Austel daughters who remained in Europe

Coming on the heels of my last entry in which I described the First Generation Austel-Gutgsell Family Lines, I would like to turn now to two daughters who did NOT emigrate with the family to America in 1903. The daughters were the oldest: Marie and Ida. Fortunately, I have pictures of these Austel sisters and you can compare these images with those of the girls at a much younger age in the previous entry.

Marie Austel, 1877-1951, stands by her husband, Heinrich Schlumpf. The two children are Fritz and Therese. As already mentioned, contact with this family was lost sometime after WW II. There are a few old letters floating around in the attics of our family at large and I continue to search them out. My maternal grandmother, Mrs. Margaret (Gretl) Gailliot, nee. Austel, kept a "little black book", in which she wrote down her siblings names along with their birthday and the day on which they died. Grandma Margaret was the youngest of the first geneation and the last to pass away, born 1894 and died 1964.
Image above: The couple on the right are Ida, nee. Austel, 1882-1934, and her husband, Fidelius RINK, 1878-1966. The couple on left are unidentified. On reverse is hand-written caption:

"Im Frühling 1935. Flemberg (or Hemburg?) St. Gallen- Oberland"

Translated: "Spring, 1935, in Flemberg (or Hemburg), St. Gallen- in the Alps".

Image above: Mrs. Ida Rink, nee. Austel, is being helped to her feet after apparently slipping on the snow. I don't see any skiis and she is smiling, so I don't think she was seriously hurt. Others in the photo have not been identified. On Reverse: "Rulshssorh auf dem Weg Z. Noanlichen, 28 Jul 1935. Erst ich mach her alle andern warum haben sie gelacht".

Translation: ? Anybody give it a try ? Please post in comments below.

Fidelius Rink and Ida, nee. Austel, had two surviving children, Martina and Paul. Martina never married nor had children. Paul married a lady named Isabelle and they had one son, Wolfgang Rink. In 2001, I heard from a third party that Wolfgang Rink and his widowed mother moved to Berlin, Germany, after Paul died in the mid 1990s. They had resided in Lauterach, Austria, on the eastern shores of the Bodensee.

REFERENCES and LINKS:

I googled "Wolfgang Rink" and found a match at this web site. Could this be OUR Wolfgang Rink? I believe he looks too young. I wish I could get in touch with him and refer him to this blog entry.

What's in a Name? Your Name in History

Psssst, Hey you, Mr. Gullible: Wanna buy your name in history. Why spend a lifetime studying your genealogy when Ancestry.com can provide you with a book on your name in history for only $29.95.

The collage above shows four different book covers which describe the history of a few of the unique surnames in my pedigree. The books are available at Amazon.com. How unique are these particular surnames? Well, as a measure of uniqueness, I searched the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) at Rootsweb.com (which is partnered with Ancestry.com) and obtained the numbers of deceased person for each surname and added the numbers to the collage. Click on the image for a better view. For example, there are only 51 deceased persons in the huge SSDI database (currently 81.5 million names) with a surname of Hohnke. There were only 2 persons named Hohnka (ending with "a"), and both are members of my Family as described in the previous entry.

All 27 Gailliot persons in the SSDI are members of my collective Family. At the SSDI on Rootsweb.com, one can add a "postem" note which can include additional information for any individual in the database. Just think how informative this database would become if users would post a genealogical postem note for each one of their own family members.

An observation: About eight years ago, in the year 2000, there were 36 Hohnke individuals in the SSDI compared to 51 persons at present in this continuously updated and growing database.

Each book in the series entitled, [your name] in History, is published "On Demand" by Ancestry.com and is sold by Amazon.com where I obtained the images of these book covers. The artistic, almost antique-looking, covers show the surname superimposed on a genealogically-themed background of the Statue of Liberty, vintage maps, and immigrants arriving at Ellis Island.

The Product Description at Amazon stated:
"The [your name] in History is a customized book offering a unique blend of fascinating facts, statistics, and commentary ... compiled from hundreds of millions of records from the world's largest online resource ... You may discover the countries and ports they left behind, the ships they sailed and more ... and where they reside today ... check out our collection of nearly 300,000 family name books."

You can see the complete description for the Gailliot book here. Just for fun, in the "books" search bar at the top of the Amazon.com web site, type in "History" and your surname of interest. Sorry Kerbitz, you surname draws a blank.

The Description at Amazon does not claim that any of these books are a genuine GENEALOGY- which I suppose is good for those of us who spend hundreds of hours on genealogical research- ironically, often perusing the multiple databases at Ancestry.com. And I wouldn't mind having a book of my surname if the price drops to about a third of the current retail price. Perhaps a used copy will be become available at Amazon or eBay, but it is not likely since my name is not Smith.

