Sunday's Obituary - Marie G. Turnbach nee Guckavan

Hazleton Standard Speaker,
12NOV2001, pg2

Marie Turnbach nee Guckavan was the mother of my cousin, William Turnbach Jr.  When I first started out researching my genealogy, my electronic path crossed Bill's quite quickly.  We corresponded by email and regular mail a few times.  He always was eager to share information with me and others researching our shared family history.  Bill was a wealth of knowledge and brought many of us in this line together to continue on even after he passed in 2006.

As I was looking through my family tree and updating sources I came across this obituary for his mom that had been clipped and mailed to me (now if only I could remember who sent it...).  It's an impressive obituary.  I like to think that Bill had a hand in writing it, especially considering all the wonderful information detailed in there.  I never actually met Bill or his mother, but I'm sure my mom, aunt and uncle may have considering her ties to education in the Hazleton area.  In fact many of my ancestors were educators as well and I'm sure they knew her.  So today I'm sharing this well done obituary for this busy force of a woman.

"Marie G. Turnbach

Marie G. Turnbach, 101, died Saturday evening at Mercy Center, Dallas, where she had been a resident for the past seven years.

Mrs. Turnbach would have celebrated her 102nd birthday in two weeks.

Born in McKee's Rocks, Allegheny County, she was the daughter of the late James D. and Catherine (Corrigan) Guckavan.

She attended St. Gabriel's High School, and was a graduate of Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Class of 1919.  Prior to marrying, she taught in the Hazleton public schools, and, in later years, had substituted in the Hazleton Area School District and at St. Gabriel's School, in the elementary grades.

Mrs. Turnbach, along with her husband, the late William M. Turnbach, founded the Turnbach Funeral Home (Inc.), Hazleton.

She was an active member of St. Gabriel's Roman Catholic Church, Hazleton, taught Confraternity of Christian Doctrine classes until the age of 90, and was one of the founders of the parish's Golden Agers, of which she served as president for two terms.

When Penn State University throated to close down the local campus, during the 1940s, Mrs. Turnbach was instrumental in maintaining a branch in the Hazleton area.  She served on the college's educational council for 30 years and served as treasurer for 25 years.

Preceding her in death, in addition to her parents and husband, were her son, James A. Turnbach, local funeral director and former mayor of Hazleton; and daughters, Sister Marie Turnbach and Kathleen Finn.

Surviving are a son, William M. Turnbach, Trappe: daughters, Sister Ann Turnbach, Dalla, and Beth Turnbach, Hazleton; 15 grandchildren; 30 great-grandchildren; and a sister, Sister Elizabeth Guckavan, Dallas.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. in the Blessed Sacrement Chapel of Mercy Center, Dallas.

Burial will take place in St. Gabriel's Cemetery, Hazleton.

Friends may call at the Blessed Sacrament Chapel on Tuesday from 4 to 8 p.m. and Wednesday from 9 to 10:15 a.m.

Donations to the Sisters of Mercy Retirement Fund, Mercy Center, Lake Street, Dallas, Pa., 18612 or to the memorial fund of St. Gabriel's R.C. Church, 122 S. Wyoming St., Hazleton, Pa. 18201 would be appreciated by the family.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Turnbach Funeral Home Inc., 423 W. Broad St., Hazleton."

Family Reunion Friday - Cayemberg Family 1947

The Cayemberg reunion in its 10th year reached 114 people in attendance. Not too shabby if you ask me and by the looks of it they had a pretty good time. I talked previously about the need to have games at the reunion. Here you can see that they played baseball and tennis, but they could have played almost anything as long as it appealed to the family. It's important to know what your group enjoys to do!

There are plenty of free tools online that you can use to take a survey. Just do a search and see which one you find most user friendly. If you don't want to deal with creating an online survey just ask people! Does your committee use social media? Put the question out there! If you aren't using social media, why aren't you using social media?!?!?!

