RARE JAMES WALSH PHOTO

"Uncle Jim Walsh, mother's half-brother" (Julia Fecht Hogan's writing) James Walsh was the half-brother of Elizabeth Ann Walsh Fecht. Photo courtesy of Dr. Dan Sullivan.
Patrick Walsh remarried to Ellen Sweeney after the death of his first wife Ann (Finn).
Ellen was born c. 1861 and died in 1904. She is buried in Calvary Cemetery near St. Louis on Floriessant Street.

CHILDREN OF ELLEN (SWEENEY) AND PATRICK WALSH

1) JAMES _______________ WALSH (w-8) (called Jim)
born: ____________ in ______________, _________________
mother: Ellen SWEENEY (w-4)
father: Patrick WALSH (w-1)
died: 4 or 11 Novemeber, 1953 in ____________
buried: __________ in ___________ Cemetery, in _____________, ___________

2) PATRICK ___________ WALSH Jr. (w-11)
born: ____________ in ______________, _________________
mother: Ellen SWEENEY (w-4
father: Patrick WALSH (w-1)
died: _________, in __________________, ___________________
buried: __________ in ___________ Cemetery, in _____________, ___________

3) JULIA AGNES WALSH (w-5)
born: 10 Sept. 1871 at Bridgeton, Missouri
mother: Ellen SWEENEY (w-4
father: Patrick WALSH (w-1)
married: 22 June 1894 to James A. ALGOE (w-6)
in ______________, __________
died: 5 June, 1944 at St. Louis, Missouri
buried: __________ in ___________ Cemetery, in _____________, ___________

4) JOHN (JACK) ____________WALSH (w-12)
born: ¬¬¬¬¬¬__________
mother: Ellen SWEENEY (w-4
father: Patrick WALSH (w-1)
died: _____ November, 1910 in _________________
buried: __________ in ___________ Cemetery, in _____________, ___________

Dr. DAN SULLIVAN AND GERALD FECHT

Cousins Dr. Daniel Sullivan and Gerald Fecht, taken at the Tarzana, California home of Janne and Jerry Fecht in 1995. Both men have Ph.D.s and had careers as college teachers. Dan is a professor of Chemistry at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Jerry is retired as a teacher of humanities, at Moorpark Community College in Ventura County, California

FARM HOUSE OF WILLIAM C. FECHT

Farm House built by William Charles Fecht and his wife Elizabeth Ann on the outskirts of Mexico, Missouri. He replaced an earlier house at this location. Will Fecht was well known as a progressive farmer. This house was one of the first structures in Missouri to be lighted by gas.

FAMILY LUNCH IN LUCERNE, CALIFORNIA

Family Lunch in Lucerne, California
L to R
Earl Wojcieszak, Susan Wojciezak, Joye Fecht, James Fecht, Nouna Fecht and Robert Fecht
Joye Fecht and James Fecht are now deceased.
photo provided to this blog by Nouna Fecht 2008

BOB AND NOUNA FECHT IN ARIZONA

After one hurricane too many, Bob and Nouna Fecht relocated from Florida to Sun City, Arizona. This photograph was taken at Thanksgiving time 2007. It was shared for this family photographs blog by Nouna Fecht. Before his retirement Bob worked for the Boeing Company in Washington State.
Robert William Fecht is the great grandson of Margaret (Bost) and Jacob Fecht.

FECHT FAMILY PHOTO 1958

This snapshot of Fecht family relatives was taken in Mexico, Missouri in 1958.
L to R (top)
Larry Fecht, Frank Fecht, Jack Fecht, Don Shire, Rosemary Reeder, (hidden Hugh Hogan), Lawrence Fecht, Dorothy Fetterhoff, unidentified man, Lena Fecht
(bottom)
unknown young woman, JoAnn Fecht, Anita Fetterhoff, Carl Fetterhoff and Julia Fecht Hogan.

