Gene Notes

Some random and some not-so-random thoughts on family history.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Wedding Wednesday - Percival & Bush

On August 31, 1859, Jabez Percival, son of Dr. John Stearns Percival and Sarah Ann Kirtley and Catherine Bush, daughter of Philip Bush and Vicy Tousey were married in Covington, Kentucky. They were first cousins. Vicy Tousey Bush was the daughter of Thomas Tousey and Lydia Percival. Lydia Percival was a sister of Dr. Jabez Percival, Dr. John Stearns Percival's father. This was so common in the early days of our country when meeting a suitable spouse was not quite so easy.  Jabez and Catherine or "Kate" went on to become the parents of six children: Tenie Kirtley, William Bush, Julia Lynd, John Philip, Olive Tousey and Ellen Major Percival.  Tenie died at the age of 16 and Julia died at 3 months.

Kate is pictured at left and Jabez on the right.  The photos are courtesy of my fourth cousin, Julia Percival Deimler.


Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Planning a Trip

DH and I are planning a trip up north to visit one of his cousins - this one in New York. Every time the DH makes snide remarks about my genealogy passion, I remind him that we found this cousin through my family research.

On the way back, we hope to hit Winchester, Middletown and Strasburg, Virginia. Can we say Belle Grove Plantation?

I emailed an archives in Virginia. I won't say which one, but the email I got back had a bad link - they had the name of the library/archives spelled wrong! And on the attached form for paid research, the email address was spelled wrong. Somehow that really scares me!

Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Monday, August 29, 2011

Kentucky Wills - Timothy Percival, Sr Settlement

My great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Timothy Percival, died in Boone County, Kentucky June 15, 1815. He didn't leave much. The two things that catch my attention are the watch and the History of New England. Timothy was born in East Haddam, Connecticut. I guess I'll have to dig further into these records!


A list of the property belonging to the Estate of Timothy Percival dec'd appraised by us this 19th day of August 1815.

                                            cents
    One Silver watch appraised to                $20
    Do   Saddle                                            $12
    Do   Horse                                             $50
    Do   Horse                                             $10
    Iron setts of Harness & chains                $12
    One Feather Bed and Furniture              $25
    Three Home made Blankets                   $  6
    3-1/2 pair Sheets                                   $  7
    3        Do   pillow cases and one towel   $  1   75
    5 Small Books                                       $  1
    One History of New England                 $       50
    Do   Patent Spinning Wheel                   $  5
    Do  2 inch Augur                                   $  1
    Do  Adds                                              $  1
    Do  Brass Kettle                                   $   6     
                                                                 _________
                                                                 $171  25   

                                John Allomay
                                Lawrence Sanford
                                Jacob Piatt

Boone County Court
                    Sept Term 1815

    This Inventory & Appraisement of the Estate of Timothy Percival Senr, dec'd was produced in court examined &  ordered to be Recorded.

        By Virtue whereof I have recorded the Same.
                                    attest            Willis Graves, Clerk

Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Sympathy Saturday - Christian Brickman

Born about 1826, probably in Germany, Christ or Christian Brickman married Catherine Zimmeth my great grandaunt and sister of August Zimmeth, my great grandfather. Catherine died about June 14, 1863, buried on June 15, 1853. While it appears she had a Catholic funeral (records in Diocese of Toledo church records) she apparently was not buried in the Catholic cemetery. This would lead me to believe that she was buried with her husband, who probably was not Catholic.

After her death, some of her children can be found with her parents on the 1865 New York State Census. Christian Brickman died on August 27, 1881 in or near Sandusky, Ohio.





Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Friday, August 26, 2011

William Ball Chinn's Will

William Ball Chinn was my great-great-great-great grandfather. His wife, Sally, was the former Sally Graves. They had seven children, Joseph G. Chinn being the oldest. His two youngest sons, David and William pre-deceased him. All his daughters are mentioned in his will. I find it curious that he only mentions his grandsons William and Joseph Chinn, sons of Dr. Joseph G. Chinn and not Joseph Garland and Benjamin Graves Chinn, his other living grandsons. The only reason I can think of is that William was of course named for his grandfather and David Davis Chinn was named for William Ball Chinn's son David D. who died in 1827. I also think it curious that Susan McHatton's husband was not named.

