Breaking the wall of Conrad Nagel

For a while this man, Conrad Nagel, my 2nd great-grand father has been a huge brick wall for me.  I have spent many hours of research on him. I have pulled just about every record I can think of, hoping to find that illusive name of the town he was born in Germany. But I was constantly frustrated.

That is until Thursday, when a little bit of luck, and those hours of research finally paid off. Part of my problem has been searching through church records in Germany. 1) I don’t speak German, so I am overwhelmed when I even attempt such a process and 2) I don’t even know where to begin. Most of the records are on microfilm, not indexed digitally, and I don’t know where I would start to look to wade through all those records. The only clues I had was a pretty solid birth date of July 9, 1832 based on his Civil War Pension records, and that he was born in the Hessen State of Germany.

The break came on Thursday, when I was looking for records through FamilySearch. Usually, you want to keep your search a broad as possible, but for some reason, this time I narrow my results in to only those from Hesse-Germany. The top result was a baptism record for a baby boy named Johann Konrad Nagel, baptized July 7, 1832 in Langd, Hesse-Germany to Johann Henrich Nagel and Anna Katharina Gerst. My gut said that this was the one. The date of birth was was so close.  But I had no evidence to connect these two people.

I didn’t know the names of Conrad’s parents, or even any names of his siblings (there were three other children listed in the baptism records in Langd: Jacob, Katharina, and Anna Elisabetha).  The family names were a good fit (Henry, Jacob, John, Anna, Katherine). So I spent a while finding every record I could on the family.

The records for Johann Konrad and his brother Jacob Konrad each had a notation: nach Amerika ausgewandert (immigrated to America.) I spend some time trying to find Jacob in America, to see if I could place him and my Conrad together. No luck.

And then I remembered an important clue from Conrad’s Civil War Pension record. One of the witnesses interviewed, a 50 year old man named Jacob Knorr stated that he had known Conrad for 40 years.  At the time, I made note of that, wondering if he had known Conrad in German, since he had only been in the US for about 30 years. I had an approximate birth year for Mr. Jacob Knorr based on his age at the time of the interview.  To test my theory, I searched for a baptism record for him in the town of Langd.  And there he was.  Some more digging, and I found a passport application for Mrs. Knorr, on which she gave her husband’s birthplace as Langd, Germany.

So the man who had known Conrad for 40 year, back in the old country, was born in the town of Langd. This was the missing link I needed.

It was like hitting the jackpot, because the records for Langd go back hundreds of years, and they are indexed online. Which means that I can trace the family back generation by generation all the way to another man named Conrad Nagel, born about 1640, who look to be the one who moved into Langd.

So the Nagel family lived in the small village of Langd for at least 200 years, located just east of Hungen.  Langd (pronounced Lawnkt) is such a small village that I had some trouble finding the history on it. At least in English, but thanks to some Google translation, I was able to get a little bit of information.

The first time the village was mentioned by name was in 1242.  The Evangelical Church was built in the 11th century.  Since around 1770, the village has been mainly a mining village, for iron.  The mining areas are partially visible today. Foundations of the workers barracks and some wash trays dams are located in the forest area between Hungen and Langd.

The first school was built in 1832, the same year as Conrad’s birth.  In 1847, the first residents wandered – for economic reasons – to America. (I have yet to find more information on this.)  Conrad came over to America in 1857, living in Ohio until the Civil War.  His younger brother Jacob came in the US in 1863, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he lived with his wife Margaret and four children until his death in 1907.

Images courtesy of the Langd/Hungen Offical Website

From 1832 to 1640… that is quite a genealogical leap. And so exciting after so many months of frustration.

The Hunt for Patrick Burke

Patrick Burke and his wife Bridget O’Toole were living with their three children in Wilkes-Barre for the 1880 census. The 1890 Federal Census records were destroyed in 1921 by a fire in the Commerce Department in Washington, DC.  This disaster, incidentally, led to the establishment of National Archives.  As a result, there is no Federal Census information for 1890.

