Tombstone Tuesday - When Your Dead Relatives Call To You

Have you ever had those moments of serendipity? You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones where your relatives call to you from beyond the grave to guide you. When you're walking through a cemetery filled with various tombstones with surnames in your tree, but you don't know which ones are yours. You want to take pictures of them all, but just don't have time so you grab some and get lucky.

Get lucky. Is it really getting lucky if you take pictures of them all? Nah. It's being thorough. I had an instance of luck at Saint Gabriel's Cemetery in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. Luck of the Irish or my relative pulling me in. Call it what you want, but it was thrilling. So here's the story...

My oldest and his grandpa pouring a new base of a family tombstone. To be
fair my oldest did the heavy lifting. Grandpa did the technical work.

My first week in Pennsylvania I head to the cemetery with my kiddos, mom, and stepdad to fix the tombstone for my 2nd great grandparents, Edward and Alice Quirk nee Blanchfield. I've been to Saint Gabriel's cemetery numerous times and didn't have any plans aside from visiting family stones and making sure my stepdad didn't try to carry an 80 lb bag of concrete by himself (rest easy...my teenager watched grandpa and made sure he was semi-sensible). So my littlest, my mom, and I wandered the cemetery while they poured a new base for our tipped over ancestral headstone. Toward the end of the time there we passed a tombstone for some McElwees. You couldn't tell who was buried there because there was a "McElwee" surname marker and the one that said "Father 1879-1937" and "Mother 1879-1931". No given/first names. I just looked at my mom and said, "The PA Death Certificates cover those dates. I'm going to figure out who these McElwees are!"

Owen McElwee

Bridget McElwee nee Brown

I headed home and we went about our routine of making dinner and just doing "stuff" in general. It wasn't until after dinner that I remembered about the mysterious McElwees. Well, do you know what? Mother McElwee is my 2nd great aunt. I never had a tombstone for her on FindAGrave, but I do now. I used to walk by tombstones like that and not investigate further. Call it laziness. Call it being too busy to bother. Either way I'm glad that I stopped this time.

Yeah, I snapped some photos on my phone for BillionGraves.com. Yeah, those nitwits are going to copyright my photos...whatever. This was the only photo I took of a gravestone today on my phone that I kept (my BillionGrave photos automatically delete). And it's the only one that belongs in my tree. I love it when that happens.

Tombstone Tuesday - Caroline Lee

A very special thank you to Richard Boyer for permission
to post his photo

I haven't posted on my Lees since August. I haven't really had time since school started up again. When I got a notification from FindAGrave that a photo request had been filled and the kind man gave me permission to post his photo I had to take time out of school to get this post up.

I don't know much about Caroline "Carrie" Lee. She never married and I've posted clippings before of her visiting my Quirk/Lee family in eastern Pennsylvania. Carrie is part of the Pittsburgh Lees that I still haven't been able to fully figure out where they belong in my tree. The best I can make out is that Carrie and her siblings were cousins to the Quirks (grandchildren of Edward Lee). Carrie's father was Thomas Lee, but I have yet to figure out how he relates to my Edward.

Caroline was born on September 11, 1856 in Pennsylvania. She died on October 12, 1922 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Pittsburgh. Her tombstone looks very similar to those of her parents. I'm guessing that they are buried nearby, but I don't know for certain. Carrie died of pneumonia.

Still, I know that they're related somehow. I just haven't unearthed that special bit of information that will solidify the connection. They visited. My family saved an obituary clipping of one of Carrie's siblings. Perhaps a Pittsburgh Lee will find this blog and be able to fill in the blanks. Maybe something else will turn up. Maybe. Maybe. It's best to cling to hope when you're still hitting that brick wall. If you keep hitting it eventually you'll win.

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!

Tombstone Tuesday - I Danced on My Ancestor's Grave

Thank you for adding your copyright to MY photo BillionGraves!

But it was all in the name of genealogy! I swear they would have approved! The dancing was unintentional. I've been stomping on the grave of Edward and Susan Lee nee Philips for years without results...I guess that doesn't sound much better.