William was born February 14, 1770 and died on February 17, 1830. 

I found this record on Family Search, Kentucky, Probate Records, 1792-1977.


Chinn, W. B. Will

I William B. Chinn of the county of Harrison and State of Kentucky being weak and sick but sound of mind as make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form as follows viz:

First, after selling enough of my surplus property to pay off all just demands I will and bequeath the remainder of my property of every description to my beloved wife Sally Chinn during her natural life and at her death, or sooner should she see proper, my son Joseph G. Chinn shall have the Privilege of having one fifth part of my land which will be his proportionate part, run off adjoining the land whereon he now resides to be run parallel with the division line now between us or he may take the whole back by paying my daughter Matilda Wilmott or her heirs five hundred dollars at any time my wife may give up the whole tract my daughter, Fanny Harcourt or her heirs Five hundred dollars in one year there after my daughter Polly Barton or her heirs Five hundred dollars in two years and my daughter Susan McHattan or her heirs five hundred dollars in three years. Secondly, provided my daughter in law Barbara P. Chinn, widow of my son David should lose her negro girl Eliza who is now sick my wife Sally Chinn shall have the liberty to give her the sum of one hundred dollars out of my estate at any time it may be convenient for her to do so. Thirdly, the remainder of my property of every description at my wife's death I wish sold as a credit of twelve months and appraised as follows Viz. Should my son Joseph G. Chinn have his proportionate part of my land run off adjoining him then in that case I will and bequeth him the Extra sum of two hundred dollars for services rendered as a Physician in my family but Provided he should take the whole tract as above then he is not to have the aforesaid sum of two hundred dollars as I consider the price of the land and the payments to be made to my daughters are equivalent thereto. Fourthly, I will and bequeath my daughter Susan McHattan the sum of fifty dollars to make her lot of Negroes equal to what all my other children have received. Fifthly, having given my grandson William Wilmott about twenty dollars and my grandson, Joseph Davis Wilmott having received a silver watch of the estate of my dec'd son Davis, I will and bequeath to my grandson William Chinn and David  Davis Chinn, sons of Joseph G. Chinn the sum of twenty dollars each and my grandson William Barton twenty dollars and my grandson William McHatton son of my daughter Susan McHattan twenty dollars. Sixthly, the remainder of the money arising from the sale as above I wish equally divided among all my children. Lastly, I appoint my son, Joseph G. Chinn and my son in law William Barton Executors of my last will and testament. Given under my hand and seal this 6th day of February 1830.

                                William B. Chinn, L.'S.
                       
                                Harrison County March Court 1830 session. This last will and testament of William B. Chinn dec'd was                                 proved in open court by the oaths and James E. Duval, two of the subscribing Witnesses thereto and ordered
                                to be recorded.
                                atty H. C. Moore CHC

Signed and acknowledged in Presence of:

Roger Williams, John Chinn, James E. Duval



Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Thriller Thursday - John Walton Wilmot

John Walton Wilmot was born in Lexington, Missouri on June 20, 1910, the son of Frederick Allen Wilmot and Ladine Walton. He was the oldest of their three sons.

He died on November 17, 1923 as a result from a fall from a horse. The horse then fell on him and crushed his skull. He was 13. The Wilmots had two more children born after John's death: Frederick, Jr. in 1925 and Normal (a female) in 1927.


Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Wedding Wednesday - Havens & Hill

Clara Havens, daughter of Daniel Baldwin Havens and Judith Mariah Hill and was the youngest of their three daughters. Clara married Frank Hill on August 24, 1875 in Springfield, Vermont.  He was 25 and she was 21.

This is the marriage record from Vermont. Each of these marriages was recorded onto a card. To get the total picture you have to find both the bride and groom cards. Oh, and these were recorded long after the event.


Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Dearth Defined!

