Sennott Family Christmas Memories

Harry and Clara Sennott and their family lived in the Ziebold family home at 306 South Moore Street in Waterloo, Illinois. Minnie Hoffmeister Ziebold lived with the family.

Clara knew her way around the kitchen and at Christmas she baked dozens and dozens of cookies. We all remember her sugar cookies, hershey kisses, angel whispers, hello dolly's, ranger cookies, chocolate chips, butterscotch treats and many more tempting delicacies.

Christmas traditions included dinner on Christmas Eve that included oyster stew and pickled herring. Since Honey's birthday was on December 25th, the family celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. There were often visiting students who went to medical school at St. Louis University with Jack or to University of Missouri where Honey studied Journalism.

After dinner and presents were exchanged, Clara's brothers, George and Max, and their families came to visit. The next morning began with mass at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church for Clara and the children.
Clara's sisters Eveline and Loretta, and their families visited from St. Louis.

Clara made sure that Honey's birthday was special and didn't get lost in the Christmas celebration.

The afternoon held a visit to the Sennott family home at the corner of 4th and Library in Waterloo where Harry's mother, Elenora Brey Sennott, and his sisters, Ethel and Adele lived.

There was one very special Christmas Eve when Harry was in the service. Here is the story in Harry's own words:
Christmas 1943
      It’s 1943, Christmas Eve morning, and there’s GI Harry standing with arched thumb out on old Highway 66, a five-day pass in his pocket from Camp Crowder in Neosho, MO.
     An hour later a woman with a 10-year old son snoozing in the car stops, looks him over and asks where he’s headed. Hoping to get to St. Louis, he says, “and then another 25 miles down the Illinois side of the Mississippi to Waterloo.” She tells him to hop in, and as he does, she pulls a gun on him.
     Well, in truth, she merely shows him the revolver, but warns, “No funny business, soldier boy.” Harry smilingly informs her that he most positively plans to behave himself.
     Somewhere in the boondocks before reaching St. Louis they stop and she buys lunch for Harry. The woman then lets him out on the far west end of the city. After falling all over himself with thanks, he starts hiking to an old pal’s house.
     Christmas Eve is marching toward mid-afternoon by now. Although the old friend and his brother are off serving with the Seabees, their mother welcomes Harry, feeds him hot soup and lends him $5 so he can go downtown and buy a bus ticket home.
     Exhausted, he settles into a seat on the 5 pm to Waterloo. But as his eyes close, the man next to him shakes his arm, “Hey soldier, don’t you even remember what your brother looks like?”
     It’s Jack, who was in his internship at a hospital in St. Louis. Harry is speechless. Both are overjoyed, and they hatch plans to surprise the family, since no one knows Harry is coming.
     Home, they manage to slip in undetected. Jack hides Harry behind the big Christmas Tree in the living room.
     Harry is no longer exhausted, but the suspense is killing him. After greeting  Jack, the family moseys in,  Clara and Harry, Grandma Ziebold, Mina, Honey and Jane, who immediately begin searching for presents under the tree.
     Jack asks Clara, “Mama, what would you like most for Christmas?” “Oh, if only Harry could be here!” she answered.
     So he tells her to close her eyes till he counts to three, “One…two…three!” And out steps Harry from behind the most beautiful Christmas tree the family ever laid eyes on.
     Oh, the tears did flow that holy night.

Merry Christmas!

Delia Brey's Tragic Ending

Tombstone of Delia Brey

Maria Delia Brey is buried at Bellefountaine Cemetery in St. Louis. Delia's older brother, Paul, selected a column broken off at the top with ivy wrapped around it which symbolizes a life cut short.

Delia died tragically in the prime of her life at the young age of 34. I found the tombstone on a visit to Bellefountaine looking for another Brey ancestor. She is buried there in a single grave. It intrigued me so I set out to discover more about her. She was a successful young woman with a career as a teacher who indeed came to a tragic end.

On 8 May 1877, Delia died of an overdose of chloroform. The circumstances were debated in the newspapers and the Coroner's Inquest that was held on 9 May 1877. The Coroner's report found that "the deceased was found dead on 8th day of May 1877 in the 3rd story of the above mentioned place [2702 Olive St.] in her bed at or about 6 o'clock pm. It was elicited that the deceased came to her death between the hours of 3 and 6 o'clock pm from the effects of an overdose of chloroform, which the deceased had been using to allay the pains of a facial neuralgia from which she was suffering at the time."

Facial neuralgia causes extreme pain and spasms of the muscles of the face and is caused by disorders of the cranial nerves. In the 1870's chloroform, a colorless, sweet smelling liquid, was used to relieve the pain. It was very volatile, the same dose taken one day could be fatal the next. This is why it is no longer used as an anesthetic.

