Sunday's Obituary - Elizabeth Melzer nee Batzler

Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter
07FEb1962, pg 26

"Mrs. Joseph Melzer

Funeral services for Mrs. Joseph Melzer, Town of Wayne, will be Friday at 10 a.m. at St. Killian church at St. Killian.

Mrs. Melzer died Tuesday at St. Joseph's hospital, West Bend. She was born Elizabeth Batzler April 17, 1903, in the Town of Wayne, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Batzler. On Nov. 15, 1927, she married Joseph Melzer at St. Killian.

Surviving are her widower; two sons, Robert, Town of Wayne, and Joseph, Jr., at home; one sister, Miss Anne Batzler, Town of Wayne; and three brothers, Oscar, Town of Ashford, and Joseph, Town of Wayne.

Friends may call at Miller's Funeral home, Kewaskum, after 2 p.m. Thursday. Burial will be in the parish cemetery."

I previously shared Elizabeth's husband's obituary here. She is buried in St. Kilian Catholic Cemetery and has a memorial on FindAGrave. Her funeral cards (below) were also passed on to me by my mother-in-law. I had posted them before, but thought I'd include them here as well.

Also something to keep in mind is that the city and parish of Saint Kilian is sometimes seen with one "L" and sometimes with two. People weren't always sticklers for spelling.

While her obituary doesn't give me any information that helps me link her husband's Melzer line to mine it does provide information on family that I may need to add to my tree if I ever make that connection. It's there. I can feel it, but it's still eluding me...

Funeral card -Elizabeth Melzer

Funeral card -Elizabeth Melzer (reverse)

Sunday's Obituary - Joseph Melzer

The Fond du Lac Daily Reporter, 15APR1926, pg11

"Death Summons Aged Resident of St. Kilian

Joseph Melzie (sic), 84, Washington County Pioneer, Dies This Morning.

Was Native of Austria

Joseph Melzie (sic), 84, died at his home a mile east of St. Kilian at 6 a.m. today of the infirmities of old age. He had been confined to his bed for a week.

The deceased was born July, 30, 1841, in Austria. In 1867 he came to America with his parents and settled on a farm in the Town of Wayne, Washington county, where he has since resided. On Nov. 22, 1867 he married to Miss Katherine Wondra who survives him.

Besides his widow, Mr. Melzei (sic) leaves four daughters, Mrs. Margaret Wahlen and Mrs. Barbara Kohler of St. Kilian, and Mrs. Katherine BeBoe (sic) and Mrs. Julia Schmidt of Milwaukee, on son, Frank Melzel (sic) at home, and 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

The funeral will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. from the St. Kilian Catholic church with burial in the adjoining cemetery. The Rev. J.B. Reichel wil (sic)conduct the services."

The Fond du Lac Daily Reporter, 17APR1926, pg12

"MELZIE (sic) - Funeral services for Joseph Melzie (sic), aged resident of St. Kilian, were conducted at 10 a.m. today from the St. Kilian Catholic church. The Rev. J.B. Reichel officiated and burial took place in the adjoining cemetery."

So Joseph's surname is spelled wrong...throughout the entire obituary. At least they were consistent! They even continued to get it wrong in the burial notice. If I hadn't known his location and date of death and had been trolling the newspaper I wouldn't have realized that this was someone to look more closely at.

Something I noticed when I compared Joseph's obituary to his wife, Katherine's,...in her obituary it states that Joseph and Katherine were married in Austria before coming to the U.S., but in his it implies that the marriage took place in America. It's only an inference, but as you can see in the obituary above that it mentions marrying her in 1867 and then talks about coming to the U.S. in late November of that year. It could be that they arrived after a marriage in late November, but it gives me enough reason to see if the church has a record of them marrying here. Finding a passenger list would be helpful too, but so far no luck.

