Tombstone Tuesday - Philippe and Mary Therese Laurent nee Francar

I spent a little over a week in Wisconsin this summer. Not enough time to get to the historical society or the county library to do some record pulling. It was just too beautiful for that. Sunny and warm...but not too warm...so my boys and I relaxed and played with my in-laws. I did take two afternoons to head to St. Martin's Cemetery in Tonet and St. Joseph's Cemetery in Champion. I photographed every grave that had a semi-legible tombstone for BillionGraves. Then at night I spent time making sure that there was a FindAGrave memorial and/or photo for each as well. It was more time consuming than I expected, but well worth it.

Both of these cemeteries (and their respective churches...although St. Martin's is closed now) are only a few miles apart, down the same stretch of road. In between them on that same stretch of road is the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help. Another Catholic Church although this one has quite the interesting history. I've blogged about it before. It's the only Church-acknowledged Marian Shrine in the U.S. (although some will argue that point).

Philippe's tombstone is too difficult for me to make out
much...even in person!

I digress though. I was just struck by how close they all were. In a city it's not so unexpected, but in farm country I would have expected them to be a bit more spread out. Either way, they all play a part in my husband's family's history so I visit them when I can. With all of the worn and lichen-covered gravestones in St. Joseph's I wasn't hopeful finding the tombstones of Philippe and Mary, but I had to look. While I was there methodically taking pictures with the caretaker riding along mowing the grass, I was approached by a gentleman asking if I was looking for anyone in particular. I told him I was, but that I was also canvassing the cemetery. He was kind enough to tip me off to the fact that there is a website online that will tell you exactly where in the cemetery everyone in St. Joseph's was buried. (I imagine this is the website he was talking about) I thanked him and continued on my mission.

I'm always struck by how things play out. You think of someone that you haven't thought of in years and you get news of them, or perhaps a Facebook friend request soon after. The gentleman asks who I'm looking for and they turn up a couple tombstones down from where I was. It's just coincidence, but it's a lovely one.

The tombstones are difficult to read. I must go back there in the winter when the leaves are off the trees and bring a mirror to reflect light. I haven't actually attempted using a mirror before, but I've heard it recommended several times. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Seeing a ceramic photo on Mary Therese's tombstone was
absolutely thrilling!

So the tombstone of Mary Therese Laurent nee Francar was legible, but barely. The bigger surprise was the ceramic photo attached to the tombstone. I didn't expect one, but was delighted to discover one. I immediately shared it on Facebook and tagged my husband in the post so he could see his great-great grandmother. I rarely get much interest from my husband regarding genealogy, but this did earn a "that's cool!" response from him. Cool indeed. Cooler because of how unexpected it was especially considering the state of the tombstone.

"M. Therese Francar
wife of Philip Laurent
born Aug. 16 1850
died June 21 1916"

Philip's tombstone wasn't really possible for me to read even in person. I was able to make out whose tombstone it was, but not too much more. Maybe that mirror will (ahem) bring to light what my tired eyes could not see. As of right now all I know of Philip was that he was born around 1838 in Belgium and died between the 1905 Wisconsin state census and the 1910 Federal one. I may have to contact St. Joseph's in the meantime. I may burst not knowing and don't know if I can wait until December.

Mary Therese's tombstone is much easier to read
than her husband's

I was even more disappointed after finding the ceramic photo of M. Therese to see that there had been one for Philip that was now gone from his tombstone. The empty circle at the top made that particular loss felt. Perhaps someday, someone coming across this blog with a photo of Philip will be able to share it with me. It's got to be out there somewhere.

I was able to upload photos of M. Therese and Philip's tombstones to memorials already created on FindAGrave. I was even more thrilled when contributor, Lori Lyon, transferred both of their memorials to me!

So until December when I can revisit St. Joseph's and get a better picture (or just stubbornly get my face up close enough to figure out what Philip's says) I'll end here. Rest in peace, Philip and M. Therese!

Sunday's Obituary - Mary Hermans nee Laurent

The Luxemburg News, 12DEC1924, pg1

Well there were two ways for me to show this obituary. Too small to read and OH MY GOSH huge. I went with huge because at least others will be able to read it in case I made any transcription errors.

As I was working on my Hermans line I came across the marriage certificate for Mary Laurent and Desire Hermans and noticed that I already had both in my tree. Different branches of my husband's family but they merged in some places. They weren't necessarily related to each other. They were from lateral lines. Still I've been noticing that with a number of the marriages in his Belgian line. If you think about it you'll realize that it makes sense. Traveling great distances wasn't common. You knew your neighbors and your neighbors were also generally the same ethnicities. People came over to America and settled within micro ethnic communities. So if you were going to get married to someone it was going to be someone that lived nearby. A neighbor.

Perhaps a brother was courting the girl down the street and she had a sister. Maybe his other brother started courting her and then they both end up getting married. It happened quite often. That's why it can be important to check out the other people on a census page because you may find that they are also in your family tree.

It's quite sad to see a parent die at the age of 47. It was quite a long obituary. They really wanted to memorialize her. It's got some great information too. Her kids' names and who the daughters married. Even the children who predeceased her are in there. The brothers and sisters in the second to last paragraph could be cleaned up a bit more and it would have been nice to mention her parents' names (Philippe and Theresa Laurent nee Francart), but it's a really great obituary for 1924 and it made the front page.

Now this article was published on Friday, December 12th and it said that she died "last Monday" so I'm assuming that was the 1st not the 8th because I figured that they'd just say "Monday" if it was the 8th. Well, in the body of the obituary it does say on Monday so which is it? The 1st or the 8th? I'm going to put the 8th in my tree with a note about the confusion next to it. Since her obituary was the day before the article was published it's likely that the Monday they were referring to was the one closest to it too. Sometimes not, but perhaps something else will turn up in the future to firm this up for me. With death certificates getting more and more expensive I won't be requesting that unless I need it for other research.

