There's a rumor going around...
that the reason I haven't been publishing the newsletter is because I
died. Hmmmmmmm. I sure hope that's only a rumor!! Another rumor says I ran out
of things to talk about. Now there is something that you can help with. All you
have to do is share some of the information you have. Whether it's facts, dates,
etc. that you have collected, or remembrances about some members of your family,
or remembrances about your own life, I would really appreciate it if you would
share them with us.
Years ago, there was...
an institution in Jacksonville, Illinois that was officially known as the
Jacksonville State Hospital. Most folks referred to it as the State Mental
Hospital or the State Insane Asylum. It was a place where people with mild
mental problems went to be treated, to get well, and to return to their
families. It was a place where people with severe mental problems were sent to
be cared for and to be locked up away from society. It was a place where --
because this was in the days before the widespread use of nursing homes --
senile old people were sent to be cared for and to wait out the end of their
lives. Many of the patients of the institution died there. Some of the patients
who died were returned to their home towns to be buried in family plots. Some of
them stayed to be buried in Jacksonville. Part of the Diamond Grove Cemetery on
the southwest side of town was set aside by the state for those patients who had
nowhere else to be buried. Those who no longer had any family, or those whose
family could not afford a family plot, or those whose family had simply
forgotten or abandoned them. This section is different from the rest of the
cemetery. Noticeably different. It doesn't have a variety of tombstones that are
of different shapes and sizes and colors scattered about. Pretty tombstones.
Personalized tombstones with names and dates and messages from loved ones. No,
this section doesn't have any of those. This section has markers that were
provided by the state. Neat rows of small, gray, all-of-a-kind, pock marked,
cement markers. Markers for the poor and the forgotten. Impersonal markers with
numbers etched on the top of them. Numbers that match names in a book that's
kept in the cemetery's office. Number 3-61 matches the name of Melvina Cox Wahl
Gard.
Thanks to Polly Thomas...
(George Jacob Wahl, Florence Wahl Miller, Ora Miller Campbell) we were
able to find the death certificate for Melvina. It shows that she died at the
Jacksonville State Hospital on 24 Sept 1922 at age 76. The certificate states
that she was married at the time of her death. The primary cause of death is
listed as arteriosclerosis with senility stated as the secondary cause. Senility
is probably what caused her to end up as a patient at the state hospital. I do
not know what caused her to end up being buried in the state section of the
cemetery rather than in a family plot.
Claude Miller...
(George Jacob Wahl, Florence Wahl Miller, Clyde Miller) died Aug 1990. I
do not have a copy of his obituary.
June Wahl...
(George Jacob Wahl, Louis Sylvester Wahl) died 25 Aug 1990.
Her obituary reads: "June J. Wahl, 88, of Jacksonville died at 1 p.m.
Friday at Passavant Area Hospital. Services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the
Williamson Funeral Home and burial will be in Rovey Cemetery at Farmersville.
Surviving are one son, Paul of Palmyra; two grandchildren; and one
great-grandchild."
I was wondering why...
great-great-grandfather George Jacob Wahl always went by
"Jacob" instead of "George". I mentioned this in one of the
earlier newsletters. Browsing through a newsletter published by the German
Research Association of San Diego, California brought me the answer. According
to an item in that newsletter, the custom in Germany in those days was for
people to use the middle name instead of their first name. It's nice to get
answers to questions. Sometimes, however, the answers can lead to other
questions. Some of these questions are curiosity type questions but others
become critical. For instance, how many, if any, of his sons followed this
tradition after they left home? Did his sons Henry and Charles (quite probably
their middle names since the parents supplied the family members' names to the
census taker) decide to follow the American custom after they left home? If so,
what were their first names? This is a critical point in trying to trace where
they went after they left home. On the curiosity side, George Jacob's son Jacob
was sometimes referred to as Jacob Jr. Does this mean his full name was George
Jacob Wahl Jr.? Questions. Answers! More questions!!
Robert and Dorothy (Cox) Berberet...
celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on August 29. Congratulations!!
One of the most recent descendants...
of George Jacob Wahl and Henry Charles Schumacher is Alexandra Ann Marie
Binkley. She was born in Peoria, Illinois on 11 October 1991 to Brian &
Angela (Wahl) Binkley.
You also have...
a new cousin by marriage. Monica Wahl became Mrs. Frank Moore on 26 May
1991 in Rockford, Illinois.
A look at the minutes...
from this year's reunion turns up some more additions to the family tree.
Births were Christie Rene Haverfield on June 19, Catherine Marie Kraut (Hazel
Dixon's niece) on July 30, and Ashley Marie Berberet (daughter of Bill &
Mary Kay) on January 16. Jim & Opal Cox's grandson, Todd, married Julie
Bettis on July 6. Two deaths were also recorded in the minutes: Mrs. Albert (Detta)
Cox, and Mrs. William (Betty) Cox.
We missed some of you...
at the reunion this year. Attendance was down to 67 as opposed to last
year's count of 82. Mark your calendars for the first Sunday in August next year
'cause it could be a historical occasion! Someone suggested that we have a group
picture taken by a professional photographer. As far as I know, the only other
reunion picture that was taken by a professional photographer was in 1934.
Since some of you...
have never met me, I thought I'd show you this copy of my latest picture
so you will at least know what I look like. Extreme modesty almost prevents me
from telling you that it's these good looks which cause folks to refer to me as
Handsome Harry. (Bit map of fire-breathing, pipe-smoking dragon goes here)
