Linked by Lengnicks

If you’ve been following the story of Georgia Bateson, an orphan of Savannah, you’ll know that we’ve been solving her life story from 1870-1956. We learned that she married Albert Carl Lengnick.

So now we want to know more about the Lengnicks, a Beaufort family who was originally from Germany.

I found several old obituaries in the obituary card file at the Beaufort County Library in the Beaufort District Collection.

Georgia and her husband moved away from Beaufort, but he still had Lengnick family in the area.

I’ll start with this obituary for his nephew. When we found the Lengnick plot at St. Helena’s churchyard, I wondered why he died so young.

 

 

Lengnick, Edward E., Jr.

BG     P.4     September 17, 1925

*****

EDWARD LENGNICK

COMMITTED SUICIDE

*****

Beaufort Boy, Very Popular at

Key West, Fla., Where He

Worked, Left Dispondent

Note.

*****

Key West, Fla., Sept 17.—(Spe-

cial.)—Edward E. Lengnick, Jr., age

22, employed as solicitor in sales de-

partment of the Key West Electric

Company, committed suicide here at

8 o’clock on Monday morning, by

shooting himself in the head at his

room in the Kweco Inn, where he had

been residing along with other em-

ploys of the company since coming

to Key West about two years ago.

Lengnick left a note which read:

“Something is and has been eating

my heart and soul away for some

time. Life has become unbearable

and I am unable to stand the mental

agony any longer. Edward, Jr.”

No other apparent reason was

given for the act.

Young Lengnick was quite popu-

lar in this community and was held

in high esteem by his associates and

many other acquaintances.

*****

Young Lengnick, son of Mr. and

Mrs. E. E. Lengnick, this city, was

buried here in St. Helena’s church-

yard Wednesday afternoon at 5

o’clock.

 

Lengnick, Edward, Jr.

BG    P.4      September 24, 1925

*****

EDWARD LENGNICK, Jr.

WAS CHARMING YOUTH

*****

Just a tribute to this dear young

fellow who has left so many friends

to mourn his loss.

A general favorite from his baby-

hood he indeed leaves a void among

the young people with whom he was

associated so closely, and also to his

older friends who held him so dear.

Although making his home in an-

other place since manhood, his visits

were always occasions of pleasure to

Beaufortonians, and Edward was

always a welcome guest; his cordial

manner and charming personality en-

dearing him to all with whom he

came in contact.

Graduating at the Beaufort High

School, he was selected president and

valedictorian of the class of 1918, and

a bright and promising future seemed

assured. But his health became im-

paired while a student at the Georgia

School of Technology, and, when he

returned home a sick boy, it was re-

alized he was no longer his buoyant,

cheerful self. From that time on-

ward, he made a brave fight against

heavy odds; but the conflict was too

long and too hard, and on the 17^th

of September he left this painful life

to enter the rest of Paradise where he

longed to be.

His remains were brought to Beau-

fort and laid to rest in the church-

yard of old St. Helena’s, of which he

was a member from childhood. The

services in the church were conducted

by the rector, Rev. Maynard Marshall,

assisted by the Rev. Mr. Kirkland of

the Methodist church. The pallbear-

ers were selected from his friends, all

in the height of young manhood, who

tenderly laid their comrade to rest

under quantities of flowers sent to

his bereaved family, to whom the

sympathy of an entire community is

given.

There in the family burial lot he

sleeps his last long sleep, while we,

secure in the thought that we can

never drift beyond God’s love and

care, know that—

“All Souls are Thine: we must not say

That those are dead who pass away

From this our world of flesh set free

We know them living unto Thee.”

“H.”

 

 

Good night, Edward. We’re here, and we’re thinking about you.

 

The Gold Mine in the Closet: A Basinger Boy

But which one?

Garnett, Will, Walter, or Tom?

Crossing the Atlantic in 1842: Christopher Remington Bateson

Christopher Remington Bateson of Lancashire, England, was the first Bateson to cross the Atlantic from England to America. I’m not exactly sure of the date of the crossing, but we know that he was in New York by 1839 because of a New York City Directory.

Recently, I found this record on FamilySearch. It’s a record of the ship “Independence” crossing from Liverpool, England, to the Port of New York in June, 1842. Christopher Bateson is on board, but not his wife Mary, nor his sons Christopher Henry or Thomas.

 

Julie in Brussels thinks that he has been on a voyage to pay his last respects to his father, the Rev. Christopher Bateson in England, who died in the spring of 1842.

And the existence of this crossing in 1842 gives us hopes that there is also an earlier record of his first crossing. Why not? New records are becoming available every day!

Georgia on My Mind: Part Three

Sometimes things are easy.

And y’all know that sometimes they are not.

I was worried about Georgia Bateson Lengnick’s death certificate. You can take a look at the death cert by clicking here – LengnickGeorgiaDeathCert1956 – and worry along with me, if you are so inclined.

The death cert says that her body was “removed”, not buried or cremated, but also that she was at Memorial Park Cemetery in St. Louis County, Missouri. That doesn’t even make sense.

So through the magic of the internet, I found a Memorial Park Cemetery website. And there’s a “Contact Us” form!

