A Facebook page tells me another cousin was KIA in Viet Nam

Yesterday I wrote a blog post that featured Kent Amerine as one of the Barton County, Kansas residents who lost his life in the Viet Nam war. I showed my connection to Kent through cousins. Today, the page featured Carl Frederick Karst. I knew by the name that I was probably related to Carl, but I was never personally acquainted with him. My research reveals my Cousin Connection to another valiant soldier who gave his life for our freedom. 

This was posted on the Barton County Kansas Facebook page today.

A donation was made to Barton County to honor five Vietnam vets that were either Killed or Missing in Action. Barton County learned that there were six men in these categories. They included Carl Frederick Karst. Having come from Galatia, Karst was born October 27, 1930. His name will be engraved on Stone II at the Golden Belt Veterans Memorial as a result of the donation.

We know that Karst was a Colonel in the Air Force and was lost in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam, on February 8, 1974. Information compiled from various sources –

On November 16, 1968, (then) Major Carl F. Karst, pilot, and Captain Nguyen X. Quy, VNAF observer, departed Pleiku in an O1F on a visual reconnaissance mission over South Vietnam. At 1640 hours (4:40 p.m.), shortly after takeoff, Karst reported that his position was two nautical miles east of Pleiku, and that he was proceeding with his mission. When subsequent attempts to raise Karst by radio failed, a search began.

The search continued for three days without success. Karst was classified Missing in Action.

A few months later, a Vietnamese informer reported information given him by a NVA/VC propaganda team that Karst's aircraft was shot down by small arms fire and the Vietnamese observer was killed. The informer stated that Karst evaded to the south, but was captured and executed in a village in northern Phu Bon Province. The informant did not witness any of these events. The report was considered inaccurate because the NVA/VC team was known for coloring stories to impress the local population, and because Karst was very knowledgeable of the location of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese units in the area. Those who knew Karst agreed that he would not have evaded to the south, but rather to the west where he knew he might reach friendly forces and safety.

In December 1983, a refugee turned over two bone fragments and a rubbing of a metal ID tag bearing Karst's name to U.S. officials in Malaysia. He stated that he had been given the remains and rubbing by a Buddhist monk in 1981. The refugee was told that the remains were among 7 American remains recovered at an unspecified location in the Central Highlands.

By 1984, U.S. officials had received a series of reports from eight separate sources reported information concerning the alleged remains and dog tags of Karst. Four provided information solely on Karst, while the other four sources related Karst's name to other Army personnel who had returned from Vietnam at the end of their tours…

….Vietnamese officials turned over Col. Karst's remains in 1989, but they were not identified until last month by the Army's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. He was survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

…His remains were returned to this country, were positively identified, and a burial was arranged. On a golden autumn morning Friday at Arlington National Cemetery, the moment for that last salute finally arrived. Karst's wife and their three children now adults with children of their own watched as Karst's flag-draped casket was solemnly carried by horse-drawn caisson to be buried on American soil. Four US Air Force F-16 jets roared overhead in the Missing Man formation...

…Karst's dedication is reflected in his military honors, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He was a 14-year Air Force veteran when his reconnaissance plane was shot down in 1968. He was officially listed as missing in action until 1974, when military authorities changed his legal status to killed in action. His body was returned by Vietnam in 1989…

A quick look at my database revealed that Carl is my third cousin twice removed, as this chart shows.

I often hear negative comments about Facebook and the reasons people won't use it. But in just the last two days I've learned that one of the young men from my hometown who gave his life in Viet Nam while protecting my freedom was a cousin of my cousin, and another young man who experienced the same thing was actually my cousin. I'd have never become aware of that if I was not reading the posts on Facebook! I'm obviously learning more about my family, my cousins, and ancestors daily. The news isn't always pleasant, but it expands the family tree that I'm aware of and makes my time on Facebook very worthwhile!

My Grandma's Connection to Larry's Grandma

My previous post here illustrated my husband's descendancy from Richard Tennant as shown in the chart above and how that related to my cousin Nancy's Aunt Barbara. As I was researching other descendants of Richard Tennant, I noticed the Dietz name. 

