WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - George PARDEE, b. bef. 19 Feb 1622/23

My ex-husband's line goes back to the early New Haven CT settlers, including such surnames as PARDEE, TROWBRIDGE, HOTCHKISS, TREAT, and others. George PARDEE is my children's paternal 10th great-grandfather.

Here is the christening record for the (abt 1644) Immigrant, George PARDEE, with note below:

Baptism date:
    13th or 19th Feb 1623,     Georg,      father Anthonie (Anthony) Pardee

Note typed below the certificate states:

    The carefully prepared sheepskin parchment church register of St. Andrew and St. Mary, Pitminster, from which the above record of baptism was taken, dates back to 1545.
   This certificate was furnished by the present Vicar, the Rev. Alfred Hawken.

And as you can see on the right side of the image, this certificate can be found on page 20 of The Pardee Genealogy, Donald Lines Jacobus, 1927, New Haven Society, New Haven CT.

SURNAME SATURDAY - George GILLESPIE, b. abt 1850

George GILLESPIE, born about 1851 in Newton, Tyrone, Northern Ireland, is my paternal greatgrandfather.  He gave this year and birthplace on the 1911 UK Census in Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, England, which will help me, I hope, to find his birth registration or baptism, plus marriage registration.  Eventually.

The entire family - George, his wife and two small children, his 2 brothers, 1 sister, and his parents - all emigrated from Northern Ireland in approximately 1879, settling in Barrow where there was a significant increase in ship-building and related industry.

Here is a badly-damaged photo of George, taken in the 1930s; he died in February 1941 in Barrow, at the age of 90, apparently still going for a walk every day with his dog (Judy), according to Mary, his only daughter, with whom he lived:

Grgrandfather George was the eldest of 4 children of James GILLESPIE b. abt 1821 Ireland, and Eliza (Elizabeth) MORRISON, b. abt 1823 Ireland.   James & Eliza married approximately 1850, possibly in the Belfast area, according to several distant cousins.  They had at least 4 children that I have been able to track (to date); these four are listed on the 1881 UK Census for Barrow, and every member in the family is born in Ireland (no place given):
- George (my line) b. abt 1851
- Andrew b. abt 1858
- Robert b. abt 1861
- Margaret b. abt 1863

As you can see, there is a gap of about 7 years between George and his next brother, Andrew, which makes me wonder if there might be another daughter or two, or another son, who decided to stay in Northern Ireland.  Of course they may have lost one or two children at young ages.  There is still much research to do in this family.

George married Catherine ARMSTRONG in about 1875 in Parish Clogher, Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and they had 4 children, the eldest two born in Tyrone, Northern Ireland, the younger two born in Barrow, Lancashire, in England:
- William John "Jack" b. 23 Aug 1876 (my line) b. 23 Aug 1876 ?Augher, Tyrone
- James Robert "Jim" b. 7 Apr 1878 (Parish Beagh?) Armagh or Omagh, Tyrone
- Mary Elizabeth  b. 19 Apr 1883  Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, England
- George Armstrong  b. 1886  Barrow in Furness, Lancashire (d. 8 Aug 1916 at Battle of the Somme, France, WWI)

George & Catherine lived in Barrow for the rest of their lives.  George is listed on the various censuses in Barrow as an Iron Founders Labourer, and an Engine Fitter's Labourer.  The first Census I find the family in is the 1881 UK Census, where all 9 are living in the Walney Ward of Barrow in Furness, at "#262 Brick Cottages".  About 300 brick cottages were built for labourers for the burgeoning steel and ship-building industries.

The two eldest sons emigrated to Canada before the beginning of WWI, and the youngest son, his namesake, died in the Battle of the Somme in 1916.  By the time the war ended, his daughter was the only child still in England.  Mary (b. 1883) married later in life, in September 1930, widowed by 1948. The couple lived with her father until his death in Feb 1941.

Here is an excerpt from a letter Mary wrote to two first cousins of mine when they were young:

"Your greatgranddad is very well considering his 91 years.  He is always doing something.  Yesterday he was chopping wood.  Just now he is putting the potatoes on for the midday meal.  But the wireless is his pet hobby.  I don't think any scholar enjoys the broadcast for Schools, more than he does.  I tell him he ought by now, to be perfect in German & French.  But I really think the Church services are the broadcasts he likes best." 

If you know any information on the above GILLESPIE names and families, do please contact me at calewis at telus dot com.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - Valentine's Day, 1872

A very sweet Valentine's Day "Decree" from my Greatgrandfather, James Grover "Grove" TERWILLIGER, 14 Feb 1872 to his teen-aged sweetheart, my eventually-to-be Greatgrandmother, Clara Augusta "Gussie" GRAVES.  They were both about 15 yrs old at the time... although the handwriting seems more mature than that...  What do you think?

