The Procuniar\ier Chronicle

Volume III Issue III September 1997

I would like to let everyone know that Vol. III Issue II, April 1997 was the sixth Issue of my normal series. If any of you want to continue receiving the Chronicle please send in your donation of $6.00. Send check to David C. Procuniar at the address listed in the middle column. In the last issue, I mentioned the marriage of my oldest son Kirk and put their picture on page 189. It was pointed out to me that I forgot to mention Kirk’s new bride’s name. She is Julie Ann Keller of Fort Recovery, Ohio. Julie is the daughter of Larry & Diana Keller. Julie was born 21 June 1972 in Portland Indiana.

I also noticed on page 186 that the article on Indentured Service, in the second column second paragraph, that some how the words got mixed up in the computer program. After the words "undeserving poor and unprotected children" the next sentence should be "In the 1650’s many were forcibly transported from England, London, especially as punishment for criminal acts, vagrancy or petty economic crimes." which finished up that paragraph.

I received a nice letter from cousin Ruth (Hauschild) Goranson of Gurnee, ILL., saying she and husband Ralph spent one month during the past winter in Florida. Ruth says that two of her granddaughters, Natalie Goranson & Kelly Dunn both graduated from High School this year. Included in Ruth’s letter was a Chicago Tribune May 18th newspaper clipping of cousin John Paxson and what he is doing these days since his retirement from the professional basketball team the Chicago Bulls. I was not surprised to read that John has kept a low profile since his retirement. The Paxson family here in Dayton, Ohio have always kept to themselves and lived a very quiet life in the Dayton area. John’s grandmother, May A. (Procuniar) Macbeth is still living in a senior care facility in Kettering, Ohio. May turned 94 years old this past May.. On page 197 is the picture of the Corey Procuniar family. Corey and his family are of the Mormon faith and are very active in their church!

On page 183 I mentioned the death of John F. Rohrer. John’s mother, Mary M. (Scheaffer) Rohrer sent us a picture of John and a picture of his cemetery stone, located in the Riverside Cemetery in West Milton, Ohio. Mary stated that her son died of Hypothermia. See both pictures on page 196. Also see the story of John’s niece Erin Lindsay Sprink on page 191.

On page 195 bottom left is the picture of my number two son Steven Daniel Procuniar, age 24, standing next to his mother, Susan on his graduation day from Wright State University. Steven graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Steven accepted a job at Modern Industrial Plastics in Brookville, Ohio. Steven plans on continuing his college and will attend WSU to obtain his masters degree.

In the past issue, we talked about the Allan Bell family. Allan’s mother was Winnifred (Procunier) Bell, born 22 February 1895 in Garden City, South Dakota. On page 196 is a picture of the Thomas Henry Procunier family (taken on Thanksgiving Day 1902) The little girl standing next to her mother’s left is seven year old Winnifred. At that time they were living in Watertown, S.D. Thomas H. Procunier’s lineage is ..... Henry Procunier Jr., Henry Procunier Sr., Peter Procunier Jr., Peter Brockunier Sr. ..... Thomas was one of four siblings, Thomas being the oldest, Ida born 1858 & Hannah born 1860. Henry Jr.’s second wife was Bintha Maitland they had one child, Alfred born 1870. Henry Procunier Jr., born 23 July 1825 in Norfolk, Canada, died 30 May 1900 and is buried in the Port Royal Cemetery, Walsingham Twp., Norfolk County Canada. Henry was listed as a Carpenter in the 1867 Norfolk directory where his name is spelled Procrunier and pronounced PROK-RU-NEE-YER. Thomas H. Procunier was born 1 July 1856 in Port Huron, Ontario. As written in the family bible, Thomas H. Procunier of Welsingham & Caroline May Buchner, of same place, married on February 4th 1879 at residence of the brides father. After marriage the family moved south to the USA to the Dakotas (Garden City, Clark Co., S. Dakota) about 1885. But due to the weather and general ecological problems for farmers in the upper mid-west, they pulled up stakes and the entire family moved to Seattle, Washington about 1903-1905. Thomas & Caroline had eight children, with six living to adulthood. The following is a story handed down by the Thomas H. Procunier family and told by Thomas’ grandson, "John Frederick Nicholson." .... The family arrived in Seattle in the dark of night and found lodging in some cheap hotel down on the skidrow. It must have been a scary scene with the town consisting of mostly drunken loggers and roughnecks going to and from the Alaskan Gold Fields. That first night in Seattle was apparently a frightening experience for them trying to protect their young family in Sodom-by-the-Sound. Grandpa Tom Procunier herded his young flock into the hotel room, barricaded the door and sat up all night with his rifle across his lap. The next morning they were headed south after one look at Seattle and didn't stop until they arrived at the community of Grand Mound, Washington, near Chehalis. They bought some acreage, built a house, tried to make a living farming but failed. They came back to give Seattle another try. Grandpa Tom worked as a carpenter. He took John Van Emelen into the business and John in time married his partner’s fourth child Carrie Elizabeth in 1905. They built a number of houses in the north end of Seattle and the Procunier family home which was the second house built on Green Lake. The first house was the F.A. McDonald home about a block away. Both are still standing (1997) and have appreciated astronomically as one might expect. They also built the Van Emelen house next door to the Procunier home. This house is still owned by Joel Van Emelen, cousin Claude's son, and he lives there now! Additionally they also built the Keystone Congregational Church which unfortunately, has been radically remodeled from its original classic colonial style. Grandma and Grandpa Procunier had a shaky start, but they enjoyed a happy and prosperous life in Seattle. In the fifties Aunt Winnie and Uncle Guy made a trip back to South Dakota in that old Silver Streak trailer of Guy's genius. They went back to see the old homestead and checked out Winnie's roots! .... by John Frederick Nicholson 3/97