The unknown man behind Aunt Lena appears to be holding a baby, or they may be another person next to him. He is identified on the snapshot as Carl Fetterhoff, but Carl is the boy in the front row. I think he may be Mike Chapsko and that Patricia his wife may be hidden.
This photograph was in the album of Bill and Mildred Fecht

IOWA FARM ANTICS AND WORK

Dan Sullivan tries on elk antlers at home of Vincent Hogan.
Dan and Florence Sullivan and Dan's relative Mark Sullivan

Working an subsistence farms was labor intensive. There were no weekends off from animal or weather-related chores. With no radio or television, people created their own entertainment. In the fall of the year, animals were "thinned out", to save on grain and fodder needed to feed livestock. Only "brood" stock was kept over the winter. The rest were slaughtered and preserved by smoking or salt-curing. Survival meant using every bit of a slaughtered animal.
Here Dan and Florence Sullivan are engaged in the rendering of a hog's fat into lard. (Those were the days before anyone ever heard of transfat.) Lard was used for deep frying, baking and other things such as the making of soap. It was dangerous work involving boiling water and sharp knives.
To keep children away from the process, pig's bladders were removed, scrubbed and blown up into crude footballs and baloons. Some families covered the pig bladders with hog leather - thus, we have the origins of football and soccer, both played at harvest time.
These photos were shared by our kinsman Dr. Dan Sullivan of Omaha, Nebraska. Photos between 1920s and 30s

MARY CATHERINE FETTERHOFF

Mary Catherine Fetterhoff
Mary Catherine is the daughter of Carl Fetterhoff and grand daughter of Dorothy and Elmer Fetterhoff.
She is the great, great, great grand daughter of Margaret (Bost) and Jacob Fecht. Mary Catherine is a teacher and resides in the State of Missouri.

FETTERHOFF FAMILY

The Family of Dorothy and Elmer Fetterhoff
L to R: top
Scott Fetterhoff, Bill Fahrenkrog, Anita Fahrenkrog, Carl Fetterhoff, Mary Catherine Fetterhoff, Linda Fetterhoff and Tom Fetterhoff
front row:
Roger Devault, Tammy Devault, Bill Fetterhoff, Carol Fetterhoff, Dorothy Fetterhoff, Elmer Fetterhoff, and Michael Fetterhoff

HOMESTEADING IN MONTANA

Bill Fecht and Dan Sullivan clowning around in Montana. Saturday was the day set aside to go into town to buy supplies, such as flour, tools and seed. Both Dan and Bill "proved" homesteads in Montana.
Harry Candy drives a mule team in Montana.
Harry Candy was the first husband of Ann Fecht, the eldest daughter of Elizabeth Ann (Walsh) and William Charles Fecht. In 1918, Ann returned to Mexico, Missouri with her baby Rosemary. Harry packed a railroad car with the little family's possessions and left his unsuccessful homestead for good. On the way to Missouri, the railroad car caught fire. Harry was drenched with water while fighting the fire. He hadn't been feeling well when he left Montana. Chilled and exposed to influenza, he fainted when he left the train in Mexico, Missouri. People stepped over him, thinking that he was likely drunk.
By the time Harry was rescued, exposure and fever took his life.
These photographs we shared with this blog by Dr. Dan Sullivan.

FAMILY IN LEBANON, OREGON

L to R - top
Robin Perysian, Robert W. Fecht, Ronald O. Fecht
bottom
Shilo Fecht, Jamie Fecht and Kim Fecht
This photo was taken and shared by Nouna Fecht

ROBERT W. FECHT AND GRAND DAUGHTERS

Shilo Fecht, Robert W. Fecht and Jamie Fecht
Shilo and Jamie are the daughters of Kim and Ronald O. Fecht of Lebanon, Oregon. This photo was taken by Nouna Fecht, and shared by her for this Fecht Family Photos blog.
Jamie and Shilo are the great, great, great granddaughters of Margaret (Bost) and Jacob Fecht.
Robert Fecht resides with his wife Nouna in Phoenix, Arizona

ZACHARY FECHT

Our kinsman Zachary Fecht
In 2008, Zachary is living with his parents in Lebanon, Oregon. He is the great, great, great grandson of Margaret (Bost) and Jacob Fecht. His parents are Kim and Ronald O. Fecht.
This photograph was taken by Nouna Fecht during a vacation trip to the Pacific Northwest.

JANIS DEIMEKE SEEKS WEDDING PHOTO OF LAWRENCE & LENA FECHT

Thanks for the website. I am Margie's daughter and I am planning on scrapbooking a heritage album soon, and these pictures will help alot.
There of some of my mom on this website that I don't have. I will keep checking the website. By chance, so you have a wedding picture of my great grandparens William C and Elizabeth Fecht or my grandparents Lawrence & Lena Fecht. Mom and my aunt don't have any of those pictures.
Thanks,
Janis Deimeke

SUPPORTING THE "IRISH CAUSE"

