Tombstone Tuesday: Application for Headstone or Marker

Next to a day in a library or court house, I love nothing more than spending a day wandering around a cemetery. After Wisconsin's long, dark winter days, I look forward to the annual Memorial Day cemetery visits to our family members graves.

Having Lunch With The Family

My childhood summers were filled with activities: summer camp, extended visits with my cousins and long, lazy weeks spent with my grandparents. While I had to share my paternal grandparents with several cousins, my most memorable visits where the ones my sister and I got to spent "alone" with our grandparents. I loved reading books on the front porch and wandering around the upstairs (being careful to avoid the broken spindle in the railing) but especially looking at the photographs on my grandmother's dressing table. In the past I've written about the sadness surrounding my grandma and grandpa Bergeron with the death of their oldest son, my uncle Earle Bergeron. Sometimes - not often - I accompanied my Grandpa Charlie on his weekly trip to the cemetery in Aniwa, where Earle is buried - those visits were always quiet (the grandchildren were all frightened of Grandpa Charlie except for my sister Lisa.). Had I known that as an adult I would become obsessed with his family history, I would have filled those trips with nonstop questions.

Visits to my maternal grandparents also included visits to cemeteries but those trips were much different. I recall Gram taking me "down the road" to visit the grave of Grandpa Harley's mother, Nancy Stone Space. At that time the grave was unmarked only with a rose bush but even at that, the reverence of it being a member of my family drew me like a magnet. While I walked (ran!) among the headstones, Gram would tell me stories of the people who were buried there.

But my favorite place to go with my Grandma Almas was to visit "the little girl."

When Gram had time and a trip to visit little Virginia was promised, I would go off to pick a bouquet of flowers - a bunch of fragrant purple lilacs, peonies from Gram's row of pink, white and red peony bushes or Tiger Lilies that grew around the old water pump - and we'd drive up to Forest View cemetery to visit the grave of Virginia. But that is another story.

Just like the sadness that surrounded my Grandmother Bergeron's room over the loss of Earle, that same sadness encloses me whenever I visit the Aniwa cemetery. I'm reminded of how young Earle was when he left home and the almost unconsolable loss that his death created in the family. I had never given any thought to the fact that there once was a time when Earle's grave was unmarked until a hint on Ancestry.com in the U.S. Headstone Application for Military Veterans 1925-1963 collection led me to the application my grandparents made to the government for a headstone.

The date of the application, June 28, 1948, is over five years from the date of Earle's death and according to records, three years from the time Earle's body had been returned to Wisconsin for burial.

I am struck by the beauty of my grandmother's penmanship and picture her holding the pen in her hand - the long fingers with her buffed fingernails - and wonder at the emotional cost  of signing her name for the headstone application. 

Tombstone Tuesday: Frances Facer and Cyrus Little

Today's edition of Tombstone Tuesday chronicles my paternal great-grandparents, Cyrus Austin Little and Frances Dazie Facer. They are buried in the Aniwa Cemetery located off of Hwy 45 in the township of Aniwa, Shawano county, Wisconsin.

Cyrus Austin Little was the son of Andrew Little and Mary Ann Gallagher; my Irish ancestors who remain my favorite brick wall. Cyrus was born 22 Feb 1856 in Pickering, Ontario, Canada. The youngest of Andrew and Mary Ann's eleven known children who immigrated to the United States prior to the 1880 census where the family is found living in Port Huron, St Clair, Michigan. It is here Cyrus married Francis Dazie Facer on 15 June 1892.

Francis was born 8 Feb 1875 to William D. Facer and Elisabeth Hornby in Port Huron. Francis Dazie was the third of William and Elisabeth's seven children; all of whom, with the exception of Frances's brother Burton Wellington Facer, died during the numerous epidemics during the 1870s and early 1880s.

Around 1892, Cyrus and Frances Dazie have immigrated to Aniwa, Wisconsin. Accompanying the couple are Frances's brother Burton, Frances and Burton's father (a widow for the third time) William D. Facer, Cyrus's sister Elizabeth and her husband George Goldrick and bachelor siblings Robert Little and Mary Little (affectionately referred to as Crazy Aunt Mary). Land and tax records lead me to conclude that George Goldrick was responsible for the Facer and Little family exodus from Michigan as he began purchasing land for logging purposes and is found paying taxes to show he and Elizabeth were residents of the area.

