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John Frank Kelsey
May 25th 1887 - June 17th 1957
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In May of 1889 my Great Grandpa August along with his wife Matilda "Tillie" Neitzel / Kolodzaike Boarded a ship  called the Suevia​. (Read more about the Stevia here) Boarding in Hamburg, Germany in May 1889 and arriving at Ellis Island New York 20 May 1889.

The ships manifest shows August Kolodzaike (28) wife Matilda (26) traveling with daughter Anna (3) and son John age 11 months.
 

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John F. Kolodzaile's First Communion At St. Peter and Paul Church Toledo, Ohio.

About 1898 as per the back of the photo in me fathers handwriting. 

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1900 Census from Toledo, OH.

August 39

Tillie 37

Anna 15

John 13 (my Grandfather)

Joe 10

August 8

Martha 6

Marie 4

Rose 7/12

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John Kolodzaike (22) and Elizabeth S. Schroeder (19) marriage certificate 11 April 1907
The certificate lists Elizabeth's parents as Herman Schroeder and Elizabeth Marlow

 

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1910 census
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1910 census from Toledo, Ohio

​Shows great grandpa August and family and below that John and family. 1910 he was still using the old family name which was changed May 18, 1917

Notice living with August and family is Elizabeths mother-  Mother-in-law Joanna Neitzel

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Second page of the 1910 census shows John's daughter Lillian as youngest member.

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​Notice in the margin it's noted that John changed his last name to Kelsey in probate court on 18 May 1917. This is the only place so far I've ever seen it in writing.

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Interestingly this is the first known use where John used the Kelsey name. His daughter Ruth's death dated April 4th 1917. It's a month before the above documents says.

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John F. Kelsey's WW1 Draft Card
I don't believe he was drafted as he had several children and a wife to support at the time on war.

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1920 census
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1920 Census  Toledo Ohio

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John on bottom of first page.

NOTE: Birthplace listed as Berlin, Germany along with both parents.

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Rest of his family, as of 1920 are on the top of 2nd page

Elizabeth  Wife(30)

Marie (12)

Lillian (11)

James (9)

Fredrick (6)

Danial (1 11/12)

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Tunnel Street is one block away from where the parents August and wife are living

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Remember Eileen was
born April 1928 Toledo

The 1929 Buffalo City Directory.

If they were in the 1929 directory, they must have moved to Buffalo in 1928 in order to get an apartment, and the city to print books. Or at least very early 1929.

John's first house in Buffalo. 

195 Sheffield Ave        (1928/ 29 city directory) 

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A list of places John and Elizabeth lived while in Buffalo:

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In 1927 they were living in Toledo

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195 Sheffield Ave        (1928/ 29 city directory) * could be he got an apartment before family came.

130 Marimont Street (1930 Census) (Moved out before 1932)

176 Crystal Ave           (1932 city direct. plus 1940 Census) My father was born on Crystal Ave in 1933

1175 Union Rd             (Johns Draft Card issued 1942)

803 Tifft St                  (1950 Census) (They moved here Oct. 20th 1943 as written on John's draft card)

105 Columbus Ave     (1953 city directory) (It appears after Frank got married John moved to Trowbridge)

163 Trowbridge St     (John died while here as per his Death Certificate 1957) (In Mercy Hospital) 

68 Hayward Apt. #6  (After John's death I see Elizabeth is living at this address)

 

Side Note Shirley and Frank lived at #23 Hayward St in late 1950's as I had my first birthday there in April 1960.

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1930 Census

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John and family living at:

130 Marimont St. Buffalo, NY

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Note: before 1933 they moved to 176 Crystal Ave where Frank was born My father Frank was the only child of John and Elizabeth's who was born in NY. All the other kids were both in Toledo, OH before moving to Buffalo.

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1940 census. Shows John Kelsey and family living at 176 Crystal Ave. My father Frank was seven years old in the census. He's on the second page.

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1940 census
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John's WW11 Draft Card

Note: John was regerstered for both WW 1 and WW 11. but he didn't serve in either. World War I he was the sole wage earner with a wife and multiple children and in World War II he was a bit old. Unfortunately, for him, he did have five sons that actively served in World War II.

Card gives an address of:
1175 Union Rd is over in West Seneca.

He had 6 children serve in World War II:
James
Frederick
Danny
Joesph
Richard
Eugene

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Grandma Kelsey and Doris Bunke in Toledo, OH.

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Joe's wife's parents (The Gardners)

John and Elizabeth Kelsey and Paul Gardner (Born March 17th 1886 passed July 25th 1959 and Nora (Murphy) Gardner Born 6/16/1900 passed March 29th 1960. Photo date 1941.

