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!

Funeral Card Friday - Eugene Dart

Thank you to Sally Marcelle for kind
permission to share this on my blog

I have a lot of memorial/funeral cards in my possession. As I was working on my family tree on Ancestry.com one of the hints that I was given was this memorial card. It was uploaded by Sally Marcelle to her family tree. Rather than just grabbing it and posting it here or attaching it to my tree I emailed her to ask permission to share it. She very kindly granted it.

Eugene Joseph Dart was the child of Jean Baptiste Dart Sr and Marie Josephe Podor. They had six or seven (I just potentially found a new one, but haven't confirmed it yet) children: Jean Baptiste Jr, Marie Julienne, (Ferdinande...maybe), Jules Joseph, Eugene Joseph, Marie Antoinette Josephine, and Desira. Eugene is my husband's great, great grandfather.

On April 29, 1871* in Robinsonville, Wisconsin Eugene married Josephine Hermans in the Robinsonville Chapel. Together they had 12 known children: Louisa, Charles Antone, Jean Baptiste, Odile, Adolphe, Jule, Desirea, Mary, August Joseph, William, Eli Joseph, and Wilbert. Their daughter, Mary, is my husband's great grandmother.

Eugene and Josephine are buried in St. Martin's Cemetery in Tonet, Wisconsin.

*According to Josephine's obituary the couple was married on 30APR1870. Eugene's has 30APR1871. The Wisconsin Marriage Index they were actually married 29APR1871. I'll have to see if I have a hard copy of that certificate in my possession or if I'll need to pull one over Christmas when I'm back in Wisconsin.

Mystery Monday - Died on Voyage

I've mentioned before that I've been working hard during the periods when I'm not in school to get through my family tree and attempt to cite and/or correct the information in there. I was rather sloppy in citing my research when I first started this addiction called genealogy about 15 years ago. While I know I'm not the only one that starts out this way it can be very frustrating when trying to clean that mess up.

So I was reviewing a post on Eugene Villers' tombstone and I included the names of his children in that post. I actually have dates of birth of each of those five children...with no citation for where I got that information. If I only had a time machine I could go back and give my younger self a piece of my mind. I have no idea where I got these dates. None. I can't recreate any search that would give me the information on Ancestry and I know that's where I would have gotten it. I did find the passenger list on the Trumbull in 1856 and it listed most everyone I had in my family tree. It did, however raise a few questions that I hope someone can help me answer.

Trumbull passenger list - Departed Antwerp, Belgium. Arrived New York, New York 22APR1856

You can see where the Eugene Villers family begins at line 113. His wife's name looks something like "Felix" but I'm actually not hung up on that. I've seen other passenger lists from Belgium where the mother's name was given as her maiden name and one where every child had it's mother's maiden name next to it. I'm not concentrating on that today though. I see Martin on line 115 and then two Maries/Marias (apparently twins and they did have different middle names), but no son for Eugene...named Eugene...like I have in my tree.

Now if you look closely squeezed in between line 119 and 120 is another Eugene Villers. At the end of the row for the person above him it says "died on the voyage." My mystery is did they squeeze this other Eugene Villers in there because they missed him by his parents? According to the unsourced information I have Eugene was born on January 19th, 1855 so he would have been an infant on the trip from Belgium. So if they were squeezing him in there and not by his parents was it because he too died on the voyage?

According to the manifest the Villers family's destination was Wisconsin, but so far I haven't been able to find them in the 1860 census. I'm certainly going to keep looking, but so far...nada. In the 1870 census this Eugene wasn't listed with his mom and dad and he would have been around 15. Mom and dad both died in the 1880s and so far the only obituary I could find for daddy-Eugene was a blurb saying he died. Only about two sentences long. I'm not hopeful about finding any other detailed obituary, but miracles do happen.

The other thing about this passenger list is that Pierre Louis Villers is missing. The unsourced information I have has his DOB being November 1853. Could Louis and Eugene be one and the same person? I'm thinking they could be especially since I did such a bang-up job in failing to cite my sources. Louis is in the other census records and they were close in age. Someone could have mistaken them for two different people...or they could have been two different people (sigh).

Either way, little-Eugene seems to have disappeared after the voyage and Louis appears. If this Eugene did die on the ship were death certificates created? If they where would they be found? Eugene (jr) isn't a direct ancestor for my husband and children, but it's still a mystery and researching lateral lines can lead to important breakthroughs...and my OCD side doesn't like a mystery. What do you think?

