PARDOE MARIACHERS
Pardoe is a tiny town east of Mercer and northeast of Grove City in
Western Pennsylvania, not far from Ohio and about midway between Erie
and Pittsburgh. Search for Pardoe PA from an online map at MapQuest.)
Here is another map of the area.
Notice Mariacher road is SE of Mercer. Pardoe is that surrounding area.
The earliest information on the Pardoe branch comes from Rita
Mariacher:
I would have very little to contribute were it not
for the fact that in 1965 my grandfather, Jacob Mariacher, received a
letter from the "old country". I was the only one in the family who
knew any German at all, so I inherited the job of translating. Anyhow,
it was from a fourteen year old girl named Martha Spitaler in
Zillertal, Tirol, Austria Her grandfather was Johann Schiestl and her
great-grandmother was Viktoria Mariacher. Her mother was Theresia
Mariacher and father was Max Spitaler. She had somehow gotten grandpa's
address and was, like you, interested in searching out other family
members. I answered her letter and we set up a brief correspondence.
Your interest has brought these letters to light and I now realize that
Martha is 35 or 36 (in 1986)! My last letter from her is dated 8/23/65.
From the letters, I was able, along with my family's input, to
construct a family tree which linked Martha and me. Our
great-grandparents were brother and sister. I suspect strongly that one
of the other men in that generation was your great-grandfather.
Martha said that her great-grandmother Viktoria had 6 siblings who
immigrated to America. She knew only two names. We knew of six (one was
my great-grandfather) and two of the other names matched her
information.
Remaining in Austria: Viktoria who married Felix Schiestl, who
begat Johann Schiestel who then begat Theresia Schiestl, who married
Max Spitaler and who begat Martha, (who was 14 in 1965), and Gertraud
(who was 7 in 1965) and Viktoria (who was 17 in 1965).
The 6 who immigrated to America from Zillertal, Tirol, Austria (or
Tirolzel, Austria), date unknown, to Pardoe, Pennsylvania were: Mary
who married a Krah, Tressie or Theresia who married a John Schiestl and
Catherine who married a Gracinger, John (Rita's great-grandfather who
married Anna Steinleichner) Mathias, and Albert who married an Amhoff
and lived in New Castle, PA.
Additional information added in 1986 by Ruth
Schiestl: Tressie and John Schiestl had two children, Ruth
(herself) and her brother, John, Jr.
Additional information added recently by Bob
Wolfbrand, greatgrandson of Catherine Gracinger: "The obituary
of Mary Rose Shaffer states she was the daughter of John and Catherine
Mariacher Gracinger. I'm taking this information from the obituary in
front of me as I'm writing this. Their daughter, Mary Rose Gracinger
Shaffer, married Agustus Shaffer in Pardoe and lived there until her
death on May 11, 1941. She was born on Sept. 4, 1872. One of her
daughters, Josephine Shaffer Ubry, was my grandmother who lived in
Pardoe with her father after Mary died and I spent many memorable times
in Pardoe until Josephine died in 1949 at the young age of 53. My
mother who is 80 years old and still living also mentions the
connection through her grandmother Mary Rose.)"
Help me with this: From Noreen McCann in
Manassas, VA in a 7/98 email: We have family tree history that
doesn't quite fit into the above. Noreen is the great-granddaughter of
George Schiestle (b. 1850, Tyrol, Austria, and d.12/31/22 in Mercer,
PA, USA) and Theresa Mariacher (b.1858 in Tyrol, Austria, and d.1945 in
Mercer country, PA, USA. Noreen's father is James McCann, son of Urban
Phillip McCann and Martha Schiesle, who was a daughter of George and
Theresa. For more information on Teresa Mariacher
and her family.
Editor's Note: There is a story from a
great aunt of mine, Aunt Jane about the original Pardoe Mariacher's who
had come from Ellis Island in New York to Pittsburgh by train, then
walked approximately 60 miles to Pardoe. They were still wearing
European-style clothing so they stood out somewhat. Many Pennsylvanians
were growing weary of immigrants so responded in an unfriendly manner.