If your reunion hasn't made it into the 21st century with technology, that's OK. You can always ask for input at planning meetings or even at the current reunion. What better place to corner a group and ask what they'd like to do to keep them coming back. Just remember that asking and not following through with any of the suggestions is more likely to frustrate than invigorate.

Don't be afraid to ask for input and don't be too big for your britches to use ideas that don't appeal to you. I know that I'm not a tennis player....come to think of it, I'm fairly pathetic at any sport...but if people told me they wanted tennis, or baseball, or arm wrestling for that matter, I'd want to make them happy. Heck, as long as I'm physically able I'd get in there and participate. They'd probably go home with some comical memories of their relative that smacked herself in the face with a tennis racquet! Just make memories and keep them coming back!

"Cayemberg Family Has 10th Reunion

(Handwritten '1947')

Four generations of the Cayemberg family, totaling 114 persons, met at Pemperin park Sunday for the family's tenth family reunion.

The reunion began at noon with a dinner for the family and baseball and tennis were played in the afternoon.  Races were won by Wally Cayemberg, Shelley Jean Guillette, Anston; Ben Matuszak, Algoma; Florence and Cy Blohowiak, Denmark; Bob Fellows, Shirley Cayemberg, Manitowoc, and Marie Cayemberg, Ensign, Mich.

Mrs. Frank Motquin won the door prize which was made by Mrs. Florence Cayemberg, who is the grandmother of the family and spoke at the dinner.  Mrs. Harvey Moureau and Mrs. Russell Anderson were chairmen of this year's reunion.

Mrs. Joseph Wattawa, Reedsville, and Mrs. Rose Christianson, Casco, have been named chairmen of the June, 1948, reunion.

Members of the family from Ensign, Mich., Milwaukee, Reedsville, Casco, New Franken, Luxemberg, Algoma, Manitowoc, Two Rivers, Rosiere, Sawyer, Anston, Pulask, Kunesh and Rio Creek attended the family celebratino (sic)."

The clipping was taken from a scrapbook handed down to me by my mother in law.  No newspaper name was given, but other reunion articles were from the Green Bay Press Gazette.

Sunday's Obituary - SGT Lester V Kuehl, part 2

Last Sunday I posted the first two clippings of what would be considered Lester Kuehl's obituary.  The first two announced his death as a Soldier in World War II in France.  His remains were interred in France and in 1948 they were finally brought home to Wisconsin for his family to bury.

"The casketed remains of Sergeant Lester V. Kuehl arrived at Kewaskum aboard the 9:48 p.m. northbound Chicago & North Western train yesterday (Wednesday evening) accompanied by a uniformed escort from the Chicago distribution center, American Graves Registration service.  The sergeant was the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Kuehl, Kewaskum.

The members of the American Legion post of Kewaskum met the casket at the depot and escorted it to the Miller Funeral home, Kewaskum.

Funeral services will be held today (Thursday) at 1:30 p.m. at the funeral home, and at 2 p.m. at Salem Reformed church, Wayne Center, where the Rev. Carl Flueckinger will preside.  Members of the Kewaskum legion post will attend services in a body and proved military rites at the graveside.  The officers of Salem church will also attend the funeral in a group.

Sergeant Kuehl was killed in action Aug. 9, 1944, at Les-Monta Borme, France, while serving with Company A, 112th Infantry regiment, 28th Infantry division.  The remains had been interred in the United States Military cemetery at LeChene-Guerin, France, and were returned to this country aboard the army transport Carroll Victory which docked in New York on Oct. 6.

He was born Aug. 25, 1920, in the town of Wayne, and was employed on his father's farm before entering the army on September 29, 1942 with the largest group of inductees from this county.

He received training at Camp Livingston, La., and Camp Pickett, Va., before going overseas in October of 1943.  Stationed in England until July, 1944, he then went to France with his outfit where he lost his life.  He attained the age of 24 years.

Survivors are his parents, a sister Winonea (Mrs. LeRoy Strean) of Sheboygan; three brothers, Romand of St. Kilian, Marvin of the town of Wayne, Elmer on the homestead near St. Kilian; his grandmother, Mrs. Emilia Kuehl, 12 nieces and nephews."

