter of Elizabeth Curtis.

FamilySearch. Clinton County, IL.

The next two records from 1854 show guardian bonds for the minor children of Elizabeth Earhart, naming them grandchildren of Anthony Crutcher of Montgomery County, Tennessee, brother of Thomas Crutcher late of Davidson County, Tennessee. The record says the children were entitled to a portion of Thomas' estate according to the Chancery Court in Nashville.

FamilySearch. Clinton County, IL. 1854.

The adjoining page shows a guardian bond filed on behalf of Elizabeth V. Maxey and her brother Thomas P. Maxey, orphan minor children of A. G. Maxey and Mary Ann Crutcher Maxey. Yet another guardian bond identifies another female descendant from Elizabeth Crutcher Earhart. Her daughter Eliza Ann Earhart married Elijah Bail. She died in January 1850, and had children Mary Ann and William Riley Bail. They're also listed as entitled to a portion of Thomas Crutcher's estate.

FamilySearch. Clinton County, IL. 5 July 1853.

These names point us back to the chancery files in Davidson County, as some of the descendants of Elizabeth Earhart were still seeking funds from the estate in 1874. According to the file, Virginia Earhart married James F. Taylor, and moved from Illinois to Montana, and later to Ogden, Utah.

The trail of maternal line descendants from Frances Carter Curtis shifts to Sarah Crutcher Rogers, who moved with her family to Missouri. I'll pick this up in the next post.

Champions

 

Indiana University. 19 Jan 2026.

The Indiana University football team completed a historic run last night, beating the Miami Hurricanes 27-21 for the school's first college football national championship. The team finished the season unbeaten, 16-0. This was a miracle finish long suffering Hoosier fans could never have imagined a few years ago.

Thomas' legacy to education

 

Tri-Weekly Nashville Union. 12 Mar 1844.

Yesterday I covered the lengthy chancery case involving the Crutcher family. Before I continue down the trail of descendants of Frances Carter Curtis, I have a post on Thomas Crutcher and his lasting impact on education in Nashville, Tennessee. When Thomas died in 1844, he was the President of the Nashville Female Academy. Thomas did not have children of his own, it appears that he gave decades of service and funding to the academy. Shortly after his death, the academy board published a set of resolutions honoring Thomas for his service.

Nashville Female Academy (TSLA and Belmont Mansion).

A daughter of one of the founders of the academy built Belmont Mansion in Nashville, and this later became Belmont University. The resolutions honoring Thomas are below.

Nashville Rep. Banner, 13 Mar 1844.

Crutcher v Crutcher

FamilySearch. Davidson County, TN. 1861.

Chancery cases can be a great resource for unraveling a complicated family tree. An example is Crutcher v Crutcher, which found its way to the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1850. The citation is 11 Humphrey 377 (or 30 Tenn 377), although I haven't yet found a full copy of the decision. This case provides a helpful description of the extended Crutcher family, and I found this using FamilySearch Full Text search.

FamilySearch. Davidson County, TN court records.

The purpose of this journey down the records from Frances Carter Curtis has been to identify possible maternal line descendants who could potentially take a mtDNA test and help resolve the mystery of the wives of John Carter. I've thankfully been joined in this hunt by distant cousin and fellow blogger Jacqi Stevens of A Family Tapestry.

The case is part of a complex set involving the Crutcher siblings, particularly the estate of Thomas Crutcher. He was a one-time mayor of Nashville in 1819, and importantly the executor of the will of Frances Carter Curtis. For our purposes the Crutcher case helpfully names the heirs of Thomas' brother Anthony and sister-in-law Elizabeth Curtis Crutcher, including the states of residence for those who left Tennessee. This is an essential piece of the puzzle, connecting several of the daughter lines descending from Frances Carter Curtis into the era of census records.

Daily Nashville Patriot. 19 Oct 1858.

James Crutcher of Hardin County, Kentucky brought a suit in Davidson County Court stating that John Crutcher owed him $1262. John did not own property in Kentucky, but he did in Tennessee, and also had an interest in the estate of his brother Thomas who had died without heirs and an unsigned will in Davidson County in 1844. Thomas had a sizeable estate of his own, worth about $60,000 in 1844, which is about $2.5 million or more today. James challenged the validity of the will, noting that John Crutcher and Thomas' siblings would be due to inherit some of the funds, and those would be payable to James. In his complaint, James described the descendants of his brothers and sisters, which is incredibly useful for our efforts today.

FamilySearch. Davidson County, TN.

According to the complaint, Elizabeth Crutcher Earhart and her husband John, and her sister Mary Crutcher Maxey and husband Albert, had moved to Illinois. I was able to trace them to Clinton County, Illinois, where John Earhart became Justice of the Peace. Another daughter of Elizabeth Curtis Crutcher, Sarah, had moved with her husband Washington Rogers, to Missouri. It looks like she lived into the 1880s and had at least five daughters, so her path is a promising one for maternal line descendants from Frances Carter Curtis.