Aunt Jane said the Mariachers were so uncomfortable asking for a just a
glass of water, they chose to suffer silently.
Rita's information continues:
Martha also said she had the names and addresses of
three others in the United States. They were: Albert in New Castle PA
(now deceased), John Schiestel in Pardoe PA (probably a descendant of
Tressie) and a Reverend Father Director Krah, from the Toner Institute
in Pittsburgh PA. I remember there being a Father Krah in the family so
he is probably an offspring of Mary.
I've noticed, as I am sure you have, that the last name Schiestl
(or Scheestl) appears as the married name for both Viktoria and
Tressie. It's possible the girls married brothers as occurred
frequently in those days, or perhaps it was just a common name.
I extended my family tree down through John Mariacher and Anna
(Steinleichner) to my sister Marcia and me. John and Anna had 10
children (9 survived).
From John and Anna (Steinleichner):
- John, died as an infant.
- John, married Emma Patterson and bore Norma and Pauline
(widow of Thomas Reese)
- George, known as "Jimmy," married Mary Grochutt and bore
Bill, George, Charles, and perhaps a son named Albert.
- Lena, married Joseph Phipps and bore Joby (Joseph), Bill and
Charles (who died early)
- Jennie married a Hillman (New Middleton, Ohio)
- Joseph, married and had twins
- Albert, known as "Butch," married Hester Kirker and bore
Hester, Ruth, and Myrtl
- Anna, married a Reider and had many children, possibly eight:
Bernadette or Bernadine (known as Bernie), Agnes (Aggie), Paul, George,
and Marie who married "Dy" Jones, and lives in New Castle PA (1986).
Marie was one of the first to use a hyphenated name, and was always
known as "Marie Reider-Jones"
- Frank married Elizabeth Strausser and had John, Eddie, and
Leonard. J (John is deceased but is wife still lives in New Castle PA,
(1986) Eddie lives in Ohio andLeonard, I think, has died. John
and his wife, Josephine, had two sons, Joel and Johnny.)
- Jacob married Clara Heitzmann and had seven children:
- Mary (Giddings) died in 1935 during childbirth
- Grace married Ernest Tanner, still living (2004)
- Anna married Albert Yoho, still living (2004)
- Clara married Willis Newton, deceased
- Barbara married Albert Fry, still living (2004)
- James married Irene Durbin, deceased 1996
- Leo Ambrose, deceased, married Rita Cecilia Flanagan,
deceased, bore two daughters: Rita Anne and Marcia Kay, both still
living (2004)
End of Rita's information
Mathias Albert Mariacher (my great-grandfather) was born in Austria
9/31/1849 and died at age 65 (1916) in Pardoe, Pennsylvania. He married
Theresa Rosina Reiser, who was born in Austria in 1850, and obviously
had immigrated here with her family. They had fiften children,
including two sets of twins. Twins were Louis and John, David and
Joseph. Other children: Martha, Jane, Laura, Mary, Theresa, Rosy,
William, Robert, Matthew, Elizabeth, and Henry. Theresa Rosina died
during childbirth with her daughter Elizabeth in 1896. Today, all
Mathias and Theresa's children are deceased.
There are two pictures below of the family. In the first, from top
left, are the twins Louis and John, the twins David and Joseph, Martha,
Theresa Rosina (mother) who is holding Jane. Mathias Albert (father) is
holding Laura. Next is Mary, then Theresa. In the front row are Rosy,
William, Robert, and my grandfather, Matthew. Missing from the picture
are Elizabeth (not born yet) and Henry.
From Vicki Barzilla, we have this photo:
In the next picture, taken circa 1900: (left to right) William,
Robert, David, Matthew, John, Joseph, Henry and the girls, Mary, Jane
(a.k.a. Frances Josephine), Martha, Theresa, Mathias Albert (father),
Laura. Missing are Theresa Rosina (mother) who died with youngest
child, Elizabeth, during childbirth. Also missing are Rosy who died at
a young age of pneumonia and Louis (reason unknown).