OK. Take a look at the photo to your left. Ignore the BillionGraves copyright at the bottom right because that is MY DAMN PHOTO they copyrighted and I'll use it when and where I like! Grrrrr. Oops...sorry...back to my point. So you can clearly see the birth and death years for Edward. For Susan you can only see that she was born in 1821. The death year isn't particularly visible in the photo, but it's there and it says 1883.

This tombstone and those of my ancestors neighboring it are being eaten by the earth. Hazleton was a coal mining community back in it's heyday, but this isn't due to a subsidence. This is due to ants and lots of them! There is apparently one heck of an ant mound (or multiple mounds) right there and it has made the ground too soft for this heavy tombstone. In past years I've visited and tried pressing down the earth (ahem...stomping) with my foot to no avail. This summer my mom and I went out prepared.

I don't know why I hadn't thought of bringing a small shovel with me before. Perhaps I didn't want to look like a grave robber, but this was a hand shovel so there was no chance of anyone thinking that. This time we brought one and gloves. So I went in for what needed to be a quick operation, but there's no such thing as quick when you trod on an ant mound. That's where the dancing came in. I'd lean in and dig at some of the grass and dirt and then I'd be dancing and stomping around making sure that the ants never made it farther up my legs than my sneakers. It took a few tries, but I managed it. I snapped the photo after and made note of the year in case the photo didn't turn out well. I'm delighted I did since it didn't. I'm sure I looked quite odd to the few people in the cemetery that day, but I was finally able to get a year for Susan's death and that made it all worthwhile. Now if the tombstone sinks more or disappears entirely the picture and information will be preserved on BillionGraves, FindAGrave, in my family tree, and on my blog. Susan and Edward would approve!

Tombstone Tuesday - Robert and Ethel Turnbach

Robert Turnbach was the third of nine known children of Abraham and Mary Turnbach nee Blanchfield. He is also my first cousin twice removed. I had gotten most of my information on my Turnbach cousins from Bill Turnbach Jr., but as I continue to work through my family tree and add citations and fix errors I  also know that I need to add other sources to the family tree he gave me. I'm sure the information he gave me was correct, but good research is more than just taking what you're given. In doing just that I came across the FindAGrave memorials for Robert and Ethel Turnbach nee McQuilken in Greenwood Cemetery in Allentown. There's also a memorial for Robert in Grandview Cemetery in Allentown....and, yes, it's the same Robert Turnbach (no memorial for Ethel in Grandview, but that doesn't mean she's not buried there).

I didn't find this second memorial immediately. I found it quite accidentally. I was continuing my research on Robert and Ethel on Ancestry and checked out the Pennsylvania Veterans Burial Cards since I knew from Robert's obituary and his tombstone that he served in World War II. That record states that he's buried in Grandview.

So what do I do now? Where is he really buried? Obviously he was supposed to be buried in Grandview, but did that change? Could the memorial have been created accidentally in the wrong cemetery and the pictures placed in there? The cemetery names are similar enough that a mistake could have easily been made, but where? The best thing for me to do is to try to contact Grandview and see if Robert is buried there and if Ethel is with him. Since Ethel doesn't have a memorial in Grandview I'll wait until I get confirmation for where they are before creating one for her.

Either way I'm taking today to remember Robert and Ethel. Separated from each other too soon, but reunited again. Rest in peace.

*A very special thank you to Chuck Schubert for kind permission to post his photos of the Turnbach tombstones on my blog.

Tombstone Tuesday - The Sisters of Mercy

I was walking through Saint Gabriel's cemetery in Hazleton, Pennsylvania in June snapping pictures for my research and canvassing one section of the cemetery for BillionGraves when I saw this memorial. My mother actually pointed it out to me. She knows that I like to take pictures of the graves of the priests and nuns whenever possible because they don't have descendants. While I'm certain many are remembered by their nieces, nephews, and all those whose lives they've touched I try to remember them as well.

I usually try to create a memorial on FindAGrave if they don't already have one, but in the case of this memorial it's not possible to create an accurate one. They have no surnames and the names on here are their assumed names when they became nuns. I suppose I could created memorials for each and leave out the surname, but I think that would just confuse. Either way I want to memorialize them now for all the good works they did with the Sisters of Mercy.