I’m not very bold, because I have found that if I speak up and ask for help, sometimes I’m ignored. Then I get my feelings hurt. Or if I speak up and ask for help, sometimes I’m ridiculed. Then I get my feelings hurt. Or if I speak up and ask for help, sometimes people get mad at me. Then I get my feelings hurt.

I don’t like getting my feelings hurt. I need my feelz intact, not bruised.

What if I don’t get a reply? They must get lots of requests for this kind of stuff. They should charge for this. It’s research. What if they charge?

Then I reckon I’ll pay. I have to know where Georgia is.

*****

Your Name: Ruth Rawls

Your Email: ruthmarierawlsATgmailDOTcom

Subject: Georgia Bateson Lengnick

Message: I am researching the family of Georgia Bateson Lengnick, who died on January 19, 1956, according to her death certificate obtained online at the Missouri Digital Heritage website.
According to her death certificate, in box 24a: “Burial, Cremation, Removal (Specify)”, it is specified as a removal, but the cemetery is listed as Memorial Park Cemetery.

I’m confused as to what “Removal” means, and if Georgia Bateson Lengnick is truly buried in Memorial Park.

Thank you in advance for any advice you can offer.

Ruth Rawls

*****

Thank you for contacting us.

I’m not sure why the option of removal was selected on her death certificate.

Georgia Bateson Lengnick passed away on January 19, 1956 and was buried here at Memorial Park on January 21, 1956. She is buried in Section 8, Lot 300, Grave 3.

Her husband Albert Carl is buried right beside her in Grave 4. He passed on November 9, 1947 and was buried on the 12th of November that same year.

I hope this information is helpful. Take Care.

Katie McDermott

Memorial Park Cemetery

McDermott Memorial Co.

314.389.3500 p

314.389.3555 f

memorialparkstlouis.com

*****

Hi Katie,

Thank you for your quick reply. It’s a relief to know that Georgia has been found.

I’ve been researching her father and mother’s families. Her parents died when she was quite young and she and her sister Alice went to an orphanage. When she was nine, she became a servant in a household in Savannah. Her younger brother was sent to a private home and it looks like he was used for farm labor. He died when he was seven.

I wanted to create a memorial for her on findagrave.com but wasn’t sure I had the right cemetery.

Thanks so much!

*****

Gotta love the internet and the kindness of strangers.

Georgia on My Mind, Part Two

Julie in Brussels, a dedicated Bateson researcher, found a website for the state of Missouri and its digital heritage.

Did I mention that Julie is a persistent genius? On it she found Bateson surnames, and by a stroke of persistent genius, she found *Georgia Bateson Lengnick*, even though Georgia is listed as Georgia Lengnick with nary a Bateson as a clue.

LengnickGeorgiaDeathCert1956

If you’ll take a look at the certificate, you’ll see that she died January 19, 1956, at age 85 of a cerebral hemorrhage. The informant is J. W. Williams, who is her son-in-law, and he gets a few things wrong. He correctly states that her father is Thomas R. Bateson (and we’d love to know what the R. stands for. Remington, like his father and his son?), and he further states that her mother is Agnes Mann, which we know is not correct. Agnes is actually her grandmother. Georgia’s mother was Martha Mann Bateson, who died when Georgia was a very little girl.

The informant further states that Georgia’s husband was *Alfred* Carl Lengnick, but this could have been a transcription error, for the responses were typed onto the form. Her husband’s name is actually *Albert* Carl Lengnick, and his father’s name was Carl Alfred Lengnick.

Now I need your help. I want to create a memorial on findagrave.com, for there isn’t one for Georgia.

I decide to use the cemetery listed on the death certificate, which is Memorial Park Cemetery in St. Louis County, Missouri. I find two cemeteries by this name in St. Louis County, and I’m guessing it’s the cemetery with over 16,000 memorials on findagrave and over 54,000 burials, not the one with 2.

Here’s the stumper: on the bottom left-hand corner of the certificate, there’s a box marked 24a. “Burial, Cremation, Removal (Specify)” And it’s typed “Removal”.

What does this mean, and where is Georgia? (blowing hair out of face and staring off into space…)

The Gold Mine in the Closet: The House on Duffy Street

Sugar and his family lived in a house on Duffy Street until he was about 5 years old.

It was a nice little house in a blue-collar neighborhood.

There are a few random photos that piece together their times at the Duffy Street house.

 

The back of the house showing the little porch where the boys had lunch.

 

 

We think that the woman is Garnett “Garnie” Basinger, a first cousin of Sugar’s mother.

This is Sugar’s aunt Betsy.

 

Having lunch on the back porch.

 

Easter at the house on Duffy Street.

 

Are there more photos of Duffy Street?

I hope so.

Back to the Gold Mine in the Closet: Unidentified Location in Europe

Sugar’s mother was born in Geneva, Switzerland.

There’s a small collection of photos taken in the same general setting, probably prior to Sugar’s mother’s birth. But where are they taken?

 

 

 

Edward is the boy in the sailor suit. He was born about 1904, so if he is 10, then Sugar’s mother would be about 1, so this could be Switzerland.

