Stacy, me, and April
June 2009
At Uncle Dennis' funeral
Basement of Sturges Memorial Congregational Church
Port Huron, Michigan
June 2009
At Uncle Dennis' funeral
Basement of Sturges Memorial Congregational Church
Port Huron, Michigan
Title Header
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Ancestor Approved Award!
Many thanks to Terri at The Ties That Bind and A Rootdigger for awarding me the Ancestor Approved Award! It is always good to know that people are still reading my blog, even though I abandoned it during the accounting busy season!
The Ancestor Approved Award asks that the recipient list ten things you have learned about any of your ancestors that has surprised, humbled, or enlightened you and pass the award along to ten other bloggers who you feel are doing their ancestors proud.
I am supposed to write 10 things, but I think I will only write 5.
1) The biggest surprise I have found is the pension file of my great-great-great-grandfather, John PEMBERTON. He fought in Company C, 1st Michigan Cavalry during the Civil War. He gave a very long deposition about his time in the Civil War, including details about his brother's death, war-time injuries, family relationships, etc. I had no idea I could know so much about an ancestor who was born in 1839!
2) Another surprise is a story my grandfather, Clifford Robert DROUILLARD, told me not long ago. He said that he joined the U.S. Marines under the identity of a good friend of his from Michigan who was drafted. This was in the early 1950s, so it was probably during the Korean War. His friend did not want to be drafted, so my grandfather felt he was doing him a favor. He wasn't in the military too long before he was found out. Being a Canadian citizen, he was ordered back to Canada. He tried to marry a woman in Florida (where he was stationed) in order to stay in the U.S., but his plan didn't work. He ended up divorced and back in Canada, where he joined the Royal Canadian Army.
3) One of the most enlightening tales is not about my ancestors, but about those of my uncle. My cousin wanted to know more about her dad's dad's side of the family because she never knew her biological paternal grandfather, Arthur CHAMBERLAIN. He left the family when my uncle was very young, and my uncle was raised by his stepfather, George MASON, whom he considers to be his father. Nevertheless, my cousin wanted to know more about Arthur and his parents. All she had was a funeral card with his birth and death dates. As I found out more about Arthur, it seemed that, like my uncle, he had a rough family life as well. His parents divorced, and his mother took the three youngest children and went to live with her boyfriend in Detroit. The older two children stayed behind with their father. Arthur was the youngest, and by the time he was 7, his mom was already living with her boyfriend. I don't think this excuses Arthur from leaving his family, but it helps to understand the reasons he may have done so.
4) Why did my great-great-grandfather's sister, Myrtle PEMBERTON, marry her first cousin not once, but twice? Did they do this in Canada because Michigan had laws about marrying first cousins?
5) I think something that has humbled me most is how much I look just like a PEMBERTON (my mom's family) but act just like a TRAHAN (my dad's family). When my grandfather, Benford Maurice TRAHAN, died last year, and we were going through his things, I figured out where I got my organization skills from. Yet every time I go to Michigan, everyone tells me how I look just like "Pammy Sue" (that's what they call my mom in Michigan).
6) OK, I have to do six because I just thought of one more thing. I was very humbled when I realized something at the time of my grandmother's death. I realized that she had truly gotten what she wanted most out of life: a large family that is very close to one another. One day I asked her once why she had 8 children. She was not a farmer's wife, and plenty of people had stopped having 8 children by the time the 1950s rolled around. I think the real reason is that she could not afford artificial birth control, but she said that it was because she always wanted a big family. She grew up an only child on a farm in the middle of nowhere with only her father and was always lonely as a child. If there was one thing my grandmother wasn't in all the 27 years I knew her, it wasn't lonely. She always had children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren at her house. ALWAYS!!! So, regardless of the real reasons she had 8 children, I think that in the end, God blessed her with her greatest wish.
Since so many people have already gotten this award, I think I will award it to three people:
Alanna at A Twig in My Tree
Becky at Grace and Glory
Holly at Raeburn Family Odyssey
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
My MERTENA Conundrum: Part II - The Sources: Carolina Cristina ORTH (1859-1923)
In my previous post about my MERTENA research, I promised to do my next post on the sources that I have found for my great-great-great grandmother, Carolina Cristina "Carrie" ORTH. She married my great-great-great-grandfather, John Henry MERTENA/MERTEENY, who is the center of our mystery. I know that sometimes examining sources on the in-laws helps when you can 't find info on the subject at hand.
The most recent source I have for Carrie is her obituary. My grandmother inherited it from her father, who inherited it from his father, who was the son of Carrie. It probably came from The Guthrie (Oklahoma) Daily Leader.
This obituary is full of useful information, which is somewhat rare for a woman in 1923. It almost sounds like it was written by a genealogist. Not only does it list survivors, but it lists birth date and birthplace, death date and death place, all marriage dates and places, the date of entrance into Oklahoma, church membership, etc. It gives her husband's name as John MERTINIA, which is in agreement with her son's death record, which states his father's name is J.H. MERTENA. This is the first inkling I had as to when she and John married: 1876. The obituary is consistent with the family stories that John the father died in 1884, the same year that John the son was born. Perhaps if Carrie was born in Williamson County, then maybe her husband was born there too.