Sister's of Mercy memorial in Saint Gabriel's Cemetery, Hazleton, PA (side 1)

Sister M. Austin - died 1922

Sister M. Evangelist - died 1893

Sister M. Clare - died 1882

Sister M. Benedict - died 1889

Sister M. Angela - died 1883

Sister M. Desales - died 1886

Sister M. Joseph - died 1885

Sister M. Josephine - died 1902

Mother Agnes - died 1903

Sister M. Isabel - died 1911

Sister's of Mercy memorial in Saint Gabriel's Cemetery, Hazleton, PA (side 2)

Sister M. Francis - died 1913

Mother De Chantal - died 1914

Sister M. Anthony - died 1915

Sister M. Patrick - died 1918

Sister M. Rose - died 1920

Sister M. Liguori - died 1922

Sister M. Camillus - died 1927

Sister M. Theresa - died 1928

Sister M. Agatha - died 1946

Tombstone Tuesday - John and Viola Vania nee Cayemberg

Tombstone of John and Viola Vania nee Cayemberg in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Algoma, Wisconsin

I shared Viola's obituary previously and thanks to Jenni Lewerenz I new have the tombstone for John and Viola to share! I don't have much on John because he's not the one related to my husband. From the SSDI I have that John was born on March 31, 1894 and passed away sometime in November of 1980. Looking deeper into his passing I found in the Wisconsin Death Index that he died on November 1, 1980 and his middle name was Fred. He married Viola on March 4, 1924 in Algoma (according to her obituary). Viola was born on August 2, 1904 in Lincoln, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin (birth certificate found at the Wisconsin Historical Society) and died on November 21, 1994. Together they had eight children: Gladys, Mae, James, Lloyd, Gloria, Raymond, Donna and John. They are buried in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Algoma, Wisconsin. Viola is my husband's first cousin twice removed.

*A very big thank you to Jenni Lewerenz for permitting me to share the photos she posted on FindAGrave!

Tombstone Tuesday - Anton and Matilda Hermans nee Lameroux

Tombstone of Anton C. Hermans in Holy Cross Cemetery
Two Rivers, Manitowoc, Wisconsin

Anton Hermans married Mathilda Lameroux on October 13, 1903 in Tonet, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin.

On their marriage certificate her name is spelled with an "H" and without on her tombstone. Her last name on the marriage certificate doesn't quite look like it's spelled "Lameroux" but I have no training in French so I'm siding with the general family tree consensus here. To me it looks like Lamourenx, but that just looks odd.  I'm posting an excerpt from the marriage certificate that has her name on it below if anyone would like to give it a go. When I get the opportunity I'll try to find her in a census before she married Anton and see if it sheds some light on the spelling.

Tombstone of Matilda Hermans in Holy Cross Cemetery
Two Rivers, Manitowoc, Wisconsin

The tombstones only give the birth and death years for both individuals so that doesn't help me find an obituary. Several family trees did have Anton as passing on February 21, 1950 so I can use that and the location of their burial to try to find one. Perhaps her maiden name and date of death will be in his obituary. A genealogist can hope!

Anton is the son of John Baptist (Jean Baptiste) Hermans and Antoinette Dart. He was the 7th of 8 known children.

Rest in peace Anton and Matilda!

*Thank you to Nona Forrest for permission to use her FindAGrave photos.

Tombstone Tuesday - Sylvester and Bertha Gaedtke nee Dart

Marker for Sylvester and Bertha Gaedtke nee Dart in the Shrine of the
Good Shepherd Mausoleum, Green Bay, Wisconsin

I took this photo of the Gaedtke marker in the Shrine of the Good Shepherd Mausoleum in Nicolet Gardens, Green Bay, Wisconsin well over 5 years ago. It was before my father-in-law passed and I was walking through the mausoleum with my in-laws and they were pointing out to me family markers. Gaedtke didn't mean anything to me at that time although I'm sure he explained who Bertha was. It was all sensory overload though so I didn't retain it. Too much information at once.

Then Bertha passed away in 2010 five days after my father-in-law. I saw in her obituary that her maiden name was Dart and I finally recalled the connection.