From the online Merriam-Webster dictionary:

Definition of DEARTH

1: scarcity that makes dear; specifically : famine
2: an inadequate supply : lack <a dearth of evidence>
Particularly number 2. There has been a dearth of new databases to comment on lately at Ancestry.com and FamilySearch. 
On FamilySearch there have been a lot of new databases added but they will have those dreaded words next to them "Browse Images." Ugh!  
Or, the database will say something like this: New York, Orange County Probate Records, 1787-1938. But when you go to browse the images 1787-1829  and 1901 to 1938 are MIA. And have you ever tried to browse those images. Sometimes they are in date order, sometimes rough alphabetical. Groan. 
Lately Ancestry has been wonderful, IF you have a World Membership. I really can't justify the cost of the World Membership for the handful of records that I can find there. So these are not really doing it for me:
  
New records on Ancestry.com
 I would much rather that they fix their broken links in their many databases. They've told me they fix the ones that more people will get use out of. Hello, Ancestry? I'm a PAYING CUSTOMER, don't I count? Absolutely not. I'd rather they shut down the site for a few days and get their act together and get it fixed. There are records they claim to have linked that have had broken links for well over a year. So here's my plan.

Would all my followers who have an Ancestry.com account please go do a search for Morris Percival in Missouri. You should find him in Missouri Death Records, 1834-1910. You should get this message:

Error Processing Request

BookInfo is Null (Invalid Page Number)

   Please try the following:

 Maybe if I get enough people to report this missing image they'll fix it?

Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Monday, August 22, 2011

A Trip Down Memory Lane

If you read my other blog "Generational" you will have noticed that I have been taking a trip down memory lane while putting a scrapbook together for my older daughter. It has been a blast as I try and figure out how old she was in some of the pictures. And some of the pictures trigger memories of vacations and other events. Like the year we forgot to put their luggage in the car for our first trip down to King's Island. Fortunately, they were probably only 4 and 6, and it was high summer, so all we needed were sun suits and underwear and a laundromat. It's not like we were space cadets and couldn't remember to pack clothes for them. It was that they kept adding and removing items from their packed suitcases and I locked them in their closet - the suitcases, not the kids! Halfway to where we were going to stay, our youngest piped up with "I hope you didn't forget to bring our suitcases!"  The next stop was Sidney, Ohio and we quickly stopped the car and did a fast check of the trunk. Um. No suitcases for the kids. Our youngest got the most use out of that summer clothing as she not only wore hers, but got hand-me-downs from her older sister!

I can't tell you how important it is to write these stories down. Someday, a grandchild or a nephew or niece might look at that scrapbook and ask to hear the story. Hopefully, I've left enough "clues" behind so that the kids can laugh like we did about the year we forgot the suitcases.

Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Sympathy Saturday - John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale

Born in 1616, John Maitland, 1st Duke and 2nd Earl of Lauderdale, 3rd Lord Thirlestane died August 20, 1682.

He was a pretty interesting character, and was also the last Duke of Lauderdale as he died without male issue. The other titles passed to relatives. Thirlestane "Castle" still exists as the family seat. Some of my cousins had the opportunity to visit it several years back.

For more information see Wikipedia.

If family lore is correct, he would be my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great granduncle.


Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Friday, August 19, 2011

Sometimes No News is Good News.

Ancestry announced that it is going to make the 1940 census available to everybody for free from April 2012 until the end of 2013. Gee that is great for non-subscribers, but what will it mean to the paying user? Actually, unless you know the enumeration district where your people resided in 1940, it will mean a lot of work. You may remember when the 1930 census came out and you had to use a map to find the E.D. It's hard to remember how slow my internet connection was in 2002. I think I was still using dial-up.

Then in Other news, Ancestry announced the name change of Footnote.com to fold3! It looks like the former Footnote will be concentrating on military records.

I don't really care about the changes, but it would be nice to actually hear firsthand from Ancestry about their changes since I am a paying user. And to me the fold3 crap (excuse me) came out of left field.

At least it gave me blog fodder!

Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Thriller Thursday - Joseph H Craig

 One would not think that the following obituary from January 8, 1905 would qualify Joseph Harrison Craig as a Thriller Thursday subject.

CRAIG.

