The Villers Saga, Part V

You knew it was bound to happen!  Another installment of the trial of Martin Joseph Villers.  I really want to get through these articles and move on to some of the documents and articles from the other trial.  I would still love to find out why all this happened! 

The next article in the series is very short so I'll be doing two in this post.

The Bismarck Daily Tribune, November 29, 1897

"Staff News

The son and daughter of the prisoner Villers were at the Stutsman county jail Thanksgiving day to meet their father, who is waiting his trial for murder"

Just a side note...Martin Joseph and Octavia Villers nee Waguener had 5 children (that I am currently aware of):  Florence, Mary Ann Mina Octavia,  Louis, Alta  Ellen Ella, and Agnes.  So apparently only two of them visited (Louis being one as his only son).

The Bismarck Daily Tribune, December 29, 1897

"The Villers Trial

The Jamestown Alert says of the coming trial of the man Villers, who was taken from the state penitentiary here to be tried for murder:  The trial of M.J. Villers for the alleged murder of August Tromer, It is believed, will be the first murder trial ever to have been held in Stutsman county and for this reason, outside of the local interest in the case, will attract a great deal of attention.  Attorney S. E. Ellsworth has been designated by the prisoner and appointed by the court as counsel for the defendant and, it is understood, Judge Glaspell has called in Judge Fisk of Grand Forks to try the case because of his ineligibility, having assisted in the prosecution of Villers at his trial and conviction of assault with intent to kill upon Mrs. Tromer.  The state will be ably represented in the prosecution by County Attorney F. Baldwin.  The case will be the first on the calendar and it is expected will be taken up and the trial begun Thursday, January 6.  Both the prosecution and defense are expected to make a strong fight and the case will probably occupy the greater part of the term."

Well, I don't know how long a "term" was, but the trial didn't take too terribly long...I'm running out of articles!  One subtle thing I noticed in the 2nd article was how the prosecution is referred to as the "state will be ably represented"...as if the state's attorney is more important.  The law is (theoretically) the law and the defendant deserves to be ably represented as well.  I'm biased, I know, but still.  Gives an overall feeling of, "don't worry, we'll be winning this thing".  Just sayin'...

Amanuensis Monday - William Quirk

Hazleton, Pennsylvania April 19, 1902

"Dropped Dead While Working in Garden

Sudden Summons of William Quirk, an Aged Resident of Jeanesville

William Quirk, aged 65 years, of Jeanesville, died suddenly between 12 and 1 o'clock today.  Mr. Quirk, who is one of the best known residents of the South Side, was at work digging in the garden at his home when he fell over in a swoon.  Members of his family saw his condition and Dr. Rutter was hurriedly summoned.  When the physician arrived, however, Mr. Quirk was dead, never having recovered consciousness.  Death was due to heart failure.

Deceased had resided on the South Side for many years, and was one of the oldest and most prominent citizens of Jeanesville.  He was highly respected by all his acquaintances, and had many warm friends.

Besides a wife he is survived by two sons and four daughters as follows:  Edward, of Harwood; William, Ella, a school teacher; Katie, Mary and Bessie, of Jeanesville.  No arrangements have yet been made for the funeral."

Love the title of the article.  I was a bit shocked when I found this on my great-great grandfather.  I knew when he died, but just found the title less than tactful for the family.  Of course I got a giggle out of it when I found it, but I get to wondering how this was received then.  Maybe it was just something normal for the time.  For anyone that's read older newspaper articles some of the phrases used are quite odd.  More what I would consider slang than proper.  Either way, it's an interesting look into the past, not just to see that William was apparently a loved man (This article was on the front page of the Hazleton newspaper), but at how the papers wrote.  Wish I had a picture of him.  Actually, I most likely do have one in my collection of unknown photos from the Quirk side.  Just nothing labeled.  Who knows what may turn up!

(The clipping was taken from the Hazleton, Pennsylvania newspaper.  Currently the paper is known as the Hazleton Standard Speaker.  It has previously been the Plain Speaker and the Standard Sentinel.  I need to check a timeline to see which paper this would have belonged to!  The clipping was taken before I got into the habit of citing sources properly!  Sad, but true!)

UPDATE: Thanks to newspapers.com I was able to find this article in The Plain Speaker, 19APR1902, pg1.

Sunday's Obituary - Mrs. John Boegel

John and Bertha Boegel nee Rosbeck (sitting)

"Mrs. John Boegel

Mrs. John Boegel, 66, nee Bertha Rosbeck, of the town of Ashford, residing near St. Kilian, passed away Tuesday, June 3, at St. Joseph's hospital, West Bend, after an illness of nine months with carcinoma.

Born Aug. 2, 1880, in the town of Wayne, near St. Kilian, she made her home in the vicinity of St. Kilian most of her life.  She was married to John Boegel on April 24, 1900, at St. Kilian and he preceded her in death on March 2, 1935.