Sunday's Obituary - Adele Hermans nee Nellis

Clipping from family scrapbook*

Earlier I had been researching all of the information I had on the Nelis family. Because I had several clippings with that surname. Because most weren't in my family tree and I wanted to see if they belonged. This one was an easy post to do because I already had Adele Nelis in my family tree. I didn't have her location/date of birth or death. I didn't have her children. One clipping brought me a lot of information.

Taking where Adele was buried (Saint Joseph's Cemetery, Champion, WI) and I was able to search FindAGrave to see if there was a tombstone to check out. There wasn't, but there were memorials for Adele, George, and their daughter, Irene. I took the information created in the memorials and searched Ancestry.com for death records. I've now got potential death dates for Irene (09APR1961) and for George (22MAY1975) that I can use to pull obituaries and try to verify this potential information.

One small clipping can have enormous potential.

"Mrs. George Hermans

LUXEMBURG - Mrs. George Hermans, 80, Luxemburg, died suddenly Sunday evening at a local hospital. She was born Feb. 21, 1886 in Dyckesville. The former Adele Nellis married Mr. Hermans, Oct. 17, 1906 at St. Louis Church, Dyckesville.

Survivors include her husband; one son, Gouldie, Luxemburg, Rt. 2; one daughter, Mrs. Joseph (Myrtle) Vincent, New Franken, Rt. 1. One daughter, Irene, died five years ago. Seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren; one sister, Mrs. Norman (Laura) Ropson, Algoma; five brothers, Anton and Jule, both of Algoma; Goldie, Forestville; William, Champion; John, Green Bay.

At the McMahon Funeral Home, Luxemburg after 7 this evening. Rosary 8 tonight and tomorrow night. Funeral 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Joseph's Church, Champion, the Rev. H. E. McDonnell officiating. Burial in the church cemetery.

(handwritten Nov 27, 1966)"

*Clipping was taken from a family scrapbook. Date and paper of publication is unknown, but most likely was taken from the Green Bay Press-Gazette. The handwritten date refers to the date of death not the date of publication.

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!

Sunday's Obituary - Kate Dart nee Jadin

Clipping taken from family scrapbook

I blogged about Kate's husband, Charles Dart, previously and noted that in his obituary his wife's name was given as "Desira." It's not though. It's Kate and has been in every document and census record that I've come across. I'm sure that obituary went over like a lead balloon when the family saw it.

The obituary has some great information in it too. Dates for her birth and marriage as well as the date her husband passed away. It would have been nice to have her parents' names, but I'm not tracing back past Kate so it's irrelevant to me, but could be useful for another researcher.

Kate is buried in St. Martin's Cemetery in Tonet and has a FindAGrave memorial to visit.

"(Handwritten Feb 7, 1963)

Mrs. Kate Dart

LUXEMBURG - Mrs. Kate Dart, 81, Luxemburg, Rt. 3, died Thursday afternoon in a Green Bay hospital after an extended illness. The former Kate Jadin was born April 29, 1881, in Tonet, and married Charles Dart on Sept. 12, 1902 at St. Martin Church, Tonet. Her husband preceded her in death on June 10, 1935.

Survivors include one son, Fred J., Luxembourg, Rt. 3; one daughter, Mrs. John (Libbie) Jandrin, Algona, Rt. 1; six grandchildren; 15 great grandchildren; three sisters, Mrs. Josie Jacques, De Pere; Mrs. Louise Dart, Green Bay, and Mrs. Lena Dart, Luxembourg.

Friends may call at McMahon Funeral Home, Luxemburg, after 8 p.m. Saturday. The Rosary will be recited at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Martin Church, Tonet, with burial in the church cemetery."

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.

Sunday's Obituary - Mary Hermans nee Laurent

The Luxemburg News, 12DEC1924, pg1

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Tonet Resident Passed Away Last Monday

Mrs. Desire Hermans Dies Following Lingering Illness

(unk) Forty Seven Years of Age

Funeral Services Were Held Thursday Morning.

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

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

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

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

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

Funeral Card Friday - Edith Dart

Memorial Card - Edith Dart (reverse)

Memorial Card - Edith Dart

Last week I shared the memorial card for Eli Dart. Edith is Eli's wife, but I don't know her maiden name. As I mentioned I'll be pulling their obituaries whenever I get back to Wisconsin to check for a maiden name, but it's not always there. It's always frustrating to a genealogist to see someone listed in an obituary as "Mrs. Insert-Husband's-Full-Name-Here" and then no mention of who she was before she married him. I know it was how things were done, but it was stupid even back then (cue the righteously indignant). I'll stick with that though because people that may have known a woman in her childhood and didn't know who she married would have no idea that it was someone they wanted to pay their respects to when an obituary was posted in the newspaper. So I get that it was the norm for certain periods, but I'm going to exercise my right to grumble about it anyway.

