February 2007 – Edition 22

We continue to probe and peer into the family tree
trying to sort out about our namesakes. This month Ray
takes on another mystery person, Jerrems C. Hart.

In my early research on the Jerrems family I tried to get as
much information as possible by using Google. Some of the most
intriguing results I got were references to books written by
Jerrems C. Hart. I will call him Jerry because that was how
he was known (sound familiar?). But who was Jerry? Would he open
up a whole new area of research on the Jerrems family in the US?

Continue reading, for a story of “mystery and intrigue”. It is
also a story, typical of my genealogical research on the Jerrems
family, of a trickle of information turning eventually into a
flood.

At the “trickle” end of the scale he appeared to have written 2
books on the subject of boating in the Caribbean and the
Bahamas. One was published in 1976 and was titled “A Cruising
Guide to the Caribbean and the Bahamas: Including the North
Coast of of South America, Central America and Yucatan”. The
other book was on a very similar subject (or it could merely
have been a revision of the first book), and was first published
in 1982, titled “Cruising Guide to the Caribbean and the
Bahamas”.

Jerry was the sole author of the first book and co- author with
William T Stone of the second book. The second book was
reprinted a number of times in hard cover, with about 570 pages,
and there was possibly a soft-covered edition by Penguin.

The number of bookshop websites listing the books showed that
they were very popular.

A further website referred to him as being a foundation member
of the American Yachting Club, formed in 1967. He was in
illustrious company, another foundation member being the actor
John Wayne, better known for galloping across the prairies in
Wild West films. The club’s headquarters are on Marcos Island,
Florida. I emailed the Club to see if they had more information
on him but received no reply (not unusual).

He called himself “Jerry”, according to a research team
interested in locating old shipwrecks.

Further delving by me a few years later revealed that his middle
name was Chamberlain, that he was born in Litchfield,
Connecticut in about 1911, and that he died in 1993 in Vero
Beach, County of Indian River, Florida.

Over this period I had been surmising as to where he fitted into
the Jerrems family. I had not previously located any other
Jerrems connections in Connecticut so I hoped that perhaps he
might open up a whole new vista of research on the Jerrems
family! For instance it is not uncommon for sons to be given
their mother’s maiden name (or an earlier relative on their
maternal side) as a Christian name. Examples in the Jerrems
family are Richard Jerrems Rizzo and Armand Jerrems Duvannes.

It therefore occurred to me that perhaps his mother or
grandmother was a Jerrems.

Leila Menzies, one of our readers, did some sleuthing
work. Leila and I “met” through a genealogical website, she is
related to Mary Bell who married Alexander Nicholl Jr., but that
is another story (her photo was in the Christmas 2005 edition of
our Newsletter).

Thanks to Leila this is when the trickle of information turned
into a flood.

Leila’s research showed that our mysterious Jerry’s parents were
Walter Henry Hart and Louise Chamberlain Hart and he had a
brother Valentine and sister Virginia. His father’s parents
were William H and Martha E (born in the 1830s) and his mother’s
parents were Valentine B Chamberlain and Anna. His mother had 7
siblings. All these people were born in Connecticut.

Not a “Jerrems” to be seen! Clearly he was not therefore named
after an earlier family member.

Back to the drawing board.

Adding to the flood of information, Leila also discovered that
Jerry lived with his parents in 1920 and 1930 in New Britain,
Connecticut and that his parents and grandparents had lived
there since the 1880s (as a minimum). She also found a cryptic
reference to a Reata K Hart who died in Vero Beach,
Florida in 1986 (possibly Jerry’s wife). Jerry was listed in a
1954 Watertown (Connecticut) City Directory with her. He was
described in it as a salesman.

My mind cast back to other possible sources for the name
“Jerrems”. Possibly Jerry’s father worked for Jerrems Tailors
somewhere and named him after the firm. One of our Jerrems
family in the US related to me an account of how a storeman
employed by Jerrems Tailors had done this.

Not as silly as it sounds when you remember how James Jerrems
acquired the name Jerrems His Polish grandfather worked opposite
a Jerrems Tailors store in Chicago, giving him the idea that he
would change his surname to Jerrems.

Or perhaps Jerry’s father bought his suits by mail order from
Jerrems Tailors and wished to show his appreciation (just
joking).

