Cemetery mystery?

George Edward  McFall is a first cousin once-removed. He married Orphelia Alice

Eselere -> Flesgin -> Fliess -> Flies ancestors

Abbe Joseph Henri Flies is a third cousin twice removed of my great-grandmother Anna Flies Junius. I heard that he was very interested in family history. I procrastinated writing to him. When I finally did it was the day he died. I received a letter from his niece, Annik Chatellier-Schon several weeks later. She provided me with information about the family but not enough to resolve the questions I posed.

I have a book he wrote, "Ein Deutungsversuch unserer Gottes-, fluss-, Orts-, flur-, und familiennamen." Obviously, it was written in German. A friend translated part of it. An excerpt showing the history of the name follows.

In 1285 Theoderich, Knight, called Buista, Lord of Notzingen, sold the farmland in
Notzingen to the Marienthal Convent. In exchange, Marienthal gave him their serf Johann,
called Eselere of Huncheringen, with all his belongings, and all his descendants, with all movable and unmovable possessions, so that, if this obligation should not be covered through
this guarantee, defense and compensation, then the Convent should own the said Johann and said
properties, for peaceful use. Therefore, We (Theoderich), or any of our descendants, shall not be
permitted to lease or sell said serf.

In 1290 Johann, called Eselere, belonged to the Marienthal Convent.

Around 1294, Heinrich IV, Count of Luxembourg, asked his subject, the Noble Godfried of
Saarbruecken, to build a Water Castle and a Manor House. Godfried had married Kunigunde,
daughter of Arnold of Rodemacher and Anticonia von Ouren, Lords of Huncheringen. These
Lords asked to build a new fortified castle on the old “Kaylbach in Kautwinkel,” near the
“Motteburg” [castle] of Count Heinrich III of Luxemburg. On the advice of his wife Kunigunde,
Godfrid of Saarbruecken now built a barnlike castle in the forest near the cemetery of Durenthal.
This castle is still recognizable by its foundations, the cemetery, the bed of a creek, and the
“Schlossbusch” [castle bush?], the Klatzebusch and the Scheuerbusch. [apparently locally known
landmarks].

When the hostile rulers of Bar moved further into the County of Luxembourg, they forced
Geldart, first Lord of Durendal, to build further defensive positions, which are still remembered
by the local names of Kloeppel, Esch (iron), Goilden (moats) and Fassburch. Fassburch includes
the Silbe Castle and the “Silbe Fass”, i.e. Kas, House (with an S for Sirona). This house should
be the residence of the castle keeper.

The old castle on the “Cherhuegel” in the center of the village became useless, because of the
much stronger Rodemacher-Huncheringer castle in Kautwinkel. Therefore the former castle
keeper Johann Eselere, as appropriate, was named castle keeper of Fassburg by Geldart, Lord of
Durendal. After this, he [Johann Eselere] assumed the name of Flesgin.
For more than two centuries the Flesgin family stayed on the Fassburg as keepers of the
castle.

When, during the 17th century, the two Lords of Mittendal did not want to continue paying
their castle keeper Johansen Flesgin, he moved with his family to Liwingen, where he entered
the service of the Lords of Weiler-zum-Turm, specifically as the miller of the Liwingen Mill.
After this, he shortened his name from Flesgin to Fliess. With the permission, and possibly the
assistance, of the Lords of Weiler-zum-Turm Johannes Fliess (a) built a home, near the mill, and
died shortly thereafter.

Saint Boniface Cemetery

Saint Boniface Cemetery is located at Lawrence and Clark in Chicago. According to Find a Grave, "St. Boniface cemetery was consecrated in 1863.  Named for the apostle of Germany, it was the first cemetery servicing the needs of the German Catholic community in Chicago."

It was about a three block walk from our home on Winthrop Avenue. I remember climbing over the wall on the Magnolia Street side and wandering around. I did this at least once, but maybe a couple more times. Little did I know how important it was to our family.

My great-uncle John Junius and great-aunt  Annie Junius are buried there. Both died in early childhood. There are thirty-one relatives or relatives of relatives buried there.

My great-grandfather's brother, Jean Nicolas Junius worked there for awhile before he returned to Luxembourg.

The Vanderways

I spent a lot of time today working on information found on Find A Grave about several of  Ralph's relatives including his mother, father, grandparents, uncles and two siblings.

A person named Dave H had created most of the memorials and provided a lot of detailed information.

Grandmother Ellen

Today, I purchased her death certificate from Cook County Genealogy Online. I then cited it as a source for birth, death, burial, cemetery, occupation, and residence.

Note that her middle name on the certificate is Jean. On  her Social Security card, it is Jane. There is no middle name on her birth record.

The certificate states she had resided at the Fullerton Convalescent Home for two years and four months. Since she died on May 3, 1956, she must have moved there in January 1954. I remember visiting her there once.

I did not attend her funeral. When I asked my father why, he said he wanted me to remember her as she was.  I don't know if he attended. I will discuss this with cousin Judy. I suspect there was a reason.

Uncle Gene ordered a certified copy of his mother's birth record in 1984 from the Iosco County Clerk. It is a delayed birth record. She was born September 23, 1884. It was recorded July 7, 1885. Her father's name is listed as Willson Wilson.

The Wilson Family Bible

In  2015, I created a Wilson Family Bible document, in PDF  format. When Mike and I were in Manistee during August 2006, I took pictures of  four pages of the Wilson Family Bible:Holy Matrimony, Births, Marriages, and Deaths.

I created an index from the information on those pages. I found two errors.

1. The year for Pansy's wedding (second time) to Stolte was off by a year. 
2. It stated my grandmother Ellen had married on June 27. Cook County records show a marriage license dated 5 April 1913 for Ellen Wilson and Arthur Grenier. The bible did not list a year, but the entry was between marriages that took place in 1910 and 1915.

Daughter Florence was born on May 12, 1913. Evidently, the marriage was not planned.

Since my father was born in 1906, the 1913 Cook County information led son Jeff to ask me, "did you know your father was illegitimate?" I certainly did not. The family bible entry supports this belief.

My father's birth is listed as Bertie McCall September 11, 1906. I have a tape recording of my uncle Gene Grenier discussing the family bible, with his uncle Milton Wilson, during a visit in 1984.  When he came to the name Bertie McCall, he asked Milton, "Who is this?"  Milton answered, "Herb." This further supports the belief that Arthur Grenier was not his father.

My mother's birth

When mother applied for her Social Security card in 1936, she stated her name was Harriet Anne Kobusch and she was born in Bloomingdale, Illinois on December 1, 1916.

When she applied for a U.S. Passport in 1976, she did not have a birth certificate. I remember her saying the courthouse burned down and all records were lost. Today, I unsuccessfully tried to verify her claim. It is not true. Neither Cook County nor Du Page County has a record of her birth. Probably, she was born at home on the Kobusch farm in Bloomingdale and the birth was not registered.

To prove her birth, she obtained information about her baptism from St. Gregory the Great. It stated her middle name as Anna and her birth date as December 1, 1915 and baptism date as February 27, 1916.  Anna would make sense since Anna Flies Junius was her grandmother.

Her Social Security card states Harriet Anne Grenier, but her passports state Harriet Anna Grenier.