An Update

A friend and old roommate sent me a message asking for the link to my research blog.  As we spent a year living together she knows how passionate I am about genealogy.  As well as in my spare time performing research for other outside my family to supplement my income.  I had never thought there would be much interest in my research outside of my family.  And even with them it is hit or miss.

After sending her the link I decided to check out my blog.  I was shocked to see that the last post was from December 2010!  I have ideas written down for blogs.  The pictures and documents to bring the story to life.  I just haven't allowed myself the time to do it.  Researching for others has put my own research on the sidelines.  And apparently my blogging efforts as well.  I hope to get back to writing about my family soon.  For those in my family and those who just may stumble across this blog.

Unusual Surprises

Sometimes you receive a copy of a requested record and are presented with a unusual bit of information.  This was the case when requesting interment records from Catholic Cemeteries of the Joliet Diocese. 

In the course of documenting the burial places of our family I request the lot and interment information from the appropriate cemetery office.   One of my first requests was of John and Ellen Chidsey who where interred in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Joliet, Illinois.  Buried with them are their daughter, three grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.  As well as what was identified as John Chidsey (Left Limb).  I was puzzled.  A left limb? Why was just a limb buried?  My grandmother would then explain to me it was once tradition to bury an amputated body part.  Usually in the grave the person would be buried in.  However, John and his wife, Ella would be buried in a different part of the cemetery.

Later we would discover that the amputation was due to frost bite.  His granddaughter, Joan would later remember the surgery and tell us about it.  After the operation the doctor came out of the operating room and asked Ella which mortuary to call.  Not thinking he was referring to the limb he had just amputated she thought her husband had died during the surgery.  I'm sure she was assured that the operation would go well.  However, we sometimes tend to expect the worst.  Imagine her relief when she found out he had just meant for the limb. 

Helen Jane Weil

It was not until last month I saw Jane for the first time. A chubby baby sitting in her high chair. The bottom of the photo has her name and 1926 written on it. Possibly the last picture taken of her during her short life. A picture tucked away for many years waiting for a story to be told.

Not all children have the fortune of growing into adulthood. Some times their lives are cut short by tragic circumstances. That was the case of Helen Jane Weil. I have heard the story many times.

It was 1926: Jane, as she was called by her family had lost her mother in February of that year to the flu. Jane and her older sister, Mary where being cared for now by their father and grandmother.

Jane was put down for a nap by her grandmother, May Chidsey-Weil. May would go to check on the baby later only to find her not breathing. Mary would later in life remember hearing her grandmother upstairs letting out blood curdling screams upon the discovery. The string that had secured Jane's pacifier around her neck had become caught on the crib causing her to strangle.

Life cut tragically short by circumstances unforeseen. Jane died just short of a month following her first birthday. She was laid to rest next to her mother at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

Jane would have been 85 years old this past week.

In Memory of:
Helen Jane Weil
Born: July 08, 1925 Joliet, Illinois
Died: August 05, 1926 Joliet, Illinois

Items from the Past

I recently acquired the first set of kitchen chairs that belonged to my great-grandmother, Mary Maslan-Weil.  I plan on stripping the paint from them, staining them, and recovering the seats.  Here is what they look like now.

Billie Ann Burrill

I recently heard of the death of my great-grandfather's cousin.  She was the last of a generation.  Billie Ann Burril was born March 11, 1921 the third of four children born to Loretta A. Chidsey and Richard J. Burrill, Sr. in Joliet, Illinois.

(The home built by Billie's father in 1923) 

Billie led a remarkable life far from Joliet.  She enlisted in WWII as a W.A.C. (Women's Army Corps).  She served for four and a half years.  She rose from the rank of private to captain.  During her service she spent time in the Pacific Theater.  While serving in Papua New Guinea her unit was responsible for censoring all the personal mail of military personnel in the SW Pacific Area.  After her service she awarded four awards and citations following her military service.

Upon returning to the states she enrolled in college.  She received an undergraduate degree from Boston University and a Masters Degree from Smith College.  She was briefly on staff  at University of Connecticut and Connecticut College.  In 1954 she joined the faculty of Rhode Island College where she rose to the position of Director of the Health and Physical Education Department.  While on staff she organized seventeen courses.  As well as coaching the schools fencing teaming to national level.  She retired from Rhode Island College in 1980 after twenty-six years on their staff.  Although Billie retired she still remained active in the college.

At the age of 62 Billie started suffering from debilitating arthritis in her back.  At the suggestion of her physician she began to swim to ease the pain.  While swimming she became one of the worlds leading Master Swimmers.  She won over 300 medals and set three world records in her age group.  It was the ribbon's from these medals that she would tie up her vegetables in her 1/4 acre organic "victory" garden.  Billie even placed first in swimming competitions only weeks after receiving a total hip replacement.  In addition to these medals she was inducted to North Providence Sports Hall of Fame in 1988 and to the 1990 RI Aquatic Hall of Fame, 2000 inductee into the International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame.  In 1996 she celebrated her 75th birthday by going sky diving for the first time. 

