| GRSEC Newsletter Jan/Feb 2006 - Sunday, January 01, 2006
by Don Brill
Lost graves are usually associated with the model of the unknown soldier where formal recognition is not made of death. I suppose that in world history there are more people whose deaths were unaccounted than those who were. The mass graves in periods and in nations of carnage would certainly tip the balance over Christian burial or those marked by tradition of other faiths. One does not expect to learn of them in modern times in advanced cultures where burial has become the preeminent of all ceremonies. Finding it in the family is close to culture shock. Folks lost at sea are beyond the realm of orderly demise, but even there, ceremony is observed and a bit of real estate is marked in memory.
Through anthropological studies, (I talked to the neighbors), I learned of a family graveyard long since abandoned by the community but who occupants are still there in an uncertain location. It is disquieting to realize that ancestors are among the occupants. The graves registration office goes to great lengths to locate cemeteries throughout the state. This gap in their records includes my family. According to old neighbors who remember, there was an attractive cemetery in a wrought iron fence with a wrought iron gate enclosing six head stones on the old homestead. The matron of the place was a formidable woman who appealed to the county for a caretaker’s allowance, repeatedly, until it was finally granted. The wrought iron and the headstones were then removed and the area used for a turn-around for farm machinery.
The widower, still in possession, was not queried on the illegal aspects, but he recounted the disposition of the stones. About the time of the Wisconsin Centennial, researchers from the State Historical Society, gathering Americana, took some of the stones. I could find no record of this at the Society, however the widower still had one of the stones which he kindly showed me. The stone was a featureless pad that he used as a step to his privy. He graciously endured some inconvenience as he parted with the stone for $2.00 It is so weathered and worn that one cannot determine the face of it, however odds are one in six that it is part of the dedication to my great-great-grandfather, Thomas Brill. We found the graves of the next generation at Reed’s Corners Cemetery some miles away.
We did not determine the location of the missing graveyard. The homestead is at the intersection of STH 23 and a town road. However, the building site where the barn now stands was on the north side of highway 23. In the half century past, the grove of trees might well have grown to obscure the site of the graves. The logical place for the machinery turn-around is a location facing the town road now occupied by a small house. If, as we were led to believe, it was in the front yard, that would put it on the north side of the highway where the main residence was until razed by folks looking for money in the walls. Great Grandfather Albert had been a 49er. One must not overlook the possibility that highway construction figured in the matter of dislocation.
At this point, we have abandoned the quest. Short of high tech discovery of interred family jewelry, substantial excavation would be needed with grievous disturbance.
GRSEC member and Whitehall native, Dave Lee, is pictured as he indexes the Lincoln Cemetery in Whitehall.
In late August Dave completed indexing of the Lincoln Cemetery working from an existing index that was created in 1982 by Charles Beck, the former Trempealeau County historian. Dave did a lot of updating and corrections to the record from the 2,000 plus markers in the cemetery.
Earlier in 2005, Dave indexed Grace Lutheran in Pleasantville, St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran (German Valley) and Warner in the town of Hale plus the Old Whitehall Cemetery done in 2004.
Dave donated a copy of the five-cemetery index to the Whitehall Public Library, Whitehall City Clerk’s Office, the Trempealeau County Register of Deeds Office, The Whitehall Times and the Alternative Ground coffee shop and café and the Library of the Genealogical Research Society of Eau Claire.
Dave’s efforts are appreciated by fellow genealogists and future researchers.
Kathy Herfel provided the following tribute taken from the Eau Claire Leader dated 15 December 1935, p5
Mrs. Isabella Barland Towne Was Last Member of Pioneer Family
Mrs. Isabella Barland Towne who died at 2 a.m. Wednesday at her home, 204 Cameron Street, and whose funeral was held Saturday afternoon at the home with the Rev. J. H. Norenberg officiating, was the last of the original Barland family. She was born at Mt. Hope, Ill., the eighth of ten children of the Rev. Thomas Barland and his wife, Margaret Wilson, who came to America in 1832 from Scotland on their wedding trip.
They settled in Jacksonville, Ill., where Mr. Barland taught in the college, associated with the father and brother of Henry Ward Beecher. For 20 years they lived in Illinois, carving out their home; Mr. Barland engaged in teaching, preaching, and colorturing (sic), a self-sustaining missionary.