I recalled posting a chart just two weeks ago that included the same George D. Dietz and wife Maria E. Meier (seen above) on my blog here.

I developed the chart above that shows that my 2nd cousin once removed Rachel Dietz was married to my husband Larry Jamison's 5th cousin twice removed. How cool! 

Those Koleber daughters were outnumbered

In the photo above, my grandmother, Amalia 'Mollie' Koleber is the little girl in the center, pictured with her father George Koleber, oldest brother George Jr. and brother Daniel standing behind her. A year before this photo was taken, this family emigrated from Kratzke, Russia. Grandma Mollie's mother, at right in the photo, was Catherine Elisabeth Dietz.  "Katie" was the daughter of George Daniel Dietz and Maria Elisabeth Meier, pictured below.  

The photo below shows Daniel and Mary (Meier) Dietz with daughter Katie at left and son Ludwig at right.

As I was again adding "Titles" to the photos I've uploaded to the Family Tree at FamilySearch.org, I reviewed the obituary of Mary (Meier) Dietz, shown below.

The obituary explains that Mary Dietz gave birth to nine children, EIGHT sons and one daughter. So my great grandmother Katie was their only daughter. 

As it happens, my great grandmother also had only ONE daughter and had SEVEN sons. 

Mollie (Koleber) Margheim with left to right
Alfred, Ernest, LaVerna and Leonard

Katie's daughter Mollie (Koleber) Margheim, my grandmother, gave birth to THREE sons and ONE daughter, shown above.

John and Mollie (Koleber) Margheim with LaVerna,
Ernest and Leonard. Son Alfred had died in 1933.

I hadn't realized daughters were in such short supply in those three generations of my Grandma's Koleber ancestry! 

PS: After I posted this story on Facebook, I learned from the wife of George Koleber's grandson (Sandra Skold Koleber) that they also have had 6 sons and one daughter! George is the oldest son in the photo at the top of this blog post. 

Seeing the resemblance in grandmothers

This is one of my favorite old family photos, showing my grandmother Amalia "Mollie" Koleber in about 1905. She's pictured with her father George and mother Catherine Elisabeth "Katie" Dietz Koleber, her oldest brother George Jr. and brother Daniel. This family had just immigrated to America through Ellis Island the previous year from Kratzke, Saratov, Russia. 

I absolutely LOVE this picture of my grandmother Amalia Koleber. I've written about it before in this post. I've been studying it to determine a resemblance that Mollie might have had with her mother Katie. 

This is my great-grandmother Katie Koleber, above, on her farm near Wakeeney, Trego, Kansas about 1924. As I look at her face, I see my grandmother's face when my grandmother was in her teens, as shown in the photo above (she's on the left).

This family photo may have been taken about 1926. It shows George and Katie Koleber (seated) with all their family, except Daniel, who had died in 1916 at the age of 18. From left to right standing are Albert, Victor, Henry, George Jr, Fred, and Emil.  

This is my grandmother Mollie (Koleber) Margheim about 1978, at age 76. And pictured below is HER grandmother, my great, great grandmother Maria Elisabeth Maier Dietz (1851-1929). I do see the resemblance that my grandma bore to her grandma. I noticed that my great, great grandma Mary Dietz is holding a handkerchief in her left hand (below). Notice in the photo at the top of this post that my grandma Mollie is holding a handkerchief in her little left hand. 

It's interesting to me to note that Mary Elisabeth Maier Dietz, above, died 5 Sept 1929 and her daughter Catherine Elisabeth "Katie" Dietz Koleber died 18 Nov 1929. My grandmother Mollie Koleber Margheim gave birth to twins, her 3rd and 4th children on 18 Oct 1929. So Grandma Mollie lost her grandma, gave birth to twins 6 weeks later, then lost her mother one month after the births of her daughter Laverna and son, Leonard Margheim. What an emotional time that must have been for my dear Grandma Mollie.

