Year: 2009

CategoriesFeaturedNon-GenealogySaturday Genealogy Fun

SNGF: Your All-time Favorite Song

Posted on 28 September 2009by Brian Zalewski

Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings posted his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun and I’m going to do it on a Monday. Why? Because I can.

1. What is your all-time favorite song? Yep, number 1. It’s hard to choose sometimes. If you made your favorite all-time Top 40 music selections, what would be #1?

2. Tell us about it. Why is it a favorite? Do you have special memories attached to this song?

My favorite song of all-time is a pretty simple choice. It’s something I have thought about in the past. It seems I’m constantly trying to figure out my favorite musicians and songs. Overall, it’s a tough thing to choose, but my Top 1 or 2 are usually pretty well cemented. My taste in music is probably a lot heavier than most of the genealogy community, but even though my favorite band is pretty heavy, the song is not.

My all-time favorite song is “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica. Metallica has been my favorite band since I started to enjoy music. I remember listening to them on my older brother’s cassette tapes in the 1980s. When I came into my own musically at about 11 or 12, it was some of the first music I bought.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Metallica? So this must be some heavy metal song about worshiping the devil or something, right? Not even close. Due to the fact that Metallica has very few songs mentioning the devil and none of those actually say anything about worshiping him, that’s unlikely. “Nothing Else Matters” is actually a very slow and melodic song. According to Wikipedia, “some say it meant that “no matter how far” away he [singer, James Hetfield] was, he was still “so close” with the heart.”

I originally enjoyed the song because I liked how it sounded and I liked the lyrics. It felt like it had a lot of emotion behind it. When I heard it on the radio in April of 1999, the song gained new meaning. I was sitting in my father’s truck on a chilly, rainy April morning outside of St. Francis-Borgia church in Cedarburg. I was waiting for my grandfather’s funeral procession and the song came on the radio. I felt I was holding my emotions pretty steady for most of the day, but that song seemed to force me to let it all out.

I bet some of you would even enjoy the song. I even have a link that will allow you to listen to it, so you can make your own assessment. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even like it. Listen to it here.

CategoriesFamily TreePersonal

Weekly History..or Not

Posted on 27 September 2009by Brian Zalewski

Sadly, there isn’t really any weekly history for these 7 days. There are a few dates from my French-Canadian ancestors, but I don’t have much more info on them then just dates and that’s not too exciting to read.

I haven’t actually been doing too much genealogy research lately, so I don’t have a lot of news. Though, I have been helping a friend of mine by doing some basic research for him. I thought I’d help get him started since I have a lot of paid access to Ancestry, etc that helps a lot.

He, fortunately, had found a book on his mother’s family that goes pretty far back into at least the early 1800s into Virginia with a lot of sourced information. I decided to do some of his other lines. I actually found a good bit of information by just using the census records (and a few others.) It’s amazing how much info you can really get from those.

It’s new territory for me since a lot of his family is from Montana and then from the southern states of Missouri and Georgia, etc. All of my family research has been is mainly Wisconsin and then into Canada and Europe. It’s neat to do research in other states.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: Sept 20th – 26th

Posted on 20 September 2009by Brian Zalewski

September 21st

1750 – Married – Antoine LAFOND & Josephte CHEVREFILS-BELISLE – Antoine and Josephte are my 7th-great-grandparents. They were married in St. Antoine de la Baie-du-Febrve, Yamaska, Quebec, Canada.

September 22nd

1962 – Died – Pieter Franciscus VAN PARIJS – Pieter is my great-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born 21 Jan 1874 in IJzendijke, Zeeland, Netherlands. Right after he was born, his family emigrated to the United States, settling in northern Wisconsin. The family also Americanized their names, making him Peter Van Price. He married Minnie M MUHM in 1895 and passed away at Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin. He is buried there at Union Cemetery.

September 23rd

1781 – Died – Paulus VAN CREYBECK – Paulus is my 7th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born 12 Jul 1720 in Genk, Limburg, Belgium. He married Maria TRUIJEN in 1748. He passed away at Genk, Limburg, Belgium.

September 24th

1697 – Died – Marguerite LANGLOIS – Marguerite is my 10th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born 3 Sep 1639 in Quebec, Canada. She married Paul VACHON in 1653. They had 12 children including my ancestor, Louise VACHON. She passed away at Beauport, Montmorency, Canada.

September 26th

1851 – Born – Charles Carl F H LAST – Carl is my great-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born at Doeringshagen, Pommerania which is now in modern-day Poland. He married August Johanna LUEDTKE in 1883 and together had an amazing 16 children including my ancestor, Madora Martha Louise LAST. He passed away on 5 Jun 1926 at Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin and is buried there at Union Cemetery.

1931 – Died – Mathias Balthazar FIRMENICH – Mathis is my 3rd-great-grandfather on my father’s side. He was born in 11 February 1840 in Cologne, Germany. He immigrated to Wisconsin with his family in 1847. He married Paulina Henrietta THOMPSON on 11 Feb 1867 and had 13 children including my ancestor, Emma Jane FIRMENICH. He passed away at Ashland, Ashland Co., Wisconsin and is buried there at St. Agnes Cemetery.

CategoriesTell Me ThursdayWay Back Wednesday

Tell Me Thursday

Posted on 16 September 2009by Brian Zalewski

I forgot to post yesterday, so I’ll just skip to the Thursday post.