Cyrus and Frances Dazie would not begin their family until the birth of their first known child, William D. Little in 1893; my grandmother, Mildred Eileen, in 1899 and her sister Florence Elizabeth in 1907.

Cyrus died at the age of 77 in 1933; Frances was 73-years old at the time of her death in 1948. Their graves are adjacent to the Goldrick and Bergeron family plots.

Copyright (c) 2010 Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski

Tombstone Tuesday: William D. Facer

Today's edition of Tombstone Tuesday features my paternal great-great-grandfather, William D. Facer. Born in Port Huron, St Clair, MI, between 1827-1833, depending on what census record or document you access, William was the fourth known child of Lewis Facer Sr. and Susan B. Baker's nine children.

Naming patterns in the Facer family have helped identify and link family members, which is helpful given the fact the surname of Facer has many variants, which I have referenced in past posts. Adding to the frustration is having to wade through the family legends surrounding my grandmother's maternal family line and prove these claims. Like most oral stories, these have been embellished along the way and in the face of documentation that discredits the stories, makes this genealogist a real kill-joy in the family circle.

Family legend claims William Facer's name was originally pronounced Frazarie. While given a french sounding twist to the name, I've located William's father, Lewis, with other variants but not Frazarie (no matter how impressive it may sound.) Consistent documentation shows Lewis's birth occurred in Ohio but probably during the time when Ohio was a part of Virginia. Another family legend states William was studying to become a priest but was never ordained. "When he discovered how badly the children were treated in the orphanages, he left the priesthood just short of his ordination."

I cannot document this claim - what is recorded is William was married three times, outliving all three of his wives, including my great-great-grandmother Elisabeth Hornby (1854-1894). William fathered 10 children with two of his three wives, but only three of these children survived infancy. The rest were victims of several influenza and diphtheria epidemics. What is of interest is a reference in a letter, author unknown, but in the possession of William and Elisabeth's daughter, Frances Facer Little, which were accidentally destroyed. The letter was written to either a family friend or another member of the family and referencing what sounds like some type of abuse. My speculation is that whatever occurred within the Facer family morphed into the family legend of William's discovery of children being treated badly in an orphanage.

William, a carpenter and painter by trade, immigrated from Port Huron with his daughter Frances, her husband Cyrus Austin Little, Frances's brother Burton Wellington and several of Cyrus's siblings including Elizabeth Little and her husband George Goldrick.

One of the Facer family legends that I have been able to document is that William was deaf. Whether this was a lifelong condition or one that occurred later on in his life is unknown; due to the fact there is no reference to his being deaf (cannot hear) on the 1880 census leads me to believe he lost his hearing after 1880.

William's death certificate, filed in the Oneida County Court House (Wisconsin), states W[illiam] D. Facer died on 10 July 1907 as a result of "an accident (railway) drowning." There was nothing in the obituary index for that day or any other time in 1907; a page by page search of the newspaper resulted in yet one more variation of the Facer surname:

Aniwa Man Killed At Rhinelander

Rhinelander, Wis., July 10 - Andrew Fisher, age 50, a carpenter and painter, was struck by Soo passenger train, No. 85, west bound this morning and knocked off a bridge into the Wisconsin river. The body was taken out a short distance below the bridge. His neck had been broken. His home was in Aniwa, Shawano County.

Buried with Willam Facer in the Aniwa Cemetery, Aniwa, Shawano County, WI, is A. C. Little and W. B. Little, the infant son of Cyrus and Frances Facer Little.

Copyright (c) 2010 Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski

Tombstone Tuesday: Goldrick - Little

To continue the celebration of my Irish/English heritage, this edition of Tombstone Tuesday features my Great Grand Aunt and Uncle, George H. and Elizabeth Little Goldrick. The couple are buried in the Aniwa Cemetery, Aniwa Township, Shawano Co, Wisconsin.






Elizabeth Little was born 20 Aug 1856 in Pickering, Ontario, Canada, the youngest daughter of Andrew and Mary Ann Gallagher Little. Elizabeth married George H. Goldrick on 29 March 1879 in Port Huron, St Clair Co, Michigan. Elizabeth died at her home in Aniwa on 6 March 1927.




