Where I Come From

Having traveled so far and so often over the last ten years, I am often asked, and therefore telling people, about “where I come from,” (thank you, Alan Jackson).  And I’ve noticed that the more they learn about the place in which I grew up, the more amazed  most of them become.  I’ve learned in the last ten years that where I come from is a rather unique place, or at least a place that the majority of Americans my age simply can’t comprehend.   

I often think about the area that I grew up particularly during times like this when I’m about to venture into a whole new world.  Several post drafts on this topic have been waiting for me to work on and submit, and I’m forcing myself to do one before departing tomorrow.  We’ll see if others come once in Scotland.  Realistically doubtful.

In this post let me introduce you to one quarter of my family tree and one quarter of me.  This is Bellechester, MN, a town only five miles from Mazeppa.  It is a town with .3 square miles of land, surrounded by countless acres of farmland, and, as of the 2010 census, has 175 residents.  It’s where my mom, originally Nancy Bartholome, and her five siblings grew up and went to school, where my grandma lived for as long as I knew her, and where many of my relatives live (and lie) yet today.

Bellechester has one church, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, and one cemetery, St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery.  Bellechester is a Catholic town, and always has been.

In the cemetery lie my grandma and grandpa: Anita and Luverne Bartholome (1920-1986).

Grandpa Luverne was the son of Josephine (1882-1951) and Great-Grandpa Dominic Bartholome (1875-1967).

Dominic was the son of Catherine (1853-1956) and Great-Great-Grandpa Nicholas (1832-1918) Bartholome.

Nicholas was the son of Susanna and Great-Great-Great Grandpa Peter Bartholome (1803-1875).

Do you know where your great-great-great grandpa is buried?

Do you have four linear generations buried in one cemetery?

They all came from Colpach-Haut (German: Obercolpach), Luxembourg, beginning with Nicholas in 1855.  He eventually homesteaded a piece of land in Bellechester, the deed signed by Abraham Lincoln himself, and then had his father Peter, and brother and sister come over to join him in 1868.

Nicholas met Catherine (whose family also came from Luxembourg when she was just 14 years old) in Lake City.  Catherine (my great-great grandma) was  named first “Catholic Mother of the Year” by the National Catholic Conference on Family Life in 1942, then awarded the Papal Medal, “Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice,” by Pope Pius XII in 1952.  It’s the highest medal of honor to be awarded by the pope to laity.  She lived to be 103 years old.

Of their eleven children, they had my great grandpa Dominic, as well as John, who became a Catholic priest and was deemed, “Right Reverend Monsignor,” by Pope Pius XII. 

They also had my great-uncle Peter Bartholome, born in 1893 in Bellechester, who also became a Catholic Priest and eventually became the Bishop of St. Cloud, MN.  Unfortunately for Bellechester, he’s buried in St. Cloud.

Four generations in one cemetery, and I’m sure a fifth will come, and probably a sixth when my cousins reach that point in life. 

The land that was originally deeded by Abraham Lincoln is where my mom grew up, where I visited my grandma, and now where my aunt lives.  This summer the whole family celebrated 150 years of the land being in the Bartholome name.  Hopefully it continues for years to come. 

Whether that happens or not, the Bartholome’s resting in the cemetery are going nowhere and will continue to silently speak to a society that has lost its appreciation for the places and the people from whom we come.