A good orientation to the problem of trusting medieval Irish genealogies. Don’t make the mistake of copying what you find online. It’s all very interesting, but it’s not vetted genealogy.
ABSTRACT: Traditionally Irish early medieval genealogies were seen as the product of oral tradition, recorded at an early period by monastic writers. This is mistaken. No doubt there was an oral genealogical knowledge, but the genealogical record is modelled on the Old Testament genealogies.
My maternal grandmother, Vivian Luce attended Miss Wolcott’s School for Girls, a finishing school in Denver. She studied things like piano, French, water colors, needlework, elocution, etiquette, and other things appropriate to Edwardian ladies. I estimate she was there about 1914 to 1916.
Wikipedia defines finishing schools: “A finishing school is a school for young women that focuses on teaching social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the education, with classes primarily on deportment and etiquette, with academic subjects secondary.” (Wikipedia: Finishing school; citations, link, and emphasis removed)
Surprisingly, it turned out to be pretty easy to track down Grandma’s school. In fact, the building is still standing (at 14th and Marion). For several years my sister Laura and I lived just a block away (at 13th and Marion). It was very cool, living in the same area of the city as our grandmother, and routinely walking past the school she attended.
Miss Wolcott’s School
Ranchers in Wyoming, if they were successful, often sent their daughters away to finishing schools. The idea was to prepare them to be the social and cultural leaders of the next generation.
Vivian (Luce) Swanstrom
The earliest ranchers on the Upper Green River in Wyoming were largely Mormons and ex-Mormons from Utah. The upwardly mobile among them sometimes chose to affiliate with genteel, mainstream churches. Grandma’s parents were founding members of the local Episcopal church in Big Piney in 1914, so they sent her to an Episcopalian school in Denver. Her dad’s ex-wife became Roman Catholic, so members of that family sent their daughters to a convent in in Salt Lake City. Grandma’s older half-sister was crippled from an accident in infancy and spent her life in hospitals and institutions. If not for the accident , doubtless she would have been sent to the Catholic school preferred by her mother’s family.
I didn’t know until today that First Lady Mamie Doud Eisenhower also attended the Wolcott School. An article by Linda Wommack says:
"At her parent’s insistence, [Mamie] completed her education at Miss Wolcott’s, a prestigious, private finish[ing] school for the daughters of prominent Denver families. During all of her schooling years, Mamie attended dances classes and piano lessons. As a young teenager, Mamie and her friends often took the trolley to Colfax Avenue or Curtis Street, popular teenage hangouts. They would shop, attend various shows or movies, snack on sodas and ice cream at Baur’s shop."
Finishing school was followed by an introduction into “society”, usually in the form of a debutante ball or coming out party. Grandma was a debutante, but I never thought to ask and don’t think I ever heard any details. I have a vague idea there was a coming out party in Denver for members of her school class but I don’t really know.
Reasearch Continues
Grandma’s mother, Essie (Wilson) Luce, also attended a finishing school, back in Illinois. I haven’t been successful finding that school. The little I know comes from notes I made years ago: “[Grandma Essie] attended a private school in Decatur, Illinois, where her teacher was Mary Helen Sommer Rinehart (1863-1920). The two became close friends. In later years they exchanged photos and letters. [Essie] also attended a private school in Kaskaskia.”
Personal Note
Purely a coincidence, when I was confirmed in the Episcopal Church at All Saints in Salt Lake City, one of my sponsors was Dr. Mark Wolcott. Same family.
More Information
“Baur’s Building.” KEW Realty Corporation <kewrealty.com>. Retrieved May 17, 2020. Located at 1514 Curtis Street, this “historic building was once a candy confectionery, Baur’s Candy Shop, founded in 1872 by Otto Baur who claimed to scoop the very first ice cream soda. Baur’s Restaurant continued to serve Denver as a popular chain into the 1970’s. Remnants of history can still be seen in the tile flooring and barrel vaulted ceiling on the first floor and exposed brick walls and lofty timber ceilings on the second and third floors.”
