The Slovak Yankee

Tombstone Tuesday: Rebecca Denny (Thompson) Pratt 1819-1901

 

Tombstone Tuesday: Rebecca Denny (Thompson) Pratt 1819-1901

 Yes, not a tombstone.  Yet.  The last time I was up at Woodlawn Cemetery, the staff couldn't find this card and tell me where she was buried.  This time via telephone they did, and the wonderful woman sent me a copy via email of their records.  Now all I have to do is drive up there and snap a photo.  I love Rebecca's dates because they mirror Queen Victoria's.  So Rebecca is completely Victorian.

Rebecca, born 1 October 1819, died 24 March 1901

Victoria, born 24 May 1819, died 22 January 1901

Tombstone Tuesday: Kristina (Michalek) (Holic) Vereschak 1878-1962

 I've been having monster good luck with people who run cemeteries.  The great guy at the IOOF Cemetery in Brisbin, Pennsylvania, took this digital photo for me and sent it to me by email.  That's my great-grandmother and her second husband, Joseph Vereschak 1856-1951.  I tend to spell the name in a Slovak way, i.e. Vereschak although, the gravestone has an anglicized version: Vereshack.

Tombstone Tuesday: Joseph and Rebecca (York) Wallace

From the Lowell Cemetery in Lowell, Massachusetts.  Obviously this a modern stone, most likely placed in 1960 for Ethel C. Warren.  There's no way to know if there were gravestones that were original for other family members that no longer exist, or whether there never were.  Joseph Wallace 1781-1861 was married to Rebecca York 1785-1860; their son Daniel R. Wallace 1823-1908 married to Almira Martin 1829-1903; their young son Charles S. Wallace 1855-1857; their daughter Myra J. Wallace 1852-1950 married George J. Warren 1854-1932; their daughter Ethel C. Warren 1881-1960.  There are still three empty lots here and the very nice administrator said, as an heir, I could be buried there.  She even gave me a copy of the deed dated 14 September 1857 to Daniel R. Wallace who obviously purchased it for his young son.  There are four generations buried here.  

Tombstone Tuesday: Bethia (Hall) (Winslow) Hawes ca. 1668-1745

Bethia, the daughter of the Rev. Gershom and Bethia (Bangs) Hall.  She was the wife first of Kenelm Winslow from last week, and secondly of Joseph Hawes.

 

Tombstone Tuesday: Kenelm Winslow (III) 1668-1729

 Kenelm Winslow, the son of Kenelm and Mercy (Worden) Winslow whose gravestones are here.

Tombstone Tuesday: Pavel Kristofik

Slovak Lutheran Cemetery, Nesquehoning, Penn.  This is the father of Anna (Kristofik) Dolinsky of last week.  The initial date of this gravestone is incorrect.  Pavel was born on the 7 March 1858 at Castkov, Slovakia, the son of Pavel and Anna (Plessa) Kristofik.  That birth record is in line with his marriage record 19 April 1880 at Sobotiste.  This is my earliest Slovak ancestor (a great-great-grandfather) to be in the U.S.  He was evidently estranged from his wife who died in Europe in 1931.  Hers is the only record (death) from Czechoslovakia as opposed to the Austrian-Hungarian Empire [thus far, there may be two more great-great's who make it past the year 1918].

Tombstone Tuesday: Pavel and Anna (Kristofik) Dolinsky

 Again from the Slovak Lutheran Cemetery in Nesquehoning, PA.  "Kniha Zivota" translates as "Book of Life" which is the given iconography of this gravestone.  Here's this couple ca. 1905.

Findagrave

Others have already noted and praised the volunteer-led website Findagrave.  I've found some of Michael's ancestors on this site from places in Oklahoma and Kansas.  A while ago I wanted to add my own ancestors for whom I had gravestone digital photos [some of those photos were real photos that were scanned].  However, there were strict rules for uploading such photos and I couldn't be bothered.  Actually the truth was I didn't know how to adjust pixel length and the corresponding file size of a digital photo.  Despite the fact I work on a mac, I haven't an artistic bone in my body, so I've never used the mac for its artistic superiority.  

I had Arcsoft's Photo Studio 4 already on the computer, so I took some to figure things out.  I'm glad to say that I've now uploaded all my photos and created very information-rich memorials for all my close-in ancestors [grandparents, great-grandparents, and double-greats].  I have 26 memorials and 36 photos uploaded.  Not bad.

But no web site is perfect.  Findagrave is NOT a wiki.  That is, once a memorial is set up (i.e. an entry in their database), no one but the creator can edit that memorial.  Because Findagrave has been operating for a while, there is the chance, as in my case, that some of your close in relatives have been entered already.  Someone entered my great-grandparents for some odd reason.  She was not doing the entire cemetery.  Perhaps she liked the stone (it is large).   However, I know this couple has only 12 living descendants of which I am one.  So, I can't do the connections I would like because she "owns" the memorial.  I can only email her and hope she changes what is incorrect or adds what is lacking.

All in all, someday this will be quite the boon for genealogy.

[Added note: The very wonderful lady responded quickly to my email request and changed what I asked! She even volunteered to transfer ownership of my great-grandparents' memorial to me.  Cool people on Findagrave.]

Tombstone Tuesday: Susan Dolinsky Hollick 1909-1994

 From the Slovak Lutheran Cemetery in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania.  This is my paternal grandmother.  She had no middle name so the "D" is for her maiden name.  Thanks to Mom and Dad for this picture and the ones for the upcoming weeks.