Tombstone Tuesday: Thomas and Martha Tutland

Pictured below is the tombstone of Thomas and Martha Tutland.  While we are not certain if these Tutlands were related to Brenden's ancestors, the Tuntlands, this couple often causes confusion in ancestry records.  Brenden's ancestors, Thomas and Martha Tuntland were born 20 years earlier than this couple and also lived in the same location, Sandwich, Illinois.  We haven't found the tombstone of his Tuntlands.

Inscription:

Tutland
Thomas
1849 - 1932
Wife
Martha
1853-1826

Tombstone located in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Kendall County, Sandwich, Illinois

Picture taken by me, 2010

Graveyard Rabbits Carnival: All items found for Scavenger Hunt

This is my first blog contribution to a blog carnival.

Today's post is for The Graveyard Rabbit's Scavenger Hunt Carnival.

"Like a traditional scavenger hunt, the object is to find as many items as you can from the list below. In our case, those “items” are to be found in the cemetery"

To make my entry creative and special, all of the below images are either of Brenden or my ancestors...no random graves.  All pictures taken by me between May and June 2010.


The first image is my great great grandfather's gravestone.  Clarence Clifton Brown (1882-1962).  His grave is located in Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside, Cook County, Illinois.  Three items from the scavenger hunt: Cross (there's actually two...bonus points...lol), Heart, and Hand (two hands too...)

The next picture is my great grandmother's gravestone (daughter of Clarence Clifton Brown).  Ruth Margaret Brown (1908-1992).  On this gravestone you'll find flowers and a cross. Her grave is located in Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside, Cook County, Illinois.

This picture is the gravestone of Brenden's great grandmother, Bertha A. Wagner Myers Minnick (1881-1954).  On this grave you'll find one of the scavenger list items, a star, as Bertha was a member of the Order of Eastern Star. This grave is located at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, Oswego, Kane/Kendall County, Illinois.

The next picture is the grave of Brenden's great grandmother, Peter Buchanan Morrison. Peter was a freemason, and on his grave you'll find the next scavenger hunt item, a fraternal symbol...the symbol of the masons.This grave is located at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, Oswego, Kane/Kendall County, Illinois.

The next picture is the grave of my third great uncle, Joseph McCarron.  Joseph McCarron was in the US Navy in World War II, and you'll find the next item, a military grave.  This gravestone was found in Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Hillside, Cook County, Illinois

The next grave is that of Brenden's great uncle, Israel Rogers.  Israel was the first bishop of the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints in Kendall County, Illinois.  There is a monument in Pine Mound Cemetery in Sandwich, Kendall County, Illinois, for him, the next scavenger hunt item.

The grave of Dominick Censotti, my cousin, who's life was tragically ended in a car accident just short of his 17th birthday, contains the next scavenger hunt item, a bird.  His grave was found at St. Michael the Archangel Cemetery in Palatine, Cook County, Illinois.

The next is my second cousin, Brett Humphries, who's life was ended due to a genetic disease.  His gravestone contains the next items: Angel and 4-legged animal. His grave is located in St. Michael the Archangel cemetery, Palatine, Cook County, Illinois. 

Ok, so if a beanie baby doesn't count as a 4-legged animal, the next picture is that of my grandmother, Mildred P. Vitraelli.  My grandma's grave contains a lamb, a 4-legged animal.  Her grave is located in St. Michael the Archangel cemetery, Palatine, Cook County, Illinois.

Only a couple more to go....
The next image is from the Mausoleum at Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Hillside, Cook County, Illinois. (At the bottom, center) Lucy and Leonard Vitraelli are my great grandparents.

The next image contains trees, the next item.  These trees were located in Mount Carmel Cemetery near the graves of my ancestors.  I hope this isn't cheating....I couldn't find an image of a tree on any of the gravestones...

Another grave from Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Hillside, Cook County, Illinois, is the my great great grandparents, Maria and Nunziato D'Orazio.  Their gravestone contains photos.

And last....the hardest one to find for my family, is the grave of Jennie Weldon Hall, Brenden's great great (add more greats) grandma....an obelisk....well kind of.  This grave was found at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Sandwich, Kendall County, Illinois.

And that's all of them! :)

Adding one more item to the list.....grave with the most amount of names.  Below is the grave of the Quinn family.  Not blood related, but married into the family.  The grave contains 8 names, the most of the one's I've seen so far.  This grave is located at Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Hillside, Cook County, Illinios

Tombstone Tuesday: The Browns, Galligans, RAOGK, and Findagrave

In yesterday's post I described my search for Raymond Peterson, husband of Ruth Margaret Brown. Today I'll continue with that family line and post pictures of Ruth Margaret Brown's grave as well as her parents, Clarence Clifton Brown (no, not the ice cream sundae guy...) and Elizabeth Brown (nee Galligan).