I then found Carrie in the 1920 census in Rosehill Township, Logan, Oklahoma. She was living with her second husband, James Leonard COTHERN and her son, William H. COTHERN.
This source does not really provide any insight into her first husband, John Henry MERTENA.
In 1910, Carrie was again in Rosehill Township and living with her second husband and son. She was also living next door to her sister, Barbara ORTH SHERCLIFFE. Again, this does not give too much info on her first husband.
Carrie's age at first marriage does not seem to match with the date in the obituary. The obituary says she married John MERTENA in 1876. The census seems to indirectly state that she married her first husband in 1883. The 1900 census stated that she had 9 children with 4 living (John Henry, Myrtle, Rolena, and Willie). She may have had one more child since the 1900 census who died in childhood, since this census says she had 10 children. It's hard to determine from this how many of the six deceased children were with her first husband and how many were with her second husband.
I will not discuss the 1900 census here, since I did discuss it in my sources post for Carrie's son, John Henry MERTENA (1884-1956).
My next source finally covers the period when John Henry the father was still living. It's the 1880 census. It took me awhile to find this entry because it is transcribed at Ancestry.com as John MERTENCE, but I was sooo excited when I found it. It was the first source I had found that actually showed the man alive....he was REAL after all!! John and Carrie were living in Frankfort, Franklin, Illinois. Hmm....isn't this mentioned as the birthplace for their son, John Henry MERTENA, on 11 Mar 1884?
Franklin County is just north of Williamson County, where Carrie's obit says she was born. This gives an estimated birth date for John of 1849-1850 and a birthplace of Illinois. It gives his parents' birthplaces at Tennessee. Carrie's second husband was born in Tennessee, as were both his parents, so it makes me wonder if both husbands' families were from the same area of Tennessee. This discovery, if proven, could defeat the family story that John was born at sea. The two children are in line with the family story that John Henry the son had several older siblings who died before or shortly after he was born, and the census records which suggest that Carrie had at least 5 children who died before reaching adulthood.
My next source for this post is also an excellent one. It is the marriage record of John and Carrie. I found it by searching the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index at the Illinois State Archives website. John's name was indexed as MUTUNEY.
Two more great clues about John. He was living in Jackson County at the time of his marriage in 1876, and he was 22 years old, meaning he was probably born about 1853-1854. This is slightly off from the age in the 1880 census. Jackson County is just east of Williamson County and southeast of Franklin County on the Missouri border. Here his name is spelled MERTEENEY. Mr. John BROWN was Carrie's stepfather. This marriage record, and Carrie's obituary, were the first clues I had that perhaps John BROWN was not John Henry the father's stepfather, as family legend stated, but Carrie's stepfather. If you noticed, Carrie's brother is listed as Willie BROWN in the obituary. Typically, though not always, a couple marries at the bride's church or family home.
The only other record that I have for Carrie is the 1860 U.S. Census. She was one year old and living with her parents in Williamson County, which agrees with her obituary. I can't seem to find Carrie in the 1870 census.
I think they incorrectly labeled Carrie as a boy. While this provides further insight into Carrie's family, it doesn't really tell us much about the MERTENA family. There weren't even any MERTENA family members living in the same area. It is interesting that there was a BROWN living with the ORTH family, since Catherine later married a BROWN.
To summarize the new facts learned about John Henry (the father) MERTENA:
I also need to check land records in Jackson and Franklin Counties between 1870 and 1884. I should probably try Williamson County as well for land records.
Then I need to continue checking census records for 1850-1870 to see if I have any close hits. I've tried, but so far no luck.
The most recent source I have for Carrie is her obituary. My grandmother inherited it from her father, who inherited it from his father, who was the son of Carrie. It probably came from The Guthrie (Oklahoma) Daily Leader.
Carolina Cristina Orth was born January 20, 1859, in Williamson County, Illinois, and passed away October 10, 1923, at her home near Crescent, Oklahoma, aged 64 years, 8 months, and 20 days.
Deceased was united in marriage to John Mertinia in the year of 1876, and to this union was born one son, J.H. Mertinia of Mulhall, Oklahoma. Her companion died in 1884.
On Sept 9, 1887, she was married to James L. Cothern who is left to mourn the loss of his companion. To their union was born three daughters and three sons. Two daughters and one son preceded her in death.
Mr. and Mrs. Cothern came to Oklahoma in 1889, and took the claim on which they resided 84 years, or until the present time.
The following children were left to mourn the loss of a devoted Mother. J.H. Mertinia of Mulhall, Oklahoma; Mrs. Edgar Norris of Lovell, Oklahoma; Mrs. R.H. Tate of Lookeba, Oklahoma; and W.H. Cothern of Mulhall, Oklahoma.
She is also survived by ten grandchildren, and three sisters: Mrs. Bettie Favors and Mrs. J.B. Shercliffe of Crescent, Oklahoma; and Mrs. Harper of East St. Louis, Illinois. Also one brother: William Brown of Johnson City, Illinois; and a number of other relatives.
Deceased united with the Methodist Church at Mt. Carmel about 20 years ago, and died trusting in the Lord who has promised to reward the faithful.