Conducted Private School
In Chicago, then a small settlement on swampy land, Mr. Barland conducted a private school, living in the only brick house in Chicago, situated on Lake St., but because his wife suffered from malaria, he decided to migrate north, refusing offers of home and land in what is now the heart of Chicago, if he would only stay.
While making a prospecting trip by horse and buggy to St. Anthony and St. Paul, Minn., during the winter of 1851-1852, he found himself storm-stayed for two weeks at Eau Claire, then known as “Clear Water,” and consisting of some saw mills and a tavern and boarding house. Taking advantage of the delay, he explored the surrounding country, located a choice selection, wrote home to his little family from the top of Mount Tom; then went on to the cities, but returned more than ever in favor of Eau Claire (Clear Water). The next year he again visited Eau Claire, bought the first farm in Eau Claire County on what is now the Gillette place,Town of Washington, and built the log cabin, later bringing his family up stowed away in a covered wagon and a new carriage, a great luxury purchased to ease the trip for his wife.
Isabella was an infant at this time.
“There was for her a joyous and useful childhood on this farm,” a friend writes in paying tribute. “A sound conversion at the age of 16, which profoundly directed her whole subsequent life, developing a rare spiritual nature. She was sought as a teacher in surrounding districts, and took a school in Augusta at the age of 18, where there were pupils older than herself. She was then asked to teach at Rock Falls, and later in the Primary Grades in the Third ward of this city. She never applied for a school, they were always offered to her. She loved children and rejoiced in her work.
“She taught a Sunday school class in the Presbyterian church which resulted in a lifetime’s happy memories on the part of both teacher and pupils. She seemed to inspire them.
Started Religious Work
“Her marriage to Frederick A. Towne, of the Town of Wheaton, was a happy one. Five children were born to them; three daughters and two sons, one of whom died in infancy. The home they built on Cameron Sreet has remained the family abode throughout the years. In this neighborhood Mr. and Mrs. Towne were instrumental in starting the religious work which resulted in the organization of the Second Congregational church, of which they became charter members, and in which they worked faithfully while health and strength permitted.
“The loss of her husband in 1928; of her sisters and brothers one by one, her failing health, the accident which 3 years ago made her a helpless invalid – failed to dim her unquenchable spirit, but rather caused it to shine forth with a greater radiance. People were at their best in her presence, losing for a time any pettiness or compromise with unworthy ambitions. Where she was there was room only for faith, hope, love, honor and loyalty. The perfect mother, she bore all things, believed all things, and hoped for all things.’ She put first things first, keeping only those things of permanent value, which neither life nor death can destroy; carrying undaunted through and above the storms and temptations of life a serene trust in God as a Father. Keeping her heart with all diligence, she kept as her motto ‘All things work together for good to those who love God.’ And now, leaving her outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea, she has at last triumphed over death itself, and if as we believe, the “pure in heart shall see God,” she is in his presence now with friends who have gone before.”
Mrs. Isabella Barland Towne was a sister of the late John C. Barland, Mrs. J.C. Keith, B.R. Barland, George C. Barland and of Mrs. Hogeboom, who once lived in the cobblestone house on South Barstow street, prior to her removal to Alabama in 1889.
In-laws & Out-laws by Catherine Parr
As anyone who has been researching their family heritage for a while knows, we genealogists can at times run across some very interesting, although somewhat scandalous, information about our ancestors. Such was the case with my great-grandfather, Horace Ridgely Robedee (14 Jan 1879 - 23 Dec 1940).
I first learned of Horace when reading through a short autobiography entitled Searching that my paternal grandmother, Marion Jane Kulberg nee Robedee, had written about her adult life. Some excerpts from it are included below. He and my great-grandmother had divorced when Marion’s sister Clarice was just 22 months old. Three weeks after the divorce, my grandma Marion was born. She first met her birth father when she was 23 years old and had a family of her own. She was ecstatic to meet him and described him as “a tall, slim, gray-haired, handsome man - very distinguished-looking.” He spent three days visiting with Marion and Clarice when they were reunited. She writes, “Dad stated that after he and Mother were divorced, he remarried and he and his third wife, Ellen, had a son, Harry, Jr. who he’d have to tell of his former marriage. He confessed he’d never told his son of his previous marriage and he knew Harry, Jr., would be pleased to know he had two sisters. We were thrilled to learn of a brother!”
