Uttie Jake

Uttie Jake. That is what my great uncle Fred used to call him. Why he always used that term, I have no idea. Jake was his brother - Jacob Kuch.

Jake was the black sheep of the family. He served in France during World War I. When he came back, he was a changed man. Perhaps he suffered from battle fatigue. As he got older, he became fonder and fonder of the grape. By the mid 1930s, he had gotten to the point where you would never know what state he would be in. When sober, he could be a joy. Otherwise, watch out.

This behavior directly impacted the family. Both of Jake's sisters (Lisette and Katherine) became lifetime members of the W.C.T.U. Fred did his best to financially support both his Mother (Catherine N Kuch) and Jake, but did his best to limit contact with his brother.

The family heard little from Jake in the 1950s (his name was almost taboo). In the 1960s he was admitted to a VA hospital. He died in that hospital and is buried in the family plot in Mt Hope Cemetery in Rochester, NY.

I've had a tough time tracking this man. The VA records show that he had a common law wife. The family knows nothing about her. I have to start looking at other local records (City Directories, court records etc) to learn more about him. The soon to be released 1940 Federal Census will be interesting.

Isabel and the DAR

Family lore has stated that my wife's great aunt, Isabel Cooper, was a member of the DAR. It is also rumored that her husband was a member of the Sons of Cincinnatus. Following the research tips shown in Family Tree Magazine, I decided to try and verify this story.

I started by generating a list of all ancestors from the Cooper side of the family who were living in America at the time of the American Revolution. There were two people listed - John Obadiah Cooper (1755-1838) and Solomon Hawes (1752-1820).

My research notes show that Cooper fought in the American Revolution. Since I have no sources to verify the information, I have to assume this information came from oral history passed down the Cooper line.

I checked the DAR's Patriot database and came up empty. Searching for Cooper's son John Obadiah Cooper and his wife Elizabeth Hawes also returned nothing. Perhaps the DAR has not finished putting all of the member records online. Perhaps the information I was given was incorrect.

The next step: check with other family members to see what documents they may have to either prove or disprove this story.