Hi Bill, I have sort of let my Macoupin Co. mail stack up, and was reading some this morning and your post caught my eye. My gr.grandmother, according to her marriage application, was born in Tilsit, in which is now Lithuania. This line has been very difficult to trace, and I try to follow up on any possible connection. Here is what I know about her. Juliana Auguste Barkowski, b. 14 Dec 1868/9 in Galsdon, Tilsit, Germany, d. 6 Aug 1911 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., IL, m. 1891 or earlier to Wilhelm Heinrich Schultze in Germany. Auguste & Henry (as they were called) arrived in the USA at the port of Baltimore on the steamship Karlsruhe, 21 July 1892, and apparently proceeded directly to Mt. Olive, Macoupin Co., IL. Traveling with them were Sophia Schultz, age 6, Maria Schultz, age 4 (my grandmother) and Fredrik Schultz, age 1/2. Sophia was a surprise to me, as I have never heard of her, but Maria always told me that Schultze was not her birth father. At this time, I suspect that Sophia was his daughter, Maria her daughter and Fredrik their son. Way back then, they had his, hers and ours. Grin. Anyhow, the summer crossing must have proved too much for the baby, as the Church records show that on 1 Aug 1892 Friederich Wilhelm Bernhardt Schultze, son of Friedrich Schultze and Auguste Juliana, nee Barkowsky died at 5 mos, 22 days of age. On the 2 May 1893, William Henry Schultze was born to them. Shortly after, on 26 July 1893 Henry Schultze was killed in Consolidated Coal Mine # 8. The newspaper headlines say "MASHED INTO A PULP, Henry Schultze, a Loader at No. 8 Shaft, Killed Tuesday Afternoon by Falling Rock". The church records show that he was buried the next day, Wilhelm Heinrich Schultze, left a widow and 3 children, was 34 years and 12 days of age. The 3 children always bothered me, and I sort of assumed that maybe somebody forgot that the baby had died the year before (but is shown on the same page in the church death register), but with the knowledge of Sophia, it does, now, make sense. On the 22 of January 1895, Auguste Juliana Schultze, nee Barkowsky, m. John Ernest Carl Christopher Hillmann in Mt. Olive, Macoupin Co., MN. Four children were born to them, and in 1911 Auguste was granted a divorce from John. Auguste died six weeks later. I have found no further mention of Sophia Schultze, she is not shown on the 1900 Census with this family. Just a guess, but I wonder if maybe when Auguste and John got married, she kept her kids, but maybe farmed out Sophia or maybe she went to some of her fathers relatives, unknown to me. Anybody got a spare Sophia?? They always say that often friends and/or family from the same area in the old country came over and settled close by to those friends/family so your mention of Lithuania rang bells. Our two families maybe from the same area, both coal miners in Macoupin Co. Probably a long shot, but one never knows. Would love to hear from anybody who may have a connection or knowledge of this family. None stayed in Macoupin Co., except maybe the missing Sophia. Sophia Schultze went ? Maria Schultze left and in 1908 was married in Bowman, ND William H. Schultze, had a court appointed guardian after the death of his mother, served in the Army in WWI, and lived his life in CA. Meta Hillmann, b. 1895, left after the death of her mother, married a Unk Williams, lived in Alaska for a bit, then CA & OR. Theresa Hillmann b. 1897 had a guardian, as above, left and lived for a bit with Maria in Bowman and Fargo, ND Walter Hillmann b. 1900, had a guardian, as above, left and lived in the Chicago area. John Hillmann b. 1901, had a guardian, as above, left and spent some time with Maria in ND, then settled in Michigan. Sharon Buethner > My grandfather died in 1934, prior to SS registration, so no help > there. I've come to believe the original Lithuanian name was > Gajauskas, but he used a Polish variation, Gayousky, in the early days > for his marriage license and the baptism of his children. Then he used > Guskey on his draft registration in 1918, and it somehow got cranked > around to Gusky. I speculate he stayed away from the original name to > throw the Russians off the trail, because he left parents and a sister > in Lithuania in 1900, and feared retribution for fleeing conscription. > All speculation at this point, but I have hope of learning more from > four or five Lithuanian language circa 1928 - 1934 letters from his > sister which I hope to receive next week.