Found in the TERWILLIGER SOUVENIR ALBUM, about
half-way through this very
large album of many pages...
and will eventually be inventoried
on my other blog when I get to this page later this year.

It is a bit difficult to read; transcription follows:


The People of the State of New York.

To:  Miss Gussie Graves
                      Syracuse
Greeting:

We Command You, that (all and singular business and excuses laid aside) you be and appear in your own proper person before the Court of Love, appointed to be held where the Woodbine twineth, in the said place, on the 14th day of February 1872 at moonlight in the evening of the same day, to testify all and singular what you may know in a certain action now pending undetermined in said Court, then and there to be tried  between
 ...........  A Ffection ...............plaintiff
and ..........your  Heart...........defendant
on  the  part  of  the  Plaintiff.       And this you are not
to omit under a penalty upon you of two hundred and fifty kisses.

Witness,   Saint Valentine, Judge of our said Court,
at the Court of Love,  the 14th day of February  in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 72.
...............................C Upid  Clerk
...............  ....H ymen  Attorney

----------------- ------------------ --------------

The couple married on the 2nd October 1879 from her parents' home.  Grove has glued in three different newspaper reports of their wedding - with (of course) NO identifying information about each newspaper.  I'll research that at another time.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.   Tell someone you love them, and promise them two hundred and fifty kisses.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - Dad, 1943

Wordless Wednesday... well, almost!

This is Dad when he was doing some training with dogs for service in the war. He said he loved this part of his training - although he spoke very very little about his military service. "Oh yeah, the heavy ack-ack training was interesting..."  he'd toss off and change the topic. Heavy ack-ack - Heavy anti-aircraft artillery guns. Here's a very interesting link about training in Canada on these guns, on the Memory Project.

After this time, he was trained in reading the new invention - RADAR - in Halifax, tracking the convoys coming into Halifax from the open seas. I must - MUST - get his military record. Apparently they did some testing of him (IQ test, perhaps?);  and as a result of the findings, he was put on the RADAR after specialized. training.

The joke between him and mom was that he went in with lots of curly hair and no glasses, and came out with bald spots (although I see a bit of receded hairline) and needing glasses all the time - from the effects of watching the RADAR.

This photo was part of a Christmas card which has my name as well as my older sister's name, and since I was born in 1943, I'm assuming that the photo might have been taken that year as well. Of course, it could have been taken at an earlier time as well.

Dad:  Johnny Gillespie, b.7 April 1907, Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire, Scotland; Immigrated 1914 to Canada with family; d.19 Sep 1975, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

My ORMSBEE Brothers: Jacob, Stephen Decatur

I recently found the name of my Ormsbee brothers' father:  Arnold ORMSBEE, and his wife Hannah or Anna.  This was a wonderful breakthrough, due not only to new photos and details on the FindAGrave site about Oakwood Cemetery, Syracuse, New York, but also by digging into clues in a newspaper article found on that wonderful site, Old Fulton Postcards - which is actually about Newspapers (turn down your speakers!).

Jacob ORMSBEE, born 21 Jun 1806 in Pompey, Onondaga, New York, is my third greatgrandfather on my mother's side.  He lived in Manlius, Onondaga, New York, for several years as an adult, moving about 1828 to Baldwinsville to work, finally settling in Syracuse, Onondaga, New York, by 1845.  He was a skilled carpenter apparently, and was one of the carpenters employed  in 1833 building the three story Seneca Hotel in Baldwinsville, as well as the old Globe Hotel and the first Onondaga Orphan Asylum in Syracuse, Onondaga, New York.

In approximately 1824 while still living in Manlius, he married Sabra/Sally TOWERS, born 22 Aug 1805, in Shaghticoke, Rensselaer, New York.  I can finally spell both those placenames without stumbling!  Both partners were 18 years old, Sabra being almost a year older, possibly 19.  Jacob and Sabra had 5 children, the eldest three married, and two of them had children for several more generations.  We have no photos of Jacob and his wife.  

My family line goes through their very long-lived 2nd child, Harriet "Hattie" Philena ORMSBEE, b. 28 May 1827, d. 20 Aug 1929.  She is the smaller elderly lady in the 1924 photo on the side.  Her taller daughter who is talking with her is Clara Augusta GRAVES, Clara's daughter Marguerite on the right holding my almost 2 year old mother.  Four generations.

 But what about Hattie's ORMSBEE family? Did she have uncles and aunts?  Did she know her grandparents?  For the past 8 years, I could find nothing about her family past her father's name, Jacob, and that they lived in towns in Onondaga county, New York.

