Tuesday, July 1, 2025
An anniverary for lost Civil War veteran Adam Goelz ...
Sunday, June 22, 2025
Researching German-Americans in Milwaukee? You'll have to create the resources yourself ...
15 years ago I made a rare find in the German papers for a relative: an authentic, but unlikely obituary for a poor, old, insignificant German immigrant named Agnes Schumacher (née Hamacher). She died in the County Asylum in 1884, and is officially recorded as buried there.
Agnes' step-son, Peter Schumacher, claimed her remains, and took steps to have an obituary published by the Seebote. She was buried from St. Anthony Catholic Church, at Holy Trinity Cemetery, recorded in the parish register, but where? Burial records were destroyed in a fire in 1909.
Last winter, I flipped over a toppled marker in Section 1 at Holy Trinity Cemetery & experienced a thrill: here was my step-3rd-great-grandmother Agnes! She was not buried with family in her daughter's Esser family plot in Block 3 as I had presumed, but buried in the St. Anthony parish section of single adult graves: it's called "Section 1", just east of the entirely separate Block 1.
Sadly, this is how we have to research Milwaukee's "working class" families. Need a resource? You might have to create it yourself. I wouldn't have known anything about Agnes without randomly browsing the German papers, then creating a huge index to help others.
I've done that twice for Milwaukee: first with the German-American papers. After collecting secondary resources for 20 years, I've used the data as an imperfect substitute for burial records lost by this cemetery. Most are now found as online Memorials at Find-a-Grave, where I've been blocked from creating or editing my work.
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
A family's Memorial for Anna Heinl

Two Milwaukee death notices for Anna Heinl: one from a German language paper and the other from one an English language daily. It's reminiscent of Catholic funeral card Memorials.
There was no separate obituary in either paper.
The information is similar, but not identical. One is clearly a family memorial to a loved one, published by the family. The other is a helpful, but perfunctory piece of information about funeral arrangements, and adequate for the data collectors.
Monday, May 26, 2025
Family memorials to WWI soldier Private Eugene Griepentrog, 1918-1930
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Niemand zum Leid, Gerechtigkeit für Alle. (© The Inter-Racial Council)
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Milwaukee's English or German language clippings? it's your choice.
The German language death notice is not only more comprehensive, but progressive too. It sets the scene for us: during her long illness she was provided with the Last Rights. It includes Mrs. Zach's maiden name (Golner); provides her daughters' given names separately from their husbands' names; names her daughter-in-law; and even references Mrs. Zach's siblings. It's a research and German-American cultural gem!
This is the family's paid death notice for Mrs. Zach; there was no separate obituary article written by the newspaper.
This difference between competing papers isn't always the case but it needs be understood by the family researcher looking through Milwaukee's German, English, or Polish language newspapers.
Monday, October 14, 2024
Mysterious bones found in 2024 explained by the "Milwaukee Herold" in April 1887 ...
The site was used for more than twenty years as a burial ground, and funerals were held there in 1863. Twenty-five years ago, it was covered with gravestones and monuments.
Although a sanctified place, it was always neglected, as most of the bodies entrusted to the earth were those of "paupers"* and dying homeless, upon whom the tears of a loving mother had earlier fallen." [*The cemetery served the 2 orphanages across the street.]