Another nice thing about Joseph's obituary that was not so nice about Katherine's....her maiden name is actually listed her, but was omitted from hers. Now I know her maiden name was Wondra and that's a name that I've heard mentioned once or twice by my mother-in-law. I don't know if it will be a lead that will help me figure out where/if these Melzers link into my tree, but it's something else to go on!

Sunday's Obituary - Mrs. Catherine Melzer

Fond du Lac Daily Reporter,
06MAY1926, pg3

"Widow Expires Within Three Weeks of Mate

Mrs. Catherine Melzer, Age 83, Dies From Pneumonia at St. Kilian Home.

Wayne County Pioneer

Three weeks after the death of her husband, Mrs. Catherine Melzer of St. Kilian, age 83, expired at 1 a.m. today at the home of her son, Frank, in St. Kilian following five days illness from pneumonia.

The deceased was born Jan. 6, 1843, in Austria and was married there in 1867 to the late Joseph Melzer. Coming to America shortly after their marriage they settled in the Town of Wayne.

Besides her son, Mrs. Melzer leaves four daughters, Mrs. Margaret Wahlen and Mrs. Barbara Kohler of St. Kilian and Mrs. Kate De Voe and Mrs. Julia Schmidt of Milwaukee. 11 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

The funeral will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday from St. Kilian Catholic church. The Rev. John Reichel will officiate. Burial will be in the adjoining cemetery."


"MELZER - The funeral of Mrs. Catherine Melzer of St. Kilian, who died Thursday was held at 9 a.m. today from St. Kilian Catholic church. The Rev. John Reichel officiated. Burial was in the adjoining cemetery."

I've blogged about my Katherine Boegel nee Melzer before and pointed out that this isn't her. Her name was Boegel when she passed. I've questioned who this Katherine Melzer was and posted her funeral card before too. I've wanted to find out more and even came up with some research plans to do it, but it never seemed to happen. The best intentions in the world derailed by too much on my plate. I finally sat down with a cup of tea and my computer and decided that I'm going to dedicate some time to this Katherine and my Melzer line. I'm awaiting responses to emails and have slapped some stuff down in my research calendar for this summer. I've gotta keep plugging away until something gives!

Fond du Lac Daily Reporter, 08MAY1926, pg12

According to the St. Kilian Catholic Church listing I found on the Campbellsport.gov website I see that my Katherine Boegel nee Melzer is buried in the same cemetery as this Joseph and Katherine Melzer (nee WhoKnowsWho since they didn't mention it in her obit...nice!). With seven Melzers buried in the same cemetery as my Katherine there has to be a connection. I'm going to do a little digging through my files and spend some serious blog time sharing what I've got on this line. If I can't get through it on my own I'm hoping a Melzer sees the blog and can offer me a sledgehammer to break through this brick wall!

Sunday's Obituary - Katherine Boegel

Catherine (Melzer) and William Boegel

I posted previously on how information can be wrong in obituaries and Catherine and her husband, William, were the examples I used.  I figured that it was about time to transcribe Catherine's two obituaries.  One is short, sweet and to the point (and lacking in genealogical excitement) and the other is certainly longer and filled with more detailed information.  Sadly, you can see what the obituary looks like for this longer one.  The newspaper must have been bound and when they microfilmed it the left side of the obit was a casualty.  Catherine's obituary was on the front page of the paper and on the far left side.  She was apparently important enough to have her passing make front page news, but the image doesn't do it justice.

As luck would have it the majority of the information that isn't visible in the crease is relative easy to make out, especially when comparing some things between both obituaries.  I'm a bit bummed about the name of the city/region in Austria that she was born in was lost in the microfilming process.  I haven't done any searching to recover the lost information, but at least I've got a good bit of it.  It should help (unless, of course, the information is wrong!).

Catherine and William are my husband's 2nd great grandparents.

Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter,  24MAY1927

"Expires at St. Kilian

Mrs. William Boegel Dies Today at Home of Son, Raymond

Although confined to her bed by illness for 10 days Mrs. William Boegel died unexpectantly at 7:50 a.m. today at the home of her son, Raymond Boegel, at St. Kilian, passing away in her sleep.  Surviving the deceased are seven children.  William of Kewaskum, John and Ray of St Kilian, Peter of St. Bridget, Mrs Catherine Bonleder of St. Kilian, Theresa at home and Mrs. Gebhart Strobel of Milwaukee.  The funeral will be held at 9 a.m. Friday from the Catholic church at St. Kilian.  Burial will be in the church cemetery."

The Campbellsport News,
26MAY1927

"Mrs. Catherine Boegel

Mrs. Catherine Boegel, age 80, passed away at the home of her son Raymond in St. Killian at 7:50 o'clock Tuesday morning following a (unk) years' illness.

Mrs. Boegel was born in Bischof (unk), Austria, December 12, 1846, and immigrated to this country at the age of 22 years settling at St. Kilian where she has since resided.  She was united in marriage to William Boegel on October 13, 1874, at St. Kilian.  Her husband preceded her in death four years ago.

She leaves to mourn four sons and three daughters namely:  William of Kewaskum; Kate (Mrs. Joseph Bonlender), John and Raymond of St. Kilian; Peter of Kewaskum; Mary (Mrs. Gebhard Strobel) of Milwaukee; and Theresa at home.  Two sisters and three brothers also preceded her in death.  She is also survived by 20 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

The funeral will be held Friday morning at St. Kilian's Catholic Church with burial in the adjoining cemetery.  The pallbearers are: Or(unk) Strobel of Milwaukee, Adelbert and Roman Boegel, Reynold and Oth(unk) Bonlender or St. Kilian and Ar(unk) Boegel of Theresa.  Rosemarie (Boegel) and Elvira Bonlender are the (unk) girls."

Sunday's Obituary - William Boegel

The Campbellsport News 26OCT1922

"Old Settler Called By Death

William Boegel, aged 73 years, died at the home of his son Raymond, in town of Ashford, last Saturday evening, after an illness of four weeks with diabetes.

Deceased was born near St. Lawrence, Wis., on December 21, 1848, and resided there until three years of age when he moved to the farm in town Ashford where he has since resided.  On October 13, 1874, he was married to Miss Kathryn Melzer, who preceded him in death.  He is survived by seven children, (all of whom, except William were at his deathbed) they are: William and Peter of Kewaskum, Mrs. Gerhard Strobel of Milwaukee, John, Mrs. Joe Bonlender, Raymond and Theresa living in town of Ashford.  He is also survived by two sisters, Mrs. Anna Majerus of Campbellsport and Mrs. Lizzie LaBelle of Stanley.

The funeral was held Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock from St. Killian's church, Rev. Father Reechel officiating and interment taking place in the adjoining cemetery.  The pallbearers were his six grandsons, Edgar, Erwin, Raymond and Reynold Bonlender and Roman and Oscar Boegel.

The deceased was one of our oldest settler and one of our highly respected citizens."

William Boegel is my husband's great great grandfather.  The obituary didn't tell me anything shocking there.  I knew that.  Just like I knew the names of his children and that he had at least 3 siblings.  The obituary lets me know that his sister Johanna obviously went by "Anna" and Elizabeth was obviously "Lizzie".

What I didn't know was that Anna was married to a man with the surname "Majerus".  I had her married to a John Altenhofen, and guess what?  I had no sources to support that!  I really need to get back to verifying my tree like I had started oh so long ago!  Now that doesn't mean that she wasn't married to a John Altenhofen, but it does mean that I'm got some researching to do to either verify a first marriage or rule him out.

Something else not in this obituary that I would have liked to see?  His parents' names.  I need to confirm them and it would have been helpful.  Time to order a death certificate (among other things). Back to work!

Sunday's Obituary - Raymond Bonlender

"Mr. Bonlender

Raymond J. Bonlender, 77, of St. Kilian, retired farmer, died Monday, June 23, 1980, at Hope Nursing Home, Lomira, where he resided for 1 1/2 years.

