Tombstone Tuesday: Robert Lee (1895-1971) and Mabel Ada (1901-1991) Gober

 Robert Lee Gober (1895-1971) and Mabel Ada (Fulkerson) Gober (1901-1991) were my wife's great grandparents. The photograph below was taken July 3, 2015.

• At the age of 14, Mabel helped prevent a train wreck. Other husbands included Lester Berry (1898-1972) and James Samuel Usrey (1876-1929)
• Robert Gober was 6'4" tall. Here he is on the Benton, Missouri basketball team at age 18. He served in the army in WWI.

Tombstone Tuesday: Sarah and Sol Newmark

It’s been awhile since I participated in Tombstone Tuesday. I think I’ve shared all the images I have of ancestral tombstones, but I do have some of their siblings. 

Sol Newmark was the eldest brother of my great grandfather, Barney Newmark. His wife, Sarah, was the daughter of Nathan Sandler. She alternated between using Nathan and Sandler as her maiden name.

The Hebrew on the tombstone indicates that Solomon Hyman's religious name was the inverted Chaim Shlomo. Sarah's religious name was Sarah Tzerel, the latter a common Yiddish diminutive for Sarah. Her father's religious name was given as Nachum Aaron. The engraving on his tombstone is mostly gone, and only the first initial of his name readable. The rest of the Hebrew inscription provides the Hebrew calendar date for their deaths.

Tombstone Tuesday - Andrew David Van Every

Andrew David Van Every (1795-1873)

St. George Baptist Cemetery, Brant County, Ontario

My third great grandfather

My only maternal Van Every ancestor who lived his entire life in Canada. His father, David Van Every, a United Empire Loyalist, fled the colonies after the Revolution. His son, Samuel Andrew Van Every, immigrated back to the United States.

(Image source: Find a Grave, with permission)

Tombstone Tuesday: John Davenport Sr. 1784-1851

John Devenport and his wife Delilah Abernathy Devenport are my wife's fifth great grandparents.

This tombstone is filled with information. (The accuracy of the information depending entirely on the knowledge of whoever provided it.)

1) John's profession: Justice of the Peace
2) Where he was born: Virginia
3) His wife's maiden name: Abernathy
4) Where she was born: North Carolina
5) When they moved to Missouri: 1820
6) And that he was the first to be buried in the cemetery. (Old Union Methodist Church Cemetery; Bessville, Bollinger County, Missouri)

There are North Carolina marriage records for John and Delilah.
There is a likely father for John, William Devenport (1756 VA - 1826 NC).
William's will does mention a son by the name of John, and a witness on several of the documents has the surname Abernathy.

Tombstone Tuesday: Seen in Southern Illinois

My wife and I explored Southern Illinois this weekend - stopping at several of the hiking paths and other sites along the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail. In the Alto Pass area, we spotted the below tombstone.

We had to stop to take a picture, but we didn't ask directions.

If anyone is interested in a similar exploration, I can recommend a bed and breakfast to spend the night. The accomodations at Von Jakob are very comfortable, the food is excellent, and they have a nice selection of wine, beer, and mead to taste.

Tombstone Tuesday: Stevan J Newmark (1942-1997)

My uncle, Stevan J Newmark, was born on October 15, 1942, the second child of Melvin Lester Newmark and Belle "Sissie" Feinstein. Through his initials, he was named after his great grandfather, Samuel Joseph Newmark.

He served in the Army Reserves. He owned a commercial printing company. He had a wonderful sense of humor.

The Newmark family is a close one, and I grew up having Sunday dinners with uncles, aunts, and cousins at my grandparents. I have many fond memories of my uncle. Thirteen years ago, Cancer took his life way too soon, 11 days before his 55th birthday. He is buried at United Hebrew Cemetery.

Tombstone Tuesday: Samuel Deutsch (1861-1938)

When I first saw the below photo of my great grandfather's tombstone, I knew instantly, whoever was responsible for the inscription believed he was either a descendant of Aaron, brother of Moses, or from the planet, Vulcan. Either way, it was new information, and the precise descent equally difficult to trace. Since he died in 1938, when Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was only 17 years old, my bet was on the former.