Edith was born on July 10, 1899 and passed away on October 13, 1981 (FindAGrave memorial) about four months before her husband. They weren't separated for long. Rest in peace, Edith.

Sunday's Obituary - Charles Dart

Algoma Record-Herald, 21JUN1935, pg1

I had to do a double-take when I read his obituary and went to verify it with my family tree. This is my Charles. I looked up his obituary to get more information, but I had his wife down as "Kate" in the family tree. Do you know what else? His wife's name is Kate.

She's Kate on their tombstone. She's Kate in every stinking census record. I also have Kate's obituary (which I'll post later) that confirms it, although it lists her husband's death as June 10th not the 11th. Kate's maiden name was Jadin, so why she's listed as Desira is beyond me. Perhaps I'll figure that out one day.

As for Charles he was born on November 10, 1874 in Tonet to Eugene and Josephine Dart nee Hermans. He was the second oldest of 12 children. He was married on September 12, 1900 to Catherine Jadin (I've got the marriage certificate to prove it), and died June 11, 1935. He is my husband's great, great uncle.

"Charles Dart, Tonet Farmer, Dies of Cancer

TONET - Charles Dart, 61 years of age, a resident of Tonet, died Tuesday, June 11, after an illness of about eight months. Cancer of the liver was given as the immediate cause of death.

The funeral services for Mr. Dart were held from the St. Martin's church in Tonet at 10 o'clock last Thursday. The Rev. L. A. Dobblesteen conducted the services and interment was made at the Tonet cemetery.

Born in Tonet, Charles Dart resided there all his life. He died on his Tonet farm which was being rented and operated by his son, Fred, and family.

Deceased was married to Desira Jadin at the St. Martin's church in Tonet.

Surviving are: One son, Fred, living on the Dart farm in Tonet; one daughter, Mrs. John (Libbie) Mandarin, Lincoln; five brothers, August, John, William, all of Tonet, Eli, Bay Settlement, and Wilbur, Walhain, and three sisters, Mrs. Victor Laurent, Mrs. Louis Vandenhouten, both of Tonet, and Mrs. Mathy, Michigan. Three grandchildren also remain."

Wedding Wednesday - Cayemberg/Villers Golden Wedding Anniversary

Golden Wedding Anniversary of Eli and Florence Cayemberg nee Villers

Eli Cayemberg and Florence Villers were married on April 24th 1886 in Rosiere, Wisconsin. Their 50th anniversary would have been in 1936. Eli would pass on three years later. Together they had 14 known children Emily, Eugenia, Frank, John, Martin Joseph, Henry, Lucy, Louis Felix, Alice, Ella, Wilfred, Anastasia, Patrick, and Walter. Eli and Florence were my husband's great grandparents.

A very special thank you to Wendy Cayemberg and Fern Gouin nee Cayemberg for allowing me to post this photo!

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.

Sunday's Obituary - Wilbert Dart

Green Bay Press-Gazette
12JUN1984, pg C-6

Ha! Did I say I needed to pull Wilbert Dart's obituary the next time I was home? I take it back. I pulled it right out of my "Dart" file. It was just sitting there waiting for me to enter it into my blog and family tree. Done! This is one of the main reasons I'm slowly going through my files trying to sort it all and into my tree properly! Not only will my tree be sourced properly and with all the research I've already done, but it will actually make my research more effective because I won't be wasting time looking for things I already have!

"Wilbert Dart

Wilbert Dart, 87, Rt. 4, Luxemburg, died Monday evening at a Kewaunee nursing home. He was born Feb. 18, 1897 in Tonet to the late Eugene and Josephine (Hermans) Dart.

He served with the United States Army during World War I and married Alice Delveaux Dec. 30, 1920 at St. Francis Church, Duval.

His wife preceded him in death Dec. 15, 1976.

He operated a farm at Walhain until his retirement 22 years ago. Mr. Dart was a member of the World War I Barrack No. 3240 Kewaunee and the American Legion, Ralph Kline Post 262 of Luxembourg. He served 18 years on the Walhain school board.

He is survived by one daughter and son-in-law, Bertha and Sylvester Gaedtke, Rt. 4, Luxemburg; one granddaughter and grandson-in-law, Jill and Randy Bosman, Rt. 4, Luxemburg; two great grandsons, Barry and Bradley Bosman, Rt. 4, Luxemburg, and one sister-in-law, Mrs. Lucy Delveaux, Algoma.