“Miss Wolcott’s School Denver.” Denver Public Library. <digital.denverlibrary.org>. Photograph. Retrieved May 17, 2020. “Young women parade in a circle, possibly for a May Day festival, at the Miss Wolcott School at 1400 Marion Street in Denver, Colorado. The girls carry baskets of flowers.” DPL’s photo collection includes many other pictures of the Wolcott School.
I’ve mentioned several times lately that the Swanstroms have a yDNA connection to a German Kruse family. And I’ve thrown out a few thoughts, but no real details. Today, just a quick note about what I’m really thinking.
The soldier Petter Jönsson Cavat, born about 1732, lived in Gärdserum parish, He’s the earliest provable Swanstrom ancestor.
In nearby Vist parish there was a man named Petter Kruse. According to Rötters Anbytarforum, this Petter Kruse married 9 December 1720 to the maid Sara Olofsdotter.
This seems a promising lead. Petter Cavat cannot have been a son of Petter Kruse. Cavat had the patronymic Jönsson so his father must have been Jonas.
And Petter Cavat cannot have been a grandson of Petter Kruse and Sara Olofsdotter. They were married only 12 years before he was born.
But Petter Kruse might have had an earlier marriage and a son named Jonas. Or Petter Kruse might have had other relatives in the area.
I intend to follow up. As soon as I find a research strategy. I’ve been saying that for two years now but haven’t thought of anything. Now I’m putting it out in the world in case someone else wants to scoop me.
We know from yDNA testing the Swanstroms might descend from a German Kruse family settled in Sweden. They, the Svanströms, lived relatively near a noble family named Crusebjörn. The Crusebjörn family’s original name was Kruse. They came from Lübeck in Schleswig-Holstein to Sweden. When they were ennobled their name was changed from Kruse to Crusebjörn because there were already two Swedish noble families named Kruse.
The usual etymology given for Kruse is that it was “a descriptive German surname meaning ‘with curly hair,’ from the Middle High German krus, meaning ‘curly.'”
And björn of course is “bear.”
So, curly bear.
I’m in love with that image. I could have the etymology wrong, or I could have the translation wrong, and anyway there is no particular reason so far to imagine the Swanstroms are any more likely to be descended from the Crusebjörn family than any other Swedish Kruse family.
Still.
I had a polar bear fetish hanging from my rear view mirror. Now it’s hanging on the door to the balcony. I think I’ll keep an eye out for something a little more curly.
More Information
“Kraus Surname” by Kimberly Powell, at ThoughtCo <www.thoughtco.com/>, updated March 4, 2018, retrieved May 4, 2020.
“Kruse Surname” at Forbears <forebears.io/>, retrieved May 4, 2020. No pun intended.
“Peter Kruse“, at Svenskt biografiskt lexikon <sok.riksarkivet.se/>, retrieved May 5, 2020.
I’ve been lucky to meet Matt Barnes online. He’s the project guru for maintaining and restoring Bush Cemetery in Rock Port, Missouri.
Bush Cemetery Tour 1 of 2
My Horn ancestors are buried in this cemetery. When Grandma Miller was first telling me about her ancestors, this cemetery is where they were buried.
Matt sent me a note night before last to let me know how spring clean up day went, and give me some photos of a stone he’s re-setting: “Mowed the cemetery and reattached the top of Ruth horne’s stone. I also removed several stumps”
Whenever I hear from Matt about his latest projects, I reflect about how it would be if every small cemetery in rural America had someone like him. I wouldn’t mind hearing from dozens of people all around the country about the work they’re doing to maintain and preserve the cemeteries where my ancestors are buried.
I subscribed to Matt’s YouTube channel. This is the kind of ongoing family history I want to hear about.
Matthew Barnes. YouTube <youtube.com>. Retrieved Apr. 28, 2020.
