Friday, March 22, 2013

Responses to My Inquiry About Caspar Albert, the son

After receiving emails and phone calls from several Staeheli's who had no information about the burial location for Caspar Albert Staeheli, the son, I heard from Daphne Dempsey. 

Daphne recently returned from a trip to Australia to visit relatives and reported she truly enjoyed her three weeks there.

Daphne recalls that her mother, Theresa, related that the son was in a military hospital in Sedro Woolley when he died and it might be possible that he was buried in the vicinity of Steilacoom, Washington.  This provides a new direction for my search which I will follow in the hope of finding an answer.


 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Solving a Puzzle - Where is Caspar Albert Staeheli the Son?

For several years I have researched where Caspar Albert Staeheli, the son, born April 24, 1879 is buried.  The most reliable story of his passing is that he died in a Sedro Woolley hospital from Typhoid Fever. 

My access to Washington State Digital Archives has provided no information and contact with Alison Costanza at the Northwest Regional Branch of Washington State Archives at WWU in Bellingham has also failed to find a death record for Caspar Albert. 

While reviewing documents I got from Paul Staeheli (see Paul's Treasure Trove, April 17, 2011) I read a document listing Albert's death date as October 11, 1901 in a hospital in Sedro, Washington.  The source is Joseph Staeheli's record book.  It is also noted he was called "Albert" by the family.

A page from the Staeheli family journal signed by the Father, Caspar Albert Staeheli, reinforces this information.

A statement by the author of The Staeheli Family - an unattributed history states he is buried in Sedro Woolley.  With this information I will continue work to find a record of his date of death and location of burial so I can document his final resting place. 

However, a document from Pauline Staeheli Hagan listing the 16 Staeheli children has pencil notes stating that Caspar Albert, the son, was buried in Stylacoom.  I read this to be Steilacoom, WA which is near Tacoma.

After checking cemetery records at the Union Cemetery in Sedro Woolley and the Western State Hospital Memorial Cemetery near Steilacoom I have found no listing for Albert Staeheli. 

I spoke by telephone with a librarian at the Sedro Woolley library where genealogical records of Skagit County are kept.  A local genealogical society has recorded deaths in the county from funeral home records.  From the 1880's until 1908 the state did not require or maintain death records.  Counties were responsible for those records.  There is no record for Caspar Albert. 

This is a mystery to me.  Family records are very clear about this information but I have found no supporting county or state documents.  And I have not yet found his burial place. 

I will contact several Staeheli contributors to determine if someone has specific information about Albert's place of burial.

Because Albert arrived in America a year before the entire family and is credited with encouraging the Staeheli's to follow I believe he was a significant influence establishing our families here. 


 

Monday, March 4, 2013

Website Changes


Several articles have been moved from the original website to the new website.  This was necessary because the original site had reached its memory capacity so no more information could be added. 

I also changed the home page to minimize redundancy.

The new site has sufficient memory for much more information and I have added new articles from documents provided by Paul Staeheli which he had obtained from Pauline Staeheli’s estate.