I know not why I received a forum post response after much silence; but, a distant family member did reach out and I am quite grateful for the new connection to my Polish side of the Celmer family.
My new connection is Lenore...who happens to be my 2nd cousin once removed.
You see some time ago...I had post this thread 'Looking for Celmer Family (area of Poland unknown) on the Ancestry.com Message Board under Poland. There were a few responses that served to guide me; but, there was never one that was personal in naming shared ancestors as the one on April 26, 2013 that gave me hope.
It read, "My grandfather's name was Peter M. Celmer and his wife was Minnie Celmer. My uncles were part of Celmer and Sons business. I recall a relative named Charlotte that would visit at my grandmothers house."Finding past connections is like trying to unglue a book whose pages refuse to unbind and reveal themselves. Here was my first true reveal outside of any information that my immediate family had shared with me and/or what the internet had available. Because post after post responses from strangers kind enough to assist are appreciated, this one was a true connection. In my excitement, I may have responded too eagerly...however, it reflected an honest joy at having someone reach back to me.
My response was, "...as the men from outer space would say...HOUSTON - we have a connection! it seems that the planetary alignment of those with celmer blood have finally connected. Looks like siblings to your grandparents...were my great-grandparents..."This was followed by a flurry of direct email exchanges that have since pivoted from one sister to the other!
In the initial exchange between Lenore and myself...I found out that her cousin Peter (who was named after his grandfather) had just passed away. This was also the same Peter I had tried to contact about once a year with a voice mail with his company - but, always found myself with no response. Now there was confirmation he was related. It was just too late for us to connect. There will be more on Peter in an upcoming post.
Anyway, we exchanged emails and more information...and found out she was one of three sisters. Her parents were Eleanor Celmer (daughter of Minnie + Peter) and Jesse Koleszar with her other two sisters named Bonnie and Lora. I had her parents information; but, I was unaware of any children...and voila - here they were times three!
The next thing I knew was that I received an email from Lora who also had much to share...followed by another email with a little treasure attached. It was the oldest known photo from that side of the family I had seen to date. Received was a wonderful electronic copy of a wedding photo.
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| Minnie + Peter : 1903 : Brooklyn, NY |
Looking at the photo I tried to imagine how close Minnie resembled her sister who was my great-grandmother Mary Stella (Stanislawa) and even, my own family. I need to find more photographs of these two women and truly, do a facial analysis of them. Until then, I'll just leave my imagination to do the rest.
Because this had been such a sweet surprise to find attached to my email, I knew I had one that might serve the same purpose.
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| Katherine and Minnie |
From what my aunt could recall, her aunt Minnie had come to Detroit to visit and that Katherine being too young too travel alone to Cleveland accompanied her aunt back so that she could stay with them that summer.
Lora was taken back...as she could recognize her own grandmother. Her response made me smile inside. Though the photo was taken about thirty years before her death in 1967, she could see certainly see the woman she had called her grandmother.
The next goal is to find out two things...which church Minnie and Peter might have exchanged vows and a copy of their marriage license/certificate from 1903.
No matter how long it takes or what is discovered, I say It's all about the search and the adventure.