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Richard, Elizabeth and my father Frank  1942

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The above text come from Eileen (Kelsey) Carr daughter Barbara. November 2023

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Top row: 
Pat, Dan, Frank, Lillian (Kelsey) Ferguson, Eileen, ? , Shirley Dolores's sister, ?

Bottom row:
Marie (Kelsey) Marong, John Kelsey, Elizabeth Kelsey, Dick and wife Dolores M. (Shea) Kelsey, the next 2 people??, and Joe last.

Photo date May 11th 1946

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1950 Census

John is 62
Elizabeth is 62
Eugene 25
Frank is 16
They are living on Tifft St.

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1953 City Directory 

John on 105 Columbus Ave
and Joe and Paulette on 358 Riley,

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John, Lillian, Eileen and Elizabeth 1955

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Dolores Kelsey (Richard's wife) and Father-in-law John 

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​This is a scene grandpa John Kelsey must have seen an awful lot of. It's a 1950s New York central train rolling through Buffalo New York past the central train station.

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My Grampa John and wife Elizabeth Circa 1955 (John died in 1957)

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​Note the newspaper article to the left, says he would have received his gold watch that evening, but he died during the day. So this article tells me John never saw his gold watch.

The notes I have from 2005 said Don Carr Jr. has Johns RR watch. 
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Elizabeth's last address.

She died while here at 68 Hayward St. Apt # 6

1964

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I don't remember Grandma Kelsey even though I met her when I was about 3 or 4. Her address upon death was 68 Hayward St., which I believe is the old Perry Projects. Her death certificate says "Black Rock".  Family says she died from complications to diabetes. I remember my sister Carol stating she had difficulty going up and down the stairs from her apartment.

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Tillie Neitzel/ Kolodzaike Death Certificate
Lists her parents August Neitzel and Johannah (Lewinsky) Kolodzaike. 
(My Great Grandmother)

 

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How old were the Kelseys upon passing?

John F. Kelsey           * 1887 - 1957 (70)
Elizabeth                        1888 - 1963 (76)
Marie A. Kelsey       * 1907 - 1963 (56)
Lillian M. Kelsey    * 1908 - 1972 (64)
James L. Kelsey      *  1910 - 1987 (77)
Fredrick H. Kelsey* 1913 - 1999 (86)
Ruth V. Kelsey         * 1915 - 1917 (18 months) Accidental death
Daniel O. Kelsey     * 1918 - 1958 (40)
Joseph T. Kelsey     *  1920 - 1955 (35)
Richard H. Kelsey  * 1922 - 2006 (84)
Eugene A. Kelsey     * 1925 - 1971 (46)
Eileen F. Kelsey       * 1928 - 2012 (84)
Frank P. Kelsey        * 1933 - 2000 (67)

Arranged by the year of death:

1917 Ruth V.
1955 Joe
1957 John
1958 Daniel 
1963 Marie
1964 Elizabeth
1971 Eugene
1972 Lillian
1987 James
1999 Frederick AKA Pat
2000 Frank
2006 Dick
2012 Eileen

A bad decade with 5 deaths

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John's father is August Kolodziake. ancestry.com has a certificate showing his marriage being performed in Berlin Germany. I do not have the extended access to that so we'll just assume it's true.

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elizabeths parents

Elizabeth Kelsey's parents
Information on her parents and grandparents below

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Death Certificate for:

Elizabeth (Marlow) Schroeder. Wife of Harman Schroeder. Their daughter is my grandmother Elizabeth (Schroeder) Kelsey

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Herman W. Schroeder Death Certificate.
is my Great Grandfather on the grand mothers side.
"The Schroeders".


 

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In this 1900 Census Elizabeth is age 11. 

She is my Grandmother.

I just found this:

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1880 census:

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The grave stone to the left are my  Great Grandparents. (On my grandmother's side) Click on the photo to go to the Mallow page to see the family tree.

Both parents were born in Hanover Germany. Mothers Maiden name is Marlow. So they are a set of Great, Grandparents. They married in Ohio Sept. 11th 1883

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Herman Wilhelm Schroeder and Elizabeth "Lizzy" Marlow Marriage Certificate

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1880 Census Napoleon Ohio

Marlow's: Christopher, Hannah, and Elizabeth

My Grand-mother Elizabeths Schroeder Great grandparents on the mother's side. 

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Last Will for Hannah Marlow 1893

Christopher Marlow's will dated 1893. In it he mentioned his daughter Elizabeth "Lizzie"  (Marlow) Schroeder

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Johanna Neitzel Death Certificate

Johanna is August's wife mother.

Funny how her parents are listed as "Unknown" Very strange since Johanna has been living with them for years.

 

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