He was born April 20, 1903, in the Town of Wayne, Washington County, a son of the late Joseph and Kathrine Boegel Bonlender.  He married Josephine Weiglein at LeRoy, and she died Jan. 22, 1976. [Handwritten "Married May 1929"]


Mr. Bonlender was a member of the Holy Name Society of St. Kilian Catholic Church and Catholic Knights.

Survivors include three sons, Elroy Schrauth of rural Campbellsport, Alton Schrauth of rural Allenton and Lloyd Bonleder of Watertown; two daughter, Mrs. Orville (Lila Jean) Kreilkamp of Rubicon and Mrs. Robert (Diane) Flasch of rural Allenton; 26 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.

Also surviving are two sisters, Mrs. Paul (Rose) Just of Milwaukee and Mrs. Alvira Wettstein of West Bend; and two brothers, Reynold of St. Kilian and Othmer of Milwaukee.  Two brothers and a sister preceded him in death.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Miller's Funeral Home, Kewaskum, and at 11 a.m. at St. Kilian Church, St. Kilian.  The Rev. Joseph McDonald will officiate, and burial will follow in the parish cemetery.

Visitation for Mr. Bonlender will be after 4 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home."

Raymond Bonlender is my husband's 1st cousin twice removed.  According to my mother-in-law the marriage date was May 4, 1929 and I have Josephine's maiden name as "Werglein".  Supporting documentation is still needed.  Time to add that to my research calendar!

[Newspaper clipping was passed on to me by family in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  There was no publication information on this clipping]

Sunday's Obituary - Roman Boegel

Eleanor (Delling) and Roman Boegel

Roman was the oldest of four known children born to John and Bertha Boegel nee Rosbeck.

Roman was my husband's great uncle.

"Roman Boegel

Roman W. Boegel, 78, of 445 E. Main St., Kewaskum, died Monday, March 31, 1980, at St. Agnes Hospital where he was a patient for three days.

He was born Sept. 16, 1901, in Milwaukee, a son of the late John and Bertha Rosbeck Boegel.  On May 20, 1930, he married Eleanor Delling at St. Michaels.

Mr. Boegel was a retired Town of Theresa, Dodge County, farmer before moving to Kewaskum 16-1/2 years ago.

Surviving are his wife; a son, Paul of rural Kewaskum; a grandchild; and a sister, Mrs. Romand (Leona) Kuehl of St. Kilian.  Two brothers preceded him in death.

Funeral services will be held at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Miller's Funeral Home, Kewaskum, and at 8:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Kewaskum.  The Rev. John T. Budde will officiate, and interment will take place in Shrine of Rest Chapel Mausoleum, Ledgeview Memorial Park Cemetery.

Friends of Mr. Boegel may call after 3 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home."

Sunday's Obituary - John Boegel

John and Bertha Boegel nee Rosbeck (sitting)

John Boegel is my husband's great grandfather.  He was the fourth son of eight born to William and Katherine Boegel nee Melzer.  William and Katherine's children were:

Unknown newspaper

William Boegel Jr (b. 25JUL1875 / d. 09AUG1939)
Maria Boegel (b. abt 1876)
Katherine Bonlender nee Boegel (b. 21FEB1877 / d. 29NOV1956)
John Boegel (b. 12NOV1878 / d. 02MAR1935)
Peter Aloysius Boegel (b. 07FEB1881 / d. 19SEP1945)
Raymond Boegel (b. 29SEP1883 / d. 10JAN1946)
Mary Strabel nee Boegel (b. 29JAN1886 / d. 20JAN1947)
Theresa Boegel (b. 08OCT1888 / d. 04JUL1949)

John married Bertha Rosbeck on April 24th, 1900 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Their children are all accounted for in the obituary below.  Their daughter, Leona, was my husband's grandmother.

