Wedding Wednesday - Mary Ann Burd and Charles Schwenk

A few days ago was the wedding anniversary of my second great-grandparents, Charles Schwenk and Marian "Mary Ann" Burd. They were married on 12 January 1871 in Pittsburgh, PA.[1] I had found and posted a copy of their marriage certificate a while ago ...

While it's so wonderful to find documents about our ancestors, there is so much more that  I want to know about them besides the details (or lack there of) in each document. I would love to know more about my family and am admittedly jealous of those who have diaries, letters and old photos that really paint the pictures of their ancestors' lives!

Finding this photocopy in my father's files was wonderful, and I was happy to have this to confirm the date of their marriage. But I don't have any pictures of Charles and Mary Ann, or diaries or letters, but what if I could know a little more about the wedding ...

In the many, many incredible documents in Charles' Pension File that I ordered from NARA, there is an affidavit that Mary Ann submitted for her Widow's Pension. The affidavit was from Isaac and Martha Mason and dated 3 March 1899.[2]

That the soldier Charles G. Schwenk and Mary A Schwenk now a Widow were married on January the 12" 1871 at Pittsburgh Pa. That said Mary A Schwenk was living with them at Saltsburg Pa at the time of her marriage to the soldier Charles G. Schwenk.
That after the return of the couple from Pittsburgh were the marriage took place, they had the wedding supper at their (Deponents House) and that they the Deponents participated at the wedding festivities held in honor of the said marriage.
That the said Mary A. Schwenk lived with them (Deponents) for about 2 years before her marriage to the soldier and know that she was not married prior to the marriage to the soldier above named.
That they know the facts testified to in this affidavit of their own Personal knowledge, having had an intimate aquaintence with Mary A Schwenk before and after her marriage to the soldier.
That their Post Office address is Creighton in the County of Allegheny State of Pennsylvania.

Wow! So now I know a little more about Charles and Mary Ann's wedding. They had the wedding "supper" at the home of Isaac and Martha Mason in Saltsburg. In the 1870 census, just the year before the wedding, Mary Ann is living with the Masons as a domestic servant in North Versailles.[3] Charles is also living in North Versailles in 1870 and was enumerated on the same day and only a few pages apart in the census book.[4]

There is another interesting item in this affidavit that needs further research. One of the Witnesses to this affidavit was Margaret Orris, who was Mary Ann's sister. When Margaret Orris died, her obituary listed eight children including Mrs. Harry Mason.[5] Next up is to see if there are any connections between the Burd/Orris families and the Mason family. Maybe that's how Mary Ann found work, or how Margaret's daughter met her husband?

In the meantime, I'm happy to know a little more about the wedding of my great-grandparents and how they celebrated this important event!

___________________________________________________________________________ 

SOURCES:

[1] Marriage Certificate, Charles Schwenk-Mary Ann Burd, 12 January 1871; photocopy privately held [name and address for private use,] ca. 1975. 

[2] Affidavit of Isaac and Martha Mason, 3 March 1899, Mary Ann Schwenk, widow's pension application no. 586124, certificate no. 475533, service of Charles G. Schwenk (1st Sgt., Co. C, 82nd reg., Pennsylvania Infantry, Civil War); Case Files of Approved Pension Applications ..., 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files, Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

[3] 1870 U.S. census, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, North Versailles, population schedule, McKeesport Post Office, p. 20 (penned), dwelling 137, family 137, Isaac Mason; digital image, Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 January 2014) citing National Archives publication M5393_1294; Family History Library Film 552793.

[4] 1870 U.S. census, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, North Versailles, population schedule, McKeesport Post Office, p. 23 (penned), dwelling 156, family 156, John Rogers; digital image, Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 January 2014) citing National Archives publication M5393_1294; Family History Library Film 552793.

[5] "Former Creighton Woman Summoned by Death," The Valley Daily News (Tarentum, PA), 17 February 1922; photocopy, Community Library of Allegheny, copied by library staff, 12 October 2012.

Wedding Wednesday - Oma and Opa

Yesterday was my maternal grandparents' wedding anniversary. Adolf Haberkern and Elise Gegenheimer were married on June 4, 1942 in Stein, Germany.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my grandparents in 1962. I believe that they are at Newark Airport and my mother and grandmother had just arrived home from a trip to Germany. I love the way my Oma is looking up at Opa.

Wedding Wednesday - Charles A. Cubbage and Maine Schwank

The Marriage Record of my great-grandparents, Charles A. Cubbage and Maine Schwank. They were married on May 21, 1902 in Mahoning County, OH, probably in Youngstown based on where the Probate Judge was seated. This was about 75 miles from Swissvale and Braddock, where Maine and Charles were living. I do not know why they went to Ohio to marry, but Maine's brother married in Mahoning County (the same Judge) about 7 months earlier.

