Genealogical Gems

Those Places Thursday is a weekly prompt by GeneaBloggers, in which various places are discussed. Today - being the day the Pope resigns (at 1400 ET) - I thought perhaps focusing on one of the Catholic Churches my family has attended at some point would be appropriate. Hence, I selected today's feature place to be St. Mary of the Assumption in Phoenixville, Chester County, PA. St Mary is one of the oldest Catholic parishes in Chester County. The oldest parish in the county incidentally is St. Agnes Church in West Chester which was founded in 1793. Records for St Mary were kept from 1840. In 1841, according to the church's anniversary book, the present church grounds were purchased for $200 by Father Donahue. The church was completed in March of that year. At that time, Father Patrick Donahue - who was the pastor at St Patrick in Norristown - served St Mary's pastoral needs. He would come monthly for Mass and confessions. The other Sundays the parishioners of St Mary...

Tombstone Tuesday is a weekly blog prompt by GeneaBloggers. This week I chose my great grandparents - Martin Welsh and Catharine O'Fharity Welsh - tombstone. My aunt - Mary K Still- was buried with them. 1885 Martin Welsh 1933 his wife 1880 Catherine Welsh 1949 1940 Mary K Still 1945 They are buried at St. Mary's of the Assumption RC Church in Phoenixville. Mary is the daughter of Mary Wlesh and Lloyd Still. She died of complications from birth.

Amanuensis Monday is a blogging theme for GeneaBloggers which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. The letter transcribed here today is another letter from my Aunt - Helen Still Webster. I am going to transcribe exactly as she has written it. My comments will be placed in {} marks. Happy Thanksgiving Sat. Nov. 21, 1992 My dear Jeanne & Glenn, I received your letter and glad you are working on history. That was a cute thank you card. Yes I would like to meet Glenn. {Glenn is my husband. We married 22 August 1992}. It seems I have not seen much of you lately either. At Mary Still funeral you sat with Lloyd {my maternal grandparents}. I do not know where our relatives came from. Well the only real americans are the american Indians and we are allfrom them and foreign countries. If you would go to West Chester courthouse and look up Bing & Way - my father's mother, Still, Rice, Van...

Surname Saturday is a weekly prompt by GeneaBloggers which focuses on a patricualr surname. This week I have chose DURKIN. My great-great grandmother was Martha Durkin, the daughter of Patrick Durkin and Abyan Murphy. Martha is also one of my immigrant ancestors. She was born 1 August 1839 in Ireland. She immigrated and once here settled in the Phoenixville, Chester County, PA area. It was there she married Dennis O'FLAHERTY, also from Ireland. Together they had eight children. The youngest - Catherine - is my great grandmother. Etymology Most sources (that is I have not found any to contradicte) seem to agree that Durkin is from the Gaelic Mac Duarcáin‘son of Duarcán’. Kilmoremoy is a civil parish that is locatedin both County Mayo and County Sligo. My grandmother always said this branch of our family came from Sligo but I have never found any documentation one way or the other ... yet. The crest above is from Irish Abroad . Everything seen in the crest means somethin...

Military Monday is a GeneaBloggers prompt focusing on our military ancestors.   Alonzo S. Eckman's Veteran's Compensation Application   Alonzo enlisted in the Marine Corps in Philadelphia in May of 1898. He apparently served in Pureto Rico from November 1898 to 29 January 1902. He was discharged a Private on 27 May 1903 in Brooklyn, NY. His application was reviewed and accepted as it states he was awarded a total of $200.   The application - which Alonzo himself filled out - also shows that he was born to Anna Peters and Alonzo Eckman in Desota, Kansas on 7 February 1877.   At the time of the application Alonzo was married to Agnes Florentine Evans Eckman. The couple had four minor children: Ernest, William, Joseph and Lou. The application does not ask for adult children, presumably because they would be on their own and not part of the compensation equation.   At the time of his enlistment he was living at 5012 Willows Avenue ...

