UPDATE - This gentleman in the picture is not Frank Partsch. It is Fred Betham, Christina's husband.
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| (Left to right - Fred Betham, Maggie Silva, Mele (Mary) Silva, Christina Betham) |
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Maggie and Frank Partsch
So recently this picture was added by a family member on Facebook. I think we were all intrigued to actually see our Grandparents/Great grandparents Maggie and Frank Partsch. Does anyone have any stories about them that you would like to share with the rest of the family? I know a few of us would love to know a little bit more about them. If you would like to share any information you may have please click on the 'Comment' section below to share.
UPDATE - This gentleman in the picture is not Frank Partsch. It is Fred Betham, Christina's husband.
UPDATE - This gentleman in the picture is not Frank Partsch. It is Fred Betham, Christina's husband.
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Talofa family, I was the first one to post this picture online via bebo and facebook during my genealogy research. Many of our relatives have tagged this picture on their f/b pages which is great. I got this from a cousin named Like Smith from the Silva side (Maggie or Meki's side)and I've been asking relatives or anyone on facebook to verify that this picture is really Frank Partsch. So far no one has the answer. I just want to make sure because mom,dad and I used to visit Frank Partsch at Moto'otua hospital in the late '50's when I was a little kid. He had no legs and was confined to the hospital. The picture, with Christina and Mele shows Maggie and Frank (if that is really him) much later in life. After a divorce, Maggie remarried Tuaua and had 3 children: Manuele (residing in Hawaii with his wife Sofia and family), Koke (deceased) and Lemesio (deceased)and I'm connecting with his children living in Alaska.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for the long message but once we verify that this is really Frank Partsch it will be a great day for us since we don't have a picture of him. So much to say but 'til the next time.
BTW, I'll post up a bit of info of me and my family soon. I really enjoyed reading what we have here already. I will later share with you what I've found on our genealogy. And a round of applause for Sina Holden for her funny and witty response here.
I love all of you,
Savea
So that will be interesting to find out if that was him or not. What do you remember about Frank when you met him? What memories do you have of either Frank or Maggie?
ReplyDeleteI didn't know much about Frank Partsch except when we went to visit him at the hospital in Moto'otua, Apia. He passed away in 1960 and his prosthetic legs were left at our house in Lotopa. I would love to find more about him and his life. Frank's dad was Gottlieb Wilhelm Partsch originally from Hamburg, Prussia, Germany. He was the first Partsch of our side who came to Samoa and worked for the early Germam trading companies including times in Tonga and other Pacific island and even managed a hotel in Apia during the Mau movement when New Zealand still occupied Samoa and seized the German Colony in the beginning of the First World War. It was also in 1918 when the NZ administration allowed the trading ship named Talune to dock in Apia and let about 6 people who were infected with the deadly flu virus. About 8,500 Samoans died because of the stupid decision by the NZ occupiers. In fact the US people in American Samoan wanted to help but NZ people in Upolu didn't listen. I remember when grandma Lavalea would tell shocking stories about that dark days in Samoa when she was very young. Some family members sitting in their fale would all of a sudden just fall down and died in an instant from the flu. Why it took many years for NZ to admit their blunt mistake is still a shock to many of us. It was only a few years back when then NZ prime minister Helen Clark visited Samoa and gave a public apology of this tragedy in the history of Samoa. Gottlieb Wilhelm Partsch is mentioned in some of the writing by some of the old Samoans public servants.
ReplyDeleteAs for grandma Maggie or Meki, I got to know her a lit bit more. When we left Lalovaea where we used to stay with grandpa Toalepai Meafua Aiono to settle in Lotopa, Maggie would come often to visit us. Lagi was born at this time and another sad news when her twin sister didn't make it. When we go to visit grandma Maggie in Fugalei, the place was always busy with many relatives living at the big house and many other of the Silva's living in the area. At that time, Maggie was married to Tuaua but she always come to visit us in Lotopa. She stayed healthy because she loves to walk many times between Lotopa and Fugalei. She loves our dad Karl and Annie Mikaele who later moved to Lotopa and lived by us. Those are the two things I remember most about grandma Maggie: her love for our dad and her health from many miles of walking. She later moved to Hawaii and lived with Uncle Manuele and Sofia. She was not buried but kept in a mausoleum in Hawaii. If any of us go to Hawaii to remember to visit her. In fact I will ask Tusi to do that.
That's all I can remember for now. God bless our growing family all over this world. I'm sorry I have no time to correct any English mistake here but at least you got some idea of some of our ancestors from my memory.
Family, I was on f/b looking for more information on this picture concerning Frank Partsch. The lo and behold I found a comment by sister Lagi that this gentleman was Fred Betham, husband of Christina Silva. I inbox Lagi to please verify this since nobody has responded to the query per Frank Partsch picture issue. In the meantime, let's all look for a picture of Frank Partch. I urge our family to do some genealogy research. I'm doing the best I can but with many hands we can do a lot more. Penina is now into genealogy and she's been working on her grandma Nani's genealogy and she was able to trace Nani's palagi side to old Ireland. Another help we can do is a DNA test and you'll be surprised at where our ancestors come from.
ReplyDeleteManuia le aso,
Savea
Talofa uncle I am fasinatedin finding out more about our geneology, and want to take it further could you please give me a starting point or how far you can trace our family back too.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSo very happy to see this photo. I took it in the late 1970s when I worked at Radio Station 2AP and was Mary Silva's tenant in that house. She rented out the 3 upstairs rooms. I was in the middle and there was a Peace Corps volunteer on each side of me. I can for certain say that is Fred Betham on the left and Christina Betham on the right. I'm honestly not sure which is Maggie and which is Mary. I have the photo in my album in front of me as I write. It's wonderful to see everyone again and brings back many happy memories of my 4 years in Apia. Sincerely, Judie
ReplyDeleteHi Partsch family, and in particular Savea!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you will be aware that Gottlieb Wilhelm Partsch married (Sarah) Annie Bartley. Annie Bartley's sister was Lucy Bartley (my great great grandmother) who married Hermann Guttenbeil and lived in Tonga. I have researched the Guttenbeils (and have even written a book about them), but I have found the Bartleys quite difficult to research. So I thought I would make contact with the various branches of the Bartley family to see what we all know.
The Bartleys of Samoa originate with Frederick Bartley who was originally from Kentucky in the USA, and his wife Sarah Harrison/Finnegan. They came to the Pacific in the 1850s, starting off in Auckland, New Zealand, and leaving for Fiji sometime around 1862. The couple had 6 or 7 children. They were:
Katherine - who married Frederick Narruhn and lived in the Caroline Islands (and later the Gilbert Is)
Isabella Frances who married Alfred Rudolf Decker and lived in Samoa
Sarah Annie who married Gottlieb Wilhelm Partsch and lived in Samoa
Charles who married a Samoan woman Paulina Mapusua and stayed in Samoa
Lucy Jane who married Hermann Gustav Guttenbeil and lived in Tonga.
Caroline Bartley who married Franz Stehr and moved to Tonga initially and then later to Duke of York Is in Papua New Guinea.
I have also found records of a Mary Bartley and a Anne Martha Bartley, but I am unsure what became of them, or whether these are alternate names used for some of the sisters above.
Anyway, I would be interested to hear from anyone who knows more, especially about Gottlieb and Annie Partsch (nee Bartley). To contact me email me: tonydmuller(at)gmail.com the (at) is actually an @.... I just wrote it that way to reduce spam!
Look forward to hearing from you
Tony Muller