The basic problem with these theories was that at that stage I
had not found any “Nicoll the Tailor” stores (later taken over
by the Jerrems family) or Jerrems Tailors store in the State of
Connecticut. But some time later I turned up a number of trade
cards on eBay referring to a “Nicoll the Tailor” store in
Hartford, Connecticut (ominously, the store was in Asylum
Street). In fact that store had been very prolific in the number
of different cards issued. New Britain is only 15 km (10 miles)
by rail from Hartford. This raises the distinct possibility that
Jerry’s father had worked for the Jerrems family (commuting
daily from New Britain to Hartford) or the family had formed a
close friendship with a member of the Jerrems family.

If Jerry and Reata had had a family they may know the origin of
his first Christian name. Probably they would be the only people
who would know. But the surname “Hart” is very popular (there
are over 20 in Vero Beach alone), making searching for his
children laborious.

So, in conclusion, there is more “mystery” than “intrigue” about
Jerry. We have obtained an interesting array of information but
ultimately it has come to a dead end for the purpose of finding
an explanation for his name. But at least I have established
that his family does not trace back to the Jerrems family.

I bet Jerry is up there in that great boat marina in the sky
having a good laugh. Would he say that we are “all at sea” about
his name?

Ah, such is life for a family researcher who lives in far off
Australia! Perhaps one day something will show up, as has often
happened for me before.

1. From Edition 5, October 2005: What is the Jerrems Spur
(named after famed explorer Ray Jerrems)?

In the mountain range west of Nowra, which is on the coast about
100 miles south of Sydney. 12 correct
A western-styled saloon on Main Street in Hobart. 0
Mountain lodge and resort on north side of Mount Hoodwink. 0

Everyone got this one correct.

2. From Edition 6, November 2005: Who visited a second hand
clothing store in Chicago and saw a very nice suede jacket. When
he looked at it more closely he saw from the label that it had
been made by Jerrems Tailors in Chicago.

Dan Jerrems (son of Jeanne) who found it. But did he buy it? 4
correct
Donald the Third, when he was in town and needed to dress up for
a party. 0
Kim when she was trying to find a Christmas gift for Steven. 8
incorrect

The correct answer is Dan Jerrems. We still do not know if he
purchased the coat.

3. From Edition 6: Who is the belly dancer featured in the
poster of Dark Odyssey (1957)?

Rosemary Torri as Helen Vassos 4 correct
Jeanne Jerrems as Niki Vassos 5
Marilyn Monroe as herself 3
Sophia Loren as ChaCha Mama 0

The correct answer is Rosemary Torri. Jeanne laments that her
image didn’t make into the film poster, even though she had the
starring role.

4. From Edition 7, Thanksgiving 2005: A total of four
generations of Jerrems families (spanning over 140 years) lived
in these two places, the particular significance of this being
that most Jerrems readers trace back to those families.

Sydney and Chicago 8
Gainesville and Stowe-by-Willingham 1
Gainsborough and Willingham-by-Stowe 3

The intended answer was Gainsborough and Willingham-by-Stowe;
however Sydney and Chicago would almost qualify, but the
migration didn’t begin until the 1890’s, so the span is not 140
years.

Reader Responses

1. The January issue was fun for me. I was at the funeral
with Mary, of course, and I recall a lovely dark- haired girl,
taller than I, silent, who did not cry (I did, not having been
brought up on Arthur’s stiff upper lip theory of life). I had
forgotten about Leonore’s being an established painter!
Beautiful stuff! Love to all, Caty/Jeanne
2. Good quiz.

This past week I received the following email:
Wollensak Ancestors Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 23:38:17

Dear Mr. or Mrs. Jerrams,

I found your interesting and funny Jerrams family newsletter on
the Internet. In one edition, you mention that Donald Edwin
Jerrams III has information on the family tree of Rosalind
Wollensak born March 27, 1882 in Illinois.

I was just wondering if you could tell me Donald Edwin´s e-mail
so that I can contact him or forward my e-mail to him. I would
like to find out if his Wollensak ancestors are related to mine.
My Wollensak relatives in the Chicago area originally came from
Vollmaringen in Germany.

Many thanx and friendly regards,

Gregor Wollensak
Berlin, Germany ================================
We exchanged a few emails during the week. Here is a composite:

From Gregor:

I live in Berlin, Germany. I am an ophthalmologist. It would be
very interesting which Wollensak branch your ancestors were
from. Did they maybe come from Chicago, Watertown (WI), Albany
(NY) or Iowa? There were several branches.I would need more
details.