Our kinsman Dr. Dan Sullivan sent this jpg image of an old Irish bond. Contributions supporting the Irish Republic in the late 1800s were considered support of an illegal revolution against the British Empire. And since money raised to support the Independence of Erin was used for the purchase of weapons, such contributions were considered terrorist acts.
The Irish in America were a major support of the Irish Revolution. One would not have kept a bond like this in Canada or Australia, where it would have been evidence of conspiracy to overthrow the English crown.
When I was a little boy, before the era of Indian casinos and State lotteries, Irish Sweepstakes tickets were regularly sold in the Spring to "support Irish hospitals". Everyone knew that the money was going to the Sinn Finn for the Irish Resistance. Catholic nuns, who went home to Eire for vacations or family visits regularly smuggled Irish Sweepstakes tickets into the USA. Nuns were perfect for the job since no self-respecting Irish-American cop would search or arrest (pinch) a "sister."
My dad, Bill Fecht, loved to sing the sweet revolutionary song, "The Wear'in o the Green". It commemorates the Rising of the Moon Rebellion on Easter in Dublin.
Can you imagine what ten dollars was worth in the late 1800s. Lot of passion for the old country here.

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY

For some reason this snapshot of my Dad's brothers and sister made me very lonesome. I guess, it is the informality of the image and how very much they were, as they are in my memory. It probably didn't help that the public television station in the background was playing sentimental Irish music.
L to R:
Francis (Frank), Lawrence (Uncle Buckie), William (Bill) and Julia (Fecht) Hogan.
Being "Irish" was an important part of being members of the family of Elizabeth Ann (Walsh) and William Charles Fecht. Although these folks were half Alsatian and half Irish, it was the Irish part that seemed to matter. This was no doubt reinforced by the Catholic priests at Saint Brendan Church in Mexico, Missouri, who were Irish. When I was a little boy, I thought God spoke Latin with an Irish accent.
On March 17th, there was a huge corned beef and cabbage dinner at the Saint Brendan church hall. Boiled potatoes, greasy corned beef, over-boiled cabbage (actually my mother Mildred over-boiled nearly everything.) Uncle Lawrence (Buckie) always prepared an elaborate practical joke. My dad smuggled in Irish whisky (not Bushmills, but real Irish whisky Jamesons.) Aunt Effie would bring parsnips and horseradish. Aunt Lena baked Irish soda bread. AND, most important! We got the day off from school, and the Lent abstinence from meat was suspended. Two days later, on the feast of Saint Joseph we had another school holiday. On the day between, the nuns took us to a nearby part to run around. They were smart enough to know that they wouldn't accomplish anything on March 18th.
My dad, Bill Fecht and my sister Genevieve would do Irish jigs after dinner. Aunt Meg (Margaret Fecht) and Uncle Gene Sullivan would dance the shoddish on Patty's night.
My wife Janne and I had big St. Patrick's Day parties for a long time, but since it comes right in the middle of tax season (Janne is a CPA) we look for a saint's day in late April to celebrate.

AT THE FARM OF WILLIAM AND ELIZABETH FECHT

L to R.
boy is Jimmie Fecht, William Charles Fecht, Dorothy Fecht, Elizabeth Ann (Walsh) Fecht
children:
Marjorie Fecht and Robert W. Fecht

Jimmie, Dorothy, Marjorie and Robert are the great great grandchildren of Margaret (Bost) and Jacob Fecht.
William C. Fecht built this "home place" farm house on the site of an earlier farm house.

MARY GENEVIEVE AND JAMES FECHT

Mary Genevieve and James L. Fecht

This may well be a photograph that Genevieve hasn't seen for years. It is marked on the back "My favorite one of all." It was taken after Jim's return from the Second World War. It was taken on the side lawn of the house on Lombard Street in Everett, Washington. Jim and Joye were living at Lake City Washington. Genevieve adds, "The dress I had on was one that Joye gave me. I loved seeing all the pictures sure brought back memories."

Genevieve was always to be Jim's little sister. In the last week of his life, Jim prayed for her and for her family.

Note: This information was modified based on Genevieve's input.

JAMES AND VIRGINIA FECHT

Virginia "Gini" Matter Fecht and her husband James L. Fecht
It was a second marriage for both Jim and Gini Fecht. They lived in Tarzana, California and were very close. Both had been long retired at the time of Jimmie's death in 2007.

