Tonjes AHLF

[Ahlf _all.GED] [JW Claus Ahlf.FTW] !BIRTH-PARENTS-DEATH:Info from Kent AHLF, Kirkland, Washington, Feb. 1996, gives b. date & d. year; no documentation with info, documentation may be possible from Ancestral File at FHC or from Leslie EDWARDS, Cordova, Tennessee, or James W. AHLF, Searcy, Arkansas; info received in phone call Feb 11, 1996 and follow up letter; also from story written by daughter, Minnie Ahlf ABNEY. !MARRIAGE-SPOUSE-CHILDREN: Info in story written by daughter, Minnie ABNEY and info sent by Kent AHLF (see above); LDS FamHisCenter IGI files for Arkansas list marriage of Thomas AHLF to Sarah P. YANCY, 22 Mar 1877, and to Eliza J. GREEN, 29 Sept 1880-sources listed are batch file M585981, sheet 114 for Sarah and sheet 441 for Eliza. !OCCUPATION: worked for Cotton Belt Railroad in mid 1870's+ in Arkansas; farmed in Hopewell TWP, Pleasant Grove Church Community W of Rector, Arkansas; owned a store in Hopewell TWP. ! Information from WFT, disk/Vol. 5, Pedigree 2518 gives b., d. date; info probably submitted by gr-granddaughter, Patricia AHLF MITCHELL, before 1997. !Notes: Thomas Ton(n)jes was a twin brother of Antje Catharina. He changed his name to Thomas in America. Thomas came to USA as a stowaway (family story) arriving in New York in 1869 with his older brother, Joe. The German Immigrants passenger list from Kent Ahlf shows a Hans AHLF, b. 1854, & Taryes AHLF, b. 1851, arriving from Hamburg 6/14/69. Could these be (Johann & Tonjes with b. dates reversed? Was Johann known as Uncle Joe? This relationship is fuzzy. Could be Hans e.g. "Jo"han. Uncle Joe and Thomas went to St. Joseph, MO., where Thomas remained four years before moving to Rector, Arkansas. He worked for the Cotton Belt Railroad for some time. Later he bought 80 acres of land in Hurricane TWP about 5 miles west of Rector. Thomas learned English on his own. He was a Democrat, but subscribed to "the St. Luis Republican which kept him informed and helped his reading and understanding of English. Thomas was a member of The Odd Fellows Lodge and his wife, Eliza, belonged to the Rebeccas. I have not found a record of Tonnjes/Thomas being naturalized, still looking.

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