Sunday's Obituary - A Little Bit of the Luck o' the Irish

Uncle Tommy's tombstone

Benjamin putting flowers at Uncle Tommy's grave

A few months ago I posted a Tuesday's Tall Tales about my great uncle, Thomas Brown Jr.  There were many rumors about uncle Tommy including one that he was run out of Hazleton, PA during prohibition for gambling, that he eventually settled in Elmira, NY and ran a whorehouse.

During my summer vacation I went up to Elmira to look for his obituary in the local papers (hoping to find scandal in his death) and visit his gravesite which I was fairly certain hadn't been visited in a long time, if ever.

That morning I packed my little ones up in the car making sure that their DSi's were charged, DVD players working, and we drove north from Greentown, PA to Elmira.  I had offered to take some pictures for a fellow geneablogger at a location on my way to Elmira.  I had the absolute worst luck that morning.  I found the cemetery (or at least I thought I had), but there was no caretaker.  The cemetery was a pretty good size, but the boys and I started looking.  We eventually figured that we should head down to what appeared to be the older section of the cemetery since the graves we were looking for should have been there.  After 45 minutes of not finding even one surname (let alone the right person), I jumped on my iPhone and went to FindAGrave.com.  The picture of the cemetery sign didn't look like the one out front and the map was slightly off.  I cursed my Garmin and jumped back in the car with my boys just as it started to rain.

I enlarged the map that was posted on FindAGrave and plotted the nearest intersection to the cemetery.  Good.  It was only about 5 miles away.  I let my Garmin lead me to what I hoped was the correct cemetery.  I ended up in an industrial park.  Now I not only cursed the Garmin, but FindAGrave's map.

OK, I thought.  This kind of sucks.  Looks like the cemetery isn't going to happen, so I figured I'd find the old stomping grounds for her.  She had wanted a picture of a sign for the place and I was hopeful, but had no luck finding anything on Google before my trip.  I tried my cursed Garmin and hoped that it would do better this time.  I did several different searches to no avail and then at least found a road that matched.  It was a long shot, but I set my Garmin to get to the road and I hoped that I would find a sign that matched what she was looking for there.  It was absolutely beautiful farm country and the drive was enjoyable, but I never found the sign.  The road was only a few miles long and the best I got was a picture of the street sign.

By now I was feeling more than a little disappointed.  I know that sometimes searches don't work out, but I had made the offer and thought that I would at least come back with something.  It was almost noon and I knew I needed to head to Elmira if I was going to research my great uncle at all that day.  The sun was starting to come out, but it didn't reflect my mood at that point.  We were hungry by now and the kids were starting to get grumpy without food so I set the Garmin to the Elmira library and hoped it would take me there.

We arrived about 30 or 40 minutes later to a construction filled area.  I missed the library entrance and was just in such a foul mood by now that I did something that my straight and narrow mind wouldn't normally conceive of...I parked in a neighboring parking lot, ignoring the signs that it was for their use only (I know...I'm just sooo bad!).  It was time to forage for food and there was supposed to be a pizza joint a couple blocks away.  New York and pizza...I had to go.  I grabbed the kids and we headed down the street.

I saw the pizzeria...a hole in the wall.  That's not a bad thing when were talking pizza in New York so I wasn't deterred at all.  As I crossed the street I noticed that the strip mall-ish building that it was in had a marker in front of it.  Apparently Mark Twain's house used to stand on this site.  Oh how depressing!  Seriously?  Mark Twain and Elmira, NY?  I had no idea...but the thought that his historic (or should have been, historic) home was now a strip mall.  Holy heck!  OK.  This day was just...well...not what I had been expecting or hoping for.  I wasn't feeling as hopeful at what I would find in the library.

The only thing left to mark the Twains' home!

Strip mall where Mark Twain's home used to be

We sat down to some Cokes and our slices of pizza and ate.  We had finished our pizza and were just relaxing and sipping our Cokes when I heard one of the guys at the pizzeria ask a co-worker, "Hey you latched the back door, right?  Because that doesn't look good."  I followed his gaze.  He was staring out the front door.  I turned and saw a rather ominous sky.  I whipped out my Weather Channel app and opened it up.  Yep...Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Elmira.  Checked the radar.  Crap!

Severe weather added to the day

I live in Texas.  It's been nasty-hot for the entire summer and I was happy to be visiting up north, but when I came it got 100+ degrees nasty hot up there too.  Today wasn't quite at 100 degrees in Elmira, but it was in the upper 90s.  As a result of the heatwave, the a/c was broken in the library and it was pretty unpleasant in there.  I was in luck in finding an obituary, a funeral notice and burial notice in the Elmira Star Gazette.  I checked the paper during that time frame for anything sensational about uncle Tommy and didn't find it.  I made copies of the information I did find, but it wasn't a lot.

