In just over 5 months the 1940 census will be released. It seems like
just a few years ago that I was eagerly anticipating the 1930 census.
By 1940, both my grandmothers had passed. My dad was living with his
father and brother somewhere in Detroit. My mom on the other hand, well,
in 1940 I'm not sure where she was living. Her Aunt Rose had also died
by this time, and Uncle John went to live with his son and
daughter-in-law; mom was either with another relative or living with the
Hopkins for whom she worked as an au pair.
What secrets will the 1940 census reveal for you?
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Monday, October 31, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Sympathy Saturday - Betty Blancett Kruszka
From the Escanaba Daily Press, October 31, 1992:
Betty M. Kruszka.
Rapid River -- Betty M. Kruszka, 65, of 9897 Co. 513 T Road (P.O. Box 176), Rapid River, died Thursday, October 29, at St. Mary's Hospital, Rochester, Minn, following a brief illness.
She was born Jan 5, 1927, in Cambridge, Ohio, daughter of Frederick Blancett and the former Emma Brown. She was raised in Cambridge. She had lived in the Detroit area most of her adult life and moved to Rapid River in 1980.
She was employed as a bookkeeper in auto sales most of her working life. She enjoyed boating and other outdoor activities.
Her husband, Chester, died Feb. 20, 1992.
Survivors include one son, Richard L. Borrusch of Rapid River, and 2 grandchildren.
Memorial services will be held at a later date and will be announced by Skradski Funeral Home, Gladstone.
[Blogger's note: Betty's husband, Chester, has his name on a marker with his parents in Sacred Heart of Mary Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan. The death date is not filled in, nor is there any mention of Betty.]
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Betty M. Kruszka.
Rapid River -- Betty M. Kruszka, 65, of 9897 Co. 513 T Road (P.O. Box 176), Rapid River, died Thursday, October 29, at St. Mary's Hospital, Rochester, Minn, following a brief illness.
She was born Jan 5, 1927, in Cambridge, Ohio, daughter of Frederick Blancett and the former Emma Brown. She was raised in Cambridge. She had lived in the Detroit area most of her adult life and moved to Rapid River in 1980.
She was employed as a bookkeeper in auto sales most of her working life. She enjoyed boating and other outdoor activities.
Her husband, Chester, died Feb. 20, 1992.
Survivors include one son, Richard L. Borrusch of Rapid River, and 2 grandchildren.
Memorial services will be held at a later date and will be announced by Skradski Funeral Home, Gladstone.
[Blogger's note: Betty's husband, Chester, has his name on a marker with his parents in Sacred Heart of Mary Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan. The death date is not filled in, nor is there any mention of Betty.]
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Friday, October 28, 2011
Sometimes The Ideas Come Easy
I'm sure all bloggers struggle at times with blog topics. I know I do, especially for my Thriller Thursday blog because most of the juicy stuff has already been blogged! However, when doing this week's Thriller Thursday I was presented with three more subjects and so I have my Thriller Thursday blog set for the next few weeks.
Sometimes the hardest days to post are those days when I have to blog off the top of my head. My head has been in such a whirl over the last month, I sometimes forget what day it is! Older daughter is heading back from her Caribbean cruise, younger daughter has moved to Nashville, but is still waiting for her belongings to join her there and next weekend we all head to Michigan for the wedding of one of my nieces. Then when we get back (hopefully after a couple days in Lexington, Kentucky for some research) we have the annual Art Prowl. Watch for more info on that on my alter-ego page Generational.
It seems to me that I've probably done less research this year than in many a year. I hope that changes soon!
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Sometimes the hardest days to post are those days when I have to blog off the top of my head. My head has been in such a whirl over the last month, I sometimes forget what day it is! Older daughter is heading back from her Caribbean cruise, younger daughter has moved to Nashville, but is still waiting for her belongings to join her there and next weekend we all head to Michigan for the wedding of one of my nieces. Then when we get back (hopefully after a couple days in Lexington, Kentucky for some research) we have the annual Art Prowl. Watch for more info on that on my alter-ego page Generational.
It seems to me that I've probably done less research this year than in many a year. I hope that changes soon!
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Thriller Thursday - Harry A Whitney's Accidental Injury
Every so often you come across a death certificate or record that raises questions. That's what happened when I read the cause of death for Harry A. Whitney who died July 23, 1896 in Athol, Worcester county, Massachusetts. His death record states he died from "shock and intestinal perforation due to accidental injury." But unfortunately the record doesn't elucidate what the accidental injury was. He was a mechanic, however, so it may be possible it was a work related injury.
He was the son of Artemus Henry Whitney and Jerusha Sellon Percival, and was 25 years 11 months and 18 days at the time of his death. Harry was survived by two sisters and two brothers.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
He was the son of Artemus Henry Whitney and Jerusha Sellon Percival, and was 25 years 11 months and 18 days at the time of his death. Harry was survived by two sisters and two brothers.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Wedding Wednesday - Bowman & Weber
On October 26, 1871, Julia P. Bowman married John S. Weber in Boonville, Cooper county, Missouri. Julia was born November 13, 1852 in Lexington, Fayette county, Kentucky and sometime after the family moved to Covington, Kentucky, where her father died about 1866. She was the daughter of Robert Todd Bowman and Elizabeth Dickerson.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Making Progress
Between making a quick trip to Michigan and dealing with this nasty cold, I've managed - quite surprisingly - to get quite a bit of data entry done. Sometimes good things can happen when you are stuck at home feeling rotten! I've knocked 75 death certificates down!
