Memorial for Bruce Weill

Firstly, I would like apologize for my loooong absence here. Moving across the country is rough, time-consuming, draining, and generally a thing that one needs time to recover from. I do not recommend it for those who are easily taxed. On this Memorial Day, I just wanted to share a link that my mother posted to my Uncle Bruce's Memorial page. Thank you to all who served.

The family photos made it across the country with me. I left behind my old scanner/printer only to find a new one on the street recently (that works!). So, scanning of documents will continue, but at a fairly slow pace perhaps.

Below is a scan of Bruce's (my uncle) letter home that Ana (my mother) describes in her memorial post. He also mentions my father's mother, Mary Heichelbech, in his letter.

It's been a while

Sorry, I've been away so long. I wanted to let you all know that I have added some more scans of old photos in the "genealogy items' set on flickr.

Margaret (Glenn) Emory, being given away by her brother Duke, on her marriage to Ken Emory

WWII Photos from Ernest A. Weill III

My grandfather, Ernest Alfonso Weill III, took many photos while stationed in Europe during WWII. I have put them in the "Genealogy" section of my flickr account for you guys to see. This is where I will be putting all future genealogy-related pics, as it is easier than hosting them on my personal website.

destruction in WWII

Mom's house featured in the homes section of the paper

Not related to genealogy, but Mom's house was recently featured in the local paper. I've created a flickr account and scans of it can be found there.

 

 

 

 

 

My flickr is here

Henrietta (Neicam) Weill and EAWI

Henrietta (Neicam) Weill was born in/near Alsace-Lorraine  in 1854. She was married to Ernest A. Weill I (also born in/near Alsace-Lorraine around 1860) and they emigrated to the U.S. together.  I do not have a picture of EAW that I know of, but I do have one of Henrietta.

Henrietta (Neicam) Weill, 1870s- on the back of the pic the photographer boasts awards at the 1873 Industrial Exhibition

Henrietta is the mother of Ernest A. Weill II, Anna (Weill) Johnston, Lawrence Weill, and Joseph Weill. She also had a little boy Henry who died in childhood. She passed away in 1938. Ernest died in 1900 visiting back in Alsace-Lorraine.  I have no parent info for EAWI. EDIT: According to my Uncle Larry, EAWI father was named August. Will have to do more research on that one!

Grave of Henrietta Weill with notation of Anna (Weill) Johnston, Rosehill Elmwood Cemetery, Owensboro KY

Henrietta's parents are John Neicam (1827-1904) and Ann Elizabeth "Lisettie" (Ruprecht) Neicam (1829-1890), born in Germany/Bavaria.

John and Lisettie Neicam's gravestone in Rosehill Elmwood Cemetery, Owensboro KY

Both of the headstone pics and some of the accompanying info was found on findagrave.com which has really a lot of our family catalogued there.

Also, I'm wondering if a flickr account isn't in order since I have SO many documents and pictures to share with you all.  Your thoughts on the matter, please?

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I love my mom so much. She has been so great in explaining our histories again and again, giving me pictures to scan, and is generally a good sport about most everything.

Ana, about 1945

Ana, 1954, this is the pic that Ruth Stemm based a watercolor on

Ana, 1952, reprinted in 1972 apparently

Ana (and friend) 1951

Ana in Pennsylvania, around 1951

Sometimes, I feel that I'm nothing like my mother. Then, I'll see a photo (like the one directly above) of her and see my own face looking back.  Sometimes, I feel I'm never so like her as when I'm at my most graceful.

Left: Ana joking around, unknown date Right: 1951 Frackville PA

Ana, 1961

Ana, about 1997

Thanks for being my mom and thanks for helping with this genealogy stuff!

Jesse (Glenn) Weill and EAWII

Jesse Glenn Weill was the first wife of Ernest A. Weill II and the mother of Ernest A. Weill III. Ana and I suspect that the pic below is her. The man with her certainly does look like EAWII.

Jesse Glenn Weill

Top left: EAWII, top right Ken Emory and EAWII, bottom:EAWII is third from left

Chessie saved his obit. Her characteristic black album paper is a sure giveaway.

"Anna" is Aunt Anna, who Ana lived with when she was a teenager. Ana's name is spelled with 2 n's in this obit b/c that is what her parents named her (after her great aunt). Only later, when Mother Mary had a fight with Aunt Anna did she change her daughter's name.

Joseph Weill

So, I wrote about Joseph Weill a bit in the last post. He was born in 1880-1882 in Germany, the son of Ernest Alfonso Weill the first. His family would have come to the U.S. while he was still a young child. He was Grampere's uncle.

Joseph Weill, date unknown

Joseph Weill, unknown dates, the right hand pic is from an insurance conference in D.C.

His children were Josephine (~1911-1982) and Billy (b. about 1915 and killed himself around 1963) .

