Tombstone Tuesday - Eugene and Josephine Dart

Eugene and Josephine's tombstone (why did I not clean it when I was there!)

Eugene Dart

Eugene and Josephine Dart nee Hermans are my husband's 2nd great grandparents.  Eugene was born on September 18, 1845 in  Grand-Leez, Namur, Belgium to Jean Baptiste Sr and Marie Josephe Dart nee Podor.  He was the fourth of six known children: Jean Baptiste Jr, Marie Julienne, Jules Joseph, Eugene (of course), Antoinette, and Desira.

He married Josephine Hermans in 1871 in Wisconsin and they had twelve known children:

Louisa
Charles
Jean Baptiste
Odile (also spelled Odele)
Adolphe
Jule
Desirea
Mary (my husband's great grandmother)
August Joseph
William
Eli
Wilbert

Josephine Dart nee Hermans

Josephine was born in Belgium (location unknown) on March 23, 1851 to Charles and Josephe Hermans nee Landeck.  While I haven't been able to confirm any siblings enough to warrant putting them in my tree (I've found some, but my research hasn't convinced me yet!), I was able to find another tid-bit while searching for this blog post...Her parents' marriage in Belgium!  Very nice...different blog post though!

Eugene died in 1924 and Josephine died on October 25, 1930 in Wisconsin.  They are buried in Saint Martin's Cememtery, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin.


[Thank you Cheryl (no not me) for sharing the Dart pictures with me!]

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]

Wedding Wednesday - Mr and Mrs Eli Dart's Golden Anniversary

Seeing a Golden Anniversary has always fascinated me.  You don't see them all the time. Making that landmark anniversary is a true testament to the love between to people.

Eli Dart was the son of Eugene and Josephine Dart nee Hermans.  He was the 11th of 12 known children and was born on September 21, 1894 in Wisconsin.  He enlisted in the Army during World War I on March 28, 1918 and was discharged on September 5, 1919.  Shortly thereafter he married Edith (last name unknown) on November 11, 1919, and died on February 21, 1982.  Edith was born on July 10, 1899 in Wisconsin and died in October 13, 1981.  They are buried in the Shrine of the Good Shepherd in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

"Wed 50 Years - Mr. and Mrs. Eli Dart, Rt. 3, Luxemburg, recently observed their 50th wedding anniversary.  They were married Nov. 11, 1919 at Tonet and have one daughter, two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren."

The clipping was passed on to me by my mother-in-law and was hand-dated 1969.  There is no publication information for the clipping, but it was most likely from the local Green Bay newspaper the Press-Gazette.

Tombstone Tuesday - Do You Understand What it Says?

A tombstone can tell you a lot...if you know what it says!

Here we have a tombstone for Ernestine E. Hermann.  It tells you that her maiden name (name at birth/born as) was Muller (also spelled with an umlaut over the "u", and as Mueller).  It also tells you that her husband was Valentin Hermann.  She was born on September 28, 1860 and died on May 18, 1904.

Now most genealogists would be able to figure most of that out without knowing German, but if you weren't careful you could get it wrong.

Anyway, Valentin and Ernestine Hermann nee Muller are my husband's 2nd great grandparents.  Ernestine was born in Germany and they were married in Wisconsin around 1881. They had 5 known children:  Carl, Elizabeth, Dorathea (my husband's great grandmother), George and Valentine (Jr).  Ernestine and Valentin are buried in Union Cemetery, Theresa, Dodge County, WI

A bit odd.  I never realized that Ernestine was only 43 when she died.  She was fairly young. Sometimes I forget that just because these people lived what seems to be a long time ago, it doesn't mean that they were actually old.  How sad that she still had children that were living at home when she died.  I will have to go in search of her death certificate (which I may have in a stack of papers), because I would like to know why she died so young.

Military Monday - Sgt Leander Aurie Killed In Action (WWII)

I don't know if Leander Aurie is any relation to my husband's side of the family or if his paternal grandmother, when she was clipping articles for the scrapbook I have, also included articles on people that she knew.  He was a member of the same parish so it's possible.

Relative or not, SGT Aurie's family should be proud of his career.  Always a tragedy when our servicemembers don't come home.

After a little research on Ancestry, I discovered that SGT Aurie enlisted in the Army Air Corps from Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 15OCT1942 as a Private.  He was born in 1923, was 70 inches tall and weighed 178 pounds.  His service number was 16132239.

The clipping, like many in my scrapbook, lack publication information, so there's no date for his death.  Looking at some online family trees (and taking them with a large dash of salt), he is listed as having been born on 23JAN1923.  His date of death would have been January 1944. Just short of his 21st birthday.  Now the clipping I have states that he was reported missing on January 11th (1944), and the family trees I found with him in them both had his date of death as January 1st, 1944.  So a heavy dash of salt with that date of death!

When conducting a quick Google search I came across an extremely well-written page about SGT Howard Chantelaine.  SGT Chantelaine was the ball turret gunner on the same B17 that SGT Aurie was on.  The webpage (here) gave details about the plane crash as described by the only survivor, 2LT Lloyd Crabtree.  The mission being flown was to an aircraft factory in Halberstadt and was described on the site as "one of the fiercest air battles of Europe" and that just before the plane was shot down, SGT Aurie reported he had just shot down a plane (an ME210).  The webpage is well worth the read.

Thank you for your service, SGT Aurie (and the entire crew of that B17)!

"Sgt. Leander Aurie Killed In Action

Sgt. Leander Aurie, 20, reported missing over Germany Jan. 11, was killed in action, according to a report received from German sources by the International Red Cross.  The news was telegraphed to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Aurie, 1275 Day street, by the War department,  A requiem mass will be said in SS. Peter and Paul church at 9:30 Monday morning.

Sgt. Aurie was waist gunner on a Flying Fortress, and also served as armorer.  He had been in England since last November, and was home on furlough last August.  A graduate of East High school in the class of 1941, he was employed in the Four Wheel Drive plant, Clintonville, at the time of his enlistment in the fall of 1942.  He attended armorer's school at Lowry Field, Colo., and won his gunner's wings at Las Vegas, Nev., after which he joined the Flying Fortress unit at Geiger Field, Wash.,

He parents and two younger sisters, Ina Mae and Shirley Ann, survive."

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."