World War II Monument and Register of Veterans

World War II monument on the Washington, DC, mall between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. South end of the elliptical monument memorialized our military engagements in the Pacific Arena.

Yesterday, I drove down to the Clara Barton Parkway near Washington DC, and parked my car near Lock 7 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. From there I bicycled about 7 miles to the Lincoln Memorial, rounded it and continued to the eastern end of the Reflecting Pool. Here is situated the Nation's WW II memorial to Veterans. Behind me in the picture below is the registration building where one can contribute information on the veterans in their family who served in WW II (or apparently, other military engagements). The information is on computer and indexed by name, and is also available on the internet at http://www.wwiimemorial.com/. Contributors are individuals or organizations such as the American Legion. On the computer, I typed in our family's Gailliot surname and the following data was provided. The information was contributed by my Uncle Edward A. Gailliot:

Charles [Anthony] Gailliot. Worked as a Pattern Maker at the Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC. Deceased 1948.

Charles [Joseph] Gailliot. Signal Corps 13th Air Force. Repaired radios on 13th Air Force aircraft B-24s and B-25s.

Joseph Stolarczyk Bailey, of Binghamton, New York; U.S. Navy; Honored by Brother-in-law, Mr. Edward Gailliot; Activity: Stationed in the Pacific Theator on the U.S.S. Barataria, AVP-33, Sea plane tender. [From the Registry's web site]. Joseph Bailey was the husband of my aunt, the former Helen Rose Gailliot.
Bob Kramp in front of the Registration building at WW II Memorial in Washington, DC.
A colorful scene along the Cheasapeake and Ohio Canal at Fletcher's Boat House on the banks of the Potomac River. The bicycle/ recreational trail is to the right of the canal. At this point, the trail consists of two lanes, one gravel, the other paved. It is also at the junction of the C&O Canal trail (Cumberland, MD, to Rock Creek in Georgetown, DC) and the Capital Crescent Trail (local 10 mile trail).

Bartholdi Fountain- Been there; got the picture

Bob Kramp in front of the Bartholdi Fountain, Washington, DC.
In a previous entry, I uploaded a picture of my great grandparents, Henry C. Gailliot and Franceska, nee. Dumoulin, and my grandfather, Charles A. Gailliot, standing at the foot of the Bartholdi Fountain in Washington, DC, in the year, circa 1918. The dome of the Nation's Capital was shown in the distance. Today, the fountain is still in Washington, DC, but is located a short distance from where it was 90 years ago. Now, the fountain is in a triangular park, southwest of the capital, BEHIND the National Botanical Gardens, between Independence Avenue, First Street, and Washington Ave. It has been described as Washington's best kept secret for a place to relax and enjoy a sunny, warm day, while viewing a collection of the world's most beautiful flowers.

Incidentally, the dome of the Capital can still be seen from the park, but it is obscurred by a large tree in these pictures.

The Bertholdi Fountain, or sculpture as it could best be described because it is dry, was designed by Frederic Bertholdi. He was born in Colmar, in Haute Rhin, Alsace. My great grandmother, Franceska was also born in Alsace, but in Bas Rhin (lower Rhine), in 1871, and now I wonder if she didn't make the trip to the fountain because it was associated with one of her fellow countrymen. Bertholdi also designed the Statue of Liberty which the Alsacian immigrant, Franceska Dumoulin, might have seen on her arrival in New York Harbor in the early 1890s. It's no wonder that Bertholdi and his works were popular among my immigrant ancestors.

Surrounding the Bertholdi Fountain are gorgeous plants in peak bloom, such as this example of a Peoni- and they are labeled for the world traveler: Paeoni lactiflora, "Westerner", Butter cup family, Ranunculaceae.

Mother's Day 2008

What would Mother's Day be without pretty mothers and pretty flowers. Happy 88th Mother's Day Mom.

The Gailliot and Austel Families tour Washington, DC (vintage photos)

Henry C. Gailliot (sitting, left) and his wife, Franceska, nee. Dumoulin, and their oldest son, Charles A. Gailliot, pose in front of the Bartholdi Fountain with the Nation's Capital dome in the far background. The date was about 1918. I understand the Fountain has been re-located, but it is still in sight of the Capital. In the next week or so I plan to be touring Washington, DC, and one of my destinations/ projects is to take a picture of myself sitting on the ledge of the fountain. The straw hat is optional of course. I believe there is a word for that style of hat. Help me out here.

I also plan to bicycle around the District of Columbia mall and along the C&O canal.

