| Notes |
- DEATH: Illinois Statewide Death Index, 1916?1950
http://www2.sos.state.il.us/GenealogyMWeb/IDPHDeathSearchServlet
SEIBERT LEOPOLD M/W Y-72 0044536 1935-10-27 ST CLAIR BELLEVILLE - -
BIOGRAPHY: Wow, Recs! You just made my day! I had been afraid I might be terribly
boring you both, and to get such a nice, interested response was really
more than I hoped for. I have a good deal more information which I look
forward to getting to you in the next few weeks, I think: This exchange
will serve to motivate me to write up my notes on the descendants of Anton
I have detected. It will be good to compare what I've found to what you
and Ursula have been able to put together on him and his, too.
I have been terribly frustrated that no documentation can be found to
prove the exact date of birth of the Anton Seibert who married Katherine
Newa (I believe she was a Catherine; that may need checking) in St. Clair
County Illinois. I have, for the record, seen a photocopy of his death
certificate; and I have seen his church burial record (which also lists
his wife as Catherine or Katherine Newa), and there is no indication of
his exact date of birth. And I believe I have taken other steps to finding
and identifying same, with no luck to date. The only remaining step that
can be taken, perhaps, is to see if there is any existing paper trace
concerning his 1855 marriage. That would be a promising lead, if only the
date in question were more recent than 1855. I promise, regardless, to get
that information, if it exists. If you wish to see copies of the
documentation I am receiving, would be happy to send that to you,
obviously.
A few interesting anecdotes about Anton's son Leopold:
- I was told by Alvin Seibert that Leopold did not marry. It is definite
that he left no children and was not married for many years, at the very
least, at the time of his death in the 1930's. However, amazingly there is
some indication he may have been married briefly as a very young man. It
may have been a very brief, one-time occurrence in his life, which, after
many decades as a batchelor, was almost forgotten late in life: He is
listed as a "batchelor" in his final census records...
- Alvin and his daughter, Mrs. Louis Fletcher, in Du Quoin in 1972,
referred to Anton's son "Leopold" not as "LEE-OH-POLD", as a good American
would, but as "LAY-POLD". The obvious original German pronunciation was
clear, and that was "pleasing", after so many years.
- Leopold's 1920 cenus (I believe it was) inquires as to whether he is
able to read and write. Amazingly, his reply is in the affirmative - and
he specifies that he does so in GERMAN! I was amazed at that point. A man
who was born around 1860, in the U.S., and lived his entire life in
Illinois - speaking German. That part of Illinois has been extremely
German, to put it mildly. In the early 1970's I attended some
"Strassenfests" in St. Clair County, where people came in from the farms
and sat around big tables, and listened to family members regaling them in
absolutely fluent German. Even today no doubt there are still people who
speak German.
- Leopold's death was a tragedy: In the 1930's, he had apparently rented
out his farm, after his own retirement, to a friend or neighbor. He -
Leopold - went out onto the farm one night, however, to investigate some
suspicious goings-on. They may have been having problems with thefts of
corn. At any rate, he apparently surprised the individual who was stealing
the corn, and that individual fired a shotgun into him - just hitting him
in the back or arm, etc., a non-life threatening wound under normal
circumstances. Leopold went to a local hospital and was recovering very
well and in good spirits - when he died suddenly, of lead poisoning (if I
remember carefully) from pellets which had not been removed. (I have the
newspaper article, and will try to send it to you.)
While I am gabbing, a couple other interesting stories come to mind:
- Katherine Newa was German-speaking (obviously, given her choice of two
Germans as husbands), but had been born in Lorraine, France. She also was
illiterate - as evidenced in her making only a "mark" (an "X") on the
death certificate of her first husband.
- I have received photocopies (horrible quality, unfortunately) of the
actual papers filed in the probate settlement for Anton Seibert's estate
(such as it was; there wasn't much to it). The papers give a wonderful
view into his whole way of life and daily activities, because every item
he owned that had any value was listed, and they were the absolute
minimum, just one table, one bed, minimal farming equipment, etc. It
makes marvelously interesting reading. Additionally, the papers include
bills for physicians' assistance during approximately a 6 month period,
leading up to his death. He obviously had taken ill with something, and
though only 42 years of age, was unable to recover. The medicines which he
was received, and which his estate had to pay for posthumously, were
obviously quack medications. His end was not only premature, but very
miserable...
- Anton died on April 22, 1873 (I hope I have the year of his death
correct here) - on the anniversary of his wedding to Katherine Newa. She
went on to marry before the end of the year - presumably because she was
totally broke and in dire straits, since she still had three young boys at
that point. I know little about August Rother, other than that he was a
"Prussian".
I do not know what value these stories will be to you, and I do need to
confirm some of the dates in them (written off the top of my head). I
thought you might enjoy hearing them, though, in anticipation of receiving
more from me in the near future.
BIOGRAPHY: Warm regards!
BIOGRAPHY: Robert Donnell
|
1864 - 1936 (72 years)
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