Elmira Star Gazette, 07DEC1957, pg 2

"Thomas J. Brown of 114 W. First St., Friday, Dec. 6, 1957.  Survived by brothers, Edward Brown of Hazleton, PA., Walter of Philadelphia.  Body at O'Dea Funeral Home.  Funeral announcement later."

Elmira Star Gazette, 08DEC1957, pg 10

"Thomas J. Brown of 114 W. First St. Today at O'Dea Funeral home.  Funeral there Monday at 11:45 a.m., the Rev. Eldred Simpkins.  Woodlawn National Cemetery."

Elmira Star Gazette, 09DEC1957, pg 9

"Thomas J. Brown of 114 W. First St. Funeral today at 11:45 at the O'Dea Funeral Home, the Rev. Eldred Simkins.  Pallbearers:  Abe Mills, Toni Turchio, Charles Forgensi, Russell Hamilton, Charles Lawrence, and Donald Tarantelli.  Woodlawn National Cemetery."

Talk about a whole lotta nothin'.  I knew that uncle Tommy was the black sheep of the family, but not much had been put in the paper.  Heck, they were barely complete sentences.  It was disappointing.  I packed up my stuff and let my boys play with the huge floor chess set on the ground floor of the library.  I hoped I would find something more in the Hazleton, PA paper where he was born.  I consoled myself that way.  Maybe even figure out who the pallbearers were.  They weren't family.  Why weren't they family?  Not a single family member.

Boy the trip felt wasted.  As the boys and I went back to the car it was only drizzling out.  They buckled up and I sat there for a minute...114 W. First Street...what the hell, "Boys we're going to see where uncle Tommy used to live."  They didn't really care one way or another, but I wanted to see if it was still standing.  I wanted to try to salvage something out of the trip and it was too late to head to the courthouse for records on the property.  A picture (if it was still there) would have to do.

I plugged the address into the Garmin as I sat in my illegal parking space.  It thought for a moment and then it showed me the map, asking if I wanted to go there.  I selected "GO" and watched as the highlighted map to uncle Tommy's appeared on the screen...I was sitting across the street from it!

Well, not directly across the street.  That was a fire station.  It was technically the house next to the fire station...and it was still there.  All brown and big.  I was seeing the back entrance to the building (although I didn't know it at the time).  I saw that most of the windows were boarded up and painted green.  Was it abandoned or was this just how it was supposed to be?  Why would you board up windows?

My first glimpse of Uncle Tommy's residence

I took some pictures and then decided to drive around to the front.  There really was nothing else on this entire street block except the fire station, 114 W. First Street and a CVS Pharmacy, so I cut through the pharmacy parking lot.  I realized I had been in the back of the building and that the front of the building had a business sign in front of it...

The sign in front of Uncle Tommy's house

Holy cow!  The Green Derby Cafe...an Irish pub/cafe.  I was tickled!  Had it been like this when uncle Tommy owned it?  I didn't know and it was too late for the courthouse.  More to do next year.  I went home elated.  A pretty disappointing day felt better somehow just because I had found that the place where the "whorehouse" would have been was an Irish pub.  Yeah...that sounds like a good front.  Or maybe it wasn't a whorehouse at all and he was just into gambling and booze.  Sounds like it would fit with the stories.  Maybe I should look for some arrest records.  Hmmm.

A few days later I went to Hazleton to see the Greater Hazleton Historical Society and visit the library for some microfilmed newspapers.  I found most of the obituaries I was looking for and a better one on uncle Tommy.

The Plain Speaker, 07DEC1957, pg 10

"Thomas J. Brown

Thomas J. Brown, 53, 116 West First Street, Elmira, N.Y. died yesterday of complications following a six-week's illness.

He was a native of this city and lived in Elmira for the past 30 years.

Surviving are two brothers: Edward J. Brown, vice principal of Grebey Junior High School, and Walter H. Brown, a teacher in the Philadelphia public schools.

The funeral will be held Monday morning from the late home in Elmira."

The address was a bit off, but I wasn't too concerned about it.  I knew from my mother that uncle Tommy actually owned the building he lived in and I doubted it was the CVS pharmacy.  Being the Irish pub just makes too much sense.  Could I be wrong?  Sure.  I won't know for sure until I can find other information to fill in this bit of family history.  Now I knew approximately when he moved to Elmira.  This will undoubtedly be helpful.

Sometimes, even when your day seems to suck, you get a little bit of Irish luck!

