Calgon, Take Me Away

Remember those old commercials?  The saying still goes.  I need distraction from current events.  My concentration is not great at this point, but I have to say it's better than it was earlier in the week.  I am trying to avoid Facebook, Twitter and the news networks.  I haven't been able to watch my soapie (Young and the Restless) for two days because of news interruption.  But I've had Criminal Minds, Blue Bloods and Mom to take my mind off of things.

I've been a genealogist for almost thirty years.  The last few years, I haven't done a lot with my family tree or that of my husband.  I started doing research for the National Orphan Train Complex and spend my days looking for birth families and the stories of the children who rode Orphan Trains.  It is challenging work, unlike regular genealogy.  It takes concentration and the ability to pick up on small, subtle clues.  I have not had the ability to do either the last few days.  Yesterday, I found myself staring at a news conference, with my laptop on my lap.  Ancestry and Newspapers were open, but unused.  I tried to shake it off, but wasn't very successful.  I was absentmindedly flipping between pages.  Somehow I wounld up on my trees on Ancestry and started to wander, occasionally clicking the leaves to see what new wonders awaited my attention.  Eventually, I got lost among the leaves, playing with ancestors that had been neglected for over four years.  Things started clicking in my brain and I was actually able to solve a few mysteries!

Evelena Augusta (Mitchell) Turner
Sims Hessee Jacobs Ross
Oberg Moore
AKA Leapin' Lena

My husband's great grandmother, known affectionately among the family as Leapin' Lena, was married seven times.  I had complete information on the first two (number two was his great-grandfather), but the others, well, all I had was a name.  I actually found a marriage license for one of them and FindAGrave information on three others.  It was a silly little task, nothing super important, but it gave me an incredible sense of accomplishment.  And most importantly, it got me back into a researching frame of mind.

Are you a long time genealogist?  Maybe during this time of isolation and stress, you should wander through your family tree.  Revisit your old research.  New items are being added to Ancestry and FamilySearch daily.  Check to see what new items are available.  Same with Newspapers.com.  New papers are added daily, see if you can find some delightful little clips about your ancestors daily lives, obituaries, marriages, births, special anniversaries.  Give it a try.  You may be shocked and surprised what new information you can add to your family tree.  And it was wonderful to be swept away from the news and the stresses of daily life right now.  Go spend the afternoon with your ancestors.  You won't be sorry. 

How to Pass the Time

Quarantine.  For our ancestors, I am sure the word was terrifying.  No antibiotics, no immunizations and if your little ones caught whatever dread disease was making the rounds, there was a good chance you'd lose at least one of them.  The other day a photo of a tombstone was posted in the Kansas History Geeks Facebook group. The stone is in Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence, Kansas.  It tells a tragic tale.  It reads:

Beloved Children

Shepp Stone, Oakhill Cemetery, Lawrence, KS
(Photo Courtesy of Melissa Luann Miller)

Charles M.

Born Feb. 21, 1873,

Died Nov. 1, 1884.

------

Edith A.

Born Oct. 25, 1877,

Died Nov. 15, 1884.

------

Mary E.

Born Sep. 3, 1871,

Died Nov. 22, 1884.

------

William H.

Born Oct. 27, 1879

Died Dec. 3, 1884

-----

Joseph W.

Born Apr. 4, 1870

Died Dec. 8, 1884

-----

Children of 

B. & M.I. Shepp.

Lawrence Daily Journal, Thursday, 11 December 1884

I searched and found a few newspaper clippings that told the tale of the Shepp children.  They all died of diphtheria.  Their father had also suffered from the disease, but he recovered.  I cannot imagine the despair of Mrs. Shepp, nursing her husband and babies and burying almost all of them, one by one.  

Thankfully we live in a much more advanced time.  As children, most of us received immunizations against diphtheria and other diseases that took so many in the past.  As I type this blog post, scientists all over the world are working to create an immunization for COVID-19.  With the amazing technology we have today, I have no doubt that they will come up with something soon.  Until then, we need to stay home.  Instead of quarantine, it's now called "Social Distancing".  So settle in at home. Get cozy.  Read a good book you've been neglecting.  Write a letter.  Start a journal.  Or, better yet, work on your genealogy!