Her sudden death came as a shock to her family and friends, but as the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away we realize there comes a time in all of our lives, when we must yield to the inevitable, and look to God, who is our refuge in time of trouble.
Funeral services were held Friday, October 12, 1923, at Mt. Carmel church, near Mulhall, Oklahoma. Internment took place in Mt. Carmel cemetery.
This obituary is full of useful information, which is somewhat rare for a woman in 1923. It almost sounds like it was written by a genealogist. Not only does it list survivors, but it lists birth date and birthplace, death date and death place, all marriage dates and places, the date of entrance into Oklahoma, church membership, etc. It gives her husband's name as John MERTINIA, which is in agreement with her son's death record, which states his father's name is J.H. MERTENA. This is the first inkling I had as to when she and John married: 1876. The obituary is consistent with the family stories that John the father died in 1884, the same year that John the son was born. Perhaps if Carrie was born in Williamson County, then maybe her husband was born there too.
I then found Carrie in the 1920 census in Rosehill Township, Logan, Oklahoma. She was living with her second husband, James Leonard COTHERN and her son, William H. COTHERN.
James COTHERN, head, owns home, lives on farm, male, white, age 58, married, able to read and write, b. Tennessee, f.b. Tennessee, m.b. Tennessee, able to speak English, farmer on a general farm, employer
Carrie COTHERN, wife, female, white, age 59, married, able to read and write, b. Illinois, f.b. Indiana, m.b. Indiana, able to speak English
William H. COTHERN, son, male, white, age 27, single, able to read and write, b. Oklahoma, f.b. Tennessee, m.b. Illinois, able to speak English, farm laborer, wage earner
This source does not really provide any insight into her first husband, John Henry MERTENA.
In 1910, Carrie was again in Rosehill Township and living with her second husband and son. She was also living next door to her sister, Barbara ORTH SHERCLIFFE. Again, this does not give too much info on her first husband.
James L. COTHERN, head, male, white, age 49, married once, age 23 at first marriage, b. Tennessee, f.b. Tennessee, m.b. Tennessee, speaks English, farmer, general farm, employer, able to read and write, owns home free of mortgage, lives on farm
Carrie COTHERN, wife, female, white, age 50, married twice, age 23 at first marriage, mother of 10 children, 4 children still living, b. Illinois, f.b. Germany, m.b. Pennsylvania, speaks English, able to read and write
Willie COTHERN, son, male, white, age 16, single, b. Oklahoma, f.b. Tennessee, m.b. Illinois, speaks English, farmer on home farm, wage earner, able to read and write, attends school
Carrie's age at first marriage does not seem to match with the date in the obituary. The obituary says she married John MERTENA in 1876. The census seems to indirectly state that she married her first husband in 1883. The 1900 census stated that she had 9 children with 4 living (John Henry, Myrtle, Rolena, and Willie). She may have had one more child since the 1900 census who died in childhood, since this census says she had 10 children. It's hard to determine from this how many of the six deceased children were with her first husband and how many were with her second husband.
I will not discuss the 1900 census here, since I did discuss it in my sources post for Carrie's son, John Henry MERTENA (1884-1956).
My next source finally covers the period when John Henry the father was still living. It's the 1880 census. It took me awhile to find this entry because it is transcribed at Ancestry.com as John MERTENCE, but I was sooo excited when I found it. It was the first source I had found that actually showed the man alive....he was REAL after all!! John and Carrie were living in Frankfort, Franklin, Illinois. Hmm....isn't this mentioned as the birthplace for their son, John Henry MERTENA, on 11 Mar 1884?
John MERTENA, white, male, age 30, head, married, farmer, b. Illinois, f.b. Tennessee, m.b. Tennessee
Carrie MERTENA, white, female, age 26, wife, married, keeping house, b. Illinois, f.b. Illinois, m.b. Illinois
Nesbeth MERTENA, white, male, age 4, son, single, b. Illinois, f.b. Illinois, m.b. Illinois
Minnie MERTENA, whtie, female, age 9/12, b. Oct, daughter, single, b. Illinois, f.b. Illinois, m.b. Illinois
Franklin County is just north of Williamson County, where Carrie's obit says she was born. This gives an estimated birth date for John of 1849-1850 and a birthplace of Illinois. It gives his parents' birthplaces at Tennessee. Carrie's second husband was born in Tennessee, as were both his parents, so it makes me wonder if both husbands' families were from the same area of Tennessee. This discovery, if proven, could defeat the family story that John was born at sea. The two children are in line with the family story that John Henry the son had several older siblings who died before or shortly after he was born, and the census records which suggest that Carrie had at least 5 children who died before reaching adulthood.
My next source for this post is also an excellent one. It is the marriage record of John and Carrie. I found it by searching the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index at the Illinois State Archives website. John's name was indexed as MUTUNEY.
Marriage may be celebrated between Mr. John Merteeney of Jackson County, Illinois, at the age of 22 years, and Miss Carolina Orth of Williamson County, Illinois, at the age of 18 years. Witness: W.H. Eubanks, County Clerk, and the seal of said County, at his office in Marion, this 12th day of August, 1876.
State of Illinois, Williamson County
I, W.W. Young, a Justice of the Peace, hereby certify that Mr. John Merteeny and Miss Carolina Orth were united in Marriage by me at Mr. John Brown's in the County of Williamson and State of Illinois, on the 13th day of August, 1876.