The front of the Green Derby Cafe

The side of the Green Derby Cafe where Uncle Tommy lived

The back of where Uncle Tommy lived

Wordless Wednesday - Granny was a Flapper?

Mary Ann Brown nee Quirk

OK, so I don't know if she was a flapper, but hubba hubba!  My grandma Brown was so gorgeous.  I wish I knew her!

(Don't worry Uncle Ed...I haven't forgotten about you...I still have those great yearbook photos to post!)

Tombstone Tuesday - Who is Rt. Rev. John Brown?

Saint Gabriel's Cemetery, Hazleton, PA

Since I mentioned in a recent post, "A Well-Known Hazleton Baseball Player" about Rev. John Brown and how he'd been named in several family member's funeral notices, I figured I'd honor him this Tombstone Tuesday.

I still think he's a relative.  If you look at yesterday's post you may notice that Father Brown came up from Raleigh, North Carolina to be at and take part in the funeral.  Not really something that would have occurred unless he was family, so I decided to jump into my family tree and see if we've got any like players...

There is a John Brown in the family tree without a lot of information.  He's the son of Charles Brown and by looking at the 1910 and 1920 census he would have been born around 1909, just like the Rt. Rev. Brown.  Neil (who he helped celebrate the funeral mass for) would have been his uncle.

There is another John Brown in the tree (the son of the deceased), but this John was born 29SEP1927.  Wrong birth date and he would have been 10 years old when his dad died, so we can cross him out.

These are the only 2 John Browns in my tree.  Does that mean that I'm not missing one?  Of course not, but it is looking likely that the son of Charles is the John that became the priest.  I can still kick myself for not looking up his obituary when I was home a couple months ago!

I performed a search on Ancestry.com's copy of the SSDI and came up with the following John Browns born in 1909 and dying in 1986:

Ancestry.com search results

Only 6 and that's not bad.  Two, in fact, are listed in North Carolina.  Could be.  He was a priest, after all, so it's certainly possible that this is where his parish was and he came back home to Pennsylvania to be buried in the cemetery of the family's church.  Now I don't know why, but I get this impression that Father Brown was in the military too.  I don't know why this sticks in my mind.  It could be because Rev. McElwee (also listed in Neil Brown's obituary and in a separate blog post) is on my mind.  One of the things I'll have to check.  It's not listed on his tombstone, so it could just be my cruddy mind wandering off.

So where do I go from here?  I'm certainly not going to request 6 death certificates.  The SSDI isn't perfect and he could be absent from that list.  Nope.  I'm going to start simple.  Saint Gabriel's is an awesome church.  Granted, I've got quite a bias there...my ancestors helped found it and I was baptized there (as was my youngest child!), but they are very sweet about responding to requests about burials and I doubt they would object to one of their priests being remembered.

So an email to Saint Gabriel's church and most likely seeing how much a copy of the obituary from the local library would be after I find the date he was interred.  I should think that such a man would be remembered in the local paper even if he did die elsewhere. I'll keep ya posted!

Amanuensis Monday - A Well-Known Hazleton Baseball Player

Neil Brown Jr*

At least that's what his obituary says.  I will certainly be trying to find out more about my 2nd great uncle, Neil Brown Jr.  I'll have to look for pictures of the baseball team (I thought it was neat to see it spelled as 2 words rather than a compound word) and see if any of the pallbearers were former teammates.  Rev. McElwee was a relative and I've blogged about him previously, but I don't have any information yet on Rev. John Brown, although if I recall correctly, he was a relative too.  I wish I'd gone and looked up his obituary while I was at home during the summer!  Oh well...I'll put it on my to-do list for next summer!

"Neil Brown Dies In Mine

Former Well Known Base Ball Player Succumbs From Heart Attack.

Neil Brown, of 243 South Wyoming street, former well known base ball player died suddenly at 11 o'clock from a heart attack in the Hazleton No. 1 mine of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company where he was employed as a contract miner.  Mr. Brown several days ago was hurt when he was struck by a piece of timber.

Shortly before he passed away he was stricken with a pain on the side.  He asked for a drink of water and collapsed [sic] shortly afterwards.

He was taken to the State Hospital in the Valley Coal Company ambulance but life was extinct when he reached the institution.

Michael Ferrai of Hayes street, deputy coroner, viewed the body at the hospital.

Mr. Brown was born in Hazleton and was the son of the late Neil and Nancy Brown.  in his younger days he was a ball player.  he covered third base for the Hazleton team which at that time was managed by Harry Dryfoos which played its games at Hazle Park.