The obituary is pretty standard.  Of course some of the women were merely listed as Mrs "so-and-so", but his daughter's name was actually listed with her husband.  Very interesting.  I was also impressed by the last paragraph.  It's evident that John was well respected in the community.  I wish I knew more about him!

"John Boegel

John Boegel, age 56 years, 3 months, and 10 days, a resident of the vicinity of St. Kilian, passed away at his home there at 5 a. m.  on Saturday, Mar. 2, after an illness of about a year due to a complication of diseases.

Mr. Boegel was born in the town of Ashford, Fond du Lac county, on Nov. 12, 1878.  Growing to manhood, he married Miss Bertha Rosbeck, who survives, on April 24, 1900, the couple coming to their present home 30 years ago.  Four children were born to the couple, three of whom survive their father as follows:  Roman at home, Leona (Mrs. Romand Kuehl) of St. Michaels, and Clarence of St. Kilian.  A son, Rudolph, predeceased his father 10 years ago.  Deceased also leaves one granddaughter, three sisters, and three brothers.  The brothers and sisters are William of Jackson, Peter of St. Bridget, Mrs. Gebbardt Strobel of Milwaukee, and Raymond, Mrs. Joseph Bolander, and Theresa of St. Kilian.

Funeral services for Mr. Boegel were held at 10 a. m. on Tuesday, Mar. 5, from the Miller funeral home at Kewaskum to St. Kilian's Catholic church, the Rev. John Reichl officiating.  Interment was in the parish cemetery.

Mr. Boegel was a man who filled his station in life with credit to himself, always giving the best that was in him to his family, his community, and his country.  His righteousness and sincerity gained for him the esteem of his fellow citizens and his family requited his devotion with love.  The memory of him will be kept alive by those who knew him best, the memory of a noble soul and a life that was worth living. The News extends its sympathy to the bereaved survivors."

[The clipping was hand-dated with John Boegel's date of death.  The newspaper's name and date of publication is unknown]

Sunday's Obituary - Who Died Again?

Don't you hate it when you get a nice juicy obit to only find that the woman isn't properly defined (or any of the women)?  Sure for the time period she's properly defined...Mrs So-n-so.  That's all you need to know.  Yes, and my husband would be jokingly saying, of course that's all you need to know (I love his humor)!  Unfortunately for a genealogist it's not what we'd like to see.  Luckily, I already had this woman in my family tree and this is supplemental information, but what could I do if I didn't have her in my tree already?  What if I stumbled across this obituary in the scrapbook passed on to me or as I searched through old newspapers?  I saw it and said, "George and Margaret Thalen [sic] Rosbeck are in my tree, so who is this?"

Well, the obit states her birth date and parents names (as mentioned).  That's enough to get me a birth certificate (if they're available for that time).  Her wedding date is in there too, so I can get that record, and with the publication information/death date, I can get the death certificate.  The obituary even tells you what church she belonged to so that opens up baptismal, matrimony, and other sacramental records if they are still in existence.  The Catholic Church is great with record keeping so unless there was fire or disaster, I should be good.  There is most always a way around a not-so-perfect obituary.

So who was Mrs. William Pesch?  Her name was Anna Pesch nee Rosbeck and she was the third of 9 known children born to George and Margaretha Rosbeck nee Thelen:  Frances, Bertha, Anna, John, Hermann, Martin, Adolph, Alfred, and Mary.

Commonwealth Reporter, 28OCT1965

I was delighted when I came across this obituary because I didn't have the names of her children in my tree yet.  Now I do, although I need to keep in mind that there may be children missing that died young and weren't mentioned.  The obituary does mention others that predeceased  her, but anything is possible.  Remember that obituaries are written during a time of grief.

Anna Pesch nee Rosbeck is my husband's great great aunt.

“Mrs Pesch Of Kewaskum Expires at 81

St. Mathias Church Service Announced; Survivors Listed

Mrs. William Pesch, 81, Kewaskum, died today at St. Joseph’s Hospital, West Bend.