Hebrew Transcription:
Shlomo Zalman Bar Avraham "The Cohen"
Died on the 20th of Sh'vat 5698

Last Week I discussed how I finally obtained the photographs of my great grandparents' tombstones, and both of them provided previously unknown details. I have long been a Star Trek fan, so I instantly recognized the hand gesture inscribed at the top of the tombstone as the Vulcan salute (rotated 45 degrees). I also knew that actor Leonard Nimoy had borrowed the gesture from his observances of the Priestly blessing as a child.

But just because someone thought he was a Cohen doesn't make it necessarily so. The most likely person responsible for the inscription would have been his widow, and there's a chance she may have been basing this on actually having met his father. So is there any way to prove this?

No. The only way to prove it would be to document the descent individual by individual back to Aaron. I don't see that happening. Yes, there is a Y-Chromosome marker that half of Cohanim who have been tested have been shown to have. Of course, the other half don't have it. Maybe the half that do have it are all descended from the same individual who falsely assumed Cohenship a Millennia ago. Is that impossible? Here's more information on the: Cohen Modal Haplotype.

Let's say we accept the marker as a test for descent. Can I be tested for this?

Sure, but my Y-chromosome is meaningless, since this is my mother's line. (And I have a paternal uncle who has already been tested, and my Y-Chromosome haplogroup should be identical to his.)

My mother can't be tested, because she doesn't have a Y-chromosome, and neither does her sister. There are some male Deutsch cousins whose arms we might be able to twist into taking the test.

I'll also point out that since the Cohen designation is traditionally something that gets passed down only through the male, which is why the Y-Chromosome test makes sense, I am not a Cohen, even if my maternal grandfather was.

Tombstone Tuesday: Helen (Lichtmann) Deutsch (1881-1958)

A month ago I blogged about the unusual difficulties I was having obtaining a photograph of my great-grandparents' tombstones through RAOGK and FindAGrave. Chicagoan, John Frank, of AncestryChronicles contacted me and offered to help when the weather permitted. The weather in Chicago is often the same as it is in St. Louis, magnified. So I understood.

I hadn't made the decision myself to return to local cemetery wandering, so I was surprised Saturday to find the photographs were in my email. Both proved how, even when family is pretty good at passing information down, tombstones can reveal small details.

Transcription:
Chava Leah daughter of the honored Israel
died on the 26th of Adar, 5718.
Beloved Mother
Helen Deutsch
At Rest March 18, 1958
Age 76 years

This is the first time I've seen her Hebrew names. My suspicion is that the name Helen came from the initial letters of both.

The blue rectangle says '1930' which is just the lot number, and is only on her stone. The yellow circle is on both, and I'm not sure of its meaning.

Next week: my great grandfather's tombstone provides me with an even greater surprise.

Update: I contacted the cemetery, and the yellow sticker represents the type of care the grave is receiving.

Tombstone Tuesday: Max Newmark (1892-1931)

Transcription:
Meyer Vulf
son of Samuel Yosef Newmark
Died on the 14th of Shevat 5691 (January 31, 1931, after sunset)
May his soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life
Max
1892-1931

My second great uncle, Max Newmark, is said to have been born on August 16, 1892, likely in Warka, Poland. (The Newmark family left Poland for England in either 1892 or 1893, so it's possible he was born enroute.)

He would have been 17 years old when the family arrived in the US in 1909. He originally followed his father in the tailoring business, but later opened a grocery store in East St. Louis, Illinois.

He was the victim of an armed robbery at the age of 39, leaving behind a wife and two children. He is buried at B'nai Amoona cemetery, in St. Louis, Missouri. Not far from the gravesite of his parents.

Tombstone Tuesday: An Annoyance

No image this week for Tombstone Tuesday, but I do want to talk about a minor annoyance I have in attempting to obtain an image of some ancestral graves.

I've had a lot of positive results seeking assistance from volunteers at RAOGK and FindAGrave. I've also provided assistance at both in return.

However, in one instance, I keep striking out.