Click for larger
Click for larger

My grandmother, Mary Jane (Corrigan) ZALEWSKI with her siblings. Twin brother Tom, Mary Jane, older sister Shirley in the back. Younger siblings Pat and George in the front.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: Sept 13th – 19th

Posted on 13 September 2009by Brian Zalewski

September 14th

1838 – Born – Margaret SCHUMACHER – Margaret is my 3rd-great-grandmother on my father’s side. She was born in Wurttemberg, Germany. She married Henry STEARNS in about 1862 and then immigrated to Wisconsin. She passed away on 9 May 1908 at Philips, Price Co., Wisconsin and is buried nearby at Oakwood Cemetery in Weyauwega.

September 15th

1665 – Died – Etienne LAFOND dit Mongrain – Etienne is my 10th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born about 1615 at St. Laurent, Saintonge, Xaintes, France. He married Marie BOUCHER in 1645. He passed away at Trois-Rivieres, St. Maurice, Quebec, Canada.

1982 – Died – Leon Joseph DEBROUX – Leon is my great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born 2 Nov 1901 at Phlox, Langlade Co., Wisconsin. He married Mildred Vida VAN PRICE in 1921 and had 5 children. He passed away at Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin and is buried there at St. Mary’s Cemetery.

September 16th

1656 – Married – Jean CUSSON-CALLIOU & Marie FOUBERT – Jean and Marie are my 10th-great-grandparents on my mother’s side. They were married at Trois-Rivieres, St. Maurice, Quebec, Canada. They had 5 children including my ancestor, Marie-Madeleine CUSSON-CALLIOU.

September 17th

1835 – Born – Olivine Marie ST. LOUIS – Olivine is my 3rd-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born at Yamachiche, St. Maurice, Quebec, Canada. She married Jean Baptiste LAURENT  in 1831. She passed away on 20 May 1920 at Phlox, Langlade Co., Wisconsin and is buried nearby at St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in Norwood.

September 18th

1718 – Born – Jeanne Catherine BARBUT – Jeanne is my 7th-great-grandmother on my father’s side. She was born at Contraglise, Haute-Saune, France. She married Jean Claude MARIZOT in 1748. She passed away before 1781.

1956 – Died – Mary Philomene LAURENT – Marie is my 3rd-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born in December 1865 in Wisconsin. She married Joseph DEBROUX on 8 Sep 1891 at Langlade Co., Wisconsin. She passed away at Wausau, Marathon Co., Wisconsin and is buried at St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in Norwood, Wisconsin.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: Sept 6th – 12th

Posted on 7 September 2009by Brian Zalewski

One day late. Oops. 3-day weekends confuse me.

September 6th

1852 – Born – Ida SCHAVANDIE – Ida is my 3rd-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born in Prussia. In March 1870, she married Peter MUHM in Palatine, New York. She passed away on 12 Nov 1934 at Antigo, Langlade Co., Wisconsin. She is buried there at Elmwood Cemetery.

September 7th

1857 – Married – Jean Baptiste LAURENT & Olivine Marie ST. LOUIS – Jean and Olivine are my 3rd-great-grandparents on my mother’s side. Jean was born in Belgium in 1825, while Olivine was born in Quebec, Canada in 1835. They married at Little Chute, Outagamie Co., Wisconsin and had 9 children including my ancestor, Mary Philomene LAURENT.

1859 – Died – Michael John CORRIGAN – Michael is my 4th-great-grandfather on my father’s side. He was born abotu 1791 in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He married Rosina NUGENT at the Killeeshil Parish in 1816. Then he immigrated to Canada/United States with his family in about 1823 finally settling in Mara Township, Brechin County, Ontario. An excerpt from the book “They Came to Mara”:

Members of the Michael Corrigan family were natives of County Tyrone. They were still residents of Ireland when Patrick was baptized at the age of two days in Killeeshil Parish in February, 1819. They emigrated to Canada circa 1823 where Michael initiated Upper Canada Land Petitions on behalf of himself and his young sons. Then they briefly removed to the United States, likely to New York where their son, Hugh, was born. It was said that William was born during their voyage to North America. In time, the Corrigan family settled on Brock Township, and apparently lived their throughout the 1830s. By the time of the 1852 census, Michael, Rosina and family resided in Mara on the West 1/2 of LOT 15 CON 7.

Michael passed away in 1859 in Mara and is presumably buried there.

September 8th

1891 – Married – Joseph DEBROUX & Mary Philomene LAURENT – Joseph and Mary are my great-great-grandparents on my mother’s side. Joseph was born abotu 1864 and Mary was born in 1891 in Wisconsin. They married at Langlade Co., Wisconsin and had 8 children including my great-grandfather, Leon Joseph DEBROUX.

September 10th

1723 – Died – Marguerite BROSSIER – Marguerite is my 9th-great-grandmother on my father’s side. She was born about 1653. She married Louis QUINET and had 4 children including my ancestor, Georges QUINET.

1784 – Born – Phillipus Jacobus Bernardus van PARIJS – Phillipus is my 5th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born at Watervliet, East Flanders, Belgium. He married Anna Theresia JUNIS in 1809. He passed away on 1 Sep 1832 at Schoondijke, Netherlands.

1979 – Died – Madora Martha Louise LAST – Madora is my great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born 14 May 1898 in Grafton, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin. In 1919 she married Arthur Frederick THIELKE. She passed away at Grafton and is buried there at St. Paul’s Cemetery.

September 11th

1846 – Born – Johanna KREBBEKX – Johanna is my 3rd-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born in Holland. She married Charles Ludovicus van PARIJS in 1870. After immigrating to Wisconsin in about 1874, she passed away on 9 Jul 1920 at Phlox, Langlade Co., Wisconsin.

September 12th

1709 – Died – Jeanne CERISIER – Jeanne is my 10th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born about 1627 at Amboise, Tours, Touraine, Indre-et-Loire, France. She married Francois DUCLOS in 1665. She passed away at Batiscan, Champlain, Quebec, Canada.