Someone had a birthday this weekend! Happy Birthday to my Dad. This is a picture from Corky’s 4th birthday party! Corky is boy on the left sitting in the front, sort of looking around another boy. His brother Jeff is being held by an unknown woman.
Corky’s father was still in Norfolk in the Navy at this time, so he and his brother Jeff, and his mother (Agnes Speck Cubbage) were living on Thelma Street on Pittsburgh’s North Side with Agnes’ mother (Elizabeth Linneman Speck Merz).
The photos were not labeled, so I wasn’t sure of Corky’s age or the year. I was able to zoom in on this picture and count the candles … four!! The birthday party was in the backyard of Elizabeth’s house and probably included other children from the neighborhood.
I love this picture of Agnes looking up while she cuts the birthday cake, surrounded by all of the kids.
I posted a few pictures of the Moms in our family tree. Sadly, I realized that I do not have nearly the same number of photos of the fathers in our tree. I’m not sure if the Dads were behind the camera, or there were more pictures of the mom and baby or children. So here are the few pictures that I have … and Happy Father’s Day to all the Proud Papas out there!
My husband’s mother with her father Michael Petrun, in 1936 in Slovakia. This was the picture on his passport when they immigrated to the United States.My Mom and her father Adolf Haberkern, circa 1960.My husband’s grandfather, Otis Draper, with his father Jackson “Jack” Draper, in Bedford County, Virginia, circa 1903.My Dad, his brother Jeff, and their father William Arthur, in New Providence, New Jersey, circa 1961. (Looks like another Hearts Tournament!)My grandfather, Adolf Haberkern, with his father Karl Haberkern, in New Providence, 1959.My grandmother, Agnes Speck, with her father Frank Speck, in Monessen, Pennsylvania, circa 1927.
For those of you who know me, you know that Thursdays are my favorite day of the week – choir and handbell choir rehearsals! I love being a part of the thriving music program at our church. A few years ago, my parents gave me the most wonderful little book as a gift. It is a German Gesangbuch, or hymnal, that belonged to my great-grand uncle, Christian “Christ” Linnemann.
The first page is printed with “Ach bleib mit Deiner Gnade.” According to Google Translate, this means Oh stay with your grace.
Christ’s name is written on the back of the first page. The first two pages appear to have been repaired with some white tape that covers the end of his name and part of the next page. The following page is printed with “Widmung” which means dedication, but nothing is written on that page.
The Evangelisches Gesangbuch is a Protestant hymnal. This edition was published in 1897 in Dortmund, and reads for Rheinland and Wesfalen. Christ was born in the state of North Rhein-Westfalia, so it appears to be an edition from that area of Germany.
There is a table of contents which lists times of the Christian year (New Year, Sunday, Advent, Easter, Ascension, etc.) and page numbers with hymns. There are also sections for morning, midday and evening.
The hymnal’s binding is very tight, so I am careful not to open too far and damage it (see my earlier post on caring for a Family Bible).
Each hymn has the first verse with the music, and then the following verses without the music. At the end of the book is an index of composers (translated as song poet, which I LOVE!). I plucked out some of the hymns on the piano, but do not recognize any of them. They appear to be more chant-like (many of the composers were born in 1600s) and not the familiar Presbyterian hymns that I am used to singing.
Christan Fasel Linnemann with his sister Elizabeth Linneman Speck, circa 1920.
Christian Linnemann was my great-grandmother’s oldest brother. He was born in 1887 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany as Christian Fasel. His father died shortly before he was born and his mother later married Gerhard Linnemann. Uncle Christ never married, and my father remembers him sitting quietly and reading his Bible, or maybe this Gesangbuch. His mother’s religion was Catholic on Christ’s birth record, but when his sister Elisabeth was born, she and her husband were both Protestant (Evangelishes). The Linnemann family came to America in 1904 when Christ was 16 years old.
I am so thankful to have this Gesangbuch. Do you have a special family heirloom that you treasure?
I am excited to be participating in a local Boy Scout troop’s Merit Badge Fair tomorrow! It is an afternoon where these young men can begin and/or complete a merit badge or two. I will be helping the scouts earn their Genealogy Merit Badge. I am thrilled to have to opportunity to talk to them about learning about their ancestors and family history!
DSCF0586(crop)
img_0087
Both of my sons have been involved in Scouting. My older son was a Cub Scout for several years, and my younger son was a Cub Scout and is currently working towards his Star rank in Boy Scouts. And you know that I’m going to share about those Boys Scouts in my family tree!
My father Corky and his brother Jeff spent a few years as Boy Scouts after they moved from Pittsburgh to New Providence, New Jersey. This is a picture of Corky’s Bobcat pin. Their father, Art, was a Boy Scout for many years in Monessen, Pennsylvania and had earned the rank of Life Scout (the second highest scouting rank).
Below are some pictures of Corky (age 13), Jeff (age 10) and their parents Art and Agnes (Speck) Cubbage in front of their home in New Providence before the Memorial Day parade in 1954. They had just moved to New Jersey about eight months prior.
Corky at Camp Watchung Camp in 1954. He is the third from the right in the back row (yep, the one making a face!).
Wishing all the local scouts a fun afternoon at the Merit Badge Fair tomorrow! I am an approved BSA Merit Badge Counselor – if your scouts would like to earn a Genealogy Merit Badge, feel free to contact me. I can also tailor this program for Girl Scouts or other youth organizations who are interested in learning about genealogy and family history.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you Mamas out there! I thought I’d post a few pictures of moms and kids from our families.
My mother with her mother, Elise Gegenheimer Haberkern, in Stein, Germany, 1945.My father with his brother and mother, Agnes Speck Cubbage, on the North Side of Pittsburgh, 1945.My great-grandmother, Maine Swank Cubbage, with her daughters Marian, Marge and Babe, and most likely her daughter-in-law Happy Griffith Cubbage, Monessen, Pennsylvania, 1930s.My husband’s great-grandmother, Mary Kelovcy Simko, with children Mary, Susan, Michael and Walter, circa 1930.My great-grandmother, Elizabeth Linnemann Speck, with either Agnes (1915) or Frank (1918) in Monessen.My great-great-grandmother, Barbara Elisabeth Nilkowski Linneman, with her children Christian, Gerhard, George, William and Elisabeth, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, 1904.
LCD Genealogy Services 