A few entries ago, I mentioned that the Franciscan Monastery, a few blocks away from the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, was also one of the favorite tourist destinations of the early Gailliot family. The following photo was taken at the replica of the Grotto at Lourdes (France), which is located in the garden of the Franciscan Monastery. Sitting on the bench is Henry C. Gailliot and his wife, Franceska, on the left, and his son's mother-in-law, Mrs. Rosa Austel, nee. Friedrick, on the right. I believe it was taken on the same trip on which they visited the Bartholdi fountain, about 1918. Mr. and Mrs. Austel were in town to attend the baptism of the families' first grandchild, Helen Rose Gailliot. The "modern-day" photo of the Grotto with me standing in front of the iron gate was taken about 1999. As you can see, not much has changed in 80 years. I plan to revise and make additions to this entry in my blog in a few days. I will be leaving in a few hours to drive up to the Washington, DC, area to visit Mom on Mother's Day, and I hope to find out more about the sites and visits of my ancestors to Nation's capital.

About 20 years after these photos were taken of my great grandparents, a book and a movie were pulished regarding the miracles which occurred at the actual grotto at Lourdes, in sourthern France. Entitled, The Song of Bernadette, the 1942 book became a popular best seller and the 1943 movie won four Academy Awards, including a Best Actress Award for Jennifer Jones.

Henry C. Gailliot sits on a bench between his wife, Franceska, on the left and Mrs. Rosa Austel, nee. Frederick, on the right. In 1918, the group visited the replica of the Grotto at Lourdes (France) on the property of the Franciscan Monastery, Washington, DC.

I visit the replica of the Lourdes Grotto to see what my ancestors enjoyed over 80 years ago on a similar visit.

References:

Frederic Bartholdi in Wikipedia

Bartholdi Fountain and Park in A View on Cities

Public Photos of Bartholdi Fountain posted on Flickr

St. Bernadette of Lourdes defined in Wikipedia

Take the Genealogical Challenge

I have been fortunate enough to obtain facial images for 7 of my 8 great grandparents. Click to enlarge.

Recently I read the results of an interesting survey in Eastman's Online Genealogical Newsletter which was posted 24 Mar 2008. The findings of the survey showed that Americans lacked a knowledge of their family history and in particular their pedigree. The survey was sponsored by The Generations Network (parent company of Ancestry.com) and conducted by an independent source.

The survey discovered that:
*One-third of Americans cannot name any of their great-grandparents.

*Half of Americans know the name of only one or none of their great-grandparents.
*Six out of ten Americans do not know both of their grandmothers' maiden names. (probably even fewer would know the names of their four great grandmothers).

So I thought how I would respond to this survey. Everyone has eight biological great grandparents. For an extra measure, I also provided vital statistics including locations. I numbered my great grandparents according to the "Ahnentafel" system:

8. Karl or August Streich (or Strike), b. ? in Prussia (Posen?); d. 1885 in America.
9. Henrietta Hohnke, b. 1842 in Posen, Prussia; d. 1922 in West Houtzdale, PA.
10. Thomas W. Russell, b. 1847, Holytown, Lanarkshire, Scotland; d. 1928, Cambria Co, PA.
11. Eleanor (or Ellen) Hartley, b. abt 1845, Yorkshire or County Durham, ENG; d. abt 1892, Houtzdale, PA.
12. Henry Caspar Gailliot, b. 1862, Wesel, GER; d. 1926, Alexandria, VA.
13. Franceska (Francoise) Dumoulin, b. 1871, Roeschwoog, Alsace; d. 1941, Alexandria, VA.
14. Joseph Austel, b. 1850, Haindorf, Boehmen; d. 1924, Braddock, PA.
15. Maria Gutgsell, b. 1857, Wintzenheim, Alsace; d. 1895, Burglen, Switzerland.

I've been collecting these data for about 16 or more years, but I tried to recall the above without peeping into my computer's database. I also made these observations:

• All of my great grandparents were born in Europe.
• Three of my four grandparents were also born overseas.
• I can say that my heritage is 6/8 German (based on the German borders, 1871-1918), 1/8 Scottish, and 1/8 English.
• All of my great grandparents died before I was born in 1942. My children saw two of their great grands (Harry McNeeley and Lemma Drake on their Mother's branch).
• Grave sites or burial locations are known for six of my eight great grandparents; but only 4 tombstone inscriptions exist.
• I am not certain of my paternal great grandfather's first name, nor the "correct" spelling of his surname.
• I have facial images of 7 of my 8 great grandparents, almost all of which I discovered in the hands of my collateral family who graciously let me copy them.
• My father was fostered and then adopted by his father's sister, Martha, nee. Streich, who married Robert W. Kramp from Kries Stolp, Hinterpommern (Poland today). Thus, I have a more complex ancestral tree. Oh boy, another tree to climb!

The survey results continued:
*Twenty-two percent of Americans don't know what either of their grandfathers did for a living.

My Response: My paternal grandfather, Otto Strike, was a coal miner; then a machinist for American Car and Foundry Company in Detroit- they made most of the nation's street cars; then a maintenance man (ice plant operator) at Cresson Tuberculosis Sanitarium, PA. My maternal grandfather, Charles Gailliot, was a pattern maker for the Navy Yard in DC.

