Joanna Ives Faidley: surrounded by her girls

     My grandmother had definite opinions about who she liked and disliked among her relatives. She wouldn't have hesitated to say that her father's sister, Joanna Ives Faidley, was one of her favorite aunts.  Apparently, this was helped by the fact that "Aunt Joie" could be counted upon to take my grandmother's side, when a question of appropriate fashion arose.  My grandmother grew up attending the Church of the Brethren, which her grandfather, Allen Ives (Joanna's father), had founded in Centralia, Washington.  The Church frowned upon extremes of dress.  When my grandmother would ask for her next dress to be sewn in whatever the new style was,  her own mother might frown and be ready to say no.  Aunt Joie could be counted on to come to the rescue, saying it wasn't too extreme, and that it was a fine idea.  Although a devoted member of the Church herself, Joanna Faidley seemed to be pretty whimsical.  She is frequently pictured with a huge grin, and this picture of her own daughters would seem to indicate that they were hardly restricted to severe clothing.  Giving her youngest daughter the name "Bluebelle" indicates that this lady was by no means conventional.  I know the size of the hair bow was envied by my grandmother!

     In this picture, Joanna Ives Faidley is seated in front of her five daughters.  From left to right are:  Mayme/Mamie, Rena, Ida, Lou, and Bluebelle.  My grandmother took a red felt pen many years later and added all the names.  While we might question her choice of tool and placement, I am really grateful to have the information.    Comparing the names to available census listings, the caption on the photograph is probably one of the few places where these women are all named at once.  There are, however, name variations to be aware of for clarification.  Mayme is Mary Elizabeth, born in 1883, Rena is Irene/Irena, born in 1873, Ida was born in 1885, Lou was Frances Louella, born about 1870, and Bluebelle was Kate Bluebelle, a happy surprise in 1892.  Sadly, she only lived to the age of 27, and is buried with her father, John Faidley,  in Kansas. 
     According to the known ages, and the book Family Chronicle's More Dating Old Photographs, 1840-1929, this picture appears to have been taken around 1910-1912.  Note:  on a PC, double-click to open larger.

Connecticut, 1701: Don't mess with your mother-in-law

  In an article called “Reminiscences of Bean Hill, Norwich,” author Burrell W. Hyde noted the following court case involving my ancestors :

"Allusion to the Royces recalls what befell those who cast reflections upon their mothers-in-law in early times; it is stated in the Colonial Records of Connecticut (Norwich, June 23rd, 1701), Bean Hill:

 Whereas Thomas Stoddard being called before me to answer for casting reflections and aspersions upon his Mother-in-law Deborah Royce, after much kindness received, by him and his wife, after all, reporting that his wife's mother had broken his wife's heart for her unkindness in not giving her a bit of the cake made for her son Jonathan Royce, ordered: that Thomas Stoddard pay a fine of ten shillings to the County Treasurer.

 John Tracy, Justice of the Peace."

The Connecticut Magazine, an illustrated monthly, Volume 3, c. 1897, Hartford, CT,

pages 295-6.

I find myself wondering how this situation got to the point of being decided in court:  who complained, was this relationship always rocky, and what was it like afterward, especially for the wife/daughter caught in the middle, Deborah Royce Stoddard?  Families behaving badly are nothing new.  That must have been some cake.

Ohio pensions: unexpected resource

     While searching the microfilmed Cleveland area newspapers for items about my ancestors, I came across an unexpected resource, a published list of Ohio pension activity.  I don't have the exact date or name of the newspaper, as I just copied it for fun, but I believe the year was 1899.  Looking at the towns listed, it appears that the article covers pensioners across the state.

     Perhaps similar articles appeared in other locations at regular intervals, and would be a great way of locating information between census years.

Lambert Eckerson: party animal?

     Over the years, I've come to think of my distant ancestors as not having much dimension.  While I admire them tremendously for facing the hard work, financial setbacks, and personal loss many of them experienced, none of what I learned about them suggested much time devoted to "fun."  As genealogists, we access things like census, land, court, and vital records, most of which make for matter-of-fact reading.  The pictures available to us are usually formal poses, with the subjects frozen into rather stern expressions.

     So, imagine the jolt I got, when I read the following article published in the Hornellsville (NY) Weekly Tribune of 20 October 1899.  It reprints an advertisement for a dance to be held in January of 1847, with tickets available "at the bar" for $1.50.  My ancestor, Lambert Eckerson, is listed among the managers of the committee hosting the event, which started at 1:00 p.m. and continued into the following morning.  The 1899 comment is that the venue was "the hottest old place in that section of the county." 

