Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust: Block 2 Part III of IV

Alex McEachern was born in Canada on January 27, 1864. In the 1900 census, Alex and his wife Barbara were living in Durbin Township, Cass County, N.D. with two children, Sadie and John. They stated they had been married for 10 years. His occupation was listed as a farmer. ln the 1910 census, Alex and Barbara were living in New Rockford, N.D. with three children, Sadie, John and William. Sadie’s occupation was listed as a schoolteacher. It listed four children who were born but only three are living. Their daughter Mary who was born on June 5, 1903 died on May 13, 1905 at the age of two. Her inscription on her tombstone reads “Our Darling Baby – Gone To A Better Land.” She is buried in St. John’s Cemetery in Block 2, Lot 44. ln the 1920 census, Alex and Barbara were living in New Rockford, N.D. with two sons, John and William. Alex’s occupation was listed as general laborer. In the 1930 census, Alex and Barbara were living in New Rockford, N.D. and his occupation was concrete worker. Their son, John Alexander, who was born on August 20, 1896, died on June 21, 1936 at the age of 40 years. He is buried in St. John’s Cemetery in Block 2, Lot 44. In the 1940 census, Alex and Barbara were living with their son, William, and family in New Rockford, N.D. William’s occupation was listed as electrician while Alex’s occupation was listed as a mason for the building industry. Barbara, who was born on December 4, 1870 in Germany died on December 21, 1954 in New Rockford, N.D. She is buried in St. John’s Cemetery in Block 2, Lot 44 along with three of her children, Mary, John and Sadie. According to his death certificate, Alex died on June 18, 1948 in the city of New Rockford, N.D. at the age of 87 years, four months, and 21 days. He was born in Eldon, Canada to Farquet and Sarah McEachern. His usual occupation was listed as a retired farmer. He is buried in Prairie Home Cemetery, New Rockford in Block 2, Lot 19. It is hard for me to understand why families were laid to rest on opposite sides of the cemetery and can only hope that they are united in the afterlife. Alex does have a stone marker in Prairie Home and Barbara, John, Mary and Sadie do have stone markers in St. John’s.

Mervin Indergaard was born on July 1 , 1928 and died in 1992. He was the son of James and Sadie (McEachern) lndergaard. He was probably noted as the informant for his mother Sadie who is buried in St. John’s Cemetery, Block 2, Lot 44. Mervin is believed to be buried in the Kvernes Cemetery, Foster county, N.D. beside his wife Francis Ann lndergaard.

R. (Rudolph) Indergaard, was born on January 29, 1867 and died on January 7, 1924 at the age of 56. Rudolph was the first husband of Sadie (McEachern) and brother to James whom Sadie later married. Rudolph and Sadie lived in the township of Pleasant Prairie, Eddy County, N.D. where he was a self-employed farmer. Rudolph and James are both buried in the Kvernes Church Cemetery, Nordmore Township, Foster County, N.D., where they were baptized. They have stone markers in the cemetery.

Martin Gross is a mystery. I couldn’t find any families in Eddy County with that name. In the Catholic records, the name is entered as Martin Gross somewhere in the 1920’s timeframe. I can only guess that it was a child who died in infancy. There were three families named Gross living in Eddy County in the 1920’s that could have had this child. First, Dewey and Charlotte Gross lived in New Rockford in the 1930 census. They had one daughter, Shirley, who was born in Montana in 1924. Dewey was a paper inspector and manager of a grocery store in New Rockford, N.D. lt is possible that they had another child (Martin) in the time frame of 1925 to 1930. Dewey died in 1931 in California. Second, George and Clara Gross lived in New Rockford Township, Eddy County, N.D. in the 1920 census. They had one son, Peter, and one adopted son Joseph living with them. Their occupation was general farm laborers. In the 1930 census, they were living on the same farm with two children, Peter and Katherine. What happened to Joseph I’m not sure. In the 1940 census they were on the same farm with no children listed. In the 1950 census they were still living on the farm alone. Peter died on April 8, 1976. Clara died on January 31, 1971. They are both buried in St. John’s Cemetery, Block 7, Lot 22. Third, Eqidi and Franciska Gross lived in Rocky Mountain Township, Eddy County, N.D. in the 1920 census with their 12 children – John, Ignatius, Zita Ann, Frank, Louisa, Joseph, Barbara, Franciske, Lena, Peter, Eva and Eqidi Jr. By the 1930 census they were located in Divide County, Lincoln Valley Township of N.D., living with six children – Frank, Franciska, Lena, Peter, Eva and Equidi Jr. The last child was born in 1918 when Franciska was 36 years old. In 1924 Franciska was 40 years old and possibly could have had a baby that died in infancy. All of the other children lived past the 1930’s. Eqidi was first married to Philomina (Buckmeier) when they lived in Orrin, Pierce County, N.D. where they had six children: Alexander, who died when he was 10 in 1910, John, Ignatius, Zita Ann, Frank and Louisa. Philomina died in 1907 and she and son Alexander are buried in the Orrin, N.D. cemetery. In 1908 Eqidi married Franciska (Haberlack) and had seven more children, Joseph, Barbara, Franciske, Lena, Peter, Eva and Eqidi Jr. The only child that was born in New Rockford was Eqidi Jr. Eqidi and his wife Franciska both died in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and are buried there.