*Although America is known as a nation of immigrants, 27 percent don't know where their family lived before they came to America.

My Response: I did pretty good on this one. I have even visited the birth places of 3 of my great grandparents: Thomas W. Russell in Holytown, Lanarkshire, Scotland; Henry C. Gailliot, in Wesel, Germany; and Franceska Dumoulin, in Reoschwoog, Alsace. My goal of course would be to visit all birthplaces. You'll hear about it here.

*The study also found that in comparing regions, Southerners know the least about their roots. Only 38 percent know both of their grandmothers' maiden names, compared with 50 percent of Northeasterners.

No comment.

*Young Americans are looking to their roots- 83 percent of 18 to 34 year-olds are interested in learning their family history. Following closely are the 35 to 54 year-olds at 77 percent and Americans ages 55+ at 73 percent.

This surprised me as I thought older Americans would be most interested in knowing their ancestors- after all they will meet them sooner rather than later. And, it would be nice to be acquainted with their names and where they were from- just to make conversation.

References for survey: Dick Eastman's Newsletter, 24 Oct 2008, and The Generations Network

George Washington H.S., Alexandria, VA: War Memorial

You don't see many of these monuments around modern-day High schools. Most of them are too new. However, here at George Washington High School on Mount Vernon Avenue in Alexandria, VA, is a monument to the fallen soldiers of WW II and former students of the school. It was erected by the graduating classes of 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1947. Names of the fallen are inscribed on another face of the monument.

My mother, Mary Margaret Gailliot, and her brother Charles graduated from the school in 1938. Their yearbooks are archived in the library in Old Town Alexandria.

I just uploaded about 87 images of my Mother's Ancestral Homelands in two albums (Germany, Alsace, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, and Alexandria Virginia) to my Internet photo album at Picasa. This is a reminder that most of my recent blogged photos and several photos from my genealogy and family history can always be found by scrolling down, looking to the right until you come to "See more photos and slide shows" and click on the link to my Google Picasa albums.

A neat feature of Google's partner, Picasa.com, is that photos can be located on a map so that one can follow the family's migrations around the world. Go to my Picasa album , click on "Mother's Ancestral Homelands" album, scroll down, looking to the left until you see the map, and then enlarge.

St. Severin Catholic, Drifting, PA, Marriage location of Bertha Hohnke and George Haas

Image: St. Severin Catholic Church, near Drifting in northeast Clearfield Co, Cooper Twp, PA. Bertha Hohnke and George Haas were married here on 30 Aug 1887. The log-built St. Severin's was established in 1851, and is on the National Register of Historic Landmarks. A graveyard next to the church contains tombstones of the Gable family (Mrs. Bertha Hohnke Haas' daughter, Ottilia Haas, married Clarence Gable). Bishop John NEUMANN, who was America's first saint, was said to have come from Philadelphia to dedicate and bless St. Severin's church. St. John Neuman, also called the immigrant shepherd, was born in Bohemia, Germany

Do not confuse this Bishop John Neumann with his contemporary, the English-born, Cardinal John Henry NEWMAN. The latter never came to America and was better known, probably because of his prolific writings. Cardinal John H. Newman converted from The Anglican Church to Catholicism and wrote several books defending the Roman Catholic Church. He has been on the path to sainthood and in 2007, his "sainthood was imminent". The Cause lacked further proof of miracles which he was purported to have performed. I don't know the criteria for sainthood, but at least one them is the power to perform miracles. Another criterion, though perhaps not official, is that there is little deterioration or decay of the body after death.

The Wikipedia (Feb 2008) states: "[John Henry Newman] held that, apart from an interior and unreasoned conviction [in other words, faith], there is no cogent proof of the existence of God; and in Tract 85 he dealt with the difficulties of the Creed and of the canon of Scripture, with the apparent implication that they are insurmountable unless overridden by the authority of an infallible Church. [JHN had once implied an opposition to the Catholic Church's policy that the Pope is Infallible]. In his own case, these views did not lead to skepticism, because he had always possessed the necessary interior conviction; and in writing Tract 85 his only doubt would have been where the true Church is to be found. But, so far as the rest of the world is concerned, his teaching amounts to this: that the man who has not this interior conviction has no choice but to remain an agnostic, while the man who has it is bound sooner or later to become a Catholic." [For non-Catholics, I imagine this would be hard to swallow]

"The University he founded, the Catholic University of Ireland, has since evolved into University College Dublin, Ireland's largest University which has contributed significantly to Ireland's development over the last 150 years."