Two more great clues about John. He was living in Jackson County at the time of his marriage in 1876, and he was 22 years old, meaning he was probably born about 1853-1854. This is slightly off from the age in the 1880 census. Jackson County is just east of Williamson County and southeast of Franklin County on the Missouri border. Here his name is spelled MERTEENEY. Mr. John BROWN was Carrie's stepfather. This marriage record, and Carrie's obituary, were the first clues I had that perhaps John BROWN was not John Henry the father's stepfather, as family legend stated, but Carrie's stepfather. If you noticed, Carrie's brother is listed as Willie BROWN in the obituary. Typically, though not always, a couple marries at the bride's church or family home.
The only other record that I have for Carrie is the 1860 U.S. Census. She was one year old and living with her parents in Williamson County, which agrees with her obituary. I can't seem to find Carrie in the 1870 census.
Jacob ORTH, age 30, male, farmer, real estate value is $2,000, personal estate value is $350, b. Germany
Catherine ORTH, age 28, female, b. Germany
Elizabeth ORTH, age 8, female, b. Ill., attends school
Mary ORTH, age 6, female, b. Ill., attends school
Benj. F. ORTH, age 4, male, b. Ill.
C.C. ORTH, age 1, male, b. Ill.
B.A. BROWN, age 20, female, domestic, b. Ill.
I think they incorrectly labeled Carrie as a boy. While this provides further insight into Carrie's family, it doesn't really tell us much about the MERTENA family. There weren't even any MERTENA family members living in the same area. It is interesting that there was a BROWN living with the ORTH family, since Catherine later married a BROWN.
To summarize the new facts learned about John Henry (the father) MERTENA:
- He was born about 1849-1854, possibly in Illinois.
- He was living in Jackson County, Illinois at the time of his marriage to Carrie in 1876.
- He was living in Franklin County, Illinois at the time of the 1880 census.
- He and Carrie had at least two children, Nesbeth around 1876 (more likely 1877, since they didn't marry until Aug 1876) and Minnie in Oct. 1879, before John Henry (the son) MERTENA was born in 1884.
- He was a farmer in 1880.
- His parents were listed as born in Tennessee.
I also need to check land records in Jackson and Franklin Counties between 1870 and 1884. I should probably try Williamson County as well for land records.
Then I need to continue checking census records for 1850-1870 to see if I have any close hits. I've tried, but so far no luck.
Wordless Wednesday: Cousins #1
Kennzie and Bryonna
Sep 2008
Visiting Michigan family on the run from Hurricane Gustav
Monday, April 5, 2010
Quarter in Review
Since I haven't been blogging much since Christmas, I thought I would give everyone a quarterly update of what I have been doing. Of course, there was the RootsMagic Genealogy Cruise in February, but I've been holding off on posting about that until I get my pictures on the computer. It was awesome to meet Bruce Buzbee and his family, George Morgan, Drew Smith, Gary Smith, Diana Crisman Smith, and all the new genealogy buddies I met on the cruise. I even found out that Bruce had read my blog prior to the cruise! I wrote several posts in late summer/early fall comparing RootsMagic and Legacy. But I'll refrain from posting too many details until I get the pics up because it would be much more fun to post with cruise pics.
My main project since the fall has been cleaning up my new RootsMagic database. First of all, I never completely finished entering everything in my Legacy database before transferring to RootsMagic in September 2009. Plus, everything I had entered in Legacy was mostly entered in Legacy 6.0 beginning in the fall of 2007. In December 2008, Legacy released a new version called Legacy 7.0, which included source templates based on Evidence Explained. I had never finished updating my sources in Legacy 7.0 to the new templates when I transferred over to RootsMagic. Too much transferring, but I am finally satisfied with RootsMagic. My goal now is to clean up what I do have in RootsMagic before entering the rest of my research. By clean up, I mean fixing my sources to match Evidence Explained citations, cleaning up the master source list, adding detail text and media to my source citations, and adding detail comments, when necessary. Of course, I cannot help myself and have been adding new sources to the database as well that I've found on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch. I'm also cleaning up the events lists for many of my ancestors.
I cleaned up the sources and events for my parents, myself, and my siblings first. Then I started working on those for my brother-in-law's family, going in the order of the ahnentafel numbering system. Since he joined the family in October 2008, I've been doing research on both his paternal and maternal lines. It's always fun to start researching a new family, isn't it? In the first quarter of 2010, I completed the following in my clean-up process:
1) Cleaned up all sources for my brother-in-law's parents and siblings.
2) Cleaned up sources and events for my brother-in-law's paternal grandparents, Peter Louis DeLUCA, Jr. (1916-2003) and Gertrude "Ernestine" HARTMAN (1917-2009). Found his grandparents in the 1939 St. Louis city directory, as well as 1941 and 1942 city directories for Coldwater, Michigan. Added these city directory source citations to my database. Also added Ernestine's obituary that I found online in The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, California) as a source citation for her death, burial, marriage, and birth.