He was preceded in death by one infant son, six brothers, and six sisters.

Friends may call at the McMahon Funeral Home, Luxemburg, from 2 to 9 p.m. Wednesday. World War I Barracks Memorial service at 4 p.m. Wednesday. American Legion memorial service 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Rosary 8 p.m. Wednesday. Wake service at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. Funeral 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Amand Church, Walhain, with the Rev. Christian O'Brien officiating. Entombment in The Shrine of the Good Shepherd Mausoleum.

American Legion military rites will follow services at the church."

The obituary for his wife, Alice Dart nee Delveaux, was posted previously.

Funeral Card Friday - Wilbert W Dart

Memorial Card - Wilbert W Dart (reverse)

Memorial Card - Wilbert W Dart

So far I've only found a handful of Dart memorial cards in my collection. Wilbert was already in my family tree with a good amount of source materials and research already done. What I don't have is an obituary for Wilbert but this memorial card is one of the places I can get a date of death from.

Wilbert is buried in the Shrine of the Good Shepherd Mausoleum in Nicolet Memorial Gardens, Green Bay, Wisconsin (FindAGrave memorial). The best place for me to look is going to be in the Green Bay Press-Gazette because he's being buried in Green Bay so he must have had family (or a reason) to choose Green Bay. According to the SSDI and the Wisconsin Death Index he died in Luxemburg, Kewaunee County, so if I don't find anything in the Press-Gazette I know where to check next.

Wilbert was a veteran of World War I. I'd love to have a distant cousin contact me and be willing to share a photo of him in uniform or a better photo in general than the two I have. One is from this memorial card and the other is from a newspaper clipping of his Golden Anniversary. With a photo of him in uniform or just a better one I'd be able to put him in my annual Veterans Day tribute. A gal can dream.

So Wilbert has a WWI Draft Registration Card on Ancestry.com, but that doesn't mean he served. What tells me he served was the BIRLS Death File entry that gives his dates of service from August 8, 1918 to September 2, 1919 and that he served in the Army (wish I had a rank too).

I have one child for Wilbert and Alice Dart nee Delveaux in my tree and her name is Bertha who passed away May 20, 2010.

Wedding Wednesday - Mr and Mrs Larry Laurent

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Villers-Laurent

(handwritten Aug 31, 1963)

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

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

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

Mystery Monday - Is This the Same Person?

I need a sanity check here because I really think that these two obituaries are for the same person. I shouldn't assume anything, but what are the chances of two Hermans men with the initials "J. B. " dying around the same time, in the same place, of the same ailment, and were buried in the same cemetery? Here's what I was looking at:

I printed his death certificate from the Wisconsin Historical Society. So John (Jean) Baptiste Hermans was 47 when he died, a farmer, from Belgium, married to Antoinette Dart, and his parents' names were Charles Antoin Hermans and Josephine Landvick (her name has been spelled differently in so many places, but they're all similar). You can also see that he died of apoplexy in Martinsville on October 30, 1892. It all seems pretty straight forward, right? I thought so too so based on his death I went to two local papers at the society to look for death notices around that time. Normally pre-1900 newspapers are the bane of my existence, but in this case I not only found one clipping, but two. I don't know which one I located first, but both were brief. I spent the time looking for another clipping in the off-chance that another would yield more information.

The Kewaunee Enterprise, 04NOV1892, pg8

The first news clipping is from The Kewaunee Enterprise on Friday, November 4th, 1892:

"-Died of apoplexy, on Oct. 30, 1892, Mr. J. B. Hermans, of Tonet, town of Luxembourg: His remains were interred in the Catholic church cemetery at Martinsville on Wednesday, Nov. 2nd, Rev. Father Van Huyter officiating. Deceased was about 45 years old and leaves a wife and about 8 children, besides his aged mother, a brother and two sisters, to mourn his loss."

This is obviously the John Baptiste Hermans in the death certificate even though they got the age wrong at least they said "about 45 years old" and I'd say 47 is "about" 45. I did like the fact that this clipping told me that he had one brother, two sisters, and (about) eight children. I'm trying to round out and firm up this part of my tree and I only had one sister for him and she's my hubby's ancestor. Even though there isn't a ton of information via the name department in here I do see dates for his death and even burial which is more than I've come to expect from most of these really old clippings. So here, I'm certain I have the right guy. Then there's this article:

The New Era, 09NOV1892, pg1

"Mr. Joseph B. Hermans, one of the most prominsnt (sic) farmers in Red River died last Sunday from a stroke of apoplexy. He was well up to a few moments of his death, and died almost without warning. He was 47 years old, and a highly respected man. He was buried on Tuesday from the Catholic church at Walhain, Rev. Fr. Van Huyster officiating. He was a native of Belgium, and leaves a wife and a large family of children."