On Xmas, 2007, my mother's first cousin, Henry J. Gailliot, sent me a card in which his family is pictured on the steps of "The Gailliot Center for Newman Studies"- a library founded by Henry at his Alma mater, Carnegie University, in Pittsburgh. The library will contain many of the writings by Cardinal John Henry Newman and apartments for visiting scholars. My family tree, both branches, seems to becoming entwined with these holy men of the Catholic Church. For more on the John Newman Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, go here and here.

Incidentally, the Catholic Newman centers and clubs at various universities across the county are named after Cardinal John Henry Newman, including my Alma Mater, the University of Maryland.

Wesel, Germany, values its heritage by reconstructing the Rathaus facade to its former splendor

The honorable Ulrike Westkamp, Mayor of Wesel, Germany, participates in the laying of foundation stone for the reconstruction of the Town Hall (Rathaus). To the right, on stage, is a poster of what the new facade will look like. Barely seen above the heads of the audience is the foundation stone including the cylindrical, brass-colored, time capsule. Inscribed on the stone:

"28 Oktober 2007. Grundsteinlegung zur Wiedererichtung der Flamisch- Gotishen Steinfassade der Rathaus der Hansestadt Wesel, 1455 erbaut- 1698 ernbuert- 1945 zerstort".

[translated: 28 Oct 2007. Laying of Foundation stone for the reconstruction of the Flemish- Gothic stone facade of the Town Hall of Hanseatic Wesel, built 1455, rebuilt 1698, destroyed 1945].

Some of the crowd which attended the laying of the foundation stone for the reconstruction of the Town Hall in Wesel, Germany.

The event took place during the Hanseatic Festival in October 2007. This picture was taken looking toward the southeast corner of the Great Market Square (Gross Markt). For centuries this is where vendors sold food and other goods to the citizens of Wesel. Behind the hand-held banner in this picture was the approximate location (No. 135 Gross Markt) for the residence of my ancestral Gailliot family in the year 1843. The former residence was destroyed in the last months of WW II.

A future view of the reconstructed Gross Market Square by Jaeger Architectural Firm- looking west toward the Willibrordi Dom (already rebuilt in the 1950s). The future Rathaus with cupola and restored stone facade is to the left of the Dom. The former residence of my great, great grandfather, Anton Gailliot, would have been to the far left, just out of view.

Source of the first two images: Mrs. Maria Kerbitz, born de Vries.

Gifts of Family History from Rudolf, in Wesel, Germany

On the wall of my office, I have a beautiful calendar showing views from the Lower Rhein Valley (Niederrhein in German). On the right bank of the Rhine River where the Lippe canal meets the river lies Wesel, Germany. It is the homeland (Heimat) of the Gailliot family. The calandar was sent to me on Christmas by my friend and fellow family historian, Rudolf Kerbitz. In addition, Rudolf sent me several other gems for our Family History, such as a tourist brochure of Wesel which included an historical "Stadtchronik Wesel" (chronical of Wesel City). The article contained vintage photos of the City before it was bombed during the last months of WW II. Over 90 percent of the City was destroyed. However, the city recovered and reconstructed many of the buildings and churches- including the Dom or Cathedral. One building project which has just begun is the restoration of the old Rathaus. A corner stone containing a time capsul was laid last October, 2007, during the celebration of Wesel's former membership in the ancient Hanseatic League. Wesel was a commercial partner along the trading route between Koln (Cologne) and Amsterdam. Today, Wesel has formed partnerships between Hagerstown, MD, and ironically, Durham, England, from where my father's maternal branch, the Russell family, emigrated.

Most important in my gift package were copies of several pages from a recently published transcript, "Das Kirchenbuch der Katholisch Kirchengemeinde St. Mariae Himmelfahrt Wesel, Heiraten 1835 bis 1849", compiled by Kurt Grüter. This publication contains Marriage entries between these dates at the Catholic church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Wesel. Fortunately, both the first and the second marriages of Anton Gailliot were documented:

Firstly, Anton Gailliot, born 16 May 1816, in Saarbrücken, son of Johann GAILLIOT and Elisabeth PIERRE; married on 2 May 1841, in Wesel, to Maria DISSEL, born 29 Jan 1814, in Wesel, daughter of Andreas Dissel and Maria HÜNING. Zeugen (witnesses) Heinrich Müller, Gertrude Dehörs.

Secondly, Anton Gailliot, witwer (widower) of Maria Dissert (sic), born 16 May 1815, in Saarbrucken, son of Johann Gailliot and Elisabeth PIERNE (sic); married on 22 Oct 1848, in Wesel, to Johann Helena Theodora SCHLEBUSCH, born 2 Sep 1819, in Rees [Germany], daughter of Johann Schlebusch and Johanna OFFENBERG; Zeugen (witnesses): Heinrich Dissel, Mechtildis Wagener.

You may have noticed the discrepancy for Anton Gailliot's birth year and the different maiden surnames for Anton's mother (Pierre and Pierne). Close match, but anything less wouldn't be a challenge, would it?