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Monday, October 24, 2011
Misleading Information
Do you trust everything you read on a death certificate? I hope not. I can't say how many times I've come across a death certificate that the informant has given his/her parents' names and not the names of the decedent.
Take this death certificate for Addie (Adaline) Keas Mansur. It gives her birth date as October 26, 1841 and her death date as October 26, 1941. Wouldn't that make her exactly 100 years old? EXCEPT her age is given as 83 years 11 months and 7 days. Her husband John Mansur was born in 1850. By my figuring, she was born November 19, 1857. The 1900 census says July of 1857. It sure isn't 1841!
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Sympathy Saturday - Ralph Maitland
In Los Angeles county, California on October 22, 1965, Ralph Maitland died. He was the son of Alexander Maitland and Desdemona Henderson.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Friday, October 21, 2011
Freaked Out Friday
What a crazy week it has been. DH has been nursing a cold
this week and oh joy of joys, he’s shared it with me. I don’t feel like we’ve
had a chance to catch up on household chores yet, and don’t feel like doing
them anyway. And we need to get out and walk, but these colds and the weather
aren’t cooperating.
Older daughter is on a cruise to some place warmer Saturday for a few days and younger daughter
is moving to Nashville
next week. DH has a birthday coming up and one of my nieces is getting married
the first weekend in November. That means another trip up I-75 to Michigan. This will be
our third since July. And they have all been really quick trips.
In between laundry, coughing and hacking, I’ve been catching
up on data entry a bit. Catching up isn’t quite the word for it, because that
will probably never happen! I'm making progress though and that feels good. And
while I am doing all that, I'm watching tutorials on my new scrapbooking
program. And practicing. Hop on over to Generational for a peek at what I am
working on.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Thriller Thursday - Building Collapse
Sometimes, when you are searching for something, you come across something unexpected. I had one of those the other day, which really caught me by surprise. I was searching for a death record for Fannie Carlisle Maitland, when I discovered a marriage record for her. On January 1, 1908 Fannie married for her second husband, William W. McBride in Washington county, Arkansas. Somehow, they ended up back in Kansas City, Missouri, where William died tragically in 1912. According to the death certificate he died from from traumatism resulting in fractured skull and other injuries from collapse of building. Unfortunately, I was not able to find an obit or death notice for William McBride, but I did find an account of the collapse, which I have added below.
CORONER TO FIX THE BLAME
AN INQUEST TO DETERMINE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALAMEDA COLLAPSE
The Men Concerned in the Construction and Inspection Explain the Fatal Accident by Placing the Fault on One Another - Their Opinions
The Blame for the collapse of the new Alameda Hotel, Tenth Street and the Paseo, which took a toll of human lives, will be fixed by a coroner's jury. The inquiry will begin at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning.
Walter N. Davis, owner of the wrecked building, asked Fred B. Hamilton city superintendent of buildings, today to select a committee of building experts to decide who was at fault. To this proposal Mr. Hamilton said:
"That will all be decided at the coroner's inquest. Everyone who had to do with the building, the architect, brick and concrete contractors and everyone else will be witnesses at the inquest."
CITY OFFICIAL BLAMES CONTRACTOR
Mr. Hamilton says the fault lies with the contractor, the George H. Seidhoff Construction Company, which loaded between seventy-five and one hundred wagon loads of cinders on the roof and then pulled the wooden props from under the roof before the cement was dry.
Mr. Davis, owner of the building, agrees with Mr. Hamilton, the superintendent of buildings, and says he protested yesterday against the props being withdrawn.
P. Green, foreman under Siedhoff, the contractor, says he believes the props beneath the roof were taken out too soon.
J. M. Deacy, foreman of the electrical work in the building, agrees with Hamilton and Davis that the withdrawal of the props and the weight of the ashes caused the roof to sink, carrying down the other floors into general ruin.
CONTRACTOR BLAMES THE ARCHITECT
George H. Siedhoff, the concrete contractor, says the blame rests with the architect, Clifton B. Sloan.
"There were not enough ashes on that roof to have any effect," he said. "It is not true that the roof was 'green.' It had been set for fourteen days instead of nine days as was claimed by Mr. Davis. We have our records to prove that. Those props had been under that roof fourteen days, the concrete was set and hard. The plans were faulty. Of course I had to follow the plans. But the walls of the building were of brick only nine inches thick in the two top stories, and there was not a concrete pillar in the walls. The five floors of hollow tile bound together with re-enforced concrete, were set into the brick walls four inches and rested upon the brick, when they should have rested upon concrete pillars.
"The consequence was that when the wooden supports and forms underneath the roof were withdrawn the weight of the roof for twenty-one feet of its length, from the nearest concrete pillar to the wall, fell upon the thin brick wall and the wall buckled out and let the roof fall, and it carried down the other floors one after the other. There should have been concrete pillars and beams in the outside wall to support each floor and the roof."
THE OWNER'S REGRETS
Mr. Davis, owner of the building, wept this forenoon as he stood in the building and looked at the wreck.
"It will ruin me," he said, "but I do not care so much for that as for the poor men who were killed. Every cent I have on earth was in this building. I put sixty thousand dollars in cash into it. And it was the strongest building ever built in Kansas City. I have built twenty-three buildings, and I know the walls were of ample thickness, up to the standard required by the building code. Nothing but the best concrete and mortar went into it, and all was re-enforced. I watched every detail of the construction myself and I know. In all my building work heretofore I never had a man hurt."
"The roof was made of hollow tile eight inches thick and a foot square joined together by the best cement. Between each row of tile there ran a log of iron and over the whole roof was laid two inches of cement."