Shopping Saturday is a GeneaBlogger topic focusing on ... shopping! Many families – especially busy working families – would perform their weekly shopping on Saturdays. Shopping was not necessarily only a Saturday thing since mom did not work outside the house. Her idea and my idea of shopping however did not often match. Mom owned her a wholesale craft business - Stitched With Love - and so shopping for her was the Flower & Craft Warehouse or some shipping store or even wood and tools. I think the most exciting store I went to with her on a regular bases was ... Fisher's Store in Georgetown! I have to admit I still like shopping there on occassion. For those of you reading this who are not familiar with Fisher's ... first let me say Georgetown is a small village in Bart Township, Lancaster County, PA. It has fabric - which is why mom liked it - and household items and some books and other items. It is a variety store. The store uses gas lanterns for both light and hea...

Thankful Thursday is a GeneaBlogger prompt expressing gratitude for a person (past or present), resource, family history tool or anything connected to you or your and family history that has had a positive impact on your life. My thanks and appreciation in regards especially to genealogy is to my Aunt Helen. Aunt Helen is Helen Still Webster , the youngest daughter of Franklin Still and Jennie S VanHorn. She was incredible. She knew everyone in Mortonville and the surrounding areas. She would read the local papers every day and if she saw something that was about you or that she thought you like, she would immediately clip it out and send it to you with a note. It was Aunt Helen who helped me so much with the Still line. She was born in 1904 and it was not until I was in high school ... 1983-1987 ... that I got interested in researching the family. After she filled in blanks with dates and such (yes I also documented but it was a great place to start), we turned to family stories....

Amanuensis Monday is a blogging theme for GeneaBloggers which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. The letter transcribed here today is from my Aunt - Helen Still Webster. She helped so much with my research on the Still line. Her letter - dated 8 March 1994 - combines general chit chat as well as a bit of family history and memories. I must also first say that Aunt Helen was born 24 August 1903 so at the time of this letter she was 90 years old. While she was still sharp often her style of writing took some following. I have chosen though to transcribe the letter exactly as written. My dear Jeanne & family,      I received the history material and thank you and appreciated it very much.      I talked with Tom Still wife and she said Beth Still Garris had got one and all enjoyed it.      Well you deserve a lot of credit for do...

My Aunt - Aunt Nonnie - passed away Friday morning. Technically she is my cousin. Her paternal grandfather (Hugh O'Flaherty) and my mom's maternal grandmother (Catherine O'Flaherty Walsh) were siblings. Her obituary follows: Naomi O'Flaherty Catanese, 79, of Coatesville, died on Friday, February 8, 2013 at LifeCare in West Chester. She was the widow of the late Dominic J. Catanese. Born in Phoenixville, she was the daughter of the late Dennis and Naomi Souder O'Flaherty. Naomi was a resident of Coatesville most of her life. She graduated from the former S. Horace Scott High School of Coatesville, class of 1951. She met and helped numerous people as a dispatcher for many years at Red Cab of Coatesville and Downingtown Cab. She was also a security guard at Lukens Steel. In addition to spending time with family and friends, Naomi was an avid Philadelphia Phillies Fan who enjoyed watching their games for over 50 years. She is survived by five children; Joseph Cat...

My mom passed last night ... almost 24 hours ago ... she had been suffering COPD for years. Her obituary follows ... Barbara L. (nee Still) Ruczhak, 69, of Christiana, passed away Tuesday, 5 February 2013 at the Brandywine Hospital . She was the beloved wife of Joseph P. Ruczhak, Jr., with whom she shared 47 years of marriage. Born in Unionville, she was the daughter of the late Lloyd and Mary Welsh Still.   She is survived, in addition to her husband, by two daughters: Jeanne, wife of Glenn Eckman of Lancaster, and Noreen, at home, and three granddaughters: Mary, Anna and Zorina Eckman, and a brother Thomas Still of Unionville. She was preceded in death by her sister Mary Kathleen “Kitty” Still.   She was a member of Our Lady of Consolation Church in Parkesburg. She owned a craft business for many years. She graduated from Becker Junior College , Wooster , MA and Bishop Shanahan HS, West Chester , PA. A viewing will be held on both Friday evening, Feb. 8t...