A twisted tree

Charles Moulin aka Fred Branch

     Back in 2012 I found four different family trees on Ancestry.com and realized I might be the only one who could tie the trees together. Their owners apparently had no idea they were all researching the same family.
     The cause of the confusion - a radical name change. Not just the surname, but also the given name. Charles Moulin changed his name, "reason unknown," to Fred Branch.  
     Charles was baptized in Buffalo, Erie County, New York, on 29 August 1853, son of Isadore Moulin and Marie Mang, and he died as Fred Branch in Almena, Barron County, Wisconsin, in December 1925.  He married in Williamsville, Erie County, on 13 September 1869 Mary Rupp, who was born in Tonawanda, Erie County, in 1853, daughter of John Rupp and Genovefa Sutter, and died as Mary Branch in Almena after 1920.
     In 1880 the Moulins were residents of Buffalo. Probate files of Mary’s father, brother, and mother recorded subsequent residences of the family, and her new surname (unfortunately misspelled Brauch). In June 1883 and September 1891 Mary Moulin was in Davison Station, Genesee County, Michigan; and in June 1903 Mary Brauch was in Redfield, Spink County, South Dakota. Mary's mother would not have been found in the Surrogate’s index, unless one knew she had remarried and died as Genovefa Ortner. It was her probate file and a note to me from a descendant of one of Mary’s siblings that revealed the name change.
     Searches for Charles and Mary Brauch were unsuccessful, despite using a variety of parameters. Until I realized that the letter “u” could be misinterpreted as “n,” nothing turned up. I never found Charles Branch, but I found a Mary Branch in the 1900 census with the appropriate description in the right location. This Mary was married to Fred Branch, whose description matched that of Charles Moulin.

Moulin-Branch tree, Ancestry.com

     Success at last! Finally, I was able to fill in the Rupp genealogy with details about my husband’s great aunt Mary and her family. Further research turned up the four trees mentioned above. I felt obligated to clarify the identity of Charles Moulin, aka Fred Branch, for his descendants. It wasn't easy, especially citing sources, but I put the Moulin-Branch tree on Ancestry.com.
     There are now several more trees, some with Charles Moulin, some with Fred Branch. None identify the Moulin-Branch connection, although some come close - they say Fred's father was Isadore Branch or Isadore Moulin Branch.

The case of the reburied ancestor

    Years ago, when I was very new to genealogy, I tried to find where John Rupp, who died in Buffalo in 1883, was buried.  I contacted all the cemeteries in the Buffalo area and never found him, even though I had his death date.  
    In addition, I couldn't find anything about John's widow, Genovefa, until I discovered she had remarried.  It was when I obtained her probate record and found a receipt for “a foundation in Lot 77, Section QQ,” that I had any luck finding John's grave.     

United G & F Cem., QQ-77, 1985

    I knew the United German & French R.C. Cemetery at Pine Hill in Cheektowaga had sections with names like QQ.  There I found a large monument with RUPP on one side and GOHN on the other and markers for John Rupp, Genovefa Rupp and their son, Louis Rupp.  Markers for Joseph Gohn and his wife, Elizabeth Rupp, and several other Gohn family members were also there.
    I revisited the cemetery office to see why they hadn't known about John's interment.  When I identifid the plot, I was told it had been purchased by Joseph Gohn and Ida Rupp in 1891, when Ida's husband, Louis Rupp, died.  Joseph and Ida were Gohn siblings, who were married to Rupp siblings, children of John Rupp.
    According to the section-lot book, which I did not see, John Rupp's remains had been transferred from St. Joseph’s Cemetery, a burial ground on Main Street in Elysville, adjacent to the Erie County Poor House.  The site was owned by St. Joseph’s R.C. Church, which removed the bodies circa 1926 to make way for a school building.
    Had the death records of St. Joseph’s Church not been lost, I probably would have found a record of John’s funeral and initial burial place, since he and Genovefa had been married there in 1853.  There might even have been a note about where his body was reburied.  As for United G & F Cemetery - their interment records are kept chronologically, not by name, so there is no record of John Rupp in 1883, and their plot records are kept under the name of the purchaser, or owner (in this case, probably indexed under Gohn).
    Years later, after the records of the United German  & French Cemetery had been microfilmed, I was able to view the section-lot book and note that there was no date for John's transfer from St. Joseph Cemetery.  His burial was listed between burials in 1891 (Louis) and 1903 (Genovefa).  I searched through the registers of interments from 1883 through 1936 and never found him.  The only record the cemetery has of John Rupp is the undated entry in the secton-lot book.

Photograph from Buffalogen's collection

From Buffalogen's photo collection - 2

Who are they?

The children may be descendants of John Rupp (1830-1883) and his wife, Genovefa Sutter (1830-1903), of Buffalo, N.Y.
 

Cabinet cards by Wm. Wunsch, The Pan American Photo-grapher, 24 Military Road, near Amherst St.), Buffalo, N.Y.

From Buffalogen's photo collection - 1

Who are they?

On the back:  "Clara - Alice - Owen - Florence."  

The children may be descendants of John Rupp (1830-1883) and his wife, Genovefa Sutter (1830-1903), of Buffalo, New York.

Cabinet card by Landsheft Artistic Photographer, 193 E. Genesee St., Buffalo, N.Y. This business was active in the 1890s, and perhaps earlier and later.