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!

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!

Tombstone Tuesday - Dead Silence

photo by author © 2015

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. I was walking with my family through the cemetery after church to a reception the social center. My husband chuckled and said "dead silence" as he pointed out this headstone. I had never noticed this headstone, but now smile whenever I walk past it!

Tombstone Tuesday - Charles G. Schwenk

This is the tombstone for my 2nd great grandfather, Charles G. Schwenk, at Braddock Cemetery in North Braddock, PA. It was also known as Old Braddock Cemetery and Russell Cemetery. He died on 12 November 1893 and is buried in the G.A.R. Plot.

Charles was born in or near Norristown, PA and enlisted in the Civil War in July of 1861. He served in the 82nd Pennsylvania Infantry in both Companies A and C and mustered out in July of 1865. But this tombstone doesn't seem to be him, right?

After looking at many records, I do believe that this is my ancestor Charles. First, the stone is newer, definitely not from 1893, as are many of the stones in the G.A.R. Plot. Below is Charles' Pennsylvania Veteran Burial Card, which was dated 1935.

The information found in this record confirms what I learned from Charles' Civil War muster rolls and pension records. He mustered out of Company C on 13 July 1865 as a First Sergeant and died on 12 November 1893.

I have been unable to find Charles' death in a Pittsburgh death register nor an obituary in the newspaper, but all of his military pension records as well as his wife's widow's pensions list the same death date. In the 1890 Pittsburgh City Directory, Charles is living in Swissvale, right next to Braddock. In the 1895 Pittsburgh City Directory, his wife Mary is listed as the widow of Charles G.

In addition, Charles' wife Mary was buried at Braddock Cemetery as well (according to her obituary as there is no tombstone). Many of Mary's family are also buried at Braddock, including her daughters, niece and nephew.

Lastly, I checked the roster of Company D of the PA 82nd Infantry, just in case there happened to be a "Schwek" veteran who died on the same date and was buried at Braddock. There is no Schwek on the roster.

So with the information that I have compiled from his military records, as well as census records and city directories, I do believe that this is the tombstone for my ancestor and that a mistake was made at a time long after his death.

There is much more to write about Charles's time in the Civil War and afterwards when he lived in the Braddock area, but those will have to wait for future posts.

Tombstone Tuesday - Lessons Learned from a Cemetery Visit

I was in Pittsburgh over Memorial Day weekend with my family and we decided to make a few cemetery visits. My oldest son had been on "cemetery hunts" with me before, but my husband and younger son were on their very first trip. We took a ride out to Prospect Cemetery in Brackenridge, PA to look for a few collateral family members from my Burd line that I had found on Find A Grave.

We found the first two headstones fairly easily, but were having trouble finding the last couple of names. I guess I should also mention that even though it was the end of May, it was about 50 degrees, overcast and windy, and we had not packed for lengthy time outside (oops!). My sons and I ran back up to the entrance and found a map of the cemetery and confirmed that we were searching in the correct section. We went back, but could still not find anything.

My oldest son (and budding genealogist) suggested that we go back to Find A Grave (thanks to smart phones!!) and search for the name of a neighboring stone that should be in the same section to make sure we have the right area ... or that maybe there was a typo on the website. We confirmed a few names around where we should be, and still nothing. We took another step, and finally found two tiny stones in the grass -- we could only see first names!! I wish I had taken a few more "before" pictures because the story continues!

Find A Grave lists a Margaret, Helen and "Annie?" Burd as being in this section. Well, we had found two of the three, so we were happy. I snapped the above picture and then started clearing out the grass along the edges to get a better picture. My younger son noticed some letters above Helen's name, so we kept pulling away the grass. Guess what we found?? The two stones were actually one broken stone (or two pieced together) with all three names on it!

When we found the two little stones, all we could see were the whiter areas on the picture above - just the names and dates. We also found that the middle name is not "Annie", but "R. J. Jr." I believe that these are the children of Robert J. Burd and Minnie Roenick, so that is my next project.

So what did we learn on our cemetery visit?? Besides bringing lists of names, double checking online data, finding cemetery maps, and dressing warmly??  We learned that we should bring a small shovel and some gloves ... you may need to dig out a stone or two along the way!

Tombstone Tuesday - Gerhard Linneman

Gerhard Linneman was my great grand uncle. He was born in Germany and died in Pittsburgh, PA, although he lived most of his life in Monessen, PA. He was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Sheraden, PA, just outside of Pittsburgh.

Tombstone Tuesday - James and Barbara Cubbage

 

Rockdale (Thorn Creek) Cemetery

Penn Township, Butler County, PA

James Cubbage and Barbara Black Cubbage are my second great grandparents. James died on 28 February 1906 at his home in Glade Mills, which is a part of Penn Township in Butler County, PA.  Barbara died on 9 February 1907, also at home, less than a year after her husband. I posted her funeral card a while ago, which has a lot of details about her life and eight children. They are buried next to their daughters, Sarah and Mary Ann.

Tombstone Tuesday - Frank R Speck and Elizabeth O'Brien Speck

 

 Uniondale Cemetery

Pittsburgh, PA

This is the tombstone of my great uncle, Frank Rudolph Speck and his wife Elizabeth "Libby" O'Brien Speck. Uniondale Cemtery is only a few blocks from where Frank and Libby lived on Thelma Street in the North Side of Pittsburgh. They lived next-door to Elizabeth Linneman Speck Merz (his mother and my great-grandmother) and her husband Charles Merz. Frank and Libby did not have any children.

 

 

This is a picture of Frank and Libby visiting Frank's sister Agnes Speck Cubbage and her family in New Providence, NJ in 1954 or 1955.

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.

Tombstone Tuesday - Gerhard Linneman

Grandview Cemetery

Monessen, PA

This is the tombstone of my great-great grandfather, Gerhard Linneman. He is buried alongside his wife and two of his children in a plot on a hill overlooking the Monongahela River. I will post more details about his death soon.

Tombstone Tuesday - Christian Linneman

Grandview Cemetery
Monessen, PA

Christian was my great grand uncle and this follows a recent post on his military service. Christian rests near his mother, Elisabeth Nilkowski Linneman, his father, Gerhart, and his brother George in a beautiful plot overlooking the Monogahela River.

Tombstone Tuesday - Frank F. Speck

Grandview Cemetery

Monessen, PA

This finishes up the series of posts on the death of Frank F. Speck (my great-grandfather). This tombstone is quite large compared to others we have seen from family in the 1940's. Frank's wife, Elizabeth, remarried and was buried in New Jersey with her second husband. More on Frank's life and Elizabeth to come in future posts.