Have you started looking into your ancestors?  No better time than the present to get started.  All you need is your computer, internet access and maybe a pen and paper to jot down notes.  You can get free trial memberships to most genealogy sites that you can use for the week or two you are home.  If you think it's something you might really get into, download a free trial genealogy software program to help you keep track.  I use RootsMagic and they have a great free version.  If you really get into genealogy, I recommend upgrading to the paid version, for there are so many cool features in it.  

Start with yourself.  Put in your birth date and location.  Then go to your spouse and add your children.  Once your immediate family is in, it's time to start climbing that family tree.  Put in your parents.  ALWAYS use maiden names, so put in your dad and your mom with her maiden name.  Add their birth dates, marriage information, your siblings.  Type in their death and burial information if pertinent.  Pick a parent and go back another generation.  Keep going until you've put in all you know.  You can search for burial information on www.findagrave.com.  It's a free site - go ahead and register so you can add information, put on memorial flowers and create memorials for those without them.  

Ancestry.com is the granddaddy of genealogy websites.  There is a plethora of amazing information there, but it needs to be used with caution.  Don't just copy information from other people's family trees.  I make it a practice to not even look at other trees.  So many people don't pay close attention to the people they are adding to their trees and there are so many mistakes in them.  Stick with the actual records - census, birth records, marriage licenses, city directories, death certificates.  Another site that is awesome for genealogy is familysearch.org.  It is entirely free, but you'll need to register before you use it.  It is the site run by the LDS church and they have millions of church records and other primary sources digitized.  As with Ancestry, stay away from the user added family trees.  

If you live here in Kansas, you have free access to all Kansas newspapers on www.newspapers.com.  You will need to access the site by first going to the Kansas State Historical Society page. (www.kshs.org).  Click on Research.  Then click Digital Newspapers.  You'll find the link on that page.  You will be required to put your driver's license or KS ID number in.  They aren't trying to steal your identity or anything.  They just want to confirm that you are indeed a Kansas resident.  The glorious thing is that ALL KANSAS NEWSPAPERS, that's right, ALL OF THEM, are digitized and online up to about 1922!!!  Take some time and read some of the old newspapers in the town your ancestors lived in, during their lifetimes.  It is so much fun to read old papers and find out who great granddad palled around with or what social organizations grandma took part in.  Times were different and they put EVERYTHING in the paper:  Sunday dinners; card parties; family reunions.  It's all there, waiting for you to find it.  

Take the time to visit your ancestors.  You'll learn so much about where you come from and who made you the person you are.  It's a great way to spend some free time and keep your mind occupied.  I use my research time to escape daily and have for almost three years while I am at home caring for my aging parents. You wanna get away?  Give genealogy a try.  You won't be sorry. 

#52Ancestors - Independent

                Permelia Ann Garvin.  My great-great-great grandmother.  She was a woman of mystery in some aspects.  But she was taught independence at a young age and spent many years surviving on her own.  Once I learned about her life, I developed a great admiration for her.

  Permelia was born on the 28^th of December 1811 in Lincoln County, Kentucky.  She was the older daughter of Jane Garvin and some unknown man.  Some in the family say her father’s surname was also Garvin and that they weren’t related.  I have often wondered if Jane and her daughter’s father were married at all.  Maybe someday we will find out.  Jane gave birth to a second daughter, Cynthia, in 1814.  Around the time of Cynthia’s birth, family legend says the girls’ father passed away.  Jane and her little girls moved in with her parents.  Her father, Isaac Garvin, was a Revolutionary War Veteran.  Her mother was Jane (Huston) Garvin.  Isaac and Jane played big roles in the raising of their granddaughters.  On the 10^th of April 1828, when Permelia was sixteen years old she married Hardin Thomas, a sixteen-year-old boy from the same neighborhood.   Isaac Garvin bestowed upon them a costly wedding gift, obviously a doting grandpa.

Copied from a badly damaged 

tintype, we are sure this is 

Permelia (Garvin) Thomas with

her infant twins; James and George.