Adding photos of those who immigrated

It helps me to understanding relationships if I can see something graphically. So I created a chart that illustrates the people in my previous post and have just added a few more photos to it.

I also learned a couple immigration dates that I added, which tell a story. You can see in the chart on the left side that Georg Jacob and Maria E. Koleber Maier immigrated to America from the Volga region of Russia on 22 Aug 1876. 

Jacob's sister Maria E. Maier Dietz and her husband George Daniel Dietz immigrated through New York on 14 Jul 1904. Six days earlier their daughter Catherine E. Dietz and her husband John George Koleber immigrated through Ellis Island, 8 Jul 1904. Catherine and George Koleber's daughter Amalia "Mollie" came with her parents through Ellis Island as a 20 month old. She married John Margheim, whose parents immigrated through Castle Garden in Dec 1886. 

I try to imagine the communications between these families with news of their move from Kratzke, Saratov, Russia, departing from the port of Liverpool and arriving in America, discussing work opportunities, housing possibilities etc. Family members really had to depend on each other for assistance. How I wish I'd discussed this with my grandmother when I had the chance!

Identifying more of my Grandma Margheim's Photo Collection

 When my dad began his final residence in a Care Center in 2012, it was my responsibility to clean out his house and dispose of its contents. To my great surprise I discovered a large box in the back of his office closet that was full of black and white photos from the early 1900s. Included in that box were the pictures on this post. Some were identified, but most were not. I assumed that the family was close to my grandmother's family simply because of the large number of photos Grandma Mollie Margheim had of these people. With help from the data on the Family Tree at FamilySearch I've been able to identify most of them. Pictured in the family portrait above (and as a couple below) are George Jacob Maier (1849-1932), his wife Maria Elisabeth Koleber (1850-1920), and six of their children. 

With the help of this chart, I was finally able to see the relationship of this Maier family to my own family and understand why my Grandma had so many family portraits. There are two close family connections. My grandmother was Amalia Koleber (Mrs John Margheim). Her mother was Catherina "Katy" Elisabeth Dietz (Mrs. John George Koleber). And Katy's uncle is the gentleman in the family portrait at top, George Jacob Maier. But notice George Jacob Maier was married to Maria Elisabeth Koleber. She's an aunt to John George Koleber. So when my great grandparents looked at the family portrait above, George was looking at his aunt's family and Katy was looking at her uncle's family! Now it all makes sense! I'm so blessed to have these wonderful family photos and to finally know who they represent and their relationship to me.

 

George Jacob Maier, Jr., Amelia Nuss Maier, and daughter Amelia. 

Jacob and Amelia wedding portrait

Jacob and Amelia Maier

Jacob Maier and two of his sisters

Louisa Maier

Louisa Maier and husband John Bender wedding portrait

New Records tell more about my Dietz Great, Great Grandparents

In this photo at far left is my great grandmother Catharina "Katy" Elisabeth Dietz, standing beside her father George "Daniel" Dietz and her mother Maria Elisabeth Meier. At far right is Katy's brother Ludwig Dietz. The chart below shows their descendancy to me. 

Daniel and Mary (Meier) Dietz

I discovered yesterday that a newly available record at FamilySearch.org is "United States, Obituaries, American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1899-2012".

The records at EllisIsland.org have told me that Daniel and Mary Dietz arrived from the port of Liverpool to New York on June 24, 1904. They were passengers on the ship Lucania and their nationality was listed as "Russia, German", with last place of residence: "Russia". Indeed they qualified to be on this new list of obituaries at FamilySearch.org.

This is the listing I found when I searched for my great, great grandfather. And this is the obituary I found with my search.

My great, great grandmother's obituary was also available. It has 2 pages but I've only found access to the first page.

I'm so grateful to the AHSGR for supplying these obituaries to FamilySearch. I had no prior knowledge of my great, great grandparents' lives.