SUPPORTS TAKEN AWAY TOO SOON
"The roof was flat on top of it cinders were to be spread thirty inches thick at the front of the building and two inches thick at the rear to give it the proper slope to shed rain, and over the bed of cinders was to be laid one inch of cement.
"Siedhoff, the contractor, had hoisted two hundred loads of those cinders to the roof and piled them four feet deep along the rear end of the roof next to the alley. Those cinders weigh forty-five pounds to the cubic foot and four feet of them made a great weight. The roof was yet green and was held up by planking upheld by upright wooden supports. Those supports should have stayed there two weeks longer and you can imagine my surprise when I found Siedhoff's men pulling them out yesterday.
DEFENDS THE CONSTRUCTION
"I protested against it, but Green laughed at me. The result proved that I was right. As soon as the last support was pulled out down came the roof beneath its weight of cinders, and I could hear each floor crash down in turn as the load above fell upon it.
"Proof that the weight of ashes caused the collapse is seen in the wreck itself. Only that portion of the roof fell that had ashes upon it. All the rest of the roof is intact and solid, and I am sure any builder will agree with me that the part of the building yet standing is the solidest in this town."
J. M. Deacy, foreman of the electrical work, said today: "It was one of the best constructed buildings I ever saw, and I have worked in nearly all of them. There was not a faulty thing in it. The concrete was so solid that it took one of my men a whole day to drill a hole through the floor. And the brick walls were solid."
Deacy's life was probably saved by the circumstance that his wife was ill and he went home at 3:30 o'clock. Otherwise he would have been working in a room that went down in the wreck.
At the inquest tomorrow each interested person will be represented by an attorney. There will be suits for damages as a result of the collapse the heirs of those killed and of those injured will claim damages and those at fault will have to pay. It is important therefore, to know who was at fault.
The superintendent of buildings and his inspector will seek to show that they were not at fault, that the walls were of the thickness required by the building code and that the materials used and the work done were up to standard requirements. The owner and the contractor will contend that they are not liable.
Mr. Davis, the owner, had Siedhoff, the contractor, bound by a bond of $10,000 to do his work well. He will seek to show that the contractor was at fault and if he can do that the contractor, under his bond, must replace the collapsed part of the building according to contract.
LAWYERS FLOCK TO THE RUINS
The contractor will seek to show that his work was well done, so as to escape that liability.
Other interested parties are the casualty and liability companies, with which both the owner and contractor had insured against loss because of injuries to employees on the building. If the contractor was at fault the casualty company will have to pay for the deaths and injuries. If the contractor was blameless and the owner at fault the casualty company with which the contractor was insured will escape liability. If the architect was at fault he will be liable for the deaths and injuries.
There are bound to be several law suits result and there were several lawyers for different parties at the building today, taking written statements and making photographs of the walls and all details of the ruins.
The Kansas City testing laboratory took samples of the cement to test and see if it was up to specifications.
CONTRACTOR JUST MISSED DEATH
The whole of the building did not fall. Its full size was seventy-three feet frontage on the Paseo and extending back 120 feet on Tenth Street. The part that fell was the rear twenty-three feet. All the rest of the building is intact and solid.
The part that fell did not all fall at once. The southwest corner fell at 3:30 o'clock and at 4:45 o'clock the northwest corner fell.
Those killed and injured went down in the first collapse. Several had narrow escapes when the second crash came. Among them were George H. Siedhoff, the contractor, who ran when he heard the grinding noise and took refuge under a concrete beam in the front part of the building and George Oppenheimer and B. M. Richardson, insurance men, who leaped from a third story building.
THE MONEY LOSS $7,300
The Jones Store Company had contracted with Mr. Davis to furnish the hotel from top to bottom and it had placed orders with a mill in Philadelphia for four thousand yards of carpet, and with a firm in Pittsburgh, Pas., for brass beds. The furniture was being made in Grand Rapids, Mich., and the silverware was ordered from the Oneida Community. All these orders were canceled today.
Apartments in the hotel were to rent for $75 a month and nearly all of them were already engaged.
Mr. Davis said today that the damage done could be repaired for $7,300.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
CORONER TO FIX THE BLAME
AN INQUEST TO DETERMINE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALAMEDA COLLAPSE
The Men Concerned in the Construction and Inspection Explain the Fatal Accident by Placing the Fault on One Another - Their Opinions
The Blame for the collapse of the new Alameda Hotel, Tenth Street and the Paseo, which took a toll of human lives, will be fixed by a coroner's jury. The inquiry will begin at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning.
Walter N. Davis, owner of the wrecked building, asked Fred B. Hamilton city superintendent of buildings, today to select a committee of building experts to decide who was at fault. To this proposal Mr. Hamilton said:
"That will all be decided at the coroner's inquest. Everyone who had to do with the building, the architect, brick and concrete contractors and everyone else will be witnesses at the inquest."
CITY OFFICIAL BLAMES CONTRACTOR
Mr. Hamilton says the fault lies with the contractor, the George H. Seidhoff Construction Company, which loaded between seventy-five and one hundred wagon loads of cinders on the roof and then pulled the wooden props from under the roof before the cement was dry.
Mr. Davis, owner of the building, agrees with Mr. Hamilton, the superintendent of buildings, and says he protested yesterday against the props being withdrawn.
P. Green, foreman under Siedhoff, the contractor, says he believes the props beneath the roof were taken out too soon.
J. M. Deacy, foreman of the electrical work in the building, agrees with Hamilton and Davis that the withdrawal of the props and the weight of the ashes caused the roof to sink, carrying down the other floors into general ruin.