Permelia gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Mary Jane, on the 1^st of November 1829.  Little Mary Jane died one month and two days later.  On July 20, 1831, son John was born.  Winston (my great-great grandfather) was born on 30 June 1833.  The last of their children to be born in Kentucky was daughter Nancy Jane on 9 January 1836. 

The family moved to Saline County, Missouri and there welcomed son Isaac (born 18 February 1838); William Pemberton (born 27 Oct 1840); Richard Pemberton (born 20 Feb 1842).  They moved on to Linn County, Missouri where an unnamed baby girl was born on the 27^th of August 1845 and died 16 October 1845.  Their son John died on the 18^th of May 1846.  On the 13^th of April 1847 in Saline County, Missouri, Permelia gave birth to her last children – twin boys named George Garvin Thomas and James Garvin Thomas. 

Hardin Thomas in a 

tintype taken shortly

before his death.

During Permelia’s last pregnancy, Hardin Thomas signed up and fought in the Mexican-American War.  When he returned home, he was not the same.  He was ill and he died of that illness on September 13, 1848.  His death location is unknown – it is believed it was either Saline or Linn County, Missouri since the family had moved back and forth between the two places for several years.  He was only 37 years-old. 

From then on, Permelia and her children were on their own.  Son Isaac died September 10, 1854.  Shortly after his death, Permelia packed up her kids and moved west to Doniphan County in the Territory of Kansas.  She settled near the Missouri River.  Her older sons helped her with the farm work.  Nancy Jane, her only surviving daughter, helped with housework and watching over the little ones.  Permelia never re-married, focusing her life on her children.  She passed away at her home near Wathena, KS on the 9^th of February 1869 at the age of 57.  She rests at Bellmont Cemetery at Wathena, her grave on the top of a hill, eventually overlooking the graves of two of her sons. 

What an amazing woman.  It was difficult during that time for a woman to be able to provide for a family.  Jobs for women were few and far between and those that were available paid very little.  She somehow managed to keep her children fed and clothed.  She was independence personified. 

#52Ancestors - Legend

The Marcel Balthazor family in about 1886.  L to R: Mary,

Marcel with Philip on his knee, Georgianna standing, Eli, Julia

holding daughter Rosie and Eli.

The legend in our family was not a happy one.  Scott’s great-great grandparents, Marcel and Julia Balthazor were the parents of 14 children, with only 7 surviving to adult hood.  It has been one of the biggest research tasks I’ve undertaken, finding those lost babies.  According to family legend, Marcel and Julia were the parents of a set of twins – one boy and one girl – and they were drug to death by horses out at the family farm near Clifton, Kansas.   I searched for YEARS and was able to come up with the names and birth dates of most of the missing babies, but could not find a set of twins.  I went through old newspapers, county death records, cemetery records and Catholic church records.  I found nothing. 

Photo of Mary Balthazor,
taken in Marshall, MN

                I had been working on the family genealogy for a good twenty years when I went to a Talbot family reunion in Greenleaf Kansas.   Julia Balthazor was born a Talbot.  One of the other family researchers had a table of unidentified photos.  I was going through them one by one when I saw a familiar face.  It was Marcel and Julia’s daughter, Mary Balthazor.  The background didn’t look like the one at the studio in Clyde, Kansas that the family usually used.  I looked down at the studio name and found that the photo had been taken in Marshall, Minnesota.  So, I thought, Mary must have gone to Marshall to visit her older sister Georgianna Dandurand who was married and living there. 

                More years passed with no further information on the missing children.  About five years ago, I got a subscription to Newspapers.com.  I was like a kid in a candy store!  I searched for all of the obits I needed and looked for tidbits of juicy information that would have been impossible to find the old fashioned way of scrolling through microfilm.  One day it hit me, I should search for Georgianna in Minnesota.  What I found took my breath away.

St. Paul Globe,
Wed. 15 July 1896

              The newspaper was the St. Paul Globe, published on Wednesday, July 15^th, 1896.  The head line on page one was DRAGGED TO DEATH.  That sick feeling in the pit of my stomach told me I had found the answer.  As I read the article, my heart ached for all of those involved. 

