I was happy to find these signatures in a probate packet for Sophia Ross Pottgen (my 4th great-grandmother).  It was dated 1877.

Joseph Padgen, Kate Harris, and Louisa Thornton (my 3rd great-grandmother) were her 3 children.  James Thornton was Louisa’s husband and Philip was his brother.  They lived in Alton, Illinois – not too far from St. Louis, Missouri.

It’s always interesting to me to see the different ways that Pottgen is spelled – and it makes me wonder if this is the reason that I have a hard time finding them.  Besides being on both sides of the river (in the St. Louis area and in Alton, Illinois) the name also seems to have been spelled in various ways: Padgen, Potgen, Poettchen, Poettgen, Pottgen, Patkin, Podgen, etc.

View Larger Map

Louisa Mary Pottgen was born in Alton on 30 July 1836 (this still remains to be proven by me, because I don’t have a birth record).  Her parents, Francis and Sophia (Ross) Pottgen were immigrants from Germany.  Louisa married James Patrick Thornton, an Irish immigrant, in the early 1850′s.  They moved to Nebraska probably in the late 1870′s.

Here is a little history of this town that they spent a good deal of their lives in (the majority of this is from Wikipedia)…

Alton was founded in 1818 by Rufus Easton, and was named after his son.  Easton ran a ferryboat service from Alton to Missouri.

It became an important town for abolitionists, since Illinois was a free state and just across the river from Missouri, a slave state. Escaped slaves would cross the river and look for shelter in Alton before moving on to safer places. There were many stations on the Underground Railroad in this little city. You can read more about it here.

On November 7, 1837, the abolitionist printer, Reverend Lovejoy, was murdered by a pro-slavery mob while he was trying to protect his press. Lovejoy became the first martyr of the abolitionist movement.

The Alton and Sangamon Railroad was chartered in 1847 and finished in 1852.  It had service from Alton to Springfield and eventually to Chicago.

On October 15, 1858, Alton was the site of the seventh and final debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas.  There were 5,000 people in attendance.  You can read the full transcript of this debate here.

The first penitentiary in Illinois was in Alton, and during the Civil War, it was used to house close to 12,000 Confederate prisoners. Many of them died in a smallpox epidemic and are buried in a cemetery in town. You can actually search through records here to see if your Confederate ancestor was in the prison (they aren’t complete).

And something fun (which has nothing to do with my ancestors since they didn’t live in Alton in this same time period) – Robert Wadlow, the tallest human being, was from Alton.   There is a statue of him in town and a room dedicated to him at the local historical museum.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

I was able to make a very short, rushed visit to Alton last year.  I ended up finding my ancestors’ gravestones, but didn’t have time to stop for anything else, unfortunately.  I’m hoping to make a longer trip there in the future.

I had never really given much thought to the history of Alton before and how it may have affected my ancestors’ lives.  I now have some questions I’ve been thinking about:

• Did they moved to Alton because they were abolitionists?  Did they ever help escaped slaves? I know that this is a long shot, but with the large amount of abolitionist activity in the area, I have to wonder.
• They were living in Alton in 1858.  Did they attend the Lincoln-Douglas debate?  How exciting!!
• How were their daily lives during the Civil War?  Were they scared of having such an overcrowded prison in their town?  I know that Louisa Pottgen Thornton’s brother, Henry Pottgen was killed during the War.  He had fought at Vicksburg, but ended up dying of chronic diarrhea – which I have noticed was quite common amongst the soldiers of this era.
•  Did they travel to St. Louis very often?  It was only a ferryboat ride away.  Did they have family that lived there?  The majority of Pottgen names I’ve found in the US happen to be in the St. Louis area.  Makes me wonder.
• James Thornton was a RR agent in 1870 in Alton.  Did the railroad bring him to Alton?

I am continuing my post this week.

I had been in contact with a very nice woman who did a look-up in the church records for me.  She confirmed that my 4th great-grandmother, Sophia (Ross) Pottgen was buried in Greenwood Cemetery.  It also listed a Frederick as being a relative of hers.  Her father was Frederick Ross, so I assumed that it was him.  I was right.

I would never have found this gravestone had I not known what I was looking for.  It was really hard to read.  Not only was the stone worn off, but there were bumps on it also.  It made it very hard to decipher.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any dates off of it.

The stone was very close to the Thornton plot (on the right).