CONTRACTOR BLAMES THE ARCHITECT
George H. Siedhoff, the concrete contractor, says the blame rests with the architect, Clifton B. Sloan.
"There were not enough ashes on that roof to have any effect," he said. "It is not true that the roof was 'green.' It had been set for fourteen days instead of nine days as was claimed by Mr. Davis. We have our records to prove that. Those props had been under that roof fourteen days, the concrete was set and hard. The plans were faulty. Of course I had to follow the plans. But the walls of the building were of brick only nine inches thick in the two top stories, and there was not a concrete pillar in the walls. The five floors of hollow tile bound together with re-enforced concrete, were set into the brick walls four inches and rested upon the brick, when they should have rested upon concrete pillars.
"The consequence was that when the wooden supports and forms underneath the roof were withdrawn the weight of the roof for twenty-one feet of its length, from the nearest concrete pillar to the wall, fell upon the thin brick wall and the wall buckled out and let the roof fall, and it carried down the other floors one after the other. There should have been concrete pillars and beams in the outside wall to support each floor and the roof."
THE OWNER'S REGRETS
Mr. Davis, owner of the building, wept this forenoon as he stood in the building and looked at the wreck.
"It will ruin me," he said, "but I do not care so much for that as for the poor men who were killed. Every cent I have on earth was in this building. I put sixty thousand dollars in cash into it. And it was the strongest building ever built in Kansas City. I have built twenty-three buildings, and I know the walls were of ample thickness, up to the standard required by the building code. Nothing but the best concrete and mortar went into it, and all was re-enforced. I watched every detail of the construction myself and I know. In all my building work heretofore I never had a man hurt."
"The roof was made of hollow tile eight inches thick and a foot square joined together by the best cement. Between each row of tile there ran a log of iron and over the whole roof was laid two inches of cement."
SUPPORTS TAKEN AWAY TOO SOON
"The roof was flat on top of it cinders were to be spread thirty inches thick at the front of the building and two inches thick at the rear to give it the proper slope to shed rain, and over the bed of cinders was to be laid one inch of cement.
"Siedhoff, the contractor, had hoisted two hundred loads of those cinders to the roof and piled them four feet deep along the rear end of the roof next to the alley. Those cinders weigh forty-five pounds to the cubic foot and four feet of them made a great weight. The roof was yet green and was held up by planking upheld by upright wooden supports. Those supports should have stayed there two weeks longer and you can imagine my surprise when I found Siedhoff's men pulling them out yesterday.
DEFENDS THE CONSTRUCTION
"I protested against it, but Green laughed at me. The result proved that I was right. As soon as the last support was pulled out down came the roof beneath its weight of cinders, and I could hear each floor crash down in turn as the load above fell upon it.
"Proof that the weight of ashes caused the collapse is seen in the wreck itself. Only that portion of the roof fell that had ashes upon it. All the rest of the roof is intact and solid, and I am sure any builder will agree with me that the part of the building yet standing is the solidest in this town."
J. M. Deacy, foreman of the electrical work, said today: "It was one of the best constructed buildings I ever saw, and I have worked in nearly all of them. There was not a faulty thing in it. The concrete was so solid that it took one of my men a whole day to drill a hole through the floor. And the brick walls were solid."
Deacy's life was probably saved by the circumstance that his wife was ill and he went home at 3:30 o'clock. Otherwise he would have been working in a room that went down in the wreck.
At the inquest tomorrow each interested person will be represented by an attorney. There will be suits for damages as a result of the collapse the heirs of those killed and of those injured will claim damages and those at fault will have to pay. It is important therefore, to know who was at fault.
The superintendent of buildings and his inspector will seek to show that they were not at fault, that the walls were of the thickness required by the building code and that the materials used and the work done were up to standard requirements. The owner and the contractor will contend that they are not liable.
Mr. Davis, the owner, had Siedhoff, the contractor, bound by a bond of $10,000 to do his work well. He will seek to show that the contractor was at fault and if he can do that the contractor, under his bond, must replace the collapsed part of the building according to contract.
LAWYERS FLOCK TO THE RUINS
The contractor will seek to show that his work was well done, so as to escape that liability.
Other interested parties are the casualty and liability companies, with which both the owner and contractor had insured against loss because of injuries to employees on the building. If the contractor was at fault the casualty company will have to pay for the deaths and injuries. If the contractor was blameless and the owner at fault the casualty company with which the contractor was insured will escape liability. If the architect was at fault he will be liable for the deaths and injuries.
There are bound to be several law suits result and there were several lawyers for different parties at the building today, taking written statements and making photographs of the walls and all details of the ruins.
The Kansas City testing laboratory took samples of the cement to test and see if it was up to specifications.
CONTRACTOR JUST MISSED DEATH
The whole of the building did not fall. Its full size was seventy-three feet frontage on the Paseo and extending back 120 feet on Tenth Street. The part that fell was the rear twenty-three feet. All the rest of the building is intact and solid.
The part that fell did not all fall at once. The southwest corner fell at 3:30 o'clock and at 4:45 o'clock the northwest corner fell.
Those killed and injured went down in the first collapse. Several had narrow escapes when the second crash came. Among them were George H. Siedhoff, the contractor, who ran when he heard the grinding noise and took refuge under a concrete beam in the front part of the building and George Oppenheimer and B. M. Richardson, insurance men, who leaped from a third story building.
THE MONEY LOSS $7,300
The Jones Store Company had contracted with Mr. Davis to furnish the hotel from top to bottom and it had placed orders with a mill in Philadelphia for four thousand yards of carpet, and with a firm in Pittsburgh, Pas., for brass beds. The furniture was being made in Grand Rapids, Mich., and the silverware was ordered from the Oneida Community. All these orders were canceled today.
