Friday, November 13, 2009

Cemetery Surprise-A Previously Unknown Kolbe

The Holy Cross Cemetery cards contained a surprise - a previously unknown Kolbe family member. Buried in the plot along with William and Pauline Kolbe was a premature baby named Bert. He died and was buried on July 14, 1914. Since he was named Bert, I assume he was a child of Berthold and Margaret, although I can't be sure without a death certificate-another future project.

I reflected on premature births these days and how many infants do live. The current survival rate for babies born at 7 months is greater than 90%, and infants born at 6 months is about 50-90%. Baby Bert would have probably lived if he had been born within the past 25 years or so.

I also came to realize that many children are not represented in the census returns because they are born and die in between enumeration years.

Next: Paul Kolbe's Death Information

1 comment:

  1. Heard about your blog from Lisa Louise Cooke's podcast and have enjoyed looking at your site. We just started my husband's blog (holtdale.blogspot.com) after listening to her how'tos. It's great fun to see how you are doing your's. It's informative, easy-to-read, and I especially like the way you leave a "Next Posting" at the end. Genie Holt

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