You can tell the cemetery is in the St. Louis area – notice the Budweiser building and trucks next door.

James Patrick Thornton (1824-1887) was my immigrant ancestor.  He lived in Alton, but moved on to Nebraska in the 1870′s.

His brother Phillip and his family stayed in Madison county, Illinois.  They were buried in Greenwood Cemetery in nearby Godfrey, Illinois.  I believe that it is owned by the church.

Philip Thornton born in Ireland 29 Sep 1831 and died 10 Feb 1898.

Margaret Thornton born in Ireland 10 Aug 1829 and died 10 May 1888.

Here is their son, James Paul Thornton.  Born 19 Sep 1858 and died 3 Jan 1925.  His wife was Catherine (1865-1948).

And Philip’s son Edward Charles Thornton (1868 to 1906).  His wife Albertine.

And Philip’s son Michael:

I will post my Pottgen findings next week….

I found a wonderful website for the Illinois Regional Archives Depository and learned that they had her probate records.  I called and ordered them (along with a couple of other records pertaining to my Thornton line who lived in this area) and much to my surprise, they arrived just a few short days later!  I was very happy with their quick and friendly service.

Here is what I have pieced together on Sophia Ross Pottgen so far:

Abt. 1813: She is born in Germany to Frederic Ross and Sophia Ketterhoff.

18 Feb 1835:   She marries Francis Pottgen in St. Louis, Missouri.

30 July 1836: Her daughter Louisa Mary Pottgen is born in Alton, Illinois.  (I descend through this line.)

Abt. 1838: A son, Francis Pottgen is born.

1840: Living in Alton, Illinois.

Abt. 1843: A son, Henry Pottgen is born in IL.

Abt. 1846: A daughter, Catherine (Kate) is born.

Abt. 1848: A son, Joseph is born.

13 Dec 1849: Her father, Frederic Ross dies in St. Louis, MO.

20 Nov 1850: Living in Alton, Illinois with her husband and children.

Abt. 1851: A daughter, Sophia is born.

1853: Her husband Francis dies.

22 Jun 1860: Her children are living with a Peter Pattkin in Alton, Illinois.  She is not living with them.

29 Oct 1863: Her son, Henry dies of chronic diarrhea after having served in the Civil War.

22 Jul 1864: An affadavit is signed by an Utten Smith and James Burns for her widow’s pension.  They state that they have known her for 10 years and that for the 5 years previous to his death, Henry Pottgen was the only support of his mother, Sophia.

14 Jun 1865:  James Thornton signed an affadavit for the Civil War Mother’s Pension of Sophia Pottgen.  He said that he received money from Henry Pottgen for Sophia while Henry was in the service of the U.S. and that for several years previous to Henry’s service, James looked after and was familiar with all the interests and affairs of Sophia and Henry Pottgen.  James was Sophia’s son-in-law.

20 Jun 1865: She received a mother’s pension of $8 a month.

9 Jun 1870: She was living in Alton, Illinois with her son Joseph Pottgen.

27 Oct 1874: She writes a will, as follows:

Know all men by these presents That I Sophia Pottgen of the City of Alton County of Madison and State of Illinois being weak in body but of sound mind and memory do make ordain and establish this to be my last will and testament hereby revoking all others and I do hereby appoint James Thornton of the City of Alton County Madison and State of Illinois to be the Executor of this my last will and testament.

First  It is my will that all my Just debts be paid.

Second. After the payment of all my Just debts and funeral expenses I ordain and desire that my real estate being Lot Seven Block twenty in Pope and others Addition be sold at public or private sale as my executor may desire best.

Third. I give and bequeath to my daughters Louisa Thornton and Kate Harris and to my son Joseph Pottgen One Third of my personal estate money etc. to each.  That is to say One Third of my personal property money etc. to Louisa Thornton One Third of my personal property money etc to Kate Harris and one Third of my personal property money etc to Joseph Pottgen. In testimony whereof I have hererunto set my hand and affixed my seal this Twenty seventh day of October in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy four.

Sophia Pottgen  [Seal]

Signed and acknowledged before us the date above mentioned
John w. Coppinger
Phil Thornton
Barney Reilly

11 Jan 1877: She dies in Alton, Madison County, Illinois.

23 Jan 1877: Her will is proven.

7 Mar 1877: An inventory is taken of her estate.

State of Illinois, Madison County}SS
In the matter of the Estate of Sophie Pottgen Deceased.  The following is a full and perfect inventory of all the Real and Personal Estate of the said deceased, so far as the same has come to the possession or knowledge of the undersigned.