Recently, I found an interesting clue about Jacob's family in the Syracuse Weekly Express, Wednesday, June 27, 1888.  It's a bit blurry, but states as follows:
Four Generations Dining Together.
    A pleasant gathering greeted Mr. Jacob Ormsbee Thursday afternoon at his home, No. 18 Rust street, the occasion being the eighty-second anniversary of his birthday.  Four generations ate and talked together.  Among those present were L.J. Ormsbee and his family, C.G. Graves and his family, Stephen A. Ormsbee and his family, Mrs. John Leary and others.  A purse of money was presented to the host in behalf of the relatives by H.J. Ormsbee.

I knew who all of those individuals were from my previous research... LJ was his son Lucius Jared Ormsbee, CG Graves married his daughter (my 2nd greatgrandmother), Mrs. John Leary was Jacob's daughter (widowed), and HJ Ormsbee was Lucius' son. But Stephen?  Unknown. 

I found he was also buried in Oakwood Cemetery in a different section from Jacob and his family members, and this information had been recently added with additional details. Including - the same parents as now listed for my Jacob - Arnold & Hannah Ormsbee. Amazing. Some digging showed that the newspaper had Stephen's middle initial incorrect - his middle name was actually Decatur, but errors can easily happen in journalism.  

I have since learned more about Stephen Decatur Ormsbee, such as that he lived in the same area, working as a carpenter like his big brother. He had three children I could find online, and at least one of them had a child. In addition, his 2nd child was a boy: James Arnold Ormsbee, named for his grandfather apparently. 

Perhaps there's a cousin out there somewhere who has photographs of the ORMSBEE families, or stories. I would love to find any relative who may have more information about these two brothers, and their parents.  Of course, there may have been a sister or two, but we know the challenges in finding women once they married!   Contact me if you know anything about either the ORMSBEE brothers and their parents.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Semi-Random Research

Randy Seaver, of Genea-Musings
1)  We're going to do a little bit of Semi-Random Research tonight...
2)  Go to your family tree database of choice (you know, like RootsMagic, Reunion, Ancestry Member Tree), and determine who the very last person on your list of names is.
3)  What do you know about this person based on your research?  It's OK to do more if you need to - in fact, it's encouraged!
4)  How are you related to this person, and why is s/he in your family tree?
5)  Tell us about it in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blogpost, or in a Facebook Status post or Google+ Stream post.

My very last person in my tree in the person list is Georgianna "Georgia" May ZINN.  

Who on earth is she, I wondered?  Married someone way down in collaterals in my Kuhn line.

My RootsMagic6 relationship calculator determined (in about 1 second) that Georgia is married to my 5th Cousin-once-removed, Louis/Lewis Francis KUHN.  So many Kuhn people in my family tree - they settled in Pennsylvania, arriving in approximately 1732.  I have yet to find a specific place of origin.

Our common ancestor is  John KUHN, b. about 1696 in Bavaria? ?Wurtemberg? Schlaitdorf?  We don't really know exactly where.  That's another blog or three right there, trying to find more of our KUHN line and their wives.

My research on Georgia is limited to on-line trees (2) and several Censuses.  The 1910 Census in Pennsylvania shows her living with her younger sister Arline and her parents George & Anne Zinn.  Her father is stated to be working as a Superintendent, Cemetery!  George, her father, states he was born in Pennsylvania, and that his father was born in Germany, mother in Pennsylvania.  Her mother, Anne, states she was born in Pennsylvania, as were both her mother and father.

You were born, show up with your parents and a younger sister in 1910, get married between censuses to my 5th Cousin-once-removed, Lewis Francis Kuhn, had your first child, a son (named after his father) who was 7 months old at the time of the 1920 Census.  Georgia, I'm afraid I know very little about you, and there's very little available in a quick scan of possible records.

The reason you are in my tree at all, is because there were so many repetitions of names in this extended family that I wasn't always certain I had the correct direct ancestor when I was looking at various records and gravestone inscriptions and burial records.  Louis Joseph, Joseph, Henry Joseph, Louis, John Francis, etc.  I followed some names down 4-6 generations to see who was who.

I suspect that her parents may have come from near the same area where my KUHN ancestors came from.  One day, I may dig a bit deeper in several of these collateral lines to see if there's a cross-over back there in perhaps Wurtemberg.  

One more Saturday Night Genealogy Fun completed

Accentuate the Positive - 2012 Geneameme

Jill Ball - one of my favourite bloggers from Down Under with one of her blogs at Geniaus - has created another great geneameme, Accentuate the Positive 2012 Geneameme, and I'm pleased to start the New Year 2013 on such a positive note!  