James Crutcher died while the case was progressing through the courts, and his suit was revived by Thomas S. Crutcher, executor of his estate. After a lengthy series of proceedings up and down the Tennessee court system, it looks like James prevailed in the case, and funds were paid out to the heirs between 1858-1861. The image below is important for our pursuit going forward.

FamilySearch. Davidson County, TN.

A Deed of Gift

In February 1807, Mary Curtis provided a deed of gift to her niece, Mary C. Crutcher. In the same record, she also named the other children of her brother-in-law Anthony Crutcher and his wife Elizabeth Curtis Crutcher. When viewing the typed version of this record on Ancestry, as part of the Tennessee Wills collection, the document is listed as a probate file, and gives an inferred death date for Mary as 1807. But this is not a probate document, it is a deed of gift, similar to the slave transaction made in an earlier record from her grandfather John Carter's estate in 1784.

Viewing the original handwritten record on FamilySearch as part of the Montgomery County, Tennessee Will Books 1795-1825 gives a different perspective.

FamilySearch. Montgomery County, TN. 23 Feb 1807.

Mary Curtis' deed of gift was a slave girl named Nancy (a child of Poll or Polly), and all her household furniture, clothing, and all her other goods and chattels, except for three slaves who were to be sold and proceeds divided equally among the other children of her sister and brother-in-law: William, Carter, Thomas, George, Fanny, Patsy, Elizabeth and Sally Crutcher. Patsy and Elizabeth Crutcher were later named as beneficiaries in the will of their grandmother Frances Carter Curtis in 1827.

A later document in the Montgomery County Court minutes in July 1807 shows this was a deed of gift, and not a will.

FamilySearch. Montgomery County, TN. 15 Jul 1807.

On 7 August 1811, William Curtis signed a marriage record for his sister Mary Curtis to Daniel Dunnivant in Davidson County, Tennessee. Mary is listed as Molly Dunnivant in the will of Frances Curtis in 1827.

FamilySearch. Davidson County, TN. 7 Aug 1811.

 

The names fall into place

Reviewing the 1827 will of Frances Curtis, the names of beneficiaries seem to fall into place. Frances first provides for her granddaughters Fanny and Patsy, of son William Curtis. She bequeaths two slaves, Henry (15) and Monterville (10). Next she gives to Thomas Crutcher, brother of her son-in-law Anthony Crutcher. Anthony had married Frances' daughter Elizabeth Curtis. Frances asked Thomas to be her executor, and to hold in trust a slave girl named Hagar for the benefit of Frances' daughter Molly Dunnivant. Molly (also called Mary) wed Daniel Dunnivant in Davidson County, Tennessee on 7 August 1811.

Next Frances gave another slave girl named Pealus to Thomas to hold in trust for Frances' granddaughter Patsy (Martha) Crutcher Osborn, wife of Alfred Osborn. Frances then gave a bed and furniture to her son William, a bed and furniture to Patsy Osborn, and a bed and furniture to granddaughter Betsy Crutcher Earhart. Patsy and Betsy were daughters of Elizabeth Curtis (d. 1810) and Anthony Crutcher (d. 1815).

Frances also gave to Frankey, a free woman of color who had been her slave, $100.

Frances asked that the rest of her property be equally divided among Molly Dunnivant, William Curtis, Patsy Osborn, and Betsy Earhart.

The will was produced in Davidson County Court in October 1827.

Henry and Monterville were ordered to be sold in 1832. It is possible they were brothers.

FamilySearch. Davidson County, TN. 1832.

Monterville was sold on 9 April 1841 for $650 to the firm of Anderson & Hamilton.

The will of Frances Carter Curtis

 

FamilySearch. Davidson County, TN. 16 Feb 1827.

When I previously looked into Frances Carter Curtis, daughter of John Carter, I found a will for her husband Rice Curtis 3rd in Davidson County, Tennessee in 1798. It looks like Frances survived her husband Rice by almost 29 years, living in what became Nashville, Tennessee. The record that makes me think this will is hers, is an indenture with Frances' son George B. Curtis in Davidson County in 1804. The second half of Frances' will from 1827 is below.

There's more to do to unpack the details in this will. Very clearly from the first division of property Frances was an enslaver, which is not a surprise given the earlier documents involving the records from the estate of Frances' father John Carter.

John Carter in 1743

 

Made in Ideogram. John Carter. Spotsylvania, Virginia, 1743.

As far as I know, there are no surviving portraits of John Carter (1715-1783). In 1743, John was a recently married man (for the second time), with four young children, about 28 years old. During the year of 1743 he completed two land purchases in Spotsylvania County, Virginia for 290 acres. The imagined scene above shows John surveying the new land in the vast forests of the area.

There is a great resource called Colonial Virginia Portraits, which has a shortcut to portraits for extended members of Carter families. While we're still looking for maternal descendants from John Carter and his various wives, I'm using Ideogram to help visualize the time in which John and his family lived.