Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve and tonight we'll be spending Christmas together with all of my in-laws.  On Christmas Day everyone stays at their own houses (or their respective in-law's) to open presents and relax.  This night is for all of my Green Bay family to be together.  My brother-in-law, Mike, will be in charge of making the tenderloin, perhaps with some assistance from my brother-in-law, Joe, who will be bringing his delicious Stromboli to the feast.  My mother-in-law, Dolores, will be bringing her carrots with dill, and my sister-in-law, Lori Ann, will most likely bring her beer dip.  Everyone else will bring drinks or dishes that are needed to make the meal a success.  My sister-in-law, Cindy, will be working tirelessly all day to make ready for everyone's arrival tonight, since she is hosting the event this year.  I'll be bringing my camera in hopes that I can get all of the kids (18 months to adult in age) to sit still for a group photo (better charge my batteries)!

The kids will get to open the presents that their aunts and uncles got them (everyone pays an agreed upon amount into the "pot" a certain amount for each nephew/niece and the presents are bought as a group.  It makes it easier than having to worry about buying a present for each niece/nephew...and more cost effective!).  Then the presents are exchanged from Secret Santas (the kids and adults drew names on Thanksgiving and had to shop for one person).  Finally, the White Elephant pass around will occur.  A $10 present is passed around as a story is read.  Every time you hear the word "left" or "right" in the story that's the direction the present goes until the story is over.  The guys have their own pass around.  The girls have theirs, and the kids have a candy pass around.

There will be some drinking of soda, coffee, and beer (this IS Wisconsin) .  When dinner is served we'll remember those who are no longer with us to celebrate, but who are no doubt watching over us, especially my father-in-law, Patrick, who was the original maker of the beef tenderloin (recipe posted here).

Eventually, we'll all head back to our respective homes and my husband will read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to our boys before they set out Santa's cookies and milk, and put the stockings by the fireplace.  Then it's off to bed and time for mommy and daddy to get to work doing what we do.  Early mass on Christmas morning and then it's time to open the presents and stockings.  My trusty camera will be at my side throughout...maybe there'll even be a picture or two of me taken this year.  After all, it is the season of miracles!

So from the entire Cayemberg family, may you have a Merry Christmas!

Follow Friday - A Brief Edition

Blogging has been a bit sparse as the Holidays grow near.  I'm enjoying family and hope you all are as well!

I've seen so many great posts in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories, but this one by Amy Coffin, I just had to share.  I love the idea!  Check out a great idea by her mom for what to do with all those Christmas cards and Holiday photos!

Jen Woods over at Climbing My Family Tree had a great post idea.  It was simple, but brilliant.  She posted a signature from an ancestor she found in a probate packet.  It's really the little things that make you feel great about a find.  Do you have any ancestor's signatures? Did they give you an extra special feeling when you saw them?

At Renee's Genealogy Blog a cute poem was posted about grandma and her genealogy addiction.  In my case it would be mommy!

An excellent point (and one that is still valid today).  I always find it amazing how the story changes depending on the outcome of a war/conflict.  A perfect illustration of that in this post by Donald Shaffer on the Civil War Emancipation blog.  While I agree that we may never know if this exchange took place, we can most likely check newspapers for all the blustering opinions of the day!

Save A Grave shared a post from the Archdiocese of Washington about the oddest mausoleum, I've ever seen.  When space is at a premium...build up!  I agree with the concern of upkeep.  We've all seen what happens to old cemeteries and the thought of a 32-story deteriorating mausoleum is scary!

I hate knee-jerk reactions.  I hate jerks two and this has them both!  Legislators trying to take away the Social Security Death Index because it will help stop fraud/identity theft.  Just shows the ignorance of many of those that make our laws.  Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak makes some excellent points.  Maybe she should run for office!

Until next post, have fun tending those roots!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Cookies

While my Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories posts aren’t matching up with the prompt of the day, I still want to share them.  And how could I not share a cookie recipe?  This isn’t a recipe that I remember from my childhood.  It’s a recipe that my mom remembers her mom making for them.  I will certainly be trying it out when I get back home after the holidays!  I’ll be sure to add a picture of the finished product as well!