3) Cleaned up sources and events for my brother-in-law's maternal grandparents, Gerald Frederick ROBERTS (1907-1988) and Eula HASTE (1903-1984). Found them in 1940, 1942, 1947-1948, and 1959 city directories for San Diego. Also found Gerald with his brother and mother in 1928, 1930, 1933, and 1934 city directories for Buffalo, New York and with his mother in the 1937 San Diego city directory. Found Eula in voter's registration lists for San Diego from 1924 to 1944. Added city directories and voter's registration lists as sources in my database.
4) Cleaned up sources and events for my brother-in-law's great-grandparents, Peter Louis DeLUCA, Sr. (1877/78-1945) and Clementina TRILLO (1886-1967). Found a funeral notice for Peter in the L.A. Times. Still need to add this to my database as a source.
5) Cleaned up sources and events for my brother-in-law's great-grandparents, Ralph Allen HARTMAN (1890-1930) and Inez SEE (1886-1974). Found Ralph in the 1895 and 1905 Kansas state census records. Added Ralph's death certificate from Illinois that I found on microfilm at the FHC a few months ago. Added a more legible copy of their marriage certificate from 1914 in Shannon County, Missouri, that I found on microfilm at the FHC. I had found the marriage certificate on Ancestry.com, but it was very faded and hard to read. Also added Inez's entry in the SSDI as a source.
6) Cleaned up sources and events for my brother-in-law's great-grandparents, George John ROBERTS (abt 1871-1908) and Catherine/Kathleen Sophia McGRATH (1877-1967). Found George and Catherine's marriage certificate from 1905 in Toronto, Canada. Found that the names of George's parents Thomas ROBERTS and Mary J. RUSSELL, but there was no clue as to what part of England George was from. Found that Catherine's parents were Felix McGRATH and Mary BARRETT and that Catherine was born in Quebec. Then found sources for Catherine's birth and baptism as well as that of all her siblings, her parent's marriage, some of her siblings' marriages, and her parent's burials and deaths in the Quebec church records at Ancestry.com. Found Catherine's entry in the California Death Index at Ancestry.com.
7) Cleaned up sources and events for my brother-in-law's great-grandparents, William Meadows HASTE (1861-1938) and Ella Olena GAMMILL (1872-1929). Found William and Ella's marriage record from 1894 in Benton County, Arkansas, at the new marriage record collection for Arkansas counties at FamilySearch. Found a FindAGrave entry for their daughter, Mimi HASTE, in Mt. Hope Cemetery in San Diego, and one for their son, Myron HASTE, at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. Learned Mimi died in 1918 at the age of 19, info which I previously didn't have. Also found newspaper articles about William's purchase of the Bank Hotel in Deming, Luna, New Mexico, in 1912, and his opening of an electrical supply and general contractor business in Deming in 1914. This helped explain why their oldest son, Glenn Roy HASTE, lived in New Mexico while the rest of the family lived in San Diego in 1930. It also helped explain why their oldest daughter, Gladys HASTE, married a guy who lived in Deming at the time of the WWI draft registration. I had previously thought they moved from Arkansas to Louisiana to California. Seems like they stopped in New Mexico on the way. Found William in voter's registration lists from 1922 to 1938 in San Diego.
Phew! Now that I've got the grandparents and great-grandparents done, I'm working on cleaning up the sources and events for the great-great-grandparents of my brother-in-law. A genealogist's work is never finished! I hope to provide updates every 2 weeks or so going forward.
My main project since the fall has been cleaning up my new RootsMagic database. First of all, I never completely finished entering everything in my Legacy database before transferring to RootsMagic in September 2009. Plus, everything I had entered in Legacy was mostly entered in Legacy 6.0 beginning in the fall of 2007. In December 2008, Legacy released a new version called Legacy 7.0, which included source templates based on Evidence Explained. I had never finished updating my sources in Legacy 7.0 to the new templates when I transferred over to RootsMagic. Too much transferring, but I am finally satisfied with RootsMagic. My goal now is to clean up what I do have in RootsMagic before entering the rest of my research. By clean up, I mean fixing my sources to match Evidence Explained citations, cleaning up the master source list, adding detail text and media to my source citations, and adding detail comments, when necessary. Of course, I cannot help myself and have been adding new sources to the database as well that I've found on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch. I'm also cleaning up the events lists for many of my ancestors.
I cleaned up the sources and events for my parents, myself, and my siblings first. Then I started working on those for my brother-in-law's family, going in the order of the ahnentafel numbering system. Since he joined the family in October 2008, I've been doing research on both his paternal and maternal lines. It's always fun to start researching a new family, isn't it? In the first quarter of 2010, I completed the following in my clean-up process:
1) Cleaned up all sources for my brother-in-law's parents and siblings.
2) Cleaned up sources and events for my brother-in-law's paternal grandparents, Peter Louis DeLUCA, Jr. (1916-2003) and Gertrude "Ernestine" HARTMAN (1917-2009). Found his grandparents in the 1939 St. Louis city directory, as well as 1941 and 1942 city directories for Coldwater, Michigan. Added these city directory source citations to my database. Also added Ernestine's obituary that I found online in The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, California) as a source citation for her death, burial, marriage, and birth.