When I first looked at the obituary I had thought the handwritten year was in error because I knew he had died in 1944.  Why was this dated four years later?  I knew service members were buried overseas, but what I hadn't realized was that didn't mean they stayed buried overseas.  I had no idea who determined if they stayed or if they came back.  It just was something that happened.  I had no urge to find out the whys until seeing this clipping.

And for your cliff-hanger I'm not going to tell you the whys right now.  I'm actually still doing some research on it all and I want to get a clearer picture before I share.  I'm also trying to find out what exactly was going on around the day that Lester was killed.  I've read some on it, but nothing conclusive.  I'll share it all in a future post though.  Until then, "To Be Continued..."

(This clipping was passed on to me by my mother-in-law.  I don't know which Wisconsin newspaper the clipping came from)

Family Reunion Friday - Cayemberg Family 1946

The Cayemberg Family Reunion was only in its infancy when this little snippet was published in a Wisconsin newspaper.  It was only the 9th reunion, but 94 family members were in attendance.  They took pictures.  They played games.  They.  Had.  FUN!!!

When reunions begin sure there's lots of enthusiasm.  That's to be expected.  People think keeping the enthusiasm is hard, but why is that?  Do you have an annual water balloon toss?  Baking contest? A family reunion baseball or football game that everyone loved playing in?  A tug-of-war? Why did you stop having them?  Was it because Uncle Bill was getting too old to play?  What about Billy Jr?  Maybe Uncle Bill can't play anymore, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't enjoy cheering on his branch of the family.  That he wouldn't enjoy watching his cousins, children and grandchildren make the same memories he had made in reunions past!

Focusing on what the aging portion of a reunion can and cannot do and basing your itinerary on that is a sure-fire way to bore the heck out of the younger crowd.  Heck...you're probably boring the heck out of the older crowd too!  Make sure you incorporate fun into the day so that the enthusiasm that was at the 9th reunion is still there for the 79th, 89th or 99th reunion!

"Cayemberg Family Has 9th Reunion

('Handwritten 1946')

Pamperin Park was the meeting place for the ninth family reunion of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Eli Cayemberg.

There were 94 members of the family at the dinner Sunday, including great-grandchildren.  The reunion was an all day affair at which the family pictures were taken and those present signed the record book.

Games were played with winner being:  Adelbert Guillette, Tonet; Marie Cayemberg, Ensign, Mich.; Nancy Cayemberg, Manitowos; Gladys Carrie Cayemberg, Green Bay, race winners; Mrs Wallace Guillette, Tonet, door prize; Mrs. Thersia Massert, Rosin and Byron Gregor, Rio Creek, guessing games.

Mrs. Edward Van Ben Den and Mrs Jerry Tilkens were the co-chairmen for the reunion.  Mrs. Florence Cayemberg received a gift from the family.

Next year the family will hold their tenth reunion at Pamperin Park again.  Mrs. Russell Anderson and Mrs. Harvey Moureau have been named as 1947 chairman.  Only one son, Wilfred, Manitowoc, was unable to attend."

The clipping was taken from a scrapbook handed down to me by my mother in law.  No newspaper name was given, but other reunion articles were from the Green Bay Press Gazette.

An Historic Shipwreck...and a Bloggiversary

"The Royal Charter off Moelfre"
Image used with permission of E. D. Walker
http://www.edwalkermarine.com/

This is a repost.  It's the first post I ever made to my blog back on October 26th 2010.  I've been doing this for four years now, with far too much blog-neglect in between.  This story was one of the main reasons I decided to start a genealogy blog.  It's a story that I found interesting the moment I heard it and it's a story that touches my heart.  I think of Manus probably more than almost any other ancestor.  I think of the hardship he must have endured to travel so far from his family and the tragedy that kept them from ever uniting again.  Unlike stated in the post below it is now 2014 and we're marking the 155th anniversary of this wreck. A wreck famous in Wales, but for the most part unknown in the States.