As I mentioned in a post about her parents, Bertha passed away on May 20, 2010. Her husband died on November 3, 2009. This photo was taken before either had passed so there are no death dates on it. I'll have to see about stopping by the mausoleum sometime and getting a new picture. I'm sure by now they've been added.

Rest in peace, Sylvester and Bertha.

Tombstone Tuesday - William and Maggie Dart nee Jadin

Tombstone of William and Margaret Dart nee Jadin at Allouez Catholic Cemetery and Chapel Mausoleum,
Green Bay, Wisconsin*

To accompany last Friday's Funeral Card this is the tombstone for William and Margaret Dart nee Jadin. Margaret was born in 1897 and died on August 6th, 1961 in Kewaunee County. While her full death date isn't on the tombstone I was able to find it in the Wisconsin Death Index. I've already covered William's information in my Friday post.

I still need to pull both of their obituaries to add to my files.

*Thank you so much to Jeanne Biebel for submitting the photo to FindAGrave and graciously permitting me to post it on my blog.

Tombstone Tuesday - Anna Steichen nee Melzer

Close-up of Anna Steichen nee Melzer's tombstone*

Information can be wrong. It just can and if you obsess over it then it can really give you a headache. You can see in the tombstone for Anna Steichen nee Melzer that she was born on September 1, 1840 and died on April 8, 1900. The tombstone is in German, but even if you don't understand German you  should be able to figure it out. They just put the day of the month before the month and usually there is a period after the day is how they make it an ordinal number (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc). The tombstone doesn't show the period. Some do some don't.

So what's wrong with the tombstone? Possibly nothing, but the information on the tombstone is slightly different from her death certificate. I had pulled her death certificate during one of my trips to the Wisconsin Historical Society. I discovered it in my Melzer file when I started dedicating time to this line in an effort to see if my Katherine Boegel nee Melzer is a child of Wenzel Melzer and Ursula Christof. I haven't made that possible connection yet, but I had pulled this certificate because when I did a search for Melzers in their search engine I got a hit on Anna Steichen...or rather Anna Steigen.

Anna Steichen nee Melzer tombstone*

That's one of the differences between the tombstone and the certificate. The "g" changing to a "ch" isn't a linguistic reach. Seeing the change when comparing the certificate and tombstone can help to soothe a genealogist that may be having a difficult time making the jump and acknowledging that this is the same person. The next difference between these two sources can be a little harder to swallow for some researchers though.

The death certificate lists her date of birth as October 15, 1840 in Germany. The tombstone has September 1st. That's a month and a half of a difference. So some researchers might freak out and think that this is a different person. It's not though. You can see that her death on the certificate is April 8, 1900 and that matches the tombstone. So why is the date of birth off? You need to remember that both the death certificate and the tombstone are not primary sources of information. They are created based on the information submitted to the county in the case of the certificate and the information submitted to the person/company that made the tombstone. The information could have been written down incorrectly or the person submitting it could have just been not thinking clearly. They are grieving after all. This death certificate also doesn't tell you who is submitting the information. It most likely was a family member, but you don't know who. I don't have a birth certificate or baptismal record for Anna, but I'd lean toward the information on the tombstone being more accurate. I know if a family member's dates or name came back wrong on the tombstone I'd be more likely to tell them to go fix it. Still, either could be correct or both could be wrong. It still doesn't change the fact that this is the correct record.

All of those details while important weren't the focus of my retrieving this record. This record shows that Anna is a child of Wenzel Melzer and Ursula Christof (photo bottom left). Anna is also buried in St. Kilian's Cemetery (photo bottom right) with Joseph who is believed to be a child of Wenzel and Ursula and Katherine Boegel nee Melzer who may be a child of Wenzel and Ursula. Joseph's obituary doesn't name Anna or Katherine or his parents. That made it incredibly unhelpful in attempting to link my Melzer line with his. I don't know if Anna's obituary will show her siblings. She died in 1900 so she may not even have a very detailed obituary in the newspaper, but now that I know who her parents were and know when she died I can add that to my to-do list, AKA my research calendar, and see if it takes me anywhere.

(*Thank you to John Uhlman who gave permission for me to use the photos from his FindAGrave memorial for Anna Steichen nee Melzer!)