I cannot find records for Patrick or Bridget in the 1900 census. I believe that they had both died by this point.

There is a Mrs. Patrick Burke, living in Tunnel, who died 7 Feb 1896 (from the Wilkes-barre Almanac for 1896).

The Wilkes Barre Almanac, deaths for 1898, listes Patrick Burke, 50, Wilkes barre died 9 January 1898. On Tuesday, 11 Jan 1898, the following Mortuary notice was printed:

The funeral of Patrick Burke was largely attended at the Holy Saviour Church this morning.  A high mass of requiem was celebrated by Father Curran. The pall bearers were Patrick Boyle, Richard Toole, Charles McLaughlin, William McGroarty, William Burke, and Michael McLaughlin. Interment was made in Hanover Cemetery. Undertaker Marley had charge.

I can identify most of the pallbearers as men who would have been nephews of Patrick:

• Patrick Boyle (?)
• Richard Toole (?)
• Charles McLaughlin (nephew-in-law, son of Catherine O’Toole and Patrick McLaughlin
• William McGroarty (nephew-in-law, son of Mary O’Toole and Patrick McGroarty)
• William Burke (nephew? son of William Burke and Bridget)
• Michael McLaughlin (nephew-in-law, son of Catherine O’Toole and Patrick McLaughlin)

McLaughlin Family Funeral Home

Also, since the family church was the location of the funeral, as well as the cemetery this makes me pretty sure that this is our Patrick Burke.

We don’t know much about Patrick’s family.  His father’s name was also Patrick, his mother Anne.  I suspect that he had a brother named William Burke, who was living in Wilkes-barre.

William Burke and his family was living in the same street as Patrick and Bridget in 1880. William was born in Ireland in 1841, and arrived in the US around 1860.  They are close in age, both born in Ireland, arrived in the US around the same time and lived nearby each other.

William Burke and family is living on Maxwell St in 1892-1893, down the street from Michael (Patrick’s son), and just down the road from the Garvey families.  In 1905, he was a pallbearer at the funeral of Matthew Farrell, along with William Garvey and Thomas Barrett.  In 1903, William’s daughter Winifred married Martin Barrett, and had a son around 1910 named Raymond. This may be the same Raymond Barrett who married Marcella Burke, Patrick Burke’s granddaughter.

East End today is mouring the death of an esteemed resident, William Burke, aged 59, who succumbed to a lingering illness of general debility at 7:30 o’clock this morning at his home, 305 Scott Street.  Immediate survivors are the following children: Mrs. Martin Barrett, Mrs. P. J. Boyle, Mrs. Margaret Durkin, Mrs. John Corbett, William and Martin Burke, all well known citizens of the East section.  A high mass of requiem for the deceased will be celebrated Saturday morning at 9 o’clock in Holy Saviour Roman Catholic Church by Rev. J. J. Curran. Interment will be in the St. Mary’s cemetery at Hanover.

-Printed Nov 13, 1911

From this we know that one of William’s daughter married a P. J. Boyle, and one of the pallbearers at Patrick’s funeral was Patrick Boyle.  So if William and Patrick are brothers, Patrick Boyle would be Patrick’s nephew, which fits the pattern.

So, not only do I believe that Patrick Burke died 7 Jan 1898, but that William Burke, who died Nov 1911 was indeed his brother.

Bridget O’Toole

Now that the book is done, I have some time to sit down and expound on some of the “holes” in the story, i. e. the mysteries that I haven’t been able to solve.

Meet Bridget Burke née O’Toole:

Bridget was born on 22 Jan 1833 in the town of Ratheskin, in Kilfian Parish, County Mayo, Ireland. I have her baptism record, listing her parents as William Toohill and Catherine Dougher.

Around 1865, she immigrated to the US.  In 1870, she was single, living with her family in Wilkes-barre, PA.  (Parents William and Catherine, brother William, sister Anne, and Jane)

Some time between 1870 and 1880 (probably around 1871) she married Patrick Burke. I haven’t been able to find their marriage record.  But their son Michael Joseph was born in 1872.  And in 1880, Bridget is listed as married, and wife to Patrick Burke, living in Wilkes-barre.