3) Cleaned up sources and events for my brother-in-law's maternal grandparents, Gerald Frederick ROBERTS (1907-1988) and Eula HASTE (1903-1984). Found them in 1940, 1942, 1947-1948, and 1959 city directories for San Diego. Also found Gerald with his brother and mother in 1928, 1930, 1933, and 1934 city directories for Buffalo, New York and with his mother in the 1937 San Diego city directory. Found Eula in voter's registration lists for San Diego from 1924 to 1944. Added city directories and voter's registration lists as sources in my database.
4) Cleaned up sources and events for my brother-in-law's great-grandparents, Peter Louis DeLUCA, Sr. (1877/78-1945) and Clementina TRILLO (1886-1967). Found a funeral notice for Peter in the L.A. Times. Still need to add this to my database as a source.
5) Cleaned up sources and events for my brother-in-law's great-grandparents, Ralph Allen HARTMAN (1890-1930) and Inez SEE (1886-1974). Found Ralph in the 1895 and 1905 Kansas state census records. Added Ralph's death certificate from Illinois that I found on microfilm at the FHC a few months ago. Added a more legible copy of their marriage certificate from 1914 in Shannon County, Missouri, that I found on microfilm at the FHC. I had found the marriage certificate on Ancestry.com, but it was very faded and hard to read. Also added Inez's entry in the SSDI as a source.
6) Cleaned up sources and events for my brother-in-law's great-grandparents, George John ROBERTS (abt 1871-1908) and Catherine/Kathleen Sophia McGRATH (1877-1967). Found George and Catherine's marriage certificate from 1905 in Toronto, Canada. Found that the names of George's parents Thomas ROBERTS and Mary J. RUSSELL, but there was no clue as to what part of England George was from. Found that Catherine's parents were Felix McGRATH and Mary BARRETT and that Catherine was born in Quebec. Then found sources for Catherine's birth and baptism as well as that of all her siblings, her parent's marriage, some of her siblings' marriages, and her parent's burials and deaths in the Quebec church records at Ancestry.com. Found Catherine's entry in the California Death Index at Ancestry.com.
7) Cleaned up sources and events for my brother-in-law's great-grandparents, William Meadows HASTE (1861-1938) and Ella Olena GAMMILL (1872-1929). Found William and Ella's marriage record from 1894 in Benton County, Arkansas, at the new marriage record collection for Arkansas counties at FamilySearch. Found a FindAGrave entry for their daughter, Mimi HASTE, in Mt. Hope Cemetery in San Diego, and one for their son, Myron HASTE, at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. Learned Mimi died in 1918 at the age of 19, info which I previously didn't have. Also found newspaper articles about William's purchase of the Bank Hotel in Deming, Luna, New Mexico, in 1912, and his opening of an electrical supply and general contractor business in Deming in 1914. This helped explain why their oldest son, Glenn Roy HASTE, lived in New Mexico while the rest of the family lived in San Diego in 1930. It also helped explain why their oldest daughter, Gladys HASTE, married a guy who lived in Deming at the time of the WWI draft registration. I had previously thought they moved from Arkansas to Louisiana to California. Seems like they stopped in New Mexico on the way. Found William in voter's registration lists from 1922 to 1938 in San Diego.
Phew! Now that I've got the grandparents and great-grandparents done, I'm working on cleaning up the sources and events for the great-great-grandparents of my brother-in-law. A genealogist's work is never finished! I hope to provide updates every 2 weeks or so going forward.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Pemberton Obituary Project: Charles Pemberton
The subject of my next post in the Pemberton obituary series is Charles Pemberton, the youngest brother of my great-great-great grandfather, John C. Pemberton. Charles was the ninth and youngest child of Jeremiah Pemberton and Susanna Jermyn. He appears to have been their only child born in Michigan. The other eight children were most likely born in Canada. Charles probably had the most interesting cause of death out of all nine children.
"Father Of Pemberton Brothers Dies As Result of Dog Bite Six Weeks Ago," clipping, Port Huron (Michigan) Times-Herald, 29 July 1939; privately held by Sandra Glover, Algonac, Michigan.
Dying of rabies was the "perfect" ending to this family that endured one tragedy after another.
I have tried to find info on the Pemberton Brothers Post in Algonac, but I think it has been closed. There is no Post 202 found using the Post Locator on the American Legion website.
Charles is buried in the same cemetery as his older sister, Agnes Pemberton Phelps.
His wife, Aurelia Pemberton, is Aurelia Wagner Smith Pemberton. She was born in 1874 in Ohio and died in 1946 in Algonac. She was the daughter of John Wagner and Delia Gallagher. Aurelia was Charles' second wife. They did not have any children together. Charles married her some time after his first wife, Blanche Poole, died in March 1928 and before the census in April 1930.
I'm not quite sure what happened to Charles' son, Whitfield. He was living in Ann Arbor for the 1910 census and at the time of the WWI draft registration in 1918, but he seems to disappear in the 1920 and 1930 census records. There is no death record for him in St. Clair County either, although he appears to have been living in Algonac in 1939 at the time of this obituary. Whitfield married Mary A. Wyckoff, daughter of Elisha Wyckoff and Larain Hull, in Akron, Tuscola, Michigan in 1903. They had a daughter, Jessie, in 1904 in St. Clair County, but she died in infancy. They did not have any children enumerated in 1910.
Charles' son, Dewey, married Mollie Bittner in 1925 and then Lillian Hornby MacDowell in 1930, both in St. Clair County. I'm not sure if Mollie died, or if they divorced. I haven't been able to find a death record for her in St. Clair County. Lillian had a child from her first marriage, but Dewey did not have any children. He and Lillian died in 1977 and 1979, respectively.
Charles' daughter, Susanna, is listed as Mrs. Susa Brown. I believe Brown is the name of her fifth and last husband, Ralph. Ralph and Susanna married in 1919 in Alma, Gratiot, Michigan. They were living in Alma for the 1920 census, but I haven't been able to find them in Michigan, Florida, or New Jersey (where Susanna's social security number was issued) for the 1930 census. Susanna's mother's obituary from 1928 lists her residence as Winter Haven, Florida.
I haven't had a chance to find a marriage record yet for Nellie to anyone named Diamond, but they must have married between 1928, when her mom died, and 1939, when her dad died. The husband listed in her mother's obituary was Leo Jepper, whom she married in 1925. An Ancestry.com tree lists her husband as Benjamin Diamond. I'm waiting for the tree owner to email me back.
Charles' sister, Sarah, was the only sibling still alive at the time of his death. There is one sibling, Ella, whom I haven't found a death record for yet, but since her youngest child was living with her older son in the 1910 census, I have a feeling that she died sometime between 1900 and 1910.
His parents are listed as Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Pemberton, but his father was actually Jeremiah Pemberton. Stephen was the second son of Jeremiah and Charles' older brother. Stephen died fighting in the Civil War.
"Father Of Pemberton Brothers Dies As Result of Dog Bite Six Weeks Ago," clipping, Port Huron (Michigan) Times-Herald, 29 July 1939; privately held by Sandra Glover, Algonac, Michigan.
Algonac, July 29 --- Charles Pemberton, 82, retired blacksmith, who was bitten June 16 by his pet dog, infected by rabies, died in Port Huron General Hospital early today as the result of the infection.The poor man died after being bitten by his own dog who had rabies! At least he got to live until age 82. I thought it was interesting that they mentioned the Pasteur treatments. I did a little research and found that Louis Pasteur produced the first rabies vaccine, which was first used in 1885.
Mr. Pemberton was removed to the hospital Sunday by Marshal Richard LaCroix and Trooper Warren Hornbrock of the state police when it became apparent that the Pasteur treatments he was undergoing at home were not counteracting the disease.
Mr. Pemberton, father of Floyd and Jeremiah Pemberton, who were killed in the World war, was a familiar figure on the village streets, since his retirement as blacksmith several years ago. Mr. Pemberton would often be seen, a pair of oars over one shoulder, fishing tackle and usually a string of fish in the other returning to his home. His pet dog which resulted in his death was his silent companion. He protested the shooting of the dog after it had bit him.
Pemberton Bros. Post No. 202, American Legion, was named in honor of his two sons.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday in the Roy T. Gilbert Funeral Home. Rev. A.B. Sutcliffe, retired Methodist minister, will officiate. Burial will be in Oaklawn Cemetery.
He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Aurelia Pemberton; two sons, Dewey and Whitfield Pemberton, both of Algonac; three daughters, Mrs. Susa Brown, Florida; Mrs. Martha Day, Traverse City; amd Mrs. Nellie Diamond, Detroit; and a sister, Mrs. Sarah Jones, Port Huron.
Mr. Pemberton was born in Algonac Sept. 11, 1856, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Pemberton, early settlers of Algonac.
Dying of rabies was the "perfect" ending to this family that endured one tragedy after another.
- The biggest tragedy is mentioned here in the obituary. Charles' two sons, Floyd and Jeremiah, both died in Europe fighting in WWI. Jeremiah died 3 Nov 1918, and Floyd died 7 May 1919.
- Just prior to Jeremiah's death, Charles' daughter, Martha Pemberton Day, was admitted to the Traverse City State Hospital for schizophrenia on 20 Sep 1918. She remained there until her death in 1955.
- A year prior to Martha's hospitalization, another daughter, Mary Pemberton Baker, died of tuberculosis at the age of 30 on 14 Feb 1917.
- Charles had already lost a son, also named Charles, to tuberculosis three years earlier at the age of 28 on 3 Oct 1914.
- Charles' daughter Susanna Pemberton, was married at least five times, twice to the same man, between 1903 and 1919, before she was run over by a car at the age of 86 in 1969. Her death record said she was divorced, so I presume all five of her marriages probably ended that way. It's also possible that I've found Susanna living at an industrial school for girls in the 1900 census.
- Charles' youngest child, Nellie, also married at least five times between 1920 and 1959. I need to do more research, but I presume there was a lot of divorce there as well.
I have tried to find info on the Pemberton Brothers Post in Algonac, but I think it has been closed. There is no Post 202 found using the Post Locator on the American Legion website.
Charles is buried in the same cemetery as his older sister, Agnes Pemberton Phelps.
His wife, Aurelia Pemberton, is Aurelia Wagner Smith Pemberton. She was born in 1874 in Ohio and died in 1946 in Algonac. She was the daughter of John Wagner and Delia Gallagher. Aurelia was Charles' second wife. They did not have any children together. Charles married her some time after his first wife, Blanche Poole, died in March 1928 and before the census in April 1930.