Sand Tarts

½ c. shortening                                                          ¼ tsp salt

1 c sugar                                                                    ½ c almonds, blanched

1 egg, beaten                                                             1 egg white

2 c cake flour                                                             1 tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder                                                  ¼ tsp cinnamon

Cream shortening and sugar thoroughly.  Add beaten egg and dry ingredients which have been sifted together.  Chill dough until stiff.  Roll out 1/8 inch thich and cut with various shaped cutters.  Press ½ almond in the center of each, brush tops of cookies with egg white and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees F) 10 minutes.  This makes 76 cookies 2 ½ -inch diameter.  A crisp cookie which keeps well.

VARIATION – Roll thin, cut with tiny bridge-set cutters, bake 5 minutes, remove from oven and cool.  Frost with Peppermint Spread and while moist outline each with candy beads.

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.

On the road...

I hope everyone is having a great week.  We're on our way to Green Bay for some Christmas cheer, although apparently without snow (very bummed about that).  No posts until Monday or Tuesday, but I'll be keeping up on all the other great blogs out there on my Reader.  Have fun this weekend!

Those Places Thursday - DLI the 1st Time Around

The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, California.  That's where I went after Basic Training and that's where I spent just under a year learning Russian for the Army.  I've got loads of fond memories from my time there.  I was in Foxtrot Company.  Lived and went to school "up the hill"...and the hills on DLI are no joke.  They're evil.

I would (like everyone else) sneak through a hole in the fence to get to the local grocery store.  Because going through the hole in the fence was much faster than going through the gate.  This also meant that whenever the installation would fix the fence it didn't last long.  Within weeks it would open up again, but we didn't complain.  We often thought they should have just put a gate up there!

The best way to describe DLI is a weird cross between the military and college.  Once we passed our inspections at 4 weeks, we had loads of freedom.  Freedom that you wouldn't expect for Soldiers in training.  We weren't complaining though!  We went to school Monday through Friday for about 8 hours.  That was our job.  Go to school and learn your language.  Sure we did PT in the mornings and some training in the afternoons, but usually our leaders did their best to not give us too much to do.  Why?  Because we usually had lots of homework.  If you didn't have homework, you should be spending time studying (yeah, I'll get right on that...).

Our teachers were great.  Sweet little Russian ladies (and one American gentleman) taught us.  Mrs Rubenstein was in charge of the schoolhouse and you did not mess with her.  We complained the whole time...who could learn this crazy language!?!  I'm never going to be able to understand Cyrillic!  God bless them for tolerating us!  And, of course, they were right.  We learned Russian just fine...most of us anyway.  There were those that couldn't handle the intensity of the course and ended up being reclassed into another job, but we had a pretty big graduating class, as can be seen from the picture above.  I'm on the left, in the second row.  The Private First Class with the sun in my face between the two Russian ladies.  The dark-haired lady to the right was my "homeroom" teacher...Mrs. Turin.  She was awesome.  She was sweet, and we loved her like a mom. She treated us like her kids and almost always had a smile for us.

We often times gave "code names" to our various teachers.  Mrs Turin was occasionally referred to as "mom".  Then there was "Lady Flip-Flop head" because one teacher always bounced her head back and forth.  "The Red Dragon" because, we'll she had red hair and some people thought she was mean (I rather liked her though).  "The Babbler", she well...babbled.  Even though we gave them these nicknames, we were still very respectful to them.  We just saw it as harmless fun.

It's easy looking back fondly at those times, but in reality it was one of the hardest things I had done at that point in my life.  Sure, we had fun when we weren't in class, but you had to or you'd snap (and there were those Soldiers that snapped and had to be committed).

We didn't have Drill Sergeants at DLI when I went through for training and it was very hard to leave after having a year of freedom and heading to our next training assignment...and back to Drill Sergeants.  We managed, of course, but it wasn't ideal.  What is though?

Ah, well.  Good memories...and I'd end up back there again within 5 years of leaving.  But that's a different Thursday!

Wedding Wednesday - Victor and Mary Laurent

Like I said on Sunday, I knew I had a picture/clipping of their anniversary somewhere!

"Married 50 Years - Mr. and Mrs. Victor Laurent [sic] of Tonet, Kewaunee County, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary today.  They were married in St. Martin's Catholic Church at Tonet, and have spent their entire married life in the community on the Laurent [sic] homestead farm.  They have three children, ten grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. (Photo by Edward Christensen)"

Unfortunately the clipping doesn't have a date on it, but I know that Victor and Mary Laurent nee Dart were married in 1906.  So it should be from 1956 and look so happy after 50 years together!

Victor and Mary's Wedding

Victor and Mary's 50th anniversary