Here you can see that she died in Wayne, Washington
County, Wisconsin and is buried in St. Kilian's

You can see Anna's name, her parents' names,
her DOB and death, and husband's
name

Tombstone Tuesday - Adelbert Boegel

Full view of the Kleinmann/Boegel marker in Holy Cross

I previously shared the funeral card I had for Adelbert Boegel and now thanks to a FindAGrave contributor I can share his tombstone!

So since I don't have much on Adelbert aside from his funeral card and what was in an old handwritten family tree I was given, I decided to do some research for this post...Adelbert can be found with his parents, Raymond and Katherine in the 1920, 1930 and 1940 census. He was single in all of those records and with spelling variations on his name (1920 - Edeberd, 1930 - Adelbert, 1940 - Adalbert). According to both the SSDI and the Wisconsin Death Index he died in Richfield, Washington County, Wisconsin although Holy Cross is in Milwaukee. I can find him in multiple U.S. City Directory listing, but only the one in 1953 list his spouse. She is another Catherine! Most have him listed as living in Fond du Lac and then later in Richfield.

Close-up of the names on the Kleinmann/Boegel marker

Catherine isn't on his tombstone though, but a Kenneth G. who died in 1980 is as is a Janet who died in 1948. Janet only has "1948" on the tombstone. That this is the year she died is my assumption because if it was for someone that was born in 1948 and hadn't passed yet there would be space for an update in the future and there isn't. So who are Janet and Kenneth G? My guess is that they are his and Catherine's children. Why do they share a tombstone with the Kleinmanns? Perhaps Catherine's maiden name was Kleinmann. The other side of the tombstone (which is not shown)  has Roland (1899-1960), Barbara (1902-1994), and Kenneth (1924-1935). Perhaps Adelbert and Catherine named their son after a brother of hers that died young? I don't know for sure, but I have Adelbert's obituary on my research calendar and I hope to be able to pull his obituary the next time I get back to Wisconsin.

Close-up names on the Kleinmann marker (reverse of Kleinmann/Boegel)

Kenneth is the son of Roland and Barbara as I can see by looking in the 1930 US Census and there was another son, Gerald/Gerold. Catherine wasn't born yet. In the 1940 Census I can see that Kenneth is no longer listed, which I would expect, but Catherine isn't there. Gerald is though so it's the same couple. Where is Catherine? Is my assumption that Roland and Barbara being her parents wrong? Is one of them her brother or sister and Kenneth was a nephew that they named a child after? I can't confirm or disprove that yet. I can easily find Roland in the 1900 through 1920 census with his parents, but there's no Catherine in there. Perhaps Barbara was her sister.

Now let's get crazier. I can't find anything for the death of Adelbert's wife, Catherine Boegel nee WhoKnowsWhat. In a public family tree I see that Adelbert is married to a Barbara that died in 1994...but that would be the Barbara on the tombstone...who I found in the census married to Roland! My head hurts. According to this public tree Barbara and Roland were married and then Barbara married Adelbert after he died. So this would be second marriages for the both of them.

I'd like to take this time to point out that you should not just take information from someone else's tree and treat it as true. I've said this before, but I'm going to say it again because it's that important...Public Family Trees are a great way to guide you down the right path, but you need to then follow up with your own research because they're also a great way to be guided down the wrong path! I put Barbara on my research calendar to pull an obituary for as well. I still need to figure out what happened to Catherine, Janet, and Kenneth G! Barbara is mentioned in the obituary for Adelbert's brother, Raymond, as his wife. It may be quite difficult to find any information on Catherine if she isn't in Adelbert's obituary.

As I continue on (and just to be more confusing) Kenneth G. wasn't the son of Adelbert and Catherine. I couldn't find a Kenneth G Boegel in the SSDI with the year range of 1961-1980, but I did find a Kenneth G. Kleinmann born on 06JUL1961 and died on 31OCT1980. Time to pull another obituary because I need to see more about this Kenneth. He may not even be the child of Barbara and Roland. He was born after Roland's death and too long after his death for it to be Roland's...not to mention Barbara was a little too old to be having children at 60-something. Perhaps it was a grandchild. Who knows. I certainly don't.