She was born in the Town of Auburn Nov. 18, 1884, the daughter of George and Margaret Thalen [sic] Rosbeck.  She was married to Mr. Pesch June 27, 1905, at St. Killian.  She was a member of St. Mathias Catholic Church, Town of Auburn, Ladies Altar Society and the Apostolate of the Suffering.

Survivors include a son, Elroy, Kewaskum, R. 1; three daughters, Mrs. Albert Gross, Campbellsport, R. 2, Mrs. Erwin Guldon, Kewaskum, and Mrs. Joe Hammes, West Bend; 14 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; and five brothers, Herman, Knowles, John, Minneapolis, Martin, West Bend, Alfred, Mayville, and Adolph, Milwaukee.  She was preceded in death by her husband and three sisters.

Friends may call after 2 p.m. Friday at Miller’s Funeral Home, Kewaskum.  Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Mathias Church, Rev. Walter Morgan officiating.  Burial will be in the parish cemetery.”

[Fond du Lac (Wisconsin) Commonwealth Reporter, Thursday, October 28, 1965, pg 30]

Many times the same obituary is published in various newspapers, but don't make assumptions.  See the difference another newspaper can make.  Here we've got her first name, the first names of the daughters that married, and when her husband died.  You never know until you look!

The Sheboygan Press, 28OCT1965

"Mrs. Anna Pesch

Mrs. Anna Pesch, 81, of Kewaskum, died early today at St. Joseph's Hospital, West Bend.

The former Anna Rosbeck was born in St. Kilion [sic], Wis., on Nov. 18, 1884, daughter of the late George and Margaret Thelen Rosbeck.

She was a member of St. Mathias Caholic Parish, Town of Auburn, and the Ladies Altar Society and the Apostolate of the Suffering.

She married William Pesch at St. Kilion [sic] on June 27, 1905.  He died on April 6, 1950.

Surviving are a son, Elroy, R. 1, Kewaskum; three daughters, Mrs Albert (Ceceila) Gross, R. 2, Campbellsport, Mrs. Ervin (Celesta) Golden, Kewaskum and Mrs. Joseph (Lorraine) Hammes, West Bend; 14 grandchildren; 16 great grandchildren; five brothers, Herman, Knowles, John, Minneapolis, Minn., Martin, West Bend, Alfred, Mayville, and Adolph, Milwaukee.

Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Mathias Catholic Church, Town of Auburn, with the Rev. Walter Morgan, pastor, the celebrant of the Requiem Mass.  Burial will be in the Parish Cemetery.

Friends may call at the Miller's Funeral Home after 2 p.m. Friday."

[The Sheboygan Press, October 28, 1965, pg 8]

It was also incredibly helpful that in this case I had a funeral card passed on to me as well.

Amanuensis Monday - Filling in Rosbeck Information One Name at a Time

It was so difficult to get a post up this evening.  The weekend was long and not very relaxing, although the Packers won, so that made me happy!  My oldest and the hubby were out camping with the Cub Scouts and the youngest and I did lots of running around, but we had some great snuggle time last night, staying up late and watching movies.  Of course, I paid for it this morning and it was all I could do to cheer on the Packers.  My mind was just too tired.  I attempted to transcribe an obituary only to realize that I had actually posted it a few months ago!  I thought I was going to be turning in without getting anything posted when I got my second wind.

Transcribing the obituary on Herman Rosbeck wasn't earth-shattering in any way, but it did give me information that I was missing from my family tree.  I now had a date for his death, and his wife's....and their marriage.  So while the transcription didn't give me any spectacular "Ah-ha!" moment, it did give me useful information.  Information that I can post online and maybe find someone researching my Rosbecks.  Information that I apparently had, but just hadn't gone through to enter it into my tree.  So even when I don't have time because of PTAing, Cub Scouting, and the various things that happen in our daily lives, I do realize that just getting something up on my blog helps me do a little with something I love so much.  So until I can give more time, I will tackle it (in this instance each Rosbeck) one name at a time.