It was here in Seattle that Thomas’s five daughters put down their roots, married and remained in the Seattle/Tacoma area all of their lives. Thomas helped build the church that his family attended all the years they lived in Seattle near Green Lake. Thomas died on Father’s Day of a heart attack and is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery, Seattle, Washington. Allan Bell noted that when Mary Lou's children (Mary Lou is the granddaughter of Thomas) were tiny and they lived only a few doors away from Grandma Procunier, that when she came to visit at Mary Lou’s or they went to see Grandma, they all called her "cunner" (kooner) or a similar sounding name. Grandma Winnifred may have been in her 80's at the time. The Thomas Henry Procunier family attended church regularly. The first of Thomas children to marry was their third child, Carrie Elizabeth, who married on 19 June 1905 to John Rapp Van Emelen who was a partner in her father’s construction business. They had two children, Lois Margarette born 1907, married William Hansen & Claude (adopted) born in 1915, who married Helen Folvin. Claude was killed during the second world war in 1945. Thomas’s oldest child, Ida Josephine Procunier, born (a twin) 27 November 1879 in Canada, married Matthew Sharp Muir 17 January 1908. They had two children Matt and Julia. Matthew Sr. was a career Army man, as far back as WW I. Both Matt & Ida died while their two children were only teenagers. Ida died 31 March 1927, aged 47 yrs., & 4 months while living in Seattle. Thomas Lee Gladstone Procunier the only son of Thomas Henry to attain adulthood was born 14 October 1887 in Garden City, Clark Co., S. Dakota. Thomas L. married on 17 June 1909 to Rose Mohan of Kings County Washington. They did not have any children. The fourth marriage of Thomas H. and Caroline’s children was Florence Luella, born 22 March 1890. She married 5 June 1910 to Mathias C. Thiel. Allan Bell says that Florence was a Catholic and had a real large family. However I only know of one of their children, Mary Lou, born 1922 who was still living in February 1997. Mary Lou married Robert L. Basom, together they had six children, Robert L, 1943, Caroline Anne 1945, Jeffery Matthew 1949, Katherine Luella 1951, Mary Cecilia 1955 & Anne Teresa 1959. Next to be married was Winnifred on 20 December 1914. See more about Winnifred on page 183 right column and a picture of Winnifred on page 195 aged 20. The last child of Thomas & Caroline to get married was Mary Gertrude, born 28 July 1897. She married on 4 October 1919 John Flower Nicholson. John was murdered some years ago when he went to collect rent where he managed an apartment building. John & Mary had three children, John Frederick, born 1923, married Shirlee Dewar. They have two children Andrea Jean and John Dewar. John (Jack) gave us the story about the Thomas H. Procunier family on page 191 right column. John and Mary’s second child was James Thomas born 1928, married Norma Irene Cook. They had three children. John & Shirlee’s daughter Andrea Jean married Wesley Vollmer.

by A. Bell & DCP

MORE E-MAIL CONTACTS

A woman named Jeanie (Bragonier) Simpson sent me email in July saying a neighbor found my name while surfing on the Internet (Internet Roots Surname List). Jeanie wanted to know if we were related. The following is the correspondence between Jeanie and myself since that first email ....

7/9/97 Dear David,

My name is Jeanie Bragonier Simpson. I am the daughter of Clare Barr Bragonier, and the granddaughter of Curtis Edwin Bragonier. Curtis was from Iowa. I do know of some other Bragoniers in this area. I'm sure we are related. My father was born in Omaha in 1911. His cousin is still alive and lives in Colorado. I am very interested in our family tree. How are we related? Jeanie Simpson email: jenelsim@garlic.com

7/10/97 Dear 7th Cousin David,

I am very excited about hearing from you. I have to go out of town until tomorrow, so I will fill you in on my family history when I return Friday. I just wanted you to know I received your email. Your address was given to me by my neighbor who does extensive genealogy research on the Internet. Jeanie P.S. Are you a teacher? I am, and I understand we come from a long line of teachers.

