Margaret Thomae was born on June 10, 1901. It has been difficult to find information about Margaret. I have tried to piece together some of the clues that I have found.

I believe that Margaret was  the daughter of Friederike (do not know her maiden name) and Jakob Thomae.

In the 1930 census, Margaret states that her birthplace was Romania, but also lists in that same census record that her language spoken was German. (Her husband Nils also states that his mother tongue is German.) She states that in 1930 she is 28 years old, and she lives in Ohio. In this same census her husband’s occupation is recorded as a draftsman working for a Steel Company.

Note that Margaret lists her date of immigration as 1921. This would have made her a young woman of 20 when she arrived in the states.

By the time of the 1940 census, Margaret has changed her birth place to Austria (previous records stated it was Romania) Her husband Nils lists his birth country as Sweden (in the 1930 census he had stated his birthplace was Germany.) Even though Nils lists his birthplace as Germany in one census, I was able to locate Swedish index birth records. Here is a recap:

Margaret was 23 years old when she gave birth to her son Robert Nelson Thornbladh. She was 28 years old when she had her daughter, Sonja Greta Thornbladh.

Margaret died on April 14, 1975, in Fort Pierce, Florida, at the age of 73. Nils died at the age of 83 in 1980.

listing above is from the Palm Beach Post 15 Apr 1975

Note from Kurt Thornbladh about his grandmother: “She had a social security card. They left the Austrian Hungarian empire and went to Canada. I saw an old photo of WWI soldiers sitting and drinking wine . Grandmother didn’t know who they were except to say they were the Austrians. Grandmother didn’t know her father.”

Notes from Kurt Thornbladh about his grandfather: “He was the purser on the Drotningholm [sp?]. Whether he had an understanding with the ships master I don’t know. He had a fight with his father before i do know.”

When Marion  P Annis (her first name was also recorded as Mariam by census takers) was born on September 7, 1837, in Londonderry, New Hampshire, her father, John Annis, was already 45 years old, and her mother, Delilah Coburn Annis, was 40. Marion had 12 siblings!

Marion married Charles H Watts on January 1, 1861, in Derry, New Hampshire.

photo above of Charles Watts- husband of Marion P. Annis Watts

photo below of death certificate for Charles Watts

Charles and Marion had seven children together. Their 4th child, Olive Annis Watts, is the direct ancestor of my friend Heidi Thornbladh. Olive was Heidi’s great grandmother. Olive married William Lawrence Joyce.

Marion died on July 2, 1894, in Derry, New Hampshire, at the age of 56. Her death certificate is listed below:

There is some evidence that following Marion’s death, her husband Charles Watts, may have remarried to Eldora Martha Nichols. (Not many details to verify this 2nd marriage) Charles was 53 years old at the time of Marion’s death. He lived another 31 years after her death.

Here is a record of the descendants starting with Marion’s father:

When Olive Annis Watts was born on July 16, 1873, in Londonderry, New Hampshire, her father, Charles Watts, was 32, and her mother, Miriam P. Annis Watts, was 35.

Olive married William Lawrence Joyce on June 30, 1897, in Derry, New Hampshire. They had two children during their marriage. She had one brother and five sisters.