Genealogy Mystery: What Happened to Cyril (Charles) De Meulenaere?

Lorine McGinnis Schulze of Olive Tree Genealogy is posting her Top 10 Genealogy Mysteries, and encouraging others to follow suit with their own.

You can read her Genealogy Mysteries at Top 10 Genealogy Mysteries

Here is my Top Genealogy Mystery: What Happened to Cyril (Charles) De Meulenaere?

My great grand uncle Cyrillus (Charles) De Meulenaere was born in Tielt Belgium in 1888. On 27 February 1937 he died in Detroit Michigan. The family lore has always been that he was killed - stabbed to death outside a bar in downtown Detroit.

Here is what I've been able to find out about Cyril (Charles):

• November 1915: Border Crossing states his last permanent residence was Berlin Canada (now Kitchener Ontario) and he is heading to Detroit. Has no relatives there
• March 31, 1916: Joined the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Forces) during WW1. Says he was born in 1881 (a lie) and living in Berlin (Kitchener) Ontario
• June 5, 1917: Joined the American Expeditionary Force. Says he lives at  2166 Mack Ave, St Clair Michigan and works for J. A. Cornille (of Cornille Bros) driving a team of horses.
• May 15, 1919: A document from the US Pension service states that Cyriel was discharged from service on May 15, 1919, and provides the date of his death as February 27, 1937. His name is written as Charles Demenllenere & Demeulenere. 
• September 3, 1932: Cyril/Charles attempts to cross from USA into Canada at Windsor. Says he is going to visit brother "Arthur" [Note: this is actually his brother Archie] in Bridgeport Ontario. Lives Detroit Michigan, American, sister Marie in Tielt Belgium. He was REJECTED.
• February 27, 1937: Cyril dies in Detroit Michigan
• March 1, 1937: his brother Archie tries to go to Cyril's funeral in Michigan but is deported. Archie's son always said that his father was escorted to the funeral by officials (Border Guards? Police?) and then taken back to the border and deported. 

I contacted Mt. Olivett Cemetery , Detroit Michigan where Cyril is buried. Here is their information:

Cyril Demeulenaere

Date of Death: FEBRUARY 27, 1937
Cemetery: Mt. Olivet Cemetery
Location: Section 44, Tier 25, Space 84

The cemetery owns the grave and buried him for free due to a financial hardship of some sort.  They did not have an address of where he lived at the time.  Below is all the information that the cemetery had for him:

Date of death - 2/27/1937
Date of interment - 3/3/1937
Funeral home - VanLerberghe
Church - Our Lady of Sorrows
Age - about 48 

Next step was to contact the funeral home and the church.

VanLerberghe Funeral Home answered re Cyril's death:

Cyril Demeulenaere
Age 45, passed on February 27, 1937
Born in Belgium
Buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan
Funeral Services held at Our Lady of Sorrows Church on March 3, 1937 at 10am.

Our Lady of Sorrows Church burned down 1963 but I found the new church where the parish and the records went. They also replied to my email with this information:

Our Lady of Sorrows death records indicate that Cyril Demeulenaere died on February 27, 1937 and was buried March 3, 1937,at Mt.Olivet cemetery here in Detroit following a mass at Our Lady of Sorrows celebrated by Rev. H. Syoen. There is no further information listed.

I would like to know exactly what happened to Cyril!  There are two things I am hoping for:

1. An obituary or death notice or newspaper article about Cyril's death on 27 February 1937. I'm willing to bet there is a write up in a Detroit Newspaper. If anyone has access to these papers, I'd be very grateful for help.

2. A photo of Cyril's grave at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

Eight decades in the wrong grave: Map collection helps solve family mystery.

WW1

For 84 years, Private William Phillips was missing, lying underneath another man's headstone.

The soldier was killed in the final months of the war, when the front lines were moving quickly. He was buried on the battlefield near Bray-sur-Somme, but when the graves were moved into cemeteries in 1919, he was recorded as missing, his body classified as an unknown soldier.

 
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52 Ancestors: Great-Grandmother Myrtle Massey Had a Difficult Life and an Early Death

The Sandercock Family in 1916

I don't remember my Great Grandmother as she died many years before my birth. She was born Myrtle Louisa Sandercock on October 29th 1895 in Middlesex County Ontario. She was the only girl in a family of seven children born to Samuel and Ann Sandercock.

At some point before her marriage to my Great Grandfather John Massey in 1913 the family had moved to St. Marys Ontario. I do not know how John and Myrtle met each other but John's father Thomas worked for the J.D. Moore company who just happened to own the building right next to the hotel that Myrtle worked in so that may have something to do with it.

