Bernard Bruns (1880-1968) "52 Ancestors"

If I am counting correctly, this would be week 39 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. I was out camping with our Boy Scouts this weekend, so I didn't have much time to think about writing - other than I need to make sure I get an article done before the week starts. As is my typical method of writing, I chose a random relative to focus on. This time I selected Bernard Bruns (1880-1968) as my focus. He is my 1st cousin 3 times removed. Bernard was the son of my 2nd great grand uncle and aunt, John Bernard Bruns (1842-1882) and Maria Anna Budde (1849-1909). John Bernard was commonly known as Bernard, so this may get a little confusing, especially since Bernard, the subject of this story had a son Bernard also.

Bernard was born on 14 January 1880 in McLean Township, Shelby County, Ohio. This information is based on various birth records that I have found. However, his obituary states that he was born 13 January 1880 in Minster, Auglaize County, Ohio. Since McLean Township is fairly rural, and parts of it are within the area serviced by the Minster post office, I can see how the location may be considered either one. I grew up in McLean Township, went to Fort Loramie schools but had a Minster address when I was a child.

Bernard was the sixth of seven children. His siblings were Joseph (1868-1956), Anna M (1870-1931), Henry (1873-??), Maria Anna (1875-1975), Josephina (1878-??) and John A (1882-1962). The family lived in a log house at 11425 Bruns Road on a 40-acre farm.

The 1880 census lists the family as Bernard (John Bernard) (age 37), his wife Mary (age 30), and their children Joseph (age 12), Anna (age 9), Henry (age 7), Mary (age 4), Josephina (age 2) and Bernard (age 5 months). Also living in the home were John Bernard's mother, Nancy Bruns (age 72) and Mary Horstman (age 23), a servant. Nancy Bruns was born in Oldenburg, Germany, is listed as a widow and is designated as being insane. I believe that Nancy is actually Maria Antonetta Schunck, John's mother.

John Bernard Bruns, Bernard's father, died on 15 November 1882 when Bernard was 2 years old. In 1882, just prior to his death, John Bernard Bruns purchased another 40 acres just to the north of the farm making the farm at least 80 acres is size. After John's death, his wife Maria Anna inherited the farm and lived there with the seven children aged 9 months to 14 years old. Maria Anna then married Fred Friemering who took over managing the farm. The house was expanded in 1891 to include seven rooms on a one and one-half story design, with a summer kitchen. In 1892 a 52'x80' barn was built on the property.

Anna Margaretha Hilgefort Bruns

On 27 June 1906, Bernard married Anna Margaretha Hilgefort (1879-1949). Anna was the daughter of Henry Hilgefort (1834-1916) and Maria Katherina Meyer (1838-1912). Her sister Mary Kathryn Hilgefort (1865-1950), married Mathias Brucken (1857-1935) whom I wrote about previously. Anna was born 4 February 1879 in Ft. Loramie, Ohio. Bernard and Anna's first child, Adella K. Bruns was born on 9 February 1907 in Ft. Loramie. Their second child, Raymond Frederick Bruns was born on 21 January 1909.

Bernard's mother, Maria Anna Budde Bruns (age 60), died on 9 October 1909 and the family farm was then inherited by her second husband, Fred Friemering. Bernard would have been 29 years old then.

During the 1910 census, the family is listed as Bernard (age 30), Anna (age 31) and their children, Adela (age 3) and Raymond (age 1 year 2 months). Bernard owns his farm near Yorkshire in Patterson Township, Darke County, Ohio, free of a mortgage.

In 1920, the family is living on Bruns Road near Yorkshire in Patterson Township, Darke County, Ohio. The family has grown by this time and now consists of Bernard (age 40), his wife Anna (age 40), and their children, Adella K (age 12), Raymond F (age 10), Harold J (age 9), Alma A (age 7), Norbert H (age 6) and Paul F (age 3 1/2 years). All of the children, except Paul are attending school. Bernard is working on his farm.

On 28 February 1926, the original farm that Bernard grew up on near Minster was destroyed by fire. It was still owned by Fred Friemering, his step father, but was rented out to Joseph Langenkamp and his family. Fred Friemering had moved to Minster since he could no longer manage the farm. The house and barn were totally destroyed by the fire. They were able to save the hog house, wood shed, chicken house, machine shed and the corn crib. The Langenkamp family lost all their belongings and soon thereafter moved into the renovated wood shed for shelter during the remainder of the winter. Eventually a house was transported by logs and steam engine from Chickasaw and a barn was brought in from Minster to replace the destroyed structures.