October 26, 2010 is the 151st anniversary of my great-great-great grandfather, Manus Maurice Boyle's, death in the shipwreck of the Royal Charter. He worked in the coal mines of northeastern Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Alice Monaghan, were both Irish immigrants and longed for a better life for their two daughters, Bridget Mary and Anna. He left Pennsylvania in September 1856 to go to Australia to mine for gold in hopes of a better future for his family. He was returning to his family from Australia in the autumn of 1859. The Royal Charter would have taken him back to Britain. No one knows what ship he was to board to return to America. No one knows what fortunes, if any, he was returning from Australia with. During the last leg of his journey to Liverpool a hurricane struck. There was no advanced warning. None existed prior to that date.

The winds that raged over 100 mph changed from East to North/Northeast and the bay (Moelfre Bay) which Captain Taylor had hoped would shelter them became the instrument of their demise. The anchors that had been weighed, snaped in the first hours of the morning of October 26th and the ship was repeatedly thrown against the rocks until it split and sank. Of more than 480 passengers and crew only 41 survived. No women or children were saved.

The valiant efforts of one of the crew, Joe Rogers, and the inhabitants of the Moelfre coast were what enabled even those 41 to be saved. The storm had caused damage to one of the Moelfre homes and as residents were repairing the roof in the early hours of the morning they saw the ship in peril. They woke the town and 28 local men made a human chain in the violent waters of the bay to attempt to rescue those aboard. Joe Rogers took a line from the ship and swam to shore, being turned back in the violent waves of the storm at least 3 times before reaching the men on shore. The rope was used in an attempt to bring those from the vessel ashore.

Sadly, many of the passengers on the ship jumped or were thrown overboard. The bulkiness of the clothes of the time coupled with the fact that many had money belts and pockets filled with gold inhibited their efforts to the deadliest of degrees. Had they abandoned their garments and treasure many more may have survived.

There was over 322,000 pounds (British monetary unit) of gold aboard the ship. This was the amount insured back in 1859 and does not include the gold the passengers kept on their persons. I do not know the equivalent in today's currency the gold would be valued at, but it would obviously be substantially higher. The large amount of money combined with the rumors of "good fortune" that surrounded the town after the wreck led to the shipwreck being called the Golden Wreck.

The village church of Saint Gallgo became the collection point for the bodies. The Reverends Stephen Roose Hughes and his brother Reverend Hugh Robert Hughes paid the local inhabitants to bring the bodies to the church, a difficult trek up the rocky shores to the church made monetary remuneration the only way to persuade the locals to take on the grim task. They saw to the burial of those killed and personally answered over 1000 letters received begging a response regarding loved ones. The stress from this caused the Reverend Stephen Hughes' life to be cut short. He died a few years later.

The church at Saint Gallgo still exists today and each year remembers those lost in this tragedy. Monuments stand to remember those lost. A distant cousin of mine Debbie Fay Buch and her husband, Josh Buch, placed a memorial stone at Saint Gallgo Church in August 2004. It reads:

Manus Maurice Boyle
1833-1859
Never Recovered from the Royal Charter
Placed by the Fay Family
Hazleton, PA USA 2004

I don't sit around depressed over the fact that this is the anniversary of my ancestor's death. What would have happened had he come home with gold from Australia? My 2nd great grandmother, Anna Boyle, may never have met her husband, Martin Blanchfield, and I would never have been born. Sometimes good can come from tragedy. People's fortunes can improve or worsen causing them to make decisions that determine the outcome of their history and sometimes other people's histories. It does sadden me to know that Manus was never to hold his youngest daughter, Anna. She was born 2 months after he left for Australia. It saddens me to know that his last thoughts were most likely of a family that he would not see again in this world. Or perhaps his last thoughts were of a determination to survive and get back to them. A determination that was matched by the ferocity of the circumstances in which he found himself. It saddens me knowing that he did not die the "peaceful" death of drowning for the majority of those lost were broken on the rocks of the bay. The passengers and crew of the Royal Charter died so close to shore that even today the wreck can be seen below the surface of the waters from the bay's shoreline. Still there, resting peacefully below the water.