                Marcel and Julia and their children moved to Marshall for a year or so to live closer to their oldest daughter and her family.  On July 14, their two youngest daughters, Annie and Celia, their youngest son Philip (my husband’s great grandfather) and Georgianna’s oldest daughter Rosana were playing in the yard.  Twelve year-old Philip was herding cattle with a pony.  His sisters Annie, age 5, and Celia, age 4 and his little niece Rosanna (four days from her fifth birthday) were playing in the yard with him.  They played a game, where Philip tied the little girls up with rope and tied the rope to the saddle of the pony.  It was a game they played often.  This time, something happened and the pony got spooked.  It took off at a run, dragging the three little girls behind it.  It was a half a mile before the Dandurand’s neighbor, a Mr. Gaffney, was able to stop the runaway pony.  Celia was already dead.  Rosana died just after the doctor’s arrival.  Annie was injured, but she survived.  Celia and Rosana were buried at Mt. Cavalry Cemetery in Marshall, Minnesota.  Not long after this tragedy, the Balthazor family moved back to their Kansas homestead. 

Annie Balthazor as a teen

                Such a tragic story.  I knew when I started looking that it would be sad.  But the true story made my heart hurt for poor Philip.  How did he live with that all of his life?  Apparently he never talked of it, for the   I have been unable to contact any of Annie’s descendants.  I am curious if she carried scars all of her life, mental or physical.  Someday, the last pieces will fall into place and I’ll have the whole story. 

story that was passed down through the family was not much like what really happened.

#52Ancestors - Out of Place

            I have written about my husband’s great-great grandparents before.  Marcel and Julia (Talbot) Balthazor have always intrigued me and I have done more work on that family than any others.  Partly because they interest me so much, partly because they were close and the research is easy for me but mostly because of the mystery of their missing children.  When I first started researching, other researchers knew that Julia had given birth to 14 children, but they only had the information on the six children that stayed local and lived to adulthood.  I spent years looking and finally came up with the names of all fourteen and their baptisms.  One of the missing was Georgianna, who married Frederick Dandurand and moved to Marshall, Minnesota with her husband.  Georgie died in her thirties after childbirth. 

            Family lore said that Marcel and Julia were the parents of twins that were accidentally drug to death by horses at their homestead near Clifton, Kansas.  I never could find any evidence locally of this and there were no twins born to them. 

Mary Balthazor, taken in Marshall, MN
in 1897

            After years and years of a dead end, I stumbled on to a clue.  I went to a Talbot family reunion.  Julia was a Talbot and her siblings lived in the Greenleaf area.  Their descendants all gathered once a year to have a wonderful potluck, share stories and talk about ancestry.   One of the family members brought a box of unidentified photos and laid them out on a table, hoping someone could put names with the faces.  I went through the photos and was able to name a few.  But one photo took me by surprise.  It was Julia and Marcel’s daughter Mary, a beautiful full portrait.  It was a cabinet card and I was taken by surprise when I looked at the studio.  This photo had been taken in Marshall, Minnesota.  Someone had written “Mary” and “1897” on the back.   Had Mary gone to visit her older sister? 

            That’s all I could find for a while.   And then came Newspapers.com.  I decided to search for Marcel and Julia in Minnesota.  Maybe the family had taken a trip to see Georgianna and her family.   That was when I hit pay dirt. 

St. Paul, MN Globe
Wed. 15 July 1896

            Apparently Marcel and Julia and their seven youngest moved to Marshall for a year or so.  They lived very near Georgianna and her family.  On July 13th 1896, their two littlest girls, Anna, who had just turned 6 and four-year-old Celia were playing with their niece, Georgianna’s oldest daughter Rosanna, who’s fifth birthday was only five days away were playing.  One of the Balthazor boys was working for a neighbor, herding his cattle.  The article did not mention the boy by name, but it said he was around eleven.  Scott’s great grandfather, Philip, had just turned twelve.    Philip and the girls played a game where he tied a picket rope around each of their waists and hooked the ropes to the saddle of a tame pony.  Philip would mount the pony and ride slowly and the girls walked along behind.   This time, something went horribly wrong.  Before Philip could mount the pony, something scared it and it took off at a run.  The girls were dragged along behind the fleeing horse.  Philip tried to catch the pony but was unable to.  It ran over rough ground until it got the neighbor’s home and he caught the pony.  He and his wife untied the girls.  They sent for a doctor.  Anna, the oldest of the three was slightly injured.  The two little ones didn’t fare so well.  Their arms and legs were broken and their skulls crushed.  One of the girls died before the doctor arrived, the other shortly after.  Rosanna and Celia are buried together in the Catholic Cemetery at Marshall. 