In 1930, Bernard (age 50) and Anna (age 51), along with their seven children, Adella (age 23), Raymond (age 21), Harold (age 19), Alma (age 17), Norbert (age 16), Paul (age 13) and Bernard Jr. (age 10) are living on the farm on Bruns Road in Patterson Township, Darke County, Ohio. Alma, Norbert, Paul and Bernard Jr are attending school. Adella is working as a clerk in a local dry goods store and Raymond and Harold are working as farm laborers on the family farm.

Bernard Bruns

Bernard is still living on the farm in 1940. He is 60 years old and works 60 hours per week on the farm. His wife Anna is 61 years old and the following children are also living at home: Raymond (age 31), Harold (age 29), Norbert (age 26), Paul (age 23) and Bernard Jr (age 20). Raymond's occupation is listed as farmer. Harold is employed as a mechanic in a machine shop. Norbert is a master electrician. Paul is employed as an assembler in a machine shop and Bernard Jr is working on the family farm. The highest paid individual was Paul, who worked 52 weeks and earned $1400 in 1939. Harold, who worked 49 weeks, earned $1200 in 1939 and was the second highest paid individual. Norbert who worked 27 weeks in 1939 only earned $370. While Bernard Jr worked 13 weeks in 1939 and earned $250.

Bernard's wife, Anna, died at the home on 26 March 1949 at the age of 70. She had been in reasonably good health at the time of her death. A few months earlier she had experienced heart troubles but the family believed that she had recovered from that. Her funeral was held at St. Nicholas Church in Osgood and her burial was in St. Martin's Cemetery on 30 March 1949.

On 7 November 1968, Bernard died of heart failure in his home. He was 88 years old and had been seriously ill for the prior two months. He was survived by all seven of his children as well as 18 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. His three brothers and two of his sisters preceded him in death. His funeral was held in St. Nicholas Church and he was buried in St. Martin's Cemetery on 11 November 1968.

William Hall (1810-1878) "52 Ancestors"

Week 38 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is upon us. I have been trying to prepare a couple presentations for an upcoming genealogy conference. Every year I pick a different set of topics for the conference. This year I decided that I would do two talks titled "Mining the Census Records to Write Your Family Story" and "Finding Your Family in the Second Hand Store". Now I just have to do the research and prepare the slides and handouts. Looks like I will be busy for the next couple weeks/months on that. I just have to make sure that I take a break each week to prepare my blog posts.

This week I decided to write about William Hall (1810-1878), my wife's 4th great grandfather. William was born in Aberdeen, Brown County, Ohio around 1810. Aberdeen is a small town located on the Ohio River across from Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky and along Zanes's Trace. Zane's Trace was the frontier road that went from Wheeling, West Virginia to Maysville, Kentucky. The road was constructed in the late 1790s, opening up the frontier of the Northwest Territory. William's father, William Hall, immigrated from Scotland and traveled along Zane's Trace and settled at the terminus in Aberdeen.

View of Maysville, Kentucky from Aberdeen, Ohio.

On 16 June 1835, William married Jane Ann Lee (1813-1856). Their first child, Alexander William Hall, my wife's 3rd great grandfather, was born less than a year later in Aberdeen, Ohio on 25 March 1836. William and Jane had at least 10 children that we have been able to find. The children are Alexander (1836-1911), Mary (~1838-??), William (1840-1922), Luther Leach (1842-1918), Francis "Frank" (~1843-??), George (~1845-??), Lucy (~1847-??), Anna (~1850-1918), Rachel (~1852-??), and Martha (~1856-??).

The 1850 census lists the family as William (age 38), Jane (age 37), Alexander (age 13), Mary (age 12), William (age 10), Luther (age 9), Francis (age 6), George (age 4), and Lucy (age 2). William is employed as a shoemaker. Jane died after the birth of Martha and soon afterward, William remarried to Rose Ellen Love Degman on 21 February 1857 across the river in Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky.