Horace died from a heart attack just two months after his reunion with Marion and Clarice. She writes, “Sadness was in our hearts but also a thankful feeling of having met our father and known him, even for that short time. We never heard from our brother again. The years went by and many efforts on Clarice’s part in trying to locate him always came to a dead end.”
Many years later Marion learned that her sister Clarice had developed cancer. She tells how she tried to brighten Clarice’s days by searching again for their half-brother, Harry, Jr. “What could I possibly do to give my sister some happiness with this hanging over her? I decided to try and find our brother, Harry, before it was too late. Clarice had always tried to locate Harry by studying telephone directories and inquiring of neighbors of Dad’s back in Idaho. No one knew where he had gone, or if they did, they weren’t telling. I decided a call to the Red Cross couldn’t hurt. I was desperate! I had to find Harry and soon. I gave the Red Cross all the information I had and his last known address. “No promises!”, they replied. I thanked them and tried not to get my hopes up. Four days had gone by when I got a call at noon from the Red Cross informing me they had located my brother. They gave me his home phone, address, and also where he was employed. I thanked them and told them how grateful I was and then immediately put through a call to his home. The lady that answered was so pleased to learn I was her husband’s sister. She said he would be absolutely thrilled to hear from us. She also stated Harry had often tried to find Clarice and me, but having lost our addresses and not remembering our last names, he had given up. When I finally got Harry on the phone, I told him of Clarice’s illness and asked him if he would please call her and talk to her. He called her that same evening. The following week on my visit to see Clarice, she was all smiles. You could see the happiness in her eyes. It gave her something to dream about. As the year drew to an end, Clarice was failing fast. She tried to be brave, but the spark was gone from her. I was glad that I was able to find our brother before it was too late for Clarice to talk to him. She passed away in early winter.”
Marion flew to San Diego, California the following spring to meet Harry, Jr., and his wife Emma. Harry had arranged for the local TV crew to be at the airport and their reunion was on the evening news. Marion describes him in her autobiography, “He looked like Dad, so handsome, and I could see some resemblance to my sister.”
These reunions excited Marion and led her to continue more family research. She later found out that Horace had two brothers and one sister. She later received a box of old letters and pictures that belonged to Clarice. She came across a letter written in 1941 by Horace’s sister-in-law to Clarice that told how before he had married their mother, he had left a wife and seven children in Billings, Montana. He then went to Idaho and lived with a young girl and after a baby was born, they made a suicide pact. They each shot the other; the woman died, it is not known what became of the baby, and Horace’s mother spent all her savings to get him out of that mess just before she died. There had been some allusions made that he spent some time in prison as a result of this escapade.
Horace later had married Marion’s mother, but had never told her of his past relationships or the family he had left behind. Marion continued her search for more Robedee relatives, including correspondence with the Salvation Army Missing Person’s Bureau. As the family story goes, Horace was a traveling salesman who was quite good-looking and smooth with the ladies.
Unfortunately, I did not know Grandma Marion very well as a child and was not yet into genealogy when she died, nor did I know of her research efforts at that time. However, it is her story which first sparked my interest in genealogy. I’m almost embarrassed to say that I have done little further research on the Robedee family. I have, however, made some family connections which I hope to explore further in the near future. I would like to locate the newspaper articles that I’m certain have to be out there about the suicide pact my great-grandfather was involved in, as well as searching out the trail leading to his supposed prison records. And wouldn’t it be treat to locate the newsreel from my grandmother’s first meeting with her half-brother! Maybe finding these pieces to my research can be my New Year’s resolution for 2006.
it will also be available on-line through the public library’s website in the near future. |
| GRSEC Newsletter Sept 2005 - Monday, August 01, 2005
United Kingdom database containing catalogs describing archives dating from the 900’s to the present day.
The Making of America collection includes nearly a million pages of text and is free to all. You can search it by keyword, author, title or subject headings.
Olaf Kringhaug, who was born in Norway 77 years ago, has taken on translating the "Nordmændene i Amerika" -- a 1907 book by Martin Ulvestad. The book tells of the early Norwegians who came to North America and where they settled. Kringhaug lives in British Columbia, Canada and has put this online because he wants everyone to be able to access it for free.