He was married in St. Ann's church at Woodside to Miss Bridget Brown, a native of Freeland.  Mr. Brown was a member of St. Gabriel's church and the Holy Name Society.  Surviving him are his wife and the following children:  Mrs. Rodney Prosser, of Tamaqua; Mrs. Clyde Barth, of West Hazleton; James, Nancy, Neil Jr., Rita, Eugene, Paul, Jack, Joan and Charles Brown, all of this city.  Two brothers, Thomas Brown and Patrick Brown, of Hazleton, also survives.

No arrangements have yet been made for the funeral."

[Published in the Hazleton Plain Speaker, 30OCT1937 pg 18]

"All that was mortal of Neil Brown, of 243 South Wyoming street, former Hazleton baseball player was laid to rest today.  The funeral was held at 9:10 this morning followed by a solemn high mass of requiem in St. Gabriel's church at 9:30.  Rev. Father Charles McElwee, formerly of Hazleton, pastor of the Nativity church, Scranton, was celebrant, Rev. Father John Brown of Raleigh, North Carolina, deacon and Rev. Father Edward Lynch of St. Gabriel's sub-deacon.  The pallbearers were: James Fox, Andrew Rondash, John Breslin, Nicholas Klinic, Andrew Kennedy, and Timothy Ryan.  Interment followed in St. Gabriel's cemetery. Rev. Father Brown gave the blessing at the grave."

[Published in the Hazleton Plain Speaker, 02NOV1937, pg 16]

A rather uninformative tombstone for Neil's family

*My cousin Nancy O'Donoghue nee Brown sent me this picture.  It had been labeled "Neil Brown".  Since there are at least 4 Neil Browns it's hard to say for sure that this is Neil Brown Jr.  From the age of the picture and the fact that it appears he is wearing a baseball uniform, I would say with 90% certainly that this is Neil Jr.  Unfortunately, since my dear cousin Nancy has passed away, I can no longer ask her.

Happy Anniversary (Again)

Dana Cignarella, Rick and Cherie Cayemberg and Jeff Ryan Sr

My husband and I actually have 2 anniversaries.  We had a civil wedding first and then did the proper church wedding later (which I blogged about a few months ago).  Why the two weddings?  An interesting story...

My husband and I were both in the Army and stationed in Hawaii.  We knew that we were going to get married eventually and I was playing the good girlfriend and try not to ask every 5 minutes when it would happen.  In September 1999 my husband and I took a trip to Maui.  At his unit's last Christmas party he had won a trip for two so we decided that we'd go.  Maui was gorgeous (naturally!), but our hotel room was not.  No biggie.  As my now husband said, "We'll only be sleeping there."  So we spent the majority of our days there out and about, which is really what needed to be done anyway!

The view from the top of Haleakala

We decided to take a bike ride down the Haleakala volcano and we opted to go with a company that let you do it yourself rather than in a group.  We wanted to take our time and stop when we wanted to.  It was almost entirely downhill, so it wasn't like it was incredibly difficult.  The view from the crater of the volcano was very cool.  We were above the clouds.  What an interesting perspective.  Just like being in a plane, but it's open-air.  A bit odd to say the least.  And cold.  Cold is a word I would use too.  Not freezing cold, although that could happen too, but chilly cold.  You had to layer your clothes to do this bike ride.  At the top with a light jacket (preferably waterproof) and you could peel off layers on the way down.

We had decided that we'd stop and picnic on the way down and we did.  Rick saw a farm that over-looked the lower "saddle" portion of Maui complete with ocean on both sides of the "saddle."  We parked our bikes and climbed over the fence to the farm and sat down.  I know...we were bad, sneaking onto someone farm, but that wasn't how we saw it.  We just wanted the view.  I don't remember what we ate.  It was eclipsed by my husband taking a twist tie (like the ones on a loaf of bread) and fashioning it into an engagement ring and asking if I would marry him.

Rick sitting where he asked me to marry him

I'm sure some women would have taken a look at that and thought only of diamonds.  Not me.  I immediately said yes.  I knew this was the man I wanted to spend forever with...garbage bag tie ring or diamond.  He slipped it on my finger and gave me a kiss.  Then he took the real diamond ring out of his pocket and put that on my finger!  And he thinks he's not romantic!

I almost ruined the surprise and busted him that morning before we set off on our bike ride.  He was wondering around wearing his Umbro shorts.  The only pocket they have is one on the back.  I noticed a big lump on his butt and reached out with a "What's in your pocket?"  I really was dim.  I never thought that an engagement ring was coming that day.  He swatted my hand away and I still didn't figure it out.  I suppose he moved the ring to a pocket in the backpack we took, which was probably a good thing.  Could you imagine losing the ring on a 20 mile (ish) bike ride?