Thank you Rudolf, I'm extremely grateful.

For more views of Niederrhein, including a few of Wesel, go to Heinz' Picasa album at: http://picasaweb.google.com/heinzkarthaeuser/AmNiederrhein

Charles Gailliot was a full-blooded brother of Henry Gailliot rather than his half-brother

Tombstone for Charles Gailliot, 1847-1895, and his second wife, Mary [Jund], 1860-1933, at St. Mary's cemetery, Lawrenceville, PA. However, not all things written in stone are true- particularly in genealogical research.

Recently, I discovered a reference which will substantially change our Gailliot Genealogy. Previously, I thought that Charles (or Karl) Gailliot was a half-brother of my great grandfather, Henry Caspar Gailliot, based on the former's estimated birth year. See picture of the early Gailliot family in previous blog entry. I have five sources for Charles Gailliot's birth year of which three indicated he was born in 1847; and two sources, in 1849. The difference in the two dates is significant, because the FIRST WIFE of Anton Gailliot, the father of Charles and Henry, died on 2 August 1848. So if Charles was born a year before his mother died, he would be a half-brother of Henry who was born in 1862 of Anton and his second wife, Helen Schlebusch. The evidence:

1. Charles Gailliot's tombstone inscription indicates his birth year was 1847.
2. The cemetery records of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Pittsburgh states Charles was fatally injured after being run over by a train in Mar, 1895, when he was 48 years old (estimated born about 1847).
3. From Charles Gailliot's Civil Death Registration at Pittsburgh courthouse his estimated birth year from his age, 48 years, when he died in Mar 1895 is 1847 (1895-48=1847). Also, it states his MOTHER was "Marie" who died in Aug 1848, suggesting that Charles must have been born before 1848.
4. Charles' parish marriage record states he was 25 years old when he married Barbara Weitmuller on 21 May 1874; estimated born 1849 (1874-25=1849).
5. From Pittsburgh Marriages Registration: Charles was 33 years old when he married his second wife, Mary Jund, in 1882; estimated born 1849 (1882-33=1849).

The most compelling evidence for Charles' birth year until now was the third source listed above- his Civil Death Registration. HOWEVER, I just discovered a pair of 1891 passport applications (at Ancestry.com) for both Charles Gailliot and his younger brother, Henry, which states Charles was born specifically on 10 June 1849. In other words, both Charles and Henry Gailliot could only be the sons of Anton's SECOND wife, who was Helen Schlebusch. Thus, Charles and Henry were full-blooded brothers rather than half-brothers.
Indeed, the parish death entry for Anton's FIRST wife stated she was survived by only one son, Laurenz Gailliot. Subsequently, I found a later parish record that stated Laurenz Gailliot died at 16 years and 6 months, on 7 Feb 1862- only 2 days before Henry Gailliot was born, on Feb 9th. What a mixture of grief and joy those days must have been for the Gailliot family.

Further evidence has been discovered by Rudolf Kerbitz, my genealogy collaborator in Germany, in a recent publication, "Marriage Transcriptions of St. Maria Himmelfahrt in Wesel". Anton Gailliot married secondly to Helen Schlebush on 22 Oct 1848- only 3 months after his first wife, Marie Dissel, passed away. And then, along came the birth of Charles Gailliot just 8 months later. It all seems to fit- ever so tightly!

The Gailliot Line- Introduction to First Generation

The first image above includes Anton Gailliot and the five children by his SECOND wife, Johanna "Helene" Theodora Schlebusch. Relatively more recent portaits of individual family members were miniturized and superimposed on the larger family portrait. A copy of the original, larger portrait was emailed to me by Beth Holycross Gailliot. However, the whole project was made possible through an international effort. The portraits of the parents, Anton and Helene, were emailed to me two years ago by Gunter Lade who resides in Halle/Saale, in former East Germany. Gunter is descended from Elise Gailliot, on far left, who married Friedrich Meier. She and her descendents remained in Germany. Gunter is my third cousin, once removed; our common ancestors are Anton and Helene. Gunter stumbled onto one my genealogical web sites for my mother's branch of the family tree at GeneaNet. Gunter recognized the connection, and later sent me pictures, including his 3x great grandmother, Elise. He also sent me images from several family documents, called Familienbuchen in Germany, which linked him to the Gailliot family and eventually to me.