Last week I developed and posted a timeline of my grandmother's life, showing that she gave birth to twins on 18 Oct 1929 and exactly one month later her mother, Katy (Dietz) Koleber, who's pictured in the top photo, passed away. This obituary reminds me that on 5 Sept 1929 her grandmother Mary (Meier) Dietz had passed away. 

So to review, 5 Sept 1929 Mollie Koleber Margheim loses her grandmother, 18 Oct 1929 Mollie gives birth to her 3rd and 4th children, twins Leonard and LaVerna Margheim, and a month later, 18 Nov 1929 she loses her mother. And my Grandma Mollie was only 27 years old. 

John and Mollie (Koleber) Margheim, twins Leonard and LaVerna,
Ernest (front left) and Alfred (front right). 1930 

Three years after the photo above was taken, little Alfred suddenly passed away at the age of 9. I'm grateful for the records that are available that tell us more of the lives of our ancestors. And I'm very blessed to have these photos of my grandparents, great grandparents and even my GREAT, GREAT grandparents!

Our Cousins are Married to Each Other

I happily made another discovery today that one of my cousins was married to one of my husband's cousins.

My husband Larry Jamison is a 5th cousin 2 times
removed of Charles S. Bickerstaff.

I am a 2nd cousin once removed of
Rachel Dietz. 

You can see that Rachel Dietz (1921-2007), my cousin, was married to Charles Bickerstaff (1923-2008), my husband's cousin.

Memorial Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: Jean ღ
Record added: Dec 29, 2007 
Find A Grave Memorial# 23618548

Memorial Created by: John F Covey
Record added: Aug 21, 2008 
Find A Grave Memorial# 29219240

Charles's obituary from FindAGrave: 

Memorial services for 1st Sgt. (retired) Charles "Chuck" Bickerstaff, 84, of Junction City, Kan., will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 630 S. Eisenhower Dr., Junction City, Kan.The graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday a the Kansas Veteran's Cemetery at Wakeeney, Kan. Visitation was held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Penwell-Gabel Johnson Chapel 203 N. Washington. Mr. Bickerstaff passed away Sunday (July 20, 2008) at Mercy in Manhattan, Kan. Memorials may be made to Immanuel Lutheran Church, 630 S. Eisenhower Dr., Junction City, Kan., 66441. He was born August 8, 1923, in Grant Town, the son of Martin and Hazel "Tennant" Bickerstaff. He graduated from Fairmont High School with the class of 1941. He married Rachel Dietz on May 16, 1945 at Olympia, Wash. His wife Rachel preceded him in death on Dec. 7, 2007. They moved to Junction City in May 1966. Mr. Bickerstaff served 22 years in the U.S. Army and served his country during World War II, Korea and Vietnam. In addition to five bronze stars, a silver star, a meritorious medal, he received other commendations. Upon retirement from the military, he was a salesman for Modern Woodman of America. Mr. Bickerstaff was a member of the Immanuel Lutheran Church and numerous civic organizations. He was a Hixson Award recipient and past president of the noon Kiwanis, past commander of the VFW, past commander of the American Legion, and a member of the Salvation Army board. In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by his parents; and his brothers, Martin Jr., Richard and Roger. Survivors include his daughter Constance Sue Collins, of Van, Texas; his sons Charles Ludwig, of Dixon, Ill., and Henry Martin and his wife Harriet, of Alva, Okla.; five grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and two great-great grandchildren; his brothers M. John and Thomas E.; and sisters Ivah Mae Haught, Ida Virginia Stalnaker, and Helen Patricia Law.

Treasures: My Koleber Family Photos

John "George" Koleber and his wife Catharine Elizabeth "Katy" Dietz Koleber, sons George, Daniel and daughter Amalia "Mollie", my grandmother.

I've been scanning and sharing old photos and thought this would be a good place to post a few of the great family portraits I have of my paternal grandmother's Koleber family. The photo above shows the Koleber family unit to immigrated from Kratzke, Saratov, Russia to America, through Ellis Island in July, 1904. 

