Kathy Squared...

Kathy Staufer
Medina Library Teen Library Associate

In 2017, Kathy Stauffer joined the staff at the Medina Library Adult Reference desk. Kathy S. has been kicking around the MCDL library system for 16 years, working at the Lodi Branch, leaving for awhile to pursue her art,  returning to work at the Seville Branch, moving to the Lodi Branch and now, she is here in Medina.



Kathy is a wonderful addition to our Teen Department staff with her low-key personality and artistic talents. Besides our first names, we share a number of traits: premature grey hair, and fair coloring. Which means we have similar wardrobes and often show up to work similarly dressed. We share similar interests. We are about the same age. And of course, we work at the same place.

Eliza Stauffer's tombstone is broken into three parts.
Old Cemetery, Rootstown, Portage County, Ohio.

One day, I mentioned to Kathy that I have Stauffer's in my family tree, too. Back in 1850, my 4 X Great Aunt, Eliza Tagg, married Lewis Stauffer in Portage County, Ohio. She died in 1852, and I have not been able to trace Lewis Stauffer after that to see if she had given birth before dying. Spellings of the Stauffer name often vary according to the record - I was not put off by the different spelling.

Kathy was not particularly impressed with the connection.

But then she pipes up with "My husband isn't really a Staufer anyway. His father was born with Grandma Julie's first husband. But when she remarried, her second husband, Felix Staufer, adopted both of her sons and so their names changed to Staufer." She related the story of how the younger son died in an train accident. Grandma Julie told Kathy that her first husband's name was Miller, but Kathy's husband said that wasn't right and gave Kathy his biological grandfather's true surname, which Kathy couldn't remember.

And that is all it took for me to start researching the family. Kathy S. was unclear on specifics and I wanted to know more about the train accident.

1934 Cleveland Ohio Directory
From Ancestry Library Edition

 A couple of quick searches on Ancestry LE and the Familysearch.org website turned up some entries in the Cleveland City Directories for the 1920's and the younger son's death record - from an automobile accident. But strangely, nothing was turning up in Census records.

Robert Staufer's Ohio Death Certificate, dated 14 May 1933.
Ohio Deaths 1908-1953 at Family Search.

Digging a little deeper, I searched the online index to Cuyahoga County Marriage Records for Grandma Julie and found it.

Marriage record of Grandma Julie and Felix Staufer, showing her first husband's surname.
Ohio County Marriage Records 1774-1993 from Ancestry Library Edition

And voila! Grandma Julie's first husband's surname was ---- Petrash - a Slovak surname which has been Americanized to Petras in my in-laws branch of the family.

So, if Felix Staufer had not adopted Grandma Julie's two young sons, we would be...

Kathy Petras²

Kathy Petras and Kathy Petras or Kathy Petras² 

Isn't a weird and wonderful world that we live in??

The Genealogist IS IN!!

Every Tuesday

1-3 p.m.

Come see me, or Lisa!

Genealogy Lock-In

There are still a few spots open for the Lock-In!

Be sure to sign up if you are planning to attend!

(Click on the Lock-In link toward the bottom of the page.)

The April Genealogy Lock-In is scheduled for the 22nd, Friday, from 6:30-10:30 p.m.

If you have never been to one of the Library's lock-ins, let me explain. The Lock-Ins are an after-regular-library-hours genealogy program where we bring in special speakers and spend the night talking about and researching genealogy. The Medina Library co-hosts them with the Medina County Genealogical Society, twice a year, once in April and once in September.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     This April, we are pleased to be offering a session on Researching your Polish Ancestry. Ben Kman of the Polish Genealogical Society of Cleveland will be our speaker. This is part of the Library's efforts to provide training on Eastern European roots, which Lisa and I do not have a lot of experience in. We know there is a need for it from the questions we get at the Reference Desk and during our sessions as the Genealogist is In! This presentation will run from 7-8 p.m. 

After a brief intermission to re-energize with some of the light refreshments provided by the Library, we resume at 9 with a second educational session.

This April, Lisa will be talking about Ancestry Library Edition (ALE), the library subscription database that is the sister site to Ancestry. com  ALE is very similar to the commercial database with some of the personalized options not available. And it is FREE from inside any of the Medina County District Library branches.

You do not have to stay the whole 4 hours.You do not have to come to the educational sessions.  You do have to be present to claim your door prize. You could spend the whole evening doing genealogy research using library computers and databases. Genealogical  society members and library staff will be on hand to help you. 

April Genealogy Lock-In

22 April - Friday

6:30-10:30 p.m.

You can sign up to attend it here: 

Lock-In

Door prizes, provided by the Library and the Medina County Genealogical
Society are awarded during the intermission. You must be present to win.