From Gregor:

I think I found Rosalind Wollensak. I guess she was the daughter
John Florian Wollensak b. in 1847 and his wife Josephine Hoerber.
His grandfather Moritz W. b. in 1777 was the brother of my
ancestor Conrad W. b. in 1773. Wow, so we would be connected if
this is correct. Could you please check your Wollensak data and
let me know. Hopefully we can exchange further data so that our
family trees become more complete.

I am looking forward to your answer.

With friendly regards, Gregor Wollensak
================================
From Donald:

I finally found the paperwork in the closet. I received this
family tree information in 1969 from out of the blue. The man,
Gerald F. Hoerber, who prepared the research was from Delta,
British Columbia, Canada.

I will give you a brief summary from the several pages I have
from his research.

The Descendants of John Leonard Hoerber I (b. Oct 24, 1821 –
July 3, 1898) who married Theresa Susbauer Oct 7, 1824 – August
22, 1884.

They had seven children, including Josephine Wollensak July 11,
1851 – Sept 9, 1945 who married J.F. Wollensak.

Joseph and J.F Wollensak had three children, although only two (Florian
and Walter) are shown on one page; it appears a third child
Rosalind is a sibling. Florian and Walter changed their name
from Wollensak to Wallace.

Rosalind (birthdate unknown, died 1941) married Donald Edwin
Jerrems I (died 1930). The Jerrems tree is well documented
by our family genealogist, Ray Jerrems from Sydney, AU.

I would be pleased to send more if it would be of assistance to
fill in any gaps.

Donald Jerrems
Huntersville, North Carolina

================================
From Gregor:

Donald,

I am glad you found the papers. Thanks a lot.

Sure, now that I know we are connected I would like to obtain
more information and would also like to be added to your
subscription list.

I can give you your Wollensak tree back to around 1660 if you
are interested.

My questions would be:

-Why did Walter and Florian adopt the name Wallace? Did maybe
Josephine Hoerber marry another husband after John Wollensak
died on Apr 4 1911 because she died only on Sep 9, 1945? Was his
last name Wallace?

-Could you give me the line of your Jerrems ancestors as far as
you got back?

-Do you know where the Hoerbers came from ? Their name seems to
be German.

-How far can you trace back your Wollensak ancestors? I would
especially be interested if you know whether the father of your
ancestor J.F. Wollensak II. b. in Albany, NY on 9/6/1847 ,
namely John Florian Wollensak I. b. on 4/28/1813 in Vollmaringen
, Germany, was married twice. First to Philippina Waechter in
Albany NY on 7/19/1838 and later to Pauline Wolff in Illinois in
1855?

I am not 100% sure if the John Wollensaks that were married to
Philippina Waechter and Pauline Wolff are really identical but I
think so because they were both born in Württemberg in 1813,
both emigrated to the US in 1832 and both were locksmiths. This
information would be very important for me in case you know
something about this connection.

-Do you have any information on the fate of the descendants of
the siblings of your John Florian Wollensak II i.e. for example
the descendants of Adolphus Charles Wollensak b. in Albany on
9/2/1841?

Do you know if Rosalind has anything to do with the
so-called “Wollensack” building in Chicago which was built in
1892? There are many different spellings of the Wollensak name.
For example Wollensack, Wallensak, Woolensack or in older times
Wollensagg or Wollensackh. Woolensack is the name of the Chicago
building.

-Yes, I would like to have contact with your genealogist in
Australia.

I wish you a nice Sunday. Many thanks in advance.

With friendly regards, Gregor

Don’s Note:
I don’t have answers to many of Gregor’s questions, but maybe
someone in the family does.

I copied the Hoerber documents and sent them to Gregor.

Neither Ray or Laurel have been able to definitely identify
anyone, Yet Laurel’s mother had it in her glory box (so it must
relate to Laurel’s family somehow). Unfortunately we don’t
remember you, but thanks for the thought.

Editor’s Note: I increased the size of the image. It is
hard to figure out who the wedding couple is. Most of the men
have a healthy hairline, unlike the current Jerrems line. I do
not see Old Ray, the Family Ghost; he must not have
crashed this gathering.