Myrtle with a tray at the hotel in about 1910 - 1913

At her marriage Myrtle was just 18 years old but her life was not going to be easy over the next few years. Myrtle and John had their first child in May of 1914 and over the next 16 years she would have a total of 9 children. But 1914 would also bring the start of the Great War - a war that would see her two oldest brothers killed and her father sent home due to ill health.  Myrtle was particularly close to her brother James who was killed in 1918. I still have a letter James sent to his sister in 1918 that she kept until her death.

Of course there were the usual struggles for Myrtle and John as well. Money was in short supply as it was for many. John always worked but with 9 kids what he made did not go far. I remember my Grandfather telling me how when he was older and had his first job his mom would resort to taking coins from his stash that he kept in a cup in his room. He shared this room with his 8 brothers. He never said anything to her about it as he knew she needed it.

So the Great War of 1914 - 1918 saw the death of her two oldest brothers. The 1920s were a struggle for her, being pregnant and nursing young children most of the time. The 1930s brought the great depression and then to top it all off 1939 saw the start of another war. A war poor Myrtle had to see her own sons take part in. I am sure she could not help think about her own brothers who died in the first war as she watched her own sons go off to the second. 

John and Myrtle about 1942

Myrtle died at the young age of 49 in 1944. My grandmother told me that "Myrtle was doing the washing in the morning. She told her husband Jack that she was not feeling well and went to lie down and never woke up. It was a brain aneurysm"

Her Funeral card reads:

"Entered into rest suddenly at her late residence, Water St. South, St. Marys on Monday October 2, 1944, Myrtle L. Sandercock, beloved wife of John Massey in her 49th year. The funeral: Resting at the above address where funeral service will be held Thursday October 5 at 2p.m. Interment in St. Marys Cemetery"

St. Marys Journal-Argus, October 5, 1944, p.4 - Obituary - Mrs. John Massey

Stricken suddenly on Monday morning in the midst of her daily work, Mrs. John Massey, formerly Myrtle Sandercock, died in her 49th year at her home on Water St. South.  She had been in apparent good health and on Sunday had gone on a walk and on Monday she started her washing as usual.  Around 8:30 she was unable to continue and died about two hours later.
Born near Prospect Hill, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Sandercock who reside in the West Ward, she had lived in Lucan before coming to St. Marys as a little girl.  Here she attended both Public School and Collegiate Institute, and 30 years ago married John Massey who is employed at Maxwell Ltd.  She was a member of St. James Anglican Church and had been among the first members of St. Marys Home and School Association.  She was a faithful worker for Red Cross objectives.Mrs. Massey was the devoted mother of nine children, four sons being in the Services: Charles, in the Army at Debert, N.S.; Pte. Bill  Massey in France; Pte. Cecil Massey in England; John with the R.C.A.F. at Jarvis; and Kenneth at home;  Mrs. C.J. Langford(Marjorie) and Mrs. G.E. McKinnon(Helen), both of St. Marys; and Dorothy and Evelyn at home.She also leaves four brothers: Jack, in the U.S. Army; Harry, overseas; Wilbert of St. Marys and Frank of Detroit; besides four grandchildren: Tommy and Jimmie(twins) of St. Marys and Billy and  Jimmie of Kingston.The funeral service is being conducted this afternoon at her late residence by Rev. M.H. Farr of St. Paulís Anglican Church, Stratford, with interment in St. Marys Cemetery.

52 Ancestors: Sam Sandercock and His WW1 Tragedy

Amy Johnson Crow has a new challenge for geneabloggers called Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Amy challenges genealogists to write about one ancestor once a week. I'm having fun with this and I hope you are too!

The Sandercott Family 1916

One of my ancestors was Sam Sandercock aka Sandercott. Sam was born in Cornwall England in 1870 and came to Ontario Canada in 1887 on board the ship Parisian. Eventually he married Ann Jackson and they had 7 children - 6 sons and 1 daughter (my great grandmother).

Sam was a proud patriotic Englishman and when WW 1 started in 1914 he was all for it. He could not join the military in 1914 as men his age were not really wanted. The Military only wanted young fit men in 1914 but as the war dragged on and casualties mounted they were forced to start taking older and far less fit men. So Sam enlisted in 1916 even though he was 46 years old and not in the best of health. His two eldest sons, Cecil and Bill, were now of military service age, also enlisted and the 3 went off to war.

Sadly Bill was killed in August 1917 in France. He was just 19 years old. His brother Cecil was right beside Bill when he was killed, and Cecil's postcard to his parents is chilling in its brevity:

Just a few lines, hoping you are well. I guess you will have heard the news of my brother's death before this letter reaches you. Bill and I went out on a working party on the night of August 23rd. We were both together working when a shell lit in the trench. Bill was killed. I got a slight wound in the knee. I was lucky i was not killed too. 

Almost exactly one year later in August 1918 Cecil Sandercock was also killed during some heavy fighting near Boiry France. He was just 20 years old.