Any thoughts?

A Letter to Colin McDonald, July 13, 1967

July 13, 1967

Colin McDonald

Flat 5, “Chevron”

122 Maine Parade

Cottesloe,

Western Australia

Dear Mr. McDonald:

In reviewing some papers, I ran across a copy

of my letter to you of July 25, 1965, which led me to

wonder if you had ever received the letter. In case

it went astray, another copy is enclosed. It would be

most interesting to hear from you.

I hope this find you in good health.

Very truly yours,

Cousin Douglas

There’s something I love about all this letter-writing back and forth, and maybe you love the same thing. Years went by without reply, yet they kept holding out a little candle in the darkness, that someone, someday, was going to answer them.

A Letter from Colin McDonald, September 12, 1968

Can you see that I’ve stopped with the chatty commentary in my haste to get this stuff posted? Because I’m got more old photos and letters waiting in the wings.

The transcription follows, but sadly, this letter is faded in spots so the transcription is likewise spotty. Perhaps you can figure out what some of the missing words are, and you’ll give me a clue.

 

Colin McDonald.

The Bank of Adelaide,

11, Leadenhall Street,

London, E.C.3.

September 12, 1968.

Dear Remote Cousin,

Owing to trouble with

first one eye and then the other (now on the

mend at last) I have never thanked you

for your letter about family history.

After a long period during which he

would not let me read or write at times

my eye doctor in Perth suddenly gave me

the all-clear to travel.

For personal reasons I wanted to come

straight to London and so was not able to

accept your very kind invitation to stay

with you in your home on Long Island.

(?) I am in London I hope to follow

up some of my lines of inquiry into family

history and I shall be glad to let you what

I may be able to find out.

Please do not expect any dramatic results

because I have just turned 69, my eye still

gives me a bit of trouble at times, and I

have a limited amount to spend on research.

Through the good offices of a friend I have

been given a reader’s ticket to the British

Museum and I hope to do some research there

into my period in China.

I must apologize for writing this letter

by hand; my typewriter has not yet been

unpacked! Don’t hesitate to type or dictate

if you wish to reply.

For a long time I have been hoping to

send you notes on the material I have in

hand and will try to do this if only in tentative

form as my eye improves.

Since all my families came out to Australia

in sailing ships I have not given up hope of

(?) some (?) in which the

dates and (?)

In the meantime I am enclosing a photo

maybe some of your Bateson relations would

(?) please accept for your (?)

(?) as a token of my (?)

Charles Edward

Bateson about 1872

Yours sincerely,

Colin McDonald

 

 

A Letter to Colin McDonald: September 8, 1970

 

Letter returned by

post office marked “not

at this address”

11 Edgehill Road

Glen Cove, N.Y. 11542

September 8, 1970

Mr. Colin McDonald

122 Marine Parade

Cottesloe

Western Australia

Dear Mr. McDonald:

I have been remiss in delaying so long in thanking you

for the photograph of my grandfather, Charles E. Bateson, taken

about 1872 in New Orleans, which you so thoughtfully enclosed

with your letter of September 12, 1968. It is indeed very kind

of you to let me have it.

Your letter was written from London, but did not make

clear how long you planned to stay, although other statements

in the letter made it appear that your stay might be an extended

one.  Not being sure where to address you now, I am sendingcopies

of this letter both to your address in Western Australia as I have

it from 1965, and to the address care of The Bank of Adelaide in

London which appears on your letter.

The immediate impetus which has jogged me to writing is

a letter from another relative from the Bateson side of my family,

this one in fact named Bateson – Walter John Bateson. I am en-

closing a copy of a letter dated June 23, 1970, which W. J. Bateson

wrote to Mrs. E. Farrar Bateson. You will recall that it was Mrs. E. F.

Bateson to whom you wrote in 1965, resulting (at her request)

in my July 25, 1965 letter to you. Also enclosed are copies of the

enclosures to W. J. Bateson’s letter, and of my reply dated today.

From the reply, you will see that I have taken the liberty of send-

ing him copies of my 1965 letter to you and of the two letter

(referred to in that letter) which you wrote to Mrs. E. F. Bateson.

It seems to me that you and W. J. Bateson might like to be in

touch with each other directly, if you are not already. Sending

each of you copies of correspondence in which I have participated

should help accomplish that end.

In your letter under reply, you mentioned the possibility

of sending along some notes on material as to Bateson family history

which you had in hand. Such notes would be of great assistance and

interest not only to me, but also surely to W. J. Bateson and others

of the family in this country and elsewhere. Your letter also noted

hopes of writing a record of your forebears in Australia, including

the Batesons. Have circumstances permitted the furthering of this

project? It would be another valuable contribution.

I sincerely hope that I can look forward to hearing from

you further, either directly or by copy of any communication with

which you may favor W. J. Bateson or others on matters pertaining

to the Bateson family.

Finally, I do hope that your eyes have been holding up, and

that in all other respects this letter finds you well, or at least in

good spirits.

Sincerely,

Cousin Douglas

DMcLM:law

Enclosures