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Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!

~Laura

Church Record Sunday - Elise's Confirmation

This is a picture of my grandmother Elise Gegenheimer after her Confirmation in 1933. She is outside of the Evangelische Kirche in Stein, Germany (currently Königsbach-Stein, Baden-Württemburg). Her Confirmation Verse was Lamentations 3:25 ...

"The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him."

I can remember my grandmother telling me about this verse, and she kept it marked in her Bible.

Elise is in the front row on the left in this picture. It was customary for all of the children to wear black for confirmation, but I am not sure of the reason. They look so somber on this happy occasion! Even after they moved to the United States, my mother had to wear a dark navy dress for her Confirmation. 

My grandmother is holding what looks like a small branch or sprig of some plant and it appears that those in the front row are holding one as well. I do not know what this is ... another thing that I wished I had asked my Oma!

Workday Wednesday - Art's Business Trip

These are the two sides of a postcard that I found in my Cubbage family collection. My grandfather, Art Cubbage, sent this to my grandmother, Agnes Speck Cubbage, in 1963. It appears that he was on a business trip in Chicago and was sent as "pictorial proof that I am working hard!"

At this time, my grandfather was working in sales for Simmons-Boardman Publishing, specifically for Railway Age magazine where he traveled to various conventions and trade shows.

Tombstone Tuesday - Boston Burying Grounds

We spent a wonderful Easter weekend in Boston. The boys had fun exploring the historic sights, enjoyed walking the Freedom Trail, and loved Fenway Park!

My favorite part of the weekend was walking through the old burying grounds. I have yet to find any tombstones in my family that are earlier than the mid-1800s, and I have no known New England ancestors. So I LOVED the incredible tombstones that we saw ... and my family was so very patient while I took lots of pictures. The first two are from King's Chapel Burying Ground.

The gravestone art and symbols are incredible. The rest of the pictures are from Granary Burying Ground.

I only wished that I had some ancestors to search for in these beautiful burying grounds!

Wednesday's Child - Alma Mary Speck

Alma Mary Speck was the daughter of Frank Speck and Elisabeth Linneman Speck and would have been the younger sister of my grandmother, Agnes Speck. Alma was born in Monessen, Pennsylvania and died just one day later. The cause of death was "premature infant" and she was buried that same day at Grandview Cemetery in Monessen.

I never knew of Alma until the Pennsylvania death certificates from 1906-1963 were made available on Ancestry.com. As most of us did when these records were released, I searched for my surnames that had lived in Pennsylvania to see if I could find death certificates for collateral relatives or ancestors whose date of death was unknown. Through these searches I have found several children that died young between census years, and had no other records of their short lives.

I asked my father about Alma and he was not aware that Frank and Elizabeth had another child. We visited Grandview Cemetery in 2007 and found the tombstone for Alma's father, Frank Speck, but did not see anything for Alma. She many have been buried in another location or did not have a headstone.

Besides finding another ancestor, I was able to learn a few more things about the Speck family from this record. They were living at 223 Alliquipa Street at the time of her death. In addition, the name Alma Mary may provide some clues for family names. Their other children seem to have been named after family members ... Agnes (Frank's mother) Elizabeth (Elizabeth and her mother Elizabeth Barbara) and Frank (Frank) Rudolph (Elizabeth's two brothers who died as children). I know the names of Elizabeth's siblings and parents, so Mary may be from her side (Maria was Elizabeth's middle name and her grandmother's name). Alma could possibly be from Frank's side of the family, as I do not know much about his family or where they were from in Germany. Maybe Alma was Frank's sister or grandmother??  Another possible clue to add to the mysterious Speck family.

___________________________________________________________________________ 

SOURCE:

Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1963, No. 73103, Alma Mary Speck, 1 July 1916; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 March 2015); citing Pennsylvania (state). Death certificates, 1906-1963. Series 11.90 (1,905 cartons). Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Record Group 11. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Sentimental Sunday - Happy Easter!

"Art & Agnes, Easter 1938"

This is a photo from my Cubbage family collection of my grandparents on Easter Sunday in 1938. Art Cubbage and Agnes Speck were probably dating at this time and were married a year later. This was most likely In Monessen, Pennsylvania where they were both living at the time.

The pictures below appear to be taken at the same time, but have nothing written on the back. The unknown couple must have been friend with Art and Agnes and can be found in other pictures with them from the late 1930s. 

 

I love the face that my grandfather was making in this picture. Happy Easter!

Tombstone Tuesday - Same Tombstone 30 Years Apart

Several years ago I scanned the slide collections of my parents and grandparents. I didn't notice this one at the time. That's me checking out the tombstone of my second great-grandparents, James and Barbara (Black) Cubbage at Rockdale Cemetery in Penn Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania.

Fast forward exactly 30 years ... I am back there on beautiful fall day with my father, brother and sister on a Cubbage family history road trip. I wish I could say that my interest in genealogy and my family history started way back when ... but maybe the seed was planted on that trip out to Pennsylvania almost 40 years ago!