As I posted here, James Tanner's post over at Genealogy's Star about
the Family Search sites led me to investigating the Record Search
function there with great results. The most important of these dealt with
my Mom's paternal ancestors. Her parents divorced when Mom was
seven or eight years old and there was no contact with her father
afterward and while Mom knew somethings about her White or
Offinger cousins, she seldom mentioned them to any of us. I had
found some information online about her grandfather Edward J
White's family but very little about her grandmother, Pauline "Lena"
Offinger. Awhile back I found a record of a Charles Offinger living in
Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma in the mid-nineteenth century and thought
he might be Pauline's father but had no proof to confirm that idea. So
I entered Pauline's name in Record Search and one brick wall came
tumbling down. I spent a good portion of the day going back and forth
between Record Search and Ancestry.com and ended up with quite
a bit of new information.
First I found the record of Pauline's marriage to Edward J . White on
27Nov 1895 in the Massachusetts Marriages 1695-1910 collection.
From this I learned that Pauline was born in Cambridge, that her father
was indeed a Charles Offinger and her mother was "Johanna C.". I also
learned that Edward's father was Patrick G. White and his mother was
"Mary". A search for Patrick and Mary led to numerous possibilities but
no concrete evidence. However, a search for Charles was very productive!
From the Massachusetts Marriages 1695-1910 I learned Charles was
Charles J. Offinger, born in Wurtemburg, Germany in 1848 to Jacob
Offinger and his wife Christiana. Johanna was Johanna C. Luick,
daughter of Christian Luick and his wife Christina. She also was born in
Wurtemburg but four years earlier than Charles. I found records of the
births of their children in the Massachusetts Births and Christenings
1639-1915 collection, and records of their deaths and two of their sons,
Frederick and William, in the Massachusetts Deaths and Burials
1695-1910. Three children married : Albert, Julia, and great grandmother
Pauline.
Next I went over to Ancestry.com.On the New York Passenger Lists
1820-1957 I found the image of the passenger list for the ship
Deutschland showing that Charles and Johanna arrived in New York
City from Bremen on 13Jun 1870. I found the census records for 1870,
1880 and 1900 for them and also the census records for their children
Julia and Albert. Then I found entries for them in the City Directories.
So, what does this all tell me? Quite a bit, and it also adds a few questions
to the mix.
First, here's the family of Charles and Johanna:
Charles (Carl) J.Offinger( b1848 Wurtemburg, Germany, d17Jul 1881
Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma.), m. Johanna C Luick (b.1844 Wurtemburg,
Germany, d 14Aug 1908, Boston, Suffolk, Ma.)11Sep 1870 Cambridge,
Middlesex, Ma.
Children:
Emelia (?) b. 1868 Wurtemburg Germany
Charles(?)
Albert C. Offinger, (b 1871 Cambridge Middlesex Ma, d.?), m. Hattie
Heckman 6Jun1905, Boston, Suffolk, Ma.
Frederic H. Offinger (b. 14Apr 1872 Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma, d.26Jul
1895, Boston, Suffolk, Ma)
Pauline Marie Offinger (b 17Dec 1873 Cambridge,Middlesex, Ma, d.?)
m. Edward J.White 27Nov 1895 Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma
William Offinger (b10Feb 1876 Cambridgeport, Middlesex, Ma d24Aug
1898 Boston, Suffolk, Ma)
Julia Offinger (b.29Oct 1877 Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma d?) m. John
McCarthy 25Feb 1906 Boston,Suffolk,Ma .
I bet you can tell from that list what my new mysteries are!
To be continued next post.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
MORE ANSWERS ABOUT THE WEST BROTHERS
Whenever I post something here about my Dad's side of the family in
Maine, I make it a practice to post a copy of it to my blog over at
Chris Dunham's Maine Genealogy Network on the off chance that the
information I write about might prove useful to others or might find
another unknown cousin. I did that with my post ANSWERS AND
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE WEST BROTHERS and Chris made
a few comments on it that answered some of the questions and
provided a link to a very interesting map!
The first comment:
The 1858 Oxford County map shows J. C. West living on the Bear River
Road (what is now Route 26), just north of Grafton town line. It appears
to have been the same place occupied by "J. E. Brooks" on this 1880
map. Heywood's History of Upton says that Joseph E. Brooks
"built a set of buildings" here about 1870, but doesn't mention that the
Wests had earlier lived here.
The 1880 map shows J. P. West living on what is now Back Street in
Upton. This is confirmed by Heywood, who says that Jonathan P.
West bought a farm of Stevens Morse south of the Back Street school
house "about 1862, living there until his death in 1917, at the age of 86.
I followed the link and found a map of Upton and vicinity on which were
located the exact locations of Jonathan Phelps West's farm, and Hiram
West's Saw and Grist Mill. If you click on the large pink square marked
Upton and enlarge it you can see them too!
The second comment answered my question about Asa West gave up
on hops as a crop on his farm:
"I may have an answer why Asa stopped growing hops by 1880. An
article in the Lewiston Evening Journal of 8 July 1880 said that
"hop-raising has been rather a poor business in New England for
the last few years. The low prices ruling for the last few years
previous to the fall of 1879, has given such a meagre return for
the labor and land invested in the cultivation of hops that last
year many plowed up the vines and abandoned the culture."
I followed the link Chris provided again and found the site which displays
three pages from the newspaper. The article Chris quoted is on the first
page on the left in the upper left hand side. You need to enlarge the
image to see it. There's a lot of information there about other crop
values and I plan to compare it to the 1880 agricultural schedules that
I have for the West brothers and other relatives. So my speculation
that there just wasn't a profitable market for hops in New England was
right!
Thanks Chris for those answers and for being kind enough to let me
quote your comments here!
And for those of you with Maine roots, check out the Maine Genealogy
Network!
Maine, I make it a practice to post a copy of it to my blog over at
Chris Dunham's Maine Genealogy Network on the off chance that the
information I write about might prove useful to others or might find
another unknown cousin. I did that with my post ANSWERS AND
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE WEST BROTHERS and Chris made
a few comments on it that answered some of the questions and
provided a link to a very interesting map!
The first comment:
The 1858 Oxford County map shows J. C. West living on the Bear River
Road (what is now Route 26), just north of Grafton town line. It appears
to have been the same place occupied by "J. E. Brooks" on this 1880
map. Heywood's History of Upton says that Joseph E. Brooks
"built a set of buildings" here about 1870, but doesn't mention that the
Wests had earlier lived here.
The 1880 map shows J. P. West living on what is now Back Street in
Upton. This is confirmed by Heywood, who says that Jonathan P.
West bought a farm of Stevens Morse south of the Back Street school
house "about 1862, living there until his death in 1917, at the age of 86.
I followed the link and found a map of Upton and vicinity on which were
located the exact locations of Jonathan Phelps West's farm, and Hiram
West's Saw and Grist Mill. If you click on the large pink square marked
Upton and enlarge it you can see them too!
The second comment answered my question about Asa West gave up
on hops as a crop on his farm:
"I may have an answer why Asa stopped growing hops by 1880. An
article in the Lewiston Evening Journal of 8 July 1880 said that
"hop-raising has been rather a poor business in New England for
the last few years. The low prices ruling for the last few years
previous to the fall of 1879, has given such a meagre return for
the labor and land invested in the cultivation of hops that last
year many plowed up the vines and abandoned the culture."
I followed the link Chris provided again and found the site which displays
three pages from the newspaper. The article Chris quoted is on the first
page on the left in the upper left hand side. You need to enlarge the
image to see it. There's a lot of information there about other crop
values and I plan to compare it to the 1880 agricultural schedules that
I have for the West brothers and other relatives. So my speculation
that there just wasn't a profitable market for hops in New England was
right!
Thanks Chris for those answers and for being kind enough to let me
quote your comments here!
And for those of you with Maine roots, check out the Maine Genealogy
Network!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
THE MARRIAGE OF PHILIP JOHN WEST AND CLARA FORD (ELLINGWOOD) TIDWELL
Last week I had success finding information on my mother's family at
FamilySearch Record Search and since then I've gone back and tried
looking up other family members. This morning I entered my great
grandfather Philip John West's name in the search box and Maine as a
location. I was hoping to find a record of his marriage to my great
grandmother Clara (Ellingwood) Tidwell. but apparently my streak of
genealogy luck was at an end. Then on a hunch I tried New Hampshire
as a location, since both the West and Ellingwood families moved back
and forth from one state to the other.
And my streak of luck continued!
The first three entries on the screen were from the New Hampshire
Marriages 1720-1920 collection and all were transcriptions of my
great grandparents' marriage.
The first:
Groom's Name: Philip J. West
Groom's Birth Date:
Groom's Birthplace: Upton, Me
Groom's Age:
Bride's Name: Clara J. Tigwell
Bride's Birth Date: 1865
Bride's Birthplace: Dummer, Nh
Bride's Age: 29
Marriage Date: 25 May 1894
Marriage Place: Marriage Index, , Misc, New Hampshire
Groom's Father's Name: Jonathan West
Groom's Mother's Name: Louisa Richardson
Bride's Father's Name: Truman Ellingwood
Bride's Mother's Name: Florilla Dunham
Groom's Race:
Groom's Marital Status:
Groom's Previous Wife's Name:
Bride's Race:
Bride's Marital Status:
Bride's Previous Husband's Name:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M73156-1
System Origin: New Hampshire-VR
Source Film Number: 1001321
Reference Number: 2:1V4P54S
Collection: New Hampshire Marriages, 1720-1920
The second:
Groom's Name: Philip J. West
Groom's Birth Date: 1867
Groom's Birthplace:
Groom's Age: 27
Bride's Name: Cora J. Tywell
Bride's Birth Date: 1865
Bride's Birthplace:
Bride's Age: 29
Marriage Date: 25 May 1894
Marriage Place: Shelburne, Coos, New Hampshire
Groom's Father's Name: Jonathan West
Groom's Mother's Name: Louisa Richardson
Bride's Father's Name: Trueman Ellingwood
Bride's Mother's Name: Florilla Dunahm
Groom's Race:
Groom's Marital Status:
Groom's Previous Wife's Name:
Bride's Race:
Bride's Marital Status:
Bride's Previous Husband's Name:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: I05109-6
System Origin: New Hampshire-EASy
Source Film Number: 988467
Reference Number:
Collection: New Hampshire Marriages, 1720-1920
And the third:
Groom's Name: Philip J. West
Groom's Birth Date:
Groom's Birthplace:
Groom's Age:
Bride's Name: Clara J. Tigwell
Bride's Birth Date:
Bride's Birthplace:
Bride's Age:
Marriage Date: 25 May 1894
Marriage Place: New Hampshire
Groom's Father's Name:
Groom's Mother's Name:
Bride's Father's Name:
Bride's Mother's Name:
Groom's Race:
Groom's Marital Status:
Groom's Previous Wife's Name:
Bride's Race:
Bride's Marital Status:
Bride's Previous Husband's Name:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M73156-1
System Origin: New_Hampshire-ODM
Source Film Number: 1001321
Reference Number:
Collection: New Hampshire Marriages, 1720-1920
Up until now I hadn't found the date and place of PJ and Clara's
marriage anywhere online so I'd put it aside to possibly be looked into
on a trip up north or perhaps an inquiry to the New Hampshire Vital
records site. Now the information from these transcriptions to order
a copy of the actual marriage record!