Sam himself never made it into the trenches. The damp cold conditions in England got the best of his health. He was invalided with asthma in 1916 and sent home to Canada in April 1917 as medically unfit. Such a sad tale for 3 family members to go off to war and only one returned. 

Memorial Day Weekend: Remembering My American Uncle

Peter Gerth. U.S. Army WW1

In honor of Memorial Day I thought it would be nice to post a photo of one of my American relatives in the Military. I have many ancestors and relatives who have served in the Military but as I am Canadian most of them served in the Canadian or British Military.

Here in Canada we tend to think about our Military Ancestors on November 11th, Remembrance Day. Memorial Day is an American holiday but I guess that's one of the great things about the Internet age. We can all get involved in each others holidays.

Peter Gerth was my Great Grandmothers sister's husband. My Grandmother spoke of him as Uncle Peter Gerth. I don't think she met him more than a few times in her life. She could only tell me that he drove a trolley in Gaylord Michigan. So with only that info and this picture I set out to learn what I could.

One of the first things that I found was the 1910 census.  This told me that his first name was in fact Lambert. I guess he did not like the name Lambert. Can't say I blame him. The census also gave me a year of birth and a Country of birth.  

GERTH LAMBERT  23 M W CANADA MI WAYNE 17-WD DETROIT 1910 Series: T624 Roll: 680   Page: 270
Gerth, Lambert, 23 b Can German, imm unkn, NA, conductor
Gerth, Katie, wife,  21 b Can German, imm unkn
Butler, Carrie, mother in law, 53 b Can German, married 30 years, 6 children, 5 living, imm unkn
Ryan, Viola, niece, 7  b Can English

I then found the WW1 Draft Registrations.

WW1 Draft Registrations
Name: Lambert Peter Gerth
City: Detroit
County: Wayne
State: Michigan
Birthplace: Ontario;Canada
Birth Date: 17 Jan 1887
Race: Caucasian
Roll: 2032763
DraftBoard: 26

Now that I know he was born in Ontario Canada I was able to find his Birth Registration and then look for him on a census as a child in Ontario. This work continued with one record leading to another. So lets just say I now know a lot more about Uncle Peter.

Happy Memorial Day Uncle Peter. Thank you for your service 

Lorine of Olive Tree Genealogy on TV

Lorine over on Olive Tree Genealogy, was interviewed by CBC yesterday for a story about WW 1 Letters found in an attic. Her blog post about this is at WW1 Soldier's Letters Found in Attic of Home

A link to the online CBC News Toronto at 6 on March 7, 2013 which has the interview with her. The story of the WW 1 letters is at mark 17:30 in the half hour segment. Go to: 

http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/Toronto/ID/2341391641/?sort=MostRecent

More fallen diggers found at Bullecourt burial site

They were buried where they lay. Not in mass graves prepared by the Germans, but in haste, by fellow diggers who pushed dirt in on top of the crater where their dead companions had been taking shelter, and then fled. And there they are believed to remain, up to 13 Australian soldiers, interred in a nameless pit beneath a road in northern France.

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Tombstone Tuesday, A Lost Ship And A Battlefield Far From Home

Well in honour of Tombstone Tuesday I will blog a little about a grave stone in my local cemetery. The grave stone is located in Lakeview Cemetery in Midland, Simcoe County Ontario. It always surprises me the connections to history I find in my cemetery photos. The tombstone in question is not really remarkable in its self. Its just a typical late 19th century grave marker. Just like millions of others in cemeteries all over North America. But the inscription on this stone is what caught my attention. For it brings us into contact with two events right out of the history books. A mysterious lost ship and a great WW1 battle.

The first event would be well known to anyone with an interest in Great Lakes history. The mysterious disappearance of the ship Bannockburn.

The Bannockburn was a 245 foot long, 1,620-ton steel steamer built in 1893 at Middlesborough, Scotland, by Sir Raylton Dix and Company. On November 21st, 1902, the Bannockburn left the Canadian Northern elevator at Port Arthur bound for Midland Ontario on her last trip of the season. She was loaded to the gills with 85,000 bushels of wheat. The ship was sighted on the evening of the 21st steamer Algonquin. She was never seen again. The Bannockburn and her crew of 20 including George Stephens, had vanished.

The second event recorded on this stone is the death of Richard Stephens at the Battle of Cambrai in Oct 1918. Between 26 September and 11 October, Canadian troops advanced twenty-three miles through the heart of the German defences in some of the worst fighting of WW1.

See More Graves In Lakeview Cemetery in Midland

Soldier's cross found under junk pile

A rare historical artefact from World War I, found languishing among rubbish in a Lumsden church, has been preserved for future generations.

