Mary Heichelbech

Mary William "Bill" Heichelbech (née) Knott, aka Dot. Seen here at the St. Meinrad Abbey in Indiana in 1923. She was my grandmother and I had never seen her at this age before. I love her outfit and her smile. 

My Whirligig Fair Book

I wanted to share with you some pictures of a book my great grandmother, Ruth Stemm wrote and illustrated, published in 1929. She was a very talented artist, though little of her work survives with identification. I say that because she supplied Virginia Snow Studios and other art and ad agencies with artwork for advertising and may not have always been credited. This colorful, delightful book has such sweet images. She dedicated it to my grandmother, Marylu (aka Mary Lura aka Mother Mary) and Billy (aka William Bruce aka Uncle Bruce). These photos were generously sent to me by my uncle Larry. I love to see our family's artwork!

Amanda Smoker and William Wesley Stemm

It's been so long since I last posted they've gone and changed the format of Blogger. Whoops. Upwards and onwards.

Here we have Ruth Stemm's parents, my g-g-grandparents, Amanda Smoker and William Wesley Stemm. Hand-written caption by Uncle Bruce Morgan (my grandmother's brother). Date this was taken is unknown, but I would guess 1890s or later. Her parents were Jacob Zook Smoker and Mary Anne Smoker (nee Smiley). I read somewhere that the Elkhart Smokers got their name from the Mennonite Smucker, which lines up with family lore that Amanda's parents did not want her out a-courtin' because they were very strict, devout, and modest. It seems strange to think about 'regular' people marrying a Mennonite today, but back then the differences would have been fewer considering that most people were poor, modest, and working the land.

I have no info about his parents. Seems like I heard they were farmers as well, but I have no source info now on that.

I do have the census from 1900 showing these two, my grandmother Ruth and her sister Winifred. I've never heard anything about Winifred. I read somewhere that she married a Williams. Not sure if that's correct. The fact that both have parents born in Pennsylvania adds a little anecdotal evidence to
the Mennonite theory.

I found Amanda's grave here. And found some info on William through findagrave. From the Thursday, December 5, 1935 Rochester Sentinal:

Friends in this city have received word of the death of William W. STEMM, aged 76, which occurred at his home in Goshen Tuesday after an operation. Mr. Stemm for over fifty years was a traveling salesman for an Indianapolis paint house and Rochester was in his territory. The deceased was one of nine children. He was born near Silver Lake. He was a brother of the late Ira STEMM of this city. The widow, two daughters and two sisters, survive. Funeral services were held in Goshen Thursday afternoon.

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?