Mary is buried in St. Martin's Cemetery in Tonet, Wisconsin. You can check out her FindAGrave memorial here.

"Tonet Resident Passed Away Last Monday

Mrs. Desire Hermans Dies Following Lingering Illness

(unk) Forty Seven Years of Age

Funeral Services Were Held Thursday Morning.

TONET - Mrs. Desire Hermans, nee Mary Laurent, answered the final call of death Monday morning at the hour of 11:00 o'clock following an illness of nine weeks. Deceased suffered with a goitre (sic) and had been confined to the St. Mary's hospital at Green Bay for a period of seven weeks, returning to her home about two weeks previous to her untimely death. Her death is attributed to Heart Failure.

Mrs. Hermans was born in the town of Luxemburg on April 26, 1877, having reached the age of forty-seven years, seven months and twelve days up to the time of her death. She had been a resident of the town of Luxemburg until her marriage to Desire Hermans in September 1897, which was solemnized in the St. Joseph's Catholic church at Champion. To this happy union nine children were born, two who preceded their mother to death, namely, Mrs. Louis Dubois and Fred Hermans.

Mrs. Hermans as a resident on a farm at Tonet was well known throughout the vicinity. She was known to be a hard worker in the interest of the family, a kind mother, a good christian, and a woman who loved to do kind and helpful works for others. Her death takes away one of the kind citizens and will be missed throughout the community.

Beside her husband the deceased is survived by the following children: Frank, Henry, Joseph, William, Mrs. William Vanderveet, Agnes and Josephine of Tonet, and the following sisters and brothers, Mrs. Nestor Debeck, Anton and Victor Laurent of Luxemburg; Mrs. Norbert Delcore of the town of Green Bay; Desire Laurent of Bay Settlement; John Laurent of Green Bay; Joe Laurent of Niagara, Wisconsin.

Funeral services were held Thursday morning at ten o'clock from the St. Martin's Catholic church at Tonet. Revered L. A. Dobbelsteen officiated at the last sad rites. Interment took place in the parish cemetery."

Wedding Wednesday - Mr and Mrs Larry Laurent

I have Villers in my family tree and I have Laurents in my family tree, so when I came across a clipping in our family scrapbook that had a Villers-Laurent wedding I just had to share.

I'm still trying to work through and shore-up my family tree. Back 15+ years ago when I started doing this I'd throw things in there without much evidence. I stopped doing that as I grew as a genealogist and researcher, but I never had the time to go back and check on everything. It's one of the things I do when I'm not in school. I'm just too busy during school. So I wasn't overly surprised to not have Larry Cletus Laurent in my family tree or Ruthann Irene Villers. I don't have Ruthann's parents in there either, but I do have a Norman Laurent in my family tree. My assumption is that they are one and the same Norman. Mostly because he is my husband's great uncle and my hubby's uncle, Wayne Cayemberg, is a part of the wedding party. This Laurent wouldn't be far removed from his line.

I don't have a wife for Norman though and because of the way the article is written I still don't have a name for her. Let's research....

I find my Norman Laurent living with his parents, Victor and Mary Laurent nee Dart, in the 1920, 1930, and 1940 censuses. In that 1940 census he's still listed as single so it looks like the census records won't be helping me to find a wife for Norman. A family tree did have a memorial card for a Norman Laurent that they linked to Victor and Mary. That doesn't make it right, but the card had this Norman's death as October 24, 1982. So my next step is going to be to pull that obituary and see if he's the father of Larry Cletus Laurent.

The last thing I did was searched for Ruthann and Larry on Ancestry.com. The first hit I got was for Larry Cletus Laurent with an obituary. He died on May 16, 2009 and his parents are listed as Norman and Mae Laurent nee Romuald. Larry has a FindAGrave memorial as well. Searching for Ruthann didn't give me anything. In Larry's obituary a daughter predeceased him. Her name was Tamara and I shared a clipping of her death previously. Her obituary tells me the father of Ernest Villers (listed in the wedding announcement below) is Fred....who is also not in my family tree.

So now I have a tentative name for Norman's wife as "Mae" and once I get the obituary pulled for Norman I'll be able to see more. Not all research can be done online so I'll have to have patience!

"Villers-Laurent

(handwritten Aug 31, 1963)

A wedding trip to Mackinac Island is the honeymoon planned by Mr. and Mrs. Larry Cletus Laurent, who were married at 10 o'clock Saturday morning, Aug. 31, in St. Martin Catholic Church, Tonet. The bride is the former Ruthann Irene Villers, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Villers, Algoma, Rt. 2, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Laurent, Luxembourg, Rt. 3, are parents of the bride-groom.

Maid of honor was Mrs. Wayne Cayemberg, with Miss Shirley Degrave and Miss Mary Ann Malcore as bridesmaids. Wayne Cayemberg was best man, with Dale Romvald and James Romvald as attendants. Ushers were Harvey Villers and Francis Queoff.

The newlyweds will return to Luxembourg, Rt. 2, after their honeymoon."

Sunday's Obituary - Victor Laurent

Green Bay Press Gazette,
27JUN1960, Pg29

I was excited to be able to head out to the Brown County Library in Green Bay over our Christmas visit to Wisconsin. I was less excited about the technical difficulties I encountered when I was there. It really cut my research short.

