Happy Thanksgiving, 2010

May you and your family

have a blessed Thanksgiving Holiday.

Pete S

Does anyone else think that the fella with the ax

looks like Jim McAnney?

The Mathis Family and DNA Testing

I got the following email from Marjorie Mathis Ewell who is working on the Jeremiah branch of the Great John Mathis family and am hoping that one of our Blog readers may be able to provide some information that would help her. She is looking for descendants from Herbert and Daniel, Jr Mathis from the Galloway Township area who might be willing to have a DNA test.

Pete S

Hi Pete,

I am still looking for male descendants of John Mathis via son, Jeremiah. My grandfather was Charles Morrell Mathis, #5054 in the Mathis Family of Little Egg Harbor, NJ. My father was Morrell Foster Mathis, #5080.

Charles M. Mathis had a brother, Daniel who according to the above mentioned book, lived in Galloway Twp in 1900 and had two sons, Herbert b. 1878 and Daniel, Jr., b. 1894....my father Morrell was born in 1896 in Atlantic City.

I am hoping to find a descendant from one of the two brothers who would be willing to have a DNA test done. I have no living male relatives who I could ask.

I would think that any descendant from Jeremiah down would suffice, however, if I can find the closest relative I would think it would be better.

Since I know from reading your blog that you know many Mathis' from Southern New Jersey, I hope you can help me in my search. I live in Cape Coral Florida and won't be back up in Absecon until next June. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

Marjorie A. Mathis Ewell

Interested in geneological DNA testing?

Here are some web sites you may want to visit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogical_DNA_test

http://www.dnaancestryproject.com/?gclid=CLCi6PXZt6UCFcTb4Aodr0MLXw

http://genealogy.about.com/cs/geneticgenealogy/a/dna_tests.htm

Following is a video on geneological DNA testing:

Following is a video on taking a Family Tree DNA test:

The Kauflin-Mathis Wedding and Vanishing New Gretna Surnames

One thing that I have noticed in my 35 years of living in New Gretna is the change in the family makeup of the town. When Jackie and I moved here in the mid 1970's most of the families in town had connections to the old, founding families in the area - the Mathis, Cramer, Allen, Adams, Loveland, Lamson, French, Maxwell, and Sears families. The school population reflected this fact, as the students surnames echoed those of the old New Gretna families.

Today is another matter. You would be hard pressed to list a significant number of families with old New Gretna ties or find many old New Gretna surnames on our present elementary school roster. Seems that the old names are fast disappearing as today's mobile society has encouraged a migration of those with old families ties out of New Gretna. Also, the "Atlantic City phenomena" has caused an influx of new families in town as New Gretna has morphed from a small close knit community with local businesses and vibrant churches into a more impersonal bedroom community. Ah, the price of progress!

Another reason for the present dearth of old New Gretna surnames is the marrying of the old family girls into families with no New Gretna ties. The roots are still here, but the tree has a different name. The following illustrates this point.

On July 21, 1938 there was a wedding between Milton Kauflin and Mildred Mathis. Mildred's New Gretna pedigree ran deep, she being a direct descendant to the Great John Mathis, the first permanent settler in Bass River. Milton, a second generation New Gretna-ite, was the son of Charles and Eva Kauflin of South Maple Avenue who ran a local saw mill for many years which had a significant impact on the local community in his providing lumber for local ship builders and for many New Gretna's houses.

Charles Kauflin, the groom's father, ran a saw mill on South Maple Avenue for many years. (Photo courtesy of Ron and Carol Kauflin Nicklow.)

The wedding took place in the South Maple Avenue home built for the newlyweds with lumber sawn in the Kauflin sawmill. Milton was 23 years old and Mildred was 17.

Milton and Mildred Mathis Kauflin's house on South Maple Avenue where the 1938 wedding took place. (March 6, 2007 photo by Pete Stemmer.)

Elizabeth "Lib" Schutte and her husband, George. Lib was the matron of honer at the Kauflin-Mathis wedding. (Photo courtesy of Betty Schutte Kalm, Elizabeth's daughter.)

Carlton Maxwell and Helen Mathis. Carlton was the best man at the Kauflin-Mathis Wedding. (Photo courtesy of Marian C. Broome.)

There are no known wedding photos of the happy couple. Following is a photo taken some years after the wedding.

Milton and Mildred Mathis Kauflin

(Photo courtesy of Ron and Carol Kauflin Nicklow.)

Mildred and Milton were blessed with a daughter, Carol, in 1947.