One of the things I noticed about all three transcriptions are the mistakes
on the names. Clara's father Asa Freeman Ellingwood sometimes
went by the name Freeman Ellingwood but in the first two transcriptions
he's listed as Truman and Trueman. And poor Clara! All three have her
name from her first marriage wrong, Instead of Tidwell, it's Tigwell,
Tygwell and in the second she's Cora Tywell! How do I notify Family
Search Record Search about those mistakes?
So I'm still on a lucky roll, genealogically speaking!
FamilySearch Record Search and since then I've gone back and tried
looking up other family members. This morning I entered my great
grandfather Philip John West's name in the search box and Maine as a
location. I was hoping to find a record of his marriage to my great
grandmother Clara (Ellingwood) Tidwell. but apparently my streak of
genealogy luck was at an end. Then on a hunch I tried New Hampshire
as a location, since both the West and Ellingwood families moved back
and forth from one state to the other.
And my streak of luck continued!
The first three entries on the screen were from the New Hampshire
Marriages 1720-1920 collection and all were transcriptions of my
great grandparents' marriage.
The first:
Groom's Name: Philip J. West
Groom's Birth Date:
Groom's Birthplace: Upton, Me
Groom's Age:
Bride's Name: Clara J. Tigwell
Bride's Birth Date: 1865
Bride's Birthplace: Dummer, Nh
Bride's Age: 29
Marriage Date: 25 May 1894
Marriage Place: Marriage Index, , Misc, New Hampshire
Groom's Father's Name: Jonathan West
Groom's Mother's Name: Louisa Richardson
Bride's Father's Name: Truman Ellingwood
Bride's Mother's Name: Florilla Dunham
Groom's Race:
Groom's Marital Status:
Groom's Previous Wife's Name:
Bride's Race:
Bride's Marital Status:
Bride's Previous Husband's Name:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M73156-1
System Origin: New Hampshire-VR
Source Film Number: 1001321
Reference Number: 2:1V4P54S
Collection: New Hampshire Marriages, 1720-1920
The second:
Groom's Name: Philip J. West
Groom's Birth Date: 1867
Groom's Birthplace:
Groom's Age: 27
Bride's Name: Cora J. Tywell
Bride's Birth Date: 1865
Bride's Birthplace:
Bride's Age: 29
Marriage Date: 25 May 1894
Marriage Place: Shelburne, Coos, New Hampshire
Groom's Father's Name: Jonathan West
Groom's Mother's Name: Louisa Richardson
Bride's Father's Name: Trueman Ellingwood
Bride's Mother's Name: Florilla Dunahm
Groom's Race:
Groom's Marital Status:
Groom's Previous Wife's Name:
Bride's Race:
Bride's Marital Status:
Bride's Previous Husband's Name:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: I05109-6
System Origin: New Hampshire-EASy
Source Film Number: 988467
Reference Number:
Collection: New Hampshire Marriages, 1720-1920
And the third:
Groom's Name: Philip J. West
Groom's Birth Date:
Groom's Birthplace:
Groom's Age:
Bride's Name: Clara J. Tigwell
Bride's Birth Date:
Bride's Birthplace:
Bride's Age:
Marriage Date: 25 May 1894
Marriage Place: New Hampshire
Groom's Father's Name:
Groom's Mother's Name:
Bride's Father's Name:
Bride's Mother's Name:
Groom's Race:
Groom's Marital Status:
Groom's Previous Wife's Name:
Bride's Race:
Bride's Marital Status:
Bride's Previous Husband's Name:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M73156-1
System Origin: New_Hampshire-ODM
Source Film Number: 1001321
Reference Number:
Collection: New Hampshire Marriages, 1720-1920
Up until now I hadn't found the date and place of PJ and Clara's
marriage anywhere online so I'd put it aside to possibly be looked into
on a trip up north or perhaps an inquiry to the New Hampshire Vital
records site. Now the information from these transcriptions to order
a copy of the actual marriage record!
One of the things I noticed about all three transcriptions are the mistakes
on the names. Clara's father Asa Freeman Ellingwood sometimes
went by the name Freeman Ellingwood but in the first two transcriptions
he's listed as Truman and Trueman. And poor Clara! All three have her
name from her first marriage wrong, Instead of Tidwell, it's Tigwell,
Tygwell and in the second she's Cora Tywell! How do I notify Family
Search Record Search about those mistakes?
So I'm still on a lucky roll, genealogically speaking!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
ANSWERS AND QUESTIONS ABOUT THE WEST BROTHERS
Prior to following up on the link Randy Seavers gave to the Ancestry.com
collection of the Federal Nonpopulation Census Schedules 1850-1880,
I hadn't really given much thought to how my West ancestors made their
daily living. I knew the regular census images said they were farmers
which seems to have ended with my great grandfather P.J. West. My
grandfather Floyd Earl West Sr was a lumberman and his brother
Clarence worked as the caretaker of the Azischohos Dam for over
fifty years. And frankly, I never noticed many farms up there when I
visited as a kid other than one near my Aunt Flossie's place in Milan,
NH. It wasn't until a few years ago when I found the Federal Census
images on Ancestry.com that I learned that my West ancestors had
been farmers. I thought they were all lumbermen.
These schedules have been invaluable. Now I know what crops JP
and his brothers grew,that they periodically changed what they grew,
that they supplemented the income from the farms by cutting wood on
their farms. I think that Jonathan and Asa sold their logs to Hiram or
used his mill to turn them into lumber to be sold. But while I now know
what they did, I wonder about the why and how. That entry for a crop
of hops on Asa's farm in 1870 for example. How long had he been
growing hops and why did he start? Why did he stop by 1880? Was
it a case of it not being a good cash crop, or due to weather conditions,
or was it just a one year experiment that failed? What prompted
Hiram's decision to sell his farm and run a saw-mill and grist-mill
instead?(more on that later)
Where in Upton was the farm that John Cutter West and then JP West
owned? When was it sold and why? Was it because JP's sons Paul,
John and PJ had no intererst in farming or did financial reasons force
him to sell?
So you can see that while the Nonpopulation Schedules provided me
with information I hadn't known about my family, they've also given me
more questions for which to find answers.
To me, that's the fun of genealogy!
(As to that sale of Hiram's farm:it turns out he sold it to my 2x great
grandfather Asa F. Ellingwood in 1877 who then sold it agaIn sometime
between 1880 and 1885. I found that in Florence O'Connor's book,
The Ancestors and Descendants of Asa Freeman Ellingwood and
Florilla (Dunham)Ellingwood. I should have known to check there first
for answers about my Ellingwood line! )
collection of the Federal Nonpopulation Census Schedules 1850-1880,
I hadn't really given much thought to how my West ancestors made their
daily living. I knew the regular census images said they were farmers
which seems to have ended with my great grandfather P.J. West. My
grandfather Floyd Earl West Sr was a lumberman and his brother
Clarence worked as the caretaker of the Azischohos Dam for over
fifty years. And frankly, I never noticed many farms up there when I
visited as a kid other than one near my Aunt Flossie's place in Milan,
NH. It wasn't until a few years ago when I found the Federal Census
images on Ancestry.com that I learned that my West ancestors had
been farmers. I thought they were all lumbermen.
These schedules have been invaluable. Now I know what crops JP
and his brothers grew,that they periodically changed what they grew,
that they supplemented the income from the farms by cutting wood on
their farms. I think that Jonathan and Asa sold their logs to Hiram or
used his mill to turn them into lumber to be sold. But while I now know
what they did, I wonder about the why and how. That entry for a crop
of hops on Asa's farm in 1870 for example. How long had he been
growing hops and why did he start? Why did he stop by 1880? Was
it a case of it not being a good cash crop, or due to weather conditions,
or was it just a one year experiment that failed? What prompted
Hiram's decision to sell his farm and run a saw-mill and grist-mill
instead?(more on that later)
Where in Upton was the farm that John Cutter West and then JP West
owned? When was it sold and why? Was it because JP's sons Paul,
John and PJ had no intererst in farming or did financial reasons force
him to sell?
So you can see that while the Nonpopulation Schedules provided me
with information I hadn't known about my family, they've also given me
more questions for which to find answers.
To me, that's the fun of genealogy!
(As to that sale of Hiram's farm:it turns out he sold it to my 2x great
grandfather Asa F. Ellingwood in 1877 who then sold it agaIn sometime
between 1880 and 1885. I found that in Florence O'Connor's book,
The Ancestors and Descendants of Asa Freeman Ellingwood and
Florilla (Dunham)Ellingwood. I should have known to check there first
for answers about my Ellingwood line! )
Thursday, June 10, 2010
A NEW LOOK
Generally speaking, I try not to change my blog template too often. It
means going back to make sure older posts fit the new look. But I saw
this one and couldn't resist. I do, after all, work in a bookstore.
Besides, this one feels comfortable. It goes with my apartment.
means going back to make sure older posts fit the new look. But I saw
this one and couldn't resist. I do, after all, work in a bookstore.
Besides, this one feels comfortable. It goes with my apartment.
WORD VERIFICATION DICTIONARY 9
Once again, definitions for the strange words that we type for
word verification for comments on Blogspot.com blogs. This is a special
"I'm Jealous of All Geneabloggers Who Made it to Jamboree!" edition,
brought to you by the Acme Genealogy Answers Company:
denfu- A secret martial art used by dentists on their patients.
scrump-a very grouchy Southern Californian
hicalize-to hiccup. "Sid was embarrassed by how loudly he hicalized in the library"
cludd-the dirt and dust you discover when you finish clearing the clutter
off your desk, which of course leads to the scream "Holy Cludd!" Named
for the God of Clutter.
punfu-The secret verbal art I just used. Known only to myself and distant
cousin Chris Dunham.
word verification for comments on Blogspot.com blogs. This is a special
"I'm Jealous of All Geneabloggers Who Made it to Jamboree!" edition,
brought to you by the Acme Genealogy Answers Company:
denfu- A secret martial art used by dentists on their patients.
scrump-a very grouchy Southern Californian
hicalize-to hiccup. "Sid was embarrassed by how loudly he hicalized in the library"
cludd-the dirt and dust you discover when you finish clearing the clutter
off your desk, which of course leads to the scream "Holy Cludd!" Named
for the God of Clutter.
punfu-The secret verbal art I just used. Known only to myself and distant
cousin Chris Dunham.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
I'VE GOTTEN A WHOLE BUNCH OF INFORMATION. NOW WHAT DO I DO?
Earlier this evening I was sitting here pondering all the material I've found of late which include the following images and records:
The Federal NonPopulation Agricultural and Business Schedules from Ancestry.com on my 2x great-grandfather Jonathan Phelps West and his brothers Hiram and Asa West, my 3x great grandfather Nathaniel Baker, my 2x great grandfathers Nathaniel S. Barker and Hastings Barker, and 3x great grandfather Westley (Wesley) Coburn.