Apartments in the hotel were to rent for $75 a month and nearly all of them were already engaged.
Mr. Davis said today that the damage done could be repaired for $7,300.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Wedding Wednesday - Macnie & Percival
On October 19, 1896 Lorena Percival to John Silliman Macnie in Devil's Lake, North Dakota. Lorena was the daughter of John Percival and Abbie Oakes.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Deep in the Heart of Texas
I've hoped for a while that Texas would release more death certificates and now they are through the LDS FamilySearch.org site. If you don't mind browsing through them. I've tried for two days to get the images to load and finally on the third day, was able to browse through Harris county, Texas death certificates for January of 1978 for Edwin Parker Bowman. Edwin was a nephew of my great grandfather, Frank Bowman. So now I have it. Next up: Faith Maitland Chandler, related through my Maitland line.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Monday, October 17, 2011
Whew -- That Was Exhausting!
The ability to write your blogs in advance and schedule them for posting is a wonderful thing. Really. Wonderful.
Last week, we took what we thought would be a quick trip back to our old home state because our younger daughter was going to have tendon-repair-to-her-left-ankle-surgery and no one was going to keep her Momma away. Well, after the first post-op day, we knew she would need us around an extra day or so, so we did just that - stay an extra day. So really this quick 5 day trip just turned into a week.
Oh and did I mention same daughter will be packing up and moving to Nashville this month? I will be so glad to have her an hour away rather than a day away. So, I haven't really been focusing on the history as much as the family.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Last week, we took what we thought would be a quick trip back to our old home state because our younger daughter was going to have tendon-repair-to-her-left-ankle-surgery and no one was going to keep her Momma away. Well, after the first post-op day, we knew she would need us around an extra day or so, so we did just that - stay an extra day. So really this quick 5 day trip just turned into a week.
Oh and did I mention same daughter will be packing up and moving to Nashville this month? I will be so glad to have her an hour away rather than a day away. So, I haven't really been focusing on the history as much as the family.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Sympathy Saturday - Elizabeth Barney Percival
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Friday, October 14, 2011
Watch Out for Misleading Information!
I don't know why I didn't think to do this before, but I decided to look and see if my DH's paternal grandfather was registered for the "Old Man's Draft" during World War II. Yes, he was and so was his older brother. Years ago, my F-in-law told me that he called his one uncle, Uncle Bill. Seeing his father's draft registration, that would bear that out. I find it curious that he puts his brother down as someone who will always know where he is. Not his wife. And he gives his brother's name as William Kruszka, and his brother's address as 1941 Outer Drive.
Except his oldest brother was not William. I'm not saying that William was not his brother, I am saying his name was not William. It was Valentine.Here is Uncle "Bill's" draft registration. The address is 1941 E. Outer Drive. Yes, he was born in Poland, and was the eldest child of Michael Kruszka and Josephine Glowska. The Zalot family lived next door and Bill's wife wanted the eldest Zalot daughter for her son, Chester. Instead, Bill's nephew caught her!
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Thriller Thursday - Tragic Death of Frederick Percival Allen
From the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, May 4, 1906:
FREDERICK ALLEN DIES IN MEXICO
Cashier of the German American Bank
With Party of Friends
While Traveling for Pleasure Mr. Allen Suffers Attack of Angina Pectoris and Dies - Born in Rochester in 1853 - His Family
Late yesterday afternoon a telegram from Torreno, a small town in Mexico, brought the shocking news of the sudden death of Frederic Percival Allen, cashier of the German-American Bank and one of the best known men in Rochester. About two weeks ago, Mr. Allen, in the company of a party of friends, including Mr. J. H. Stedman, Mr. Porter Ford and Mr. Charles Palmer, started for Mexico on a pleasure trip, the guests of Mr. Arthur Stillwell of Kansas City. They reached the City of Mexico in safety and were on the return trip when Mr. Allen was prostrated by an attack of angina pectoris and death followed almost immediately.
Mr. Allen was one of the most prominent as well as one of the most popular of Rochester's business men and the announcement of his death will bring unaffected sorrow in scores of friends and acquaintances who had known him since boyhood. He was born in this city in February, 1853, and received his education in the old Satterlee school on North street. His father was Samuel Percival Allen, for many years clerk of the State Senate and afterward collector of internal revenue for this district. It was in the revenue office as cashier that Frederic received his first business experience and at the end of his father's term he accepted a position in the Traders Bank. His sterilized character, energy, and marked ability won quick recognition from the older bankers of the town and when the late Frederic Cook and his associates purchased the Bank of Rochester and re-established the German-American Bank, Mr. Allen was made cashier. That position he had held for the last fifteen years, commanding the respect, confidence and affection of his townsmen to an extraordinary degree. Among his other positions of trust he was a director on the Rochester Trust and Safe Deposit Company and a trustee and elder of St. Peter's Church.
In 1875, Mr. Allen married Caroline Clarke, daughter of the late Hon. Freeman Clarke, and in the social as well as the business life of Rochester he had been an important. He is survived by his wife, two daughters - Mrs Buell Mills and Miss Mary Allen, and by one son, Freeman Clarke Allen.
Mr. Allen's untimely death will mean much to Rochester. He had been so prominently connected with all that makes for a city's growth and development that in many ways his loss will seem irreparable and must be counted a public misfortune. Personally, Mr. Allen was one of the most lovable of men and the friendships attracted by his genial personality were made enduring by qualities of mind and heart which withstood every test. A true man in all that the phrase implies he leaves an honored name and by those who knew him best his death will be the most sincerely mourned and his memory the most tenderly cherished.
