A snapshot of Frances Philomena Guth

February 18, 2018 Post Correction. The the man and the boy in this post have been identified. The post was updated to include their names. The man is Bernard Martin Browsky son in law of Frances Philomena Guth. The boy is Richard Browsky grandson of Frances Philomena Guth. 

A snapshot of Frances Philomena Guth taken in Clarion, Clarion County, Pennsylvania. The building behind Frances is the backside of family business, the J.W. Selker Cigar Factory, which was located adjacent to the family home at 242 Main Street. The cigar business was started in 1889 by Joseph William Selker. Joseph William Selker and Frances Philomena Guth were married November 3, 1890.

To view photographs of the family home and learn more about J.W. Selker visit the blog post The Selker Family: Hermann George and his son Joseph William, cigarmaker.

The date of the photograph is unknown. In the 1920's dress lines were more square in appearance. The waist in 1920's less highlighted compared to the structured fashions from 1900 through 1919. Frances is also wearing lace up boots. Women's fashion in the 1930's reverted to styles which highlighted the waist and were more structured.

Frances Philomena Guth born 25 February 1863 in Clarion, Clarion County, Pennsylvania. If the photograph was taken between 1920 and 1929 Frances would have been between 57 and 65.

Frances Philomena Guth

In addition to first hand knowledge the building behind Frances is the J.W. Selker Cigar Factory she was also able to be identified in this photograph by her disincentive facial features. Note the similarities in the face - particularity around the nose between the above photo and the photo below. One additional observation is Frances is not wearing glasses in the above photograph.

The individuals in the bottom photograph has been identified. Frances Philomena Guth was photographed with her grandson Richard Browsky and her son in law Bernard Martin Browsky. Bernard Martin Browsky was married to Mary Selker - daughter of Frances Philomena Guth and Joseph William Selker. The photograph was taken by Mary Elizabeth Meisinger on the back porch of 242 Main Street house in Clarion.

Richard Browsky,  Frances Philomena Guth & Bernard Martin Browsky

These photographs were included in the Frances Philomena Selker Collection. Frances Philomena Guth appears to have passed the photographs down to her daughter Frances Philomena Selker. Frances' daughter Mary Eugina McDonald ended up with her mother's photo collections which is time were handed down to me. Photographer Mary Elizabeth Meisinger. Editing and digital restoration by Michelle M. Murosky.

Frances Philomena Guth and Joseph William Selker are my 2nd great-grandmother. Bernard Martin Browsky is the husband of my 2nd great Aunt. Richard Browsky is my 1st Cousin 2x removed. Frances Philomena Selker is my great grandmother - she married Loraine Anthony McDonald. Their daughter Mary Eugenia McDonald is my paternal grandmother. 

References:

1. John Woolf Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and personal history of the Allegheny Valley Pennsylvania, III vols. (New York:  Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913), Page 839. View the book here: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/John_Woolf_Jordan_Genealogical_and_Personal_Histor?id=VNQqAAAAYAAJ

St. Mary's Cemetery: Crown, PA - Find A Grave Updates

On July 2, 2012 I visited the St. Mary's Cemetery in Crown, PA with my father and my aunt.  The Cemetery is adjacent to St. Mary's Church. On July 9, 2013 I visited the cemetery a second time with my Benjamin Norris, my 3rd cousin 2x removed. St. Mary’s Cemetery is the final resting place for some of the oldest ancestors in my family including Robert Haggerty and his wife Rebecca Easly (my 4^th great grandparents) and Michael McDonald and his wife Anna Haggerty (my 3^rd great grandparents). There are numerous other family members who were also laid to rest in the cemetery. Some of these individuals were highlighted in past blog posts - St. Mary's Cemetery: Crown, PA - McDonald Direct & Indirect Ancestors and St. Mary's Cemetery: Crown, PA - Haggerty Direct & Indirect Ancestors.

St. Mary's Cemetery

When I visited in 2012 I attempted to photograph as much of the old section of the cemetery as I could. The new section was quite large – in the new section I only photographed surnames in my family tree Haggerty, McDonald and O’Neill. The weather unfortunately did not cooperate. Many of photographs were taking in light rain while my father held an umbrella over my camera. At one point the light rain turned into a downpour and we had to stop and return later in the day.

It was my hope on that rainy day in July that I would one day share these photos. Over the years my family tree research has benefited from the work of volunteers. I have been fortunate to locate the grave sites of many family members on the Find A Grave website. All of those graves were documented and uploaded by volunteers. I wanted to be able to give back to the community which has been so helpful to me. It is also important to me that we preserve our history and properly remember our veterans. St. Mary’s Cemetery is the final resting place for several Civil War Soldiers and numerous WWII military veterans.