This is the same family years later, with sons left to right: Albert, Emanuel "Victor", Henry "Tiny", Amalia "Mollie", George "Jager", Fred, and Emil, with George and Katy Koleber seated. Son Daniel, who is pictured in the photo at the top, sadly passed away 5 Jan 1916, three days before his 18th birthday. 

As you can see at the bottom of this photo, at left is my great-grandmother Catharina "Katy" Dietz Koleber (1874-1929), with her parents (my great, great grandparents!) George Daniel (1852-1932) and Maria Elizabeth (Meier) Dietz (1851-1929), and Katy's brother John "Ludwig" Dietz (1872-1930). Each of these family members was born in Kratzke, Saratov, Russia and died in Wakeeney, Trego, Kansas.

These are my favorite photos of my grandmother Mollie Koleber. She was 13 years when they were taken in 1915. I love it that she's wearing jewelry! I own the necklace that she's wearing in the top picture.

My paternal grandparents John Ludwig (1900-1978) and Mollie (Koleber) (1902-1986) Margheim.

After his first wife Katy died in 1929, Grandpa George Koleber, in 1931, married Maria Elizabeth Mehling (1880-1955), and lived in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Pictured here are my Great Grandpa and Grandma George Koleber at their home in Fort Collins, CO with my dad, Ernest L. Margheim 2nd from right, his sister Laverna M. Margheim at far right and her twin brother Leonard M. Margheim at far left. Beside Leonard is my mother Ruby (Flanders) Margheim. 

Great Grandpa George Koleber was buried in the Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery, Wakeeney, Trego, Kansas beside his first wife Catharine Elizabeth "Katy" Dietz Koleber on 25 May, 1952.

Making My Dietz Connections Personal

As I mentioned in my last post (Oct. 12), an email last week from a wonderful gentleman in the state of Washington spurred me to do more investigating into my paternal grandmother's maternal family, the family of George Daniel and Maria Elizabeth Meier Dietz, pictured seated at right. Follow that? My dad's mother's mother's family. My husband asks "Why don't you just say your great-great grandparents?" I think many of us who work on these genealogies know the answer to that. We have hundreds of great, great-grandparents. I like to track the connection or relationship through a particular parent and grandparent because it makes them more real to me. To refer to a man (in this case George Daniel Dietz) as my Grandma's Grandpa helps me consider what my Grandma might have felt for her Grandpa Dietz, just as I cherish the feelings and relationship I had with my Grandpa. If I just think of this man as my Great, Great, Grandfather George Daniel Dietz, it takes the human connection away and he just becomes another Ancestor.

At left is a photo of me and my son Matt and at right is a photo of my father Ernest. Here are generations four, five and six of the descendants of George Daniel and Maria Elizabeth Dietz.

This is my Dad's mother, my Grandma Amalia "Mollie" Koleber Margheim. And at right is a photo of her as a very small girl, with her two brothers and parents, John George and Katherine Elisabeth "Katie" Dietz Koleber.

In the photo at the stop of this story is Katie Dietz Koleber (top left) with her brother Johann Ludwig Dietz (top right) and their parents George Daniel Dietz and Katharine Elisabeth Meier Dietz.

And here's a photo of my Grandmother with her brothers and parents. Katherine Elisabeth "Katie" Dietz Koleber is seated front row right with seven of her children. Her son Daniel passed away at age 17, just 3 days before his eighteenth birthday. In the picture above with my Grandma Mollie as a very young girl, Daniel is standing right above my Grandmother. A handsome young man!

Our six-generation Dietz line: George Daniel, to his daughter Katharine Elisabeth (Katie) Dietz Koleber, to her daughter Amalia "Mollie" Koleber Margheim, to her son Ernest Ludwig Margheim, to me, Mary Rebecca "Becky" Margheim Jamison to my son Matt C. Klein.

From the year of the birth of my son's daughter in 2000 to the year of George Daniel's birth in 1852: 148 years. Seven generations in 148 years. I wish my great, great grandparents could know their sweet little 3rd great, granddaughter. I'll share these pictures with her one of these days so her 6th great grandparents will become more personal to her too.