This weeks photo is that of my great-great-grandparents, Joseph & Mary Philomene (LAURENT) DEBROUX. The stone is located in St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery, Norwood, Langlade Co., Wisconsin. Joseph DEBROUX was born 1864 in Grand Chute, Outagamie Co., Wisconsin to Desire and Desiree DEBROUX. He married Philomene LAURENT on 8 Sep 1891 in Langlade Co. She was born 1866 in Wisconsin to Jean Baptiste LAURENT and Olivine Marie ST. LOUIS.
This week’s tombstone is that of my grandfather, Richard Zalewski. Richard passed away on April 18th, 1999. His death (along with a newspaper article) spurred my interest in genealogy and here we are today. Unfortunately, my Zalewski line is one of the toughest to research and he may have had information I could have used. He is buried at St. Francis-Borgia Cemetery in Cedarburg, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin.
I’m starting to run out of tombstone photos. I’ll need to start posting those from my wife’s family tree pretty soon. This one is from my family tree and is that of Jean-Baptiste (John) LAURENT, 3rd-great-grandfather. He was born about 1825 is Belgium, according to census records. He married my 3rd-great-grandmother, Olivie ST. LOUIS, on 7 Sep 1857 in Little Chute, Outagamie Co., Wisconsin. Together they had 9 children including my great-great-grandmother, Mary Philomene LAURENT. He passed away on 31 Jul 1886 in Phlox, Langlade Co., Wisconsin and is buried at St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in Norwood, Langlade Co., Wisconsin. This photo was graciously taken for me by a volunteer in the area.
Well, it’s St. Patrick’s Day and I am without a true Irish headstone. I have a lot of Irish ancestors, but not a lot of headstone photos for them. Most of them passed away in mysterious, far away lands (like Canada.)
This headstone of my 4th-great-grandfather will have to do for today. From my research William Henry THOMPSON was either born in 1810, 1813 or 1816 and he was either born at Scotland, England or Ireland. I’ve found sources mentioning all three of these. At least it puts him in the United Kingdom, so it counts.
William is one of my brick-wall ancestors. I can find no more information on him or his family. He is also one of the only ancestors that I need to research that has a very common name. I’m so used to looking for surnames like ZALEWSKI or SZULTA, which require a different sort of mindset. I’m not used to getting back 12,000 results when searching. The plus side is that a lot of people are probably doing THOMPSON research, so maybe I’ll come across something.
It’s listed that William married Claude-Françoise QUINET in 1839 in Syracuse, Onondaga Co., New York. I haven’t been able to find any info from here either including using the Onondaga Co. GenWeb site. William and Frances moved to Wrightstown, Brown Co., Wisconsin where they lived out the rest of their lives. They were both buried at St. Paul’s Cemetery in Wrightstown. I did a Tombstone Tuesday on Frances a few weeks back.
Today’s headstone is that of my 3rd great-grandfather, Ignatius SZULTA. If you think his name is unique, you should see his wife’s name, Nepomuncema SYLDAKT. Talk about a mouthful. My polish isn’t very good, but I’m pretty sure his surname is pronounced like “Schulta.” I don’t even know where to start with his wife’s surname.
Ignatius (or Ignatz) was born 1 Feb 1849 in Poland (or Poland Austria as listed in the census.) He married Nepomuncema in 1875 back in Europe. Their first daughter, my great-great grandmother was born there, also. They immigrated to America in about 1882 and landed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where they finished their lives. Ignatius died 25 May 1922 and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Milwaukee.
Peter THIELKE was my 3rd-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. Peter came to America with his wife Marie (maiden name unknown) sometime between 1854 and 1856. I figured this since their son Charles “Fritz” was born in 1854 in Germany and their son Herman was born in Wisconsin in 1856. Their second son, Johann, was my 2nd-great-grandfather. They settled in Grafton, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin and lived there for the rest of their lives. Peter and his wife Marie are buried at Union Cemetery in Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin.
This week’s tombstone is that of my 3rd great-grandmother, Olivine Marie (St. Louis) Laurent. Olivine was born in Yamachiche, St. Maurice, Quebec, Canada in 1835 to Ephraim and Marie (Manseau) St. Louis. She married my 3rd great-grandfather, Jean-Baptiste Laurent in 1857 and then immigrated to Outagamie County, Wisconsin in 1860. Olivine was the first school teacher in Phlox, Wisconsin. The school is now torn down.
I am grateful to the volunteer who took these photos for me via RAOGK a few years ago. I do plan on making a trip up north to visit this area. Many generations of my family from my maternal grandmother’s side lived and died up in the Outagamie and Langlade County area.
The headstone is located in St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in Norwood, Langlade County, Wisconsin. I have uploaded the information to Find-a-Grave.
I run across these types of grave markers a lot in the southeastern Wisconsin area. Most of them are almost impossible to read after the wear and tear of the weather. This particular one is hard to read even without the spooky lighting that my camera captured. I’ve rarely seem markers like this that were readable, but I have seen them. They usually just list the persons name and year of birth and death. I’m assuming that these may be the “default” markers that are given to people that couldn’t afford a full headstone or were without family.
The headstone this week is from my great-great grandfather, Johann THIELKE. Johann was born on 26 Oct 1843 in Württemberg, Germany. He married my great-great grandmother, Wilomene “Minnie” RATHKE on 21 June 1891 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That marriage date makes him 47 when he married Minnie and she was married previously. This makes me wonder if Johann was previously married also, but I have yet to find any evidence of this. Johann passed away on 24 Apr 1927 in Grafton, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. He was buried at St. Paul’s Cemetery in Grafton. Below is an image on the back of his headstone with some German writing. I can’t make it out, but if any of you can, let me know what you think it says.
Headstone of Augusta Johanna Wilkelumire (Luedtke) Last. She wins for having the longest name of my ancestors and for living the longest. Augusta died just shy of two weeks past her 100th birthday. I posted about an article in the local paper mentioning her 100th birthday.
The headstone is located in Union Cemetery in Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin. It’s also near her husband and also some of her children and extended family.
This week’s tombstone is that of my gggg-grandmother, Frances Thompson. I’m happy about this headstone since no one had a photo of it or a location for it. My wife and I drove an hour or so up to Wrightstown and checked the few cemeteries and found it, along with her husband.
