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Showing posts with label Wisconsin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wisconsin. Show all posts

July 22, 2019

Ancestor Photos Can Make You Sad

Ina Burdick
 As many of my readers know, I rescue Civil War era photo albums and after scanning the photos I publish them on my Lost Faces website. These photos fascinate me and whenever I can, I research the names of the individuals.

Some catch my interest more than others, as is the case of this sweet little girl, Ina Burdick, seen on the left. Her chubby pretty little face captivates me! Her gorgeous wavy hair, so nicely kept, must have been a source of delight to her mother, as in the photo on the right, little Ina is seated so her hair in its glory is displayed.

Little Ina captured my interest so much that I wanted to find out all about her although there were some things I didn't want to know, such as when she died! I was afraid she might have died young, and as silly as might seem, that would make me incredibly sad.

And Lillie Burdick, possible sister to Ina, had such a sweet face I wanted to know more about her too. 

My curiousity was too much. I set off to find out what I could about Ina and the other Burdick individuals in the album, pictured below. Were Will and Lillie her siblings? Was Sarah her mother?

Spoiler Alert: After much research I found the Burdick family and the two sisters Ina and Lillie. It is not a happy story but read on if you wish to know what happened to the girls. If you want to see the other photos of their relatives in this rescued album, visit Album #9 on LostFaces.com



Ina Burdick


Lillie Burdick


Will Burdick
Will Burdick



Sarah Frank Burdick

I found out quite a bit about the Burdick family by searching Ancestry for various records. For a summary, Sarah Frances (not Frank) Coon married Ira D. Burdick and had several children. Ina Burdick, Lillie Burdick, and Will Burdick pictured above were their children. 

Lillie sadly died at age 9 in Wisconsin. Her tombstone shows 25 Jul 1872 to 8 Mar 1882. She is buried in Milton Junction Cemetery, Milton Wisconsin with her sister Ina. Ina lived a challenging life of physical issues and heart problems which led to her early death at age 47. My fear proved founded - and while it may seem odd, I felt sad after reading her obituary, a portion of which is below:

"Ina D. Burdick....died in Milton, Wis., June 22, 1909, the day following her 47th birthday..... In childhood, for reasons not clearly understood, her bodily growth was arrested, which was followed by rheumatic and other troubles that rendered her practically helpless. In this state of enforced inactivity there came an abnormal accumulation of fatty matter which rendered her a helpless invalid for the latter part of her life, and made her subject to heart trouble from which she died." Source: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/126946652/ina-demaine-burdick

Lillie and Ina's mother's obituary also made me sad. She was only 55 when she died of pneumonia. But what bothered me most was the last sentence in her obituary which only mentioned her son Will, not her daughter Ina.

"Mrs. Sarah Frances Burdick .... died at No. 47 Columbia Place, Chicago, April 27, 1893, after an illness of five days with pneumonia.... She leaves her husband and one son to mourn their loss." Source: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88468002/sarah-frances-burdick


Do other genealogists get caught up in these old photos and feel as if they know the individuals? I really wanted those two pretty little girls to grow up happy,  and live long healthy lives.

June 5, 2019

The Mystery of Hilda's Foot

My friend and fellow genealogist, Katherine R. Willson posted this intriguing burial card on her Facebook page.

The burial of Hilda's foot apparently took place in Union Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1919. 

Katherine wanted to know if any of us in the genealogy community had ever seen anything like this. We had not. But of course, being avid genealogists, several of us went on a hunt for Hilda, hoping to find out what the story was behind this odd burial.

As you can probably imagine, we had a lot of guesses as to how Hilda lost her foot and perhaps more importantly, why she had it buried. Was her body destroyed in an accident and only the foot remained? Was the foot amputated for health reasons and her religious beliefs required that she bury the foot until she died and could be buried with it?

Then I found the following story in the Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wisconsin) 04 Aug 1920, Wed Page 10 which explained what happened to Hilda and her foot.



 
Hilda died April 15, 1950 and her obituary reveals she was 66 years old. 

Milwaukee Journal Monday, Apr 17, 1950 Milwaukee, WI Page: 37

It remains a mystery as to why Hilda had her foot buried in one cemetery and her body in another.
 


April 28, 2015

72 Year Old Message Found During Renovations

Ralph Herriges

During a home remodeling in Bay View the homeowner discovered a brief note written on a hidden panel: “#12109, Phil Herriges & Sons. Feb. 20, 1943. Ralph leaves Monday for the Army.”

The homeowner consulted the online 1940 federal census that showed Phil and Estella Herriges living on E. Van Beck Ave. in the Town of Lake, now the south side of Milwaukee. They had 17 children, including Ralph, who was listed as 16 years old. So the age fit for someone entering the military three years later.

He then found a Journal Sentinel death notice for Ralph, confirming he was the son of Phil and Estella. Ralph died, not as a young soldier in the trenches of Europe, but in 2006 of natural causes at age 82.

Read the rest of this story at Mystery of 72-year-old message makes sleuth of homeowner

Credit: Image Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel 

December 23, 2008

Wisconsin Divorce Index, 1965-1984 online

Wisconsin Divorce Index, 1965-1984 are now online on Ancestry.com

This database contains an index to divorces granted in Wisconsin between 1965 and 1984. Information listed includes names of husband and wife, ages of husband and wife, divorce date, and divorce county.

May 23, 2007

Milwaukee County Wisconsin Almshouse & Poor Farm Cemeteries List of Burials

The Milwaukee County Farm Cemetery (a.k.a. Potter's Field) was used during the years 1872-1974. This cemetery was used for the poorhouse inmates and also for burial of other indigent people and transients for whom no funds were available for burial.

There are nearly 6,400 names in the burial register book the names of the deceased and these are now online starting in 1872 at Milwaukee County Wisconsin Almshouse & Poor Farm Cemeteries List of Burials

Search other Almshouse records for Canada, USA & England on Olive Tree Genealogy