The deceased was the mother of four children, one of whom predeceased her.  Surviving are Roman of Theresa, Leona (Mrs. Roman Kuehl) of St. Kilian and Clarence of Barton.  She also leaves five grandchildren; two sisters, Mrs. Frances Steichen of Milwaukee and Mrs. Wm. Pesch of Kewaskum; five brothers, John, Herman, Martin, Adolph and Alfred Rosbeck; one daughter-in-law and on son-in-law.

The remains were in state at the Miller funeral home here from 7 p.m. Wednesday until the time of funeral services which were held at 9:30 a.m. Friday at St. Mathias church in the town of Auburn, the Rt. Rev. J. C. Lederer officiating.  Burial was in St. Matthew's cemetery at Campbellsport.

Mrs. Boegel was a member of the Ladies' Altar society of St. Mathias parish, the members of which attended the services in a body.

Card of Thanks

Words cannot adequately express our deep appreciation for the many kind and sympathetic acts that came to us at the time of our bereavement.  We are grateful to all who helped in any way during the sickness and after the death of our beloved mother.  Mrs. Bertha Boegel, especially Rt. Rev. Lederer, choir, pallbearers, Lades' Altar society, for the floral offerings, spiritual bouquets, to the traffic officer, Miller funeral home and all who showed respect by calling at the funeral home or attending the funeral.

The Surviving Children"

Bertha was my husband's great grandmother. I feel very lucky to have a wedding picture of the young couple.  I need to ask mom if she knows who the other two standing in the picture were!  Since I try to type the obits as-is (no corrections...any differences are my own errors!), I need to specify that the paper got a couple things wrong or were omitted...

1)  Bertha's daughter, Leona, was married to a man named Romand Kuehl not Roman.  There is a "D" at the end of her son-in-law's name.  Her brother was just plain Roman.

2)  I really don't know why they mentioned that one of her son's predeceased her and then didn't mention his name.  Either way, his name was Rudolph and he died in a hunting accident on December 7, 1924.

I also wanted to note that since this obituary was passed on to me by my mother-in-law and was a clipping, I do not know for sure which Wisconsin newspaper ran the obit not the exact date.  It shouldn't be too difficult for someone wanting to track it down though!

Wednesday's Child - Susie Quirk

Susan "Susie" Quirk was the 2nd child of William and Mary Quirk nee Lee of Jeanesville/Hazleton area of Pennsylvania.  She passed away on August 13, 1889 at the age of 15 years and 8 months.  I actually found out something rather interesting when preparing this blog.  I have a baptismal certificate from the church for Susie giving her a date of birth of September 22, 1870.  See the problem?  If this was the same Susie she would have been 18 years 11 months if she died on August 13, 1889.

My guess is that there was another Susie.  I had previously requested baptismal records for all of William and Mary's children and what I got was rather surprising.  I received 3 baptismal records for a William Quirk born to these two people.  My guess is that, sadly, all of their William's died as children (except the last one, of course).  I guess William felt it was important to have a child named after him.  Perhaps he was a first born and was passing on his father's name as well.   

What I do know is that Mary's mother's name was Susan.  Perhaps the Susan that was born in 1870 died and Mary really wanted to name a daughter after her mother.  Don't know, but I'll be writing to the church and asking if they can double-check the records!  It's always fun to make these discoveries!

Anyway, I was given an album with some beautiful card photographs (and a few tin-types).  In there I noticed 4 pictures of a young girl.  The pictures were all on the same page and one page away from a funeral card of Susie Quirk.  I don't know who anyone in this album is for sure.  I only know that it's from my Quirk ancestors due to the dozen or so newspaper clippings referring to marriages and deaths of various Quirks.  I like to think these 4 pictures are Susie, but I'll most likely never know.

 

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Cards

Did your family send cards? Did your family display the ones they received? Do you still send Christmas cards? Do you have any cards from your ancestors?

We never sent Christmas cards when I was a kid...or if we did, I knew nothing about it.  Money was almost always tight and I'm fairly certain that every bit that we had was used to make Christmas as special as possible for us kids.  We did receive some Christmas cards though. 

In my post on Holiday Foods I had a picture of our (fake) fireplace with cards taped to the mantle.  I remember hanging cards near the entryway that lead to our living room.  We'd wrap tinsel around the square pillars on either side and tape the cards along the tinsel.

Do I send Christmas cards?  I mean to every year.  I've got a ton of cards packed away with the Christmas decorations from previous years.  Each year I've wanted to send them out and never got around to it.  I love receiving them from friends and family and always want to do the same, but I'm so bad at it.  It's not happening again this year...most likely.  We can hope for a Christmas miracle! :)

The Villers Saga, Part IV

The next in the series of articles would have been one published on November 20th, 1897 titled, "They Want Villers".  I transcribed this article for Carnival of Genealogy's "There's One in Every Family".  So if you'd like to see it, it was my November 20th post...Wow...that was NOT planned!