Carol Kauflin, age 4 months.

(Photo courtesy of Ron and Carol Kauflin Nicklow.)

Carol went on to marry Ronald Nicklow. They lived out of the area for many years but have since returned to Carol's New Gretna roots and currently live in the remodeled Kauflin home where the 1938 wedding took place. Remnants of the old Kauflin saw mill still stand in their back yard.

Ron and Carol Kauflin Nicklow at the New Gretna Presbyterian Church pulpit. (May 19, 2002 photo by Pete Stemmer.)

So, here we have a case of someone with old New Gretna family ties, Carol Kauflin Nicklow, a descendant of the Great John Mathis, with a "foreign" surname. Again, the roots are still here, but the tree has a different name. It is the genealogist's great dilemma!

I'm sure that there are other examples of New Gretna residents with old New Gretna family roots still living in the community but with a name that has no New Gretna connection. Can anyone out in the Blog-O-Sphere give me another example?

Pete S

Blog on 3 Week Respite

I will be going into Pennsylvania Presbyterian Hospital for surgery tomorrow. I will probably not be posting to the Blog for the next three weeks. Check back near the end of November.

Blessings,

Pete S

Jumbo Shrimp and the Beacon Museum

Jumbo shrimp is a familiar oxymoron, today. I wonder if such was the case back in the early 1900's. I got to thinking about it while reading a brief news item from the Decemebr 6, 1906 Tuckerton Beacon (See below).

Oxymorons aside, Joseph E. Burton, from Tuckerton, came across an amazing find while clamming in the bay. He tonged a Jumbo shrimp measuring 8 inches in overall length. Now, that really redefines the meaning of Jumbo. Imaging ordering a shrimp cocktale made up of these babies! That would be some appetizer! Beats anything advertised at Applebees or Fridays, today.

What I find especially interesting is the last comment regarding Mr. Burton giving the Jumbo shrimp to the Tuckerton Beacon museum. Evidently the popular weekly newspaper had a museum of local curios. This was the first reference to a local museum that I have come across. It gets me to wondering a few things: (1) When and where did the museum operate? (2) What type of items were housed in the museum? and (3) What happened to the museum items when the museum eventually closed?

The old Tuckerton Beacon Office, circa 1890, was located on North Green Street. This is probably the office where the Beacon Museum was located and Joseph Burton's Jumbo shrimp was put on display. The house before the Beacon Office is now the law office of Howard Butensky. (Photo courtesy of the Tuckerton Historical Society.)

The location of the old Beacon Office Building on North Green Street (Route 539) in Tuckerton is now a parking lot for the adjacent law office of Howard Butensky. (Map courtesy of Bing Maps.)

If anyone out in the Blog-O-Sphere knows anything about the old Beacon museum, I sure would like to find answers for those questions.

Pete S

PS- Can anyone identify this modern day Little Egg Harbor clammer who strives to beat Joseph E. Burton's Jumbo shrimp record? I'll give you a hint. He's Ricky "White Shoes" cousin and a regular Blog reader. I wonder how close he's come to the record ? Nice shirt!

Little Stevie Eichinger Loses His Tonsils

Keeping with the medical theme of last Monday's Blog entry, I came across the following brief news item in the July 11, 1940 edition of the Tuckerton Beacon.

When I first read the news item I was not sure if it referred to Steve Eichinger having his tonsils removed or his younger brother, Lee, who was known as "Chubby." I called Steve who confirmed that, indeed, it was he who had his tonsils out in 1940.

Little Stevie Eichinger

Steve remembered the incident as if were yesterday and related an interesting bit of information to me. As he remembers the episode, he was six years old and about to start school in New Gretna. He remembers being placed on a table, a cloth mask placed over his nose and mouth, and ether being dripped on the mask. He woke up in a hospital bed where they plied him with ice cream and sent him home.

As Steve tells it, everyone starting school at that time had to have their tonsils out, much as we now have requirements that children have certain shots before entering school. That seems rather harsh to me and somewhat unbelievable, but Steve was insistent it was true. Does anyone out in the Blog-O-Sphere remember having their tonsils removed in order to be enrolled in school?

Pete S

Old Medical Anecdote

Sometimes, when reading old newspapers and journals, I come upon a humorous item. Such was the case when I was reading an 1879 edition of The Medical And Surgical Reporter. I thought I would share the item here at the Blog. Hopefully, you will also get a chuckle out of it as I did.

Pete S