Josephine Weill, date unknown




I have a lot of pictures of her playing golf, but I thought this photo would be more interesting for you guys. Below is Josephine with Tom Ewell (of The Seven Year Itch). He was from Owensboro and they were good friends.

Billy Weill, date unknown

He was partner with his brother Lawrence in insurance. He died about 1961 or 1962.

 I thought his wife was Minnie Chapman. This letter was either written by Joseph or Josephine. Why would she be going by her maiden name? I'm confused now...I think perhaps his wife was some one else entirely.

More Weills

 

This a picture of Monroe "Beau" Weill. He was (is?) the son of Lawrence and Gertrude Weill. He was a contemporary of Ernest A. Weill III, and this is possibly a pic of him before shipping off to WWII. His name does not appear when I search for WWII veteran info, which may mean he's still alive. I have no birth or death dates for him or his parents. 

I do know that his father was Ernest A. Weill II's brother. Together with the third brother  (Joseph) they ran an insurance company in Owensboro, KY. I cannot find any trace of this company and do not even know the name of it. According to Ana, Joseph and Lawrence both remained Jewish, while my g-grandfather, EAWII, distanced himself religiously, and eventually left the insurance company. Jesse (Glenn) Weill also worked there briefly as a secretary. The couple were teased "mercilessly" by Joseph and Lawrence.

Chessie or Josephine or Grampere cared enough about this man to save his picture and his badges from his army uniform (can you tell which one got worn?) Yet, I and my family know nothing about him. Anyone have any info on this cousin?

John Bruce Weill

Bruce Weill was my uncle, son of Mary Lura Morgan and John Menaugh. Mary and John were married around 1946, after she divorced Ernest A. Weill III. She and John split around 1948, and she later got back with EAWIII.

Bruce, about 1949, back of photo says he's 2 yrs old

Bruce was born May 20, 1947. He placed on the Asperger spectrum, although Ana can speak more freely about his symptoms. Around 1963, EAWIII adopted Bruce and his last name became Weill.

Ana and Bruce in Pennsylvania, about 1949--this is the photo that Jude's pen and ink drawing is based on.

He entered the army and served in Vietnam. He started his tour in September of 1967. He died on March 24, 1968 in Hau Nghia Province, South Vietnam. The report on his service and death can be seen on any number of Vietnam Veteran's sites, like this one.  You can click on 'see full profile' to see more about his mission.

John Bruce Weill in uniform, about 1966/67, hand-tinted photo, by a Des Moines photographer

 He was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, Vietnam Service, Good Conduct, and National Defense Medals.

I do not have an original newspaper clipping of his obituary. I do have this clipping about his Bronze Star, though.

He was a rifleman and specialist

More cousins!

Two of our distant cousins have extensive genealogy sites:

http://ancestralties.blogspot.com/

and

http://theancestorfiles.blogspot.com/

I know I will be referencing their amazing work! 

My Great-Grandmother, Ruth Stemm

I wanted to share with you all this booklet cover that Ruth Stemm (Morgan) designed the artwork for. The pamphlet describes how to make a necklace using Collingbourne's String. The booklet art was handled by Virginia Snow Studios, so we don't know if she was a contractor or an employee. The image below is an un-retouched scan, 1800 pixels wide and suitable for having professionally printed. If you would like a  cleaned-up version, let me know.
EDIT: For whatever reason blogger isn't displaying the size correctly. I decided the easiest way to deal with this was to just create a page on my own website. This is the spot for a larger, printable version!

Ruth Stemm's Signature is on the bottom right.

Below is a newspaper clipping about her, which shows her illustrating while Mary and William Bruce Jr. play around her. Interestingly, Mother Mary's middle name is listed here as "Lou." Perhapes Lura was too strange for the newspaper guy? Or, perhaps that's what called they her when she was little.

Clipping sent to Ana from her Uncle William Bruce, Jr.

Below is a cropped picture from the 1925 Morgan family reunion showing Ruth. I will post the larger picture when I discuss the Morgans a bit more.

Ruth Stemm-Morgan, 1925   

 

Here is another pic sent by William Bruce Jr. of Ruth. The picture is undated, but looks to be around 1950.

EDIT:  I also forgot the include the 1930 census for the Morgans. What is so interesting is that my g-grandfather (W.B. Morgan) is listed as the one with the advertising occupation, and Ruth is listed as having no job. When I told this to my mom, Ana, she was shocked and amused because family lore has it that my g-grandfather did NOT work. She and I both thought this might have been a cover so that few found out she was working in this era of homemakers. Funny though, they do not list any servants and are renting their house. This would not imply the $$$ and stature that we thought was there. I'm just glad that we have some scrap of her artwork and that we can know we come by our creative drives honestly! Here is a link to the larger copy of the 1930 census.

Line 75 is the Morgan's entry.