It was only a couple weeks later that we decided to get married.  We'd been living together since I moved out to Hawaii about 4 months earlier and he was getting ready to go to a 2 month long military school.  He thought it would be best to finalize the deal before he left.  Now it was a rush.  We got the marriage license and found someone to perform the ceremony.  Where did we get married?  On a beach at sunset of course!  Diamond Head Beach Park (also known as Leahi Beach Park) to be exact.  It was a small wedding, and it was the day before he was leaving for school!  We had our 2 witnesses and that was that.  My uncle Jeff was one of the two witnesses.  The other was a friend stationed out there.  I would have preferred to have had my Uncle Jeff and Aunt Cathy as witnesses, but because our wedding was so last minute, my aunt had to be back on the mainland that weekend for work.

Rick's family sometimes wondered if he was ever going to get married, so in true Rick form, he called them up the night before the wedding with a, "Hey, at whatever o'clock tomorrow (yes I don't remember the time we got married!) have a beer for me!"  The response was always, "Why?" and the answer, "Because I'll be getting married."  That's my hubby!

Me being all girlie and crying

It was beautiful (although the pictures aren't the best) and I did cry.  My uncle took us out to dinner afterward to celebrate at a wonderful restaurant called David Paul's and the food was the best I had eaten!  It was such a wonderful end to the day and I could never thank my uncle (and aunt) enough for that dinner.  We even went back there on our 1st anniversary!  The staff came out and presented us with the cork from the wine we drank and a card signed by the entire staff congratulating us on our special day.


I get asked which anniversary we celebrate.  Our civil wedding or our church wedding.  My answer?  Obviously the church wedding meant something very special to me or we wouldn't have had one, but when someone asks me how long we've been married I answer based on the civil wedding.  Wouldn't you?

Rick signing the marriage certificate

The rings

Rick putting on my ring

Putting on my husband's ring

The card and cork from David Paul's restaurant

Follow Friday - From One Extreme to Another!

I'm amazed at ignorance, although I know I shouldn't be.  If you haven't read Marian Pierre-Louis' blog post, "And So She Risks Everything by Being Completely Honest," over at Roots and Rambles, you really need to.  Perhaps those tactless individuals were indeed joking, but it really doesn't matter.  Just because someone hasn't gotten letters after their name yet doesn't mean that they are any less a researcher/genealogist/family historian.  It means that they don't have letters after their name.  Maybe some day they will.  Maybe some day they won't, but it doesn't make that person inexperienced, unqualified or any less than another.  It means THEY DON'T HAVE LETTERS AFTER THEIR NAME!  I'm not sure if they had their heads jammed in the sand or somewhere else!

Now I'd like to move to something of a more solemn nature.  A remembrance posted by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.  I've posted about the VVMF previously.  I love the fact that they are looking to put a face with every name that is inscribed on the Vietnam Wall.  The VVMF posted on Monday about a Vietnam Hero that does not appear on the Vietnam Wall, because he made it home alive and died saving others (thousands of others) in the WTC on 9/11.  Go and read the post, "10 Years Later and No One Has Forgotten."  It was incredibly moving.  A true hero.

A great point made by none other than Dick Eastman (always an excellent source for information), was a post "Copyright Myths."  We deal with these issues daily whether we are hearing about someone taking from us or from one of our colleagues (hopefully not us taking improperly from someone else.).  It's always nice for a little refresher.  Wouldn't it be nice if the people that needed the refresher would read this?  Ah well...we can always hope!  Thanks for the post, Dick!

The Shipwreck of the Royal Charter

A few days ago I posted "So Very Excited..." and relayed that the Chester Chronicle (A Welsh publication) was going to be publishing a follow up story this week about the shipwreck of the Royal Charter that occurred on October 26, 1859.  Images of the shipwreck were going to be printed in the Chronicle at some point this week.  All I had hoped for was to see a couple pictures on their website, but I was greeted with a much happier sight via the BBC's website.  There is a 2 minute long video clip which not only shows some bits of the shipwreck, but talks with Chris Holden, one of the authors of the book Life and Death on the "Royal Charter", as well as a brief summary of what happened to the Royal Charter 152 years ago this October.

Of course this developing story is of great interest to me as a descendant of someone that died in the shipwreck.  I've posted about the Royal Charter a few times before.  I am excited that there will be a documentary broadcast on the Royal Charter and that it will include the underwater images.  I'm bummed that I'm certain it won't be shown in America.  I may have to look for any YouTube posts on it.  I can only dream of it being released on DVD, but you can be sure that if it is I'll be first in line to get it!

If you'd like to view the 2 minute video and check out the news article on the Royal Charter head on over to the BBC here!