The Last Payment Pension Voucher Records Footnotes.com for my
Revolutionary War Veteran ancestors John Ames, Asa Barrows, Amos
Upton, Jonathan Barker, and Jonathan's brothers Benjamin and Jesse Barker.
The full text of a book about my Coburn ancestors,Genealogy of the
Descendants of Edward Colburn/Coburn.
The records from Family Search Record Search and Ancestry.com on
my maternal White and Offinger family lines.
Now I have all this information. What are my next moves?
The first thing I've done is make back up copies of everything. Next:
I need to copy the transcription images from Family Search to make sure
I have the information I need to find or order the images of the originals
at the FHC.
I need to finish entering the information on the Whites and Offingers into
myPAF and RM4 files.
I need to print out copies of the images and the new family groups to add
to the appropriate 3-ringed binders.
I need to remember to properly cite the sources for this material now
rather than attempting to do so in a few months.
I need to analyze what these records tell me about these ancestors' lives.
I need...
I need....
I need a clone!
The Federal NonPopulation Agricultural and Business Schedules from Ancestry.com on my 2x great-grandfather Jonathan Phelps West and his brothers Hiram and Asa West, my 3x great grandfather Nathaniel Baker, my 2x great grandfathers Nathaniel S. Barker and Hastings Barker, and 3x great grandfather Westley (Wesley) Coburn.
The Last Payment Pension Voucher Records Footnotes.com for my
Revolutionary War Veteran ancestors John Ames, Asa Barrows, Amos
Upton, Jonathan Barker, and Jonathan's brothers Benjamin and Jesse Barker.
The full text of a book about my Coburn ancestors,Genealogy of the
Descendants of Edward Colburn/Coburn.
The records from Family Search Record Search and Ancestry.com on
my maternal White and Offinger family lines.
Now I have all this information. What are my next moves?
The first thing I've done is make back up copies of everything. Next:
I need to copy the transcription images from Family Search to make sure
I have the information I need to find or order the images of the originals
at the FHC.
I need to finish entering the information on the Whites and Offingers into
myPAF and RM4 files.
I need to print out copies of the images and the new family groups to add
to the appropriate 3-ringed binders.
I need to remember to properly cite the sources for this material now
rather than attempting to do so in a few months.
I need to analyze what these records tell me about these ancestors' lives.
I need...
I need....
I need a clone!
Sunday, June 06, 2010
PERSISTENCE,,,AND LUCK... PAYS OFF.
It's Sunday and I was catching up on blogposts from the genealogy blogs I follow. One of them is James Tanner's Genealogy's Star. Today's post was "What is going on with Family Search?". Reading it brought the realization that it had been awhile since I'd used the Family Search Record Search, so followed the link from James' article. I took a few m inutes to decide which one of my ancestors I'd run a search on, and decided on my maternal grandfather, Edward F. White Sr. to see if I could find a record of his second marriage. Then I decided on searching for his parents, Edward J.White and Pauliine(Paulene, Lena) Offlinger/Offlincher/Offenger. I knew nothing of their families beyond some theories that Pauline's father was named Charles. So I put in the information that I had, hit search and .....BINGO!!
There from the Massachusetts Marriages 1695-1910 Collection was a transcription of their marriage record. They were married on 27Nov 1895 in Boston. And there on the screen were the names of their parents: Patrick G. White and his wife Mary, and Charles J. Offinger and his wife Johanna C. I'd found the names of my maternal great great grandparents! I also found records of the births of three of their daughters and added that data to my PAF file as well. I decided to push my luck a little and now search the names of the 2x great grandparents,so next I tried Charles Offinger and wife Johanna. My luck held true; I found a transcription and image of Johanna's death certificate. From this I learned that she'd died of cancer on 14Aug 1908 in Boston. She was a widow and died at home at 32 Folsom St She'd been born in Germany in 1844 and,most importantly, her maiden name was Luick!
Another result on the search screen was a record of Charles' and Johanna's marriage on 11Sep 1870 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma. and gave his occupation as cabinetmaker. This confirmed my theory that the Charles and Johanna Offingen I'd found on the 1880 Census in Cambridge and their daughter Lena were indeed my relatives. And once again I was l lucky, because the marriage license gave me the names of Charles' and Johanna's parents. His were Jacob Offinger and Christiana; hers were Christian Luick and Christine. (I'm a little bit skeptical about those last two.) I also found records of the marriages of some of their children on which Charles was listed as Carl,and the record of Charles' death on 17Jul 1881 in Cambridge at the age of 33. But a search on the names of Charles' and Johanna's parents came up with too many possibilities to narriow them down to definite people.
The same was true of Patrick White and his wife Mary.
Now I decided to search for these names over on Ancestry.com
The first person I decided to look up was Charles Offinger. On a hunch, I checked the Immigration files, and once more I'd been lucky. Carl Offinger arrived in New York aboard the ship Deutschland on 13Jun 1870 from Bremen, Germany. I looked at the image of the passenger list and couldn't believe just how lucky I was. Listed below "Carl Offinger" was "Johanna Lucke"! Were the two of them already engaged when they came to America, or was it a shipboard romance that led to their marriage in Cambridge in September? I also found a Christian Luick in the 1880 Cambridge City Directory whose occupation was listed as "varnisher". Did he and his son in law Charles work together in the cabinetmaking industry?
All in all, it was a productive Sunday afternoon, and once again it proved that it pays to be persistent. But sometimes, it also helps to be lucky!
And thank you, James, for pointing me back towards Family Search Record Search!
There from the Massachusetts Marriages 1695-1910 Collection was a transcription of their marriage record. They were married on 27Nov 1895 in Boston. And there on the screen were the names of their parents: Patrick G. White and his wife Mary, and Charles J. Offinger and his wife Johanna C. I'd found the names of my maternal great great grandparents! I also found records of the births of three of their daughters and added that data to my PAF file as well. I decided to push my luck a little and now search the names of the 2x great grandparents,so next I tried Charles Offinger and wife Johanna. My luck held true; I found a transcription and image of Johanna's death certificate. From this I learned that she'd died of cancer on 14Aug 1908 in Boston. She was a widow and died at home at 32 Folsom St She'd been born in Germany in 1844 and,most importantly, her maiden name was Luick!
Another result on the search screen was a record of Charles' and Johanna's marriage on 11Sep 1870 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma. and gave his occupation as cabinetmaker. This confirmed my theory that the Charles and Johanna Offingen I'd found on the 1880 Census in Cambridge and their daughter Lena were indeed my relatives. And once again I was l lucky, because the marriage license gave me the names of Charles' and Johanna's parents. His were Jacob Offinger and Christiana; hers were Christian Luick and Christine. (I'm a little bit skeptical about those last two.) I also found records of the marriages of some of their children on which Charles was listed as Carl,and the record of Charles' death on 17Jul 1881 in Cambridge at the age of 33. But a search on the names of Charles' and Johanna's parents came up with too many possibilities to narriow them down to definite people.
The same was true of Patrick White and his wife Mary.
Now I decided to search for these names over on Ancestry.com
The first person I decided to look up was Charles Offinger. On a hunch, I checked the Immigration files, and once more I'd been lucky. Carl Offinger arrived in New York aboard the ship Deutschland on 13Jun 1870 from Bremen, Germany. I looked at the image of the passenger list and couldn't believe just how lucky I was. Listed below "Carl Offinger" was "Johanna Lucke"! Were the two of them already engaged when they came to America, or was it a shipboard romance that led to their marriage in Cambridge in September? I also found a Christian Luick in the 1880 Cambridge City Directory whose occupation was listed as "varnisher". Did he and his son in law Charles work together in the cabinetmaking industry?
All in all, it was a productive Sunday afternoon, and once again it proved that it pays to be persistent. But sometimes, it also helps to be lucky!
And thank you, James, for pointing me back towards Family Search Record Search!
Saturday, June 05, 2010
THE 94TH CARNIVAL OF GENEAOLOGY IS HERE!
Jasia over at Creative Gene has done it again! The 94th Carnival of Genealogy
is up and there's some great genealogy blog reading for us to enjoy. The topic
for this edition was:
"... the changing roles of women. We all know that women's roles have
changed over the centuries but have you stopped to think about how and
when women's roles have changed within your own family?"
One of the great things about the CoG is that I always discover some new
geneablogs to follow written by talented, enthusiastic writers and that holds
true for this latest edition. Read the CoG and discover some for yourself!
Oh, and by the way, consider contributing a post to the next CoG yourself. The
theme for the 95th CoG is:
"...The Annual Swimsuit Edition! Yes folks, it's that time again... time to look
over your photo collection of bathing beauties and select one to share. Bring
us your pin-up girls, guys in Speedos, or kids building sand castles. Summer
is here and it's time to show us how your family members have enjoyed
the water and the summertime heat! The deadline for submissions is July
1st. Thirty submissions will be accepted.
Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy
using our carnival submission form"
I haven't submitted anything to the CoG since my little er...vacation.... Hmm,
I wonder if there's any more beach pictures in the Big Tub of Photographs?
is up and there's some great genealogy blog reading for us to enjoy. The topic
for this edition was:
"... the changing roles of women. We all know that women's roles have
changed over the centuries but have you stopped to think about how and
when women's roles have changed within your own family?"
One of the great things about the CoG is that I always discover some new
geneablogs to follow written by talented, enthusiastic writers and that holds
true for this latest edition. Read the CoG and discover some for yourself!
Oh, and by the way, consider contributing a post to the next CoG yourself. The
theme for the 95th CoG is:
"...The Annual Swimsuit Edition! Yes folks, it's that time again... time to look
over your photo collection of bathing beauties and select one to share. Bring
us your pin-up girls, guys in Speedos, or kids building sand castles. Summer
is here and it's time to show us how your family members have enjoyed
the water and the summertime heat! The deadline for submissions is July
1st. Thirty submissions will be accepted.
Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy
using our carnival submission form"
I haven't submitted anything to the CoG since my little er...vacation.... Hmm,
I wonder if there's any more beach pictures in the Big Tub of Photographs?
Thursday, June 03, 2010
THE WHEREABOUTS OF LEONIDAS WEST
I've been discussing three of John Cutter West's surviving sons lives in the 1870s and 1880's using the Federal Nonpopulation Schedules 1850-1880 for the state of Maine. Asa, Jonathan and Hiram West did quite well for themselves, in my estimation. But there was a fourth brother, Leonidas. Where was he in all this?
The answer is simple: like many young veterans of the Civil War, he went West. Leonidas was the youngest son and probably didn't receive a very large inheritance from John Cutter West's estate. On 18Jan 1872 he married Valora Abbott and probably headed west shortly afterward since the couple were living in Minneapolis MN when their oldest son Otis Leroy West was born on 8Jan 1873. Leonidas apparently never owned a farm and his occupation on the Federal and Minnesota Censuses that I've found is given as "lumberman". In fact, I haven't found any indication that he ever owned his own home. Minneapolis City Directories that I've found have him at two different rented locations, first at "401 North Av N cor. Adams " and then at "1228 Adams". I think that at least the latter was a rented house because in the 1905 State Census there are five adults at 1228 Adams: Leonidas, Valora, their three adult children and their daughter in law. If it was an apartment it certainly would have been a crowded one! I believe Leonidas rented his home instead of owning one because of his chosen profession.