     Lambert Eckerson, 1821-1903, was almost two years away from his wedding to Harriet Graves at the time of the dance.  Would she have been allowed to attend such an event?  She would have been 21 at the time, but perhaps being in the vicinity of "the hottest old place" wasn't encouraged!

     Another smile when taking a peek into the lives of my ancestors.

    

Louise Coleman Dempsey, 1855-1923: hard-working single mom is nothing new

     My ancestor, Louise Coleman, used determination and hard work to make the most of life's challenges.  Born in 1855 in Rensselaer Co., NY, she married James Dempsey about 1877.  They lived for a time in Oswego, NY, near their parents, before moving to Cleveland, Ohio by 1885.  All together, seven children are known to have been born to this couple, until their marriage unraveled by the early 1890s.  Their married life was marked by regular moves into different lodgings, in the area of Cleveland surrounding the Walker Mfg. Co.  Perhaps James was employed there.  Their children were baptized at St. Colman's Catholic Church, which served the Irish community.  It  still operates today.
     At some point in the early 1900s, Louise and her two youngest children struck out for Chicago, where Louise worked as a "practical nurse" and midwife.  She was said to have received an inheritance from someone in New York, which made it possible for her to obtain the training.  This was no doubt her brother, Civil War veteran John Henry Coleman, who left her $1300 in his will upon his death in 1891.
     I believe that Louise wasn't on the best of terms with the remainder of her family in New York, because she expressed a disinterest in ever going back to visit, or in maintaining contact.  Perhaps something about the man she chose to marry wasn't acceptable, or perhaps pride kept her from going back.
     Louise never remarried, and died in California on a visit to her son James in 1923.  She is buried in River Grove Cemetery in Cook County, Illinois.  Although no marker is visible today, Louise was certainly remembered by her descendants as being a strong and loving woman.

Probate proceedings: why aren't they all like this?!?

     We've all had great hopes of placing our ancestors in an earlier generation by using wills and probate proceedings.  Unfortunately, too often some hazy terms are used such as "his wife," or "his children."  Sometimes, however, we are surprised by the amount of detail that's been meticulously added.  Here is an example from Van Buren County, Iowa, and the estate of my ancestor, George Channell, who died in 1898.  Note that every heir is named, along with relationship, residence and age.  It isn't as though these are young children, either.  This is an excellent means of confirming information I'd collected from other sources.
     A further example of the benefit of collecting ALL available data, not just listings out of indexes or abstracts.  This comes via microfilmed copies available via the Family History Library.  I viewed them in Salt Lake City, but the film can be ordered online for viewing at local Family History Centers.

Debt as an unexpected research tool

     After 32 years of researching my ancestors, I've begun to focus on organizing what I've already done, how well I've done it (or not), making digital copies of various materials, and creating a system for finding my way through the mountain of data.  Along the way, I've discovered that, in my earlier race backward in time collecting ancestors, there are many instances where I should have slowed down and consulted valuable resources for a more complete picture of the people, places, and periods in history.
     A recent research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City gave me an opportunity to take a second look at some better resources.  Instead of acting on my first impulse, which is to yank a book of abstracts off the shelf, and check the index for my surname (we've all done it), I cranked through an unindexed, microfilmed copy of probate records for the years 1804-1817, in the Westminster District of Windham County, Vermont.  Vermont sometimes has more than one probate district per county, as is the case here.  These are the records of events written as they happened, not a later, typed version.  My original intent was to find something about a particular probate, but found an unexpected bonanza by accident.
     I stopped randomly on the pages of  records concerning the estate of Dr. Levi Sabin, in 1809, which gave incredible details of the community.  Among the lists of assets were notations of amounts due the estate by various individuals.  There were literally pages of these lists.  I suspect that the doctor had performed medical services on credit, and these made up a number of  notes due at the time of his death.  At the bottom of one page, I found my ancestor, Selah Graves, owing $14.05.  On the same page is his wife Sabra's brother, Ralph Roundy, as well as a member of the Emory family, which is another family connection.  Other pages list allied surnames, many of which appear next in western New York, where the next generation settled.
     The lists are a perfect snapshot of who lived in the community of Springfield, Vermont in the early 1800s. A name found on something like this is a good way to place a family on their trek in and out of communities between census years.  The FHC film number is 29150.
     I was interested in Dr. Sabin to the point of looking further into his life.  A number of applications have been submitted to the Sons of the American Revolution, based on the service of his father, Elisha Sabin.  Levi Sabin was born in 1764, died in 1808.  His marriage to Barbara Stearns occurred in 1790, in Rockingham, VT:  they produced a large family.  His estate appraisal also gives a couple of pages of medical books.
     Being in debt isn't a pleasant notion, but in this case, it proved a surprisingly useful tool; I plan to revisit this source for more happy accidents.