So one little post about sharing a Boegel tombstone opened up a lot more questions than I ever expected to get. It seems that Adelbert is the only Boegel really on that tombstone. Stay tuned until I can get those obituaries pulled!

(A very big thank you to FindAGrave contributor Phillip #46971271 for permission to share the photos he took of the Kleinmann/Boegel tombstone in Holy Cross Cemetery and Mausoleum. They may be "just a rock with letters on them," but they mean so much. Thank you!)

Tombstone Tuesday - Frank and Alice Cayemberg

The tombstone of Frank and Alice Cayemberg in Fort Howard Memorial Park, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Frank Cayemberg is my husband's great uncle. He was born on May 14th 1889 in Lincoln, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin to Eli and Florence Cayemberg nee Villers. He was one of 14 children. On February 7th 1910 he married Caroline Nowak. Together they had two children, John and Angeline. John lived only three days. His sister Angeline lived to the age of 94 years. Caroline Nowak passed away on May 21st 1930.

On June 4th 1940 he married Alice Hendricks and together they had five children. Frank passed away on April 13th 1974. Alice passed away on July 15th 2012. They are buried in Fort Howard Memorial Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin.


(Original photo was taken by FindAGrave member Danielle Green #48004852) who has graciously given me permission to post it on this blog.  Thank you, Danielle!)

Tombstone Tuesday - Henry and Henrieta Boegel

Henrieta Boegel

Henry Boegel

Henry and Henrieta Boegel are buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Cty Rd MM, Chippewa County, Wisconsin.  As you can see the tombstones aren't holding up exceptionally well, but you can make out their names.  You can also see that no additional information was put on their stones.  From census records I know that Henry was born sometime around 1817.  The 1900 census puts his birth at July 1817 in Germany, but we know that doesn't make it so.  It does, however, give me a place to start.

As for Henrieta, the 1880 census (she died prior to the 1900 census) had her 61 years of age so that would put her birth around 1819.  She too was born in Germany.

The Wisconsin Death Index has Henry (with his surname spelled "Baigel") passing on January 7, 1901 and Henrieta (spelled "Henrietta Beagle") passing on January 24th, 1899.  I still need to pull these death certificates and verify that they are indeed the right Boegels.  I'm fairly certain they are, but research must be done! Hopefully I'll find obituaries on them both as well, but I'm less hopeful there considering the time they died.  If they weren't prominent in the community there might be nothing or very little.  Still worth a look.  I'll cross my fingers that I'll hit some gold. It didn't happen during my most recent trip to the land of deep-fried cheese, but hopefully next time!

I wasn't deterred with the misspellings of their surnames in the Wisconsin Death Index either.  I was a German major in college and I sit there and shake my head at how some names were pronounced once they came to America.  I do know from my mother-in-law that Boegel (German would be Bögel) was pronounced "Beagle" in Wisconsin so this actually confirmed rather than frustrated my efforts.

A special thank you to Rachel and Paul Depa for allowing me to use their photos from FindAGrave.com

Tombstone Tuesday - Kelsey Kathryn Rowden

I transcribed an obituary for Kelsey Kathryn Rowden back in March.  When I had transcribed the obituary for my great Aunt Lillian I noticed Kelsey's obituary.  It's always so desperately sad when a child dies and I had to share her obituary.

I created a memorial on FindAGrave for Kelsey shortly after that post and requested a picture of her tombstone be taken by a volunteer.  Recently I received an email letting me know that a photo was posted and the volunteer, Maribel Rivera, kindly gave me permission to share her photos of Kelsey's grave.

What surprised me when I saw the photo was that there was no permanent marker for Kelsey.  I wonder if something happened to the original marker or perhaps there was none.

In the second picture you can see an older temporary funeral home marker which would lead me to believe that no permanent marker was ever placed, yet there are flowers left behind for Kelsey.  Her first name is spelled incorrectly on the new temporary marker too...or is it wrong in the clipping I transcribed?

The dates are wrong as well.  Her obituary has her being born on March 9, 1976 and passing on May 3rd.  There seems to be a lot wrong with this new temporary marker.  It makes me lean toward the name being misspelled by the funeral home here rather than in the obituary.