News was received in this city last night of the death of Mr. Joseph Craig, of New York. His remains are now en route here and will arrive over the C & O at 5:10 this afternoon. He was a son of the late Parker Craig, who for years was one of Lexington's leading commercial men, running a livery and sale stable on Short street where the Smith-Watkins Hardward Company is now located and being interested in another business. His son, Joseph Craig, went to New York some years ago where he had been successfully engaged in business. He was sixty-five years of age.
However, his Kentucky death certificate (this type was filed with an out-of-state death) says otherwise.


 Being the curious sort, I went searching for further information. Sadly, I did find two Joseph Craigs, one in Sandusky, Ohio who died from poisoning, from his wife accidentally overdosing him. The subject of our Thriller Thursday post, however, was a widower. 

The other Joseph Craig, was indeed from Kentucky, and was a giant at 7 feet 8 inches tall and 400 pounds who worked for Barnum. This man died in April, not January.

Therefore, I've had no luck in determining whether the poison was blood poisoning, or food poisoning or suicide.

(Joseph Harrison Craig was my second cousin three times removed through the Parker family.)

Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Wedding Wednesday - Roth & Hereford

On this date in 1875, Annie Roth and Cassius Dade Hereford were married. They were united in marriage by the bride's father, Reverend Edward Roth. The bride's mother was Mary Vivion Webb, a sister of my great-great grandfather, John Garland Webb.



Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Comments, Anyone?

If you've wandered over to the Family Tree section of Ancestry.com, you will see a variety of categories. One, of course, is Ancestry World Tree; another is One World Tree, then there is Public Family Trees and Private Family Trees. Yeah, I can't tell you how frustrated I get with these trees. Last weekend, while doing yet another search for Clifton Bowman, the disappearing son of John Parker Bowman and Mary Elizabeth Chinn, I saw a tree with an obvious connection to mine and commented on some errors.

I have researched the heck out of the Bowman family, since my paternal grandmother was a Bowman, so was pretty excited to get a reply to my comment. The person in question is the great-great granddaughter of my great granduncle, Joseph Bowman, onetime sheriff of Lafayette county Missouri. I've scraped up some information on this line through the Missouri Death certificates and the census, but there is nothing like getting information from a direct line descendant.

Do I always comment and try to correct errors? No. Usually, I try to find the person who probably submitted the original information because I don't care if the ones who click and claim get the right information or not. Sometimes I get a nice comment back, like in this instance, where I can actually share information with someone who has information to share back. That makes most of the other instances worth while.

Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Monday, August 15, 2011

Virginia, Winchester, Evening Star Obituaries, 1899-1909

This is a great new database on Family Search for anyone researching in the Winchester, Virginia area. Actually, I am as my Bowmans lived in the area of Strasburg and Winchester, Virginia. So I was pleasantly surprised to see obituaries from the Winchester Evening Star on the Family Search site.

Further investigation led me to the saddest obituaries I have ever seen. I can't imagine anything more difficult for a parent than the loss of a child, George Hupp Bowman, Sr. and his wife, Flora Ellen King, lost all three of their children between April 22nd and May 8th. They ranged in age from 24 to  31. The children were Laura (Mrs. Homer Henkel Sherman) who died on April 24th not long after hearing of the death of her sister, Elizabeth (Mrs. Minitree J. Fulton) who died on April 22nd. Both women were in "delicate" condition. Their brother, George Hupp Bowman, Jr., died two weeks later on May 8th of a congestive chill.

The obituaries are obviously from a scrapbook and I have not yet been able to verify the dates.

Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Sympathy Saturday - John C Bowman

John C. Bowman was the eldest son of John Parker Bowman and Mary Elizabeth Chinn, and was my great granduncle. He was born about 1840 in Lexington, Kentucky and died August 13, 1858 in Lexington, Missouri.  He was buried in MachPelah Cemetery in Lexington, Missouri and his stone is easily overlooked.

His death notice in the Daily Missouri Republican of August 18 1858 reads:

DIED on Friday Morning, 13th inst., at the residence of his father, John C. Bowman, eldest son of John P. and Mary E. Bowman, aged about 18 years.

Of all the Bowman children he is the one I know least about. The notice does not say that he was survived by his parents, his sister, Isabelle Bowman Mountjoy, his brother Joseph, his brother Edwin, and his brother Frank. He was possibly even survived by his brother, Clifton, whose birth date is estimated as 1858 from the census.