Billie passed away in Providence, Rhode Island on March 03, 2010 after a brave battle with colon cancer.  When my grandmother last spoke to her she had stopped taking the chemotherapy treatments.  She said those where making her sicker than the cancer itself.  She will long be remembered for her active role at Rhode Island College

Until Death Do Us Part

When couples marry they vow to be together until death do they part.  But what about after death?  One naturally assumes that when one of a couple dies the second one will ultimately be buried next to them.  Is that always the case though?  In the case of my Great-Great-Grandparents, William and May Weil it was not.  They where laid to rest in cemeteries ten minutes away from each other on Joliet's East Side.  The reason for this being rules governing the church that May practiced in.                                                

May Chidsey-Weil was a lifetime member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church.  This church is located near the corners of Ottawa and McDonough Streets.  It was near the home she grew up in directly behind Eliza Kelly Grade School.  When May married William Weil in 1897 it was at Sacred Heart Church.  Or so we thought.  The parish register gave no indication that the ceremony was performed outside of the church.  When my grandmother went through the marriage register there is stated that May Chidsey married William Weil, acatholic.  Upon further research I discovered that meant he was not a member of the Catholic Church.  William was raised in the Presbyterian Church.  William grew up on Benton Street and his family attended Second Presbyterian Church on Jackson Street.  It was not until we received an original copy of their marriage invitation we discovered that they where married in the parsonage of the parish.  The reason for this probably being that William did not convert to Catholicism  but continued to practice in his church.

May and William went on to have three children and baptize them in the Catholic Church.  Only one of them survived to adulthood.  Their two youngest children both died before the age of five and where buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery next to May's parents.  When William died in 1931 he was buried at Elmhurst Cemetery in the plot of his parents.  According to church law William would not be allowed to be buried in blessed ground since he was not baptized in the Catholic Church.  The only way he would have been able to be buried there was if his grave was first lined in brick or stone.  This would have prevented his casket from touching the blessed earth.  When May died in 1958 she was buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery next to her children. 

Same Name No Relation

When my grandmother and I started delving into our family past we thought it was only natural to visit one of her father’s last surviving cousins. We took a tape recorder and went to visit him at his home on Summit Street. William "Bill" Sheridan was 91 years old at the time and still sharp as a tack. We spent that hot August afternoon in his living room talking about our families past and recording his recollections. I can still hear the hum of the window air conditioner in the background when I think back.

Bill and my great-grandfather, Harold Weil grew up on Jerome Avenue in Joliet. Jerome Avenue is one block south of the intersection of Cass Street and Henderson Avenue. It is a short block that runs between Henderson Avenue and Hickory Creek. Then turns into Garnsey Avenue at Hickory Creek. Bill lived in the house next to the creek with his family. Harold lived at the direct opposite end on the corner of Jerome and Henderson Avenues.

May Chidsey-Weil standing in back third from the right.  Carrie Chidsey-Sheridan standing on the far right. 
  


During the course of conversation that afternoon Bill talked about growing up on Jerome Avenue. Memories of the coin operated electric meter in the basement. When the lights would start to fade his mother giving him coins to put in the meter. Walking along the E.J.&E. Railroad tracks picking up extra bits of coal to bring home. And having to pray
 for Uncle Jerome before he would go to bed at night. I knew Jerome was Bill and Grampa Weil's uncle. But what did he do that he needed to be prayed for every night? He died twenty years before Bill had been born. Family notes indicated that Jerome had been married to Martha Boyer---no issue. I thought it was a skeleton in the closet that would never come to light....

That afternoon conversation eventually led to a neighbor by the name of William Chidsey who lived in the middle of the block. To my surprise Bill said was of no relation to us! I asked myself how could this be?! We later spoke to my great-aunt, Mary Weil-Graening who lived on Jerome Avenue as a child as well. We asked her about the neighbors. She promptly responded we were not related! Or so her grandmother had told her on so many occasions.

I let the possible connection go for a couple years. I thought to myself that maybe it was another branch of the family that immigrated from out east as well.  I graduated high school and went away to school in Bloomington-Normal. When time permitted I would do some research. Gathering small parts of information here and there. It was while living there I came across a birth certificate for William Seamore Chidsey. Son of Jerome Chidsey and Martha Howeth. I sat there and stared at the computer screen in complete awe. Jerome did have a child after all!


Then the thought process began again. As did the questions. Why was Martha's maiden name listed as Howeth on her marriage license and son's birth certificate? Why did another cousin have her maiden name listed as Boyer? Why was William not recognized by either of his aunt's that lived on the same block as him? I started comparing the few documents I had on these supposed "non-relatives". It was then I had my ah ha moment. William had been born two months before his parents where married. I imagine that a child born outside of a marriage in 1886 was more of a scandal than it is today.

Jerome died at the Chidsey family home on S. Joliet Street in 1888. His death certificate lists his cause of death as Liver Cancer. He was buried next to his mother in St. Patrick's Cemetery. The next record I find of William is in the 1900 United States Census. He is living with his grandfather, Benjamin Boyer in Joliet. So I can gather by that and Martha's death certificate listing her father as Benjamin Boyer that Boyer was her maiden name. Howeth may have just been a alias to cover having a son out of wedlock. Martha went on to marry two more times and spend the rest of her life in Chicago.

Was a child born out of wedlock the reason for not recognizing a brothers only child? Perhaps we will never know. At this point it is only speculation. William's last living child now refuses to talk to us. Can I say I blame her? Not at all. If the shoe was on the other foot I would probably refuse to talk to us as well. In one of the two conversations she did have with us she said only one of her father's relatives recognized them. That was William H. Chidsey and his wife, Madeline. There are other hard feeling due to an accidental death involving a child and an automobile.  That is a story for another time though.