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Snippets for Aunt Sharon: The Kellings and the Founding of St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church

St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church, Sheffield, Lorain Co., Ohio.   Last fall I wrote about a discovery I made while doing some research for my Aunt Sharon: her great-great-grandfather Bruno Albaugh was one of Lincoln's bodyguards ! I had several other great discoveries about her family that I've been anxious to share. This week's post profiles her Kelling ancestors' connection to a church founding in Ohio. St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church was organized in 1845 by German settlers to Sheffield, Lorain County, Ohio. Among the founding families of the church were my aunt's second great-grandparents, Johan Kelling , and his wife, Katharina Schuber . The book,  History of Lorain County, Ohio , published in 1879, includes these notes on the church founding: “St. Theresa Church (Catholic), organized in 1845 by Rev. Peter Griesh, with the following membership (other member names)… John Kelling and his wife Catharine . At the organization of the church, each member paid o...
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Mom's Big Trip

Mom, and friends Janet and Zora, in traditional Croatian costumes, taken at Braddock, Pennsylvania, May 1953.
By Nancy Gilbride Casey

"Boy were we surprised. We never expected anything like this hotel." 

A trip to Pittsburgh was the ultimate in excitement for a 15-year old from Cleveland, Ohio, back in 1953, if a letter home is any indication. My mother, then Anna Margaret "Margie" Kozlina, had just checked in to The Penn-Lincoln Hotel in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. Mom was a member of a Cleveland-based Croatian dance ensemble, and had set out to perform at a Kolo festival in the Pittsburgh area.

Mom was exposed to kolo by her father's family, who immigrated from Croatia in the early 1900s. A traditional communal dance, it is performed in a closed circle, a single chain or in two parallel lines. One of many European chain dances surviving from ancient times, kolo is spirited and often fast-moving. 1  (Click here to view a video of a kolo dance from the Sv. Jana region of Croatia; 2  my great grandmother Vjekoslava "Louise" Baltorinic, was born in Sv. Jana, near Zagreb, Croatia.)

Mom's postcard and a longer letter capture her wide-eyed thrill at staying in a fancy hotel—on probably her first solo trip away from her family—as well as youthful antics with her friends. Four photos of her troupe taken on a hillside in Braddock, Pennsylvania provide a visual backdrop to her exciting teenage adventure.

It's a wonderful snapshot of a time in Mom's life which she clearly treasured.

Penn-Lincoln Hotel, where Mom stayed in May 1953.

Writing home to the family in Cleveland.




Captioned on the photo reverse: "Friends: Margie, Madeline & Janet. Taken at Bradock, PA, May 30, 1953"

Mom, standing, far left, and the rest of the ladies of the ensemble.

The men of the ensemble, enjoying a beverage!


 NOTES

 1 Encyclopaedia Britannica Online (https://www.britannica.com : accessed 29 Nov 2019, 09:38:00), "Kolo."

2 J.I.M. Video, "Kolo “Croatia “ Croatian Independence 2019 San Pedro," uploaded 27 May 2019; YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMQNUpTmz7I : accessed 29 Nov 2019).  



Until next time... 

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