Back in July of 2009 I requested from a volunteer at RAOGK a photograph of the tombstones of my great grandparents, Samuel and Helen Deutsch. They are buried at Waldheim Cemetery in Chicago. Waldheim Cemetery is huge, but their website does offer an online request form. So I was able to obtain exact plot locations for their graves, and I included that in my request. I received no response from the volunteer. (And the volunteer is no longer on the site.)

In September I discovered FindAGrave and I repeated my request there. When I submitted it, I was told there were over 300 volunteers within 10 miles of the cemetery. You'd think out of those 300 individuals who have specifically volunteered to photograph graves, one would fulfill my request. But none of them did.

The request was pretty early in the fall too, so weather wasn't the reason.

Recently I noticed RAOGK has some new volunteers in the Cook County area, so come Springtime, I will try again. If that fails, maybe I'll make a trip to Chicago. It's a good five hour drive each way, but I suspect I have at least a dozen relatives, of varying distances, buried there, though I haven't obtained the plot locations for all of them yet.

Tombstone Tuesday: Mandell Newmark (1923-1945)

Killed in Action World War II
Mandell Newmark
Tec 5, 163 Inf, 41st Div
Jan 31, 1923
April 15, 1945

My Great Uncle, Mandell Newmark, was born on Jan 31, 1923, the youngest son of Barney and Bertha (Cruvant) Newmark. He was named after his great grandfather, Mandell Mojsabovski. He was killed in Action on April 15, 1945. He is buried at United Hebrew Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.

In the past, I have shared several photographs of him, along with some transcriptions from his war diary.

Tombstone Tuesday: Belle "Sissie" (Feinstein) Newmark (1914-2002)

My paternal grandmother, Belle Feinstein, was born on August 14, 1914 in St. Louis, Missouri.  The second child of Herman and Anna (Blatt) Feinstein.  As a child, her older brother, Bernard (Benny), gave her the nickname, Sissie.  The nickname remained with her the rest of her life, and ultimately the only people who referred to her by her real name were those who didn't know her, such as telephone solicitors.

As I mentioned last week, she secretly married my grandfather, Melvin Newmark, on May 10, 1936.  They had another wedding 8 months later, and it was many years before anyone found out about the first.

She passed away on October 11, 2002, and is buried at United Hebrew Cemetery in St. Louis. 

I had begun a blog five months earlier.  This is what I wrote then:

My grandmother passed away Friday, Oct 11, 2002. (Chesvan 5, 5763). Her favorite television shows were Seinfeld, Friends, and Will and Grace. Perhaps partially due to her grandkids who came over for dinner every Thursday night. But the audience share for Must See TV will now skew even younger.

Tombstone Tuesday: Melvin Lester Newmark (1912-1992)

My grandfather, Melvin Lester Newmark, was born on August 27, 1912, on the one year wedding anniversary of his parents, Barney and Bertha (Cruvant) Newmark. Through his initials, he was named after his grandfather, Moshe Leyb Cruvant.

He married my grandmother, Belle Feinstein, near midnight on May 10, 1936 in Waterloo, Illinois. Neither family was told. There seems to have been no reason for the secrecy beyond the two being unable to wait for the family wedding that was held six months later in January of 1937.

He died on January 22, 1992, while vacationing in Palm Springs, Riverside, California. He is buried at United Hebrew Cemetery in St. Louis.

There are several things I believe I inherited from my paternal grandfather - a passion for word games, such as the crossword puzzle; a love for food; and a constant smile.

Tombstone Tuesday: Martin and Myrtle (Van Every) Deutsch

My maternal grandparents Martin and Myrtle (Van Every) Deutsch are buried in Memorial Park Cemetery

Myrtle Ethel Van Every was born on March 21, 1900 in Maxwell, Texas. Martin Deutsch was born on February 28, 1907 in Varalmas, Hungary. They met in St. Louis, Missouri in 1934, and were married on December 31, 1936.

I never knew my grandmother, as Myrtle died on September 11, 1951, from colon cancer - 18 years before I was born. My grandfather I knew well. Late into his life he kept in remarkable shape through lifting a set of 11 pound weights, which I have today. He was also a fan of technology, whether it was a Presto sandwich maker, the Commodore 64 he purchased for his grandkids in the 1980s, or an audio cassette recorder he took to Chicago with him in 1977 when he visited his brother and sister. He died on March 19, 1991, from colon cancer.

