Learning to Read at 60 and Not Against Wilson

This is one of my favorite newspaper clippings that I have ever located for an ancestor, even if it does refer to John H. Ufkes as a "good old German." We've mentioned this item before several years ago, but it makes a few lessons that are worth making mention of again.

The account indicated that Ufkes learned to read English at the age of sixty. It's worth noting that I am as certain as I can be that Ufkes was literate in German to begin with as he wrote letters to various family members in the 1880s. It is easier to learn to read a foreign language when you can already read one language in the first place.

I've never taken time to completely understand the comment about Ufkes being a Republican but that he "did not express himself against Woodrow Wilson, or the present administration." There may be a political history lesson there as well.

Genealogy Lesson: Is there a chance your ancestor signed documents that he could not read? I will have to look, but I'm reasonably certain that there is at least one English language document that Ufkes signed in the United States before he reached the age of sixty. Always keep your mind open to the possibility that your ancestor signed something he could not read.

Note: Ufkes is my great-great-grandfather.

The Basco B and Granddad's 4th Year of High School

This is one of the more unique items I have: my Grandfather's letter from Basco High School.What makes it more unique is that I have several pictures of him wearing it. 

The three young men in the picture attended Basco, Illinois, High School in the 1930s. The young man on the left is my grandfather, John H. Ufkes, who was born in Bear Creek Township in 1917. I'm not certain how old he is in this picture. The picture has their names on the back, but the handwriting of the names does not appear to be from the same person. The picture was in the personal effects of my grandmother and I have no doubt about the accuracy of the identification. 

John Ufkes, Leon LeMarie, L.Vradenburg; Basco, Illinois, High School, early 1930s. Picture in possession of Michael John Neill. 

The red Basco "B" was also in the personal effects of my grandmother and it is shown below in this picture.Now I just have to find a way to preserve it. I don't have many cloth items in my genealogy collection.

Basco "B"of John H. Ufkes in possession of Michael John Neill. Picture taken September 2013.

In the 1930s Basco had a three-year high school. Granddad rode a horse to Basco High School. He purchased a car to drive the six or so miles to attend his fourth year of high school in Carthage, which is from where he graduated.

And I could swear that he and someone else bought the car and they rode together for that year. If only I had written down the name.

A Declaration in an Incomplete Homestead Application

This declaration of intention to become a citizen was made out by John H. Ufkes in August of 1871 in Hancock County, Illinois.

But that's not where I located this copy of John's intent as the county's record of these intents from the 1870s are no longer extant.

This declaration was in John's incomplete homestead application file for land in Franklin County, Nebraska. In order to start the homestead claim process, John had to show that he at least had started the naturalization process. If he had completed his homestead claim in Nebraska, he would have had to have been a citizen by the time was time to submit final proof for his claim.

Because John did not remain on this homestead, the claim was never finalized and there is no paperwork in the file on John past 1871.

Did your ancestor start a claim and not finish it? There still may be excellent information in the file even if the claim was never completed.

This image is from the cover of the packet of papers that comprises John's incomplete claim.

Researchers familiar with the records will know that there's enough information in this image so that anyone could obtain the complete file from the National Archives. It's posted as a reminder that we don't include formal citations in this blog, but do include enough information in every post so that the original information could be located.

John returned to Hancock County, Illinois, where he married and eventually naturalized.