George H. Goldrick was born 9 Jun 1851 in Michigan to Edward and Sarah Brunnell Goldrick. Edward's place of birth is listed as Ireland, Sarah's place of birth is listed as England. George died in Aniwa on 13 June 1918.

Prior to 1900, George Goldrick purchased land that had been cleared of timber in Shawano county, Wisconsin. The couple left Michigan and settled in the village of Aniwa along with several of Elizabeth's siblings including her brother and sister-in-law, Cyrus Austin and Frances Dazie Facer Little; Frances' brother Burton Wellington Facer and father W.D. Facer were also included in this migration. Cyrus and Frances Dazie are my paternal great grandparents.

The couple quickly became very successful thanks to shrewd land transactions that afforded the childless couple to spend their money on nieces and nephews, travel as well as building a large home.

Copyright © 2009 by Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski

Carnival of Irish Heritage Irish Portraits: Little/Lytle

Burton Wellington Facer and Mary Ann Little

Of the many "ism's" handed down through my Dad's family was a favorite of his Great Uncle Robert Edward Little uttered in response to a reference to the families Irish roots: Just because you are born in barn doesn't mean you're a horse.


Well! In addition to giving one the impression that Uncle Robert was opinionated it is a reminder to family historians that sometimes there are nuggets of truth hidden in family lore and legend.


My Irish roots are found within my father's family line, descending from his mother's father's line.


Information taken from their death certificates shows the progenitor of my Little family line was Andrew Little born about 1800 in Ireland and his wife Mary Ann Gallagher, born about 1812, also in Ireland. Listed as the parents of Andrew Little are Andrew and Alice. Mary Ann Gallagher Little's parents are not listed.


According to a Civil War Pension Application filed by Mary Ann on the service of son John Little, Andrew and Mary Ann were married 4 Mar 1832 in New York City, shortly after they immigrated. The couple soon after settled in Pickering, Ontario, Canada. Like many Irish immigrants in this community, they traveled to New York on a regular basis, where many of their eleven children were born. The family then removed to Port Huron, St Clair County, MI. It was here that Andrew and Mary Ann died and are buried.


Andrew and Mary Ann's youngest son and my Great Grandfather, Cyrus Austin Little, married Frances Dazie Facer in 1892 in Port Huron. Frances Dazie's mother, Elisabeth Hornby, was born in Ontario, Canada; the eldest daughter of English and possible Irish immigrants, William Hornby and Frances Howard. Frances Dazie's father, W[illiam]. D. Facer, was born in 1827 in Port Huron, MI. His parents were pioneer settlers who immigrated from Zanesville, Ohio.


W.D. married three times; all of his wives fell victim to plagues and epidemics as well as 7 of his 10 children. Cyrus's sister Elizabeth Little married George Goldrick in Port Huron; when the couple decided to relocate to the village of Aniwa, Shawano county in northeastern Wisconsin, they were accompanied by Cyrus and Frances, Frances's brother Burton Wellington Facer, their father W.D. (now a widower), and three of Cyrus's siblings: Robert Edward (1841-1927), Arthur (1851-1939) and Mary Ann (aka Crazy Aunt Mary...) 1852-1926. It is possible the Archibald Little found living in the Wisconsin Veterans Home in Waupaca County, WI, is also a sibling.


It has been interesting, not to mention, challenging, untangling family legend and lore from facts. In particular Elizabeth Little Goldrick remains a personal favorite and while she and George never had children they were close to my grandmother and her sister, Florence Elizabeth, where the girls were often overnight guests. Elizabeth deserves more than just a few lines and so I will save her story for a future post.


Expanding my research to include local histories and migration patterns has led me to the theory that my Irish roots may have originated from Scotland. Could this be a clue? Just because you are born in Ireland does not necessarily make you "Irish"?

The Family of Cyrus Austin Little and Frances Dazie Facer

Cyrus Austin Little (1865-1933) and Frances Dazie Facer (1875-1948)

Mildred Eileen Little (1899-1968) Florence Elizabeth Little (1907-1998)