Although I don't seem to have as many positives and accomplishments as others, here we go:

1. an elusive ancestor:  I did!  I found an elusive ancestor on my mother's side. My 4th greatgrandparents, Arnold ORMSBEE & wife Hannah (last name unknown), who also show up in the 1810 and 1820 Censuses in Manlius, New York. My ancestor, the elder son, Jacob, lived to be 86 when he died 29 Mar 1893 in Syracuse. His obituary and other articles said nothing about his parents - unfortunately for me. But I have new information, these new names, and more determination and suggestions to help me find more. This new name led me to their younger son, Stephen Decatur Ormsbee, who lived in the same area with his own family, and died a few months after his big brother Jacob did, in 30 Jul 1893.  His new information came from a wonderful volunteer FindMyGrave photographer at Oakwood Cemetery, who perused, transcribed and copied the burial record books for me. Love such generous volunteers!
2.  a precious family photo I found:   I went through a small banged-up old photo album shipped to me by the nursing home where my mother's older sister died in 2004, aged 89. Several photographs were very precious: rare photos of my grandfather who died in 1945, and of my grandmother when she was younger, plus photos of my Aunt Dot taken during the 1940s with her husband. She was an artist, designed for textile companies, lived in Greenwich NY, and was quite an independent woman (divorced after the war). Her photographs surprised my children into thinking they were of my mom - the two looked very alike.  
3. an important vital record:  Hmm.  I finally unearthed my own long form birth registration from deep in boxes!  It confirms my father's birth place and helped me find his own birth registration in Cambusnethan, Lanark, Scotland.  I'd always thought we were Scottish... but really, the family were only living there for a few years while Grandpa Gillespie worked near Newmains. I now know my Gillespie ancestors had been living in Northern Ireland for at least 5 generations, in Counties Tyrone & Antrim, possibly in the corner of Fermanagh which borders Tyrone (Clogher Parish).   
4. a geneasurprise I received:  This Christmas, my eldest daughter, Pia, decorated a large mug with a version of my immediate family tree descendants! All four kids and their partners, and the six grandchildren's full names. Labelled on the outside bottom as "Winky's mug" (my grandmother name is Winky), and with a big red heart with "XO Mom" on the bottom of the inside. Makes all this genealogy work worthwhile when I see this! Amazing, and definitely heart-warming. 
5.  My 2012 blog post that I was particularly proud of:  My first one, actually. After reading and commenting on many wonderful blogs, and posting a few things on G+ genealogy in 2012, I was encouraged by a number of bloggers to start my own. TWIGS and TREES began May 25, 2012! I've only done 25 posts in 2012, but I am hoping to do at least one per week during 2013. Thanks to all of the wonderfully encouraging and postive genealogy people who commented and +d my posts. You make my day positive and bright.  
6. My 2012 blog post that received a large number of hits or comments:  Then, I went and did it again. On August 18, 2012, I started another blog: Terwilliger Souvenir Album  My TERWILLIGER greatgrandfather's Souvenir Album, started in the mid1800s, and continuing into the early part of the 1900s.  I decided to inventory this huge fat souvenir album, filled with so many different cards, newspaper articles, menus, tickets, exhibitions, and other special events in their lives. The blog which received the most hits and comments was the very first one, where several people (Albert Riezebos helped immensely) not only commented but identified various ambiguous items on the inside front cover. So far, 11 posts have catalogued many calling cards, marriage invitations, and assorted hotel symbols and other items. Finally, I'm inventorying this wonderful family momento.
7.  I taught a friend how to ...  I teach classes for beginners in genealogy, and a friend of mine took my class in 2011. This year she was doing some research to help a friend of hers, and I was able to teach her about how to search more effectively, and about new-to-her helpful websites she had been avoiding. It seems as if I'm always talking to friends and acquaintances about genealogy, websites - free and commercial, how to go past the basic vital records to find more interesting arenas to search and, in particular, to help people be more conscious of the purpose of their searching. And, of course I learn so much each time I do anything in a teaching mode!!  
8.  A genealogy conference/seminar/webinar from which I learnt something new was:   
This is an easy one - I learn so much from every single webinar  I've taken: about searching for Irish ancestors, about thinking outside-the-box for potential records and paper trails, about using new-to-me databases, about finding new sources of records in various court records (thank you, Judy Russell), and about planning my research rather than just flying by the seat of my pants.  There are wonderful genealogists and historians offering their skills and knowledge weekly, and daily - and I love them all.  I simply can't pick out one.  Even in a field I feel confident in, I always learn at least one nugget more to work with.  
9.  It was exciting to finally meet:   This one is still empty... I've met so many wonderful genealogists and historians on the internet, generous, encouraging, thoughtful, sensitive, knowledgeable. The only well-known genealogist I've met was several years ago, when Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, who taught about DNA & Genealogy here in BC Canada for our BC Genealogical Society. A wonderful warm-hearted genealogist - we learned a great deal from her very long workshop! I have a long list of people I'd love to meet now (in no particular order): Judy Russell, Michael Hait, CeCe Moore, Jana Last, Leslie Lawson, Jill Ball, Thomas MacEntee, Diane Beaumont, Tessa Keogh, Albert Riezebos, Carol Stevens, Moises Garcia, Marian Pierre-Louis, Lorine Schulz, Bill Smith, Randy Seaver, Kathy Reed, Susan Clark, Christine Woodcock. So many more - but those are the ones which pop to mind as I write this down, so forgive me if I've forgotten you!  I would love to meet any of you, and hope to eventually save my shekels to attend a conference/seminar and finally meet in person.  
10.  Another positive I would like to share is:  I finally cleaned off my desk of all the scraps and bits of details of my family in folders and messy piles, plus I actually went through most of the folders and binders, AND went through the computer files. Everything is labelled, transcribed into my tree, either filed or discarded as needed, and new file folders made to hold various genealogy projects and planned research. One paper at a time. Even my Dropbox and Mozy accounts are updated. There are still some bits and pieces of computer filing to rearrange and relabel, but the huge bulk of the task is done! The next task: clean up my awful citations and sources. Well, they're not awful, they're just not complete, nor in correct format at all, and don't link to the originals. Sigh.  
10 - postscript:Another positive - How could I forget! This spring, I wrote up my father's family: GILLESPIE (his father), BUNN (his mother), & WHITEHOUSE (his mother's mother) in a small booklet with maps, photos, and a few descriptions, for the relatives. They were shared with some of my first cousins and first-once-removed cousins at several funerals recently, and helped me find more details. I recently received an email from one special Bunn cousin who tells me she's been in touch with someone in England who has more research to share on the Bunn and Whitehouse group. Wow. Aren't these cousins wonderful?!  