REBBE FAMILY OF WASHINGTON STATE

The Family of Genevieve and Owen Rebbe

Top L to R.
Kathleen, Karen, Owen, Karla and Kristine Rebbe
Bottom L to R.
Steven, Genevieve and Robert Rebbe

Robert Rebbe is deceased.
Kathleen, Karen, Karla, Kristine, Steve and Robert Rebbe are the great great grandchildren of Margaret (Bost) and Jacob Fecht

St. BRENDAN HIGH SCHOOL MEXICO, MISSOURI 1941

St. BRENDAN'S TO GRADUATE 13
"The St. Brendan's Parochial School Senior Class, to be graduated at final commencement exercises to be held at the school on the evening of May 25. They are above, left to right, front row, Rosalie Fennewarld, Mary Elizabeth Streep, Polly Blaha, Mary Jane Sullivan, Mary Ellen Donelly, and Frances O'Brien.
The back row Marlin Rogers, James Fecht, Donald McLaughlin, Johnny Gavin, James Torrence, Joseph Enslen and Robert Phillips.
Newspaper photo and story from the Mexico Ledger.

Saint Brendan was a very small school. In this picture are two cousins and members of the Fecht family: Mary Jane Sullivan and James L. Fecht.

DONALD SHIRE

Donald Shire as a school boy.
Don Shire is the son of Ann and Phil Shire. He was raised and still lives in Mexico, Missouri.
He is the great grandson of Margaret (Bost) and Jacob Fecht

MARJORIE AND VIRGINIA FECHT

Marjorie and Virginia Fecht at the Audrain County Fair. These children are the daughters of Lena and Lawrence Fecht. They are the great grandchildren of Margaret (Bost) and Jacob Fecht
Dr. Dan Sullivan found the picture below that appears to have been taken at the same time as the image above. This makes your editor think that the first photo might have been some sort of a proof.



Thanks for the website. I am Margie Fecht's daughter and I am planning on scrapbooking a heritage album soon, and these pictures will help alot.
There of some of my mom on this website that I don't have. I will keep checking the website. By chance, so you have a wedding picture of my great grandparens William C and Elizabeth Fecht or my grandparents Lawrence & Lena Fecht. Mom and my aunt don't have any of those pictures.
Thanks,
Janis Deimeke

PFC JAMES FECHT

James L. Fecht, PFC United States Marine Corps 1942, just prior to his being shipped to the South Pacific.

PHIL SHIRE'S INSIDE JOKE

L to R: Francis (FranK) Fecht, Lawrence Fecht, William T. (Bill) Fecht, William Charles Fecht, Jimmie (boy), John D. (Jack) Fecht, John C. Fecht, Hugh Hogan (Julia Fecht Hogan's husband), and Phil Shire (Ann Fecht Shire's husband).

Phil Shire had a wry and much loved sense of humor. Here Phil mocks Uncle John C. Fecht's stance.

LEONA CRITES COMES TO VISIT

Family of Bill and Mildred Fecht.
top row L to R
Bill Fecht, Hugh Hogan Jimmie Fecht (little boy) and Leona Belle Weaver Crites (seated on porch railing)
Mildred Fecht, Julia Hogan and Dorothy Fecht
It was quite an adjustment for Leona Crites to get used to the Fecht family. Though she had been born into a Lutheran Christian family, she became a member of the Church of the Brethren (Dunkers) and generally uncomfortable around Catholic adults. Her grandchildren however mellowed her and she grew more accepting of the different form of Christianity that her daughter had chosen. She never accepted the racial prejudices expressed by her daughter's Missouri inlaws.

MATTHEW GERE FECHT

Matthew Gere Fecht

Matthew J. Fecht was the son of Margaret (Bost) and Jacob Fecht. Matthew was born on the 19th of August 1860 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania and died on the 1st of February 1933 in Mexico, Missouri.
Uncle Matt and his wife Kate were very reclusive. They were marginal Catholics and lived a long distance from the town of Mexico, Missouri. As a result, they grew distant from most of the family.
Photographs courtesy of Dr. Dan Sullivan 2008

HANNAH WALSH

Dorothy (Fecht) Fetterhoff recalls her Aunt Hannah as being "a very stern and perhaps unhappy person." Some family records indicate that Hannah had some problem with her mouth; perhaps the result of a stroke. But, this is unlikely since the damage appears at an early age.
Hannah appears to have gone to Montana to establish her own homestead about the same time Harry and Ann (Fecht) Candy, John (Jack) and William T. Fecht did. Bill Fecht mentions Hannah's homestead in his autobiography.
It was the custom of the time for unmarried or widowed women to live with married family members. And, Hannah lived with her sister Elizabeth (Walsh) and her husband William Charles Fecht. Widows customarily lived with one of their children.
Hannah Walsh is buried in Saint Brendan Cemetery, Mexico, Missouri.
Photos courtesy of Dr. Dan Sullivan 2008

