ROSINA'S OBITUARY

For several years, I have been searching for an obituary for Rosina Kramer Ritterhouse VanDorn. I knew when and where she died, but had never been able to find an obituary. At first I was sure it would be in my Great-Aunt Edna's papers, but we never found it. Later, I thought maybe it would be posted in Find-a-Grave by some Ritterhouse relative, but so far no luck with that. Then, as Ancestry.com added an obituary database, I thought it would surely appear. I tried many different variations to Rosina's name because I have found her name in documents, in census records, in print spelled a wide variety of ways, using a variety of first and last names. Every avenue I tried came to a dead (no pun intended) end.

Finally, while researching the last two posts, I finally located not one, but two obituaries for Rosina. Neither solves any mysteries, but they are interesting. Originally, when I first started searching for them, I hoped they would tell me where and when she immigrated. Luckily, AncestryDNA solved the "where" question, and I have pretty well narrowed down the "when".  Of course, the obituaries do raise more questions about Rosina.

I am uncertain when the original Colorado Springs obituary was printed since I haven't found access to the Colorado Springs newspaper archives yet. Of the two obituaries I've found so far, the earliest dated one was in the Marshall County News (from Marysville, Kansas) on Friday, February 20, 1931 (page 11).



There are not many details given, but even so, some of the "facts" conflict with information we already had. This obituary gives Rosina's death date as January 21st and her age at death as 97 years. According to her death certificate, she was 99 years, 9 months, and 23 days old when she died on January 31, 1931. We also learn that she lived in Blue Rapids for more than 20 years. In an earlier post, I stated that she lived in Blue Rapids with her son for 15 years, so I may need to revisit that information to determine which is correct. It also confirms that she was born in Germany, but of course, not where in Germany or when she immigrated.

 

The second obituary was printed March 19, 1931 in The Axtell (KS) Standard (page 8).

 

 

 

Rosina's gravestone in Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs

The first thing you notice is the spelling of Rosina's name -- Rozena Vandorn. Next, is her age; as you can see, she aged two years between February and March. Most of the "facts" in this obituary are what ended up on Rosina's death certificate: born April 8, 1831, name spelled "Rozena", died at her
daughter Anna's home, born in Germany. Obviously, Anna was the informant for both the death certificate and the Colorado Springs obituary.

So, naturally, instead of solving problems, the obituaries only add to the questions. For example, when was Rosina born?  Listed below are the varying dates I have collected on Rosina's birth:

           1830 (from 1900 U.S. Census)
           1831 (from death certificate, gravestone and Colorado Springs obituary)
           1833 (from 1905 KS Census, 1910 U.S. Census, 1925 KS census and Marshall Co. obituary)
           1834 (from 1860 U.S. Census)
           1835 (from 1880 U.S. Census, 1920 U.S. Census and Cramme family information)
           1837 (from 1915 KS Census)

That means Rosina was somewhere between 101 and 94 when she died.

Another interesting thing in this obituary is the statement that Rosina "came to the United States as a child". In the 1920 U.S. Census, Rosina (or her son William) reported that she immigrated in 1852. My Great-Aunt Edna told me that Rosina immigrated to New York when she was 20 years old.  I have not found a ship record to document when she arrived.  In any case, I doubt that she was what I would call "a child" when she immigrated.

Even though there are still lots of questions about Rosina's birth, death and life, I love finding bits and pieces of information to try to fit together and learn more about our maternal Ritterhouse immigrant ancestor.