Leonidas was a lumberman, and that meant that he would be off at a lumbercamp for much of the year for an extended period of time. If he'd also owned a farm, that would put a large load on his wife Valora's shoulders until his sons Otis and Frank were old enough to help. By renting a home in Minneapolis he spared Valora the ardous life that women such as my great grandmother Clara Ellingwood experienced when her first husband Charles Tidswell went off to work as a lumber camp cook and left her to manage the farm. I also have to believe that Leonidas liked his chosen profession because he stayed at it in Minnesota for much of his life. Perhaps he gained some on the job training working for his brother Hiram at Hiram's sawmill before he set out for Minnesota?
Eventually age must have caught up with Leonidas. Sometime between the 1920 and 1930 Censuses he and Valora joined their sons Otis and frank out in Washington State. Otis was the manager of a succesful lumber and sawmill company and Frank had bought a ranch, and the winter weather certainly must have been milder than that in Minnesota. He died there in 1932.
Leonidas was just as succesful a man as his three older brothers. He just chose a different place and profession in which to do it!
The answer is simple: like many young veterans of the Civil War, he went West. Leonidas was the youngest son and probably didn't receive a very large inheritance from John Cutter West's estate. On 18Jan 1872 he married Valora Abbott and probably headed west shortly afterward since the couple were living in Minneapolis MN when their oldest son Otis Leroy West was born on 8Jan 1873. Leonidas apparently never owned a farm and his occupation on the Federal and Minnesota Censuses that I've found is given as "lumberman". In fact, I haven't found any indication that he ever owned his own home. Minneapolis City Directories that I've found have him at two different rented locations, first at "401 North Av N cor. Adams " and then at "1228 Adams". I think that at least the latter was a rented house because in the 1905 State Census there are five adults at 1228 Adams: Leonidas, Valora, their three adult children and their daughter in law. If it was an apartment it certainly would have been a crowded one! I believe Leonidas rented his home instead of owning one because of his chosen profession.
Leonidas was a lumberman, and that meant that he would be off at a lumbercamp for much of the year for an extended period of time. If he'd also owned a farm, that would put a large load on his wife Valora's shoulders until his sons Otis and Frank were old enough to help. By renting a home in Minneapolis he spared Valora the ardous life that women such as my great grandmother Clara Ellingwood experienced when her first husband Charles Tidswell went off to work as a lumber camp cook and left her to manage the farm. I also have to believe that Leonidas liked his chosen profession because he stayed at it in Minnesota for much of his life. Perhaps he gained some on the job training working for his brother Hiram at Hiram's sawmill before he set out for Minnesota?
Eventually age must have caught up with Leonidas. Sometime between the 1920 and 1930 Censuses he and Valora joined their sons Otis and frank out in Washington State. Otis was the manager of a succesful lumber and sawmill company and Frank had bought a ranch, and the winter weather certainly must have been milder than that in Minnesota. He died there in 1932.
Leonidas was just as succesful a man as his three older brothers. He just chose a different place and profession in which to do it!
BEEP BEEP!
All genealogists have one: a brickwall. Alright, there may be a lucky few upon
whom the Gods of Genealogy have smiled who don't have a brickwall. These
are probably the same people who got A's on their trigonometry finals. But the
rest of us, we have brickwalls, ancestors whose names, or places of birth, or
parents elude us. Finding the missing information and smashing through that
brickwall to the ancestors beyond it is the Holy Grail of genealogy. Sometimes
we have more than one brickwall to breakdown.
In my case, I have several, the big one of course being the enigma that is the
Elusive John Cutter West. (Yes, I meant to capitalize Elusive.) But there's
another that nags at me for my attention when I look at my family tree:
What was the name of my 5x great grandfather Caleb Coburn's wife?
Now I admit that I've been fairly lucky with the majority of my female
ancestors.There are only a few whose maiden names I don't know. But
in the case of Caleb's wife, I don't even have a first name. Everything I've
seen online so far about him makes no mention of the woman who gave
birth to Moses Coburn, my 4x great grandfather.(I mean, I'm pretty sure
Moses didn't come into being from spontaneous generation or cloning, so
he had to have a mother.) None of the queries I posted to discussion
groups for the Coburn/Colburn family have been successful, either.
The other day I thought I might finally solve the mystery. I found a copy
of the book "Genealogy of the Descendants of Edward Colburn/Coburn"
online. The book was published in 1913, only sixty-six years after Moses'
death and co-written by Silas Coburn. Surely this might have the woman's
name. I looked through it in much the same way as Wile E. Coyote goes
through the latest Acme Catalogue. And there on page 48 I found:
"Caleb Coburn(Moses 3 Joseph2 Edward1) was born in Dracut December
12, 1738; he married ________ ____________; they dwelt at Tyngsboro."
followed by an entry about their child Moses.
Now I'm wondering if there was some reason the name is unknown. Could
there have been some family scandal that removed any mention of Caleb's
wife's name from the Coburn family history? Or was she so forgettable a
person that nobody remembered her name?
So she still remains a mystery, along with my other brickwalls that I keep
trying to break down, because that's what genealogists do. Like Wile E.
Coyote, we keep chasing after our elusive Road Runner ancestors.
Anyone out there have an Acme Genealogy Answers Catalogue handy?
whom the Gods of Genealogy have smiled who don't have a brickwall. These
are probably the same people who got A's on their trigonometry finals. But the
rest of us, we have brickwalls, ancestors whose names, or places of birth, or
parents elude us. Finding the missing information and smashing through that
brickwall to the ancestors beyond it is the Holy Grail of genealogy. Sometimes
we have more than one brickwall to breakdown.
In my case, I have several, the big one of course being the enigma that is the
Elusive John Cutter West. (Yes, I meant to capitalize Elusive.) But there's
another that nags at me for my attention when I look at my family tree:
What was the name of my 5x great grandfather Caleb Coburn's wife?
Now I admit that I've been fairly lucky with the majority of my female
ancestors.There are only a few whose maiden names I don't know. But
in the case of Caleb's wife, I don't even have a first name. Everything I've
seen online so far about him makes no mention of the woman who gave
birth to Moses Coburn, my 4x great grandfather.(I mean, I'm pretty sure
Moses didn't come into being from spontaneous generation or cloning, so
he had to have a mother.) None of the queries I posted to discussion
groups for the Coburn/Colburn family have been successful, either.
The other day I thought I might finally solve the mystery. I found a copy
of the book "Genealogy of the Descendants of Edward Colburn/Coburn"
online. The book was published in 1913, only sixty-six years after Moses'
death and co-written by Silas Coburn. Surely this might have the woman's
name. I looked through it in much the same way as Wile E. Coyote goes
through the latest Acme Catalogue. And there on page 48 I found:
"Caleb Coburn(Moses 3 Joseph2 Edward1) was born in Dracut December
12, 1738; he married ________ ____________; they dwelt at Tyngsboro."
followed by an entry about their child Moses.
Now I'm wondering if there was some reason the name is unknown. Could
there have been some family scandal that removed any mention of Caleb's
wife's name from the Coburn family history? Or was she so forgettable a
person that nobody remembered her name?
So she still remains a mystery, along with my other brickwalls that I keep
trying to break down, because that's what genealogists do. Like Wile E.
Coyote, we keep chasing after our elusive Road Runner ancestors.
Anyone out there have an Acme Genealogy Answers Catalogue handy?
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
FGS & PMC EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINES EXTENDED
Lori Thornton has asked me to pass along word that the early registration deadlines for the FGS Conference in Knoxville and for APG's Professional Management Conference (PMC) have been extended until June 21, 2010 at midnight.
If you're thinking of attending, act now!
If you're thinking of attending, act now!
Friday, May 28, 2010
DOWN ON JP'S FARM 1880
As I posted earlier, I recently found the missing 1880 Nonpopulation
Federal Census Agricultural Schedule for my 2x great grandfather
Jonathan Phelps West farm. This helped me get a fuller picture of JP’s
life as a farmer and the dynamics between three of the four West
brothers. It also made me curious about a few things. I’ll talk about
those latter items first.
On the 1870 Census Jonathan and Louisa West’s children are given as John
C. (Cuvier) West and George P. I don’t know why that didn’t get my attention
sooner, but there’s no George P. West listed in JP’s family anywhere else
except on that Census. At first I thought perhaps it was a child who died in
infancy, but then looking at the 1880 Federal Census I realized what the answer
probably is:George P. is my great grandfather Philip Jonathan West. The ages
match up. So did his parents originally name him George P. but then changed
their minds? Or was it the more likely error by the census taker?
The second question I have concerns my 2x great grandfather Asa F.
Ellingwood. He and his family were close neighbors of JP’s, a fact which would
eventually lead to the marriage of Philip J. West and Clara Ellingwood. Yet I
have found no record of Asa’s farm on the 1880 Agricultural Schedule. Was it
skipped over by the enumerator?
Ah well.
As to the information on JP’s farm in 1880, it shows a smaller farm with
75 fewer acres of woodland. Did JP sell that off to brother Hiram the
sawmill operator? Yet the total value of the farm and livestock had nearly
doubled from $1150 in 1870 to $2000 in 1880. The flock of sheep had
grown to 20 but two were apparently killed by dogs(or wolves?). The
biggest crop was 600 bushels of potatoes but there were also 60 cords
of wood cut and sold for a dollar a cord for $60. Again, I think that
they would have been sold to brother Hiram.
And along with his two older sons being of an age now where they could
help out around the farm, JP had work enough to merit hiring on help for
ten weeks.
Here is my transcription of the entry for JP’s farm:
Tenure:
Owner:/
Rents for fixed money rental:
Rents for shares of crops:
Acres of Land:
Improved:
Tilled, including fallow and grass in rotation (whether pasture or meadow):20
Permanent meadows, permanent pastures, orchards, vineyards:20
Unimproved:
Woodland and forest:75
Other unimproved, including "old fields" and growing wood:
Farm Values:
Of farm, including land, fences and buildings:1500(dollars)
Of farming implements and machinery:100(dollars)
Of livestock:400(dollars)
Fences:
Cost of building and repairing in 1879:25(dollars)
Cost of fertilizers purchased in 1879:
Labor:
Amount paid for wages for farm labor during 1879, including value of board:
50(dollars)
Weeks hired labor in 1879 upon farm (and dairy),excluding housework: 10
Estimated value of all farm productions (sold, consumed or on hand) in 1879:400(dollars)
Grass Lands:
Acreage 1879
Mown:80(acres)
Not Mown:
Products Harvested in 1879:
Hay:25(tons)
Clover seed:
Grass seed:
Horses of all ages on hand June 1, 1879:2
Mules and asses all ages on hand June 1, 1879:
On hand June 1, 1879:
Working oxen:
Milch cows:3
Other:13
Meat Cattle and Their Products:
Calves dropped:2
Movement 1879:
Purchased:1
Sold living:1
Slaughtered:
Died, strayed and at (indecipherable word)and not recovered:
Milk sold, or sent to butter and cheese factories in 1879:
Butter made on the farm in 1879:200(lbs.)