In the 1860 census, the family had moved about a mile to the west to Ripley, Ohio, where William was employed as a boat builder. My wife has many ancestors who were involved in shipping, so this is just one more, even though William was on the Ohio River and not the oceans. William (age 50) and his wife Rosella (age 41) had a merged family. Rosella had at least five children by a previous marriage. Her children are listed in the 1860 census as Julia (age 18), Laura (age 16), James H (age 14), John P (age 12) and Sylvester (age 9). Her children were all born in Maysville, Kentucky. In addition to Rosella's children, William still had Alexander (age 25), George (age 14), Lucy (age 12), Ann (age 9), Rachel (age 7) and Martha (age 3) living in the home. That makes 11 children all at home. Alexander's occupation is listed as engineer.

William and several of his sons (William, Alex, George, and Frank), as well as Rosella's son James Degman, were serving in the Union infantry. James was serving with Co. I, 16th Reg't Kentucky Infantry. While the Halls were serving in Co. H, 12th Reg't Ohio Infantry.

Bridge connecting Maysville and Aberdeen.

During the 1870 census William is listed as "on the river". So I am guessing that he worked on the boats traveling up and down the Ohio River carrying goods. Most of the children had moved out of the house by this census. The remaining family consisted of William (age 62), Rosellen (age 52), Rachel (age 17), Martha (age 13), and Thomas (age 10).

William died on 5 April 1878 near Aberdeen, Ohio at the age of 68.

Mathias Brucken (1857-1935) "52 Ancestors"

It is now week 37 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. I am hoping that I am back on schedule (except for the couple weeks that I missed because of technical difficulties related to our recent move.) In a previous post I mentioned that I was going to try to do a focus on the Brucken family so here is my attempt at that.

I began researching this family because of an e-mail that I received a few weeks ago. The person e-mailed me because of a story that I had written in this blog back in February 2013. We happened to have the same ancestor in common on the Rieger line (Joseph Rieger 1832-1916) and she was wondering if I had any information on the Brucken family. I hadn't done much research on them but I knew the name. There was a bar in my home town named Bruckens that I visited fairly often in my younger days. It was close to the place I worked and they had good lunches. So I figured maybe I would be able to find out which of the Brucken family started the bar. 

I had one Brucken tied to my tree. That one was Mathias Brucken (1857-1935) who married Cecilia Reiger, my 1st cousin 3 times removed, the daughter of Joseph Rieger and grand daughter of Justus Weise. So, I figured that would be as good a place as any to start my research. Mathias was born on 12 October 1857 in a log house on south Main street in Minster, Auglaize County, Ohio. His parents were immigrants from Germany. They were Conrad Hubert Brucken (1819-1879) and Maria Christina Romboy (1829-1878). Mathias was the fourth child of eight that I have found. The first three children were born in Germany before the family immigrated. Mathias was the first child in this family born in the United States.  Soon after his birth, the family moved from Minster to Ft. Loramie.

In 1870 the family consisted of Conrad (age 51), his wife Christina (age 42) and seven children; Peter (age 19), Mathias (age 17), John (age 13), August (age 10), Joseph (age 8), Mary (age 5), and Anthony (age 1). Conrad owned a farm with real estate valued at $2,500 and a personal value of $776 at the time. They were living in McLean Township, Shelby County, Ohio. Mathias is listed as working on the farm, while his younger siblings, John, August and Joseph are attending school. Sometime during the 1870s, Conrad started a saw mill in Ft. Loramie in which several of his sons worked.

After Conrad's death, his son Anton took over the saw mill for a short period before selling it to the Wise family in the early 1880s. I have already written about the Wise family and the saw mill in previous stories. The 1880 census lists Anton Brucken (age 27), his wife Regina Siegel another of my 1st cousins 4 times removed (age 27), their children Christina (age 2) and Catherina (age 8 months), his brothers Mathias (age 22) and August (age 18), his sister Mary (age 12) and three boarders, William Pretzman (age 22), Henry Menten (age 25) and Anton Luckman (age 30). Anton, Mathias, August and the three boarders are all listed as working in the saw mill at this time. Anton eventually moved to Evansville, Indiana where he was the proprietor of another saw mill in the early 1900s. Also during the 1880s, Mathias married Cecilia Rieger (1863-1887) and had two children, Joseph Mathias (1882-1953) and Louis (1885-1957). Cecilia died on 13 October 1887 and was buried in St. Michaels Cemetery in Ft. Loramie. On 23 April 1888, Mathias married Mary Kathryn Hilgefort (1865-1950). Mary was the daughter of Johann Heinrich Hilgefort (1834-1916) and Maria Kathrina Meyer (1838-1912). Mathias maintained his position in the saw mill and was the head sawyer for several years, even after it was sold to the Wise family.