You can see his memorial on Find-a-Grave here.


Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Friday, August 12, 2011

Glenn Percival Haskell

One branch of my Percival family moved to California after the 1880 census. This family included Jabez & Catherine (Bush) Percival, and their children: William Bush, J. Philip, Olive, and Ellen. Today, I am concerned with Olive and her family.

Olive was born March 1, 1870 (or 1869) in Covington, Kentucky. March 16, 1898, she married Richard Glenn Haskell, a native of Pennsylvania, in California. Richard was a missionary. To them were born three children, Nellie, born in 1899, Glenn Percival born in 1900 and Julia born in 1903.

In 1914, the family sailed to China where Richard's mission was. In 1920, Richard and Olive returned to California, where Richard died a few months later. In 1921, Glenn or Percival applied for an extension on his passport as he was attending school in China. Researching him was difficult, because he spent a lot of time overseas, but in January 1930, he was in an automobile accident with another instructor at Syracuse University (New York) and the other instructor was killed. Then on the 1930 census, he appears with his "partner." Both men are listed as instructors at Syracuse. Finding him on the census was difficult because he was indexed as Gercival Haskell on Ancestry.com

The last mention of G. Percival Haskell is the Social Security Death index if it is the same person. The SSDI shows his birthday as December 29, 1900. His passport application shows December 30, 1900. If it is the same person, he died in May of 1983 and his last benefit went to Champaign, Illinois.

You can see that this is really all I have on him besides that census. I'm sure he had some stories to tell about living in China, New York, Illinois and wherever else he lived. Maybe someday I will add an obituary to that list.

Clicking on the images will display a larger format. Use your browser's back button to return to this blog.


Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Thriller Thursday - Trains & Sleepwalkers


Higbee (Saline Co. MO) News

Friday, 12 Sep 1913--Wm. Chinn, a C & A brakeman, residing at Slater, was killed at Roodhouse, Ill, Sunday night, being hit by a passenger train.  Before going to bed in the caboose he sat out on the steps in his night clothes to cool off and in his sleep wandered on the main track just as the passenger train came along.


Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Wedding Wednesday - Percival & Wyatt

Today is the 26th wedding anniversary of Unmitigated and speaking in caps otherwise known as my much younger blogging sister and her "Buddy." They were married in a Methodist ceremony and the church has since been sold to another church community. Not important, just interesting. When scrambling for pictures of the happy couple, I realized I didn't have one linked that I thought I had. I'm sure I'll come across it again. Anyway, the pictures below are the happy couple on their wedding day and in 2008 at one of our nieces weddings.

Yes, the bride did not wear a white gown. Personally, I always applauded her choice of something with a little more color, and I like mauve.

As you can see, "Buddy's" hair style has changed greatly.

Not only is today, their wedding anniversary, it is Unmitigated's 4!st birthday. Look closely, that is not a "1." Let's just say time is marching on!

Happy Anniversary & Happy Birthday!


Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

It's Been a Quiet Summer

So far this summer I seem to have accomplished a big fat zero! It seems that I have so much going on, that I haven't had the energy to complete any projects and I have so many going I feel stretched thin. DH and I have been scrambling to get our 'chores' done in between walking, shopping, cleaning and anticipating trips. And Ancestry hasn't irritated me or given me any fodder for blog topics. What's a genealogist to do? In the meantime, my stack of information to enter has dwindled - okay I DID do some data entry - but my project pile keeps growing. In between the paper waiting to be dealt with are scrapbook layout ideas and notes for the scrapbook luau I am attending on Saturday. And the letters are still sitting there calling my name.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day!


Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Monday, August 8, 2011

Monday, Monday

I can't believe it's Monday again already! DH and I have been busier than usual what with the annual sales tax holiday weekend. I have not seen the stores as busy around here as they were this weekend. It's also the start of the Putnam county fair, so alternate routes have been devised to get us where we need to go.

I've started slowly organizing my projects for Saturday's Scrapbook Luau. I'm trying to be a little better organized this year and have a project in mind for it - older daughter's photo album/scrapbook. I'm coordinating papers and embellishments and selecting photos. I wish I could just pick up my worktable and haul it all over to the Luau and not worry about whether I brought the right stuff. 