While Traveling for Pleasure Mr. Allen Suffers Attack of Angina Pectoris and Dies - Born in Rochester in 1853 - His Family
Late yesterday afternoon a telegram from Torreno, a small town in Mexico, brought the shocking news of the sudden death of Frederic Percival Allen, cashier of the German-American Bank and one of the best known men in Rochester. About two weeks ago, Mr. Allen, in the company of a party of friends, including Mr. J. H. Stedman, Mr. Porter Ford and Mr. Charles Palmer, started for Mexico on a pleasure trip, the guests of Mr. Arthur Stillwell of Kansas City. They reached the City of Mexico in safety and were on the return trip when Mr. Allen was prostrated by an attack of angina pectoris and death followed almost immediately.
Mr. Allen was one of the most prominent as well as one of the most popular of Rochester's business men and the announcement of his death will bring unaffected sorrow in scores of friends and acquaintances who had known him since boyhood. He was born in this city in February, 1853, and received his education in the old Satterlee school on North street. His father was Samuel Percival Allen, for many years clerk of the State Senate and afterward collector of internal revenue for this district. It was in the revenue office as cashier that Frederic received his first business experience and at the end of his father's term he accepted a position in the Traders Bank. His sterilized character, energy, and marked ability won quick recognition from the older bankers of the town and when the late Frederic Cook and his associates purchased the Bank of Rochester and re-established the German-American Bank, Mr. Allen was made cashier. That position he had held for the last fifteen years, commanding the respect, confidence and affection of his townsmen to an extraordinary degree. Among his other positions of trust he was a director on the Rochester Trust and Safe Deposit Company and a trustee and elder of St. Peter's Church.
In 1875, Mr. Allen married Caroline Clarke, daughter of the late Hon. Freeman Clarke, and in the social as well as the business life of Rochester he had been an important. He is survived by his wife, two daughters - Mrs Buell Mills and Miss Mary Allen, and by one son, Freeman Clarke Allen.
Mr. Allen's untimely death will mean much to Rochester. He had been so prominently connected with all that makes for a city's growth and development that in many ways his loss will seem irreparable and must be counted a public misfortune. Personally, Mr. Allen was one of the most lovable of men and the friendships attracted by his genial personality were made enduring by qualities of mind and heart which withstood every test. A true man in all that the phrase implies he leaves an honored name and by those who knew him best his death will be the most sincerely mourned and his memory the most tenderly cherished.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
FREDERICK ALLEN DIES IN MEXICO
Cashier of the German American Bank
With Party of Friends
While Traveling for Pleasure Mr. Allen Suffers Attack of Angina Pectoris and Dies - Born in Rochester in 1853 - His Family
Late yesterday afternoon a telegram from Torreno, a small town in Mexico, brought the shocking news of the sudden death of Frederic Percival Allen, cashier of the German-American Bank and one of the best known men in Rochester. About two weeks ago, Mr. Allen, in the company of a party of friends, including Mr. J. H. Stedman, Mr. Porter Ford and Mr. Charles Palmer, started for Mexico on a pleasure trip, the guests of Mr. Arthur Stillwell of Kansas City. They reached the City of Mexico in safety and were on the return trip when Mr. Allen was prostrated by an attack of angina pectoris and death followed almost immediately.
Mr. Allen was one of the most prominent as well as one of the most popular of Rochester's business men and the announcement of his death will bring unaffected sorrow in scores of friends and acquaintances who had known him since boyhood. He was born in this city in February, 1853, and received his education in the old Satterlee school on North street. His father was Samuel Percival Allen, for many years clerk of the State Senate and afterward collector of internal revenue for this district. It was in the revenue office as cashier that Frederic received his first business experience and at the end of his father's term he accepted a position in the Traders Bank. His sterilized character, energy, and marked ability won quick recognition from the older bankers of the town and when the late Frederic Cook and his associates purchased the Bank of Rochester and re-established the German-American Bank, Mr. Allen was made cashier. That position he had held for the last fifteen years, commanding the respect, confidence and affection of his townsmen to an extraordinary degree. Among his other positions of trust he was a director on the Rochester Trust and Safe Deposit Company and a trustee and elder of St. Peter's Church.
In 1875, Mr. Allen married Caroline Clarke, daughter of the late Hon. Freeman Clarke, and in the social as well as the business life of Rochester he had been an important. He is survived by his wife, two daughters - Mrs Buell Mills and Miss Mary Allen, and by one son, Freeman Clarke Allen.
Mr. Allen's untimely death will mean much to Rochester. He had been so prominently connected with all that makes for a city's growth and development that in many ways his loss will seem irreparable and must be counted a public misfortune. Personally, Mr. Allen was one of the most lovable of men and the friendships attracted by his genial personality were made enduring by qualities of mind and heart which withstood every test. A true man in all that the phrase implies he leaves an honored name and by those who knew him best his death will be the most sincerely mourned and his memory the most tenderly cherished.
While Traveling for Pleasure Mr. Allen Suffers Attack of Angina Pectoris and Dies - Born in Rochester in 1853 - His Family
Late yesterday afternoon a telegram from Torreno, a small town in Mexico, brought the shocking news of the sudden death of Frederic Percival Allen, cashier of the German-American Bank and one of the best known men in Rochester. About two weeks ago, Mr. Allen, in the company of a party of friends, including Mr. J. H. Stedman, Mr. Porter Ford and Mr. Charles Palmer, started for Mexico on a pleasure trip, the guests of Mr. Arthur Stillwell of Kansas City. They reached the City of Mexico in safety and were on the return trip when Mr. Allen was prostrated by an attack of angina pectoris and death followed almost immediately.