Also from Vici Barzilla, we have the next two photos:
A photo of Frances (aka Mary) and her father, Mathias.
In the photos below: Jane and Laura; then Laura, Jane with her
husband and son; and finally Jane showing off the latest bathing suit
style.
From Kathy Beckman, I havea couple of pictures for you. The first
one is my great-grandmother, Theresa (daughter of Mathias), her
husband,Michael Lengauer, and their first son, Edward.
The second one islabeled by my grandmother as "uncle and cousins".
My mother later wrote on it "Matt." Is this your grandfather and some
of his children, possibly the last 4?
Mathias helped build the Roman Catholic church in Pardoe, St
Hermenegild. The church still stands today but, sadly, is closed to the
public. Although simple in design, the workmanship on the hand-carved
wood interior is quite beautiful. Despite the church's small size,
there is a choir loft. Mathias, we are told, had a good singing voice
(like many other Mariachers) and enjoyed singing in the choir. Outside
there is a large cemetery filled with tombstones, bearing many familiar
names.
We have a separate page for photos of the farm where Mathias and Thersa lived.
Mathias and Theresa children:
First set of twins were David and
Joseph.
David was very religious. Although he was married, he had no
children.
Joseph (aka "Sankey") married Clara Zimmerman and had six
children: Rosie, Mildred, Joseph, Jr., Irene, Edith, and Hilda. We
heard from Don and Carol Stevens--Don was son of Mildred and was raised
by Joseph and Clara because of his mother's death when he was only a
few days old. When he was 12, his grandmother adopted him, but since he
was known as Donnie Stevens, he didn't change his name to Mariacher.
Don and Carol still live in Mercer PA.
The second set of twins were John and Louis.
John married three times,
first to
Anna Campbell who bore seven
children: Rosella, Leland, Irene, Howard, and John Jr, another son John
died in infancy, and the last child Henrietta died in childbirth with
Anna. With his wife's death, John was forced to temporarily place his
children in orphan homes in Erie. The loss of wife and his children
caused him much sadness. He tried to stay close to his children and
married a second time to Martha Giles, and his children were able to
return. Martha already had seven children so their new combined family
was large.A last child, Henrietta, was born. (Henrietta was known to
the family as Aunt Toni. She married Howard Miles. They had no children
and maintained a lovely farm near Grove City, PA. Aunt Toni was an
excellent cook.) John's third marriage was to Hilda Hartwick Carlson,
and although she had been widowed with four children, she anf John had
no children together. We heard from John's great grandson, Terry
Mariacher, whose father was Kenneth (deceased in October 2003), and
Ken's father was Leeland. Kenneth has a sister Annabelle who is married
to Tom Shearer. They live in Hartstown, PA, and have three grown
children (Pam, Karen, Dale) all married. Kenneth's older brother,
Donald ("Doe") lives in Jamestown, PA near Pymatuning Lake. Before
retirement he worked and lived in Minnesota, Florida, Texas, Tennessee,
and Alabama. His wife Barbara is deceased, but his son Blake and wife
Gwen adopted three adorable children from Russia: Alex, Alaina,
Isabella Mariacher, and they currently live in Jamestown. Doe's
daughter Toni Mariacher Franklin (husband is Tim) lives in Alabama.
Kenneth married Hallie Herrick, and they had four children: Terry,
Stan, Linda, and Glenn. See
Family tree.
Louis, John's twin, married
Katherine Baucher and had two sons. Louis was accidently killed in 1922
when he was crushed to death while working in a toy factory in Arcadia,
California (near Los Angeles). Picture below is Louis's wife Katherine
and their two sons, Louis, Jr, and Henry.
Louis' oldest son, Louis, Jr, died and no other
information is known about him. Louis's youngest son, Lawrence Henry
married Cleo Jane Geroul (who still lives today in Huntington Beach,
California.) They had two children, Carol Sue, who is married to a
Lyle, and Richard Gerould Mariacher who was born in Los Angeles in 1944
and now lives with his wife Sandra in Houston, Texas. They have two
children, iffany (7 in 1986) and Ryan (4 in 1986).
Henry, born 10/15/1886, never
married and ran away from home at a young age to join the U.S. Calvary.
He died 7/7/1910 in the Calvary at age 24 of a ruptured appendix.
William ("Tusky"), who was
known to be a gambler. He married Grace Shearon. We heard from Robert
Mariacher, son of Edgar. More recently, we heard from Anita Mariacher Chiaravalle that
William Tusky Mariacher had the following
children:
- John: who had the following children -
William, Mary Barbara, Carol, Janice, Anita
- Braden: no children
- Frank: Children Lorraine, Darlene
- Josephine married Chuck Barnhart:
Children, Ray, PattyJo, Gloria, Bill
- Edgar: Children Robert, Debbie, Patty
Robert ("Piney") who married a
woman named Beulah and had a son Robert, Jr. They lived in Butler,
Pennsylvania.
Matthew Albert Mariacher, my
grandfather. Evidently "Mathias" is the old country version of
"Matthew" so my grandfather shared the actual first and middle name of
his father even though in America he was called by another version of
the name and he was not called "Jr." Matthew was born in Pardoe on
2/29/1883 and died of cancer in Greenville, Pennsylvania, on 12/1/1953
at the age of 69. His nickname was "Hoover."
Like his father, Matthew loved to sing and, on many
Saturday nights, could be heard singing by his neighbors. He spent all
of his life in Greenville with his wife Gertrude Shoaf and their nine
children. Gertrude was born 9/13/1894 and died 3/17/1977. She was the
daughter of Plummer J. Schoaff (New Castle, died of heart attack in
Slippery Rock in 1906) and Margaret Jane McCommons Hedglen (Plain
Grove, died of a stroke in 1943).
Matthew and Gertrude's children are as
follows:
Margaret Jane, the oldest, died three months old from
pneumonia.
Theresa (died 2/27/98, at age 83) married Lawrence
("Skinny") Allen and lived in Sharon, Pennsylvania, until Lawrence's
death in 12 years ago. Until her death this year, Theresa and her
oldest son, Tom (63), lived in Greenville, PA. Tom continues to live in
Greenville and his sister, Judy (56), lives near Washington, D.C., with
her husband, Steve Johnson.
Their next child Frank (5/24/16, deceased 3/7/90)
married Betty Hamilton (2/2/22) Greenville, PA, had 4 children:
Margaret Jane (10/31/39) married Gerald Grinnell on 8/18/61,
Greenville, PA (Gerald died on 6/13/95) They have one son, Ricky
Leonard (9/10/68).Theresa (10/21/40) Donald L. Reash,
Greenville PA and had Tammy (4/18/62), who married Scott Stitts on
4/?/90, Mount Vernon, OH, and had Jillian Michelle (10/21/95), and Baby
X, due on 9/15/98). Brenda (3/14/64) married Ronald McCall on 7/?/95,
Sharpsville, PA and had Jacob Donald (1/2/97) and Baby X, due 3/1/99.
Carol Ann (9/3/42) married Gary Knapp 5/?/64, Greenville, PA and
re-married to Thomas Herrick 7/24/93. They had Amy Cheree (4/30/67
Germantown, MD), Stephanie Kaye (4/13/69, Denver, CO), and Lynell Renee
(6/12/71, Falls Church, VA .) Frank Jr. (4/6/46) married Karen Bubeck,
North Richland Hills, TX (near Dallas) and they had Wendy (2/11/70,
married Michael Baxter on 12/?/92, Grand Prairie, TX) and they had
Allison Nicole (5/13/98). Jennifer (11/27/73, Dallas area).
Harry (78, died 11/96) married Lola Marsteller, then
Dorothy Andreau, and Vivian Shinn. Harry and Lola had two sons, Albert
(57) and me, Don (55). Harry and Vivian had one daughter, Susan (47).
Maxine (would be 79) married Jack James and moved to
California where she had two sons and three daughters: Sue (58), Judy
(56), Bill (deceased), Mike, and Juanita (deceased). She divorced and
was remarried to George ("Wes") Workman and lived in Long Beach until
her death 12 years ago.
Betty Rose (73) married Benjamin Eddy and had two sons,
Ben, Jr, and Doug.
Robert (70) married Pat Stangl and moved to Buffalo
where they raised six children: Matthew (42), Margaret (41), Robert
(40), David (38), John (35), and Patti (29). (Patti is now married to
Thurman Thomas of the Buffalo Bills football team.)
Dolores (68) married Robert Adams and raised 6 children
in Greenville: Jean Marie (49), Gertrude (47), Betsy (42), Robert (40),
Thomas (38), and Richard (31).
Jack (65) married Ann Kusick and lives in Buffalo where
they've raised 5 children: Sandra (37), Jackie (35), Jeff (33), Mark
(29) and Heidi (27).
Now, if you are still following all
this, let's go back to the daughters of Mathias and Theresa. There were
six.
Martha, the oldest daughter,
married Lou Husing and had 7 children: Christina, Lou Jr ("Butch"),
Ernest (deceased), Henry (deceased), Cecile, Martha , and Ted. Ernest
was killed while playing football. Henry was killed in an auto accident.
According to great granddaughter, Becky Gathers
Langley, Martha married Michael Martini and
liveed on a farm on Grange Road in New Wilmington, PA. Becky and her
hushand currently live on that farm and plan to renovate it. Martha
Martii had two children, Marlene Greta Martini (her mother) and Lynee
Ellen Martini. Lynne married Eugene Fisher, who died in an auto
accident when his son, Brent Fisher, was 18 months old. Marleen was
born 5/29/1935 and married Paul Gathers of Sharon, PA, and they had two
children, Becky and Lee. Lee married Tracy Barr and has two daughtes
and lives about 3/4 of a mile down the road from the farm. Becky
married Timothy Langley of Texas and they have one child, Annabelle.
Becky's mother, Marleen died 11/26/1999 after being hit by a car as a
pediestrian in Wal-Mart parking lot in Hermitage, PA. She had massive
head trauma and was in a coma for almost a week. Becky's grandmother
Martha died 4/2001 of congestive heart failure. Beeky's father died
died in 1995 of cancer.
Jane ("Frances Josephine") --
unfortuantely don't have any information on her.
Rosey was the next daughter and
she died at age 17 on April 27, 1906, of pneumonia.
Theresa or "Tressie" married
Mike Languar and lived in Stonesboro, Pennsylvania. They had 6
children: Paul, Edward, Matthew, Norbert, Rosella, and Margaret.
Mary, the next daughter,
married a McKay and had 10 children: Thomas, Harry, Cliff, William,
Dorothy, Katherine, Coletta, and a set of twins who died at birth.
Laura, the next daughter,
married a Filer and had two sons, Robert and Clifford (deceased). Laura
died of cancer.
Elizabeth, the youngest
daughter, died in childbirth with her mother in 1896.
A FAMILY TREE
HOW DO YOU SAY THAT NAME?
WHAT DOES MARIACHER MEAN?
MORE REFERENCE INFORMATION ON OUR
HOMELAND
DID ORIGINAL EUROPEAN MARIACHERS STAY IN
ONE PLACE?
WHAT DID WE DO FOR A LIVING? WHAT WERE
WE LIKE?
ITALIAN MARIACHERS
FRENCH/SWISS MARIACHERS
EUROPEAN MARIACHER IMMIGRATION: FOUR
BRANCHES
Your are in PARDOE BRANCH
CHICAGO MARIACHERS
COLORADO BRANCH
CANADIAN BRANCH
RECENT GREETINGS FROM OTHER
CONTEMPORY EUROPEAN MARIACHERS
MORE MARIACHER BRANCHES?
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This page last modified on: Sat 14 April 2008
11:03:15