            In the next year, Marcel and Julia packed up their family and moved back to their homestead in Kansas.  Through the years, the story of the deaths of the girls was told and word of mouth changed the story to twins dying at the farm.  The short time the family lived in Minnesota was forgotten.  It took years of research and subtle little hints to find any traces of it at all.  Now the family knows the true story and Rosanna and Celia will not be forgotten again.

           

#52Ancestors - In My DNA

                I have a few good traits and some bad as well, and each one can be traced back through my family tree to my ancestors.   Each nationality is known for certain personality traits.

                Two years ago, I finally sent in my DNA sample for testing.  I haven’t spent a lot of time with it, I haven’t had the time.  But, according to my DNA report 81% of my ancestors come from Western Europe – primarily England and Germany.  12% is Scottish and Irish and 7% is Norwegian.

                From my German ancestors, I received the gift (curse?) of punctuality.  I am one of those people who HAS to be early for everything.  I cannot tolerate being late, and those who are perpetually late grate on my nerves.   My younger son still does not understand it and tries to stall so we arrive just on time or (GASP!) LATE!!!   I am not sure who is going to win this battle of wills, but I am afraid there might be a fatality! 

                My German line is also responsible for my love of tradition.  There are many family traditions that I continue, even though no one else seems too interested anymore.  At Christmas, each stocking must have an apple and an orange, which is tradition passed down from my mother’s parents and their ancestors.  Each stocking also contains flavored syrup for milk, passed down through my husband’s family.  Traditions are important to me, helping me keep the memory of those ancestors alive. 

                I inherited my craftiness from the Germans in my line.  Many famous inventions were created by German natives.  There is not much I enjoy more than sitting down and getting crafty, be it with a glue gun, scrapbook, counted cross stitch, paint and wood or making decoupage tiles.  Let me create!

                From those who immigrated to the US from my British progenitors, I inherited one good trait and a couple of my more questionable ones.  I am a caring person, always wanting to help or take care of people and things. They also passed down to me an extreme stubborn streak and the sarcasm and wit that I passed on to my two sons. 

                Even though Scotland and Ireland only represent a total of 12% of my ancestry, they passed down to me more traits than the British and Germans.  My roots in Scotland run very deep, clear back to Robert the Bruce.  Through this line I inherited superstition, sentiment and spirituality.  Sentiment and spirituality help me be a better genealogist.  Sometimes I swear I can feel my ancestors guiding my way and aiding me in finding them.  I get sentimental, wanting to find the whole story, not just stop with their names and dates.  I have the Scottish appreciation of the arts – music, drama, photography.  My Scottish ancestors were social and friendly when they got to know people, but introverted before that.   One of the more questionable traits they gave me was a great enjoyment of food, and it shows around my waistline!

                From Ireland I got an obsession with the weather.  I may not watch the news every day, but I do make sure I catch the weather daily.  I have three weather apps on my phone.  I’ve taken storm spotter classes and in college I took a class in meteorology.  I also received an overprotective streak.  I baby the boys (one is 30, the other is 14).  I’m not sure how many times my husband has said “you need to cut the cord!”  I’m doing better with my older son, but the younger one is still my cub and mama bear is ever watchful.  And perhaps my worst personality trait came from Ireland: procrastination.  I put everything off.  If I need to have a program done, I finish it the day before it is due.  I’m not as bad as I used to be, but I still have a long way to go.

             

An eagle I photographed on one of our morning rides.

   My as-yet-unknown Norwegian ancestors gave me a pretty wonderful trait, too.  I love nature.  I enjoy sitting on a pond bank, watching the grasses wave in the wind and the water lap the shore.  We take rides each weekend, looking for wildlife and beautiful sunrises to photograph.    

                My DNA makes me who I am and those who came before me all contributed.  I appreciate them and work to find each one and preserve their stories for those who will come later.  Alexander McQueen stated, “It’s good to know where you come from.  It makes you what you are today.  It’s DNA.  It’s in the blood.”