In the second image, birth and death dates are included- some dates are unknown or approximated. Two brothers in this first generation, Karl Anton and Heinrich Casper, eventually emigrated to America after which they anglicized their names to Charles and Henry. Henry was my maternal great grandfather. The genealogy behind these photographs has also been an international effort. The family portrait was probably taken in Wesel, Germany which turned out to be significant. Indeed, a very special relationship has developed between myself and Herr Rudolf Kerbitz, who is a resident of Wesel. Our initial contact was through a simple email inquiry. Some of my father's ancestors were from Pommern (Pomerania in English) and I posted a baptismal note from a Bertha Johanna Kramp on my Father's branch website. She was baptised in Beckel, Kries Stolp, Hinterpommern (now part of Pomorski, Poland) and her patron was a man named Albert Kerbitz. Though we have not made a genetic connection between Rudolf Kerbitz and my family yet, we continue to search for the identity of Albert Kerbitz so that perhaps we can determine a family link.

Wesel, Germany, lies on the right bank of the Rhine River near the mouth of the Lippe tributary. During WW II, about 90 percent of the town was destroyed by Allied bombs. Every building and every church was reduced to rubble and obviously many church records as well as other historic items were lost. Amazingly the City of Wesel was rebuilt and is thriving today. I visited the city in 2001, and took many pictures of the rebuilt town and particularly its two Catholic churches, St. Mariae Himmelfahrt (Assumption of the Virgin Mary) and St. Martini. And I visited my friend, Rudolf Kerbitz and his family.

Remarkably, Rudolf has been a great help in providing data and history to the Gailliot genealogy. He enjoys rummaging through flea markets and has discovered several graphics of what the former city and churches looked like before the war and has generously shared these items with me. One Christmas, Rudolf sent me a phonograph record of a concert performed in St. Mariae Himmelfahrt, where my great grandfather, Henry Gailliot, was baptized in 12 Feb 1862. Incidentally, the baptism was recorded on microfilm by the LDS church, which apparently survived in the archives at nearby Munster. Rudolf was instrumental in translating this record first into German from the Latin and then from German into English. Though the source of this particular record was the LDS church, there have been many other records which were obtained only through the efforts of Rudolf Kerbitz, such as a vintage map showing the likely home of Helene's maternal family, the Offenburg family. And, a photograph of the actual house and the chapel in the Offenburg's home town. There is so much more.

I can't resist giving one more example here. The Gailliot patriarch was a Schumachermeister- a Master shoemaker or cobbler. In an old city directory, Rudolf found a listing of the former address of Anton's cobbler shop at No 913 Kreuzstrasse. In addition, Rudolf discovered a vintage photograph of the same street which showed a distant view of Anton's cobbler shop. With the help of Adobe Photoshop, Rudolf focused, magnified, and rendered a picture of the cobbler shop which now hangs in my house. Can you imagine the good fortune.

Fröhliche Weihnacht- my German heritage

The above images were sent to me by my friend and fellow genealogist, Rudolf Kerbitz, who lives in Wesel, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. They were created by his talented mother, the late Mrs. Charlotte Kerbitz, nee. Nürnberger. The artistic craft is called handschnitte or scherenschnitte. The artist cuts out a silhouette by hand with nothing other than scissors and paper. Rudolf recalls his mother did not use a pattern or template, but rather, whittled out the design immediately from her imagination. The craft is unbelievably detailed as seen in larger resolution images.

The image on left is captioned, written in Sutterlein, which means in English, "cheerful or merry Advent Season". The picture is of 7 cherubs dancing around a candle which Rudolf suggested reminded him of the 7 great grandchildren that surrounded my mother in the picture I posted earlier on my blog.

Read more, in German, in Rudolf's article on his mother's art- or go there for the images. Scherenschnitte was brought to America by German and Swiss immigrants, and you can Google many English language sites for more information, such as this one.

Another fantastic "gift" which Rudolf gave me this Christmas is information which will apparently push my pedigree back another generation. My great, great grandfather, Anton Gailliot, who was a Master Shoemaker in Wesel, the town where Rudolf Kerbitz now resides, was the son of JOHANN GAILLIOT and ELISABETH PEIRNE or Pierre. The data are from a marriage record in a just-published transcription: Marriages of St. Mariae Himmelfahrt, Wesel, 1835-1849. The Transcripton recently became available in a limited edition print in Wesel. How wonderful will this Weihnacht be remembered. Danke schön, Herr Rudolf Kerbitz.

The place where I was born, Alexandria, VA

I was happy to participate for the first time in the Scottish Christmas Walk in Alexandria this year. Because, not far from the parade route is the Stoneleigh Apartments where my parents lived when I was born in the early 1940s. The address is 409 Cameron Street. I wonder if they will put up an historical marker here someday: "Born near here was Bob Kramp who wrote extensive genealogies of nearly all his Family Lines which nobody ever read (and an unread blog too)". Oh well.

However, on the south side of old town Alexandria, at St. Mary's Cemetery, oldest Catholic Cemetery in Virgina, are buried my great grandfather, Henry Caspar Gailliot, his wife, Franceska, nee. Dumoulin, and my grandparents, Charles Anthony Gailliot and Margaret, nee. Austel, and several other members of the Gailliot family. Incidentally, our first president, George Washington, donated funds for the cemetery in honor of one of his officers, Fitzgerald. See the historical marker.