It is not everyone that can say their ancestor's demise was written about in books. I have read two that write of the Royal Charter. One by Alexander McKee, "The Golden Wreck: The Tragedy of the Royal Charter" is out of print, but it tells of the voyage from Australia to it's wreck, the recovery of the remains of the victims and the trial of the crew that survived. I have read the account of the shipwreck written by the great Charles Dickens (yes, I said Charles Dickens wrote about this tragedy!) in his book "The Uncommercial Traveller" (only about the first 20 or so pages of the book are dedicated to this wreck. It's a series of 34 books and this is in volume 24. The entire series tells of Dickens' travels as he IS the Uncommercial Traveller).

I take this time today to remember a man I never knew, but love nevertheless. As a genealogist it can be hard to convey to those that do not research their ancestry that while we may never have met these names that appear in our family trees, we feel a closeness that defies explanation.

Rest in Peace, Grandpa. You will be remembered by your many descendants.

Family Reunion Friday - The Committee

Who's on your family reunion's committee?  Who should be on your family reunion's committee?  How long should they be on the committee?  Should they be elected?  When should you hold elections?  Are all family groups being represented?

Have you ever known a family reunion to be run by one person or a very small group of people year after year?  And year after year that group gets smaller and smaller and new blood never seems to find its way in which usually means new ideas usually don't find their way in.  This is a one way ticket to a terminal end to your reunion.

That's not to say that those people that take on so much shouldn't be recognized.  They absolutely should and they do so much, however the best intentions can turn sour quickly.  People tend to like the way they do things and if you make a suggestion it can be taken as criticism quickly depending on that person's personality.  People often feel that they are "stuck" in the position of coordinating the reunion and can quickly become jaded.  "How dare you make a suggestion when I'm the one doing all the work!?!?!"

Here's a great question for those people..."WHY are you doing all the work?"  Many would say that it's because no one else volunteers.  Time for some hard words.  Some people won't volunteer to do it because of how hard this person/group of people makes it seem.  They drum up the drama as to their family reunion martyrdom and how much time they've given and how unappreciated they are.  Others look at it and think, "Well, I just don't have time for all that."  The reality is that with a properly elected committee it really doesn't take that much to coordinate a reunion...or it shouldn't.  Let me explain...

I served as a PTO president for one year.  I then served as a PTA president for two years.  I have been an adult leader in Cub Scouts for five years.  What do these positions bring to this discussion?  In each one of those groups finding people to take part in running the groups is extremely difficult.  It shouldn't be.  They value and use the groups so why do they hesitate to take part in running them?  Because they are under the false impression that it takes up too much of their time.  It shouldn't.  Sure there are leaders that are always looking to do more and spend a lot of time working to improve these groups, but the truth is that if there are enough people filling the leadership and committee positions then the work isn't that intensive.  Many hands make light work.  It's true.

Poor leadership can stifle a group.  A "president" of a committee doesn't actually do much, but you'll see some of them try to do everything.  This is deadly to a group because it undervalues the other members of the board.  No one likes a micro-manager and there's a very good reason why.  You have volunteers that work hard to make something a success and someone comes along and tries to do it for them.  That volunteer won't consider that being helpful.  That member might not come back.  A president guides the board and diffuses conflict.  A president is NOT a voting member except in the case of a tie vote.  A president can politely remind other committee leaders about upcoming deadlines and check up on work being done between meetings.  With a well-run family reunion committee the president should be quite bored.

The vice-president should be even more bored.  S/he has very little to do except when the president cannot attend meetings.  Then the VP takes the president's place.

The secretary takes notes at the meetings the committee holds, types them up and sends them to the board for corrections.  Many PTO/PTAs vote on approving the minutes at the following meeting which is fine, but the minutes need to be sent out to everyone as soon as the board suggests any corrections.  This would usually take place prior to the next meeting.  You don't ever want to withhold information from the families in your family reunion.  Individuals may not be on the committee, but that doesn't mean they don't want to know what's being planned.  Minutes can be distributed on a reunion website, blog or email.  You'd probably be surprised at the interest generated just by sending out the minutes.  You might get useful insight from a family member or even a volunteer!

