CategoriesCemeteriesPolishTombstone Tuesday

Tombstone Tuesday: Ignatius Szulta

Today’s headstone is that of my 3rd great-grandfather, Ignatius SZULTA. If you think his name is unique, you should see his wife’s name, Nepomuncema SYLDAKT. Talk about a mouthful. My polish isn’t very good, but I’m pretty sure his surname is pronounced like “Schulta.” I don’t even know where to start with his wife’s surname.

Ignatius (or Ignatz) was born 1 Feb 1849 in Poland (or Poland Austria as listed in the census.) He married Nepomuncema in 1875 back in Europe. Their first daughter, my great-great grandmother was born there, also. They immigrated to America in about 1882 and landed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where they finished their lives. Ignatius died 25 May 1922 and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Milwaukee.

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[ Find-a-Grave Entry | Cemetery Entry ]

CategoriesCemeteriesGermanThielkeTombstone Tuesday

Tombstone Tuesday: Peter Thielke

Peter THIELKE was my 3rd-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. Peter came to America with his wife Marie (maiden name unknown) sometime between 1854 and 1856. I figured this since their son Charles “Fritz” was born in 1854 in Germany and their son Herman was born in Wisconsin in 1856. Their second son, Johann, was my 2nd-great-grandfather. They settled in Grafton, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin and lived there for the rest of their lives. Peter and his wife Marie are buried at Union Cemetery in Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin.

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[ Find-A-Grave Entry ]

CategoriesGYRabbit Carnival

Mrs. Elizabeth Armstrong

We ran across this interesting inscription when we were searching for the headstones of my wife’s ancestors in Boscobel, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo of the front of the stone, just the back with the inscription. I can only assume it’s the headstone of Elizabeth Armstrong as is noted.

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Click for larger version

I did some research on the event a found a few things. Google Book Search turned up a writeup on the subject mentioning Elizabeth Armstrong. I can usually include an excerpt into my blog, but this book won’t let me, so you can see it by visiting the book here.

There is also a writeup over at the Wisconsin Historical Society’s website:

The Indians kept a hot fire for two or three hours, while concealed behind the stumps or out-buildings. Capt. Stone’s company were mostly absent, and the fort numbered only some fifteen effective men. The women and children were panic-stricken, crying and wringing their hands. At this stage of affairs, Mrs. ELIZABETH ARMSTRONG, wife of JOHN ARMSTRONG, of Sand Prairie, in this county, finding the Fort but poorly supplied with balls, divided the women into parties; the first , who could load fire arms, constituting the first division; the second were to run bullets. Mrs. ARMSTRONG delivered to them a short effective address, telling them that it was but worse than folly to give up to fear in such an emergency as the present one – that they could expect no sympathy from the Indians, and to go to work immediately and do their best to save the Fort. They obeyed, and under her direction performed miracles.

You can view the full article here or read more about her during the Black Hawk War over at Wikipedia.

CategoriesCemeteriesTombstone Tuesday

Tombstone Tuesday: Olivine Laurent

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This week’s tombstone is that of my 3rd great-grandmother, Olivine Marie (St. Louis) Laurent. Olivine was born in Yamachiche, St. Maurice, Quebec, Canada in 1835 to Ephraim and Marie (Manseau) St. Louis. She married my 3rd great-grandfather, Jean-Baptiste Laurent in 1857 and then immigrated to Outagamie County, Wisconsin in 1860. Olivine was the first school teacher in Phlox, Wisconsin.  The school is now torn down.

I am grateful to the volunteer who took these photos for me via RAOGK a few years ago. I do plan on making a trip up north to visit this area. Many generations of my family from my maternal grandmother’s side lived and died up in the Outagamie and Langlade County area.

The headstone is located in St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in Norwood, Langlade County, Wisconsin. I have uploaded the information to Find-a-Grave.

CategoriesCemeteriesThielkeTombstone Tuesday

Tombstone Tuesday: Johann Thielke

Johann Thielke
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The headstone this week is from my great-great grandfather, Johann THIELKE. Johann was born on 26 Oct 1843 in Württemberg, Germany. He married my great-great grandmother, Wilomene “Minnie” RATHKE on 21 June 1891 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That marriage date makes him 47 when he married Minnie and she was married previously. This makes me wonder if Johann was previously married also, but I have yet to find any evidence of this. Johann passed away on 24 Apr 1927 in Grafton, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. He was buried at St. Paul’s Cemetery in Grafton. Below is an image on the back of his headstone with some German writing. I can’t make it out, but if any of you can, let me know what you think it says.

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Click for larger image

[ Johann Thielke’s Information | Find-a-Grave Entry ]

CategoriesCemeteriesGermanTombstone Tuesday

Tombstone Tuesday: Augusta Last

Augusta (Luedtke) Last
Augusta (Luedtke) Last

Headstone of Augusta Johanna Wilkelumire (Luedtke) Last. She wins for having the longest name of my ancestors and for living the longest. Augusta died just shy of two weeks past her 100th birthday. I posted about an article in the local paper mentioning her 100th birthday.