In the 1890s, Mathias started a new business endeavor at 10 Elm Street in Ft. Loramie. As his obituary put it, he "prosecuted a private business that was popular with local people and with scores of citizens in neighboring localities." What was his popular business? Well, it was a saloon. After more than a century, this saloon still exists today and is commonly known as Bruckens. The 1900 census lists the family as Mat (age 42), his wife Mary (age 35) and their children; Harry (age 8), Francis (age 7), Lizzie (age 3), Joseph (age 16) and Louie (age 14). Mathias' occupation is listed as saloon keeper.

On 28 April 1906, Mathias bought the property at 37 North Main Street in Ft. Loramie from Barney Gerling. This parcel is located near the corner of Elm and Main just around the block from his home and saloon. He didn't hold on to the property for very long and sold it two years later to Clara Pauwell on 18 August 1908. This property is the current location for the Ft. Loramie Wilderness Trail Museum.

In 1910, the Brucken household consisted of Mathias (age 52), Mary (age 45) and their children; Henry M (age 19), Frances M (age 17), Elizabeth C (age 14), Albert A (age 8) and Urban H (age 2). Mary had had seven children but two had died. My research indicates that the two deceased children were John and Adeline Regina. The family was still living on Elm Street. Mathias' occupation is listed as saloon keeper. 

In 1920, Mathias (age 62), his wife Mary (age 55), and their children Frances (age 27), Elizabeth (age 24), Albert (age 18) and Urban (age 12) were still living at their home on Elm Street in Ft. Loramie. Mathias lists his occupation as pool room manager. You may be wondering why his occupation had changed from saloon keeper to pool room manager. Well, if you think back to your American History class, there was something happening during the 1920s and early 1930s. If you guessed Prohibition you would be correct. So, I am sure that Mathias was no longer selling alcohol and had a dry pool hall (yeah, right).

By 1930, Mathias had retired from active business and was living with his wife and daughter Elizabeth. Elizabeth was working as a sales lady in a nearby department store. 

On 4 February 1933, Urban Brucken, the son of Mathias, was killed in an automobile accident. He was 25 years old. The accident occurred shortly after midnight when his car had a head-on collision with another car on Highway 119, about a mile east of Minster, a short distance west of a newly constructed bridge over Hoffhaus ditch. Urban was headed to McCartyille with Elmer Holtvogt, on their way to a dance. Wilbur Poeppelman, who was driving the other car, was on his way home from the dance in McCartyville. Urban's car was thrown into the ditch and both occupants were thrown from the vehicle. Urban was thrown about 20 feet and landed face down in the ditch. He had suffered a punctured lung, internal injuries, and numerous lacerations and contusions. His passenger suffered a broken nose and lost several teeth in the accident. Occupants in the Poeppelman vehicle were Herman Poeppelman, Irene Brandewie, and Mildred Brandewie. All suffered minor injuries and were treated by doctors before being released to return home. Urban and his brother Henry, operated a cigar store and lunch room in Ft. Loramie. My guess is that this is the same location that Bruckens was located.

Mathias died two years later on 11 November 1935, at the age of 78. Throughout his life he was active in the civic concerns of the town and served as a member of the village council and on the board of education. He actively promoted the village to outside businesses and argued that because of the geographic location it ought to be a magnet for people in every section of Ohio. He was one of the early movers and shakers in the Ft. Loramie community and played an important part in the history of the town. He is buried in St. Michaels Cemetery.

August D Wise (1834-1902) "52 Ancestors"

Hi everyone, this is week 36 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. I have been pretty busy working on the Westerheide and Brucken lines since my computer was fixed last week. This bit of work is mostly due to two people who e-mailed me recently asking questions about my research. Both of them were told about my blog by their relatives and wrote to tell me they appreciated someone writing about their ancestors. So, as I began sending each of them information on their families I realized that they were both related (3rd cousins). Then as I began researching a little more into individuals I realized that there were more ties. So, over the next couple weeks I plan on writing stories about Wise, Westerheide and Brucken research. This week I will starte with my great-great grandfather August D Wise (1834-1902) and his connection to my 2nd cousin 4 times removed, Conrad Brucken (1819-1879). The reason that I chose these two will become apparent as you read the stories (or if you have read some of my previous stories). Enough of that, now let's get on with the history lesson.