The treasurer handles the money.  S/he works the deposits and signs the checks (although you should have 2 signers minimum on the bank account and each check).  The treasurer prepares the budget with the input given by the committee.  This may sound like a lot, but let's think about it.  The treasurer isn't actually coming up with all the input for the budget.  You'd have a budget meeting and take input from those in attendance.  You'll vote on what should be put into the budget (trust me...not everything is budget-worthy).  You'll prioritize the items in the budget and decide what types of fundraising will be done and a goal for each fundraiser.  Your fundraising efforts determine what actually gets funded in the budget.  All this isn't done by the treasurer, but by the committee and those in attendance in the budget meeting.  The treasurer organizes it all into the budget and then checks will go out only for things that have been approved in the budget.

You can have plenty of other people on your family reunion committee.  A fundraising chair.  A public relations chair (think newspapers).  An entertainment chair.  Essentially think of something you want to do at the reunion and you can create a committee for it.  Committees spread the workload.  Don't worry about having too many committees.  Spread the responsibility.  Giving people small, accomplishable tasks will make them come back for more.  It will make them feel invested in the reunion.  They will start to take ownership of it and you will breathe much needed life back into a dying event.

Tuesday's Tip - Say That Again?

Have you ever searched for someone in a census record, a death certificate, birth certificate...heck the list goes on and on...and couldn't find them because of the spelling variations?  Of course you have!  We've all been there.  Even the most experienced researchers have found it difficult.  After all, everyone was a novice genealogist at some point.  When researching you need to remember that you shouldn't get overly hung up on spelling.  What is more important is how the last name sounded.

Yep.  We get twisted up about grammar and misspellings all the time, but think about the time many of these records were created.  The grammar and spelling police weren't out in force.  Additionally, some names actually went through changes over time.  You should see the rather annoying evolution of the surname "Cayemberg"...I mean..."Caeyenberghs" would really throw you for a loop!  I can see the evolution in that name, but how many would over-look it.  I digress...

When these records were created, sure they may have been asked to spell their surname.  What if they couldn't?  Or perhaps their accent was just too thick.  Ever deal with that?  Perhaps the registrar or census taker just wrote down what they heard (Yes...they did that) and moved on.  I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've overcome a brick wall (granted a low brick wall) by going by how a surname would sound.

Take the surname Boegel.  I was a German major in college.  I know that Boegel was originally Bögel.  English doesn't have an umlaut (the two dots over a vowel)  so when writing it in English an "e" gets added after the vowel that had the umlaut.  It's an attempt to keep the sound similar.  I don't personally find it that similar, but it is what it is.  Bottom line...Boegel and Bögel are the same thing.  Trust me on this one.  Now how is that pronounced?

To me Bögel can sound like "bur-gell," "buy-gell," or even "bay-gell".  You get various spellings depending on the how the person reporting the information says it (how strong their accent is or which region of the homeland they hail from) and what the recorder hears and if they have any knowledge about where the person comes from.  In this case, do they know any German?

I wasn't finding much with my knowledge of how German should be pronounced so I asked my mother-in-law how she pronounces the surname Boegel.  After all it's her line.  I was absolutely flabbergasted when I heard her say "Beagle"...yep...like the dog I own.  Well, that explained why I was having a difficult time.  Once I knew this I realized the brick wall I was trying to climb was actually only a small bump in the road and researching names like Boegel (Beagle) and Kuehl/Kühl (Keel) became much easier.

If you don't have someone readily available to answer your question about how a surname is pronounced, ask a stranger.  Go to the message boards and find someone that is researching the same line from the same area of the country and ask.  Remember that region is important with pronunciation!  Words today can sound drastically different depending on whether you're hearing them said from someone in the north (and even us northerners have huge differences in accents), the south, the west and midwest.

Figuring out how they said that can make a world of difference when scaling that brick wall!