My guess is that it probably was either the Dewey and Charlotte family or the George and Clara family, as Eqidi had purchased two plots in St. John’s Block 7, Lot 4 for, I am assuming, two infant children or grandchildren. I will touch again on this story when I get to Block 7.

J. J. Sullivan – John Henry Sullivan was born and died on October 1, 1925 in New Rockford, N.D. His parents were Joseph and Elenora Sullivan. They were living in the city of New Rockford in the 1920 census with five children. Joseph’s occupation was listed as yardmaster for the railroad. In the 1930 and 1940 census they were living in Grand Forks, N.D. with an additional three children and continuing to work for the railroad. In the 1950 census they were living in Portland, Ore. when Joseph and Elenora died and were buried. Baby John Henry Sullivan is buried in St. John’s cemetery in Block 2, Lot 60. There is no marker.

George Goldade – In the Catholic records it states that George Goldade purchased a single grave for a baby on December 22, 1924 in St. John’s Cemetery, Block 2, Lot 60. Baby Goldade’s parents were George and Mary Goldade. In the 1920 census, George and Mary lived in Gates Township, Eddy County, N.D. with one child, Barbara. George’s occupation was listed as general farming. In the 1930 census George and Mary had moved to Dewey County, South Dakota and had 12 children, seven of these children being born in North Dakota. Baby Goldade does not have a marker in the cemetery.

Mike Hartman – Mike Hartman purchased a single gravesite for an infant baby boy who was born and died on January 29, 1922 in New Rockford, N.D. His death certificate states he lived for eight hours. Baby boy Hartman’s parents were Mike and Barbara (Burgard) Hartman. Mike and his parents lived in Smith Township (Sheyenne), Eddy County, N.D. ln the 1930 census Mike and his wife Barbara were living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and had two children. Mike’s occupation was garage mechanic. Baby boy Hartman is buried in St. John’s cemetery, Block 2, Lot 61. He does not have a marker.

Toreigner Cruk – I am guessing that in the Catholic records they identified this person as a foreigner. lt is possible they meant Antoni Kujawa, who was Japanese. I also found a death certificate for an Onoda baby girl who was born in New Rockford, N.D. on June 29, 1925 and only lived about 10 minutes. Her parents were Sam and Ai Onoda living in New Rockford, N.D. at the time. This death certificate was the only information I could find on the Onodas. Baby girl Onoda is unmarked in St. John’s Cemetery.

Antoni Jujawa – Real name Antoni Kujawa was born in 1861 in Poland. In the 1920 census, he was a farm laborer on a stock farm working and living with Henry Pratt and his wife Anna in Lake Washington Township, Eddy County, N.D. Antoni was a single man. On his death certificate his name was listed as Tony Kujawa. His employer was listed as Mike Roman, who lived in Lake Washington Township, Eddy County, N.D. Antoni died on November 16, 1928 in the New Rockford City Hospital. He is buried in St. John’s Cemetery, Block 2, Lot 62 and has no marker.

Rose Romanoski – She was born on January 6, 1904 in Germany. Her parents were Ignatius and Rose Kubzik. In the 1930 census, Rose and her husband, Joseph and five children – Elizabeth, Helen, Lorene, Josephine and William – were living in the New Rockford Township, Eddy County, N.D. on a farm. Joseph’s occupation was listed as a farmer. Rose died in the Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd, New Rockford, N.D. on April 18, 1990 at the age of 86.

Rose and her husband Joseph are buried in St. John’s Cemetery, Block 2, Lot 11. They both have markers. Ignatius Kubzik is also buried in Block 2, Lot 51. He also has a marker. Rose Kubzik is buried in Carrington, N.D. lt is my assumption that Rose Romanoski is listed in the Catholic records as purchasing a gravesite for either her father, Ignatius, or for her infant son, Edward J. Ramonoski (Romanoski) who was born on January 20, 1933 in New Rockford, N.D. and died 42 days later on March 2, 1933 in New Rockford, N.D. Baby Edward is buried in St. John’s Cemetery, Block 2, Lot 61 and has no marker.