Cheers for the New Year, and may we all find our wonderful elusive ancestors, tell their stories, and also write our own personal story for our kids and grandkids and others in the world. Thank you Jill Ball for the inspiration.  

PETTYGROVE & ROLAND - SOPHIA, the mystery

Ohhh, Francis William PETTYGROVE - you're such a large person in your life in Washington Territories, that you completely swamped your wife, Sophia.  I've yet to find anything written about Sophia at all.  She's a mystery.

Francis William PETTYGROVE, usually referred to as FW, was the 7th son of Thomas (Jr.) PETTYGROVE  [of Kittery Maine], & Mary McCURDY [of Halifax Nova Scotia]. Thomas & Mary had 10 children, 4 boys and 6 girls.

FW was born 12 Oct 1812, Calais, Washington, Maine, and was apparently quite an adventurer and entrepreneur.  In 1842, he married Sophia ROLAND who was born about 1824 in New York state, and the couple left very shortly thereafter with FW's sister and family; Charlotte "Mary" Pettygrove who was one year older.  She had already married to Philip Foster in 1834, and had 4 children by 1842.  FW brought along about $15,000 worth of merchandise from New York, apparently goods well suited to the wilderness where they were heading.  Philip and Mary became well-known settlers in Oregon, receiving settlers from wagon trains across the nation.

The newly married Pettygroves, along with several other businessmen and adventurers, sailed around to the other side of the continent, stopping in the Sandwich Islands (did you know their old name?), where Sophia delivered their first child, a boy Alfred Benson Pettygrove - named after two partners of FW.   Alfred was born the 3rd of January 1843.  They all remained there for 5 months, arriving near Oregon City, Washington Territories 19 May 1843.  There is much already known about FW's merchandising successes and challenges, both independently as well as with partners: such as about his naming Portland on the toss of a coin with his partner A.J. Lovejoy, and about his various political roles in Port Townsend where the family settled eventually.  Books, booklets, websites, and more provide much details about FW PETTYGROVE -- including about his ivory flute which he brought with him, and carried all the time.

Published by the Oregon Historical Society, the photograph here shows FW the white-haired bearded gentleman in the middle, Sophia sitting on the right side, FW's sister Charlotte Mary Foster on the left. Three of their 7 children are shown here, one would have already died in 1872, and the eldest Alfred died in 1878.  All are buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Port Townsend.  Likely the bearded gent standing behind the bench is Benjamin Stark Pettygrove, Sophia McIntyre the woman standing on the left, and Frank W Pettygrove (jr.) sprawled gracefully in front, leaning against his mother's legs.  Can you not see he's clearly the youngest in this family!  I had to smile at this photo.