HANNAH WALSH

Hannah (Johannah) Walsh

Walsh Sisters Hannah Walsh, Julia Walsh Algoe, and Elizabeth Ann Walsh Fecht
Hannah Walsh is the second and last child of Ann (Finn) and Patrick Walsh. She was born on the 12th of August, 1862 at Bridgeton, Missouri and died on 4 December, 1926. Not a great deal is known by your author about the life of Hannah Walsh other than the fact that she was quite young when her mother Brigid Ann (Finn) Walsh died. Her father Patrick remarried and family stories have it that the two older girls Elizabeth Ann (Walsh) Fecht and her sister Hannah were not treated as they should have been.
Photos are courtesy of Dr. Dan Sullivan

WEDDING OF JULIA FECHT AND HUGH HOGAN

Left to Right
Beatrice Fecht, Hugh Hogan, Julia Fecht Hogan, Vincent Hogan.
Little boy on the porch is James L. (Jimmie) Fecht and his grandfather William Charles Fecht, Julia's father.

THE MEN OF THE FAMILY

This photograph was taken in 1941 in a town called Chillicothe, Missouri. The village is about half way between Corning, Iowa and Mexico, Missouri, and the site of a family gathering.
Left to Right
John D. (Jack) Fecht, William T. (Bill) Fecht, Bernard Sullivan, James L. (Jimmie) Fecht, Hugh Hogan, Lawrence (Buck) Fecht and Dan Sullivan.
I believe this event took place while Jimmie was still in high school or had just graduated from St. Brendan High School, and prior to the outbreak of World War II. Both Jim and his cousin Bernard Sullivan would serve in the armer forces.

1946 PAY SLIP

An Employee's Receipt issued by the 20th Century Fox Film Corporation issued to James L. Fecht on the 14th of December 1946. The check was for $5.67 with ¢.70 withheld for social security and ¢ .70 withheld for California State unemployment insurance.
The document is noted as "retroactive 1946". Jobs in the film industry were hard to get in after World War II, but veterans were given priority where possible.
In pencil the address of Glen Barnes, Jimmie's father-in-law, and where Jim and his new wife Joye were living. 4548 Elmer Avenue, in North Hollywood, California. The house and whole neighborhood was demolished to make way for the Ventura Freeway (California 101).

MARGARET AND LORENZ FEGER

When it came time for the fatherless Fecht family to move west from Pennsylvania, they chose the village of Mexico, Missouri. Such a choice was not accidental. Lorenz and Margaret Feger had an established farm there, and help William Charles Fecht and his mother Margaret Bost Fecht acquire farmland adjacent to their own.
There is a record of a Marie Fecht marrying a Lorez Feger in Saint Louis. The name Mary was often connected as Margaret Mary. In the Feger will, Lorenz will his family in Illinois money, while Margaret wills all her assets to William Charles Fecht with token amounts to other Fechts in Mexico. The Fegers are buried in Saint Brendan cemetery very close to Margaret (Bost) Fecht and her children.
I believe Margaret (Mary) Feger was either a sister to William Charles Fecht or possible his aunt (sister to Jacob Fecht).

BILL FECHT AND FETTERHOFF BOYS

In 1945, Bill Fecht kept a "milk cow" in a pasture off of West Street in Mexico, Missouri. His two grandsons, Billy and Tommy lived on that street, and Bill often visited with them when he "went a-milking." William G. and Thomas W. Fetterhoff are the great great grandsons of Margaret (Bost) and Jacob Fecht.
Youngest child is Thomas.

FAMILY OF FRANK AND ALTHEA FECHT

Family of Frank and Althea Fecht
Snapshot of Francis and Althea Fecht, their son Larry and daughter JoAnn.

REUNION IN WASHINGTON STATE

The last reunion of Mildred Fecht with her five children.
L to R: Robert William, Gerald Richard, and James Louis Fecht
Dorothy Fecht, Mildred Fecht and Mary Genevieve Fecht
This photograph was taken in the front of Genevieve's home in Snohomish, Washington. Maiden names are excluded for identity security.

FECHT WOMEN IN EVERETT, WASHINGTON c 1946

This photograph was taken about 1946 in Everett, Washington.
Joye Fecht, Mary Genevieve Fecht, Mildred Fecht and baby Susan Lynn Fecht

Anna Jane and Donald Shire with daughters Jacqueline and Susan.
Don Shire is the great grandson of Margaret (Bost) and Jacob Fecht