Here his name is listed as "Joseph" which I could ignore if everything else was the same. The New Era is another Kewaunee County newspaper and this clipping was in the Wednesday, November 9th, 1892 edition. He made the front page even though the article was brief. The rest of the information is just slightly "off." First the name was wrong then we see Red River and Walhain mentioned not Tonet and Luxemburg. This doesn't bother me much because they're all in the same general area. In fact Wisconsin sometimes breaks areas down to unincorporated communities so while one newspaper may have just given the nearest town the other may have given the community name. The age is different than the other article, but here it's the correct age. Here it says he was buried on Tuesday. In 1892 November 8th was a Tuesday and November 1st was as well. The first article said he was buried November 2nd which was a Wednesday. Not the same burial dates, but this could be a mistake in either article. This article says he died last Sunday. My guy did die on a Sunday, but it was Sunday, October 30th not Sunday, November 6th. When they said Sunday could they have meant the one before? He's buried in the same place and I think eight children is a pretty large family even back when lots of kids was common.

So if the only thing that was different was the first name I could get over that, but there's enough different in this second article that even though logic and instinct tell me that it's the same person I begin to wonder. No it doesn't make a huge difference. I have a clipping for my guy and the second article doesn't change that, but I wonder if I should be looking for another Hermans dying around the same time as well. A search on the Wisconsin Historical Society's page turns up nothing for the Hermans I'm looking for in death records...not even the death certificate that I originally pulled. They've "updated" their search engine and it's crap and I've voiced that opinion to them. Just because the terrible search results didn't give me a Joseph Hermans doesn't mean much since the results also didn't give me John Baptiste Hermans. So should I waste time in the society when I get the next opportunity to scan the Kewaunee County death records to see if there are two or is this the same person? Thoughts?

Amanuensis Monday - The Obituary of William Nellis

Another Nellis clipping from my family scrapbook, but it doesn't really get me too much closer to whether they belong in my tree. There are Hermans in my tree but that line is poorly developed. Perhaps this obituary will come in handy in the future. Who knows?

"(Handwritten Oct 24, 1971)

William Nellis

William Nellis, 83, Dyckesville, died at home Sunday morning after a short illness. The son of the late Oliver and Emily Nellis married Katherine Bodart oct. 2, 1912. The couple farmed in Dyckesville until retirement about 15 years ago. Mr. Nellis was clerk for the Martinsville School from 1935 to 1955. He was preceded in death by one brother, Jule, and three sisters, Adele Hermans, Mary Prevost, and Odile Hermans.

Survivors are his wife; one son, Donald, Green Bay; four daughters, Mrs. Walter (Odile) Ducat, and Mrs. Edwin (Evelyn) Legois, both of Champion; Mrs. Marvin (Caroline) Jonet, Bay Settlement; Mrs. Wilfred (Virgil) Jonet, Dyckesville; 16 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; three brothers, Antone and John, both of Green Bay; Goldie, Forestville; one sister, Mrs. Norman (Laura) Robson, Algoma.

At Malcore Funeral Home after 7 this evening. Rosary each evening at 8, Tuesday by the Rev. Damian Wieber. Funeral 10 a.m. Wednesday, St. Joseph Catholic Church, Champion. Burial in church cemetery."

So the obituary did mention a Donald Nellis. The bigger question is if this is the Donald Nellis I blogged about earlier?

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

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)

Amanuensis Monday - A Brief Note on Eugene Villers

I previously shared a post on the tombstone for Eugene Villers. While I was unable to find an obituary for him I did find a death notice in The Ahnapee Record. A very brief notice. Perhaps there was a longer one in another paper or perhaps I just missed it entirely. I'll freely admit that I hate, hate, hate, hate, HATE searching pre-1900 newspapers. The type is so small and I don't often find what I'm looking for. I have yet to discover the method to their publishing madness. I'm fairly certain I was nearly blind by the time I found this notice and was deliriously happy to have found anything.

The Ahnapee Record, 14JUN1883, pg3

"Eugene Villers, of Lincoln, father of M. Joseph Villers, of this city, died last Sunday. The funeral took place Tuesday from Rosiere church, Rev. F. Valliant officiating."

I put down on my research calendar that I need to look in the Lincoln and Rosiere newspapers. Now that I know where he died and was laid to rest I may be able to find something more there.