The Rest of My Find A Grave Story

Artwork by Wackystuff

Last fall, I wrote about stumbling upon my great-great-grandmother, Elisabeth Georger's grave on Find a Grave quite by accident. A visit to Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles where she is buried followed. A search for her gravestone ended unsuccessfully (although we were able to find her husband, Nicolas J. Georger).

All of this came about due to the efforts of a Find a Grave volunteer.  Thanks to the continuing efforts of this dedicated volunteer, who originally transcribed Elizabeth's tombstone, she was able to determine which of her relatives Elisabeth was most likely buried near. With that information in hand, husband and I made a trip to Calvary Cemetery while in Southern California for another softball tournament last month. I'm happy to report we found Elizabeth's headstone. I'm even happier to report that it only took us a few minutes!

As luck would have it, Elizabeth was buried in the same section of the cemetery as her daughter, Marie Lieber. We spent quite a bit of time in the rain last fall looking for Marie unsuccessfully, so we knew where not to look for Elizabeth.  As it turns out, we came within 50 or 60 feet of Elizabeth's gravesite on that rainy day last fall.

I am happy to finally be able to honor my great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth Georger, and will be eternally grateful to the Find a Grave volunteer who originally transcribed and posted her stone.

Unfortunately, there's still the little issue of what year Elizabeth died, 1891 or 1892,  and more importantly what caused her death at such a young age.

Related Posts:

• Tombstone Tuesday-Can You Stumble Over Someone on Find A Grave? I Did
• An Adventure in the Cemetery 

To cite this article:

Goodrum, Michelle. “The Rest of My Find A Grave Story-Tombstone Tuesday.”  The Turning of Generations, 23 August 2011. http://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com : accessed [access date].

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

An Adventure In The Cemetery

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum Recently I wrote about stumbling across my grgr grandmother, Elisabeth Georger's tombstone on Findagrave. Right before Thanksgiving, my family went to a softball tournament in southern California not far from where Elisabeth is buried. The tournament was rained out so we had time on our hands. Softball Player went to Disneyland with her teammates and Husband and I headed to Calvary Cemetery with our raincoats and umbrella.

I had called ahead to get the burial location for Elisabeth and also asked if her husband, Jean Nicolas Georger, was by chance buried there as well. He was!

First we stopped at the office to get an idea of just where in this humongous cemetery we should be looking. Apparently this is the New Calvary Cemetery. The original cemetery was located near downtown Los Angeles and that is where Elisabeth was originally buried. A school was built on the site and all of the remains were moved to the current location. Unfortunately, many records have been lost and the very nice people in the office were unable to tell me her burial location.

After getting our bearings on the location of Nicolas Georger's burial site, and that of another relative, we headed out into the rain. We did find Nicolas but were not as lucky with the other relative. However, we did find other family members in the same area.

Husband and I ended up soaking wet but nonetheless very satisfied at having found my gr gr grandfather's Jean Nicolas Georger's marker.

We are befuddled about Elisabeth, however. We know her stone is in that cemetery somewhere! Right now I am feeling like I went for a virtual walk in the cemetery, tripped over the exact tombstone I was looking for, but when I turned around to see the tombstone, it had vanished! AAAGGGHHH!

My very smart cousin has made a suggestion as to how we might proceed.  So, it looks like I have a little project on my hands. I will keep you posted.

To read the rest of the story:

• An Adventure in the Cemetery
• The Rest of My Find A Grave Story

To cite this article:

Goodrum, Michelle. “An Adventure In The Cemetery.”The Turning of Generations, 9 December 2010. http://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com : accessed [access date].

Artwork by wackystuff

December 4 – Christmas Cards

The tradition of sending Christmas cards seems to have changed over the last hundred years. This year, I'm going to focus on my great grandparents generation. They seemed to like to send postcards like these.

I am really thankful to have them because this line would have been a dead end for us otherwise. We have literally pieced the family together through clues left in their correspondence. Unfortunately for me, much of it is in French, which I do not speak, so translating has been slow!


© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Tombstone Tuesday - Can You Stumble Over Someone on Find A Grave? I Did

Artwork by wackystuff

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum I feel like I tripped right over something - virtually. It's like I was wandering around the cemetery and a hand reached up and grabbed my ankle.

You see recently I sent off for my great grandmother's sister's death certificate. When it arrived, I noticed it said she was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles and a little light went off in my head. Her father, (my gr gr grandfather) is buried in Los Angeles, according to his death certificate. But we don't know where.

I decided to take a perusal through Find A Grave and see if anything turned up. Since we have quite a few family surnames in Southern California, many of them Catholic and potential candidates for burial in a Catholic Cemetery like Calvary, I decided to scroll through the list of internments. Imagine my surprise when I got to the Gs and there was the name of my great great grandmother, Elisabeth Georger, with the same birth and death date that we had from her funeral card! (Well, almost, the death year on the tombstone is 1891).