Cheese made on the farm in 1879:
Sheep:
On hand June 1,1879:20
Lambs dropped:13
Movement 1879:
Purchased:
Sold living:9
Slaughtered:2
Killed by dogs:2
Died of disease:
Died of stress of weather:
Clip, Spring 1880, Shorn And To Be Shorn:
Fleeces:20
Weight:80(lbs)
Swine:
On hand June 1, 1880:6
Poultry On Hand June 1, 1880, Exclusive Of Spring Hatchlings
Barn-yard:10
Others:
Eggs Produced In 1879:50(doz.)
Cereal:
Barley 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Buckwheat 1879:
Acres:1
Crop:60(bushels)
Indian Corn 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Oats 1879:
Acres:3
Crop:100(bushels)
Rye 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Wheat 1879:
Acres:2
Crop:40(bushels)
Pulse:
Canada Peas (Dry) in 1879:
Beans (Dry) in 1879:3 (bushels)
Fiber:
Flax-1879:
Area in crop:
Seed:
Straw:
Fiber:
Hemp:
Acres:
Tons:
Sugar:
Surghum-1879:
Area in crop:
Sugar:
Molasses:
Maple-1879
Sugar:
Molasses:30(gallons)
Broom Corn-1879
Acres:
Lbs.:
Hops-1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Potatoes(Irish)1879:
Acres:3
Crop:600(bushels)
Potatoes(Sweet)1879
Acres:
Crop:
Orchards-1879:
Apples:
Acres:
Bearing trees:
Bushels 1879:
Peaches:
Acres:
Bearing trees:
Bushels 1879
Total value of orchard products of all kinds sold or consumed:
Nurseries:
Acres:
Total value of produce sold in 1879:
Vineyards:
Acres:
Grapes sold in 1879:
Wine made in 1879:
Market Gardens
Value of produce sold in 1879:
Bees:
Honey:
Wax:
Forest Products:
Amount of wood cut in 1879:60(cords)
Value of all forest products sold or consumed in 1879:60(dollars)
So by 1880 three West brothers, Asa A., Jonathan P., and Hiram F. were
enjoying a reasonable amount of success in their lives.
But what of their youngest brother, Leonidas?
I’ll discuss that next.
Federal Census Agricultural Schedule for my 2x great grandfather
Jonathan Phelps West farm. This helped me get a fuller picture of JP’s
life as a farmer and the dynamics between three of the four West
brothers. It also made me curious about a few things. I’ll talk about
those latter items first.
On the 1870 Census Jonathan and Louisa West’s children are given as John
C. (Cuvier) West and George P. I don’t know why that didn’t get my attention
sooner, but there’s no George P. West listed in JP’s family anywhere else
except on that Census. At first I thought perhaps it was a child who died in
infancy, but then looking at the 1880 Federal Census I realized what the answer
probably is:George P. is my great grandfather Philip Jonathan West. The ages
match up. So did his parents originally name him George P. but then changed
their minds? Or was it the more likely error by the census taker?
The second question I have concerns my 2x great grandfather Asa F.
Ellingwood. He and his family were close neighbors of JP’s, a fact which would
eventually lead to the marriage of Philip J. West and Clara Ellingwood. Yet I
have found no record of Asa’s farm on the 1880 Agricultural Schedule. Was it
skipped over by the enumerator?
Ah well.
As to the information on JP’s farm in 1880, it shows a smaller farm with
75 fewer acres of woodland. Did JP sell that off to brother Hiram the
sawmill operator? Yet the total value of the farm and livestock had nearly
doubled from $1150 in 1870 to $2000 in 1880. The flock of sheep had
grown to 20 but two were apparently killed by dogs(or wolves?). The
biggest crop was 600 bushels of potatoes but there were also 60 cords
of wood cut and sold for a dollar a cord for $60. Again, I think that
they would have been sold to brother Hiram.
And along with his two older sons being of an age now where they could
help out around the farm, JP had work enough to merit hiring on help for
ten weeks.
Here is my transcription of the entry for JP’s farm:
Tenure:
Owner:/
Rents for fixed money rental:
Rents for shares of crops:
Acres of Land:
Improved:
Tilled, including fallow and grass in rotation (whether pasture or meadow):20
Permanent meadows, permanent pastures, orchards, vineyards:20
Unimproved:
Woodland and forest:75
Other unimproved, including "old fields" and growing wood:
Farm Values:
Of farm, including land, fences and buildings:1500(dollars)
Of farming implements and machinery:100(dollars)
Of livestock:400(dollars)
Fences:
Cost of building and repairing in 1879:25(dollars)
Cost of fertilizers purchased in 1879:
Labor:
Amount paid for wages for farm labor during 1879, including value of board:
50(dollars)
Weeks hired labor in 1879 upon farm (and dairy),excluding housework: 10
Estimated value of all farm productions (sold, consumed or on hand) in 1879:400(dollars)
Grass Lands:
Acreage 1879
Mown:80(acres)
Not Mown:
Products Harvested in 1879:
Hay:25(tons)
Clover seed:
Grass seed:
Horses of all ages on hand June 1, 1879:2
Mules and asses all ages on hand June 1, 1879:
On hand June 1, 1879:
Working oxen:
Milch cows:3
Other:13
Meat Cattle and Their Products:
Calves dropped:2
Movement 1879:
Purchased:1
Sold living:1
Slaughtered:
Died, strayed and at (indecipherable word)and not recovered:
Milk sold, or sent to butter and cheese factories in 1879:
Butter made on the farm in 1879:200(lbs.)
Cheese made on the farm in 1879:
Sheep:
On hand June 1,1879:20
Lambs dropped:13
Movement 1879:
Purchased:
Sold living:9
Slaughtered:2
Killed by dogs:2
Died of disease:
Died of stress of weather:
Clip, Spring 1880, Shorn And To Be Shorn:
Fleeces:20
Weight:80(lbs)
Swine:
On hand June 1, 1880:6
Poultry On Hand June 1, 1880, Exclusive Of Spring Hatchlings
Barn-yard:10
Others:
Eggs Produced In 1879:50(doz.)
Cereal:
Barley 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Buckwheat 1879:
Acres:1
Crop:60(bushels)
Indian Corn 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Oats 1879:
Acres:3
Crop:100(bushels)
Rye 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Wheat 1879:
Acres:2
Crop:40(bushels)
Pulse:
Canada Peas (Dry) in 1879:
Beans (Dry) in 1879:3 (bushels)
Fiber:
Flax-1879:
Area in crop:
Seed:
Straw:
Fiber:
Hemp:
Acres:
Tons:
Sugar:
Surghum-1879:
Area in crop:
Sugar:
Molasses:
Maple-1879
Sugar:
Molasses:30(gallons)
Broom Corn-1879
Acres:
Lbs.:
Hops-1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Potatoes(Irish)1879:
Acres:3
Crop:600(bushels)
Potatoes(Sweet)1879
Acres:
Crop:
Orchards-1879:
Apples:
Acres:
Bearing trees:
Bushels 1879:
Peaches:
Acres:
Bearing trees:
Bushels 1879
Total value of orchard products of all kinds sold or consumed:
Nurseries:
Acres:
Total value of produce sold in 1879:
Vineyards:
Acres:
Grapes sold in 1879:
Wine made in 1879:
Market Gardens
Value of produce sold in 1879:
Bees:
Honey:
Wax:
Forest Products:
Amount of wood cut in 1879:60(cords)
Value of all forest products sold or consumed in 1879:60(dollars)
So by 1880 three West brothers, Asa A., Jonathan P., and Hiram F. were
enjoying a reasonable amount of success in their lives.
But what of their youngest brother, Leonidas?
I’ll discuss that next.
NOTHING VENTURED.....THE ANSWER
Last week I wrote a blogpost concerning my contacting the City of
Boston Archives to find out if they had any records on my two maternal
great grandfathers who had been city employees early in the last century.
I received a reply this morning from a member of that department:
"We do not have individual personnel files for former city employees.
We do have "Lists of City Employees", circa 1888-1960. The lists
include name, address, position, compensation, date appointed and
date first employed by the city. The City of Boston Archives is open
to the public Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. by appointment.
The charge for photocopying is $0.50 per copy."
So now I know there is a list I can search, how much a copy will cost,
and where in Boston the City Archives are located, which is at:
City of Boston Archives
201 Rivermoor Street
West Roxbury, MA 02132
And I know more than I did before!
Boston Archives to find out if they had any records on my two maternal
great grandfathers who had been city employees early in the last century.
I received a reply this morning from a member of that department:
"We do not have individual personnel files for former city employees.
We do have "Lists of City Employees", circa 1888-1960. The lists
include name, address, position, compensation, date appointed and
date first employed by the city. The City of Boston Archives is open
to the public Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. by appointment.
The charge for photocopying is $0.50 per copy."
So now I know there is a list I can search, how much a copy will cost,
and where in Boston the City Archives are located, which is at:
City of Boston Archives
201 Rivermoor Street
West Roxbury, MA 02132
And I know more than I did before!
DEAR ACCREDITEDONLINECOLLEGES.COM PERSON:
This is the second unsolicited email I've received from someone
associated with your site asking me to check out one of your blogposts
and suggesting that I "feature or mention it" here on my blog. The
first one apparently had something to do with Japan, and for the life
of me I couldn't figure out by what stretch of the imagination the
writer thought that had any relevance to New England genealogy.
Mildly annoyed, I did what I usually do with such emails.
I didn't click the link and I deleted the email.
Then this morning I received a second email. I'm sure you're a
nice person. Perhaps you are working your way through online
college by sending out emails to solicit traffic to your website.
So I won't mention your name. But now I am a bit peeved.
Stop sending me emails. I've marked this one as spam so it's
going the way of the first one with link unclicked.
But I AM mentioning it on my blog. Sort of. Just not in the
way I think you had hoped.
And have a NICE Day!
associated with your site asking me to check out one of your blogposts
and suggesting that I "feature or mention it" here on my blog. The
first one apparently had something to do with Japan, and for the life
of me I couldn't figure out by what stretch of the imagination the
writer thought that had any relevance to New England genealogy.
Mildly annoyed, I did what I usually do with such emails.
I didn't click the link and I deleted the email.
Then this morning I received a second email. I'm sure you're a
nice person. Perhaps you are working your way through online
college by sending out emails to solicit traffic to your website.
So I won't mention your name. But now I am a bit peeved.
Stop sending me emails. I've marked this one as spam so it's
going the way of the first one with link unclicked.
But I AM mentioning it on my blog. Sort of. Just not in the
way I think you had hoped.
And have a NICE Day!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
AN HOUR ON FOOTNOTE.COM
It's Thursday and after a short visit to the doctor for some tests the rest of
my day is free.I prefer to schedule the appointments as early as possible
in the day for just that reason.