All three are interred at the beautiful Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside, Cook County, Illinois, and are also posted on Findagrave. Luckily, Queen of Heaven and a couple of other Catholic cemeteries in Chicago have a computer kiosk in which you can search for your ancestor and get a print out of the exact location where he or she is buried.

Ruth Margaret Brown 1908-1992

Whenever I go to a cemetery, I not only take photos of the graves I am looking for, but also a couple (ok...more than a couple) graves nearby. I post them on findagrave, and hopefully, others who are searching for their family, can find them. I am thankful for all of the contributers and volunteers at findagrave. I've received pictures of graves located in different states across the country.

When I'm not searching for family or posting on findagrave, I also volunteer through Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) to take pictures of tombstones from Queen of Heaven and Mount Carmel Cemetery and do free obituary look-ups in the Historical Chicago Tribune Database. If you live in Chicago or a suburb of Chicago and have access to a library card, you may also have access to this rich source of information. I can access it free from the comfort of my home through my local library's website. The database contains obits from the mid-1800's to 1989. A quick call or visit to your local library or its website to determine if you can access the database may help end your search for that elusive ancestor.




Elizabeth Brown nee Galligan 1886-1954









Clarence Clifton Brown 1882-1962

Note: All three pictures taken by me, April 2010, Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside, Illinois

Touchdown Thursday: Finding tombstone of Paul K Joyce

I'm creating a new daily genealogy blog theme, Touchdown Thursday.

Touchdown Thursday is dedicated to those yay! and hooray! moments in my family history search....those ancestors that seem to hide from me but somehow I find....those brick walls that I can finally take down....

I'd love for you to join me on Thursdays, and tell me how you managed to tear down a brick wall, find a missing piece, hit a homerun, or score a touchdown.


This week's touchdown moment was finally finding the grave for Brenden's uncle, Paul Keith Joyce.

From his obituary and family attending his funeral, I knew he was buried in Spring Lake Cemetery in Aurora, Illinois.

• I left messages on the cemetery's voicemail 5 times (office only open a couple hours during the week) and never got a call back.
• I searched Kane County's cemetery index online and found a liitle more info....he was buried in the RG section. I took a ride to the cemetery and found all the sections marked... Except for RG section. The other sections were marked east and west, so where was this mysterious section?
• I checked online for a map, no luck.
• I tried the cemetry office, closed.
• I found an internet posting saying that RG stands for Rear Grotto. So, I took another trip to the cemetery and went to the rear. The rear of the cemetery was being renovated and there were dirt piles everywhere, I got upset thinking they had dug up Brenden's uncle!
• Brenden was also upset so he called his dad. His dad told us we were looking in the wrong section...sigh of relief....he was near the front of the cemetery about 100 yards from the fence.
• We got excited and went to take a look, it just happened to be Memorial Day weekend and Paul was a veteran.
  

Paul Joyce wasn't 100 yards from the fence near the front, as his dad had promised, he was in the middle of the cemetery in the Rose Garden (RG).

The only reason we finally found him was by searching for graves with American flags in unmarked sections of the cemetery. A lot of searching, but it finally paid off!

Touchdown, score one for me, I found Paul Keith Joyce!

Picture by Melissa Brown, May 30, 2010, Spring Lake Cemetery, Aurora, Kane, Illinois, Section: Rose Garden (RG)

Tombstone Tuesday: D'Orazio Family in Chicago, Illinois

I love tombstones with pictures! Above is a picture of the tombstone for my great great grandparents: Maria D'Orazio (nee Di Bartolomeo) and Nunziato (aka Annunziato) D'Orazio and three of their children. This is the only picture I have seen of either of them. Nunziato and Maria had three other children, Lucia "Lucy" Vitraelli (my great grandma), buried in another location of the cemetery, and Josephine "Jo" Ragagli and Vincenzo D'Orazio, both buried in an unknown location. The D'Orazio's were originally from Alfadena, Region: Abruzzo, Province: L'Aquila, Italy. Nunziato arrived at Ellis Island in New York in 1899. Maria and her children arrived later in 1905. I assume Nunziato travelled to Italy between 1900-1905, as one son was born in 1903, although I have not found records to prove that assumption. The family later moved to Chicago, Illinois.

Tombstone is located in Mout Carmel Cemetery, Hillside, Cook County, Illinois

(Picture taken by me in April 2010)

Tombstone reads:

Alfred [D'Orazio]

1906-1968

Michele [D'Orazio]

1909-1929

Nunziato [D'Orazio]

1872-1919

Maria [D'Orazio nee Di Bartolomeo]

1874-1947

James C [D'Orazio]

1903-1987

Margaret ["Marge" D'Orazio, nee Fuoco, wife of James]

1912-1989