Tombstone Tuesday - Peter Thielen

Peter H. Thielen was born on April 5, 1862 in Racine, Racine County, Wisconsin. His parents were German immigrants Henry and Gertrude (Thelen) Thielen (my guess is that Peter's middle name was Henry). Peter was my great-great-grandfather.

He worked all of his life as a bricklayer and mason in Racine, living for most of his adult life at 814 Jackson Street. In 1898, Peter became the first president of the Racine chapter of the Bricklayers & Masons Union.

On October 21, 1890, Peter married Mary Anne Kurten at Saint Joseph's Catholic Church in Racine. They had thirteen children: John Hubert "Jack" Thielen, Henry Thielen, Peter Thielen, Mathias John "Matt" Thielen, Anna Mary (Thielen) Campbell, Marie Elizabeth Thielen, Michael William "Mike" Thielen, an unnamed daughter, Cecelia Elizabeth Thielen, Viola Elizabeth "Vi" (Thielen) Atkinson, Charles Patrick "Chuck" Thielen, Eugene Henry Thielen, and Jerome Joseph "Jerry" Thielen.

Peter died of prostate cancer on October 15, 1935 at Wisconsin General Hospital in Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin, a forerunner of the University of Wisconsin Hospital.

Peter was buried in Old Holy Cross Cemetery on Kinzie Avenue in Racine, in the Kurten family plot of his in-laws, beside his wife and infant grandson.

The south half of the Kurten family plot, with Peter's headstone third from the right.

Peter's Find A Grave memorial is #95324686.

Wordless Wednesday - Caroline (Jensen) & Christian Gotsche

Caroline Mary (Jensen) Gotsche (1867-1926) and her husband Christian Ferdinand Gotsche (1865-1925), my great-great-grandparents.

Tombstone Tuesday - Edith (Gauslin) Moore

Edith Anora (Gauslin) Moore was both my great-great-aunt and my step-great-great-grandmother. She was born January 14, 1880 in Stephenson, Menominee County, Michigan, to John Henry and Mary Jane (Montgomery) Gauslin. Her headstone says she was born in 1881, but she appears on the 1880 census, so that has to be wrong. On July 2, 1888 in Iron Mountain, Dickinson County, Michigan, she married Jeffrey N. Nault. They had four children: Aldiah Evelyn (Nault) Rogers, Wilfred Jeffrey Nault, Joseph Howard Nault, and George H. Nault. Jeffrey Nault died around 1911.

Edith worked as a cook and washerwoman in the lumber camps of northern Wisconsin, which is where she met her second husband, Ferdel S. "Fred" Moore. She and Fred were married August 10, 1913 in Escanaba, Delta County, Michigan. They had no children together, but Fred had a daughter from one of his previous marriages, Lydia Jane "Jennie" (Moore) Gauslin. Fred and Edith also adopted Edith's grandson, Robert Anthony Moore, after the death of Edith's daughter Aldiah in 1927.

In 1917 or 1918, Edith's brother Peter Herbert Gauslin married her stepdaughter Jennie, which made Edith her brother's stepmother-in-law (confusing, I know). After Peter and Jennie both died in 1934, Edith and Fred raised their daughter, my grandmother June Eunice (Gauslin) Daft, and their son, John Ivan "Jack" Gauslin. Edith is fondly remembered in our family as "Grandma Moore." Edith and Fred settled in Rhinelander, Oneida County, Wisconsin sometime in the 1920s and Edith lived there until her death on May 20, 1965. Edith was buried in Forest Home Cemetery in Rhinelander. A marker on her grave shows that she was a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. She was also a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Edith's Ladies Auxiliary VFW marker.

Edith's Find A Grave memorial is #95040743.

Veterans Day

Ninety-five years ago today, the Allies signed an armistice with Germany which officially ended the First World War. Around the world, the date is celebrated each year. In some countries it's called Armistice Day, in others Remembrance Day. In the United States, the holiday has been expanded to commemorate not only those who were killed in World War I, but all veterans, living or dead.

As of today, I have almost 200 people in my ever-growing family tree who served in the United States military - far too many to list here. So below you will find a list of all of my known direct ancestors, along with siblings and siblings-in-law of direct ancestors, who served in the U.S. military. I'm going to take some time today to remember them and all the other veterans in my family, and I hope you will too.

Normandy American Cemetery at Omaha Beach in France.

living uncle (U.S. Army, 1960s)
grandfather William Daniel Thielen (U.S. Navy, WWII)
grandfather Henry William Daft (U.S. Army, WWII)

great-uncle John Ivan Gauslin (U.S. Army, 1950s)
great-uncle Charles Michael Thielen (killed in action; U.S. Army Air Corps, WWII)

great-uncle Wesley Charles Revie (U.S. Army)

great-uncle Everett Jack Revie (U.S. Army)

great-uncle Carl Emil Friedrick Gus (U.S. Navy, WWII)
great-uncle Arthur Christopherson (U.S. Navy, WWII)
great-uncle Earl Arthur Walter Krahn (U.S. Army, WWII)
great-uncle Richard Lyle Grimsley (U.S. Air Force)