I got there shortly after they opened and jumped on a microfilm reader. I got three obits printed out and then it stopped printing. I was directed to one of the more high-speed, modern microfilm readers. I printed out two very blurry obits and then heard a lady behind me ask, "Why are you using that one?" I found the question odd since she was directing me back to the older ones. I would have expected someone to ask me why I would want to use the old ones, but instead I simply let her know that the older one didn't like me much and stopped printing. After about 30.5 seconds she had it working and I left the crappy, new technology for the tried and true old beast that I was originally on.

I got several other newspaper obituaries printed out when it stopped working again. I repel technology and my tech-angel had left. I had this obit up so I grabbed my cell and snapped a picture that turns out to be less than perfect. I moved to another old beast and that one didn't print either. I texted my hubby and told him to come get me. I was all tapped out of patience for the day.

I didn't feel bad about taking the picture either. When my tech-angel got the old machine working it spit out three copies of one obituary that I ended up paying for so I figure that the library and I are more than even. Actually, they're quite cool and only charge for copies that turn out well, but I don't mind paying for the duplicate mistakes since libraries tend to not get much funding and the price is quite reasonable at $0.25!

Here's hoping that when I head to Madison in a few days to research at the Wisconsin Historical Society that my fingers of technological death don't kill the microfilm readers or printers!

Today I'm posting my husband's great grandfather, Victor Laurent. I've blogged about him before, but never shared his obituary. So since I have this awesome copy of it I thought I was about time.

"Victor Laurent

LUXEMBURG (PG) - Victor Laurent, 75, a Luxemburg, R. 2, farmer, died at 8 a.m. Sunday in a Green Bay hospital following a stroke. He had been ill for three months and a patient at the hospital for four weeks.

Mr. Laurent formerly served as assessor of the Town of Luxembourg for 10 years, town treasurer for two years and as secretary of the Tonet Farmers Cheese Factory for 20 years.

He was born June 14, 1885 and was married to Mary Dart at Tonet Jan. 10, 1906.

Survivors are his wife; a son, Norman, who operates the home farm at Tonet; two daughters, Mrs. Pat (Lauren (sic)*) Cayemberg, Green Bay, and Mrs. Goldie (Annie) Malcore, New Franken; 11 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Final rites will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday in St. Martin Catholic Church, Tonet, and burial will be in the church cemetery. Friends may call after 7 o'clock tonight at the McMahon Funeral Home here where the Rosary will be said at 8 o'clock tonight and Tuesday night."

*Name should read "Laura."

Sunday's Obituary - Patrick H Cayemberg

Green Bay Press Gazette,
23JAN1997, Pg B-5

As promised today I'm posting the second obituary of my husband's paternal grandparents. Patrick passed shortly after his wife, Laura, who had been in a care facility for Alzheimer's at the end of her life. They loved each other dearly and Patrick wanted to last only long enough to ensure that Laura was cared for. He succeeded and passed only a few days after her.

"Patrick H. Cayemberg

Patrick H. Cayemberg, 87, Green Bay, died unexpectedly Tuesday, Jan. 21, 1997 at a local hospital. Pat was born Sept. 15, 1909 in Rosier to the late Eli and Florence (Villers) Cayemberg. He married the former Laura Laurent on Nov. 15, 1928 and she preceded him in death Jan. 18, 1997. The couple farmed in Thiry Daems until 1939 when they moved to Green Bay. Pat was also a self-employed cattle buyer for may years. In the 60's and 70's he worked for Green Bay Canning. As a couple they are well remembered for selling pumpkins and Christmas trees for over 30 years from their home on University Avenue (next to the former Mona Lisa Restaurante). Pat enjoyed the great outdoors, deer hunting, fishing, and snowmobiling.

Survived by four sons and spouses, Roland and Shirley Cayemberg, Green Bay; Darold Cayemberg, Vulcan, Mich.; Patrick and Dolores Cayemberg, Green Bay; Glen and Sarah Cayemberg, Union Grove one daughter-in-law, Marge Konkel, Wind Lake; 25 grandchildren; 33 great-grandchildren; one sister, Lucy Anderson, Green Bay; three sisters-in-law, Mae Laurent, Luxembourg; Alice Cayemberg, Howard; Angie Cayemberg, Pulaski; nieces and nephews.

Also preceded in death by one son, Wayne Cayemberg in 1973; one daughter-in-law, Patsy Cayemberg in 1975; two great-grandchildren; seven brothers, Frank, John, Martin, henry (sic), Felix, Wilfred, and Walter Cayemberg; and four sisters, Emily Guillette, Eugenia Cayemberg, Ella Cravillion, and Anastasia Moureau.

Friends may call at Malcore Funeral Home, University Avenue at Baird Street, from 9 a.m. Saturday until the time of the Fuenral Mass. Funeral Saturday 12 Noon at SS. Peter and Paul Parish with the Monsignor Roy Klister officiating.

Green Bay Press Gazette,
23JAN1997, Pg B-5**

Special thanks to the staff of Country Living Adult Health Care and St. Vincent's Hospital 7th Floor/Coronary Care."

**This little snippet is presented separately because of the way the obituary appeared in the newspaper.

Sunday's Obituary - Laura Cayemberg nee Laurent

Green Bay Press Gazette,
20JAN1997, pg B-5

I shared the story of my husband's paternal grandparents' deaths before. It's touching and heart-breaking at the same time. I never shared their obituaries because I never had them. I got them during my Christmas visit to Wisconsin and decided it was time to share them.

Laura passed first on January 18th. Patrick passed on January 21st. Just long enough to make sure that Laura was taken care of. The story that I shared can be read here. Patrick's obituary will follow Laura's next week.