The hand-crafted wooden cross, which marked the grave of Captain Eric Buckingham Alley in a cemetery near Flanders, was believed to be one of only two crosses of its type in New Zealand.

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Press Release - WW1 Soldiers killed at Fromelles are identified

While they could not be named individually, three British soldiers were confirmed to be among the 250 soldiers recovered from the mass graves at Pheasant Wood and 128 were confirmed to have served the Australian Army. The remaining 44 are, for the time being, classified as ‘unknown’.

Veterans Minister Kevan Jones said:

“Identification is a challenging task and this has been no exception. We are disappointed that there was insufficient evidence to name British soldiers but I would like to thank the families for the support that they have all given to this project.

“Although no British soldiers could be named, I am pleased that we can confirm three having served with the British Army. What is most important is that these men have all been laid to rest with the dignity and honour they deserve. The identification process will remain open for another four years, and I hope that families will continue to make contact.”

Greg Combet, Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science, said;

"Of the 250 soldiers found, I am pleased to announce that 203 have been identified as Australians, and that 75 of these have been positively identified by name.

"The number of soldiers that we have been able to identify exceeds even our most optimistic forecasts. We are unlikely to identify every man; however, we will continue to take all reasonable steps to maximise those named in the future.

"Each of the 250 sets of remains that were found have been analysed using all available historical, anthropological, artefact and DNA evidence. For those who have been identified so far, DNA proved to be a key piece of the identification puzzle.

"I am also pleased to say that we have strong reason to believe that more identification could occur in the future.”

A Joint Identification Board, with members representing the British and Australian Governments, considered the available evidence including DNA from the soldiers’ remains and from the families who came forward. Where there was clear and compelling evidence the Board was able to confirm the identities of individual soldiers.

The Board will reconvene in May to consider additional family samples that have only recently been returned from Australia. This additional testing and second Board will help ensure that as many soldiers as possible are identified before the 19 July 2010 commemorative event that will mark the official opening of the new cemetery.

Notes for Editors

1. The full list of names of Australian servicemen who have been identified is available on the Fromelles Project web site www.cwgc.org/fromelles
2. The remains of 250 World War 1 soldiers killed in the 1916 Battle of Fromelles were recovered last year and reburied with military honours at a new military cemetery constructed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
3. The reinterment of 249 of the 250 soldiers from Pheasant Wood was completed in mid February. The burials were each conducted in a dignified military ceremony by serving members of both the British and Australian Armies. The remaining soldier, who will be representative of all those who died in the Battle of Fromelles but who have no known grave, will be reinterred during the Commemorative Event on 19 July 2010.
4. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has published a list of names at www.cwgc.org/fromelles of those soldiers who may be among those yet to be identified. Families who believe they have connections to, or information on, one of the soldiers are being encouraged to come forward to assist with the process which remain open until 2014.
5. Anyone believing they may be related to a British soldier should contact the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre, Historic Casualty & Deceased Estates Casework, Services Personnel and Veterans Agency, Building 182, Imjin Barracks, Gloucester GL3 1HW, email: Fromelles@spva.mod.uk telephone: +44 (0)1452 712612 x 6303 or 6256.
6. For more information, please contact Roz Britton-Elliot, MOD Press Office, 0207 218 5903.

Obituary Of Harry Patch Last British Survivor Of WW1

He was a plumber from Somerset, in many ways an unremarkable man, but Harry Patch became the last British survivor of the carnage of the Western Front.
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New WWI cemetery to be announced

Details about a new cemetery for 400 Australian and British World War I soldiers found in a mass grave in France are set to be unveiled later this week.

The soldiers found in eight large pit graves on the outskirts of Fromelles in May will be individually reburied with full military honours.

A new cemetery would be built nearby so the 170 Australians and 300 British troops who were originally buried by German soldiers after the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916 could be reinterred
Military Death Records on Ancestors At Rest.

The Canadian Military Heritage Project

Death Records on Paper Trails Blog

Death Records found on Paper Trails Blog

* Tredegar Cemetery Exhumation Certificate from 1879... South Wales, Tredegar Cemetery, United Kingdom

* Obituary Hattie Wilson 1888 Illinois

* WW1 Death Records DUGGAN

* Last Will and Testament, June 2, 1866, Mrs.Mary Harrold

* Probate of Will, October 11, 1871, Mrs.Hannah Smith

* 1825 FALKIRK SCOTLAND Doctors medicine bill -

* New Hampshire Will 1859 - Isaac Morse

WW1 Memorial Card Ivy & Freda REEVES Victims on board Galway Castle, England to S. Africa 1918

In loving memory of Ivy and Freda, beloved children of Howard and Frances Reeves of Johannesburg, who were lost in the Galway Castle which was torpedoed by a Geman submarine when returning home from England.

On September 12, 1918. Aged 9 and 7 years.