Martin and Myrtle on their Honeymoon (in Mexico) in 1937.

Tombstone Tuesday: Virgin Gorda Cemetery

Click for larger images

No relatives here, but this is the Caribbean island where I am spending some vacation. I've been to this island a few times before, and have driven past the church without seeing the cemetery -- I had to find pictures and information online.

During the 19th century, worshippers from nearby St. Thomas (which was Danish at the time) joined the congregation here. In the churchyard, the foundation of an old mission house is visible, as is a very old cemetery. The graves span three centuries. Note the piles of conch shells at the gravesites. Some islanders believe these shells have special powers that drive away evil spirits. The island's only health facility--a clinic--is nearby. -- Source: The Free Library

Maybe I will convince some family members to join me on a little excursion...

Tombstone Tuesday: Herman Max Feinstein (1886-1963)

My great grandfather, Herman Max Feinstein, was born in Poland, in 1886, the son of Selig and Annie (Perlik) Dudelsack. Upon their arrival in the United States the family changed their surname to Feinstein. The date of birth on his tombstone matches that of his WWI draft registration in 1917, and his Social Security Application in 1936.

He married Anna Blatt on May 26, 1912 in St. Louis, Missouri.

He and Anna are buried in the Newmark-Feinstein plot at United Hebrew Cemetery.

Tombstone Tuesday: Melvin Elijah Van Every (1863-1929)

Copyrighted photo taken by Laurel Indalecio on Feb 28, 2009, at the Evergreen Alameda Cemetery, El Paso, TX. Posted with permission.

My Maternal Great Grandfather, Melvin Elijah Van Every, was born August 30, 1863 in Thornapple, Michigan. He died May 26, 1929 in Dona Ana, New Mexico.

As part of my Amanuensis project, I've transcribed several letters from Melvin to his daughter (my grandmother) Myrtle, as well as his testimony in front of The Dawes Commission.

To the left is a photo taken in 1900 with his wife, Margaret (Denyer) Van Every, and my grandmother.

Tombstone Tuesday - Joseph Feinstein (1899-1901)

Hebrew Transcription:
Yosef son of Simcha Zelig
Died on the 11th of Elul, 5661 (August 26, 1901)

One of the sadder discoveries in family history research are those who died in infancy, usually from disease. In some branches of my family, more notably on my mother's side, records of these children were kept by the family. In other cases, knowledge of their existence wasn't passed down. If it weren't for the tombstones or the death certificates, they would be completely forgotten. It's unclear whether the parents and siblings were blocking painful memories, or didn't feel it was important.

Joseph was the son of my second great grandparents, Selig and Annie (Perlik) Feinstein. He is buried in the Feinstein plot at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.

Tombstone Tuesday: Anna (Blatt) Feinstein (1889-1965)

Anna (Blatt) Feinstein, my great grandmother, was born in Poland, most likely in Łosice, about 120 years ago - in November of either 1888 or 1889. It is estimated the Blatts immigrated to America in 1890. Anna's parents - Morris and Belle - divorced prior to the immigration, with Belle remaining in Poland -- making it rather certain logistically that Anna was born there.

Anna married Herman Feinstein on May 26, 1912. She is buried next to her husband at United Hebrew Cemetery in St. Louis, in the Newmark/Feinstein plot.

Find A Grave memorial

Tombstone Tuesday: Bertha (Cruvant) Newmark 1886-1978

Bertha Cruvant was born on either Sept 29, 1886, or Sept 19, 1887. (Those are the dates Rosh HaShana fell on both years, and because she was born on the Jewish holiday, that is what was remembered.) It is believed she was born in Missouri, but exact dates for immigration from Lithuania to America, and whether or not the family settled immediately in the St. Louis area, isn't certain.

Bertha married Barney Newmark on August 27, 1911.

I remember my great grandmother well, as I was 9 when she passed away. Though the years I remember her from, she was living at a retirement home confined to a wheelchair. (I would spend some time confined to the same wheelchair in 1986, my Junior year in high school, when I contracted Guillain-Barre Syndrome. I contracted the disease after a normal flu virus.)

Bertha is buried at United Hebrew Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.