Real Estate
Lot Number Seven (7) in Block Number twenty (20) in Pope and others addition to Alton Illinois  Value $500.00

Personal Estate
1 Bureau $12.00
1 Feather Tick $5.00
1 Rocking Chair $2.00
2 Quilts $.75
1 Check  Sundries $1.00
1 Stove $2.00

6 Chairs $2.00
2 Tables $2.50
1 Cupboard $2.00
1 Bedstead $5.00
2 Pillows $1.00
2 Quilts $2.00
3 Curtains $1.00
1 Lot sundry articles $1.00
13 chickens $2.00
a lot of coal $4.00

1 Stove and utensils $12.00
1 clock $2.00
1 Tub $.75
1 box Sundries $1.00
1 Feather tick $5.00
3 Quilts $.75
2 chairs $.50

A certificate of deposit on the first National Bank of Alton Illinois payable to the order of said Sophia Pottgen for the sum of $2300.00

Notes and Accounts
Note, (By Whom Owing) Louis F. Harris, (Date) Feby 8″ 1875, (Rate Interest) 5 perct, (Desperate) desp to (Amount) $200.00

I do hereby certify that the above is a correct Inventory of the Real and Personal Estate of Sophia Pottgen Deceased.
Given under our hand this Seventh day of March A.D. 1877

James Thornton

*****************************************

I still have some questions that I would like answered.

• What part of Germany was she from?
• When did she and her parents immigrate?  Did she have siblings?  Did they also live in the area?
• Where was she living in the 1860 census? Her children are living with a Peter Pattkin, but she is nowhere to be found.  Why wasn’t she with them?
• Where are she and her husband (and her parents) buried?  I found a receipt for a burial paid to a Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Alton.  I need to see where their cemetery is.  I am hoping that I can stop by and find her gravestone this May.

All in all, I am happy with what I found so far.  After being at a standstill on her line for many years, I feel like I’m actually getting somewhere now!  I am hoping that my trip to St. Louis/Alton might shed a bit more light on her family.  I only wish that I had a bit more time to spend there.

It has been a long time since I had a find this great.  A really long time.  And it felt darn good.

I have been stuck on my 4th great-grandfather, Francis Pottgen for the past 10 years.  This is what I had on him:

Abt. 1804  Born in Germany

1840 Living in Alton, Madison County, Illinois

1850 Nov 20: Living in Alton, Madison County, Illinois with his wife Sophia and children.

According to his wife’s pension (which she received upon the death of her son in the Civil War), Francis died in 1853.

The only other info I had on him was a reference to his naturalization records (which I have not ordered yet).  I did not know his wife Sophia’s maiden name.

I have had a very hard time researching this family, in part because of their last name.  It is one of those names that seems to have a variety of spellings: Pottgen, Poettchen, Poetchen, Pottchen, Poettgen, (and possibly Patkin, Patchin, Potgin, etc.)

Tonight I found the greatest record.  It brought tears to my eyes.  My ancestors are on the top right.  This is their marriage record, found on Ancestry.com in the U.S. Early U.S. French Catholic Church Records collection.  If you notice, not only does it give Sophia’s maiden name (Ross).  It also states both Francis’ and Sophia’s parents FULL names (with maiden names for mothers).  It doesn’t get any better than that!!

So, I have now found out that Francis Pottgen/Poettchen and Sophia Ross were married in St. Louis in Feb 1835.  Sophia’s parents are Frederic Ross and Sophia Ketterhoff.  Francis’ parents are John Poettchen and Elisabeth Gerke.

I have also searched on the Illinois Regional Archives Depository website and found Francis Pottgen on the index for naturalization record and his declaration of intent.  I also found a probate record for Sophie Pottgen.  I am going to write to them for these records.

I am so excited that I now have some new leads and some new people to search for.

If Sophia was married to Francis in 1835 in St. Louis, then she most likely immigrated with her parents.  I will begin searching for them – in both St. Louis and Alton, Illinois.

I hope that I’m able to uncover some more information – possibly about where they are buried – before I make my trip through St. Louis this May!!!  Wish me luck.