7/14/97 Dear David,

My neighbor found your information on the Internet Roots Surname List. She does not work and spends hours working on her genealogy. She often has searched information for me, and this is her first real connection! Here is what I can tell you:

My grandfather, Curtis Edwin Bragonier, did not move to Modesto. He lived in Denver and then moved to Merced, CA approximately in 1949. He lived with my family. My father, Clare Barr Bragonier, was his only child. Curtis died at the age of 88 in 1967. Curtis was married to Ocie Barr and her maiden name was my dad's middle name. My father died at the age of 58 in 1970. He was married to Pauline Elizabeth Romatzke. My brother, Lawrence Don (goes by the name Don) was born in 1944 in Denver and myself Betty Jean (goes by the name Jeanie) born in 1946 in Denver, as were their two children. My brother married Kenra Sue Nixon and has one child, Jake Daniel. Jake was born in 1973 in Merced, CA. Jake will be attending Ohio State University this fall to get his masters in Sports Management. I married Elmo Frank Simpson (no relation to O.J.!), and we have two children. Keith Franklin born in 1971 and Kristen Janeen born in 1973.

My grandfather had a brother named Robert and his son lives in Colorado and he has two children who live in California. Curtis also had brothers named Ernest and Frank. He had a sister named Marion. I corresponded to Marion for years when I was growing up.

I would be very interested in getting some written information about the Bragonier Family Tree. I have contacted a Bragonier who explained that we were Procunier until we immigrated, and then the name was changed, I believe, in the U.S. Please let me know how I can get more information regarding our family history.

I hope you are having a good week. I will be leaving Friday for a week in Hawaii. My daughter and I are going to Honolulu and then to the big island. My husband has his own business, and unfortunately cannot get away this time. Our daughter works for Anderson Consulting (a worldwide consulting firm, have you heard of it?...she's in the systems end), and our son just finished law school and is living in Japan and doing an internship in international law. Since I'm off from school for a few weeks, Kristen and I decided to go have some fun. What about you? How are we connected here?

Thanks for being so helpful with my research. For years I've looked in telephone books on every trip I ever took. This is so much better! Jeanie ............. P.S. There is a Dennis Bragonier in Folsom, CA. His father lives in the bay area. I have spoken to him on the phone. I will try to find his name, because I can't remember it. He is very interested in the family tree also.

7/16/97 Dear David,

Thank you so much for all the information. I will send for a copy of the information from the library. I am printing out your email and keeping it in my files. I really appreciate all this information. Sunday, my husband and I celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary. By the way, how do you pronounce our last name? The Bragoniers in the bay area say "Brag-on-ear." My dad always cringed at the pronunciation. We say "Bra-gone-yer." Your cousin, Jeanie ......... P.S. It's nice to have a cousin on my dad's side, because I didn't have any that I knew of when I was growing up! ..... Jeanie Bragonier Simpson

Erin Lindsay Sprink daughter of Chris & Jeannie (Rohrer) Sprink, & Great Granddaughter of Nettie Belle (Procuniar) Rohrer

Jeannie (Rohrer) Sprink, is the daughter of Mary M. (Scheaffer) Rohrer and sister of John F. Rohrer, mentioned in the right column of page 190. Chris sent us some of the highlights of his daughter’s high school years, which follows: Erin Lindsay Sprink was born 12 October 1978 in Owosso, Michigan. Erin graduated from Corunna High School in Corunna, Michigan on June 1, 1997. Erin graduated 7th in her class, making the list of the "Top Ten High Honor Graduates." Here is just some of Erin’s achievements while attending high school" ... Corunna Education Association Scholarship; National Scholar/Athlete Award from U.S. Army Reserve; Vice-President National Honor Society; Michigan Girls State Representative; Mid Michigan Scholar/Athlete Award; Corunna Homecoming Court; Shiawassee County 1977 Fair Queen. Erin will attend Michigan State University this fall, majoring in Broadcasting/Communications. She has worked as a pharmacy technician for two years and is currently beginning a new pharmacy position at the Michigan State University Veterinary Hospital. Erin’s grandmother, Mary Rohrer, says that Erin has also received many awards in other fields as well, and seems to excel in anything she attempts. Erin’s parents held a graduation party at their home, (an open house) for the 100 plus guests who attended. Mary says that the picture of her son, John, on page 196 was taken on his 38th birthday. Erin is my 2C1R (Second Cousin Once Removed) DCP

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