House in Wüstenzell

My husband’s family lived in Wüstenzell before 1885. My husband’s great great grandfather, Joseph Engelhardt (Engelhanz?) Spanheimer, immigrated to the United States in 1885 with his sister Rosa and much older sister Martha.  

I reached out to some folks on Instagram and a nice person contacted their friend who lives nearby. The house still stands! The Wüstenzell  native took a current picture and shared it with me.  It was easy for them to take the pic as THEY OWN THE HOUSE. Neat coincidence. Pretty exciting!

Photos of the family home- many years apart

Find a Grave

I love 'em, they are are awesome. Turns the physical world virtual. Even if I had the time I could never afford to travel to all these locations. If I had the money, I wouldn't have the time. Run by volunteers the premise is simple: Type up who is buried where and what the headstone says and a pic if possible.

I've been a member for a little over a year and observed the etiquette. Yes, I botched some requests, but most folks took the time to explain. I have met some incredible "helpers" that love the puzzle as much or more than I. Six months ago a lovely couple fulfilled a photo request- then out of the blue they emailed again saying they found another cluster of the same named folks- was I interested? You betcha! (Side note, I have not yet been able to link this cluster to my cluster other than the home town in Italy.)

Knowing how much I appreciate the photos, I took the plunge and offered to take photos of some local graves. I had been reticent to do so because I am not the best at geo-spatial -- oh I'll just say it- finding stuff IRL (in real life). As feared--couldn't find them. I found the cemetery, I found the front office, but Sunday of course they were closed.  I'll have to call their office during business hours to get plot location. 

The cemetery we went to supposedly was 40% photographed-- well that may be true but the interments for the whole military section at least, are not even listed. So, if I am bored, I have plenty to volunteer there. First to list, then to photograph. 

I have only sponsored one memorial (pay to take the ads off)  and only added about 10 memorials but it is a start. 

My virtual graveyards
Grandparents
Great grand parents
Great great grandparents

UPDATE: I found 1 but only the site for the other-- no memorial tablet.

Obit Clipping and burial info

The funeral home gambit paid off with a better death date, an exact birthdate, and the knowledge that he was outlived by three sisters and one brother still back in Italy. Cost: Free

Unexpected Bounty

My husband's great aunt was chatting with her niece- my husband's cousin- and mentioned that I was doing some family history research. Fancy that! She'd saved what her mother had worked on and whatever else had come her way. We'll call her "C". C emailed and we introduced ourselves. She offered to scan what she had and pop it into an email. Knowing how time consuming and fun scanning is I imagined more than a month before I would see anything.

The very next day my inbox overfloweth! She provided such wonderful little tidbits. Most are extracts of extracts- not primary source material, but some looks like many times photo copied family bible page. My first one if so. (The other one that is close is children's names and birthdates entered in the leaves of a math book. We are a geeky lot.)

Another tidbit of interest she included was an invitation to a family reunion in 1988 (pictured). No guest list or author credit on that one but includes Fanny and George Washington Davis's picture. I would to know who holds the original but I'm quite pleased to have this copy. I mean- wow!