But about Sophia - I can find nothing written.  I think about her, leaving her family at the age of 20 years, and heading off on a little ship all the way around South America, and up to Hawai'i where she has her first child.  Who helped her? Her sister-in-law, Charlotte Mary, who'd had 4 children by that time?  Was there a doctor in the community where they stopped for more supplies, and changed ships?  What challenging times for women in those days!  Arriving in a place where nothing could be taken for granted in terms of washing, food supply, diapers, illness, clothing, tools, and more.

Every census of the Washington Territories shows that Sophia was born about 1823 in New York state.  But I have no information that there were relatives left there.  Or in Maine.  There are a few newspaper records stating FW was travelling here and there up and down the west coast of the nation, but never a mention of Sophia travelling across the nation or having relatives to visit them in Portland, or Port Townsend.

And the final challenge: when she died, her obituary was all about her husband, "... the wife of FW Pettygrove, the famous ...".  Nothing about her as a woman, as a daughter, as a mother, as a sister.  Nothing at all.  Not a word about her parents and who they might have been, her father's occupation, for example.

I'm still looking, and I certainly need to find a way to get down to the Jefferson Historical Society in Port Townsend and see what they have in their files and on their shelves.  It's rather challenging travelling these days, but perhaps there will be a way to get there this coming year.

And if anyone actually knows anything of Sophia - I'd be delighted to have information shared with me.

CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS - Memories

I've always loved Christmas stockings - they were always full of such good things, packed tightly into my dad's woolen knee-high work socks - you know the kind? Grey and white wool, in a rib knit, so they were stretchy enough to hold lots of odd bumpy lumpy goodies!  I don't remember now when we shifted over to commercial Christmas stockings... must have been when I was in my teens.


On Christmas eve night, when we went to bed, the three of us carefully put out our stockings by the tree in the living room, and toddled off to bed.  Of course, we were told NOT to come back downstairs until Christmas morning - AFTER 6 a.m.!!

Almost every year, our stockings had the following items:

• a mandarin orange or two down at the bottom, in the toe of the sock
• a puzzle - hand-held ones where you have to put tiny balls into sockets, or you have to figure out how to un-hook two pieces of twisted metal pieces
• a book - or a comic when we were young
• a piece of candy and/or a candy cane
• a piece of clothing: usually panties or socks;  nylons when we were older (with garter belt, of course); and the Christmas morning I got my first [whisper] bra - memorable!
• maybe a piece of jewelry like a bracelet, or a pair of costume jewelry earrings
• a pen and something to write in
• a special present of some sort

As you can see we had something to eat, something to puzzle over, something to do, something to try on or wear, and something to read.  And with three of us kids in the family, we would share our books/comics and puzzles back and forth as we struggled to wait until it was time to go downstairs for breakfast.  I'm sure my parents only slept a couple of hours at most!  They would have been up late putting our stockings together, and wrapping all the "Santa" presents to put under the tree. 

My sister's birthday was just after New Year's, so we occasionally 'teased' her by giving her only half of her present (if it could be split in two, like a pair of pretty socks, or earrings etc.).  She must have been so frustrated by that, I'm sure!  But at the time, it was simply something we did - not every year, but sometimes... 

We left our Christmas tree up until after her birthday, so we only put it up the weekend before Christmas.  That way, we'd keep it moist so it would last without totally drying out.  

Ohhh, I remember my brother telling me that one year when he was staying at home for Christmas - he rushed downstairs with his stocking in hand, "Hey, Mom, Dad - Look!! I got a ... " oh yeah. Christmas stocking.  Filled by parents.  Surprise.  Yup.  He was about 20, but still a kid at heart!!  

Christmas Stockings - Weren't they fun?  Don't you wish "someone" would make you one for this Christmas?  

A MYSTERY POSTCARD - Grandpop Kuhn, 1913

Looking through my various photos and copies of documents from my cousins as well as my grandmother's box of saved items, I came across this postcard of my maternal grandfather, Charles Edward KUHN, to share today.

Here's the postcard front, of my grandfather, with something cylindrical in his right hand.  It reminds me of a small recorder for some reason, but I simply can't see it clearly.  Perhaps it's a cigar!  Any other ideas, readers?

He's rather well-dressed with vest and tie, long winter coat, with his hat perched on the head of the horse he's apparently riding.

But you can see that it's all a prop, can't you!  Very amusing photo!

