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What mortuary existed around Pollock in 1918, and does anyone know what might have become of their records?

We have a mystery woman, Jacobaina/Jacobina Walz Reich, who came over in 1908, married Albert Reich in Oliver County, ND, that same year. In 1918, she went to Pollock to visit her sister who was ill. Jacobaina and her children all got sick, and Jacobaina died there at Pollock, supposedly. It's believed that her sister also died. Several of us are looking into this matter, trying to locate records. We are wanting to find her actual grave, if possible, but also who her sister was and who their family of origin was. Campbell County may hold some answers. We sure haven't found any in Oliver or Mercer Counties.

Additional information has come to light regarding her surname. On the back of a photographs was written: Jakobina Welz S Verstorbenen tochter Maria Ziebart Arziser Ansiedler Fred Ziebart/Fibart (translater had difficulty making out the first letter).
Sandra

Was there a local newspaper in Pollock or Campbell county? I would think Mortuaries would advertise locally. Sadly as they are private companies I don't think their records would be public.

I assume you are looking at local churches for death records?

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Regards, Murray
BlackSeaGR Forum co-Administrator
Gauer Family Website

Actually, mortuary records are often public records. I can walk into any mortuary office around here and they will often have an index book right on the counter that I can look through, and I can request a copy of the file, sometimes for a fee. A genealogy group in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, was kind enought to get two such records for me last year. They are a fabulous resource, as they often contain a lot of the same information that would be on a death certificate. I have copies for my husband's aunt, her husband, and an uncle. So, unless the Dakotas have different laws, they can be open records. It's often left up to the mortuary itself.

And yes, a cousin has gotten the church record. Don't know about any newspapers.

I have a copy of the Pollock Area History book and it's possible that Linton, ND may have been the closest funeral Home to Pollock. There is a Myers-Weigel Funeral Home listed in the book with a phone number of 701-254-5350. You could call and find out if they were in business at that time and might be of help to you.

I also looked through the family histories and did not find a Reich or Ziebart family.

Next, I looked through the book called "A Collection of Obituaries" by Bob Dale and again, no luck. These obits are from 1888-1988 from Campbell County SD and southwestern Emmons County, ND.

Have you tried Find a Grave - http://www.findagrave.com/?

Gayla

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Gayla Aspenleiter
Black Sea German Research Webmaster and Database Administrator

We've looked everywhere except at the mortuaries, and there have been multiple possibilities given us. One is that she died in SD, was buried there, but the grave was moved when they built the dam. Or she died and was buried in Emmons County. Or she died in SD but no one knows where she was buried. Up until now, no one has actually gone to these places and nosed around, and I can't get up there until next summer.

Thank you for the info on the funeral home. Sometimes, the records are passed on to successive funeral homes as they buy out the old ones. And sometimes the old records make their way into the possession of the local genealogy or historical society. Some city cemeteries maintain their log books forever, too.

And I think I have sorted out that Jacobina's maiden name was Welz. It's fitting the pattern I'm seeing in the Arcis records--Reich, Schuh, Welz and Ziebart all seemed to go together. I also think my cousins have misunderstood what the writing on the old photograph is about. I think Jacobina's mother was a Ziebart, daughter of Fred who was a settler in Arcis. Curious that her father's name isn't on there in that case, though.