The headstone is located in Union Cemetery in Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin. It’s also near her husband and also some of her children and extended family.

[Link to headstone on Find-a-Grave]

CategoriesCemeteries

St. Finbar’s Cemetery

Today’s featured cemetery is St. Finbar’s Cemetery in Saukville, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. I’m choosing this cemetery due to the fact that it was the first (and, unfortunately, only) cemetery that I fully transcribed. I picked it for transcription because it was small and out of the way, so it made good practice. I did the transcribing in May of 2000, so I was just a young’n.

Here is the description from my writeup:

This cemetery was founded by Saukville’s Irish settlers. Consisting of mainly Irish families. The cemetery is still in use today by a few families. It is a very beautiful and well kept cemetery, settled on top of a hill within the trees. Many of the headstones are old and worn and unreadable, so there are a few not included in this list

The cemetery is located just east of the Village of Saukville, on St. Finbar’s Road. (Google Maps Link) I’m hoping that someone finds the transcription useful and it helps them find their lost ancestors. I grew up in Saukville, but I wasn’t aware of this cemetery until I got into genealogy and local history more in my early college years.

I’m sure there have been a few new headstones added since 2000. The cemetery still seemed to be in use, but not by a lot of families anymore. It’s a quiet and peaceful place, if you just need somewhere to relax and soak up the old Irish history of Ozaukee County.

[ Transcription | Map ]

CategoriesCemeteriesTombstone TuesdayZalewski

Tombstone Tuesday: Zalewski Family

Zalewski Family Stone
Frank & Anna Zalewski with son Frank, Holy Cross Cemetery, Milwaukee, WI

This week’s (and my first) Tombstone Tuesday is the one that helped me start my genealogy research. The first Zalewskis that came to America, Frank & Anna (Lindner) Zalewski. Their son Frank is also buried here with them. The headstone is located in Holy Cross Cemetery & Mausoleum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There are some other family members nearby including the Trokas and more of Frank & Anna’s children.

View the headstone at Find-a-Grave.

Also, in related news, I’ve started a new blog dealing with cemeteries in southeastern Wisconsin, named Graveyard Rabbit of Southeastern Wisconsin. It’s brand new, but I hope it will help many people in the future.

CategoriesCemeteries

Graveyard Rabbits

Update: Thanks to Julie from GenBlog, I have now applied for a membership. I also set up my website for this. It’s located here. Enjoy.

I’ve run across some of the Graveyard Rabbits websites and I think it’s a neat idea. I had a similar-type site a few years ago for cemeteries in the area. I posted pics, info and transcriptions of local cemeteries for people. Since I’ve moved hosts a few times, I haven’t had time to get the site back up. This was also back before all of these neat web programs like WordPress and Gallery, so it was all done by hand.

Well, I would really like to start a Southeastern Wisconsin Graveyard Rabbit site, but it seems I need to be invited by a current member (wink wink.) So, if any current member out there thinks I’m good enough to keep up with being a Graveyard Rabbit, I’d be delighted. I really enjoy sharing information and tips on keeping these great research tools around for generations. Plus, I’m not too shabby at these blog things.

CategoriesCemeteriesHistory

People Are Dying To Get In There

I have this fascination with cemeteries. It’s nothing creepy or evil. Ever since I was young, I’ve always found them as mysterious and interesting, almost like looking directly into the local history. When I was younger, we used to sled down a large hill at our local cemetery in the winter (don’t worry, we weren’t near any headstones.)

Once I started to get into genealogy, my research has taken me to many cemeteries in search of the final resting places of my ancestors. They’re all interesting in their own ways, some more than others. You get a feel of the history of the area by just looking at the surnames and types of headstones. Large headstones may mean that it was someone of importance or wealth. A group of small headstones with children’s names on them may indicate a rash of disease.

The cemeteries that I enjoy the most are the older ones, which are usually nestled within old, towering trees. For some reason, it gives it a almost quiet, spooky feel to it. It’s usually very peaceful. I enjoy the cemeteries with a little character instead of the newer, cookie-cutter types. I’m not a huge fan of the wide-open cemeteries that are next to a busy road. It always feels like people are watching me, the weird guy in the cemetery taking photos. Fortunately, there are many of these older cemeteries in the area I live in. I sometimes just visited them to capture their “beauty” with my camera and to pay a visit to those that are no longer around.

My all-time favorite cemetery, as of now, is Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee. It’s so massive and it sits within the trees that it feels peaceful even though you’re inside of the city. It’s also home to many of the area’s most-famous citizens. Other cool cemeteries in the area of St. Mary’s Cemetery in Port Washington and St. Francis-Borgia Cemetery in Cedarburg.

I put a few of my images up on Flickr (feel free to comment on them), but I do have many more. I used to have a website up called “Southeastern Wisconsin Cemeteries,” but I haven’t had time to put it back up. It listed descriptions, info, photos and links to transcriptions for the local cemeteries.

Do you enjoy visiting cemeteries for your research and are there any cemeteries you enjoy?