And here's the back side of the postcard:  post office marked as November 2nd, 1913.  The stamp is quite clear and is a 1-cent stamp!  It is addressed to my grandmother, Marguerite, at home in Vancouver:
Mrs. Chas. E. Kuhn, 
106 Sylvia Court,
Gilford St.,  [sic: Guilford]
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada

Message:
Memphis, Tenn.  11/1/13.
11 30 P.M.
Will be thinking of you and Dinky Babs and Madre at 7 A.M. --- hard! 
How do you like the "eye-protection"?    (black ink splotch)
                              (signed)  Boy.
= = = =  = = = = = =

I enjoy the humour in his signature "Boy" ... clearly they had pet names for each other.

"Dinky Babs" is their 2nd child, Barbara, who was born in July 1912, so she would be about 15 months old at this time.  Their first child, also a daughter, was "Betty" who died in 1911 after about 9 months.  See the post I wrote about her here.

"Madre" is the formal version of a nickname for my greatgrandmother, Clara Augusta "Gussie" Graves, Marguerite's mother.  As he is mentioning her in this postcard, likely Maudee (which is what we kids called her) is visiting in Vancouver at this time.  Maudee lived with her husband, "Grove" James Grover Terwilliger,  in either New York or New Jersey for most of her life.

You can't help but notice all the nicknames for individuals in this family.  It's a "very" family - creative, intelligent, attractive, dramatic, passionate, controlling, and more!

I have absolutely no idea why Grandpop is down in Tennessee.  I have a vague idea he was doing something  for the military... but he didn't get drafted, so this must be something else.  Although a US-born citizen, born in Pennsylvania, he and Marguerite (known as "Daisy" among other nicknames she had) spent most of their married life in Vancouver, BC, Canada where 5 of their children were born.

If anyone has any ideas about what kind of military work might necessitate Grandpop being in Memphis Tennessee in November 1913, I'd love to hear your ideas!

GRANDPARENTS - Saturday Night Fun

Randy Seaver has set us another Saturday Night Fun task!

The task tonight is to write 100 words - no more and no less - about how important grandparents are.  So, as the only 'genealogist' in the family, here I go with my brief on my grandparents.

Grandparents are important because they hold history in their minds, their boxes, their closets, their drawers, their albums.

They had stories they told us, or embellished somewhat out of alignment with truth (in my family!), to teach about important values.

They knew songs I never learned, places I never saw, had jobs I barely understand.

Both sets of my grandparents were raised in different countries and then picked up and moved across the sea, or across the continent.  Their children met here and began new families, with new histories.

Grandparents helped me see a larger picture of who I am.

===========================  

There it is, Randy - exactly 100 words, according to my Word document word counter! 

On the left is Grandma & Grandpa Gillespie (father's parents), I'm sitting on Grandma's lap; picture taken early in 1946.   Grandma came from Netherton, Worcester, England; Grandpa was born in Augher, Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and when he was about 4 years old the 3-generation family moved to Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, England.  Grandma's family moved up to Barrow by 1882.  Grandma & Grandpa and 5 children moved to Vancouver BC by 1914.

The two individual photos above are my mother's parents, Grandpeter and Grandpop Kuhn.  Grandpeter was born in Syracuse, Onondaga, New York; Grandpop was born in Reading, Berks, Pennsylvania and moved to New York, met and married Grandpeter and came to Vancouver BC in early 1912, where they had 5 children.  

And here I am, a Grandmother to my 6 grandchildren... and because I don't like 'grandmother' words, I'm known as "Winky" or "Grandma Winky" to my grandkids - which is a long story of its own.  

CLUES GALORE! Greatgrandmother's 1858 Birth Record

I love receiving snail-mail.  The clunk of the letterbox outside the front door as the mailman drops in something unknown and flops the metal flap back over it.  The feel of envelopes, the stamps, the possibilities.

A dozen years ago or so, I received a large brown envelope from Dudley, County of Worcester, England, with FIVE certificates:  3 labelled "Certified Copy of an Entry of Birth", 2 labelled "Certified Copy of an Entry of Marriage." What wonderful mail indeed!  However, I was retiring at the time, going into hospital for surgery, and didn't really look at them beyond confirming the contents of that big brown envelope. Today as I wondered what next to work on in my family tree, I finally scanned each of those five documents.  And in scanning, I looked in detail at the records. They now are all scanned, labelled, and filed appropriately. My desk is almost totally clear of genealogy paperwork right now! Amazing.

Here is a copy of my paternal line Greatgrandmother's birth record, with  interesting information about her parents and her life.  (I made it X-large so that you could read more details.)  

