Genealogy Jottings

I have a great-great grandmother missing from my family tree. This year I would love to fill in the box where her name belongs. Several years ago I attempted to do this with little success, but this year I will try again. With so much more information available online, I hope to identify her and learn something about her family.

A good genealogist knows that you begin to answer a research question by reviewing the evidence you already have. Then you develop a research plan. Last time I worked on the life of this woman, I gathered the following:

1. A letter written by my great-aunt Bertha Reed Evert sometime in the 1980s that mentions her mother and grandmother (the missing ancestor). She says, “[Mother] born at Indianapolis, Indiana. Only child of Thomas Sherman and Katherine Staninbaugh Sherman. [Mother’s] name Anna Petronellia Sherman Reed.”
2. A family group sheet prepared by Bertha Reed Evert stating that Anna Petronellia Sherman was born 1 April 1865 at Indianapolis, Indiana. She says her grandmother Katherine was German and came to America when she was 8 years old. She was buried in Indianapolis.
3. Anna Petronellia Reed’s 1961 death certificate stating her parents were Thomas Sherman and Catherin Stanabaugh. The informant was her son, and Bertha’s brother, Thomas Reed.

Not much to go on. The family story relates that Thomas Sherman married a German girl, Katherine Staninbaugh/Stanabaugh during the Civil War. They lived in Indianapolis and had one child, Anna Petronellia. Katherine died shortly thereafter. Thomas subsequently married Alice Farris and had five more children.

Last time I worked to find any information on Katherine or her family, I encountered several roadblocks:

1. Descendants of Thomas Sherman and Alice Farris claim that Alice was the one and only wife. They say the five children had no half-sister, and they deny any knowledge of or relation to Anna Petronellia. The problem with this notion is that our family has photographs of Thomas and Alice’s children. If we are not related to them, why would we have these pictures?
2. German researchers tell us to verify the veracity of German surnames by checking for them in the German telephone book. If they do not appear, they are probably not valid German surnames. Neither Stillenbaugh nor Stanabaugh appears in a German directory. If the mother truly was a German, what was her family name?
3. In researching Thomas’ life, I have found no mention of Anna Petronellia’s mother. I have not located their marriage record, and his obituary does not mention her. Even worse, it does not mention Anna Petronellia as a survivor.

So the question remains, who was this mysterious great-great grandmother of mine? Was she a German girl from the large German community in Indiana? I hope I can uncover some more clues to her life with my research this year.