I thought I'd revisit Footnote.com to see what databases were new or
updated and found one that was unfamiliar to me, the Final Payment
Vouchers Index for Military Pensions, 1818-1864. These records show
the date of the final payment to a Revolutionary War veteran or his
widow and many have the dates they died.
I found cards for the following ancestors:
John Ames
Asa Barrows
Jonathan Barker
Amos Upton
I also found the records for Jonathan Barker's brothers Benjamin and
Jesse. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know but I downloaded
the images to each of the files I have for them.
I also checked again for pension files for a few of the ancestors I hadn't
found one for as yet. One of these is John Griffith (4Jun 1763 Rochester,
Plymouth, Ma.-8Feb 1840, Livermore, Androscoggin, Me.). I knew that
he'd served as a matross in an artillery company under Captain William
Treadwell in the 3rd Artillery Regiment commanded by Col. John Crane.
And of course not all veterans applied for pensions. But this time around I
checked under the names of the widows and got a hit. On an image from
the pension file of James Rankin I found a letter concerning the cases of
several widows and on it was the following:
"In the case of Mary Griffith widow of John Griffith you inform me
that no papers can be found-it is stated in her application that her
late husband enlisted in Col Crane's Regiment of Artillery and served
til the end of the war, the foregoing are all the particulars we can
furnish you."
The letter's signature is faded but looks like it could be a Levi Bailey. It's
addressed to "J.S. Edwards Commissioner of Pensions, Washington DC"
and was written on 16 Apr 1845 from the Bangor Land Office so Mary
Boyden Griffith might have been applying for a land grant. I've found no
record online that she succeeded so she may have failed. She died in
Livermore, Oxford, Me in 1846. Her granddaughter Arvilla Ames is my
3x great-grandmother Arvilla Ames West.
But not bad for an hour's search on Footnote.com, I think!
my day is free.I prefer to schedule the appointments as early as possible
in the day for just that reason.
I thought I'd revisit Footnote.com to see what databases were new or
updated and found one that was unfamiliar to me, the Final Payment
Vouchers Index for Military Pensions, 1818-1864. These records show
the date of the final payment to a Revolutionary War veteran or his
widow and many have the dates they died.
I found cards for the following ancestors:
John Ames
Asa Barrows
Jonathan Barker
Amos Upton
I also found the records for Jonathan Barker's brothers Benjamin and
Jesse. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know but I downloaded
the images to each of the files I have for them.
I also checked again for pension files for a few of the ancestors I hadn't
found one for as yet. One of these is John Griffith (4Jun 1763 Rochester,
Plymouth, Ma.-8Feb 1840, Livermore, Androscoggin, Me.). I knew that
he'd served as a matross in an artillery company under Captain William
Treadwell in the 3rd Artillery Regiment commanded by Col. John Crane.
And of course not all veterans applied for pensions. But this time around I
checked under the names of the widows and got a hit. On an image from
the pension file of James Rankin I found a letter concerning the cases of
several widows and on it was the following:
"In the case of Mary Griffith widow of John Griffith you inform me
that no papers can be found-it is stated in her application that her
late husband enlisted in Col Crane's Regiment of Artillery and served
til the end of the war, the foregoing are all the particulars we can
furnish you."
The letter's signature is faded but looks like it could be a Levi Bailey. It's
addressed to "J.S. Edwards Commissioner of Pensions, Washington DC"
and was written on 16 Apr 1845 from the Bangor Land Office so Mary
Boyden Griffith might have been applying for a land grant. I've found no
record online that she succeeded so she may have failed. She died in
Livermore, Oxford, Me in 1846. Her granddaughter Arvilla Ames is my
3x great-grandmother Arvilla Ames West.
But not bad for an hour's search on Footnote.com, I think!
Monday, May 24, 2010
PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF.
I had intended to summarize what I'd learned about my great great
grandfather Jonathan Phelps West and his brothers from the 1850-1880
Nonpopulation Census Schedules. But I hadn't found the 1880
Agricultural Schedule for JP yet and I wanted to take a last shot at it over
at Ancestry.com. Searching by name hadn't turned up anything so I
decided to search every image for every town in Oxford County, Maine.
The 1880 images show two pages and theorizing that the missing page
with JP might be a right hand page indexed under the name of the town
on the left hand page, I narrowed my search by looking at the last image
for each town. Sure enough, after starting alphabetically with the town of
Albany, I found the missing Upton, Maine image at the end of the images
for Grafton, Maine.
I discovered why the name search hadn't worked when I added the
record to JP's profile: he'd been indexed just as "Jonathan P." with no
last name!
Figuring I was now on a roll, I decided to try my luck with the same
method for the missing second page of the 1870 Agricultural Schedule.
This presented a different challenge. The images show two pages, the
right hand one being the front page of a record and the left hand page
being the second page of the previous record. Reasoning this time that
the missing second page might be indexed with the first page of the
following town, I decided to search the first image for each town. The
main trouble with this was that those pages don't have the names of the
towns or citizens on them; that information was on the front page. So
how could I tell if a page was the missing Upton page?
I looked at the image I had of the front page for anything that might be
dark enough to show through onto the second page. Nothing. Then, I
counted the number of entries on the page. There were 33, so logically,
there should be a corresponding number on the missing second page. I
started looking at the images for the 1870 Schedule and once again I
lucked out! The page preceding the page for the town of Gilead had 33
entries! But not taking any chances, I went through all the towns to see if
there was another image with the 33 entries, but there were no others.
So I have a few more posts to write before that summary.
And that's why it pays to be persistent!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
DOWN ON ASA'S FARM 1880
While Hiram West had abandoned farming by 1880 in favor of the
lumber and mill business, brother Asa West was still at it, albeit at a
smaller scale than in 1870. Sometime over that decade, Asa's farm
shrank by 35 acres, 20 of it farmland and the other 15 woodland.
Consequently the total value of the farm was down over a thousand
dollars to 2600 dollars.The flock of ten sheep was gone. Asa still grew
corn and oats but no longer buckwheat but he had made more use of
his woodland, drawing 30 gallons of maple syrup and cutting 10 cords
of wood valued at 10 dollars.
He'd also cut back on expenses by not hiring any help, a savings of
300 dollars from 1870.By now daughter Lizzie and son C. Scott were
teenagers and able to help out around the farm.If Asa was working
for Hiram at the sawmill, the pay or profit there would more than
makeup the monies that might have been made by growing more crops.
So here's my transcription from the 1880 Schedule 2-Productions of
Agriculture for Andover, Oxford, Maine, page 9:
Tenure:
Owner:yes
Rents for fixed money rental:
Rents for shares of crops:
Acres of Land:
Improved:
Tilled, including fallow and grass in rotation (whether pasture or meadow):30
Permanent meadows, permanent pastures,orchards, vineyards:50
Unimproved:
Woodland and forest:50
Other unimproved, including "old fields" and growing wood:
Farm Values:
Of farm, including land, fences and buildings:2200(dollars)
Of farming implements and machinery:100(dollars)
Of livestock:300(dollars)
Fences:
Cost of building and repairing in 1879:
Cost of fertilizers purchased in 1879:
Labor:
Amount paid for wages for farm labor during 1879, including value of board:
Weeks hired labor in 1879 upon farm (and dairy),excluding housework:
Estimated value of all farm productions (sold, consumed or on hand) in 1879:400(dollars)
Grass Lands:
Acreage 1879
Mown:30
Not Mown:
Products Harvested in 1879:
Hay:30(tons)
Clover seed:
Grass seed:
Horses of all ages on hand June 1, 1879:2
Mules and asses all ages on hand June 1, 1879:
On hand June 1, 1879:
Working oxen:2
Milch cows:2
Other:
Meat Cattle and Their Products:
Calves dropped:1
Movement 1879:
Purchased:3
Sold living:
Slaughtered:
Died, strayed and at (indecipherable word)and not recovered:
Milk sold, or sent to butter and cheese factories in 1879:
Butter made on the farm in 1879:100(lbs.)
Cheese made on the farm in 1879:
Sheep:
On hand June 1,1879:
Lambs dropped:
Movement 1879:
Purchased:
Sold living:
Slaughtered:
Killed by dogs:
Died of disease:
Died of stress of weather:
Clip, Spring 1880, Shorn And To Be Shorn:
Fleeces:
Weight:
Swine:
On hand June 1, 1880:2
Poultry On Hand June 1, 1880, Exclusive Of Spring Hatchlings
Barn-yard:8
Others:
Eggs Produced In 1879:30(doz.)
Cereal:
Barley 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Buckwheat 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Indian Corn 1879:
Acres:1
Crop:15(bushels)
Oats 1879:
Acres:3
Crop:100(bushels)
Rye 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Wheat 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Pulse:
Canada Peas (Dry) in 1879:
Beans (Dry) in 1879:9 (bushels)
Fiber:
Flax-1879:
Area in crop:
Seed:
Straw:
Fiber:
Hemp:
Acres:
Tons:
Sugar:
Surghum-1879:
Area in crop:
Sugar:
Molasses:
Maple-1879
Sugar:
Molasses:30(gallons)
Broom Corn-1879
Acres:
Lbs.:
Hops-1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Potatoes(Irish)1879:
Acres:1
Crop:200(bushels)
Potatoes(Sweet)1879
Acres:
Crop:
Orchards-1879:
Apples:
Acres:2
Bearing trees:100
Bushels 1879:200
Peaches:
Acres:
Bearing trees:
Bushels 1879
Total value of orchard products of all kinds sold or consumed:24(dollars)
Nurseries:
Acres:
Total value of produce sold in 1879:
Vineyards:
Acres:
Grapes sold in 1879:
Wine made in 1879:
Market Gardens
Value of produce sold in 1879:
Bees:
Honey:
Wax:
Forest Products:
Amount of wood cut in 1879:10(cords)
Value of all forest products sold or consumed in 1879:10(dollars)
I'll have some thoughts about what I've learned from all this in another post.
lumber and mill business, brother Asa West was still at it, albeit at a
smaller scale than in 1870. Sometime over that decade, Asa's farm
shrank by 35 acres, 20 of it farmland and the other 15 woodland.
Consequently the total value of the farm was down over a thousand
dollars to 2600 dollars.The flock of ten sheep was gone. Asa still grew
corn and oats but no longer buckwheat but he had made more use of
his woodland, drawing 30 gallons of maple syrup and cutting 10 cords
of wood valued at 10 dollars.
He'd also cut back on expenses by not hiring any help, a savings of
300 dollars from 1870.By now daughter Lizzie and son C. Scott were
teenagers and able to help out around the farm.If Asa was working
for Hiram at the sawmill, the pay or profit there would more than
makeup the monies that might have been made by growing more crops.