For anyone with ancestors who lived in Rice or Goodhue counties in Minnesota, this searchable database includes indexes to cemeteries, history books, plats, and newspaper articles. Also included are recordings of church records, marriages, birth, Civil War veterans and city directories of Rice County.
Civil War Rosters Arranged by State
Civil War Grave Registration Project – See the Dick Eastman article at the end of this newsletter.
The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was the largest fraternal organization for Union veterans. It was a very active organization in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Only Union veterans were permitted to join the GAR. As the members aged and then died, the organization eventually disappeared. However, it was replaced by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, with membership restricted to descendants of Union Civil War veterans. The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War inherited most of the records of the national GAR organization, as well as many of the records of local chapters (called "encampments").
The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) now has created its Grave Registration Project to document the final resting places of BOTH Union and Confederate Civil War veterans. The fully-searchable database is available online and is free for everyone. I had an opportunity to use the database this week.
The SUVCW web site can be found at http://www.suvcw.org. Strangely, you have to hunt a bit to find the database of Civil War graves. It doesn't seem to be listed on the site's home page. I found it eventually, but you can save yourself some time if you go directly to http://www.suvcwdb.org/home/search.php?action=search. The web site says that a free registration is required before you can access the database. However, when I eventually found the database, there was no page shown for registration. I simply started searching, and everything worked perfectly for me. I never did register. Perhaps SUVCW will change that after reading this article.
The main search form has a lot of fields to fill in: first name, last name, birth date, death date, Union or Confederate, unit, state, branch, company or ship, rank, cemetery name and location, and more. You simply fill in whatever information you have and leave the remaining fields blank. Click on SEARCH, and the database will return a list of all entries that match your search criteria.
I entered my own surname into the Last Name field and left all the other fields blank. I clicked on SEARCH, and about three seconds later the web site returned a list of 137 matches. I was especially intrigued by one entry: a man who also shares my first name as well as last name. I'll use him as an example of the information available in this database:
Last Name: Eastman
First Name: Richard
Middle Name: K
Birth: 07-Jan-1832
Death: 05-Feb-1899
Age: 67
Civil War: Union
Unit Designation: 31
Branch: Infantry
State: Ohio
Company/Ship: F
If federal, State From:
Rank: Corporal
Enlisted 19-Sep-1861
Discharged: 20-Jul-1865
Cemetery Name: Ohio Soldier's & Sailors' Home Cemetery
Lot: 5
Section: G
Grave Number: 8
Cemetery Street: Columbus Avenue
City: Sandusky
County: Erie
State/Country: Ohio
GAR Post:
Dept. of:
In addition, the database indicates that this soldier had a military-issued headstone and that the cemetery burial records had been checked.
As you can see, the above entry had quite a bit of information. However, there is a place for text notes, and in this man's record the text notes were blank. I looked around a bit more for others and found some entries had extensive text notes.
For instance, here are the notes for George E. Eastman of Company E, 9th Maine Infantry:
Residence: Cornish, Me. Born: Cornish, Me. Age at enlistment; 18, Mustered US Service Sept 22, 1861. Re-enlisted Jan 1,1864. POW Sept 29, 1864 at Chaffin's Farm,Va. Died of starvation April 9, 1865. Stone at Riverside Cemetery, SR 25, Cornish, Me.
The records in this database were obtained from many sources, and it is believed that some number of veterans' records have not yet been found. If you have new information not yet in the database, you can submit it online. However, if you have updated or additional information concerning previously submitted registrations, you should submit that information to the National Graves Registration Officer. Details may be found at http://www.suvcwdb.org/home/about.php.
While this database was created by and is maintained by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, the database lists Confederate as well as Union soldiers. There are fewer Confederates listed. The reasons are two-fold: (1.) because the organization collected only Union veterans' information in its earlier years and (2.) because record keeping was not as well organized among the Confederates. The SUVCW is keenly interested in adding more information about Confederate graves.
This is a great database for anyone researching Civil War ancestry. If you are not sure of the origins of your ancestor, there is a good chance that you can find his place of birth as well as place of enlistment in the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Grave Registration Project. To search the database at no charge, go to http://www.suvcwdb.org/home/search.php?action=search.
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