Eulogius and Eligius...a eulogy ☺

As we've looked for relatives on ships lists, in church books, military records, passport and citizenship applications, censuses...anywhere they might be listed, I've frequently whined to Larry that EVERY FREAKIN GENERATION repeated the same names--John, Mary, Joseph, Agnes, Mathias, Elizabeth, Anton, Rosalia, Paul, Anna--and how hard it is to distinguish if we mean grandpa or brother, aunt or matriarch, ya know?  Still, pretty much every Paul Hesch from Bohemia is ours because of German naming traditions, too. A double edged sword.

So, when Larry asked if I knew of a relative named Eligius, I thought he was teasing.  As it turned out tho, we've had not one but TWO Elogii (at least) in the Polish part of the family.

Yes, there was a St Eulogius.  The link'll get you more information about him than you care to know.  His name means "blessing", and that's enough for parents to know, I suppose.

Larry'd found an Eligius (misspelled Elignis) Otremba in the 1920 Census from Mahnomen, Minnesota.  As much as I complained about similar ancestral names, this person had to be related because of his name.

His father was Frank J Otremba and his mother was Sarah M Bellefuielle, we believe.  (When she died in 1951, her death certificate says her parents were Jonas Bell...lle and Amelia Spry). (Yes, Bellefuielle was a family in Mahnomen, then.  Jonas Bellefuielle was listed in the 1905 Minnesota census as Indian, born in 1871 in Becker Co. Mn).

According to People Search online,
Eligius E Otremba was born in July, 1917 and died in Wyoming, MN in December 2005, at 88 years old.  I know Larry found his obit online, but for the life of me, it's not online now!


Okay, I can hear you saying that Eulogius isn't the same name as Eligius.  They're close, tho, and I suspect Eligius settled on a version he liked and ran with it.  A weird name needs to be tolerated, I know...☺
Oh, and Eligius' dad Frank J was the son of Joseph Otremba and Hedwig Holeva.  My family tree says Frank's wife was Mathilda B Otremba...not Sarah.  So hmm.  We'll wait for Larry on this one, since I know we found them later, without Frank , in Royalton.  (That was an Indians Census listing, so Frank wouldn't have been included, while Mathilda/Sarah and the kids would have been).

 Who was the other Eulogius, then?  The one named after the saint--son of Frederick Schmolke.  Fred evidently married twice, since this page says they'd been married 4 years, with 3 children, but the next page shows 4 more Schmolke children.

  What's particularly interesting about the name "Eulogius Schmolke" besides its challenging pronounceablity?  I found a message left in 2009 on an online Schmolke genealogy message board , about a family legend and an earlier Eulogius:

".... I have been doing some research into the family tree and it was my understanding that Eloguis was sent to Minnesota around 1918 with the purpose of buying some land, for the family to move to. The family never heard from him again.  My mother was Rose and my grandmother, Elizabeth Jendro lived with us until her death, in 1958. I am living in Canada now and would like any information you may have in regard to the Schmolke family and particularly any information on Elogius..."

See why the name stood out?  We're talking Larry + me + a mystery.  Stuff like this tickles us both WAY too much, but we've solved plenty of other conundrums here, right?  Stay tuned!