Either way, I'm delighted that she is being remembered, but each time I see a grave without a proper marker I wish that I could do something about it.  I wish they weren't so incredibly expensive so that cost, at least, wouldn't be an issue for family wishing to place one.  Who knows the reasons.

Tombstone Tuesday - A New Tabor Tombstone

Mountain View Cemetery, West Hazleton, PA

I've shared (or at least I think I have...hmmm I'll have to check on that!) the tombstones for my paternal grandmother, Florence Tabor nee Bronsavage, and my paternal grandfather, Clarence Tabor, before.  Sadly, on November 12th of last year my uncle, Leonard Tabor, passed away.

I remember years ago talking with my father and uncle about where they wanted to be buried (grim conversation, but not to a genealogist).  My father wanted to be buried with his dad, and my uncle wanted to be buried with his mom.

My uncle had made plans.  He knew he was dying.  The funeral and the tombstone had been planned and paid for before his death.  When I went back to Pennsylvania this summer, I visited the cemetery where they were buried.  The separate tombstones for my grandparents were gone and there was one tombstone set in its place.

It was weird seeing the old tombstones gone.  It was painful to see my uncle's name on the tombstone and know that I wouldn't get to see him again, but it was made a little easier knowing that he was buried with family as he wanted.

Tombstone Tuesday - Maurice Leib Blum

Civilian tombstone - Beth Israel Cemetery

I've been sharing about Maurice Blum recently.  As I try to discover more about the lady I grew up calling "Nana" I need to find out more about the people in her life and Maurice was her husband.  Maurice was born on April 10, 1895 in Warsaw, Poland.  He came to America around 1911.  Married Hazel Hill in the early 1940s and died on May 20, 1971 in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.  As you can read from my recent posts, Maurice did an awful lot in his life.  He really impresses the heck out of me and I wish I had known him.

Maurice was a veteran of World War I so he has a military stone with his regular tombstone.  I love that.  It not only lets you know someone was a vet, but tells you a little about their service.  Particularly good since getting military records can be a pain in the butt...especially since so many have been destroyed.  At least you might be able to find out more about the person's unit if you can't get their file.  This information can also help you get the right file if your veteran has a fairly common name.

Maurice's Military Marker

"Maurice L Blum
Pennsylvania
PVT Co C 30 Infantry
World War I
April 10, 1895    May 20, 1971"

I haven't had much luck finding information on this unit...for WWII, sure...not so much for WWI, but it'll be something that I check out for sure.  I'm a veteran and as silly as it sounds, I don't know the best places to look for this information.

Where do you look for unit histories?

Tombstone Tuesday - Alice and Edward Quirk

I've talked about Edward and Alice Quirk nee Blanchfield before, but I realized that I never posted a picture of their tombstone.  I'll have to take another picture when I go back to Pennsylvania this summer.  I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I can't believe that I cut off part of the stone.  There's no information there, but still!

Alice died in 1915.  That's 45 years before her husband.  I thought that I had blogged Alice's obit previously, but I'm not seeing it on my blog.  I'll have to look again when this flu bug gets out of my system and if it turns out I didn't, then I'll have to rectify that.  It's a very sad story (as death usually is), but I will only touch on it today and save the details for when I'm more coherent.

Alice died shortly after giving birth to their second child.  The child also passed soon after birth.  My grandmother, Mary Alice Quirk, was their first-born.  Edward never remarried and he and his daughter lived with his brother and sisters.  Her aunts and uncle raised her like their own daughter and she had a good childhood.

The year Edward passed away, my grandparents lost their fourth child, a daughter, Ann.  She is buried with Alice and Edward.  Their tombstone is located in Saint Gabriel's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

I like sharing information about Alice.  I don't have a lot of it, but when I first began my genealogy research and I ran across others researching the Blanchfields, there were more often than not family trees that had Alice married to someone besides Edward or not married at all.  I felt like I was actually able to help fit some pieces together for some people conducting their research.  I know I always appreciate it.

I feel a special connection with Alice.  I don't know why.  Perhaps it's because I feel for my grandmother having lost her mother when she was tiny and it makes me realize how lucky I am to have my mother even as an adult.

Until next time, have fun tending those roots!