I have even less information about her husband Patrick Burke.  He was born around 1845, in county Mayo, presumably in Kilfian Parish, though I have not been able to find a birth record for him.

On the same page of the 1880 census is a William Burke and his family.  William is close in age to Patrick (abt 1845), born in Ireland, arrived in the US around the same time.  In 1892 and 1893 he is living on Maxwell St, just down the road from Patrick’s son Michael (and family) and the Garvey/McLaughlin families. In 1905, he was a pallbearer at the funeral of Matthew Farrell, along with William Garvey (Bridget’s nephew?) and Thomas Barrett. In 1903, William’s daughter Winifred married Martin Barrett, and had a son around 1910 named Raymond. This may be the same Raymond Barrett married who married Marcella Burke, Patrick Burke’s granddaughter. He died in November 13, 1911; his funeral was conducted by Father J. Curran at the Holy Savior church, and he was buried in Saint Mary’s in Hanover.  All consistent with other members of the family.  This leads me to believe that William and Patrick where brothers.

There is a Patrick Burke in the 1882 Wilkes-Barre city directory, living on Baltimore St in Wilkes-Barre working as a miner:

• Name: Patrick Burk
• Residence Year: 1882
• Street Address: Baltimore la n N R R
• Residence Place: Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
• Occupation: Miner

This stand out as a possibility for him, because I know that the O’Tooles lived on Baltimore street for many years. From Catherine Dougher O’Toole’s obituary in 1906: “They came to Wilkes Barre about forty years ago and resided on Baltimore Lane for over twenty years.”

Only the head of house was listed in the directory that year, meaning we don’t know if Bridget was living with him or not, if indeed this is the right Patrick.

His son Michael did not talk about his father.  Family lore has it that he was angry with his father over the hardships that he and his sisters went through as children. It is rumored that Patrick “went away” and didn’t return until he was aging or ill. There is a six year gap between the birth of his daughters Mary and Catherine; it could be caused by miscarriage or a lost child. Or perhaps Patrick was already, at least temporarily, absent from the family’s life.

Since we have no census records for 1890, it is hard to pin point Bridget and Patrick’s living situation until the 1900 census…in which neither of them appear.  I believe that they both died between 1880 and 1900.

Bridget is not mentioned in her mother’s obituary in 1906. “Deceased is survived by the following sons and daughters: Rev Father O’Toole, Thomas and William O’Toole, of New Castle, Nebraska, Mrs. Patrick McLaughlin, Mrs. Patrick McGroarty, and Mrs. P McDermott of East End.” Which leads me to concluded that she was not living at the time. Moreover, in the 1900 census, Catherine is listed as a mother to 10 children, but only 6 are living.  So we know that at least four of her children have died before 1900.

There is an address that keeps popping up in connection with the Garvey and Burke names. From 1884 to 1902, a woman named Mary P. Garvey ran 523 3rd Ave, a large three story house sitting on a 5,408 sq ft lot, as boarding house. For twenty years, it seemed to be a way station for people from the Burkes, Gibbons, and Garvey families, including a Patrick Burke who lived there from 1892 to 1898.

I believe Patrick died in January of 1898. I haven’t been able to find a death certificate, but a funeral announcement was printed in the Wilkes-barre Times on January 11, 1898:

“The funeral of Patrick Burke was largely attended at the Holy Saviour Church this morning. A high mass of requiem was celebrated by Father Curran. The pallbearers were Patrick Boyle, Richard Toole, Charles McLaughlin, William McGroarty, William Burke, and Michael McLaughlin. Interment was made in the Hanover Cemetery. Undertaker Marley had charge.”

Four of the six pall bears match with names of his nephews, and again the funeral was conducted in the family church, and burial in the family graveyard.

So what then is the mystery?

What exactly was it that caused the bad blood between Patrick Burke and his children.  Did he abandon them as is rumored? Or was he just a poor provider?  And where was Bridget from 1880-1900? When and how did she die?