Printed with permission. Original, privately held by Cousin, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE]

I felt like I had been walking along and literally fell over her tombstone! We have been looking for Elisabeth's place of death/burial for many years now. Elisabeth arrived in New Orleans from Antwerp on 20 June 1890 with 4 of her 5 children where her husband was waiting for her. A family story says that they left New Orleans because something really awful happened.

We have a photo taken of Elisabeth in Mexico City on some unknown date.

Printed with permission. Original, privately held by Cousin, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE]

Finally, her husband Jean Nicolas was naturalized in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County 29 April 1892.

We really weren't sure where Elisabeth died but at least now we know where she is buried. I requested Elisabeth's death certificate from Los Angeles County but they were unable to locate it. So, I still don't know for sure where she actually died or the cause of death. Drat.

Here's the best part of the story. I contacted the Find A Grave submitter to see if there is any relationship between her and Elisabeth Georger. There isn't. When she visits a cemetery, this wonderful volunteer takes photos of the tombstones around her ancestors and adds them to Find A Grave! Wow! How's that for a volunteer? She offered to transfer the memorial over to me and return sometime and take a photo of the tombstone (she didn't have a camera when she initially transcribed the headstone).

Now, I have a Find A Grave account with one memorial - Elisabeth's. I'm looking forward to contributing the handful of headstones I have photographed to Find A Grave in the near future. And the next time I visit a cemetery you can be sure that I'll be photographing the graves surrounding my ancestors and contributing them to Find A Grave. Hopefully, someday I can "pay it forward."

To read the rest of the story:

• An Adventure in the Cemetery
• The Rest of My Find A Grave Story

To cite this article:

Goodrum, Michelle. “Tombstone Tuesday - Can You Stumble Over Someone on Find A Grave? I Did.” The Turning of Generations, 16 November 2010. http://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com : accessed [access date].

 

Sources:

Elisabeth Georger age 45, departed Antwerp, Belgium and arrived New Orleans, Louisiana; Marseille Passenger List, 20 June 1890. Ancestry.com. New Orleans Passenger Lists, 1820-1945 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006. Original data: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1820-1902. Microfilm publication M259. 93 rolls. Record Group 36.

Jean Nicolas Georger naturalized in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County 29 April 1892. Ancestry.com. U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992 (Indexed in World Archives Project) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.;Naturalization Index of the Superior Court for Los Angeles County, California, 1852-1915 (M1608); Microfilm Serial: M1608; Microfilm Roll: 1.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - WDYTYA - John Eugene Roos

This is my first time participating in Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.  The mission:

1) Pretend that you are one of the subjects on the Who Do You Think You Are? show on NBC TV.
2) Which of your ancestors (maximum of two) would be featured on your hour-long show? What stories would be told, and what places would you visit?
3) Tell us about it on your own blog, in comments to this blog post, or in a Note or Comment on Facebook.

My great grandfather John Eugene Roos would be the subject  of my WDYTYA episode.  Eugene was born in February 1858, allegedly, in the Alsace region of France.  We know from family photos and letters that he had siblings and other family members in the Colmar area so I would begin there hoping to locate family records.
 
Since Eugene came to America as a child and was taken to live with sisters in St. Louis, that would be my next stop.  I would like to visit some of their homes and the cemeteries where they are buried. 
 
Next as a young man, Eugene went to live in Naperville, Illinois which is there he was living for the 1880 census and where he obtained his US citizenship that same year.  As the story goes, he attended Northwestern University for a time.  Whether or not he graduated is unknown.  So that is something I would love to look into. 
 
In 1885, Eugene supposedly went back to St. Louis for a time and moved to Los Angeles around 1887.  The family story is that he owned a bakery in what is now downtown LA on some really prime real estate.  Family members have for years pointed out that had he stayed there, we would now all be rich!  Eugene definitely was a baker but I have yet to find any evidence that he actually owned a bakery.  I like to point out to family members that had Eugene stayed in LA, none of us would be around to discuss this bakery story because grandpa never would have met grandma! Anyway, this is an intriguing story that I have always wanted to get to the bottom of.
 
While living in Los Angeles, Eugene met and married Eugenie Georger.  They were married in June of 1893.  Their first 3 children were born in Los Angeles before they moved to Cheney, Washington to open a bakery in the young town.  It was here that the family spent the rest of their lives and it is this town that would be my last stop.  Since it has been many years since I've been to Cheney, I would like to see the homes where various family members lived, visit the Cheney Historical Museum where there is an exhibit regarding the Cheney Bakery and visit the graves of the various Roos family members at Riverside Memorial Park in Spokane.  Finally, I would want to meet face to face, and take her to lunch, a lady who has been helping me with my Roos and Georger families in Cheney for a number of years. Barb Curtis has been sending me little newspaper tidbits for probably 10 years now.  Maybe longer.  Genealogists are such wonderful people!
 
So that's my WDYTYA adventure and after watching the real show last night, I believe my episode or any other genealogist's episode would be every bit as exciting as Sarah Jessica Parker's.

Copyright 2010, Michelle Goodrum