Notes for Helen Eugenia THURTELL

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Notes for Helen Eugenia THURTELL

The 1963 Thurtell Family History and the History of the Thurtell Family done by Susan Persia Thurtell about 1968 show Helen Eugenia Thurtell was married to Harold A. Jahraus.

A letter from Alfred B. Jahraus to Susan Persia Thurtell Miller dated February 4, 1977, provided much of the information about Helen and Harold Jahraus and their children and grandchildren.

Her birth certificate (number 1599 from the Michigan Department of Health) shows Helen Thurtell was born in Kasson Township, Leelanau County, Michigan, on July 11, 1889. It shows her father, Walter Thurtell, was born in Canada and was a resident of Kasson with his occupation listed as merchant. Her mother is shown as Agnes Thurtell, born in New York. The record was filed May 28, 1890.

The Social Security death record shows Helen Jahraus, born November 11, 1889, died October 1974, and had Social Security Number 374-32-8467, which was issued in Michigan. Her residence at death was Michigan. The Social Security number record and master beneficiary record confirm that her date of birth was verified as July 11, 1889, and shows her name as Helen Eugenia Jahraus. She applied for Social Security benefits at the Social Security Office in Traverse City, Michigan, in September 1954 and received benefits based on her own work and earnings until she died in October 1974, while residing at ZIP code 49684.

Helen Thurtell Jahraus lived for many years at 81 Lambeth Drive, Bridgeville (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania.

The 1900 U.S. Census for Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan, (Vol. 23, E.D. 42, Sheet 7, Line 44) shows her as Hellen T. Thurtell, living with her parents, sister, and brother at 219 East Ninth Street, Traverse City, Michigan. This census shows her born in July 1889 in Michigan and a student.

She is listed in the Traverse City High School Graduating Class of 1907, extracted from the Black and Gold Yearbook of Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan, and found on the internet in November 1998 at http://members.aol.com/kingsley/grad07.html.

The 1910 U.S. Census index for Washtenaw County, Michigan (089 0120 0014) shows her as Helen Thurtell, living with her parents and sister, and being age 20.

A certificate from Michigan State Normal College, Ypsilanti, Michigan, dated June 20, 1911, showed Helen Eugenia Thurtell had completed the academic and professional studies prescribed by the State Board of Education for the Life Certificate course and that she was "hereby licensed to teach in the Public Schools of Michigan."

The Traverse City Record Eagle for October 4, 1917, under the headline "Kept Marriage Secret," shows that "The many friends of Harold Jahraus and Helen Thurtell will be surprised to learn of their marriage, which took place July seventh. Mr. Jahraus has an excellent position with the Solvay company, Detroit, and Mrs. Jahraus has been teaching school in Lansing."

Her marriage certificate (Number 683, Berrien County, Michigan) shows that Harold A. Jahraus and Helen E. Thurtell were married at St. Joseph, Berrien County, Michigan, on July 7, 1917, by Henry A. Bushnell, Pastor of the Congregational Church, with the witnesses being Amelia E. Bushnell and Philip N. Bushnell, both of St. Joseph, Michigan. The marriage license record shows she was not married before, was age 27, white, residing in Berrien Springs, Michigan, born in Michigan, with an occupation as teacher, and her father's name shown as Walter and her mother's maiden name as Agnes Hall. It shows Harold A. Jahraus as white, age 27, never married before, residing in Detroit, Michigan, born in Michigan, with an occupation as designer. His father's name is shown as Alfred W. and his mother's maiden name as Ida M. Kramer.

The Traverse City Record Eagle for October 24, 1974, shows Helen Eugenia Jahraus died at Bethel Park Convalescent Home, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, after an extended illness. It shows she was born in Maple City on July 11, 1889, and married in Berrien Springs in 1917 to Harold A. Jahraus. It states "Born and reared in the Traverse City area, following her marriage she resided in Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1949 she moved with her husband to Traverse City where she resided on East Bay Road until 1964. She then moved to Pittsburgh where she made her home with her son. Mrs. Jahraus taught school for many years in the Grand Traverse area, retiring in 1962. She was a member of the National Retired Teachers Association." It also shows she was a member of St. Clair Bible Chapel in Pittsburgh, and that "preceding her in death, besides her husband, were her parents, a brother and a sister." The funeral was at Hibbard Funeral Chapel, Traverse City, with burial in Oakwood Cemetery, Traverse City, Michigan.

A letter dated November 3, 1974, from her nephew, James Miller, who was also a physician, stated "My first remembrance of Aunt Helen was when she came from Cleveland to Berrien Springs in 1918 at the time of the great influenza epidemic to care for my mother, Frank and me when we were down with the flu. Dad was going nite and day making as many as 60 calls in twenty-four hours - many in a horse and cutter - attending the sick. Interestingly the epidemic was worldwide; people were sometimes only ill for 24 hours before they died. Their lungs would fill up with secretions and they would drown in their own fluids. There has never been anything like it, before or since. Be that as it may, Aunt Helen was a brave, strong young woman who had survived typhoid fever a few years before in West Virginia, in which Cousin Helen died. She came willingly, without thought of herself, and nursed the three of us back to health and kept the household going. I will never forget the night she came, by train to South Bend, the interurban to Berrien Springs - Dad carrying her bag from the station as the snow was deep and cars were not moving. She was the shining light of our family that nite and since."

She was recalled in an undated family sheet as a notably helpful person and an "outgoing, accepting person" who "kept in touch with old friends and made new ones as they moved around the country from job to job." When her husband Harold was "at Corning Glass Works, she collected crystal and some Stuben. In Richmond, Indiana, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati she collected friends and found opportunities to help others. When Harold had a stroke she went back to teaching and moved 'back home' to Traverse City where they went to high school."

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