So moving on to the next in the series...

The Bismarck Daily Tribune, November 23, 1897

"The Villers Case

The prisoner M. J. Villers was arraigned in justice court at Jamestown yesterday charged with murder of August Tromer.  The prisoner is said to have been unaffected by the reading of the charge against him and stated to the spectators in the court that he would be a free man after the trial of the case at the January term of court.  Villers had no attorney and the hearing was continued until Nov 29, when it will be again taken up.  In the meantime Villers is confined in the county jail in Stutsman county.

The removal of the man from the pen here was an extraordinary proceeding, and before Warden Boucher would consent to surrender the man he (wired) for the opinion of a majority of the board of trustees.  Three of them agreed to (allow) the man to go upon the authority of the governor's decision and the request of Judge (Glaspell).  The removal of the man may open up a legal controversy if Villers should be acquitted, or indeed even if he should be (convicted) the former attorneys who have considered the case (said) that there may be a question as to what authority there will be for his return to the penitentiary, after he has been released."

So he had no attorney?  He refused an attorney?  That just sounds awful (and odd).  Anyway, this case was a landmark case for the state of North Dakota in the sense that they were unsure of what to do with a man that was already incarcerated.  How could you release him to be tried for another crime?  I know.  Today we don't think of it as a big issue, but it apparently was a first in the state.  I've got court documents that I'll be posting once I get through the newspaper articles.  Some of those documents...WOW!  Hard to read!  But we'll get there.

Now I'm tired so it's off to bed!  I had wanted to do my Advent of Christmas Memories post on ornaments, but my brain is tired and my Christmas ornaments (for the tree) aren't out yet.  So I'll have to write that one later and find a way to fit it in!  Night all!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Holiday Foods

Our table...it always seemed like there was more on there as a kid! :)

Mmmmmm...what a wonderful time of the year!

Cookies galore!  Our dining room table was always decked in a tartan tablecloth.  On top were various containers and tins containing fudge, candies, various cookies, nuts, and Christmas hard candy!

Now what I have to say about the nuts is...I NEVER ATE NUTS.  Plus they were in shells and I had no idea what was what.  About the only thing I DID want to do was to shell the nut...and not eat it.  I have learned to love nuts since my childhood, but a nut was not passing my lips even if it was Christmas!  Well there was one cookie exception, but that was cookies, so it's different!

The Christmas candy...you know the kind.  The hard candy ribbons, the peanut filled nuggets, etc.  Yeah...I never touched that either. But it was there every year.  It was really more of a decoration in our house than food.  Something I need to ask about.  Perhaps it being there was a tradition.  Not one I continue however!

My sister and I on Hazel Blum's lap.  I'm only about 2 or 3 so must be 1974-ish.

So, on to a recipe.  The fudge that would be found in one of the various tins on the dining room table!  We call it "Aunt Hazel's Peanut Butter Fudge".  Who is Aunt Hazel?  Well, she's not an aunt or a relation.  We had a wonderful woman that lived next door to us on Diamond Avenue in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.  She married late and never had kids of her own.  She loved us kids.  We called her Nana (both of my grandmas having passed away years before I was born).  She was the only grandmother figure I ever knew.  She taught me to knit and crochet, so I dedicate this post and it's recipe to Hazel Blum.

Aunt Hazel's Peanut Butter Fudge


3 c. sugar
1 c. milk
3 tbsp light corn syrup
1 pint (abt 2 c.) peanut butter
1 pint (abt 2 c.) marshmallow fluff
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar, corn syrup and milk in a large pot over low tp medium-low heat and stir constantly until not gritty (this will take a few minutes as the mixture begins to heat up).  Let cook until soft ball stage is reached (234-240 degrees F); stirring occassionally.

Remove from heat.  Immediately add peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, butter and vanilla extract.  Let sit for a couple minutes to allow marshmallow and peanut butter to soften slightly.  While fudge is sitting, line a 9x11-inch pan with aluminum foil.  Butter aluminum foil.

Stir fudge until well combined.  Make sure you are using a strong spoon (depending on atmospheric conditions, i.e. – humidity, etc, your fudge may harden quickly).  Once fudge is mixed thoroughly, pour into lined and greased pan.  You may need to use your hands to press down if fudge has become too thick to pour.  Be careful as it will be hot and you will need to cool your hands intermittently with water to prevent burns.  Let cool until firm.  Cut into squares.

NOTE:  If fudge becomes too hard when stirring (breaking is occuring)  then add a little bit of milk and continue stirring.  Add more as needed, but adding too much at once will ruin fudge so be cautious.

NOTE:  I use “Reduced Fat JIF” for the peanut butter.  It’s not the tastiest peanut butter, but it gives the fudge the taste like Nana’s.  I’ve tried peanut butter that I like on sandwiches and it just doesn’t taste right in the fudge.  Use which you prefer, but if you want the right taste for Nana’s fudge use JIF.