Thanksgiving: counting our blessings.

My mother, the former Mary Margaret Gailliot, age 87, is certainly counting her blessings- seven great grandchildren. A rare picture is when we can get all the blessings together at one time on the couch.

Streich surnames on the Immigrant Wall of Honor, Ellis Island

Looks like I'm holding my finger in a dike to keep the island from being flooded. But no, I'm pointing to the Streich surnames on the Immigrant Wall of Honor on Ellis Island. When I visited the Wall in 1997, there were about 500,000 or about half a million former immigrants inscribed. I remember the number being about 10 times higher than the inscriptions on the Vietnam War Memorial Wall in Washington, DC. There were only 4 Streich surnames, but no Kramp, Gailliot, or Gutgsell surnames from my other family branches whose names are rather unique. Inside the restored immigrant processing station, there were computers on which you could look up your surnames of interest and also find the panel number on the Wall where you could find your name inscribed.

One could donate $100 to the Ellis Island Foundation to put a surname on the Wall, but at the time, I thought it would be a better use of my money to further research my genealogy. Birth certificates and other legal documents are not free for the asking. I'm still looking for that rich, new-found cousin to help financially with some of the research. However, genealogy is not everybody's cup of tea. Furthermore, we could use some of that money to inscribe our Gailliot surname on the corner stone of the townhall (Rathaus) in Wesel, Germany, which is currently being restored to its original splendor.

I obtained the donors and their addresses of some of the Streich surnames on the Wall. I then traced one of those persons to a Streich medical doctor someplace in Pennsylvania. I telephoned the individual's office; talked to the receptionist; and later dropped the side trail. That particular Streich individual was not immediately known to be a member of our family line.


Incidentally, when our Streich ancestors came to America in the early 1880s, they were processed at Castle Garden on the mainland of Manhatten, rather than Ellis Island- which wasn't opened until 1892.

A few days ago, a lady stumbled onto my web site, and being descended from a Streich family line, asked me if I had any connection to her family. The surname is rather unique and I have found a few nests of people bearing the Streich surname. I even started a separate database to keep up with these unrelated families. But in this case, there didn't SEEM to be a connection. Nevertheless, I promised her I would post here a photo of the Streich names which I found on the Immigrant Wall of Honor:

P.S. Thought I better write down the names of the immigrants so that search engines could find the text and hopefully a descendent might get in touch with me:

Kaspar Streich

Margaret Cewe Striech

Maria Isabel Pozo Streich

Reinhold Streich

Kreis Wesel: homeland of Gailliot & Dissel Family Lines

Digital picture of front cover of a tourist brochure for Kreis Wesel in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany. It was mailed to me by our family friend, Rudolf, who lives in Wesel. In the center is the dominant landmark of Wesel City- The Willibrordi Cathedral or Dom. The communal and ancient Gross Markt lies beneath its spires. Around 1843 and bordering the market square was the first residence of the married couple, Anton Gailliot and Maria Dissel. About a year later, the family moved to a flat on Stone Street (Stein Str) but still within sight of the Dom. In 1848, Maria died of cancer leaving two small children, Lawrence and Karl. Anton then re-married Helena Schlebusch and they had at least 4 more children- the youngest of whom was my great grandfather, Henry Caspar Gailliot.

Last year at this time I celebrated Augustoberfest held in Wesel's "sister city" in America- Hagerstown, Maryland.

The tourist brochure also mentions a "sister district" for Kreis Wesel, which is County Durham in northern England. Amazing coincidence: My father's maternal grandfather was baptised and resided for over 30 years in County Durham, before he immigrated to America with his family in about 1881.

Trip Extension

Oops, something came up and I will not be returning to my home in NC this week. Instead, I will be joining my brother, Russell (Billy to me), on a trip around the Florida Keys on his boat "Poken", from Marathon, FL, on the Atlantic coast to near Tampa, FL, on the Gulf coast. Trip might take 6 or 7 days or more depending on the weather. I will fly out this afternoon, June 1st to Tampa, and return June 15th to Baltimore, MD.

Picture was taken last August, 2006, of my Uncle Edward Gailliot. We boated around the Chesapeake Bay, MD, for a short week. This was the first long visit in years among my brother, Uncle, and I. Nothing like a long boat ride to bring us tightly together again.

I wonder if I will be able to post a picture message to my blog via my cell phone. If I can, best for you to return later after I have an opportunity to edit the posts.

Ahoy and Bon Voyage to moi (or nous?)

Memorial Day 2007

Charles J. Gailliot, 1919-1989, US Army Signal Corps, WWII, in South Pacific. My Mother's brother. In honor of Memorial Day 2007. Photo credit: Corrie Lee Barton, May, 2007.