I'm not quite sure what happened to Charles' son, Whitfield. He was living in Ann Arbor for the 1910 census and at the time of the WWI draft registration in 1918, but he seems to disappear in the 1920 and 1930 census records. There is no death record for him in St. Clair County either, although he appears to have been living in Algonac in 1939 at the time of this obituary. Whitfield married Mary A. Wyckoff, daughter of Elisha Wyckoff and Larain Hull, in Akron, Tuscola, Michigan in 1903. They had a daughter, Jessie, in 1904 in St. Clair County, but she died in infancy. They did not have any children enumerated in 1910.
Charles' son, Dewey, married Mollie Bittner in 1925 and then Lillian Hornby MacDowell in 1930, both in St. Clair County. I'm not sure if Mollie died, or if they divorced. I haven't been able to find a death record for her in St. Clair County. Lillian had a child from her first marriage, but Dewey did not have any children. He and Lillian died in 1977 and 1979, respectively.
Charles' daughter, Susanna, is listed as Mrs. Susa Brown. I believe Brown is the name of her fifth and last husband, Ralph. Ralph and Susanna married in 1919 in Alma, Gratiot, Michigan. They were living in Alma for the 1920 census, but I haven't been able to find them in Michigan, Florida, or New Jersey (where Susanna's social security number was issued) for the 1930 census. Susanna's mother's obituary from 1928 lists her residence as Winter Haven, Florida.
I haven't had a chance to find a marriage record yet for Nellie to anyone named Diamond, but they must have married between 1928, when her mom died, and 1939, when her dad died. The husband listed in her mother's obituary was Leo Jepper, whom she married in 1925. An Ancestry.com tree lists her husband as Benjamin Diamond. I'm waiting for the tree owner to email me back.
Charles' sister, Sarah, was the only sibling still alive at the time of his death. There is one sibling, Ella, whom I haven't found a death record for yet, but since her youngest child was living with her older son in the 1910 census, I have a feeling that she died sometime between 1900 and 1910.
His parents are listed as Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Pemberton, but his father was actually Jeremiah Pemberton. Stephen was the second son of Jeremiah and Charles' older brother. Stephen died fighting in the Civil War.
Census: Where Was I?
All the commercials about the 2010 census have got me thinking where I was during past census years. For some reason, I haven't been sent a census return for 2010 yet (unless it's in an envelope that is not obviously marked as being from the Census Bureau in that pile of mail on my bar that I need to open). I know if it was marked as being from the Census Bureau, I would have opened it and mailed it back immediately with a typical genealogist's enthusiasm!!
Being born in 1981, I just missed the 1980 census. In April of 1980, my parents would have been living in a garage apartment next to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Curry Caswell at 1811 Center St. in Vinton, Calcasieu, Louisiana. Mr. and Mrs. Caswell (now deceased) owned the garage apartment. Their census entry would have looked something like this (assuming census questions were similar to those in past censuses):
In April 1990, I was living with my parents and 2 siblings in Vinton. Our census entry would have looked something like this:
In April 2000, I was living on my own in the dormitory at Centenary College in Shreveport, Caddo, Louisiana. Here is what my entry would have looked like (and I do remember filling out the form):
In 2010, if I ever get the form, it will look like this:
Being born in 1981, I just missed the 1980 census. In April of 1980, my parents would have been living in a garage apartment next to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Curry Caswell at 1811 Center St. in Vinton, Calcasieu, Louisiana. Mr. and Mrs. Caswell (now deceased) owned the garage apartment. Their census entry would have looked something like this (assuming census questions were similar to those in past censuses):
Michael Trahan, head, age 24, white, male, married, b. Louisiana. father b. Louisiana, mother b. Oklahoma, security guard at oil refinery
Pamela Trahan, wife, age 20, white, female, married, b. Michigan. father b. Michigan, mother b. Michigan, clerk in drug store
In April 1990, I was living with my parents and 2 siblings in Vinton. Our census entry would have looked something like this:
Michael Trahan, head, age 34, white, male, married, b. Louisiana. father b. Louisiana, mother b. Oklahoma, operator at oil refinery
Pamela Trahan, wife, age 30, white, female, married, b. Michigan. father b. Michigan, mother b. Michigan
Jennifer Trahan, daughter, age 8, white, female, single, b. Louisiana, father b. Louisiana, mother b. Michigan
Kathleen Trahan, daughter, age 6, white, female, single, b. Louisiana, father b. Louisiana, mother b. Michigan
Justin Trahan, son, age 1, white, male, single, b. Louisiana, father b. Louisiana, mother b. Michigan
In April 2000, I was living on my own in the dormitory at Centenary College in Shreveport, Caddo, Louisiana. Here is what my entry would have looked like (and I do remember filling out the form):
Jennifer Trahan, age 18, white, female, single, b. Louisiana, father b. Louisiana, mother b. Michigan, student
In 2010, if I ever get the form, it will look like this:
Jennifer Trahan, age 28, white, female, single, b. Louisiana, father b. Louisiana, mother b. Michigan, accountant
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