Over the past few weeks I started a small project with the goal of sharing the photos of St. Mary’s Cemetery.  The photos were cleaned and enhanced if needed to better view the tombstone markers. The photos were then labeled and populated with meta data. The final step was to upload these photos to the corresponding records for St. Mary’s Cemetery at the Find A Grave Website. If the family members are in my tree I have also incorporated the photos into my ancestry.com tree.

All of the photos with exception of two which had tombstones that were unreadable were uploaded. The cemetery features several family plots with a large common stone and individual headstones. In these cases the common stone is also uploaded to each individual headstone.

I am pleased to announce that 123 photos were added to St. Mary’s Cemetery. When I started the cemetery was approximately 18% photographed. Today the cemetery is approximately 28% photographed. Additionally six additional memorials were added to this cemetery.

As I uploaded photos I also updated some of the existing memorials. Through my research I was aware of many relationships between family members. In some cases parents are now linked to children – in others spouses with separate grave markers are linked to each other.  Maiden names have also been added to the memorials for women when known.

Photographs of tombstones of Veterans include:

• Civil War Soldier Andrew McDonald   
• Civil War Solider James McDonald 
• WWII Aloysius McCloskey 
• WWII John Paul McCloskey,Sr 
• WWII and Korea - Joseph A McCloskey 
• WWII Veteran Benjamin Ragan Norris
• WWII Veteran Barbara Lynam Norris
• WWII Henry J. O'Neill - 

My hope is that these updates to the St. Mary’s Cemetery will benefit other researchers in time. 

St. Mary's Cemetery: Crown, PA - McDonald Direct & Indirect Ancestors

On July 2, 2012 I visited the St. Mary's Cemetery in Crown, PA with my father and my aunt.  The Cemetery is adjacent to St. Mary's Church. On July 9, 2013 I visited the cemetery a second time with my Benjamin Norris, my 3rd cousin 2x removed. Benjamin was an excellent tour guide - providing family stories and history during our tour.

St. Mary's Cemetery is the final resting place for many direct ancestors, their siblings and their children. The older section of the cemetery is directly behind the church, to the left in the above photo.

The final resting place of my third great uncle, James McDonald. James served as a Corporal in the Civil War. Learn more about his military service in this blog post Military Veterans and Civil War Veterans.

The final resting place of my 3rd great grandparents, Michael McDonald and Anna Haggerty. Anna was the daughter of Robert H. Haggerty and Rebecca M. Easly. You can read Michael's obituary at this blog post: Michael McDonald Obituary

The final resting place of my third great uncle, Andrew McDonald. Andrew served as a in the Civil War. Learn more about his military service in this blog post Military Veterans and Civil War Veterans.

Michael McDonald and Anna Haggerty tragically lost two sons during the diphtheria outbreak of 1881. Andrew McDonald was 16 and James Augustine McDonald was age 10. Michael's sister Bridget McDonald who married Anna Haggerty's brother Thomas C. Haggerty also lost two sons - John B. Haggerty age 15 and Thomas C. Haggerty age 5.

James McDonald son of Peter McDonald and Mary Ann McAvoy died on December 26, 1876 at age 4. This small child is an example of a family member that was only discovered by visiting the cemetery. He was born and died between census years. Peter McDonald is my 3rd great grand uncle and is the brother of Michael McDonald my 4rd great grandfather.

St. Mary's Cemetery: Crown, PA - Haggerty Direct & Indirect Ancestors

On July 2, 2012 I visited the St. Mary's Cemetery in Crown, PA with my father and my aunt.  The Cemetery is adjacent to St. Mary's Church. On July 9, 2013 I visited the cemetery a second time with my Benjamin Norris, my 3rd cousin 2x removed. Benjamin was an excellent tour guide - providing family stories and history during our tour.

St. Mary's Cemetery is the final resting place for many direct ancestors, their siblings and their children. The older section of the cemetery is directly behind the church, to the left in the above photo.

The final resting place of my 4th great grandfather Robert H. Haggerty.

The final resting place of my 4th great grand mother Rebecca M. Easly. She is buried adjacent to her husband Robert H. Haggerty.

The name Hagerty is displayed on a very large tombstone. The large tombstone was purchased by Robert Aloysius Haggerty for his mother and his siblings. Robert Aloysius Haggerty was the son of James Haggerty and Mary Kerr, grandson of Robert H. Haggerty and Rebecca M. Easly. He opted to spell the Haggerty name as Hagerty, using only one G.