Mr. Allen was one of the most prominent as well as one of the most popular of Rochester's business men and the announcement of his death will bring unaffected sorrow in scores of friends and acquaintances who had known him since boyhood. He was born in this city in February, 1853, and received his education in the old Satterlee school on North street. His father was Samuel Percival Allen, for many years clerk of the State Senate and afterward collector of internal revenue for this district. It was in the revenue office as cashier that Frederic received his first business experience and at the end of his father's term he accepted a position in the Traders Bank. His sterilized character, energy, and marked ability won quick recognition from the older bankers of the town and when the late Frederic Cook and his associates purchased the Bank of Rochester and re-established the German-American Bank, Mr. Allen was made cashier. That position he had held for the last fifteen years, commanding the respect, confidence and affection of his townsmen to an extraordinary degree. Among his other positions of trust he was a director on the Rochester Trust and Safe Deposit Company and a trustee and elder of St. Peter's Church.
In 1875, Mr. Allen married Caroline Clarke, daughter of the late Hon. Freeman Clarke, and in the social as well as the business life of Rochester he had been an important. He is survived by his wife, two daughters - Mrs Buell Mills and Miss Mary Allen, and by one son, Freeman Clarke Allen.
Mr. Allen's untimely death will mean much to Rochester. He had been so prominently connected with all that makes for a city's growth and development that in many ways his loss will seem irreparable and must be counted a public misfortune. Personally, Mr. Allen was one of the most lovable of men and the friendships attracted by his genial personality were made enduring by qualities of mind and heart which withstood every test. A true man in all that the phrase implies he leaves an honored name and by those who knew him best his death will be the most sincerely mourned and his memory the most tenderly cherished.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Wedding Wednesday - Kirtley & Smith
On October 12, 1881 Richard E. Kirtley and Fannie Smith were married in Callaway county, Missouri. He was the son of Columbus Kirtley and Virginia Ayletta Buckner. She was the daughter of George Smith and Amanda Carter.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Travelin' Tuesday
I'm not actually travelin' but DH and I drove back up North to be with Younger Daughter while she has surgery on the tendons in her left ankle. Yes, YD is just like her mom, a supreme Klutz with a capital K. Although I'm not sure if her ankle problem is due to her klutziness or just her bad luck at taking a line drive to the ankle during the last game of her baseball season. I don't think bad luck can be inherited.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Monday, October 10, 2011
One More Thing Added to the Pile!
Yeah, I am a Procrastinator. And that is with a capital P. I've been putting off a lot of stuff this year and one of the things I've been procrastinating about is the box of albums that belonged to my father-in-law. The albums themselves are cute - especially the ones he brought back from the Pacific during WWII. It's the contents. I'm hoping we can toss the pictures of dead Japanese soldiers. It has always offended me that he kept those. It borders on gloating.
So being the Procrastinator that I am I buried them under one of the tables in the storeroom. Those I will deal with last!
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
So being the Procrastinator that I am I buried them under one of the tables in the storeroom. Those I will deal with last!
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Sympathy Saturday - Margaret Martin Maitland
Margaret Martin Maitland, first wife of Dr. Alexander Maitland, my great-great-great-great grandfather, died on October 8, 1802 in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland as the result of childbirth. Born that day to Dr. and Mrs. Maitland, was Margaret Maitland. Alexander and Margaret Martin(e) Maitland were married February 11, 1797.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Friday, October 7, 2011
Freaked Out Friday!
I can't believe it's Friday already - well almost since I am writing this on Thursday evening. At any rate, here I am scrambling again for a topic not only for today, but for the next few days since we are taking a quick trip up to Michigan next week!
I've been working on lots of projects lately - scrapbook pages, thank you cards and my family history. I seem to be concentrating heavily on Virginia, which is a challenge. Ancestry is making me nuts. First they do something nice, and then they think they do something nice. For instance, to celebrate their 15th anniversary they are giving free access to select databases over a 15 day period. I have yet to find a database that will benefit me. And when I do try to search, I get error messages that tell me they can't display all the results. As a result, I have been trying to stay off Ancestry until their anniversary is over.
Family Search has been making me nuts too. There are Minnesota county birth records for Mankato in Blue Earth county I want to access and yet they cannot be accessed. I've been waiting a couple weeks now and I know I can be waiting for ages. After all I waited over a year for a death certificate and only got it because friend and cousin Carol over at Reflections from the Fence picked it up for me during her trip to Salt Lake City. Now there is a message on the Family Search site that that image is not available. It's very frustrating. Sometimes I think I'll have to wait another year to find out that I won't be able to access Mankato, Blue Earth county, Minnesota birth records.
I guess I have to find something else to do.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
I've been working on lots of projects lately - scrapbook pages, thank you cards and my family history. I seem to be concentrating heavily on Virginia, which is a challenge. Ancestry is making me nuts. First they do something nice, and then they think they do something nice. For instance, to celebrate their 15th anniversary they are giving free access to select databases over a 15 day period. I have yet to find a database that will benefit me. And when I do try to search, I get error messages that tell me they can't display all the results. As a result, I have been trying to stay off Ancestry until their anniversary is over.
Family Search has been making me nuts too. There are Minnesota county birth records for Mankato in Blue Earth county I want to access and yet they cannot be accessed. I've been waiting a couple weeks now and I know I can be waiting for ages. After all I waited over a year for a death certificate and only got it because friend and cousin Carol over at Reflections from the Fence picked it up for me during her trip to Salt Lake City. Now there is a message on the Family Search site that that image is not available. It's very frustrating. Sometimes I think I'll have to wait another year to find out that I won't be able to access Mankato, Blue Earth county, Minnesota birth records.