On Tuesday, one of my mom's cousins and his wife is coming from Knoxville for a visit with us. My cousin's wife is also obsessed with genealogy, so I know we will have a great visit. Tomorrow will involve putting my office and craft room back in order. And yet stay organized with current projects. It's a neat trick, if I can pull it off.

Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Sympathy Saturday - Catherine "Kate" Gray Percival and Robert Hemingray Percival

Catherine Percival, nee Gray died on this date in Los Angeles, California. She was born in Kentucky, December 1, 1859 to Anthony & Susan (Carroll) Gray. She was orphaned in 1866 upon the death of her mother; her father died in 1865.

Raised by her uncle Robert Hemingray and aunt Mary (Carroll) Hemingray, she was reared in Covington, Kentucky where she met both of her future husbands.

Husband number one, was my great granduncle, Dr. Herbert Davidson Percival who was living with his Uncle Jabez and aunt Kate (Bush) Percival while he attended medical school with his cousin, Dr. William Bush Percival. William was Kate's second husband.


Kate and Herbert married June 25, 1884 in Covington, Kentucky. Their only child, Robert Hemingray Percival was born June 19, 1885 and died August 7, 1885. By 1890 or so Herbert & Kate were esconced in California. Herbert disappears and Kate marries her husband's cousin, Dr. William Bush Percival as his second wife. Kate died from hypostatic congestion of lungs (hypostatic pneumonia) and was buried at Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Her son was buried in Linden Grove Cemetery, in Covington, Kentucky.


Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Friday, August 5, 2011

Life Interrupts!

DH and I both got health wake up calls recently and have embarked on a serious exercise program of walking. His doctor wants him to work up to between 3 and 5 miles PER DAY. Well, we did over two Tuesday (1+ in the afternoon and 1+ in the evening.) He said we probably doubled what we averaged last week.

On top of that his old desktop, age 7, gave up again today, and could not be revived. So off to the computer store where we purchased a Dell desktop with more RAM and hard drive space than he'll ever use. Setting it up was not that difficult, but since I am still running Windows Vista, he's sort of on his own. So we purchased "Windows 7 for Seniors for Dummies." Yes, it pretty much has us covered. He discovered a handy little utility for making copies via his scanner, which replaces the HP Director program that came with his scanner (also 7 years old.) It worked nicely and we just have some more re-installations to do. So far Microsoft Office 2003 is doing okay. Keeping our fingers crossed.

Life seems to be getting in the way of my research. I am trying to work around it, so we'll see what shakes in the next few weeks.


Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Thriller Thursday - Archie Harris Robinson

Since I've been writing "Thriller Thursday" I think I see a mystery in almost every document I see, especially death records.

I recently located a death record for Archie Harris Robinson, son of Archibald Robinson and Susan Barrow Harris. Archie died in 1909 and I found a death record for him in Kentucky. Except he didn't die in Kentucky, he died of a gunshot wound in Colorado Springs, Colorado. On his 19th birthday.

For ages, that is all the information I had on Archie's death until quite recently when a search on Ancestry led me to an article about his death. I will say that until I found this information, I thought for sure Archie had died in a mining dispute, or after being robbed. My imagination taking over again.

The true was so much more compelling. The following is from the Colorado Springs, Colorado Gazette, September 28th, 1909:


KENTUCKY BOY KILLS SELF WITH REVOLVER

ARCHIE H. ROBINSON TAKES HIS OWN LIFE.

Fires Bullet Into Brain at North Nevada Avenue Residence
Ill Health the Cause.


Despondent because of ill health, Archie H. Robinson, the 19-year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Archie Robinson of Louisville, Ky., committed suicide yesterday morning at 9 o'clock at the residence of J. K. Miller, 1215 North Nevada Avenue, by firing a bullet into his brain from a .32 caliber Iver Johnson Revolver. Robinson was rushed to the Glockner sanitarium, where the bullet was removed by Drs. Daniel J. Scully & J. R. Peabody. He died a few minutes later.

Robinson left a letter addressed to his parents and sister, Edith, saying:

    "Peace be with you. It is all my own fault."