Tombstone Tuesday - James and Anne McCoy

McCoy.  It's a family name, but also a dead end.  I was also a very bad person when I photographed this tombstone and forgot to annotate whether it was from St. Gabriel's in Hazleton or St. Mary's in Beaver Meadows.  Either way it's a family cemetery and I will be retracing my steps the next time I go home and properly annotate the photo.

My McCoy ancestor was Nancy Brown nee McCoy.  I don't know much about her apart from being born around 1845 in Ireland and dying in 1926 in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.  Nancy (called "Annie"...obviously not this Anne) was my 2nd great grandmother.  I have found no immigration records for her and I don't know who her parents were.  I have to narrow down her death date and hopefully a death certificate and/or obituary may provide some healthy leads.

As it is each time I walk past a "McCoy" tombstone in Saint Gabriel's or Saint Mary's cemetery I wonder if they belong to me.  Was this my 3rd great uncle on this tombstone?  I may not know for a long time. I may never know.  You can be sure that I'll be tracking down information on James as well as my Annie the next time I'm home.

The research I was able to do on this James McCoy was that he came to America from Ireland around 1878 and he was born around 1860.  My Annie was born 15 years earlier and was already in America in April 1874 when she married her husband, Neil Brown.  Does this mean that this James isn't a relation of my Annie's?  No, but it's not a strong case.  Perhaps a cousin or nephew?  Sure, maybe.

It looks like, for now, I'll still be staring fondly after all those "McCoy" tombstones.  Perhaps the cemetery will at least be able to give me a month for the burials to help me with obituaries and death certificates.  It's certainly worth a try!

Tombstone Tuesday - Octavia Villers

Oh blog, how I've missed you!  Life was taking over and you've grown so neglected.  I will do my best to not let life take over, but to take over my life.  Now on to what I love doing....

I've posted Octavia Villers obituaries before, but I was never able to post her tombstone picture.  She's buried up in North Dakota and I've never been out there (and don't really see a trip in my near future).  Thank goodness for Find A Grave and their volunteers!  My request for a picture was filled about a month ago, and it is truly amazing that it was filled at all.

You see Octavia's obituary stated that she was buried in Saint James Church's cemetery.  I incorrectly assumed that this meant that she was buried in Saint James Cemetery.  Find A Grave does have a Saint James cemetery in Stutsman county, North Dakota.  The one (and only one) interment should have been an indicator that something was wrong, but noooooooo.  I just drove on and entered Octavia's information and created a memorial for her.  Then I submitted a request and waited....and waited...and waited.

My Find A Grave angel must have checked for memorials because for all intents and purposes if he was just photographing the tombstones in Calvary Cemetery in Jamestown (Stutsman county) and uploading them to Find A Grave he shouldn't have come across my memorial.  Someone was watching over me and he did and I got a correction submitted to me.  He had uploaded the picture and I was able to transfer the memorial over to the correct cemetery!

Looking at the tombstone it appears to be the funeral home's marker embedded in cement.  I don't know why she didn't have a more traditional tombstone.  Was this commonplace back in 1940?  I will be contacting the cemetery to find out and to seek answers for others questions.  Was her husband, Martin Joseph, buried in that cemetery?  He died in prison so perhaps not.  If they are buried together, does he have a marker?  Either way, I would like to see a more traditional marker put in place one day.  A genealogist can dream, right?

So why choose today to post Octavia's tombstone?  Well, this week is National Fire Prevention Week.  It takes place this week because the week of October 8th is when the Chicago Fire occurred...more importantly (and as stated in my previous post) the Peshtigo Fire occurred, which was much more destructive in the acreage burned and lives taken...and Octavia and her family managed to survive.  Not only did Octavia survive, but she lived for 69 years after the Peshtigo Fire!  Good for you, Octavia!

It's a great story, so if you haven't taken a peek just check out yesterday's post.  It's a repeat, but it'll be a post I always share on it's anniversary.  Had Octavia and her family not survived life for me would be completely different.  I would not have my wonderful husband and two beautiful boys.

A very special thanks to Mr BJ Brewer for not only taking the picture and emailing me the correction, but for kindly giving permission for me to use the photo in my blog.