A Rough Rider Administrates

We have discussed Rough Rider Heye Albers before, but a search on

 

 Genealogybank.com for him located an additional reference from 1922, long after his time as a Rough Rider was over.


His name appears in a legal notice when he was apparently appointed the administrator of the estate of Carolina Johes in Bernalillo County, New Mexico.

Date: Wednesday, December 27, 1922  

Paper: Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, NM) --obtained on 

 

 Genealogybank.com

From this, we know that Jones left no valid will and that she was dead by 11 January of 1922. That's about all we can safely infer from the document. This is one nice thing about newspapers being indexed--items of this type appear on full text searches. Otherwise locating Heye as the administrator would be difficult because indexes we currently have to records of this type only index the name of the deceased individual whose estate is being settled.

Probably the easiest thing to do would be to attempt to locate Carolina Jones in the 1920 census. Of course, records of her estate settlement would also be helpful, but they do not have to indicate whether or not there is any relationship between Heye Albers and Carolina Jones.

Don't ignore those legal notices when searching the newspapers at 

 

 Genealogybank.com. 

A Rough Rider's Brothers in the Newspaper

This has got to be one of the most interesting news clipping I've discovered recently, particularly because it provides significant biographical detail that one usually does not find in items of this type.

We've mentioned Heye Albers before--the clipping below actually appeared in a Denver, Colorado, newspaper in 1898. It details where Heye was born in 1872 and where he had lived during the interim, including where he attended school and where his father ran a "commission business" in Denver. It confirmed the family's move in 1895 to New Mexico, and indicates that Albers originally went to Nebraska. No information is provided about where in Nebraska he lived, but the article goes on to state that Albers eventually joined his father on his New Mexico dairy farm.

And there is a picture. 

Date: Sunday, June 26, 1898  

Paper: Denver Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)--

obtained on 
on Genealogybank.com

There is mention of Heye's discharge and return home in a newspaper from Albuquerque in 1899. It simply mentions his service in the Rough Riders.

Date: Friday, September 1, 1899  

Paper: Albuquerque Citizen (Albuquerque, NM)--obtained on 

on Genealogybank.com

And in one of the remaining articles on Genealogybank.com regarding Heye, another brother is mentioned: Jurgen. According to the news article, Jurgen was a math professor in Fort Collins and eventually enlisted himself.

Date: Tuesday, July 12, 1898  

Paper: Albuquerque Citizen (Albuquerque, NM)--

--obtained on 

on Genealogybank.com

Just goes to show that one never knows how much detail will appear in newspaper items. The Heye Albers articles also make the point that looking in the old hometown papers, in this case Denver, Colorado, might result in unexpected discoveries.

Oh, and "Heye" is pronounced "high" not "hey."

A Rough Rider in the Family

While I have more than my share of colorful relatives, it's not often that I find one that has a connection some well-known historical group. Such is the case with Heye Albers who was in the First United States Cavalry in the Spanish-American War.

Teddy Roosevelt's "Rough Riders" were actually the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry.. There is no indication on his records that this unit was the "Rough Riders."  Little did I know until today that I had a relative in this unit. The discovery that Albers' unit was famous was made by performing a simple Google search for the unit.

I did not make the discovery about Heye until I was trying to find someone in the Spanish-American War compiled service records were released on Ancestry.com. I did not think I'd find someone connected to a well-known unit.

Heye's index card provided minimal information on his service.

General Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers who Served During the War with Spain. Microfilm publication M871, 126 rolls. Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s–1917, Record Group 94. Obtained on Ancestry.com 19 December 2012. 

There is a little more information on Heye's service on the Application for Headstone or Marker (the actual card was located on Ancestry.com) which was completed by his widow. Apparently the information was validated given all the various marks on the application card as shown below.

U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963 card for Heye L. Albers-obtained at Ancestry.com

There will be more information on Heye at the National Archives--his actual service record and perhaps a pension. I'm not certain how much more information on Heye I will actually obtain as he's not that close of a relative. One does have to rein in how much one spends on researching the extended family. But it was interesting to find a family member with a connection to Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders.


Heye L. Albers (1872-1947) is buried in Albuquerque, New Mexico (reference on FindaGrave). He (like me) is a descendant of Jurgen Ehmen Tonjes who died in Ostfriesland, Gemany, in 1850).