A series of articles published in the St. Louis Globe Democrat provide details of the story of Delia's death and give us some insight to how she lived. On the previous Thursday, Delia attended the oratorio of Elijah at the Merchants' Exchange and caught cold. The next day what began as a headache morphed into neuralgia. She stayed home from teaching at the Central High School on Tuesday because she was still not feeling well. Delia occupied rooms with a fellow teacher, Mrs Mary B. Cushman, on the third floor of Nelson's boarding house at 2702 Olive.

About 10:00am Harry Nelson, the son of Delia's landlord, purchased a four ounce vial of camphor for .15 cents at J.C. Kirkbride's drug store at the southwest corner of Jefferson Avenue near Olive Street for Delia. He took it home and his father, William Nelson, saw him show it to his three year old nephew. William smelled it and it was definitely camphor.  At noon, Mrs. Cushman returned home so see how Delia was. She said she felt better and they chatted and laughed pleasantly. Mrs. Cushman left to return to school at 12:30 pm. The maid changed the bed linens about 2:00 pm and Delia returned to bed.

At 3:00 pm  one of Delia's students stopped by but when the maid went to her room to delivery the note the student left, the door was locked and there was no answer so she assumed that Delia was sleeping. Delia had not stirred by 6:00 pm when the bell rang for tea. When Mrs. Cushman could not rouse her, a passkey was used and they found Delia laying on her left side in bed with a little bag of hops and a towel on her face. There was an uncorked bottle under her pillow labeled camphor, however the bottle contained chloroform. They called for help and Dr. Briggs came to the house and determined that Delia had been dead for several hours.

Mrs. Cushman was sure that they did not have any chloroform in their rooms because she needed some to remove a greasy spot from a dress a few days before and they didn't have any. She believed that the druggist had mistakenly filled the bottle with chloroform instead of camphor since no other bottle was found in the room. The coroner's inquest cleared the druggist, they did not believe that he had filled the bottle with the incorrect liquid. Unfortunately the only paper that survives is the finding of the inquest so we don't know what testimony was given.

The newspaper article mentions that the friends interviewed did not believe that she had committed suicide. She was "pleasantly and comfortably situated with numerous kind and loving friends. In addition to this she had laid her plans for a visit to California during the coming summer, and began, last Saturday, to make her arrangements with this object in view."

Delia's funeral was held at First Presbyterian Church. She had been a member of the Second Baptist Church but her friends thought First Presbyterian was larger and more centrally located so that is where the funeral was held. The pall bearers were from the faculty of Central High School. The church was filled with her students, relative and friends. "Floral decorations and designs had been liberally supplied by the High School and by individual friends."  The services were conducted by Rev. J. V. Schofield of the Fourth Baptist Church. "The music, as always at this Church, was suitable and beautiful. The choir for this occasion consisted of Messrs. Cooper and Steins, the regular tenor and bass of the Church choir, and Misses Branson and Clegg, formerly composing with the gentlemen named, the choir of the Church."

"The services opened with the sentence, "Cast they burden on the Lord," sung with marvelous delicacy and pathos. The place was filled with sweet melody floating out from voices as pure and musical as are ever heard in combination. The other selections were the familiar and tender hymn, "Come, ye disconsolate," and an exquisite chant, set to a fragment from Beethoven, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. At the conclusion of the service, opportunity was given to see the face of the deceased, reposing in dreamless sleep. In slow procession the large audience passed the casket containing the mortal part of the teacher and friend universally beloved and widely honored in this city, which has been so largely benefited by her useful life and the remains were borne to their burial place."

A few days later, on 13 May 1877 a tribute to Delia written and signed by nine of her co-workers appeared in the St. Louis Globe Democrat.

They wanted to let everyone know that the idea of suicide was completely out of character as was taking chloroform.  The tribute talks about a woman with firm convictions. They go on to say that she did not use narcotics in any shape. She was especially afraid of chloroform. Not only was it dangerous but "to her, unworthy weakness of seeking refuge from pain in insensibility. Her contempt was of the same nature as that she felt for the inebriate drowning his woes in the brandy-bottle."

Delia's sense of smell was "defective" and since she was not familiar with the smell of chloroform, she might not have known what was in the bottle. Her ideas on suicide were firm, it was a sin and a "cowardly weakness that could shuffle off its burdens upon another's laden shoulders, instead of patiently bearing its share to the end." They describe Delia as "far-seeing, systematic and careful. She would never "have left things in such a state that even the slightest suspicion should fall upon another."

The article ends with a lament, "her early life was filled with many sorrows, but the days of her great trials were long since passed, and the future had begun to broaden and brighten for her as it only could for noble, useful woman, who had lived through and conquered her trials, and had at last no more to lose than gain." It is true that Delia was no stranger to loss. Her four younger siblings died when they were all less than two years old. Her mother was a victim of the typhoid epidemic in 1858; her brother Harman went south just before the Civil War and was never heard from again; and her brother Julius was shot at the battle of Shiloh (stay tuned for his story) and died following surgery to remove the shot from his leg in 1867.

The tribute's claim that she was conscientious, organized and was financially comfortable. The inventory of her possessions included rental property in the Carondelet neighborhood, certificate of deposits at Boatman's Savings Bank totaling $1478.00 and cash in the bank of $168.00. Her total estate was valued at $2500, a significant sum for a single lady in 1877.

Strong, successful women seem to run in our family and Delia is one of them. The tombstone in Bellefontaine Cemetery is a perfect monument to her tragic death. Thanks to the St. Louis Globe Democrat we have some details of the store of her untimely end.

Sources

1. St. Louis City, Missouri, Coroner's Records, Inquests, Box 11, File 166, "Delia Brey," filed 9 May 1877; St. Louis County Library film SLCR-3.
 2. City of St. Louis, Missouri, probate case files, no. 12739, 8 May 1877; Probate Court Clerk's Offfice, St. Louis.
3. Miss Brey Tribute to Her Memory from Those Connected with the Public Schools—The Idea of Suicide Indignantly Refuted … (News) Wm. T. Harris. St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, MO) Sunday, May 13, 1877; pg. 3; Issue 358; col F.
4. Coroner’s Cases Inquest on Miss Brey—A German Blows His Brains Out—Sudden Death of a Work House Rat (News) St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, MO) Thursday, May 10, 1877; pg. 4; Issue 355; col G.
5. Was It a Mistake? A Lady School-Teacher Found Dead in Bed (News) St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, MO) Wednesday, May 09, 1877; pg. 3; Issue 354; col G.
6. Death’s Doings (News) St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, MO) Friday, May 11, 1877; pg. 5; Issue 356; col F.
7. The Last Rites Funerals of Two Well-Known St. Louis Ladies Yesterday (News) St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, MO) Friday, May 11, 1877; pg. 8; Issue 356; col B.
8. Obituary (Obituary) St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, MO) Sunday, May 13, 1877; pg. 5; Issue 358; col A.
9. St. Louis in Splinters (News) St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, MO) Tuesday, June 05, 1877; pg. 3; Issue 16; col B.

Paul Brey Served His County by Proxy

Paul Cornelius Brey

In the History of Randolph, Monroe and Perry Counties, Illinois the biography of Paul C Brey ends with the following sentence. "In 1861 he was solicited by some of his young friends to raise a company for the Forty-ninth regiment Illinois volunteer infantry, (Col. Morrison's regiment), but being a newly married man he declined, but served the United States afterward by proxy." This sentence peaked my interest. What did it mean? I had already searched Civil War records and did not find any evidence of Paul serving in the Union Army, so I set out to find out what service by proxy meant.

During the Civil War there was a draft to raise soldiers for service in the Army. If a man was drafted they could provide a substitute to serve for them. This was known as service by proxy. During a visit to the National Archives in Washington DC I was able to locate the records of the 12th Congressional District of Illinois which included Monroe County where Paul lived. An enumeration was conducted in July 1863. This was a list of men between the ages of 20 and 35 and unmarried men eligible for service between the ages of 35 and 45. Paul was listed on line 6. He was a 28 year old merchant.

Quotas were set for each congressional district based on population. If a sufficient number of men from the district volunteered to serve, a draft was no necessary.  Draft cards were completed for each man listed on the Consolidated Lists. Cards were divided by sub district and were placed in a box. A man was blind folded  and he drew the predetermined number of cards from the box. Another man recorded the names that were pulled in the Descriptive Books of Drafted Men as they were drawn. The men whose names had been drawn were notified. They were required to report or provide a substitute who could serve in their place as long as they passed the physical examination. Men who were physically disqualified were given exemption certificates. Deserters and men who failed to appear were arrested.

The 12th Congressional District did not have enough volunteers so the draft was conducted beginning on Monday, 19 September 1864 with the sub districts in St. Clair County. On Friday, 14 October 1864, Paul Brey's name was pulled as number 352 of the 358 men selected for the draft in the sub district that included Burksville.

Paul hired Valentine Siger to serve as his substitute. Valentine was mustered in as a Private on 23 October 1864 and served as a substitute in Company B, 30th Infantry Regiment Illinois. The term of his service was one year. He was mustered out in Louisville, KY on 17 July 1865. Valentine was an 18 year old farmer who was 5 feet 4 inches tall with blue eyes, light hair, and a fair complexion.

In 1864 Paul had two small children and a store to run. He had the financial means to make a choice to hire a substitute. Paul served his community in other capacities through his lifetime. He was Postmaster in the town of Burksville from 1867 to 1874; County Clerk for Monroe County from 1873 to 1894; and County Judge for Monroe County from 1894 until his death in 1905.

Sources
Combined History of Perry, Monroe and Randolph Counties (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: J.L. McDonough & Co., 1883), 321.
Consolidated List Class I Illinois 12^th Congressional District, Volume 201, Page 68, Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau (Civil War), Record Group 110, item 172, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Proceedings of the Board of Enrollment Illinois 12^th Congressional District, May 1863-April 1865, unpaginated, arranged by date, Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau (Civil War), Record Group 110, item 5803, National Archives, Washington.

Descriptive Books of Drafted Men, Illinois 12^th Congressional District, Volume 21, Page 90, Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau (Civil War), Record Group 110, item 5805, National Archives, Washington.

Valentine Siger, compiled military record, (private, Company B, 30^th Infantry Illinois), Records of the Record and Pension Office of the War Department, Record Group 94, National Archives, Washington.
Record of Appointment of Postmasters 1832-September 30, 197; M841, (Washington: National Archives), Roll 30, vol. 32.
Internal Revenue Assessment Lists for the State of Illinois, 1862-1866, M764 (Washington: National Archives); Roll 57, Target 3 Annual Lists 1864, page 87. Paul Brey is listed twice, once for retail dealer and one for dealing in liquor. He was taxed a total of $30.00. Only businesses with more than $600 in annual revenue were taxed.
“Death Doings – Judge Brey Secumbs [sic] to Paralysis After Brief Illness,” Waterloo Republican, Waterloo, Illinois, 13 December 1905, Page 1, column 3.

Death of John Theodore Coakley

The railroad bridge over the Columbia River was an exciting event for the city of Vancouver. The construction brought workers to the area which was good for the merchants in town. However, it would lead to the tragic death of John Theodore Coakley.

Columbia River Railroad Bridge from Wikipedia.org

The bridge was built by the Portland and Seattle Railway over the Columbia river between Vancouver and Portland. The construction began in January 1906 and the first train crossed the span on October 23, 1908.

Caisson IX Ready to Launch Sep 18 1906

Construction of Columbia River RR Bridge at Vancouver 1906-1908

John was a "sand hog" who worked in the caissons. The caissons are filled with compressed air and the sand hog moved mud and rock from the work space to a water filled pit, connected by a tube to the surface. Even today this is a dangerous job. In 1906 if a worker left the compressed atmosphere of the caisson and rapidly reentered normal conditions they could be paralyzed. Doctors didn't know what caused the paralysis and if not treated it could lead to death. This is what happened to John on September 9, 1906 he passed away after six hours of suffering at the age of 40 years and 4 months.

John's Death Certificate

John's family was living in Kansas City, Kansas at the time. When news of his death reached them, his wife, Rosina  Shaumeyer Coakley and three of his children, probably Anna, John, and Margaret,

traveled to Vancouver for his funeral.

Obituary from the Vancouver Columbian, September 20, 1906

He was buried in St. James Acre cemetery on September 16, 1906. The compressed air workers union erected the monument on his grave and his fellow railway bridge workers took up a collection for the family.

Tombstone of John Theodore Coakley

After John's death his wife Rose and their seven living children had a difficult time making ends meet. Anna Josephine was 14, John Leonard was 13, Margaret was 8, Frank Thomas was 6, Catherine Rose was 4, Thomas Theodore was 2, and Florence Marie was 7 months.

Instead of moving to the Pacific Northwest where their father had been working and planning on living the family remained in Kansas City, Kansas. Rose and the family lived near her parents, George Christian and Rosina Schrade Shaumeyer, at 375 S Boeke. Anna and Rosina helped care for the younger children while Rose worked for the railroad in Kansas City. Less than two years later on May, 24, 1908 tragedy struck the family again; Anna and Thomas were drowned in a flash flood in Brimson, Grundy County, Missouri.

When Rosina's health deteriorated she was no longer able to care for the children. In 1910 Frank, Catherine and Margaret were living in St. Vincent's Orphanage in Levenworth, Kansas. John quit school shortly after his father's death and went to work to help support the family.

Sources

1. Death certificate #513 of John Coakley obtained from Clark County, Washington County Courthouse. 
2. Microfilm of Vancouver Columbian Weekly newspaper, Feb 1, 1905 to Sec 26, 1907 borrowed on interlibrary loan from the Washington State Library.
3. Article on Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 9.6 on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlington_Northern_Railroad_Bridge_9.6
4. Burial record from St. James Acre cemetery obtained by member of Clark County Genealogy Society and Library.
5. 1910 US Federal Census, Microfilm T624, roll 444, enumeration district 82 sheet 7 b, enumeration of residents at St. Vincent Orphanage. 
6. 1909 City Directory of Kansas City, City Directories of the United States, microfilm 048135 at the Library of Congress, page 67.