Wedding Wednesday - Frank Speck & Elizabeth Linneman

Frank Speck and Elizabeth Linneman, my great grandparents, were married on January 18, 1915 in Pittsburgh, PA. I found this marriage certificate in with a bunch of old family pictures and memorabilia.

During our trip to Pittsburgh in the fall, we went to the Allegheny County Courthouse and were able to get a copy of their application for a marriage license at the Orphan's Court (click for a larger view). We were very excited to find some great NEW info to help in our research.

The application lists Frank's parents as Peter and Agnes. Frank has been (and still is) my biggest brick wall - I know nothing about him before he shows up in Monessen, PA in 1915 (except that he was born in Germany). His parent's names put a little chip into that brick wall! The application also states that his parents were born in Germany, that his father is deceased and his mother still lives in Germany.

We also found some other new pieces of information from this document: Frank is working as a hotel clerk in Monessen in January of 1915, and Elizabeth (known here as Lizzie) is living in Sprigg, West Virgina. This is helpful because I don't know where the Linneman family went after their arrival from Germany (they also show up in Monessen around 1915).

While the application did confirm some things that I know (Elizabeth's father was a miner and both she and her parents were born in Germany), there were a few contradicting details. Elizabeth's age is listed as 22, but she was born in 1897 which would make her not yet 18 years old (I have her birth certificate). Also, her father is listed as Albert, but my records (including her birth record) show him as Gerhard.

This was with the application and states that they were married at St. Peter's Church in Pittsburgh and it is signed by the Rector. This is also new information about their marriage!


I looked up the church, which was St. Peter's Episcopal Church. Sadly, this beautiful church was torn down in 1986. The next step is to see if the Episcopal Diocese still has the records from this parish.


This newspaper clipping was also found in the family memorabilia and was probably in a Pittsburgh newspaper.


This is a picture of Frank and Elizabeth, probably taken around the time of their marriage or shortly after. My grandmother, Agnes (which we just learned was named after her grandmother) was born later that year, in September of 1915 in Monessen.

Wedding Wednesday - Marriage Certificates

So in this wonderful file of genealogy goodies that I got from my father last week, there are photo copies of two marriage certificates. The first one is for the marriage of Charles Swank and Marian Burd, my great-great grandparents. They are listed as Charles Schwenk and Mary Ann Burd. There is no county or location specified, but is probably Allegheny County and I will check with the Orphan's Court records.



The other certificate is for the marriage of William Arthur Speedy and Margaret Swank, who is my great grand aunt and the daughter of Charles and Marian Swank whose record is above. They are listed as William A. Speedy and Maggie A. Schwenk. It was filed in the Orphan's Court in Allegheny County and lists their marriage in Braddock.



It is interesting that both father and daughter are recorded as "Schwenk", but most other records after this time are as "Swank". I will need to do more searching for Schwenk in the Pittsburgh area to see if I can find any connections.

Wedding Wednesday - Elisabeth Nilkowski's first marriage

I made some great progress on my great-grandmother's (Elisabeth Linnemann) family in the past few months, thanks to some documents I received from Germany. It started with her birth records and those of her siblings, which gave me the names of her parents. I also learned that her mother (Elisabeth Nilkowski) was married to Christian Fasel before she married Gerhard Linnemann. Christian died shortly before their son, Christian, was born. I requested the marriage records for both of Elisabeth Nilkowski's marriages from the city of Gelsenkirchen (where all of the children were born).

No record was found for Elisabeth and Gerhard Linnemann, so I will need to still keep digging there. Below is the record for her marriage to Christian Fasel.

I have asked someone to translate it for me and I will post the full translation when I receive it. What I think I have deciphered is that Elisabeth Barbara Nilkowski was born near Marienburg, which is currently in Poland in what was the former West Prussia Province. It looks as if her parents live in Braunwalde, near Marienburg. If this is correct (my German translation isn't great), then I can look further into her side of the family in Poland. Her husband, Christan Fasel, would not be one of my ancestors, but it does not look like he is from Poland, but from near Montabaur which is in the Rhineland-Palatinate state.

Here is a picture of Elisabeth Nilkowski Linnemann taken around 1903 or 1904 in Gelsenkirchen. Her husband Gerhard left for America in 1903 before she and the children followed in 1904. In the picture with her are her children Christian (Fasel), Gerhard, Wilhelm, Georg and Elisabeth.