                In my blood runs the blood of thousands.  Brave women who raised their children on new frontiers.  Hard working men who took care of those women and children.  Soldiers and sailors. Doctors and farmers.  Mothers and milliners.  Their blood, their personality traits course through my veins, making me the person I am.  Without them, I would not be here. 

#52Ancestors - Brick Wall - Tutes Was a Builder

Susan Jane (Briggs) Thomas with her four
youngest children.  Frank (in back), twins
Charles (L) and Tutes (R) and baby
Winston Cleveland, who would pass away
soon after this photo.

          Since I already wrote about my biggest brick wall ancestor, I decided to take a different route.  I want to write this week about my great-grandfather who BUILT brick walls.

           William Oscar Thomas was born on the 7^th of February 1886 at the family home near Fanning, Kansas.  He was a twin, his brother was named Charles Owen.  The twins were the tenth and eleventh children of twelve children born to Winston and Susan Jane (Briggs) Thomas.  Four of their older siblings had died as infants.  Luckily, both of the twins survived. 

                      

         While just an infant, William earned the nickname that would follow him all his life.  Some never knew his true name, they only knew him by his nickname.  As he slept in his cradle, one of his uncles looked down at him and said, “He looks just like my old hound dog Tutes.”  And so it was.  William Oscar Thomas became Tutes Thomas.

Tutes and Ada's Wedding Photo

                Tutes attended country schools until eighth grade, which was quite common for the time.  In 1901, father Winston passed away.  Tutes, Charles and older brother Frank took over running the family farm and helping their mother. 

                On the 25^th of August in 1907, Tutes married Ada Veretta Whetstine.  Ada was the youngest daughter of Anson and Sarah (Graves) Whetstine.  On March 29, 1908 they welcomed their first son (my grandfather), Harley Algernon Taft Thomas.  Four years later their second and last child was born, Oscar Anson Thomas, born 14 March 1912. 

                On the 1910 census, Tutes gave his occupation as a farmer.  When he registered for the World War I draft, his occupation was carpenter.  This was the occupation he would have the rest of his life.  Tutes was a builder. 

                Tutes, Ada and the boys moved to Horton, Kansas after the dam on Mission Lake broke in June of 1925.  Their first home was a rental at 1445 1^st Avenue West, where they were still living in 1930.  They paid $12.50 a month rent.

The Civic Center at the Fair Grounds in Horton

         Tutes’ first job in Horton was reconstruction of the dam and spillway at Mission Lake.  He also did work for the WPA, constructing the big barn at the fair ground as a part of that.  He built bridges in the area in between houses and buildings.  He built three homes in Horton, the Indian Agency building and the fair barn (Civic Center).  His final project was construction of the Upper Wolf Lutheran  Church near Robinson, Kansas.

The Indian Agency building on 1st Avenue East in Horton

                  The family moved to 1245 5^th Avenue West in Horton in the 1930's.  The property came with a large barn, where Tutes had a work bench.   Tutes loved working with his hands.  He carved and created all kinds of clever things.  He made clocks, guns, crossbows, buckets, dust pans and more.  He carved on stone as well, creating tombstones for his parents, Ada’s parents and his grandson who died shortly after birth.  He had also created an incubator for little Gerry before he passed away.   He spent so much time in the barn, either creating or just sitting in the doorway, that the barn swallows became his friends.  He could sit there for hours and the swallows barely knew he was there.  He also loved the wild yellow roses that perfumed the air around the house each summer.

Tutes Thomas on one of his job sites
(Standing in doorway)

The Landau home in Horton, designed and built by Tutes Thomas

Upper Wolfe Lutheran Church near Robinson, KS

                Tutes had been a heavy smoker all of his life and developed emphysema.  He passed away on the 18^th of June in 1963 at Horton Hospital.  I never got to meet Grandpa Tutes and so wish that I had.  I have heard so many wonderful stories about him from so many different people.  Even though I never knew him, the legacy he left is still in Horton and Robinson and I drive by the buildings he built each time I visit my hometown.  I also leave yellow roses at his grave each Memorial Day.