Author Archives: Tony Bentivegna

Spooky Farabaugh Mystery No. 5: Trouble at Waterloo

No. 5: There were three Farabaugh brothers who served in the Civil War. The oldest, Charles Farabaugh (1834-1909), is buried in Nicktown and had a significant enlistment, from October of 1863 to August of 1864. Thanks to those whiz bang search engines by the folks at ancestry.com, I isolated his picture taken with grandchildren in 1907 (uploaded by descendant Felisha McKeever):

Charles Fehrenbacher / Farabaugh (1934-1909). Photo from 1907.

Charles Farabaugh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second, was Barney Farabaugh (1835-1862). He fought in several battles and contracted typhoid fever while marching through Alexandria, Va. He is buried at the military cemetery there.

Our mystery concerns the fate of the third brother, Anselm Farabaugh (1841-?). Anselm is in the 1860 Census as a 17-year-old laborer living in Ebensburg. He was “mustered in” as they say, in April of 1861, but left service in July of the same year. He was a Private in Company G of the 10th Regiment of Pa. Volunteers and did not see significant action. His life after wartime is not known, except for one tantalizing clue. When Fr. Modestus Wirtner, OSB (1861-1948) compiled a chart of the various Farabaugh families in 1927-8, here is what he listed for this family:

Anselm Farabaugh - Wirtner Chart

Anselm died at a party in Waterloo, Iowa. How? When? Why? Fr. Modestus gives no details. There are no other clues. He cannot be found in the 1870 Census, so I believe this incident happened between July of 1861 when his enlistment ended and the Summer of 1870 when a census was taken. I just now fired off an email to the Cedar Falls Historical Society. If they don’t come through for me, I don’t know if we’ll ever know. Charles here looks confident, like he has the answer – but he ain’t talking anymore.

Addendum 29 Oct 2014. This mystery is solved. Anselm died from a fall in 1890 and is buried in Waterloo, Iowa. See comment for details. The article and tombstone are reproduced below.

A. Fernbach death 2 December 1891 Waterloo Courier

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fernbach tombstone from findagrave.com

 

 

 

 

Spooky Farabaugh Mystery No. 6: Loretto’s Mixed Up Cemetery

No. 6: Who is buried in Michael Farabaugh’s tomb?

Loretto Cemetery

If you start where this sign marked the old section of the Loretto Cemetery and walk up the hill, you will soon know that something is terribly wrong. Newer markers are next to the old; there are bald spots where graves used to be; the rows are uneven; and if you dig a bit in the grass you will find parts of old markers. There is a circa 1890 picture of the cemetery from the same vantage point, and the line of stones shown is very different.

According to lifelong Loretto resident Leo Noll, the cemetery became so overgrown in the 1930s or 1940s that he and some other workers removed large sections of headstones to more easily cut down the growth. But when it came time to put them back, they discarded the unsalvageable stones and then had to guess the original locations for the rest. This must be why the old photos of the cemetery show a different alignment of stones.

So now we have unmarked graves and pioneers buried under the wrong headstones. It would be possible to reconstruct the burials if records or a cemetery plot were maintained. No such luck. Prince Gallitzin certainly kept burial records from 1799 until his death in 1840. But there is no proof that such records were kept by his successors for the rest of the century. When Fr. Ferdinand Kittell published his Souvenir of Loretto Centenary in 1899, he included an alpha cemetery listing that he indicates (at page 165) was “chiefly” based on the headstones arranged there, and not parish records. Kittell’s project was worthwhile, but in the process he carted up the vital records the church did have (including the loose set of Prince Gallitzin’s burial records) and headed off to a monastery near Rome to compile an index, which then was transcribed for the Souvenir. All well and good, except he fumbled away all of those original records and his handwritten index. So he left us with a transcription of a transcription, and today we have no original records from the 1840-1899 era whatsoever. Lucky for us, Kittell inexplicably left behind Gallitzin’s two volumes of births, marriages and deaths, which we still have — but this is all pre-1840.

If you are confused, take heart. There is a fantastic effort here to make sense of all of this by pulling together nine different sources, to the credit of Lisa Baker, Jane Tripp and Jim Crouse.