great-grandfather Elmer Ferdinand Gotsche (U.S. Army, WWI)
great-grandfather Frank Martin John Revie (U.S. Army, WWI)

great-great-uncle Robert Anthony Moore (U.S. Army Air Corps, WWII)

great-great-uncle Charles Patrick Thielen (U.S. Navy)

great-great-uncle Charles Edward O'Connor (U.S. Army, WWI)

great-great-uncle Lloyd Paul Emil Revie (U.S. Army, WWI)
great-great-uncle Aaron Charles August Revie (U.S. Army, WWI)
great-great-uncle Cedric Sidney Leonard Revie (U.S. Army, WWII)

great-great-uncle Walter Arthur Adam Stacke (U.S. Army, WWII)

great-great-uncle Raymond Campbell (U.S. Army, WWI)

great-great-uncle Daniel Michael Sullivan Sr. (U.S. Navy, WWI)
great-great-uncle Vernon Harry Baker (U.S. Army Air Corps, WWII)

great-great-uncle Raymond James Smith (U.S. Army, WWI)

great-great-uncle Arthur Negri Christensen (U.S. Army, WWI)

great-great-uncle Vernon Wood Smith (U.S. Army, WWII)
great-great-uncle Charles Lewis Olson (WWII)
great-great-uncle Robert Gibbs Hanson (WWII)
great-great-uncle Evret Hopkin Hansen (U.S. Navy, WWII)

great-great-grandfather John Henry Gauslin (U.S. Army, Civil War)

great-great-great-uncle George Ambrose Gauslin (U.S. Army, Civil War)
great-great-great-uncle William Charles Bruce (U.S. Army, Spanish-American War)
great-great-great-uncle Paul Charles Dombrowe (U.S. Army, WWI)
great-great-great-uncle Rudolph Herman Dombrowe (U.S. Army, WWI)
great-great-great-uncle Oscar Willard Dombrowe (U.S. Army, WWI)

great-great-great-uncle Raymond Gilbert Shelley (U.S. Army, WWI)
great-great-great-uncle Kenneth Ingersoll (U.S. Navy, WWI)

great-great-great-grandfather August Thiede (U.S. Army, Civil War)
great-great-great-grandfather Franklin Bruce (U.S. Army, Civil War; U.S. Navy, 1866-1869)

step-great-great-great-grandfather Timothy Eastman Packard (U.S. Army, Civil War)

step-great-great-great-grandfather David Dumpprope (U.S. Army, Civil War)

great-great-great-great-uncle Alexander Gusline (U.S. Army, Civil War)
great-great-great-great-uncle John Thielen (U.S. Army, Civil War)

great-great-great-great-uncle Albert Peter Thelen (U.S. Army, Civil War)
great-great-great-great-uncle William Bruce (U.S. Army, Civil War)

great-great-great-great-uncle Evans Goodrich (U.S. Army, Civil War)

great-great-great-great-uncle Hiram James Fuller (U.S. Army)

great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Jonah Moore (U.S. Army, Revolutionary War)

Tombstone Tuesday - Ferdel "Fred" Moore

My great-great-grandfather Ferdel S. "Fred" Moore was born August 5, 1865 in Omro, Winnebago County, Wisconsin, to Sylvanus and Mary Jane (Chase) Moore. Fred had many half-siblings, as both of his parents were married prior to marrying each other, but Fred only had one full sibling, a brother named Frank who I believe died young.

Fred worked in the lumber industry for most of his life, moving across northern Wisconsin. He lived in Omro; the town of Maine Outagamie County, Wisconsin; Birnamwood, Shawano County, Wisconsin; Tomahawk, Lincoln County, Wisconsin: Ellington, Outagamie County, Wisconsin; and Rhinelander, Oneida County, Wisconsin, that I know of.

Fred was married three times. His first wife was Augusta (Thiede) Moore. They were married August 7, 1888 in Birnamwood. Fred and Augusta had one child, my great-grandmother Lydia Jane "Jennie" (Moore) Gauslin, in 1895. Augusta died sometime between 1900 and 1905.

On January 4, 1905, Fred married his second wife, Nellie E. (Thompson) Freeman Miller Moore Tuttle. Nellie had one living daughter from a previous marriage, Olive I. (Freeman) Seraphin DuPuis. Fred's daughter Jennie was about the same age as Olive, and they went to school together. Fred and Nellie's marriage didn't last, and they were divorced by 1910.

Fred's third wife was Edith Anora (Gauslin) Nault Moore. They were married August 10, 1913 in Escanaba, Delta County, Michigan, and remained together until Fred's death. Edith had previously been married as well and had four children with her first husband. After Edith's daughter Aldiah Evelyn (Nault) Rogers died in 1927, Fred and Edith adopted Aldiah's son, Robert Anthony Moore.

After Fred and Edith's marriage, Edith's brother Peter Herbert Gauslin married Fred's daughter Jennie. After Peter and Jennie's early deaths in 1934, Fred and Edith raised two of their children, my grandmother June Eunice (Gauslin) Daft and John Ivan "Jack" Gauslin.

Fred was baptized in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1936. He died on January 19, 1946 and was buried in Forest Home Cemetery in Rhinelander.

Fred's Find A Grave memorial is #95040816.