I guess I have to find something else to do.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Thriller Thursday - Died in a Train Wreck
Deaths and Funerals
Robert Lee Metcalfe
The body of Robert Lee Metcalfe who was born in Lexington in 1864 and was killed in a train wreck Tuesday in Louisiana arrived here yesterday morning. A Louisville family expressed the belief that Metcalfe was a missing kinsman, but Mrs. Ella Dixon, 707 West Third street, and Mrs. Owsley Stanhope of Covington, viewed the body at the John Milward Funeral Home and identified it as that of their brother. Funeral services will be held at the grave in the family lot in Lexington cemetery at 3 o'clock, the Rev. Hayes Farish officiating. The pallbearers will be Owsley Stanhope, W. P. Hegarty, Columbia Sayre, Robert Hughes, John Shephard and Jeff Page.
[Robert Lee Metcalf not Metcalfe was the brother of Virginia "Virgie" Metcalf Stanhope.]
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Robert Lee Metcalfe
The body of Robert Lee Metcalfe who was born in Lexington in 1864 and was killed in a train wreck Tuesday in Louisiana arrived here yesterday morning. A Louisville family expressed the belief that Metcalfe was a missing kinsman, but Mrs. Ella Dixon, 707 West Third street, and Mrs. Owsley Stanhope of Covington, viewed the body at the John Milward Funeral Home and identified it as that of their brother. Funeral services will be held at the grave in the family lot in Lexington cemetery at 3 o'clock, the Rev. Hayes Farish officiating. The pallbearers will be Owsley Stanhope, W. P. Hegarty, Columbia Sayre, Robert Hughes, John Shephard and Jeff Page.
[Robert Lee Metcalf not Metcalfe was the brother of Virginia "Virgie" Metcalf Stanhope.]
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Wedding Wednesday - Percival & Thayer
On October 5, 1846 Calista Percival, daughter of Ansel Percival & Sylvia Sellon married William Allen Thayer.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
OCFRD* Revisited
Every so often I get caught up in the search. While browsing on the FamilySearch site, Virginia, Winchester, Evening Star Obituaries, 1899-1909, I thought I'd search McCarty, which is one of the families who married into my Zimmeth family. Nothing there, I migrated over to Find-A-Grave to look for more recent members of the family. I found my mother's cousin, Myrtle Whiteside McCarty and her husband Ovid. I have always found this line fascinating because it makes my parents kissing cousins. You see, my dad's line - the Chinns - connect to the Downmans and Balls. My sixth great grandparents, Margaret Ball Downman and Rawleigh Chinn were never married. The lines intersect down the line with the McCartys making my parents connected by a marriage other than their own. I am attempting now to catch up with that line.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Monday, October 3, 2011
Back in the Saddle --er-- Researcher's Chair
I have once again donned my research cap and I can't tell you how good it feels. I have been so distracted by other things lately, that my researching skills were honestly getting rusty.
DH and I took a trip up to New York State and then down into Virginia, that was, despite outside circumstances, pretty relaxing. We also put about 2000 miles on the Odyssey during this trip.
The research side of the trip included trips to Belle Grove Plantation - home of Major Isaac Hite who was my first cousin six times removed and the Stewart Bell, Jr. Archives Room at the Handley Library in Winchester. It was so exciting to do some research on a part of my family that was in Virginia as early as 1732.
Not only have I researched, I've done some data input in to my genealogy program. When I look back at my notes, I find I hadn't done any input since August 31st! If you saw my desk - every square inch covered AGAIN - you would agree that I need to put some time in doing that data input!
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
DH and I took a trip up to New York State and then down into Virginia, that was, despite outside circumstances, pretty relaxing. We also put about 2000 miles on the Odyssey during this trip.
The research side of the trip included trips to Belle Grove Plantation - home of Major Isaac Hite who was my first cousin six times removed and the Stewart Bell, Jr. Archives Room at the Handley Library in Winchester. It was so exciting to do some research on a part of my family that was in Virginia as early as 1732.
Not only have I researched, I've done some data input in to my genealogy program. When I look back at my notes, I find I hadn't done any input since August 31st! If you saw my desk - every square inch covered AGAIN - you would agree that I need to put some time in doing that data input!
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Sympathy Saturday - Bernard Peter Kruszka
Bernard Kruszka
Bernard “Ben” Kruszka, age 92, died Monday, September 26, 2011 at NHC in Cookeville, TN.No services are planned.
Bernard Peter “Ben” Kruszka was born in Buffalo, NY on April 4, 1919 to the late Leon and Mary (Klijewska) Kruszka.
His family moved to Detroit in the 1920s. He was a longtime resident of Redford Township, MI. He was a veteran of World War II and served in the Army Air Corps in the Pacific. Ben was an upholsterer for over 40 years. He moved to Cookeville with his son and daughter-in-law in 2007.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Jennie Zalot Kruszka in 2004, his brother, Art Kruszka in 1971 and sister, Leona Kruszka Stack in 1973.
He is survived by his loving son, Bernard A. Kruszka and wife Anne of Cookeville, two granddaughters, Sara and Andrea, and several nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.
The family would like to thank the staffs of Morningside Assisted Living and National Health Care, Cookeville for the loving care given Ben during his residency.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Friends of Cookeville/Putnam County Animals, PO Box 2615, Cookeville, TN 38502.
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
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