This brings me to the mystery of the immigrant Michael Farabaugh (1808-1856). Michael had several occupations. In Germany, he was a Bierbauer (i.e. a beer brewer), so I like him already. He was also a Kufermeister (a cooper, who made staved wooden containers or barrels held together by slatted wooden hoops). He and his wife Eve brought their family to the U.S. in about 1841, and bought property at what is now Munster Township, in 1848. He was a farmer and probably stonemason too, although the 1850 Census lists his principal occupation as cooper. After this, all knowledge of him mysteriously disappears. No picture, no physical description, no stories, no death record, no newspaper article, no will – no nothing. He dies in 1856 at the age of 48 or 49 for no known reason, and today has two tombs at the Loretto Cemetery, shown below. Where is he really buried?

Michael Farabaugh Grave 1Michael Farabaugh Grave 3Michael Farabaugh Grave 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The deeply-chiseled 1856 headstone of “Michael Farabaugher” (first picture above),  is still there at the Loretto cemetery, but his remains are probably not at that spot. He was the grandfather of Loretto’s famous son, Charlie Schwab. After the Schwab Mausoleum (second picture above) was built, Michael’s name was inscribed in marble on the inside facing of what appears to be a drawer crypt, with a keyed lock release mechanism (3rd picture above).

I don’t know when the mausoleum was built, but we can infer that Michael was dug up and put into this crypt at some point in time — perhaps when Schwab arranged for Gallitzin’s remains to be transferred to his monument by the church in around 1899, or perhaps around the time Schwab himself died in 1939. If Michael’s remains were not dug up and transferred, there is a real good chance that he was part of the tombstone scramble described by Leo Noll. Either way, I think it is unlikely he still lies beneath the nice-looking stone erected in 1856.

Here’s a scenario: If he was subjected to the tombstone scramble and then the remains beneath the headstone’s new location were dug up and transferred, there is a really good chance that somebody else’s bones are in that mausoleum. One thing is for certain: Michael is a man with two tombs today. Pretty creepy.

Incidentally, the disheveled graveyard with its diseased elms, slippery slopes and lack of lighting was a favorite Halloween destination when I was a kid. The only thing it lacked was a good old creaky gate. The older boys always promised there would be an event there, so when we finished up getting candy in town we would take the side trip, wait and see, and consult a few of the inscriptions. R.I.P. Michael, wherever you are.

 

 

 

Spooky Farabaugh Mystery No. 8: A Missing Love Child

No. 8: Our countdown continues. This one is not really spooky like the others, but intrigues me nonetheless. Gilbert Aloysius Farabaugh (1882-1958) was one of the 14 children born to Joseph and Annie (Conrad) Farabaugh. He went West. I often heard this from older Farabaugh relatives, who related it with a sense of wonder, as if he went to the moon. “It was because of his asthma,” they would add.

Enter the much younger half-brother of Gilbert, Cecil Farabaugh (1909-1981), who approached me in the late 70s to offer an alternative explanation. Cecil made clear that he was unhappy and felt excluded from the older first family of 14. Indeed, I observed on at least one occasion at the yearly Duman’s Dam reunion, that Cecil was summarily ignored by virtually everyone. Cecil was the only living child of the second marriage, apparently was not raised with the others and did not live nearby. From this disgruntled perspective, Cecil explained to me (in a conversation I recorded on cassette) that in about 1907 a women in Johnstown by the name of Florence Wax [phonetic] had a baby by Gilbert. Gilbert went west to start a life away from the scandal. Florence then married someone else and on that wedding day visited the Joe Farabaugh residence at Carrolltown. “And Dad had us get acquainted with them,” said Cecil.

Hmmmm. Cecil was not born until 1909 so if this meeting occurred,  it must have been several years after the child was born.  I decided to bury this in a footnote in the book I published in 1990. Children out of wedlock are part of any family history and should not be excluded from genealogy, so this belongs somewhere. I found the story had a ring of truth because Cecil gave such detail. And when I carefully raised this subject with my grandmother Naomi (Farabaugh) Bender, she would neither confirm nor deny. “But he definitely had asthma.”

So here we are a hundred years later. Can we find this love child lost to time and memory? The folks at ancestry.com have these whiz bang search engines, so I ran Florence through the 1910 Census for Johnstown, married, with children under 5. Possible matches are Florence Aultram (son Clair); Florence Fritz (dau. Margaret); Florence Humbert (Helen, Ray, Chas.); Florence Schrader (1 dead and 1 not living in household – the most interesting lead); Florence Weyant (Alda); and Florence Bach (George, Ulysses). A lot of speculation and assumptions here. But perhaps you the reader can do better?

By the way, once “Bert” got to Colorado, he became engaged but chased off by the woman’s father, citing a belief that Gilbert had tuberculosis; he then married and divorced a beautiful redhead named Wray Slack; and then tried to court Marie Frank, of Lower Turkey Creek (formerly of Upper Turkey Creek). Gilbert must have had charms beyond the value of his looks (Gilbert’s image is below). At the age of 35 he married Marie’s sister, 18-year-old Georgia Frank. Excellent choice. Georgia was an amazing woman with many talents. She was a dynamic civic leader, Mayor of Pueblo, Co., and has a street there named after her. She was a commanding personality and I visited her when she was 90. She drove me to a store to buy razor blades, running several stop signs along the way. I don’t make this stuff up.

Gilbert Farabaugh, SrGilbert and Georgia (Frank) Farabaugh

 

Spooky Farabaugh Mystery No. 9: Conrad Luther

No. 9. Where lies the Heathen Hessian? Will Farabaugh bought his farm in 1913, where Route 219 meets the “Brick Road” to Loretto, near Carrolltown. It is no ordinary farm. It is the spot where the West Branch of the Susquehanna begins, and is near (and possibly subsumes) the historic Flick House, once considered the area’s longest active residence. Will’s brother Leo Farabaugh lived there. It is also near where a group of unhappy, wayward Trappist Monks from France came and quickly left sometime between 1808 and 1813. You’d never guess all that when driving past. But our mystery here concerns the remains of this land’s first settler, a Hessian Rev. War soldier named Conrad Luther (1754-bef 1825). Conrad brought his family here in about 1793 from Lancaster. Locally published lore repeatedly relates that Conrad was a descendant from the third son of the Martin Luther and that he was triumphantly converted by the local Catholic pioneer-priest, Demetrius Gallitzin. This is likely false on both fronts. First of all, it is unclear if there was even one male descendant of Martin Luther going into the 18th Century. Second, I have a copy of Gallitzin’s meticulous baptismal records, and there is no Conrad Luther. There is instead a record of baptizing Conrad’s 38-year-old wife Elizabeth in 1808 (click image if blurry):

Elizabeth Luther baptism 1808

Some of the children by this couple are also baptized by Gallitzin, but Conrad (formerly associated with the First Reformed Church in Lancaster) does not appear to budge. There is an uncharacteristic fragment at page 273 of Gallitzin’s journal where he starts recording the baptism of a “Bernardus” without surname in 1823; researchers believe Conrad’s full name was Bernhart Mariannis Conrad Luther. But Gallitzin’s failure to complete this record with a surname, sponsors and his signature really makes the connection highly speculative.

Conrad dies sometime before June 6, 1824, when Elizabeth is first identified as a widowed baptism sponsor. He then understandably does not get buried at the consecrated Catholic cemetery in Loretto, which leaves the reasonable inference that he is buried on the farm.  This is certainly the consensus of local history. But the grave markings have never been found on the Will Farabaugh farm. Has anyone looked for them? Have farm ploughs uncovered anything? Is Conrad at peace? Would a metal detector uncover a really cool Hessian helmet?

Karen_Carr_hessian_soldier_clip

 

 

 

 

Spooky Farabaugh Mystery No. 10: The Wirtners

With Halloween approaching, I thought I’d come up with ten spooky unsolved Farabaugh mysteries. Solve them if you dare! I’ll post more in the upcoming weeks. . .

John and Catherine Wirtner Family 2

No. 10. Are there any Wirtners? They thrived 100 years ago, with huge farming families in Carrolltown and Patton. Catherine (Farabaugh) Wirtner was one of the matriarchs, with 15 children. But the men from the next generation did not procreate much, entered the priesthood or died under tragic circumstances. Cyril was a butcher who died suddenly of “apoplexy.” Vincent died in a railroad accident. T.H. was shot dead when he refused to give his car keys to a home intruder. Their father John (a tinsmith who made the original cross on the spire of St. Benedict’s Church in Carrolltown) evidently lost his sight in a fence wire accident.  Uncle John died when thrown from a horse near Loretto in 1848. Another uncle, Benjamin, also had a large family but 3 children died in the span of five days in 1865.  I think another one died from some incident involving lightning, a barn and a horse, but I can’t seem to find the exact anecdote. The Wirtners certainly had their fair share of tragedy. Is there one descendant left to carry the name today? Let me know if you find one!

FAR-a-baugh or FAIR-a-baugh? Alex Trebek Decides

Michael A. FarabaughMy Uncle Bede was watching a Jeopardy re-run from 2012, and up pops a Farabaugh. I didn’t know Jeopardy had re-runs. I assumed 5 nights a week were enough. So, this is Michael Farabaugh, a Chemistry teacher, and Bede wants to know how we’re related. There are 27 Michael Farabaughs in the database, but no problemo. This turns out to be Michael Anthony Farabaugh, the grandson of my great-uncle Fred Farabaugh. This means he is but one of a gazillion second cousins whom I’ll probably never meet. Anyway, Michael here is a pretty entertaining fellow, and he did well. In this teacher’s tournament, he went all the way and ended up as the overall runner-up, winning $50,000.

I was interested to see how Alex Trebek handled the Farabaugh name, since my informal polling shows that the Augustine branch with Michael tends to say “FAR-a-baugh” and all others lean toward “FAIR-a-baugh.”

In the video below, Alex gets involved. He gets Michael to sing his version of the Jeopardy song but at the very beginning he pronounces his name as FAIR-a-baugh! I was shocked and appalled. Augustine is rolling over in his Carrolltown grave. But then I remembered that Alex is Canadian, and Canadian opinions don’t really count for much, do they?

 

Not long ago, this was the subject of an exchange on Facebook (click on images if they appear blurry):

Screenshot (30)

Screenshot (31)

Victoria Arrives

Victoria (Farabaugh) Bechel

Victoria (Farabaugh) Bechel

Today, I was astonished to find this image of the immigrant Viktoria Fehrenbacher (1832-1905), aka Victoria (Farabaugh) Bechel). The picture is just what I imagined: stern, blue-eyed, intimidating, maybe even defiant.

Victoria was the kid sister who arrived from Kappel in 1853 with her nephews Charles and Bernard Farabaugh.  With the help of Fr. Peter Lemke, Carrolltown’s founder, she lived and worked at the Blair House in Ebensburg, a “famous hostelry,” according to the obituary of its eminent proprietor, John A. Blair. Here, poor 23-year-old Victoria became pregnant by a resident rake, 48-year old Dennis Brawley. We know of their child Matilda from the birth record at St. Benedict’s in Carrolltown (in Latin, the record impassively says Matilda “ist illegitima filia”) and a privately published account of John Blair, by descendant Marilyn Horan Krall.

Just two weeks ago I was telling my wife about the liason while unsuccessfully looking for Dennis’ grave at Old Holy Name Cemetery in Ebensburg. Dennis did not marry the compromised mother, and by all accounts never moved from the Blair House for the rest of his life. Victoria moved on. In 1859, she married another older man, Frederick Bechel, and they raised Matilda and two of their own. They are buried together at the church in Nicktown.

I often wondered about Victoria’s 19th Century plight. Why didn’t any of her brothers take her in when she arrived? Why does she not appear in any of the early Farabaugh group photos? Once she was “in trouble,” did they all just shun her? The plight of an unwed mother then and there must have been terrible.

I was just casually surfing the internet for obituaries, noticed that researcher James Thomas Rosenbaum had a collection and then was amazed to happen upon this. This photo collection does not kick up if you google Victoria. Finding this was just serendipity beyond belief. The photo belongs to descendent Nancy (Kirsch) Miller. I think Nancy was in the color guard while I was in band at Bishop Carroll High in Ebensburg, so I emailed to learn more about this picture. Where has it been all of these years and are we 100% sure it is her? I hope to hear from Nancy soon.

 

 

The Second “Kirsch” Farm

There are two ways to get to Carrolltown from Loretto. First is the “Dutch Road,” nicely paved, with the stone castle reservoir built by Charlie Schwab as you leave town, open vistas of rolling farmland, and a roly-poly romp towards the end. Second is the more intriguing “Brick Road.” Much of it plunged you right into the dark woods, red brick by red brick, with many treacherous potholes, even after it was slowly paved over in the late 1960s. There was a very spooky mansion on the hill overlooking Bradley Junction – sometimes occupied and sometimes not. We were never quite sure who or what was in there. My Dad used both roads equally, but it is the Brick Road that takes you to the sites of the four original Farabaugh farms. And here they are (click image to enlarge). . .

Four Farabaugh Farms

The first home was the 1840 settlement of Augustine and Mary Fehrenbacher/Farabaugh, which was the subject of my earlier post (“Finally, a Visit to the Homestead”). Here, I want to address the similar home built downhill when the adjacent land was purchased in 1853, bringing the homestead tract up to 100 acres total. This home was built for the family of their son Erhard (aka Erhart) and his wife Annie Eckenrode, who also married in 1853. The unmarked access road is just past Bradley Junction.

Erhart

Erhart

Annie

Annie

Erhart home 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the only image I have of the original home, undated, given to me by Mary Mangus and enlarged here.  It was built by Augustine and his sons, and the chiselled stone foundation is evident.  The fifteen children of Erhard and Annie were born and raised here. I have a few anecdotal references to it. Notably, Cecil Farabaugh related to me that in 1892 when Erhard was “63 years old [he] got sick, he climbed up the hill [to his home], opened the door and fell in on the floor dead, in warm weather.” (Erhard’s probate file differs by indicating he survived long enough to make a deathbed Will that gave all possessions to Annie).  Also, Dr. Charles Farabaugh wrote:

“As a child of about six [in 1894] I had lived for a short time in the household of my grandmother [Annie Farabaugh]. I well remember the living room, especially with its grandfather’s clock tick-tocking away as grandmother led the family rosary every night – and the smooth lawn by the kitchen door where she plucked seed spikes of the broad-leafed plantain weeds as feed for her canary; the outdoor brick bake oven that stood between the house and the fenced lane.”

According to the 1900 Census, Annie was living at the Allegheny Township home with her  widower son Henry and his 3 year old daughter Catherine. Also living there was a 14 year old “servant” Anna Adams, who was actually a granddaughter.

James A. Farabaugh Farm 1918

Following Annie’s death in 1906, the parcel was overtaken by one of the younger children, Jim. Jim greatly expanded the site, as evidenced by the 1918 photo above. This set of buildings excludes the original home, which would be up and to the right.

Lucy Mock, James’ granddaughter lived on this farm from her birth in 1929 to about 1950. Lucy explained to me that as a child the original home was abandoned and used as a playhouse.

Original Farabaugh Tract 2

This aerial view of the jim Farabaugh farm from about 1950 shows that the original home (marked by the red arrow) was still standing and was now surrounded by a grove of trees. The original 1840 hilltop settlement is up the hill and to the right, out of view. Jim died in 1958, and the farm was resumed by his daughter Minnie and her husband Ed Kirsch. It has been known as the Kirsch Farm until very recently when it was sold to Daniel and Mary Jane Rieg.

Lucy (Mangus) Mock

On August 4, 2014, Lucy Mock poses in the lane where the entrance to the original Erhard Farabaugh homestead once existed on the right. A grove of trees obscures the foundation. In her youth, she used to regularly walk up the road behind her and over to the right past the original Augustine homestead and on up to the Bishop School House, the remains of which are at the top of hill along what is now Beck Road.

Incidentally, this area is surrounded by at least a dozen later farms and homes that are occupied today by various Farabaugh relatives. To explore these tracts, you can visit the GIS Cambria County site to learn more. They reflect the expansion by the subsequent generations, following the original four settlements.

Remains of the Bishop School House, 2014

Remains of the Bishop School House, 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

Finally, a Visit to the Homestead

Standing on the spot of an ancestral home is somehow humbling. It hopes to explain who you are and how you got here. Although I wrote a book on the Farabaughs and complied a detailed history of the family, capturing images of the homestead and walking the farmland somehow eluded me until August 4, 2014. With the help of perhaps the only relative with a memory of living on the tract, Lucy Mock, and the current owner Ed O’Brien, here is what I learned.

Augustin and Mary Fehrenbacher came to Cambria County in 1833, and they settled at their home in Allegheny Township in the year 1840. We are able to pinpoint the year because the property deed is dated January 7, 1840. Although they were living on another parcel they owned in Susquehanna Township where their son Anthony was born in the Spring, they relocated to their newly-acquired parcel in Allegheny Township as reflected in the Census taken later that year. Here are images from 1988 of that stark home, which was situated within the cleared and sloping landscape of the farm until it was demolished in the following year. . .

Augustin Tract Homestead 2 1988

 

 

 

Augustin Tract Homestead 1 1988

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Ed O’Brien, current owner of the original homestead. Ed used much of the stone and wood beams to build two beautiful homes for his family. This original home was occupied by Augustin and Mary until they moved to Carrolltown around 1858. Their son Edward married that year and raised a large family here – a family that was greatly affected by diptheria and tuberculosis – remaining until 1888. The home was then acquired by Edward’s nephew James before becoming the home and farm of another nephew, Edward Giles Farabaugh, for several decades. The tract fell out of family ownership when it was sold to “Easy Ed” Smithbower in the mid to late 20th Century, transferred to George Smithbower (whereupon it was no longer occupied but used to house pigs), and finally purchased by Ed O’Brien in 1988.

Augustin Tract Homestead 3 1989

Preparing the home for demolition, this cross-section shows the foundation and cellar that demonstrate the stone masonry skill of Augustin. These stones were individually chiselled to fit without mortar. Ed O’Brien explained to me that the first story chimney with flue was made of clay with horse-hair glue, shown here, with Mr. Driskel on the first floor. An interior staircase led to the second floor that likely had three bedrooms. And then there was an attic. What we don’t know is how the lumber was prepared. The area had various saw (or “planing”) mills but which ones were in operation in 1840 are unknown to me. At right is the entrance with a white grist mill stone; further in the distance is the barn, which dates later than the original home.

Augustin Tract Homestead 4 1989

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Large floor joists that account for the home’s durability and are were reused for Ed’s current residences.

Augustin Tract Homestead 5 1989

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This image captures the moment of demolition in 1989.

Augustin Tract Homestead 6 1989

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the home cleared away, the barn became the next casualty . . .

I asked Ed if he found any original artifacts during the demolition. He told me the original stone sink was in place on the first floor, which was gravity fed from above the house where he found an approximately 60 foot water well toward the area where the barn stood (Ed dug a much deeper well next to it). Ed located a sistern near the barn. The home never had running water and likely had an outhouse nearby. Ed removed the stone sink and the stone drainage, and placed it as a birdbath next to his smaller home on the property. Ed and I strongly believe these must have been chiselled by Augustin, because they were integral to the original home.

Augustin Tract Homestead 9 2014Augustin Tract Homestead 8 2014Augustin Tract Homestead 10 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below are the original stone steps leading into the homestead, which were not moved. I should have moved the metal pieces and had Ed or Lucy taken my picture. The original home is now a grassy front lawn behind which Ed built the current home. I really should have taken more pictures of the current parcel. Ed has extensive gardens and has a keen sense of design that utilized much of the original character of the settlement. I first met him in 1990 when the homes were newly completed and was aware that he took “before and after” pictures. It amazes me that no photos of this place surfaced during the years I lived in Loretto, and that no relative told me it was still there.

 

Augustin Tract Homestead 7 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will soon do another post that explains the second, nearly identical, homestead down the hill from this and the associated memories of Lucy Mock.

First Round of Updates!

My apologies if a few of you received this twice.

Ok, so with this thing launched I am getting a trickle of updates. Glad to see that some are using the Family group record forms. Here are some of the contributors:

2013.04.16 FARABAUGH, Aaron Joseph Descendants
2013.12.11 Theresa J. Scott
2014.07.07 Barbara Wills Ness
2014.01.28 Sr. Rosann Eckart
2014.04.29 Elizabeth P. Schellhammer
2014.07.07 Theresa Martinage
2014.07.08 Jill Mock
2014.07.14 Anita Heinrich
2014.07.15 Kim Bender
2014.07.16 Paul Ricci
2014.07.18 Linda Pawl
2014.07.25 Matt Bender
2014.07.25 Wendy Bender

Coming soon:
2014.07.28 Betsy Lansberry Passanita
2014.07.28 Jeanine Sheehan Farabaugh
Kane Farabaugh’s commissioned report on Kappel-am-Rhein
The amazing 1929 Farabaugh “Centerfold”

Stumbled upon and added the angelic 1915 wedding photo of 19-year-old Catherine (Hitch) Krise that for now kicks off the slideshow. We’re lucky to have so many great photos. Certainly my gr-gr-grandfather Joe Farabaugh (1854-1947) had a lot to do with this. He probably took this one.
Catherine (Hitch) Krise 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The website subscription list is only about 25 whereas the Facebook list is about 75. Not sure what to do about this as I’d prefer to make this the main meeting place for everybody. I could import everyone involuntarily but that seems rude. Let’s see how this blog pans out before I begin tinkering with things. Any questions?

Amandus Farabaugh in 1917

Urban Farabaugh circa 1917

This is the Farabaugh Forum. Post a family update. Submit a photo. Add a story. Let us know of your reunion or event. Gripe about your mother-in-law. Name the official Farabaugh pig.