August D Wise was the son of Justus Weise (1808-1884) and Margaretha Wilken (1798-1874). The first records I have for August are from the 1851-1853 Netherlands Population Register listing his birth date as 19 September 1834 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. There are two records, indicating his residence was 7 Haarlemmerdijk and 28 Bethanienstraat in Amsterdam. The residence at 28 Bethanienstraat was also the home of his parents. He is listed as a single man in these records. During his early years, August was employed as a baker.

August immigrated with his parents and siblings to the United States in 1854. There is a little confusion on the specifics of his immigration. One set of records show that he arrived in New York on 1 May 1854 aboard the ship Franklin in steerage class after departing from Hamburg, Germany. However, another set of records for him and his family state that they departed from Liverpool, England aboard the William Tapscott and arrived in New York one month earlier on 5 April 1854. Maybe one day I will find a definitive record for his immigration.

So far I haven't found the 1860 census for August Wise but I am still looking. I am assuming that he was living near Ft. Loramie, Shelby County, Ohio by that time since his father's naturalization papers in 1856 were in Shelby County. August married Theresia Terling (1839-1926) on 30 October 1860 in Shelby County. Theresia was born in Germany on 26 January 1839 and immigrated to the U.S. around 1859-1860. He registered for the Civil War draft on 29 June 1863. He listed his age as 27 years old. I have found a record for Pvt. August Wise in Co. F, 101 Ohio Infantry but I don't think this is him. We know that August was involved in farming during this time and sold his farm to B. Bourdell and John Puthoff before moving into town in 1870.

In 1870, August is living in Berlin (Ft. Loramie), Shelby County, Ohio and is listed as a day laborer with a personal value of $2150 and real estate worth $500. That equates to about $39,000 in personal value and $9,000 in real estate value today. We know that August was attending the Catholic church in town because he is listed in the St. Michael's parish census. There is also a stained glass window in the church that was donated by the Wise family.

August and Theresia waited about 14 years after their marriage before they had their first child. Records state that they had two children, August Jacob (1874-1946) and Mariam Louisa (1876-1926). The 1900 census has two children born and Theresia's obituary states that there were two children born. However, I have found a Shelby County birth record for Ann Wyse, born 9 March 1870 in McLean Township with August Wyse and Theresia Wyse listed as parents. I haven't found any other records for this child besides this one. Maybe Ann died early and no one spoke of her later in their life.

By 1880, August is listed as a teamster. Teamsters were the people who drove the horses carrying cargo. I am assuming that he worked for the Brucken family saw mill which was started by Conrad Brucken and purchased by the Wise family around 1881 or 1882. He had two lodgers in his home who were also teamsters. They were Robert and William Davis. His two children are listed as August (age 6) and Louwisa (age 4). His father Justus (age 70) is also living at the home. August operated the Wise sawmill, which was purchased from the Brucken family for many years. In the early part of the 1890s, around 1894, he moved the sawmill into town.

The saw mill was a dangerous place. There were large belt driven machines run on steam power. An example of how dangerous it was to work in the saw mill can be found in a description of an accident that occurred in the saw mill on 10 July 1888. A local newspaper, the New Bremen Sun reported the following on 13 July 1888.

While Henry Hilgefort was in the act of mending a fly wheel belt in a saw mill near Berlin, 6 miles south of here, he was caught in some way and hurled with tremendous force around the machinery, mangling him in such a way as to produce instant death. He was picked up in pieces, and could not be recognized.

In 1900, August (age 64) is listed as a saw miller and his son August J (age 26) is the head sawyer. Charles Bernholt is listed as a lodger in the home and is employed as a teamster. The family, August, Tracy and their son August J, are listed as living on Farmers Pike Road. August died on Sunday, 16 March 1902 at 4:00 pm and was buried in St. Michaels Cemetery on March 19.

Norbert John Vagedes (1918-1932) "52 Ancestors"

Well, it is now week 35 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge and I guess
that some of you are wondering what happened to me after my last post on week 20. It is a long story. Basically, my job was eliminated during sequestration last year. I applied to a new position as Supervisor of the Central Everglades Ecosystem Restoration Program in November and began working in that position at the end of February. The only problem was that it entailed a move to a new office 3 hours south of where I was living. I found a new house in May and we moved in June. Since it was a business move we were provided with movers to pack everything. This is where most of the problems started. They packed things in some sort of random order that only movers are able to understand. During the move they lost parts of many items but the one that impacted me most was the power converter for my computer. It took several more months before they settled our damage claims and I just received a replacement power converter a couple days ago. This is the first time I have been able to use my computer since mid-May. But now that I am up and running I will get back on schedule with my posts.

As is my usual research methodology, I chose a random person in my family tree to start researching tonight. This person turned out to be Norbert John Vagedes. Norbert is my 1st cousin 1 time removed. He was the son of my grand aunt Frances Theresa Garman (1889-1949) and her husband Henry John Vagedes (1884-1962). He was the 7th child of 14 in this family. His father, Henry, was born in Philothea, Mercer County, Ohio on 5 October 1884 to John George Vagedes and Mary Catherine Windker. His mother, Frances, was born in Maria Stein, Mercer County, Ohio on 15 January 1889 to Bernard Emmanuel Garman and Mary Angela Mescher.

Vagedes house today
Source: Google Maps

Norbert was born 5 October 1918 in Coldwater, Mercer County, Ohio. His father was a drill press operator in the local spreader factory at the time. The household was very busy. For example, the
1920 census lists eleven people, six adults and 5 children living in the house at 431 East Walnut Street in Coldwater. The house was built in 1910 and is currently 1,679 square feet with 3 bedrooms. So, who were all the people in the house? Well, Henry (age 35) and his wife Frances (age 30), their children Leonard (age 9), Clarence (age 8), Helen (age 5), Justina (age 3 years 7 months), and Norbert (age 1 year 2 months). Additionally, there was Aloys Garman (age 21), Marie Garman (age 24), Bertha Garman (age 23), Edward Garman (age 23) and Anthony Techleiter (age 24). The Garmans are siblings of Frances except for Marie who was a cousin who had immigrated from Germany in 1913. Aloys and Edward Garman, and Anthony Techleiter worked with Henry in the spreader factory. Marie and Bertha Garman worked in the local overall factory. Norbert's sister Helen had contracted infantile paralysis and as a result the use of one hand and foot were severely affected. Two of Norbert's sisters had died within days of their births, Mary died at 1 day old on 28 June 1911 and Clara died at 2 days old on 25 November 1913.

In the 1930s the family moved to Shelby County, somewhere between Newport and Houston where they took up farming. The family would make regular trips on their horse dawn wagon between Houston, Newport and Ft. Loramie. The route then, as it is today, was by State Route 66. If you drive this route today you will notice the turns and hills that make it somewhat dangerous to travel at high speed. On 7 May 1932 the sun had set around 8:00 pm and Henry was returning from Ft. Loramie at about 8:30 pm after buying Norbert new shoes and Justina a new dress. Norbert (age 13) and daughter Justine (age 16) were sitting up front in the buggy with their father and Norbert was handling the reins. Also travelling in the same direction on their way to Covington were Charles Abbott and Frederick Anthony. Fred was a southpaw pitcher for the Ft. Loramie baseball team. As the car driven by Charles Abbott approached the buggy he was blinded by the lights of an approaching vehicle and struck the buggy from behind. The buggy was dragged 50 feet down the road before it came to a stop. Charles escaped the accident with minor cuts. Fred sustained severe lacerations to his left arm and hand, ending his season as a pitcher. The car was partially demolished. Henry, Norbert and Justina were thrown from the buggy. The horse's neck was penetrated several inches deep with parts of the buggy but it was treated and survived the accident. Henry received cuts and bruises along with two fractured ribs while Justina had cuts and bruises and a part of the buggy penetrated her side. Both were taken to the office of Dr. F. J. Raterman in Ft. Loramie for treatment and Dr. H. J. Gudenkauf was also called to treat them. Later that evening, Justina was taken to the home of Albert Francis, near Newport, so she could rest. Her father was taken home after he was treated. It was about 6 months before Justina and her father recovered enough to do their regular duties around the farm. However, Norbert was not as lucky. He suffered a broken neck and fractured skull. He held on for several minutes while the local priest, Rev. Fr. Rufin Baranski administered the last sacraments and then past away. His body was transported to the home of Philip Sayder, in Newport, and then moved to the Heinl funeral home in preparation for the burial. The funeral was held at 9 am on Tuesday, 10 May 1932, in Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church and the burial followed in the church cemetery.


Norbert Vagedes headstone, Sts. Peter & Paul Cemetery
Source: Findagrave.com

An investigation into the cause of the accident was performed and it was determined that the combination of driving the buggy after dark without a taillight and the blinding light from the oncoming vehicle were the causes of the accident. The death was determined to be accidental.