"Herman J. Rosbeck

Herman J. Rosbeck, 81, Knowles, died Tuesday at Clearview Hospital, Juneau, where he was a patient for three months.

Mr. Rosbeck was an employee [sic] at Western Lime & Cement Co. in Nasboro for 30 years.  He was an active and long-time member of the Knowles Fire Department.

He was born on July 2, 1889, at St. Kilian to George and Margaret Rosbeck.  He married Sophia Schraufnagel on April 13, 1915, in Le Roy.

Survivors include one daughter, Mrs. Victor Schraufnagel, Route 1, Brownsville; one brother, Martin Rosbeck, West Bend; six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.  He was preceded in death by his wife on June 23, 1969; three brothers, three sisters and one grandson.

Funeral services will be held at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Andrew's Church, Le Roy, with the Rev. Anthony Gundrum as celebrant of the Mass.  Burial will be at St. Andrew's Cemetery.

Relative and friends may call after 3 p.m. today at Koepsell Funeral Home, Mayville."

Published in the Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter, Wednesday, 28APR1971, pg42

Tombstone Tuesday - William and Katherina Boegel

The autumn is always a crazy time of year.  School is back in session and Cub Scouts starts anew.  It usually means that I've got to put genealogy aside to complete the obligations I have in Scouting and PTA.  And although this year seems to be running much more smoothly than last year, I still have found myself hard-pressed for time.  I really wanted to get the 1890 census form up tonight, but reality and wishful thinking are two very different things.  Instead of not posting anything at all, however, I decided to get up a reasonably quick post with a beautiful family tombstone.  I simply have too much family data to not post something.  I'm always hoping to run across those distant cousins researching the same lines!

This tombstone always caught my attention when visiting St. Kilian's in Wisconsin.  It's just so huge.  This is my husband's side of the tree.  My side, well, I have yet to come across something so grand!  It's beautiful.

William and Katherina Boegel nee Melzer are my husband's 2nd great grandparents.  They were the parents of at least 8 children (that I've found so far), William Jr., Maria, Katherine (Mrs. Joseph Bonlender), John, Peter, Raymond, Mary (Mrs. Gebhardt Strabel), and Theresa.  John was my husband's great grandfather.

William Boegel Sr was born on December 21st 1848 in Wisconsin.  The son of Henry Boegel and Herietta (maiden name unknown), he married Katherine Melzer around 1875 (still working on that marriage certificate) and died on October 21st, 1922.  Katherine was born on December 12th 1846 in Germany (I know...that doesn't narrow it down by much) she died on May 24th 1927.  I don't know who her parents were yet.

What I do know is that St. Kilian's cemetery in Wisconsin has been completely recorded online, and while I may have over-looked the other Melzers in there when I passed through in genealogical bliss several years back, I can easily reference the interments by going to the Campbellsport, Wisconsin website.  And hey...writing this quick post did make me realize that finding relatives of Katherina (nee Melzer) may not be too difficult after all.  At least I have some names as leads now.

Well, time to jump in bed and prepare for a PTA-filled day tomorrow.  I need all the rest I can get for it!  Have fun tending those roots!

NOTE:  And after posting this and jumping to the wonderful Wisconsin Historical Society website I found the image numbers for a marriage of William Boegel and Katherine Meker.  I love their website!  It's now in my research calendar and when I get up to Wisconsin for Christmas I'll be copying that record!

Wedding Wednesday - Patrick Cayemberg Jr & Dolores Kuehl

 

This is the wedding announcement for my husband's mom and dad with some of the wedding pictures.  I love my in-laws!

Unknown Wisconsin Newspaper

"Pat Cayemberg, Jr. Takes Miss Dolores [sic] Kuehl For Bride

{hand-written May 14, 1960}

St. Killian's Church New Franken was the scene of the May 14th [sic] wedding of Miss Dolores [sic] Kuehl, daughter of the Romand [sic] Kuehl's [sic] Campbellsport [sic] and M. Patrick Cayemberg Jr. son of the Senior Patrick Cayembergs [sic], 2023 Willow St.  The Rev. Fr. J. B. Reickel, officiated.