"Mrs. Patrick (Laura) Cayemberg

Mrs. Patrick (Laura) Cayemberg, 89, formerly of 2023 University Ave., died Saturday evening, Jan. 18, 1997 at a local adult care facility. Born in the Town of Luxembourg, she is the daughter of the late Victor and Mary (Dart) Laurent. She married Patrick H. Cayemberg on Nov. 15, 1928 at St. Martin's Church in Tonet. The couple farmed in Thiry Daems until 1939 when they moved to Green Bay. As a couple they are well remembered for selling pumpkins and Christmas trees for over 30 years from their home on University Avenue (next to the former Mona Lisa Restaurante). Laura was a member of SS. Peter and Paul Parish. She enjoyed chrocheting (sic), knitting, baking chocolate chip cookies for everyone and times spent with her grandchildren.

Green Bay Press Gazette,
20JAN1997, pg B-5

Survived by her husband, Patrick; four sons and spouses, Roland and Shirley Cayemberg, Green Bay; Darold Cayemberg, Vulcan, Mich.; Patrick and Dolores Cayemberg, Green Bay; Glen and Sarah Cayemberg, Union Grove; one daughter-in-law, Marge Konkel, Wind Lake; 25 grandchildren; 33 great-grandchildren; four sisters-in-law, Mae Laurent, Luxembourg; Lucy Anderson, Green Bay; Alice Cayemberg, Howard; Angie Cayemberg, Pulaski; nieces and nephews.

Also preceded in death by one son, Wayne Cayemberg in 1973; one daughter-in-law, Patsy Cayemberg in 1975; two great-grandchildren; one brother, Norman Laurent; one sister, Anna Malcore.

Friends may call at Malcore Funeral Home, University Avenue at Baird Street from 9:30 a.m. Tuesday until the time of the Funeral Mass. Funeral - Tuesday 11 a.m. at SS. Peter and Paul Parish with the Rev. John Vander Horst officiating.

Special thanks to the staff of Country Living Adult Health Care for the wonderful care they provided to our mother."

Sunday's Obituary - Apparently I Need to Work on my Hermans...

In my last post I tried to track down the parents and grandparents for a George Hermans.  Someone obviously a relative since the clipping for his Diamond Anniversary was in a family scrapbook, but I didn't have him in my tree.  Today I look for an obituary and come across one for "Desire Hermans".  I decided to go with it since I'd just done a post on another Hermans and then realized that I don't have Desire in my tree either.

Green Bay Press Gazette

Now, I've mentioned before that I've been editing my tree.  If I don't personally have information on someone in my tree, then I don't put them in.  Of course, not finding George and now, Desire, in my tree isn't a problem.  It just means that since I'm posting about them, then it's the perfect time to do some research and see where/if they belong.  Even though I'm fairly certain that I found out where George belongs, I've still go to do more than a little late-night census work on Ancestry.com.  I've got George and  his parents (and grandparents) on my research calendar and I'll be heading out to do more research very soon at the Wisconsin Historical Society.  Now I'll be adding Desire to my research calendar and see what I can do to fill out this branch of the family tree.  While Desire and George aren't direct line ancestors, it's still important to me to place them if they belong in my tree.

While I dislike the fact that the obituary doesn't mention his daughters first names (yes, I know it was 1956 and all, but I don't have to like it!), it is very convenient that I have an obit for a man that died in 1956.  His marriage record should be waiting for me at the WHS, and he'll be in the US censuses.  I can get some information there and see if he fits anywhere.

The obituary is mighty helpful just by mentioning his brother, George.  Is it the same George that I posted about previously?  Well, after a quick search of the census records, it looks like it might be.  Only time (about a month) will tell.

Something else interesting about the obituary is that his wife's name was Mary Laurent.  Another family surname and I have a Mary Laurent in our tree that was born around 1877.  This happens to be the same age as his Mary Laurent would have been according to census records.  While I didn't have a marriage record in my Hermans file, I did have one in my Laurent file waiting to be entered into my database.  Desire Hermans, son of John B. Hermans and Antoinette Dart, married Mary Laurent, daughter of Phillip and Mary Therese (funny how the record didn't put their surnames, but that's OK because I already had Phillip and Mary Therese Laurent nee Francart in my tree!) on September 13, 1897.  So that part of the family tree crossed branches.

"Hermans Rites Set for Monday
[Hand-dated, Nov 23, 1956]


Special to Press-Gazette

LUXEMBURG, Wis. - Desire Hermans, 85, of Luxemburg, died at 11 a.m. Friday in a Green Bay hospital after in illness of six months.  He had lived in Luxemburg for 20 years.  His wife, the former Mary Laurent, died 33 years ago.

Survivors include four sons, Frank, Henry and Joseph, all of Luxemburg, Rt. 4, and William, Luxemburg; three daughters, Mrs. William Vandervest, Green Bay; Mrs. Harvey Luedtke, Luxemburg, Rt. 2; and Mrs. Arthur Adams, Luxemburg; a brother George Hermans, Luxemburg; 25 grandchildren and 30 great grandchildren.

The body is at the McMahon Funeral Home, Luxemburg, where friends may call after 7 o'clock tonight.  The Rosary will be recited at 8 o'clock tonight and Sunday.  Funeral services will be held at 9:30 a.m. Monday in St. Martin Church, Tonet, with burial in the church cemetery."

"Funeral Held Today For Desire Hermans

LUXEMBURG, Wis. - Funeral services were held this morning at St. Martin Church, Tonet, for Desire Hermans, 85, Luxemburg, who died Friday morning at a Green Bay hospital.  Burial was in the church cemetery.

Mr. Hermans, a Luxemburg resident for the past 20 years, was survived by four sons, three daughters, a brother, 25 grandchildren and 30 great grandchildren.  His wife, the former, Mary Laurent, preceded him in death 33 years ago.

The McMahon Funeral Home, Luxemburg, was in charge of funeral arrangements."

