One of my avocations is researching the genealogy of the Dittus family in New York City. My ancestors came to New York from a small town in Germany. It is called Schömberg, and is in Neuenbürg Oberampt, in Württemberg. It is a lovely little spa town in the Black Forest that I visited in the summer of 1999. The Michael and Christina (nee Kling) Dittus family emigrated to the US around 1846.
My ancestor in this little family was Jacob - Johann Jacob Friederich Dittus. He married Barbara Frey, also from Germany, and they had 7 kids before he was killed in a wagon accident near 59th Street in 1867. Jake and Babs lived around 7/8th Aves at 117th Street intersection. Babs subsequently remarried, Anton Rieger, and the family moved to (the former) Newtown in Queens where several Rieger children were also produced.
The Ditti were fairly prolific. The original Michael and Christina family had 5 kids. Babs and Jake had 7. Jake's sibling, Michael had 6. (I think that they are the group that moved to Brooklyn and later on to Roundout and Kingston, NY.) A lot of Babs' and Jake's descendants stayed in the Middle Village area, especially through the mid 20th century. It is very hard sorting through all of the various descendants to figure out who married who and to which family line they belonged. The families were fairly large and they used a lot of the same names.
I spent a lot of time a number of years ago when I was actively researching, at the New York City Archives. I went through the marriage, birth and death indices searching for possible relatives with various spellings (or mispellings) of the surname Dittus. I may not know where all of these individuals fit in to my family but I've got their information just in case they do. Here is a link to my spreadsheet in Google Docs for anyone to use.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Monday, March 07, 2011
Early March 2011
We are now into the final countdown of weeks before spring. We’ve had some intermittent warm weather. Saturday was mild and in the mid sixties. Yesterday was still fairly mild, but rainy. Today, everything looks fresh and clean. It is currently 34⁰ and quite windy. We'll see what the day brings in the way of a warm up.
In the 2+ weeks since our family reunion in the Poconos, the yard has lost its snow cover. Ours was one of the first to uncover. Now the shoots of some of the bulbs, as well as the green tips of the daylilies and other hardy plants are appearing. On Saturday, I saw my first bulbs blooming - there is a small patch of snowdrops beneath the magnolia tree. Just perfect! See picture following:
On Saturday, I began some of the spring yard cleanup. Sticks and branches were picked up and removed from around the yard. I pruned the "Monster that Devoured Cleveland" (My name for our Sweet Autumn Clematis) on the side of the house and started the bed cleanup. I also pruned the magnolia - getting rid of some crossing branches and the two big branches (sprouts) coming from the bottom. In addition, I gathered my courage and pruned the curly willow. I have come to the conclusion that it will get too big if left unpruned. So, I cut it back totally to within 12 inches from the ground. We will see what it looks like and if it becomes a nice shrub. If not, it's got to go. I can't use a large willow tree that close to the house in front of my window.
We are now into the final countdown of weeks before spring. We’ve had some intermittent warm weather. Saturday was mild and in the mid sixties. Yesterday was still fairly mild, but rainy. Today, everything looks fresh and clean. It is currently 34⁰ and quite windy. We'll see what the day brings in the way of a warm up.
In the 2+ weeks since our family reunion in the Poconos, the yard has lost its snow cover. Ours was one of the first to uncover. Now the shoots of some of the bulbs, as well as the green tips of the daylilies and other hardy plants are appearing. On Saturday, I saw my first bulbs blooming - there is a small patch of snowdrops beneath the magnolia tree. Just perfect! See picture following:
On Saturday, I began some of the spring yard cleanup. Sticks and branches were picked up and removed from around the yard. I pruned the "Monster that Devoured Cleveland" (My name for our Sweet Autumn Clematis) on the side of the house and started the bed cleanup. I also pruned the magnolia - getting rid of some crossing branches and the two big branches (sprouts) coming from the bottom. In addition, I gathered my courage and pruned the curly willow. I have come to the conclusion that it will get too big if left unpruned. So, I cut it back totally to within 12 inches from the ground. We will see what it looks like and if it becomes a nice shrub. If not, it's got to go. I can't use a large willow tree that close to the house in front of my window.
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