So here's my transcription from the 1880 Schedule 2-Productions of
Agriculture for Andover, Oxford, Maine, page 9:
Tenure:
Owner:yes
Rents for fixed money rental:
Rents for shares of crops:
Acres of Land:
Improved:
Tilled, including fallow and grass in rotation (whether pasture or meadow):30
Permanent meadows, permanent pastures,orchards, vineyards:50
Unimproved:
Woodland and forest:50
Other unimproved, including "old fields" and growing wood:
Farm Values:
Of farm, including land, fences and buildings:2200(dollars)
Of farming implements and machinery:100(dollars)
Of livestock:300(dollars)
Fences:
Cost of building and repairing in 1879:
Cost of fertilizers purchased in 1879:
Labor:
Amount paid for wages for farm labor during 1879, including value of board:
Weeks hired labor in 1879 upon farm (and dairy),excluding housework:
Estimated value of all farm productions (sold, consumed or on hand) in 1879:400(dollars)
Grass Lands:
Acreage 1879
Mown:30
Not Mown:
Products Harvested in 1879:
Hay:30(tons)
Clover seed:
Grass seed:
Horses of all ages on hand June 1, 1879:2
Mules and asses all ages on hand June 1, 1879:
On hand June 1, 1879:
Working oxen:2
Milch cows:2
Other:
Meat Cattle and Their Products:
Calves dropped:1
Movement 1879:
Purchased:3
Sold living:
Slaughtered:
Died, strayed and at (indecipherable word)and not recovered:
Milk sold, or sent to butter and cheese factories in 1879:
Butter made on the farm in 1879:100(lbs.)
Cheese made on the farm in 1879:
Sheep:
On hand June 1,1879:
Lambs dropped:
Movement 1879:
Purchased:
Sold living:
Slaughtered:
Killed by dogs:
Died of disease:
Died of stress of weather:
Clip, Spring 1880, Shorn And To Be Shorn:
Fleeces:
Weight:
Swine:
On hand June 1, 1880:2
Poultry On Hand June 1, 1880, Exclusive Of Spring Hatchlings
Barn-yard:8
Others:
Eggs Produced In 1879:30(doz.)
Cereal:
Barley 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Buckwheat 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Indian Corn 1879:
Acres:1
Crop:15(bushels)
Oats 1879:
Acres:3
Crop:100(bushels)
Rye 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Wheat 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Pulse:
Canada Peas (Dry) in 1879:
Beans (Dry) in 1879:9 (bushels)
Fiber:
Flax-1879:
Area in crop:
Seed:
Straw:
Fiber:
Hemp:
Acres:
Tons:
Sugar:
Surghum-1879:
Area in crop:
Sugar:
Molasses:
Maple-1879
Sugar:
Molasses:30(gallons)
Broom Corn-1879
Acres:
Lbs.:
Hops-1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Potatoes(Irish)1879:
Acres:1
Crop:200(bushels)
Potatoes(Sweet)1879
Acres:
Crop:
Orchards-1879:
Apples:
Acres:2
Bearing trees:100
Bushels 1879:200
Peaches:
Acres:
Bearing trees:
Bushels 1879
Total value of orchard products of all kinds sold or consumed:24(dollars)
Nurseries:
Acres:
Total value of produce sold in 1879:
Vineyards:
Acres:
Grapes sold in 1879:
Wine made in 1879:
Market Gardens
Value of produce sold in 1879:
Bees:
Honey:
Wax:
Forest Products:
Amount of wood cut in 1879:10(cords)
Value of all forest products sold or consumed in 1879:10(dollars)
I'll have some thoughts about what I've learned from all this in another post.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
SATURDAY NIGHT GENEALOGY FUN: THE TIME CAPSULE
It's Saturday night, time for Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy
Fun over at his Genea-Musings blog. Here's tonight's challenge:
"1) Go to the dMarie Time Capsule Website - http://dmarie.com
/timecap/
2) Select a date in your family history that you want to know about.
You might pick a birth date or wedding date of your parents or
grandparents.
3) Enter the date into the search form, and select the news, songs, toys,
books and other things that you want to feature.
4) Share the date, why you picked it, and the results of your Time
Capsule study on your own blog, in a comment to this post, or in a
comment or post on Facebook."
After thinking a bit I decided on 19Oct 1924, the wedding date of my
Mom's parents, Edward F. White Sr. and Agnes Dorothy McFarland.
I chose that because 1924 was also the year my Dad was born(17Jul).
Out of curiosity I searched for online performances of the top songs of
1924 and found them for all save one. Click on the links to check them
out, including Jeanette MacDonald singing "Indian Lovecall" to Nelson
Eddy as he leads away his prisoner, a very young Jimmy Stewart. There's
also a performance of "June Night" by Buster Keaton of all people,
accompanying himself on ukuele!
I also found a Tootsietoys collectors website with pictures of the models
popular in the 1920's and 1930's!
So, here's what I found:
Headlines for that week:
Oct 19 - General Christian Worker's union demands 8 hr work day in Belgium
Oct 20 - 1st Negro League World Series: KC Monarchs shuts out Hilldales, 5-0
Oct 21 - KLM Fokker's F7 H-NACC departs to Dutch East Indies
Oct 23 - W Baade discovers asteroid #1036 Ganymed
Oct 24 - Christian Gen Feng Joe Siang occupies Beijing
Oct 24 - Nobel prize for fysiologie/medicine awarded to W Einthoven
Top Sings of 1924:
Serenade by Dorothy Donnelly Indian Love Call by Otto Harbach
O, Katherina! by L. Wolfe Gilbert The Prisoner's Song by Gus Massey
All Alone by Irving Berlin Jealous by Tommie Malie
June Night by Cliff Friend Spain by Gus Kahn
Prices in 1924:
Bread: $0.09/loaf
Milk: $0.53/gal
Eggs: $0.43/doz
Car: $265
Gas: $0.21/gal
House: $7,720
Stamp: $0.02/ea
Avg Income: $1,244/yr
DOW Avg: 121
Calvin Coolidge was the President of the United States but there was no
Vice-President.
Tootsietoys were the hot new toys.
And the top books in 1924 were:
The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman Hawes
A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
The Autobiography of Mark Twain by Mark Twain
This was a lot of fun. Thanks, Randy!
Fun over at his Genea-Musings blog. Here's tonight's challenge:
"1) Go to the dMarie Time Capsule Website - http://dmarie.com
/timecap/
2) Select a date in your family history that you want to know about.
You might pick a birth date or wedding date of your parents or
grandparents.
3) Enter the date into the search form, and select the news, songs, toys,
books and other things that you want to feature.
4) Share the date, why you picked it, and the results of your Time
Capsule study on your own blog, in a comment to this post, or in a
comment or post on Facebook."
After thinking a bit I decided on 19Oct 1924, the wedding date of my
Mom's parents, Edward F. White Sr. and Agnes Dorothy McFarland.
I chose that because 1924 was also the year my Dad was born(17Jul).
Out of curiosity I searched for online performances of the top songs of
1924 and found them for all save one. Click on the links to check them
out, including Jeanette MacDonald singing "Indian Lovecall" to Nelson
Eddy as he leads away his prisoner, a very young Jimmy Stewart. There's
also a performance of "June Night" by Buster Keaton of all people,
accompanying himself on ukuele!
I also found a Tootsietoys collectors website with pictures of the models
popular in the 1920's and 1930's!
So, here's what I found:
Headlines for that week:
Oct 19 - General Christian Worker's union demands 8 hr work day in Belgium
Oct 20 - 1st Negro League World Series: KC Monarchs shuts out Hilldales, 5-0
Oct 21 - KLM Fokker's F7 H-NACC departs to Dutch East Indies
Oct 23 - W Baade discovers asteroid #1036 Ganymed
Oct 24 - Christian Gen Feng Joe Siang occupies Beijing
Oct 24 - Nobel prize for fysiologie/medicine awarded to W Einthoven
Top Sings of 1924:
Serenade by Dorothy Donnelly Indian Love Call by Otto Harbach
O, Katherina! by L. Wolfe Gilbert The Prisoner's Song by Gus Massey
All Alone by Irving Berlin Jealous by Tommie Malie
June Night by Cliff Friend Spain by Gus Kahn
Prices in 1924:
Bread: $0.09/loaf
Milk: $0.53/gal
Eggs: $0.43/doz
Car: $265
Gas: $0.21/gal
House: $7,720
Stamp: $0.02/ea
Avg Income: $1,244/yr
DOW Avg: 121
Calvin Coolidge was the President of the United States but there was no
Vice-President.
Tootsietoys were the hot new toys.
And the top books in 1924 were:
The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman Hawes
A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
The Autobiography of Mark Twain by Mark Twain
This was a lot of fun. Thanks, Randy!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
NOTHING VENTURED.....
The other day my friend and co-worker Laura Vona posted over on her
blog about the success she'd had obtaining records of her grandfather's
employment as a Boston police officer. It got me thinking that perhaps I
should find out if there were any records about my maternal
great-grandfathers who had worked for the City of Boston and if there
was a way I might get copies of them.
So I went to the official City of Boston website which is at
http://www.cityofboston.gov/ and in the "Departments" droplist found
the "Archives and Records" page. Along with the description of the
duties and responsibilities of the department, I found a link to the Guide
to the Records in the City of Boston Archives but couldn't find
anything there in regards to records of city employees. So I made use
of the "Contact Us" link for Archives and Records. In the message box
I included the names of my great grandfathers and the information on
them being city employees that I had gleaned from the 1910, 1920 and
1930 Federal Censuses along with their home addresses as given on the
censuses.I asked if the city kept records form employees from that far
back, and if so, how would I be able to obtain copies of them.
I did all this last night but don't expect to get a reply today. It might not
pan out but it was worth asking, wasn't it?
After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained!
blog about the success she'd had obtaining records of her grandfather's
employment as a Boston police officer. It got me thinking that perhaps I
should find out if there were any records about my maternal
great-grandfathers who had worked for the City of Boston and if there
was a way I might get copies of them.
So I went to the official City of Boston website which is at
http://www.cityofboston.gov/ and in the "Departments" droplist found
the "Archives and Records" page. Along with the description of the
duties and responsibilities of the department, I found a link to the Guide
to the Records in the City of Boston Archives but couldn't find
anything there in regards to records of city employees. So I made use
of the "Contact Us" link for Archives and Records. In the message box
I included the names of my great grandfathers and the information on
them being city employees that I had gleaned from the 1910, 1920 and
1930 Federal Censuses along with their home addresses as given on the
censuses.I asked if the city kept records form employees from that far
back, and if so, how would I be able to obtain copies of them.
I did all this last night but don't expect to get a reply today. It might not
pan out but it was worth asking, wasn't it?
After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
HIRAM WEST'S SAW-MILL IN 1880
As we saw in the last post, my great great granduncle Hiram F. West
had abandoned farming in favor of operating a grist mill and a saw mill.
The images of the 1880 Federal Census Non-Population Schedules for
Maine at Ancestry.com have provided me with a snapshot of Hiram's
two businesses that show him to be successful. Both mills were located
on the Cambridge River in Upton, Oxford, Maine, probably close-by
each other.
The saw-mill was the more profitable operation, especially when you
consider that it only operated full-time for five months. This probably
was due to a combination of winter weather(this was Maine, after all)
and harvest season when more time would be spent at the grist mill.
During those five months, Hiram employed five workers, the three who
boarded with him, another adult male and one "child or youth". I'm just
speculating here but those latter two could have been his brother Asa
and Hiram's ten year old son Hiram W. West.