Wordless Wednesday - Four Darts

Pictured above from left to right:  Odile, Mary, Louisa and Desire Dart (or so I'm told)

Odile, Mary, Louisa and Desire Dart are four of the twelve known children of Jean Baptiste Dart Sr and Marie Josephe Podor.

Military Monday - A Familiar Name, but Missing from my Tree

Probably from the Green Bay Press-Gazette

Eli Laurent.

I know, I know...I said that I was going to spend time tracking down the Darts in my family tree, but as I  looked through old clippings for Military Monday, I saw this clipping for Eli Laurent and decided to use it.  It was the military photo and the death announcement stating that he died of a heart attack.  I wanted to know if this was an older photo and he died of a heart attack or if he was actually that young.  Then I checked my family tree.  He's not in there.

This has happened to me before and more frequently than I'd like to admit.  So it's time to do some research and analysis.

The clipping is from a scrapbook passed on to me by my husband's family.  It was put together by his grandmother Laura Cayemberg nee Laurent and some of the clippings may have actually been clipped by her mother, Mary Laurent nee Dart, or her mother-in-law, Florence Cayemberg nee Villers.  It doesn't really matter which though because many of the names are repeated through both lines.

The clipping is hand-dated.  Not all are.  Apparently, the person that did the clipping wanted to remember the date.  The date should be the date of death and not the publication.  I have yet to find a clipping with the publication date on it.  To us, it's important to make a citation, but to them, the important date was the date the event occurred.  Of course I have to verify the date, but now I can go to a newspaper with it in hand.

Not sure of the newspaper that it was published in, but I do know that the Malcore Funeral Home is in Green Bay, Wisconsin and that my husband's grandmother was most likely living in Green Bay by this time so the newspaper should be local.

I found a WWII Army Enlistment Record on Ancestry.com for Eli F Laurent.  He enlisted in Milwaukee, but was from Brown county.  He is also the only Eli Laurent found for WWII or the Korean War (I may be a vet, but I'm no expert on historical uniforms so I could only narrow it down to those two wars/conflicts).  Just because another wasn't found doesn't guarantee my search didn't miss something.  Interestingly enough the record states that Eli was divorced and had no dependents.  Again, might not be mine, but if it is I'll want that information in the tree.

In the 1930 census, I found 2 Eli Laurents in Brown County.  One was born around 1901 and lived in the Desire Laurent household.  The other was born around 1902 and was a border in the Ervin Bohn household.  Both would be old enough to fight in WWII when it began.

I did find an Eli F. Laurent in a Public Member Tree with the death date of 29MAY1959, but that doesn't mean that their conclusion in putting Eli in their tree was right.  Additionally, they had no parents for Eli, so I couldn't see if they believed his parents to be Desire Laurent.  They also had no citations (shocker, I know).

I spent some time looking through the rest of my clippings and while I didn't a find full obituary for Eli Laurent I did find an Eli Laurent in the obituaries for Clement (1957) and Ernest (1948), listed as a brother. It's not proof, but if it turns out that it is my Eli, then he would be the child of Desire and Rose Laurent (as seen in the US census records, misspelled in various ways).

It doesn't look like I'm going to find the solution to where Eli fits in my tree tonight.  Another, not completely successful story, but I have added the information I do know about Eli into my research calendar and when I get back to Green Bay in June, I'll be tracking down those leads.  At least I've done some research for the trip!

"Funeral Services [hand-written May 29, 1959]


Eli Laurent - Funeral services were held this morning at Malcore Funeral Home witht he Rev. Peter J. Skell in charge  Burial was in Fort Howard Cemetery.  Malcore Funeral Home handled arrangements.  Mr. Laurent died Friday afternoon at his home, apparently of a heart attack."

Wedding Wednesday - Unravelling the Darts

Green Bay Press-Gazette

So, I posted my Sunday's obituary about Frank Dart and explained that I like to use my blog to do research so I can fit all these people into my family tree.  Simply transcribing a clipping does force you to look at it a little more closely.  You might get some new search ideas that just hadn't occurred to you before. So I decided that I was going to go through my great big scrapbooks of newspaper clippings and get to work on my Darts.  We'll see how that goes as time goes by.

"Dart-Rollin [hand-dated Sept 1, 1956]

Miss Beatrice Dart, daughter of the Henry Balzas, 1103 Smith St., and Raphael Rollin, son of the Joseph Rollins, New Franken, Rt. 1, were married at 11 o'clock Monday morning in SS. Peter and Paul Church.  Luncheon followed at the Rollin home, with supper at the Rendezvous, Luxemburg.  The newlyweds are en route to Canada, and will be at home at New Franken, Rt. 1.  Mrs. Rollin is a graduate of East High School and is employed at Bellin Memorial Hospital.  Her husband, a barber, is employed by Steve Zacharek.

The bridal gown of lace and nylon tulle was fashioned with a fitted bodice, the scoop neckline edged with a net scroll, and long sleeves.  The bouffant skirt of net and lace was worn over ruffles from the waist to hemline.  A demi-cap of sequins held her French silk illusion veil.  Mr. Balza gave his stepdaughter in marriage.

Mrs. LeRoy Rollin, sister-in-law of the bridegroom, was the matron of honor.  Her gown of cotillion blue was fashioned with a snug lace bodice and wide cummerbund.  The ruffled skirt was worn over antique taffeta.  A queen's coronet of velvet matched the gown, which was worn with a lace bolero.  In identical shrimp colored gowns were the bridal aides, Mrs. Maynard Dupont, sister and [sic] the bride, and Miss Jo Ann Heim, the bridegroom's cousin. Carol Bertrand, the bridegroom's godchild, was the miniature bride and wore a copy of the bride's dress.  Steven Dupont, nephew of the bride, was the ring bearer.

The bridegroom's brother, LeRoy Rollin, was the best man.  Other attendants were Maynard Dupont and John Dart, the bride's brother.  Hymns offered during the ceremony were 'Ave Maria' and 'On This Day O Beautiful Mother.'

The Mmes. Henry Balza, Maynard Dupont, Robert Johnson and Miss Louise Dart were co-hostesses at a linen shower at the Eagle's clubrooms Aug. 9.  Mrs. Dupont, Mrs. Joseph Rollin and Mrs. LeRoy Rollin gave a coin shower for the young couple at Rainbow Gardens, Humboldt."

So I jumped over to Ancestry.com (I have a full subscription so I better use it!) and I conducted a search for Beatrice Rollin and I looked for the results for death and burial information.  There was a hit for the SSDI, for Green Bay, Wisconsin (I don't know where in Wisconsin this clipping was taken from, but many of my husband's family ended up in Green Bay so this was a possibility).  I needed something more and luckily there was a hit in the U.S. Obituary Collection as well.  It was a scant 2 lines saying that funeral arrangements were pending, but I recognized the funeral home and knew they had a great website.  Beatrice died on November 5, 2009, but Proko-Wall does a great job keeping up obituaries.  I typed "Rollin" into their search box, and there she was.

Her obituary filled in a lot of gaps that the wedding announcement had.  Her father's name wasn't even mentioned in the wedding announcement (Divorce? Death?  I don't know yet).  Now I know her father was Harvey Dart and her mother's maiden name was Lorraine Laurent.  Laurent is another name in my family tree.  Also, I can guess from her obituary that the news clipping I have here was published in the Green Bay Press-Gazette because it states that she was married in Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Green Bay (incidentally our family church).  If this actual clipping wasn't from the Press-Gazette, I'll bet that a similar copy ran in it!  Also, the date that was written on the clipping wasn't the date of publication..it was the date of the marriage (as mentioned in the obituary).

Harvey Dart is in my family tree.  Beatrice and Lorraine are not.  The Harvey in my tree was born around 1912 and died around 1948.  Beatrice (according to her obit) was born on October 18, 1936. My Harvey would fit and maybe even seems likely, but I have no proof yet.

The results of my searching online tonight didn't give me any concrete proof that Beatrice is the daughter of my Harvey Dart so I can't put her in my tree yet, but I will be researching more when I get to Wisconsin in June!  What I need to find is when Harvey Dart died and grab his obituary.  I couldn't find the obit on Ancestry, but do you know what I could find?  A bunch of unsourced family trees that list my Harvey Dart's death date as January 5, 1949.  I don't have to copy information from their Ancestry trees, but I can use them as leads and head to the library to pull the obits for that date. Who knows, maybe it will give me the pieces I need to add this Dart to my tree.

Wedding Wednesday - Victor and Mary Laurent

Like I said on Sunday, I knew I had a picture/clipping of their anniversary somewhere!

"Married 50 Years - Mr. and Mrs. Victor Laurent [sic] of Tonet, Kewaunee County, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary today.  They were married in St. Martin's Catholic Church at Tonet, and have spent their entire married life in the community on the Laurent [sic] homestead farm.  They have three children, ten grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. (Photo by Edward Christensen)"

Unfortunately the clipping doesn't have a date on it, but I know that Victor and Mary Laurent nee Dart were married in 1906.  So it should be from 1956 and look so happy after 50 years together!

Victor and Mary's Wedding

Victor and Mary's 50th anniversary

Sunday's Obituary - Mary Laurent

Green Bay Press-Gazette

Mary Laurent nee Dart was my husband's great grandmother.  She was the daughter of Eugene and Josephine Dart nee Hermans and was the 8th of 12 known children:  Louisa, Charles, Jean Baptiste, Odile, Adolphe, Jule, Desirea, Mary, August Joseph, William, Eli and Wilbert.

Mary Dart married Victor Laurent on January 10, 1905/06 in Tonet Wisconsin.  Victor died on June 26th 1960.  They are both buried in St. Martin's Cemetery, Tonet, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin.

So the obituary said they were married in 1905 and my tree had 1906.  Looks like a little researching for me when I go to Green Bay next week.  I think I have a Golden Anniversary clipping for them somewhere.  I'll need to look and hope it's one with a date on it.  Either way I should be able to figure out the year by checking the papers and the historical society when I get up north.

So what did I learn from this newspaper article?  Sadly, Mary's parents' names weren't mentioned nor were any of her siblings that died before her.  I've already mentioned above that she had 11 (known) siblings, so I can at least narrow down which ones died before she did...and that's no small thing!

"Mrs. Mary Laurent

Mrs. Mary Laurent [sic], 77, Luxemburg, Rt. 3, died Tuesday forenoon in a Green Bay hospital after a short illness.  Born June 20, 1886, in Tonet, she married Victor Laurent in January 1905 at St. Martin Church, Tonet.  He died June 26, 1960.

Survivors are one son, Norman, Luxemburg, R. 3;  two daughters, Mrs. Patrick (Laura) Cayemberg, Green Bay; Mrs. Goldie (Anna) Malcore, New Franken; 11 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; one sister, Mrs. Odile Vandenhouten, Green Bay; three brothers, William Dart, Green Bay; Eli and Wilbert Dart, both of Luxemburg, Rt. 3.

At McMahon Funeral Home, Luxemburg, after 7 p.m. tonight.  Rosary 8 tonight and Thursday evening.  Funeral 10 a.m. Friday, St. Martin Church, Tonet, the Rev. Claridge officiating.  Burial in the church cemetery."

[Hand-dated Dec 17, 1963.  This was the date of Mary's death, not the publication of the newspaper.  Clipping was most likely taken from the Green Bay Press-Gazette].

Military Monday - T/5 Norman Falish, A Casualty of WWII

Green Bay Press-Gazette

Norman enlisted (according to WWII Enlistment records on Ancestry.com) on December 1, 1942 from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  He enlisted to be a Warrant Officer and his rank in the Ancestry.com database for "US Rosters of WWII Dead" is Technician Fifth Grade.  His service number was 36287378 and before enlisting he was a Machinist.  He is listed as being single with dependents (according to Ancestry enlistment records).  Perhaps his parents were considered his dependents?

While conducting some research on Norman in order to find a year of death for him, I was able to connect with a fellow Ancestry.com researcher that had Norman in his family tree.  He was able to relate to me the information on Norman's tombstone and that he is buried in Robinsonville Presbyterian Cemetery, Champion, Brown Cty, WI.  Norman was born on September 22, 1922 and died on December 13, 1944 in France.  His tombstone reads, "In memory of our son, T/5 Norman Falish, gave his life in defense of his country in France" and then there is a veteran marker that gives his unit as, "411 Infantry, 103 Infantry Division, WWII".  His parents are also listed on his tombstone as Mr. and Mrs. John Falish (just like in the obituary).  Thank you, Bruce for all the great information!

His obituary states that he had five brothers.  Looking at the 1930 census his parents were John and Minnie Falish and his brothers were Charles, Goldie, Alvin, Clarence, and John.  On this census there were 3 cousins living with the family at that time with a last name of Laurent.  Seeing that I think that perhaps Norman was a distant relative of my husband's since the hubby's paternal grandmother was a Laurent and she was the initial clipper of all these newspaper articles I have.  Now I just have to figure out the family connection!

Want a wrench thrown into the research works?  When I was searching Ancestry to see which of his brothers were also serving (and if any were casualties as well), I came across a card in the "AJHA WWII Jewish Servicemen Cards" for a T/5 Norman Falish with a next of kin listed as Minnie Falish from Wisconsin.  The inquiry date would have been after his death.  I'll need to look into these cards some more, because on first glance I'm told that they were for Jewish-American Soldiers that served, but Norman was listed on his enlistment papers as Protestant.  Interesting.  Perhaps a parent/grandparent was Jewish.  Unfamiliar ground to me, but isn't that what makes all this research interesting!?!  Anyone with Jewish research experience that may be able to shed the light on any of this.  Granted, I have conducted a reasonably exhaustive search, but so far I'm fairly certain that these Normans are the same person.

Onward to the obituary!

"Memorial Services for Norman Falish Sunday

Special to Press-Gazette

NEW FRANKEN, Wis. - Memorial services for T/5 Norman Falish, who died Dec. 13 from wounds received in action in France, will be held at 10 o'clock Sunday morning at the Robinsonville Presbyterian church, with the Rev. Marvin Kruse in charge.  Two young ladies of the church will sing special humans.

Born Sept. 24, 1922, in the town of Scott, T/5 Falish entered the Army Dec. 12, 1942, and had been overseas only a few months before being fatally wounded.

Survivors include his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Falish, New Franken, and five brothers, two of them in the Army."

The two brothers that served?  Charles (enlisted 04JUN1942) Alvin (enlisted 19NOV1942).  Something not mentioned in the article?  Another brother, John Falish (Jr.), enlisted after his big brother, Norman, died.  His enlistment date was 26JUN1944.  They all survived the war.

[This clipping was one of many passed on to me by my mother-in-law from Green Bay, WI.  There is no date on the clipping.]

Sunday's Obituary - Jule Dart

Jule Dart was my husband's great grand uncle and the sixth child of Eugene and Josephine Dart nee Hermans.  He was born on February 5, 1882 in Wisconsin.

The obituary did a pretty good job at naming his siblings and children, but since it only mentioned their married surnames, I'll correct that here (such a pet peeve of mine, but it was a sign of the times).

The children of Eugene and Josephine were: Louisa, Charles, Jean Baptiste, Odele (as spelled Odile) Vandenhouten (spelled differently in our tree than below), Adolphe, Jule, Desirea Vandenhouten, Mary Laurent (my husband's great grandmother), August, William, Eli, and Wilbert.

Discovery - I didn't have a husband for Louisa in my tree, but apparently I need to look into Louis Mathy!

Jule and Odile had five known children: Louis, Anna Le Mense, Melvin, Julius, and Lillian Claflin/Killen

Discovery - Lillian's husband's name is listed in the obituary of her brother, Melvin, as Joseph Claflin.  I imagine that she married a second time, and that her first husband was Ed Killen, but I need to verify this.

"Jule Dart Dies in Hospital at Age 67

Jule Dart, 67, 1256 Day street, died Sunday afternoon in a local hospital. He had been ill for a year, and had been a patient at the hospital for one day.

Born in Tonet, he was married to the former Odile Motquin 45 years ago. He was formerly employed in Brussels, and worked as a farmer until five years ago when he and Mrs. Dart moved to Green Bay.

Survivors are his wife; three sons, Melvin, Sturgeon Bay; Julius, Little Sturgeon, and Louis, Green Bay; two daughters, Mrs. Ed Killen, Sturgeon Bay, and Mrs. William Lemense, Green Bay; 12 grandchildren; five brothers, John, August and William of Tonet, Eli of Luxemburg, and Wilbert, Walhain; and four sisters, Mrs. Louis Mathy, La Crosse, Mrs. Eugene Van Den Houten and Mrs. Victor Laurent of Green Bay, and Mrs. Louis Van Den Houten of Tonet.

The body is at the Dupont-Malcore Funeral home where the rosary will be said at 8 o'clock each evening, with the Rev. Peter Skell in charge Wednesday evening.

Funeral services will be held at 9 o'clock Thursday morning in SS. Peter and Paul church. Father Skell will officiate and burial will be in St. Martin cemetery in Tonet."

[Hand dated December 25, 1949.  There is no publication information but the clipping was most likely from the Green Bay Press Gazette and the date most likely refers to the date of death rather than publication]

Sunday's Obituary - Harvey Dart

Clipping from about 1954

Harvey Dart is my husband's 1st cousin twice removed.  According to our family tree (and census records) he was born around 1917 to John Baptiste and Louisa Dart (no maiden name known for Louisa yet).  I had no marriage information or death information on him until now.  There is no information on the newspaper clipping, but it should be from the local Green Bay newspaper (the Green Bay Press Gazette), and that would put the year of his death somewhere around 1954.

I'm so thankful that my mother-in-law passed on two scrapbooks filled with newspaper clippings that she received from her mother-in-law.  So often I find that when I transcribe an article for my blog from these scrapbooks, I find out new information for my tree.  So many clippings.  Eventually they'll all get scanned, transcribed and posted.  Right now, I'm just delighted to have found out some new information, albeit sad information.  Harvey was younger than I am.  It's very sad to see anyone go at so young an age.

I'll have to track down his tombstone when I go back to Wisconsin for Christmas.

"Pneumonia Is Fatal To Harvey Dart, 37

Harvey Dart, 37, 935 Day street, died this morning in a local hospital after a two-day illness with pneumonia.  He was born in Tonet and 17 years ago married the former Lorraine Laurent of Green Bay.  the Darts moved to Green Bay six years ago.

At the time of his death the deceased was employed by the Badger Bay company.  During the war he was employed in the shipyards at Sturgeon Bay.

Survivors include his wife; three children, Mary Jane, Beatrice and John, all at home; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John B. Dart, Tonet; and three brothers, Frank, Green Bay, George, Tonet, and Richard, Algoma.

The body is at the Dupont-Malcore Funeral home, where the rosary will be said at 8 o'clock each evening. The Rev. Peter Skell will say the rosary at 8 o'clock Friday evening.

Funeral services will be held at 9 o'clock Saturday morning in SS. Peter and Paul church.  Father Skell will offer the requiem mass and burial will be in Allouez cemetery."

Wordless Wednesday - A Repaired Grayscale Photo

 

This is a picture of Mary Laurent nee Dart (my husband's great grandmother).  The original that I scanned has some discoloration so I used my software and used the grayscale tool to re-grayscale the entire image.  Then I used the cloning tool with various degrees of opacity (depending on what blemish I was working on) to fix the rest of the photo.  My auto-correct feature brightened the image after all was done (although this could be done first if you prefer).

After using the grayscale tool

As wordless as I can be!

Wedding Wednesday - Villers Laurent

Add caption

"Villers-Laurent

 (hand-dated Aug 31, 1963)

A wedding trip to Mackinac Island is the honeymoon planned by Mr. and Mrs. Larry Cletus Laurent, who were married at 10 o'clock Saturday morning, Aug. 31, in St. Martin Catholic Church, Tonet.  The bride is the former Miss Ruthann Irene Villers, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Villers, Algmoa, R. 2.  Mr. and Mrs. Norman Laurent, Luxemburg, Rt. 3, are parents of the bride-groom.

Maid of honor was Mrs. Wayne Cayemberg, with Miss Shirley Degrave and Miss Mary Ann Malcore as bridesmaids.  Wayne Cayemberg was best man, with Dale Romvald and James Romvald as attendants.  Ushers were Harvey Villers and Francis Queoff.

The newlyweds will return to Luxemburg, Rt. 2, after their honeymoon."

NOTE: This clipping was passed on to me by family in Green Bay, Wisconsin and was in a scrapbook full of old newspaper clippings.  It does not contain any publication information.  It most likely was published in the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

Wednesday's Child - Tamara "Tammy" Laurent

This article was difficult to transcribe.  It's a parent's worst nightmare.  The newspaper clipping was in a scrapbook that was passed on to me by my mother-in-law and had been passed on to her by her mother-in-law.  There is not indication of the newspaper it was published in although it would have most likely been the Green Bay Press-Gazette or nearby newspaper.  The date hand-written in is most likely the date of death rather than the publication date.

Rest in peace little Tammy.

"Struck by Car in Driveway, Child Dies

LUXEMBURG - A 22-month old child, Tamara Laurent, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Larry Laurent, Town of Luxemburg, died about 4:30 a.m. Sunday of injuries suffered about noon Friday when she was accidentally struck by a car being backed out of the family garage by the mother.  The mishap occurred in the Laurent driveway.

The child - Tammy to her family - died at St. Vincent's hospital, Green Bay.

Funeral services were conducted at 2 p.m. Monday at the McMahon funeral home, Luxemburg, and burial was in the Evergreens at Algoma.

The Laurents live on a town road which forms the Brown-Kewaunee county line.  Their home is in the Tonet area.

Mrs. Laurent told Kewaunee county authorities that she had instructed Tammy and another daughter, Sandy, 3, to stay on the porch while she backed the car out of the garage.  She said she started out and felt a bump and then heard sandy call out Tammy's name.  She looked out the car door and found Tammy under the vehicle.

The mother is the former Ruth Ann Villers.

Tammy was born at Algoma Memorial hospital Aug. 9, 1968.

Survivors are her parents; two sisters, Carol Jean, 6, and Sandra, 3; two brothers, Paul, 4, and Daniel, four months; the maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Villers, R2, Algoma; the paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Laurent, R3, Luxemburg, and great-grandfather, Fred Villers, R1, Algoma."

[Date hand-written, June 28, 1970]