The newlyweds will reside in Green Bay following a honeymoon to the Western States.

Honeymooning in the Western states are Patrick Cayemberg Jr. and his bride, the former Miss Dolores [sic] Kuehl.  They were married Saturday morning, May 14th [sic], at St. Kilian's Church, New Franken, with the Rev. J. B. Reickel officiating.  Mr. Cayemberg is the son of the senior Patrick Cayembergs of Green Bay, and the bride's parents are Mr. and Mrs. Romand Kuehl, Campbellsport, Rt. 3.

The bride was escorted to the front of the church by her father, and was attended by Mrs. Vincent Ryan, matron of honor; along with Mrs. Richard List, Mrs. Rolland Cayemberg, Mrs. Darold Cayemberg, Miss Margie Rousseau and Miss Marie-Jo Hensch as bridal aides.

Wayne Cayemberg performed the duties of best man for the bridegroom, while Richard List, Glen Cayemberg, Darold Cayemberg, Rolland Cayemberg and Vincent Ryan were groomsmen.  Guests were ushered by Larry Laurent and Alois Beisbier.

A bridal dinner was served at Krueger's Hotel in Theresa, followed by a reception and dance at West Park Ballroom in West Bend.  When they return from their honeymoon trip, the Cayembergs will make their home in Green Bay."

Was that article disjointed or what?  So many spelling errors...I mean misspelling the bride's name, although at least they misspelled it consistently throughout the article!  I had to get through transcribing the whole thing before I could convince myself that it wasn't two different articles pasted together.  I had cut and pasted it together because the original was in some lopsided pieces in a scrapbook, but I really began questioning myself.  Of course all the misspellings and the date of the wedding being wrong should have been big flags that it wasn't my cut and paste job but the lack of an editor with any real skills. 

Leona Kuehl nee Boegel helping her daughter Dolores

The Kuehls on the left and the Cayembergs on the right

The wedding party

Sunday's Obituary - Martin F. Rosbeck

Martin Rosbeck's military marker with flag

As I was looking for an obituary for today (and making sure I didn't repost one that I had already done), I noticed that I actually had 2 obituaries for Martin with slightly different information in them so I decided to post this one as well for any potential Rosbeck researchers out there!

"Martin F. Rosbeck, 81, 414 Third Ave., a retired farmer, died Sunday, Feb. 4, at St. Joseph's Hospital.  He had been hospitalized for about one week.

He was born Jan. 16, 1892, in St. Kilian. He married Theresa Kiefer at St. Theresa's Catholic Church in Theresa on May 8, 1923.  After their marriage they lived in Milwaukee for about 15 years and then they moved to the St. Kilian area where they farmed for 22 years.  In 1961 they moved to West Bend.

He is survived by his wife, and four children, Mrs. Margaret Brill, of Menominee [sic] Falls, three sons, Robert, of Theresa, and Ralph and Norbert of West Bend.  He is also survived by three daughters-in-law and one son-in-law, 26 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

He was a member of World War I Barracks 2617 and they will hold services at the Miller Funeral Home, Kewaskum, Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Visitation will be after 4 p.m. Tuesday at Miller's in Kewaskum and parish vigil at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.  The funeral services will be Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the funeral home, and at 10:30 a.m. at St. Kilian's Catholic Church, St. Kilian with Fr. Elroy Pesch, O.S.S., officiating.  Burial will be in St. Kilian's Cemetery."

[Hand-dated, Feb. 4 - 1973]

Martin was my husbands 2nd great uncle.

These clippings were passed on to me by my mother-in-law in Wisconsin.  Most are hand-dated and do not give the newspaper name that they were published in.  They would most obviously be from a newspaper in the St. Kilian and/or Green Bay area.

Martin, his son Raymond, and wife Theresa

Close up of Martin's veteran marker