Another fact revealed on this schedule is that half of the logs that went
through the saw mill had been cut by Hiram and his crew within the
boundaries of Upton. From visits over the years, I can tell you there's
still plenty of timber up there today!
So here's my transcription of the 1880 Federal Special Schedules of
Manufactures-Nos 5 and 6 Lumber Mills and Saw-Mills --Brick Yards
and Tile Works for Hanover and Upton:
Name of Corporation, Company, or Individual producing to value of $500 annually:
Hiram F. West
Capital(real or personal) invested in the business:3000
Greatest number of hands employed at any one time during the year:5
Average Number of Hands Employed:5
Males above 16 years: 4
Females above 15 years:
Children and Youth: 1
Wages and Hours of Labor :
Number of Hrs. In Your Ordinary Day of Labor:
May to Novemb'r: 12
Novemb'r to May: 10
Average day's wages for a skilled mechanic: 1.50
Average day's wages for an ordinary laborer: 1.00
Total amount paid in wages during year: 200(dollars)
Months in Operation:
On full time:5
On three-quarter time only:
On half time only:1
Idle time:6
Saws:
Number of gangs: 1
Number of saws in gangs: 3
Number of circular saws:1
Number of muley saws: 1
Number of band-saws:
Materials:
Value of logs: 2710
Value of mill supplies: 75
Total value of all materials (including value of logs): 2785
Proper Saw Mill Products:
Number of thousand feet of lumber: 325
Number of thousand laths:
Number of thousand shingles: 200
Number of thousand staves:
Number of thousand sets of headings:
Number of thousand feet of bobbin and spool stock:
Total value of all products heretofore named:
Total value of all other products: 3500
Manufactures:
Do you remanufacture any sashes, doors, blinds, frames,
portion of your own cut into clapboards {Yes or No}: Yes
If so, give total value of such manufactures: 100
Give average number of hands employed in such remanufacture: 1
From what region do you procure your logs? :Upton
Do you do your own logging? {Yes or No} : Yes
If so, what proportion of your logs do you bring in?: One half
Do you ship your product in your own vessels? {Yes or No} : No
Power Used in Manufacture:
If Water-Power Is Used:
On what river or stream? (see note below): Cambridge River
Height of fall, in feet: 14
Wheels: 2
Kind: 1 Bradbury 1 Center Vent
Breadth,in feet: 4
Revolutions per minute:100
Horse-power:15
If Steam-Power Is Used:
Number of Bellows:
Number of Engines:
Horse-power:
Next, we'll pay a return visit to Asa West's farm.
had abandoned farming in favor of operating a grist mill and a saw mill.
The images of the 1880 Federal Census Non-Population Schedules for
Maine at Ancestry.com have provided me with a snapshot of Hiram's
two businesses that show him to be successful. Both mills were located
on the Cambridge River in Upton, Oxford, Maine, probably close-by
each other.
The saw-mill was the more profitable operation, especially when you
consider that it only operated full-time for five months. This probably
was due to a combination of winter weather(this was Maine, after all)
and harvest season when more time would be spent at the grist mill.
During those five months, Hiram employed five workers, the three who
boarded with him, another adult male and one "child or youth". I'm just
speculating here but those latter two could have been his brother Asa
and Hiram's ten year old son Hiram W. West.
Another fact revealed on this schedule is that half of the logs that went
through the saw mill had been cut by Hiram and his crew within the
boundaries of Upton. From visits over the years, I can tell you there's
still plenty of timber up there today!
So here's my transcription of the 1880 Federal Special Schedules of
Manufactures-Nos 5 and 6 Lumber Mills and Saw-Mills --Brick Yards
and Tile Works for Hanover and Upton:
Name of Corporation, Company, or Individual producing to value of $500 annually:
Hiram F. West
Capital(real or personal) invested in the business:3000
Greatest number of hands employed at any one time during the year:5
Average Number of Hands Employed:5
Males above 16 years: 4
Females above 15 years:
Children and Youth: 1
Wages and Hours of Labor :
Number of Hrs. In Your Ordinary Day of Labor:
May to Novemb'r: 12
Novemb'r to May: 10
Average day's wages for a skilled mechanic: 1.50
Average day's wages for an ordinary laborer: 1.00
Total amount paid in wages during year: 200(dollars)
Months in Operation:
On full time:5
On three-quarter time only:
On half time only:1
Idle time:6
Saws:
Number of gangs: 1
Number of saws in gangs: 3
Number of circular saws:1
Number of muley saws: 1
Number of band-saws:
Materials:
Value of logs: 2710
Value of mill supplies: 75
Total value of all materials (including value of logs): 2785
Proper Saw Mill Products:
Number of thousand feet of lumber: 325
Number of thousand laths:
Number of thousand shingles: 200
Number of thousand staves:
Number of thousand sets of headings:
Number of thousand feet of bobbin and spool stock:
Total value of all products heretofore named:
Total value of all other products: 3500
Manufactures:
Do you remanufacture any sashes, doors, blinds, frames,
portion of your own cut into clapboards {Yes or No}: Yes
If so, give total value of such manufactures: 100
Give average number of hands employed in such remanufacture: 1
From what region do you procure your logs? :Upton
Do you do your own logging? {Yes or No} : Yes
If so, what proportion of your logs do you bring in?: One half
Do you ship your product in your own vessels? {Yes or No} : No
Power Used in Manufacture:
If Water-Power Is Used:
On what river or stream? (see note below): Cambridge River
Height of fall, in feet: 14
Wheels: 2
Kind: 1 Bradbury 1 Center Vent
Breadth,in feet: 4
Revolutions per minute:100
Horse-power:15
If Steam-Power Is Used:
Number of Bellows:
Number of Engines:
Horse-power:
Next, we'll pay a return visit to Asa West's farm.
HIRAM WEST'S GRIST-MILL IN 1880
By 1880 Hiram F. West was 41 and had given up farming. On the 1880
Federal Census his occupation is given as "Owner Saw and Grist-Mill".
Of the two mills, the saw-mill must have been the busier because there
are three men boarding with Hiram and his family who are listed as
"works in saw-mill":
William Mitchell, age 60
Albert F. Upton, age 41
Leonard York, age 25
The mills are listed on two different "Special Schedules of Manufacture"
with the grist-mill on "Flour and Grist Mills - Cheese, Butter and
Condensed Milk Factories". Happily, Hiram didn't dabble in the dairy
factories trade, so his entry is confined to solely grist-mill on this
form. Both mills were situated along the banks of the Cambridge River
at two different waterfalls with the grist-mill located at the larger of the two.
I'm going to post the two transcriptions seperately, starting with this one
on the grist-mill. The handwriting on this schedule is legible with the
exception of the two entries I've marked with (?). Here's my transcription:
Name of Corporation, Company, or Individual producing to value of $500 annually:
Hiram F. West
Capital(real or personal) invested in the business:1000
Greatest number of hands employed at any one time during the year: 1
Average Number of Hands Employed:
Males above 16 years: 1
Females above 15 years:
Children and Youth:
Wages and Hours of Labor :
Number of Hrs. In Your Ordinary Day of Labor:
May to Novemb'r: 10
Novemb'r to May: 10
Average day's wages for a skilled mechanic: 1.00
Average day's wages for an ordinary laborer:
Total amount paid in wages during year: 312(dollars)
Months in Operation:
On full time:10
On three-quarter time only:
On half time only:
Idle time:
Number of runs of stone:2
Estimated maximum capacity per day, in bushels: 50
Do you custom work or make only for market? If the former, what proportion of your
product is custom grinding? : Whole
Is there an elevator connected with your establishment? If so, give capacity in bushels:
Power Used in Manufacture:
If Water-Power Is Used:
on what river or stream? (see note below): Cambridge River
Height of fall, in feet: 18
Wheels:
Kind: Center Vent
Breadth,in feet: 5
Revolutions per minute:100
Horse-power:15
If Steam-Power Is Used: Number of Bellows: Number of Engines:
Horse-power:
Materials:
Number of bushels of wheat:1000
Value: 1250
Number of bushels of other grains: 820
Value: 600
Value of mill suppplies: 10
Total value of all material: 1860
Products:
Number of barrels of wheat flour: 200
Number of barrels of rye flour:
Number of pounds of buckwheat flour: 3500
Number of pounds of barley meal:
Number of pounds of corn meal: 40. (?)
Number of pounds of feed: 168(?)
Number of pounds of hominy:
Value of all other products:
Total value of all products: 2460
I'll post my transcription of the sawmill schedule next.
Federal Census his occupation is given as "Owner Saw and Grist-Mill".
Of the two mills, the saw-mill must have been the busier because there
are three men boarding with Hiram and his family who are listed as
"works in saw-mill":
William Mitchell, age 60
Albert F. Upton, age 41
Leonard York, age 25
The mills are listed on two different "Special Schedules of Manufacture"
with the grist-mill on "Flour and Grist Mills - Cheese, Butter and
Condensed Milk Factories". Happily, Hiram didn't dabble in the dairy
factories trade, so his entry is confined to solely grist-mill on this
form. Both mills were situated along the banks of the Cambridge River
at two different waterfalls with the grist-mill located at the larger of the two.
I'm going to post the two transcriptions seperately, starting with this one
on the grist-mill. The handwriting on this schedule is legible with the
exception of the two entries I've marked with (?). Here's my transcription:
Name of Corporation, Company, or Individual producing to value of $500 annually:
Hiram F. West
Capital(real or personal) invested in the business:1000
Greatest number of hands employed at any one time during the year: 1
Average Number of Hands Employed:
Males above 16 years: 1
Females above 15 years:
Children and Youth:
Wages and Hours of Labor :
Number of Hrs. In Your Ordinary Day of Labor:
May to Novemb'r: 10
Novemb'r to May: 10
Average day's wages for a skilled mechanic: 1.00
Average day's wages for an ordinary laborer:
Total amount paid in wages during year: 312(dollars)
Months in Operation:
On full time:10
On three-quarter time only:
On half time only:
Idle time:
Number of runs of stone:2
Estimated maximum capacity per day, in bushels: 50
Do you custom work or make only for market? If the former, what proportion of your
product is custom grinding? : Whole
Is there an elevator connected with your establishment? If so, give capacity in bushels:
Power Used in Manufacture:
If Water-Power Is Used:
on what river or stream? (see note below): Cambridge River
Height of fall, in feet: 18
Wheels:
Kind: Center Vent
Breadth,in feet: 5
Revolutions per minute:100
Horse-power:15
If Steam-Power Is Used: Number of Bellows: Number of Engines:
Horse-power:
Materials:
Number of bushels of wheat:1000
Value: 1250
Number of bushels of other grains: 820
Value: 600
Value of mill suppplies: 10
Total value of all material: 1860
Products:
Number of barrels of wheat flour: 200
Number of barrels of rye flour:
Number of pounds of buckwheat flour: 3500
Number of pounds of barley meal:
Number of pounds of corn meal: 40. (?)
Number of pounds of feed: 168(?)
Number of pounds of hominy:
Value of all other products:
Total value of all products: 2460
I'll post my transcription of the sawmill schedule next.
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