When I teach Introduction to Genealogy classes for beginners, I always tease people by saying "There are at least 19 clues or questions to ask, on every document you find!"... because I've found that beginners only see two or three, and think they're done looking:   "Yes, there's the parents and birthdate. Done." Of course, I know I still have much research to do with these certificates in hand.

This document is very easy to read, with careful calligraphic writing. We have her address (born at home) as  Northfield Road, Netherton, Dudley, in the County of Worcester.  I had to look up more about the relationship of Netherton and Dudley to understand why there are two towns listed as if they were separate ones, in Worcestershire.  More to learn.  The number in the first column "448"  is the number of the registration, not the house number, by the way.

There is her father's name Thomas Whitehouse. I do wish he had a more interesting name, like Linus or Beauregard, or something quite out of the ordinary.  But my ancestor men were good solid folk with plain names: Thomas, George, William, John, James, Henry.

But then there is her mother's name, written as:  Sarah Whitehouse late Shutt, formerly Price.   Here we see that Sarah's maiden name is PRICE.  And she was previously married, to a gentleman, surname of Shutt.  I have a few clues to indicate his name was Thomas Shutt, and they were married only 1-2 years at most.  However, I haven't been able to confirm this yet - I have a list of more records to order: another marriage certificate, his death record, plus more research still to do.

We have the father's occupation:  "Laborer at an Ironwork".  There is a reason this area was once termed the Black Midlands, due to the smoke/soot in the air which landed on the ground, trees, houses, people and - I am sure - on the laundry put outside to dry.  I'm trying to think how anyone kept clean when they worked such difficult dirty jobs as iron works jobs, or coal mining, and such. I thought I would be able to see which ironworks Thomas might have worked at. I assumed I'd find something quite specific about an Ironworks foundry near Netherton, or near Northfield Road. I was able to find the following on Wikipedia [scroll down on the page]:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Iron_Company :  

Netherton[edit]

The 'old ironworks' at Netherton (with two furnaces) were acquired from Attwood in 1825 as part of the Corngreaves transaction. The company remained in possession until c1852 when the works were sold to Noah Hingley & Sons. The company is also known to have worked coal mines here.

Brierley Hill, Dudley Wood and Netherton were all held under lease from the Dudley estate.

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Back to those certificates above:  Were you able to read the Registration date?  and the informant?

Sarah made her mark X  The Mark of Sarah Whitehouse  Mother, Northfield road, Netherton/Dudley,  on the Fifteenth December 1858.  This date is about 5 weeks after the birth of their daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Whitehouse.  And I'm making an assumption that my greatgrandmother went to the office to register the birth herself, as her husband, Thomas, had to work.

Sarah would need to bundle up the baby plus her 5 year old stepdaughter against the December cold and wet, and walk to the office where the birth needed to be registered.   Then back they would have to go home again. I would like to find out how she might have gotten to the Dudley Registration office. Surely someone would have given her a lift... was there a railroad? a cart? I'm abysmally ignorant about transportation options in the 1850s in England villages! I also wonder if it mattered to her that she was not able to write her name on the birth registration form at the office. I know so little about her.

I went back to look again at the 1856 marriage record for Thomas Whitehouse and Sarah Shutt, finding her father's name as John Price, Miner.  There were extensive coal mines in and around this area, so that is likely what he did.  Thomas' father was noted as Joseph Whitehouse (Dead), occupation, Nailer. Netherton was known as THE place for nailmaking, from the 1600s onwards into the early-mid 1800s.  Also on the marriage record, Thomas is listed as a Widower, occupation "Furnace Man".  I have begun to search for his first wife, whom I believe was also named Sarah, 5 years younger than him.

I first found the records of a Thomas marrying a Sarah, and a Sarah marrying a Thomas for both first and second marriages an interesting symmetry.  Perhaps not so unusual, as those were quite common names in this time. Eventually I believe I found the most likely pair: Thomas WHITEHOUSE marrying Elizabeth [no surname listed].

I have a few photos of my greatgrandmother, Sarah Elizabeth WHITEHOUSE... she married a George BUNN, and they soon moved up to Barrow-in-Furness where iron foundries and ship-building opportunities abounded. There are so many Bunn and Whitehouse families in Netherton that if you had a stone for each one, you could build a home with them! Several of the Bunn and Whitehouse individuals in my tree were born in Windmill End and in Darby Hand (Darby End), both tiny neighbourhoods near to Netherton.

Any and all BUNN& WHITEHOUSE relatives - please get in touch and I'm happy to email you the copy of any of the Bunn and Whitehouse certificates I have received to date.  And if you have additional details I'd be thrilled to receive them!! (contact information, scroll below)