When Robinson failed to appear at the breakfast table, a maid went to the his room on the third floor of the house to call him. She found him lying in a pool of blood, his head slightly under the bed, and the revolver on the bed. The bullet entered his head just above the right temple and was found under the skin at the back of his head. That no one heard the shot is not considered strange, as the other residents were assembled in the dining room on the ground floor.

Robinson came here almost a year ago. He was joined during the summer by his parents and sister, and they spent most of the summer at Glenwood Springs. Last week the father went east to attend a meeting of the board of directors of a New York street railway company, and the mother went to Cincinnati to place her daughter in school.

According to friends of Robinson, he has been morose and despondent for several weeks. The Robinson family is prominent in Kentucky financial and social circles.


I am not a gun person, but the unusual name of Iver Johnson made me do a Google search for a .32 caliber weapon. It's possible that Archie shot himself with the same type of gun that President McKinley was assassinated. I found this picture of a pre-1909 model.


Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Wedding Wednesday - May & Lawson

 On August 4, 1830, David Lawson married Catherine May in Lexington, Kentucky.  Catherine was 43 and David 46. David died in 1865.

While neither of these people are related to me, Catherine was the third and last wife of my great-great-great grandfather, Dr. Joseph Graves Chinn. At the time of their marriage in 1876, Catherine was 89 and Joseph was 79.




Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Fried Brain!

Er, no, that is not a menu item at a local diner, it is how my brain feels tonight. We had a busy weekend with our younger daughter in town for a couple of interviews in Nashville last Friday; older daughter was still entertaining a house guest who has since decamped for her home down under; and today we had a power failure. Of course this power failure occurred while I was loading up the fridge after grocery shopping.

I understand that in this extreme heat we have been enduring, that you might lose power. Ours was not due to the temperatures, however, but a cable that failed. DH called the electric department (our electricity is managed by the city) and repair crews were out within 20 minutes. They were able to transfer power for some of the 6 houses on our street to a different "box" while they were working on the cable, but first had to determine which cable had the issue, so the power went on and off and on and off and on again. Temps have been in the mid-90's at night with night time lows in the 70's, so it never really cools off. Older daughter was in the middle of laundry, and fortunately I had planned on cooking on the grill tonight. Fortunately, everything eventually worked out and our power was restored by about 7:30 p.m. Good thing because it sure gets dark early around here.

All this reminds me of the 2003 blackout. This is also called the Northeast blackout. I remember this vividly, as DH and I were scheduled to go to Bay City for the Tall Ships event that weekend. At the time, we had no idea how widespread the problem was because we had no power, no phones, including cell phones, which were extremely spotty at the time. You couldn't put gas in your car or do anything that required electrical power. And, boy was it hot! We cancelled the trip, since DH didn't trust the back up sump pump to work and we didn't want to leave our youngest alone in a house without power. I remember we were without power for 3 or 4 days and that some of the people on our block had generators. Lucky them. I just remember going to sit outside at night on the porch in our shorts or pajamas, because it was so dark, our neighbors couldn't see us. No street lights, no house lights, and the stars were spectacular. Being born and bred in the city, it was one of the few times I could really appreciate the night sky.

And the day the grid went down in 2003? I went grocery shopping that day too!


Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes

Monday, August 1, 2011

So That's Why I Didn't Find it There!

Ever since the state of Michigan released death certificates from 1897 to 1920, I have been searching for ones that I just couldn't locate. One such certificate was for Emma Strause Klesert of Burr Oak, Michigan. No matter how I searched, I could not find her death certificate.

Today, on Footnote, while searching out Klesert/Kleesaat/Kleesaert on Footnote.com, I noticed that the last image was for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette from August of 1915. That is when Emma died. Opening the image provided me with a death notice. No, she did not die in Michigan, but in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Next trip to The Allen County Public library will include a search for the death certificate.

I did go to the Allen County Public Library's genealogy search page, and found Emma listed as below:

Surname  First Name  Age  Date             Book  Page
Klesert      Emma           58    08/11/1915    CH-7  269

I hadn't been on their site for a long time and noticed some changes.  If you click on the link, you will see what I mean.

Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes