Joseph Orshoski, Jr., 1907-1954

Joseph Orshoski, Jr. was born on July 11. 1907, the second child of Joseph Orshoski and Julia Herzog Orshoski. He was a younger brother of my paternal grandfather, Steve Orshoski. As did most of the men folk on my Orshoski side, Joseph Orshoski, Jr. worked at the Medusa Cement Company. In the Spring of 1954, Joe, Jr. was in a fire in the trailer in which he lived in Bay Bridge. He was severely burned, and he died as a result of his burns on Sunday, May 2, 1954. I was just a very little girl when Great Uncle Joe passed away, and I do not remember him at all. Everyone tells me that his nickname was "Monk." Joe, Jr. had a very sad life. His mother died when only 11, and he worked hard at the cement company. My dear neighbor Mary told me that drank too much, and he actually may have been under the influence of alcohol when the trailer caught fire. Funeral services for Joseph Orshoski, Jr. were held at the Holy Angels Church in Sandusky, Ohio, and Joe, Jr. was buried at Castalia Cemetery, next to his beloved mother, Julia Orshoski.

In the picture below, Joe, Jr. is among the young men standing next to the casket of the first Mrs. Joseph Orshoski, Sr.

Sons of Thomas and Rhoda Harvey

George W. Harvey died in 1853 at the age of six. According to the 1850 U.S. Census for Margaretta Township of Erie County, his parents were Thomas and Rhoda Harvey. Thomas was a farmer, born in New Jersey. Rhoda Harvey was born in New York State.

Another son of Thomas and Rhoda Harvey, named Edwin Harvey, died in 1856 at the age of thirty. George W. Harvey and Edwin Harvey are buried beside each other in Castalia Cemetery. Edwin was the older brother of George W. Harvey. Comparing the height of their tombstones, it almost appears as though the big brother is watching over the little brother.

William and Eliza McCartney

William McCartney and his wife, the former Eliza Cooper, are both buried in the Castalia Cemetery in Margaretta Township, Erie County, Ohio. The January 21, 1921 issue of the Firelands Pioneer stated that the William McCartney was born in Kentucky in 1792. He served as a Scout in the War of 1812, under General William Henry Harrison, and he fought at Fort Stephenson in 1813. An article in the Sandusky Weekly Register of March 13, 1878, reported that William McCartney first settled in Sandusky, Ohio, and then moved to the Venice, Ohio area about 1812 or 1813. He became a prominent citizen, was a large land owner, a banker, and a justice of the peace. Mrs. Eliza McCartney, a native of New Jersey, died on February 20, 1871. Mr. William McCartney died on February 19, 1878, after a wagon accident.

Read more about William McCartney, and many other pioneer settlers of Erie and Huron Counties in the Firelands Pioneer. This multi-volume periodical is available in many libraries in Northern Ohio.

Helen Burggraf

Miss Helen Elizabeth Burggraf died on October 9, 1918. Her death certificate stated that she was the daughter of John Burggraf and Jesse Goodwin Burggraf. Little Helen was age three years, three months, and twenty two days. The cause of death was listed as laryngitis.

Some ninety years after Helen's death, someone remembered her with a floral tribute. A sculpture of a lamb and cross symbolize that this youngster was a child of God.

Helen Elizabeth Burggraf is buried in Castalia Cemetery in Margaretta Township.

The inscription on Helen's tombstone reads:

She was too pure for earthly love
Pure as the angels that are free from stain
She left us to join them in heaven above
Where we shall all meet her again.

Thomas Caswell, War of 1812 Veteran

In the book HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY, OHIO, edited by Lewis Cass Aldrich (D. Mason & Co.., 1889), we read that Thomas Caswell was born in the state of Massachusetts, and resided in Steuben, New York, before settling on 500 acres in Margaretta Township, Erie County, Ohio. His wife was Elinor/Eleanor Force. Thomas and Elinor Caswell had a family of seven children. Their son Calvin Caswell was a prominent agriculturist in Erie County, and he served as Erie County Commissioner from 1863 to 1868.

During the War of 1812, Thomas Caswell served in a unit from the State of New York.


















Thomas Caswell died in Margaretta Township, Erie County, Ohio, on September 2, 1853, at the age of 60. He was buried in the Castalia Cemetery. A War of 1812 marker and an American flag adorn his tombstone.

Civil War Monument at Castalia Cemetery

A statue of a Civil War soldier at the Castalia Cemetery in Margaretta Township of Erie County, Ohio, honors those who served our country.

Tombstone Tuesday: Wilhelm Dress

Wilhelm Dress is buried at the Castalia Cemetery. His birth and death gates, as listed in the ERIE COUNTY CEMETERY CENSUS PRIOR TO 1909, are:

Born July 24, 1821

Died August 24, 1894

Age 73 yrs., 1 m

The clasped hands at the top of the tombstone of Wilhelm Dress symbolize his being welcomed into the heavenly realm.

Ralph J. Woolson

Ralph Woolson is buried in the Castalia Cemetery, with his wife Carrie Woolson, who was born Carrie Burggraf. Mr. Woolson died on January 14, 1963. For many years Ralph Woolson had been the manager of the “Blue Hole” in Castalia, a longtime tourist attraction in Erie County, Ohio. The Blue Hole is now closed to the public. The Castalia Cemetery is the largest cemetery in Erie County's Margaretta Township.

Norman A. Miller

Norman Amos Miller was born on April 26, 1905, and lived in Illinois all his life. His father, Amos C. Miller, was a Chicago lawyer. Norman Miller earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Cornell University. He was a a longtime employee of Sargent & Lundy Consulting Engineers.

Mr. Miller died on June 23, 2000, at the age of 95. He was an avid sailor and skier; he had sailed until age 89, and continued to ski until age 87. Norman A. Miller was buried at the Castalia Cemetery in Erie County, Ohio, where his father’s family had been involved in agricultural pursuits for many years.

Obituaries for Norman A. Miller were carried in the Chicago Tribune and the Evanston Review.

Sylvester and Comfort Higgins

Sylvester and Comfort Higgins are buried in the Castalia Cemetery, in Margaretta Township of Erie County, Ohio. Sylvester died on February 1, 1860 at the age of 84, and his wife died on December 7, 1859. At the base of the monument is the inscription:

Erected by their son N. Higgins

At the top of the tombstone are the words Our Father & Mother, below which is a hand with a finger pointing upward to Heaven.

According to the book AMERICAN ANCESTRY, edited by Thomas Patrick Hughes,Sylvester Higgins and Comfort Lyman Higgins had a daughter named Minerva, who married William Clark. Minerva was born in Connecticut, on August 29, 1799, and died on September 10, 1875.

Sylvester (spelled Silvester in the Census) and Comfort Higgins are found in the 1850 U.S. Census for Margaretta Township, Erie County, but no children are found residing with them in that year.

Frank Orshoski, Jr.

Frank Orshoski, Jr. was the son of Frank and Dallas Orshoski, born on January 11, 1929. Frank served in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict. He married Alice Zeck, and they had a family of seven children. Frank enjoyed his family very much. He was active in umpiring little league baseball. For many years, Frank worked at Sandusky Dressed Beef.

One of the biggest tragedies of Frank's life was losing his oldest son, Craig, in a snowmobile accident. Only in his early 20's, Craig died close to his Bay View home on December 31, 1980. Frank was ill for many years, and he passed away on October 10, 1982.Though he left this earth to soon, a host of Orshoski grandchildren are carrying on the zest for life that Frank Orshoski, Jr. always had. Below is a brief article from the December 22, 1944 issue of the Margaretta News, which told about Frank and Rollie Orshoski's excellent attendance record.























Frank Orshoski,Jr. is buried at the Castalia Cemetery.

Mrs. Lois House Parker

Mrs. Lois House Parker passed away on November 15, 1937. A clipping from an unidentified newspaper provides this obituary for Mrs. Lois House Parker:

"Mrs L. G. Parker Taken by Death
Native of Perkins Twp.
And Resided in Castalia

Mrs Lois House Parker, wife of L. G. Parker and a well-known resident of Castalia died Monday evening at 6:20 o'clock at Providence Hospital. Mrs Parker had been a resident of Erie Co all her life, being born in PerkinsTwp. on March 18, 1903, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis House, and at the time of her death was aged 34 years, seven months and 28 days. Mrs. Parker is survived by her husband, an infant son, David House Parker; her parents Mr and Mrs Lewis House of Perkins; six sisters, Mrs Claude J. Minor and Mrs. Harold Groves, both of this city; Mrs. Gus Criblez, of Lakewood; Mrs (Rev) Herbert Thompson, of Salem, O.; Mrs William Doster of Perkins and Mrs. Byron Woolson of Cleveland; two brothers Guy House of Memphis, Tenn., and Byron , of East Cleveland. Mrs Parker was a member of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church here.The body has been removed to the Charles J. Andres Sons' Funeral Home and funeral arrangements will be announced later."

Lois was a descendant of Julius House, an early settler of Erie County. The death certificate of Lois House Parker is accessible through the database Family Search Labs. Mrs. Lois House Parker was buried in Castalia Cemetery, where her husband Lucius G. Parker would also be buried after his death in 1954.



Note: Lois House Parker's aunt, Mrs. Marian House Parker was married to George B. Parker. While both Lois and Marian had the maiden name of House, their spouses were from different Parker lines: George B. Parker having been from Perkins Township, while Lucius G. Parker was a Margaretta Township resident.

Amos and Emily Graves Miller

Articles about Mr. and Mrs. Amos Miller appeared in the Sandusky Register on December 23, 1870 and September 21, 1885. Amos and Emily Graves Miller were residents of Margaretta Township in Erie County, Ohio from 1852 to 1866. In 1866, the couple moved back to the state of New York. They returned to Margaretta in April of 1870, to live near their only son Capt. Wells W. Miller. Mrs. Miller was ill at the time of her move back to Ohio, and she was an invalid the last several months of her life. She suffered from rheumatism.

According to the Sandusky Register, Mrs. Miller was "a woman of extraordinary force of character and enterprise. Few persons are better read in the political history of the day than was Mrs. Miller. Amiability and mental force were peculiarly blended in her character. She bore her long and most painful illness with great fortitude." The article continued, "Mr. and Mrs. Miller had returned to this county at the solicitation of their son, Capt. Miller, and her death so soon after settlement here destroyed the promise of a long anticipated permanent reunion of the family."

Emily Graves Miller died on December 19, 1870, and Amos Miller died on September 20, 1885. They are buried in the Castalia Cemetery in Margaretta Township of Erie County, Ohio.

Tombstone Tuesday

This grave marker, which is also a bench, honors the memory of Edward F. Krueger, a longtime Erie County barber, who was born in 1876 and died in 1927; and his wife Elsie Christ Krueger, who was born in 1881 and died in 1942.

Almost Summer at Castalia Cemetery

The gentle rolling hillside and shady trees create a tranquil setting at Castalia Cemetery in Erie County, Ohio.

Castalia Cemetery

The Castalia Cemetery is located at 407 Bardwell Road in the Village of Castalia, Ohio. Margaretta High School can be seen in this photograph, just west of the Cemetery.

Castalia Cemetery is owned and maintained by Margaretta Township, one of the nine townships of Erie County, Ohio. An index to the 1880 United States Census of Margaretta Township is found online.

One of the earliest burials in Castalia Cemetery was that of Mrs. Snow, who was murdered in a massacre in 1813, along with her son Robert. Willard Snow escaped the attack. He died on January 22, 1875. Willard Snow served in the 40th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. An account of the Snow Massacre is found on page 392 of Harriet Taylor Upton's HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE, available on Google Books.

Julia Orshoski, first wife of Joseph Orshoski

Julia Herzog was born in Hungary about 1885. According to her Passenger Record on the Ellis Island website, she arrived in the United States on February 21, 1904, on the ship Patricia, having departed from Hamburg, Germany. Julia married Joseph Orshoski on November 23, 1905 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

After moving from Pennsylvania to Dorcester, Virginia, eventually the family settled in the small village of Bay Bridge, Ohio in Erie County. Joseph was employed by the Medusa Cement Company. The couple had six sons.

Sadly, on July 19, 1919, Julia Orshoski died. Below is a photograph taken on the day of her funeral. She was buried in the Castalia Cemetery, next to her son Joseph Orshoski, Jr.












The family legend was that after his first wife died, Joseph said to his family back in Hungary, "Send me a new wife, one named Julia." And, in keeping with his wishes, a new wife was found. Julianna Szomolya came to the United States on September 30, 1921. She and Joseph were married, and had two daughters. Joseph and Julianna were married for over fifty years, and left a host of children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.