Tombstone Tuesday - Sarah & Mary Cubbage

Sarah and Mary Ann Cubbage were my great-grand aunts, and the daughters of James Cubbage and Barbara Black. Sarah was born on this date, March 6th, in 1855 in Butler County, PA. She died on December 25, 1902 and was buried in Thorn Creek (Rockdale) Cemetery in Penn Township, Butler County, PA. Her sister, Mary, and her parents are buried alongside of her.


I found Sarah's obituary in the Cubbage Family Bible. She died on Christmas Day a week after a "severe fall". I don't believe she ever married, and she lived for many years with the Logan family.


This is a page from the Cubbage Family Bible which lists Sarah and Mary Ann's birth dates along with those of her siblings.


I don't know too much about Mary Ann yet. She died when she was 14 years old. This is the list of deaths from the Cubbage Family Bible, which include Mary Ann, her sister Nancy. Sarah's death is listed on a separate piece of paper that was in the Bible, and also lists their parents' death dates.

Sentimental Sunday - Speck Family Photo

The Speck Family
Elizabeth (Linneman) and Frank F.
Frank R. and Agnes

This is the only family picture that we have of my grandmother, Agnes, and her parents and brother. We do have other pictures of the Specks, but this is the only one with all four of them. I'm guessing that it was taken in the late 1920s. Frank R. looks to be about 8 or 9 years old, and Agnes about 12 or 13. It was probably taken in Monessen, PA where they lived.

My grandmother wrote on the front of many of her pictures. This one says "Um! Um!", "Hungry!" and "Let's eat!" and then "Specks" at the bottom. They are dressed in shorts and Frank R. looks to be eating some watermelon or some other food.

Family Recipe Friday - Oma Cookies

I received a wonderful surprise for Valentine's Day! My darling son made "Oma Cookies" for me, with help from my mother & husband. We had been talking about favorite foods and I mentioned the cookies that my grandmother, Elise Gegenheimer Haberkern, made (and always brought a few when we went to her house). My son remembers having them a couple of times before she was unable to bake them anymore.


This is the recipe from Oma's recipe box for Wildbader Ringele, but we always called them Oma Cookies!

My mother worked on the translation and the recipe before my son made them. These taste just like her cookies, but looked a bit different (bigger). I couldn't find a picture of the cookies or us with Oma when she brought them to our house. Here is the recipe they used:

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 package baking powder
1/2 package vanilla sugar
1 tablespoon Hirschhorn Salz (seal up leftover package well)
3- 3 1/2 cups flour (supposed to be 1 pound of flour)
1/2 cup milk (I forgot to put into cookies when I made them)

Cream butter, add sugar and eggs and beat till creamy. Add milk and flour very gradually. You may want to mix with spoon at the end. Dough should be able to be rolled out. Start with 3 cups flour and go from there. You may want to sprinkle a "tiny" bit of flour on top of dough as you roll it out so rolling pin doesn't stick. Cut out with cookie cutter (don't push down on red center). Put on baking sheet with parchment paper and brush with egg YOLK, not the whole egg. Back at 350F for about 8 mins. Of course, it depends on ovens so keep a good eye on it for first batch.