Obituary Research

Recently I have changed my work schedule to 4 ten hour days with Monday being an extra day off. Since I have been very frustrated with finding the time to go on genealogy field trips, I decided to take my extra day off and once a month to go to libraries, archives and etc.

My first Monday off, I trekked over to Hillsboro (Oregon) to visit the public library which is an hour long drive. Since I was in the neighborhood, Hillsboro being the county seat for Washington County, I had been wanting to go to the County Clerk's Office and pick up the marriage record of my great grandparents.  Earlier in the week I emailed the office to ask if they housed those records and the procedure on how to get the record.  A nice email came back and asked me for the names of who I was looking for so I answered them and got a fairly quick response with the book and page number.  I printed the email and took it with me to their office and in a few minutes they printed off a microfilmed copy of the record and I paid them $4.00. These folks were very pleasant. The information on the record didn't give me any new data, but now I have the proof.

The purpose of my visit to the library was that I knew that they had the microfilmed newspaper called the "Hillsboro Argus" and for a long time I have wanted to get copies of the obituaries of 2 sets of great great grandparents and great grandparents and their siblings. My May and Hutchison families arrived in Washington County around 1886 and a good group of them are buried in the Arcade Cemetery which you can find the stones and inscriptions on "Find-a-Grave". Several of these families had settled in the little communities in the county and had died there as well. I knew that I could learn more about where the children lived and married names for the daughters. 


Going on a Monday had great advantages!  It was quiet and not so busy.  The reference desk was so helpful and patient and helped me set up my films, and even sold me a flash drive so that I could download the records right onto the drive.  Brilliant me, not even thinking about that!  Being armed with death dates and systematically looking through the films, I found a good portion of who I was looking for. I ended up with 18 obits all in all.

This was found this on the April 23, 1903 Issue Page 1:

Daniel Hutchison was my 2nd Great Grandfather. I wrote a post about him at: http://deliasgenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/weekly-genealogy-prompt-26-daniel.html

Was this an easy project?  At times it was. The newspaper was published weekly for decades so that narrowed down the search tremendously.  Other times, the film was extremely blurry and even trying to focus the reader didn't help matters. For years they fitted the death notices all over the paper probably wherever they had space.  That made it very hard to scan and find them.     

Was this a worthwhile project?  I learned a few things in the obituary posted above:

Death place. Was not aware he died in the hospital or which one. I was mistaken in learning that he died in another county and city.  Big correction for my records.
 
Did not know he died of paralysis and suffered from a stroke in 1893.  I knew from the 1880 and 1900 censuses that he was not in good health.

Reafirmation of death date.  Civil War pension file stated date of death and so did his gravestone.  Oregon began recording death dates in 1903 just after he died no death certificate has been found.

Did not know he belonged to the United Brethren Church.

Marriage date and to whom and where.  This would have been a great find if the record had not been located earlier.

Birth date and place.  Very valuable resource!  Secondary source but great to have.
 
My May and Hutchison families arrived in Washington County around 1886 and a good group of them are buried in the Arcade Cemetery which you can find the stones and inscriptions on "Find-a-Grave".  Several of these families had settled in the little communities in the county and had died there as well.  The 4 Hutchison children married 4 May children which produced 4 sets of double cousins!  Later family married 2nd cousins.

Taking the time to research original records can glean much information in learning more about your family.  These newspapers are not likely to be digitized anytime soon.  If they are, I can fine tune my search and look for daily ancedotes and their more day to day activities.  I wish I could have read everyone of those older newspapers!

Sentimental Sunday-A Child's Letter

West Chicago, Illinois

September 24, 1898

Dear Mother

I will write a few lines to you. also to May. How do you feel now. do you have those awful paines in you sides. How is your cough is it as bad as before.  Is it as bad to take this medicine as the other was? 

Is there very many parks out and are you now near one.  It is pretty nice out here. Aunt Cora's throat is a little better and Dr. has given her some medicine which is very nice.  We have got lots of company-

now in our house. The company is Don and his mother Annie, and we think Rob and his wife will be up to.  Annie is very sick and I have to go to the drug store every little while.  I think this is all.

Willie

To May

I will write a few lines to you.  I am getting along alright.  Is it warm enough out there to go barefoot. If it is I will go barefoot nearly all of the time.  

When Aunt Cora was out I was in the front room with my big double bladed knive ready to spear them if they made a move at me.

Yes I wish I  was out there with everyone but I don't want to leave my playmates.

Do you ever see the donkies kick?  I did out here.  

This is all I can write.

From your Bro Willie

P.S. I will send you 10 cts

Good by.  Willie

Interestingly, the dime imprint is still visible on the letter. 

There is alot more than meets the eye as to the background and story behind this letter.  It's probably the saddest and most tragic story that I have encountered in my family research. 

Ellis Judson Ball was born 1855 in Kankakee, Illinois according to sources, which I demonstrated in my posting for Madness Monday regarding his father, Judson Ball as being my brickwall.  Ellis lost his father when he was about 12.  I supposed that his mother, Caroline struggled to make ends meet so Ellis was living with his married sister, Amelia and her family in the 1870 census where he went to school in Hopkins, Allegan County, Michigan.  Somehow he ended up in Manton, Wexford County, Michigan where he met and married Grace Randall in 1879 and they are listed together in the 1880 census with him working in a shingle mill.  Apparently Grace contracted tuberculosis and died August of 1880 just after the census was taken.  Sadly, Grace was such a distant memory that this was a surprise to family members as I had discovered her existance.  

One year later, in 1881, Ellis married Evora A. Hawkins in Grand Rapids.  Not sure why they went there to marry as the Hawkins family also resided 1880 in Manton.  In 1885, their son, William Edward was born and recorded at Wexford birth records with his sister, Celia May, born in 1887.  She was commonly known to the family as "May".  Other children followed:  Frank born 1889, Mary Frances, Fred and twin boys.  These children birth dates are quite sketchy.  During this time Evora herself became infected with TB as well.  

Ellis and Evora at some point moved on to Chicago with other members of Evora's Hawkins family.  Mary Frances was born in 1895 where I recently found her birth certificate. In 1897 Frank, "Frankie" died at about 8 years of age.  I have a picture of him with Willie.  Around this time frame, Mary Frances, Fred and twin boys where born and died.  I assume because of the infectious TB that Evora was suffering from.  

My speculation of this letter is that Ellis took Evora and May and they moved to a dryer and warmer climate for her health and maybe to get away from the tragedy of losing so many children in such rapid succession.  Aunt Cora would have been Evora's sister and she would have been about 25 years old probably living with another sibling where Willie could be taken care of and continuing with school without disruption.  I haven't yet learned who the other people in the letter are as of yet.  

Evora died 5 November 1898 supposedly in Las Vegas with her burial place still unknown.   Her parents in the meantime moved to El Paso, Texas where they are found in the 1900 census.  Cora is with them.  Ellis must have retrieved Willie at some point.  Ellis was in El Paso by 1901 where his picture was taken.  He went on to Oklahoma and secured a homestead with Willie and May.  The Hawkins family and Cora moved west to San Diego, California.  Cora passed away in July 1904 at the very young age of 30 and is buried in the Mount Hope Cemetery. Was she comsumptive?  

Ellis and his two married children ended up in Salem, Oregon and lived good, secure lives.               

Brick Wall - Ramseys

I have some unidentified Ramsey children that I have been searching for several years.

1. Elizabeth Ramsey married John Hollingsworth (of Quaker descent) in Miami County, Ohio in 1809. Elizabeth I figured was born about 1794 or so. Elizabeth died between the 1830 and 1840 censuses either in Vermillion, Indiana or Vermilion, Illinois. John Hollingsworth is the son of Isaac Hollingsworth and Susannah Wright who came from Newberry/Edgefield County, South Carolina. John died in 1847 in Vermillion, Indiana. 2. Charity Ramsey married Carter Hollingsworth in Miami County, Ohio in 1810. Researchers say she was born about 1793 in Laurens County, South Carolina. Carter Hollingsworth and John Hollingsworth appear to be ½ cousins. They travelled together. Carter’s sons took care of John when he was sick according to John’s probate file. So there was a relationship of sorts. They lived in Vermillion County. 3. Susannah Ramsey married Gabriel McCool in Miami County, Ohio in 1807. According to the 1850 census, it appears that she was born 1786 in South Carolina. Gabriel McCool is a first cousin to John & William Hollingsworth. They lived in Vermillion. 4. William Hollingsworth oldest brother of John, married Rebecca Ramsey ca 1793. Rebecca Ramsey was born ca 1773. They lived in Vermillion. 5. Isaac Ramsey married Rachel Cook in 1822 in Indiana. Census 1850 says he was born 1805 in South Carolina. He is next door to a McCool. Lived in Edgar County, Illinois. 6. Sarah Ann Ramsey born 1780 married to Eli Thornton in 1796 in South Carolina. Lived in Vermilion County, Illinois. 7. William Ramsey married Rachel Coates in Miami County, Ohio in 1811. Not sure where they ended up. Don’t know anything else on this couple. Are these Ramsey’s the children of Mary Henderson (Quaker daughter of Nathaniel Henderson and Rebecca Thornton) and Isaac Ramsey (non Quaker)? Isaac Ramsey resided in various counties in South Carolina which included Edgefield and then across the river to the Richmond County of Georgia. What makes these families so difficult, is that Nathaniel and Rebecca’s children also married Hollingsworth’s. The inter twining web of these people is so complicated so I know that they are related in some manner! It is believed that Isaac Ramsey died shortly after 1800 possibly in Georgia and Mary had several young children and moved to Miami County, Ohio with her brother, Richard Henderson who had married (see #1 above) John’s sister, Rachel Hollingsworth. She may have died very shortly after the arrival. John Hollingsworth being the nephew of Richard Henderson. Most of the above Ramsey’s married in Miami County, Ohio with Quakers and pretty much all of them ended up in the areas of Vermillion County, Indiana and Vermilion County, Illinois which also had another Quaker settlement. These families didn’t marry Quakers and didn’t all stay in the church. No Ramsey’s appear on any of the Quaker records.

Madness Monday! - Smalley Family

Mad ancestors or elusive ancestors

who drive US mad!

This blog post is not about someone who made me literally mad but maybe more mad in the sense that I am confused!

My Great Grandfather, Andrew Anderson Smalley was born April 3, 1853 in Falls Township, Wyoming County Pennsylvania. He died on March 12, 1943 in Coos County, Oregon. On his death certificate, his father is stated as B.F. Smalley and mother unknown. Okay, could this be a Benjamin Franklin? That name is fairly common and not easy to pinpoint.

So my next step was to go to the 1860 census of Wyoming County, PA to see if I can find Smalleys. I find 3 Smalley children living with a William Dunlap family and their daughter, Hannah. Mary age 6, Anderson age 5 and Edgar at 3 years. Was Hannah the children's mother? I couldn't assume at that point. Her last name was enumerated as "Dunlap". No Benjamin. Maybe he died? A few census pages away is a Jefferson Smalley family from New York. I set this aside as a possible clue.

1870 census of same location shows as head of family, Jesse Wall and wife Hannah and two Smalley children; Andrew age 17 and Edgar age 14 plus William Dunlap and wife. Mary is not found.

1880 census Andrew Smalley and his wife and children are found in Nevada where he is supposed to be. Back in Falls Twshp, no Walls are to be found! There was a land transaction that Jesse Wall participated in 1882, but what happened to him and Hannah? I scoured any variation of the 1880 census that I could think of to try to locate them. No luck.

In October 2004, I was fortunate enough to take a trip to the Historical Society in Tunkhannock, PA. One of my goals was to try to locate more Smalley information. I located the marriage notice of Andrew and his wife Emma in the local newspaper and found that his mother was listed as "Mrs. Wall". BINGO! That solved that issue.

At that point, I was stuck.

A few months ago I was googling and decided just on a whim to type in Andrew Smalley and Pennsylvania. I got a hit! There was a book called "The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912" By Joseph Gaston which listed a whole biography of my Andrew Smalley. It was full of information and he mentions his parents as being Benjamin L. and Hannah M. which further states my case.

You would think at that point I solved all of my issues. Of course not!

It has lead to further problems.

First claim is that Andrew told the author that his father, Benjamin came to America from Germany when he was 16 years old. Okay I can handle that. What confuses me is that Smalley seems to be more of an English name. So not sold on that senario.

Second item is that he said his father "enlisted in the Federal Army as one of the first volunteers of his state and was killed in the Battle of Bull Run." So I eagerly did some research to find any records of a Civil War enlistment under his name, pension research for the widow, Hannah and Penn State enlistment records and there is no one by that name! So where was Benjamin in the 1860 census? He was gone by that time and there is no census listing for anywhere. There is one candidate for the 1850 Census of Luzerne County for a Benjamin L. age 21 a Mason and born in Pennsylvania. I suspect that could be him. Why did Andrew lie about his father? Was his father a criminal? Did he just die and Andrew embellished his story?

As far as Hannah goes, Andrew states that his mother, Hannah Wall lived with her daughter, Mary in Virginia City, NV same place as Andrew and family and died at her daughter's home. So I went to the 1880 census to retrace any Hannahs and Marys in Storey County, Nevada. I found a H.M. Wall age 39 female born in Pennsylvania and parents born in Penn as a prisoner in the County jail! The age was off by 5 years and she stated that she was married. Where was the husband, wouldn't he have been enumerated in the census? This just couldn't get any worse.

Andrew's brother Edgar supposedly died in a mine accident in Nevada as stated in the Centennial history. I did find a entry for an E. Smalley a miner who died from inflammation of the bowels in the 1880 mortality census of Nevada. An R. Smalley female is found in the 1880 census and could be his wife, Rebecca. She is listed in the same county, as a widow.

As far as Mary goes, do not know who she married and what happened. I need to further dig into Virginia City to find out more, the records are somewhat on the scarce side.

After Andrew and family left Nevada, they headed off to Mendocino County, California to lumber. What is interesting, is the family members of the previous Jefferson Smalley listed in the 1860 census are founded in that area! This group of Smalleys originate from the Killfish area of New York. I suspect that Andrews clan connects with these people, but I cannot at this time prove it.

So many unanswered questions which leads to more! The search still continues!

My Great Grandmother's Bible - What I Found!

I was so fortunate to inherit my Great Grandmother's Bible. In between the Old Testament and New Testament I found that my Great Grandmother, Nora (Nell, Nellie) Ellen (Baley) Ball had imprinted each of her children's footprints in her bible. This first posting, shows my Grandmother, Zelma Fern Ball's footprints. She also had an entry that mentioned Zelma's brother, Granville. What a unique and interesting way to commemorate her children's arrival in this world!

Nora Ellen Baley was born December 23, 1885 in Iron County, Missouri to John Riley Baley and Susan Harriet Buxton. She married William Edward Ball 1910 in Ellis County, Oklahoma after her parents and his father took up homesteads during the early part of 1900's.

My mother, never got to know Nora. She died in 1937 when my mother was 4 years old. Nora died due to a stroke and high blood pressure when she was 52 years old. So young. If only she knew or if there was medication at the time that could stave off any symptoms?

We will never know.

Nora's husband, William Edward Ball was a painter and paper hanger in Salem, Oregon. Apparently he was good in his trade and kept busy. I imagine that the paint that she used to imprint her children's feet were from paint cans that he may have had on hand.

Zelma Fern Ball married in 1931 to John Doran May. My mother, was their first born. Zelma never liked her name, she told me. She became a "born again Christian" in the early 1950's and was an early member of the Minnehaha Church of Christ. She did her best to walk the walk and talk the talk. She passed away in October 2005 and her memorial service was comprised of the old hymns that she so dearly loved. My cousin played the piano. I have good memories of her but remember that she was stern in her beliefs and didn't always approve of people's lifestyles. No matter what, she is missed as the matriarch of our family and is still remembered and loved so dearly!

Saturday Night Fun - Your Paternal Grandmother's Patrilineal Line

Here is another fun project that Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings has come up with to further challenge us. I am having fun participating in this exercise and wonder what he will come up with next week! Here is the challenge for this week: Provide a list of your paternal grandmother's patrilineal line. Answer these questions: * What was your father's mother's maiden name?

Etta Mae Smalley born June 21, 1901 near Myrtle Point, Coos County, Oregon and died February 15, 1993 in Medford, Jackson County, Oregon.

* What was your father's mother's father's name? Andrew Anderson Smalley born April 3, 1853 in Falls Township, Wyoming County, Pennsylvania and died March 12, 1943 in Myrtle Point, Coos County, Oregon. * What is your father's mother's father's patrilineal line? That is, his father's father's father's ... back to the most distant male ancestor in that line? Only Andrew Smalley's fathers name is Benjamin L. Smalley nothing else known about him and he is currently a brick wall. * Can you identify male sibling(s) of your father's mother, and any living male descendants from those male sibling(s)? My Grandmother, Etta was one of 14 children. Six of them were brothers: David Jesse died at the age of 46 of a burst appendix was married once for a short time and never had children. Second brother, David Edgar was single all of his life, third brother, Andrew Jr. died as a young boy, fourth Christopher died as a baby, fifth Carl White married a woman with four children and had none. Sixth and last brother, Benjamin L. stayed single and was named after his grandfather. If so, you have a candidate to do a Y-DNA test on that patrilineal line. If not, you may have to find male siblings, and their descendants, of the next generation back, or even further. Unfortunately, Andrew's only brother Edgar was married for a short time before he died in a mine accident in Nevada and never had a chance to produce children. I would have to first break through and be able to learn more about Benjamin L. Smalley's family before this project would be of any help to me at this time.

Saturday Night Fun - True Confessions of a Genealogy Junkie

I decided to take up Randy Seaver's Saturday night challenge and confess to my genealogy junkie tendencies! Check out Randy's blog at Genea-Musings. Randy is a great blogger and always thinks of interesting and fun topics to write about. The Assignment: Answer these questions about your genealogy life (mine are in parentheses): 1. When did you start genealogy research? (1979 -30 years now). 2. Why did you start doing research? (My mother had bought a "starter kit" that included pedigree and family group sheets and a small booklet "How to get started in your Genealogy Research". In the early 1950's she did a family tree for a high school project and we started filling out the forms. The next day, I went and purchased that starter kit and another how-to book and I was hooked). 3. What was your first big success in research? (Finding that the family story about being descended from Daniel Boone was somewhat correct albeit that his aunt is my ancestor). 4. What is your biggest genealogy regret? (Not being diligent in source citation). 5. What are you best known for in the genealogy world? (Not known at all, joined Face Book to introduce my blog). 6. What is your professional status in genealogy? (None, but feel I know quite a bit methodology). 7. What is your biggest genealogy achievement? (Able to find that my ancestors have lived in the U.S. for a long time, and how far I have advanced). 8. What is the most FUN you've had doing genealogy? (My many trips to SLC, field trips and the internet). 9. What is your favorite genealogy how-to book? (The Source). 10. What notable genealogist would you like to meet someday? (Elizabeth Shown Mills). There you are - talk about yourself for a change! Go forth and blog about your True Confessions of a Genealogy Junkie! Or write a comment to this post.