#52Ancestors - At the Library

I started climbing the family tree almost thirty years ago.  When my older son was a toddler, I decided I wanted him to know who and where he came from.  So my passion (obsession) for genealogy started then.  It started in the days before Ancestry, FamilySearch, heck I didn’t even have the internet then!  I had to do it the hard way.  I mailed lots of letters and self-addressed, stamped envelopes.  When we had the time and extra money, we made trips to the counties ancestors lived in and spent a day at the courthouse looking for marriage licenses, probate cases and land records and wandering through cemeteries.  My husband Scott has never been really interested but he is a great helper.  He’s the official driver, is able to find everything and is an excellent cemetery explorer.  Good times!

                I spent countless hours at the local library scanning microfilm.  I borrowed microfilm of newspapers on interlibrary loan to get obituaries for ancestors.  Our genealogical society has a nice collection of books on other areas as well and I spent time digging through those for information as well.  I have made some of my most important finds at the Frank Carlson Library.  I also had some of the strangest things occur there.

                One day I was looking through the books for other states, trying to find information on some long distant ancestor.  A book fell off the shelf and hit me, falling open to a certain page.  I looked at that page and it was about the person I was looking for!  It was like he wanted to be found and had to let me know I wasn’t looking in the right place.

                Another day I was whizzing through microfilm, looking for a certain date.  I wanted to see if there was an article on the Fiftieth Anniversary celebration for Marcel & Julia (Talbot) Balthazor (see week 4).  Their marriage license reported their wedding date as October 28^th.  So I was heading for mid-October to start the hunt.  I sped through and stopped the film to see where I was and how far I needed to go and there, right in the middle of the screen, was a fuzzy newspaper photo of Marcel and Julia!  The important thing to note here is that I probably would not have found it any other way.  I was looking for a late October celebration.  They celebrated their anniversary in late September!  This article was two weeks before where I was going to start looking. 

(The photo of Marcel and Julia Balthazor that I stumbled onto) 

                One of the librarians likes to tell a story about me.  She was working the day I was there trying to prove a family legend and find the death of my great-great grandfather, Noah Frank Hedrick.  The family story said it was a cold, wet spring and he was out working the fields.  He caught pneumonia and died.  We had no date other than 1908.  I borrowed the Linn Creek, Missouri newspaper on interlibrary loan and started reading the paper in January.  I found mentions of the family in the Honey Run column.  In that column, the writer talked of the cold, wet weather.  And then I found a mention that Frank Hedrick was ill.  I couldn’t control my enthusiasm and the stillness of the library was broken by my excited “Oh boy!  My grandpa is sick!”  The next week, the column talked of more weather woes and mentioned that Frank Hedrick was no better.  She said I was bouncing in the chair by this point, making delighted little “tee hee hee” noises.   Then in the May 22, 1908 issue of the Linn Creek Reveille, I found the notice of his death.  My friend said this find was accompanied by a satisfied “YES!”  Other, more experienced family historians had looked for his date of death and not found it and I had it!  I was still a novice and this was a major event for me.

                When I would have a bad day at work, I’d head to the library afterward and just read some of the old newspapers on microfilm.  It was always therapy to just sit and read about what life was like way back when, when life was simple. 

                It is so convenient to be able to pull up Newspapers.com and read newspapers at home and to be able to search by name instead of having to read every issue looking for tidbits.  It is wonderful to be able to pull up actual records on Ancestry and FamilySearch.  But nothing beats a good day at the library.

#52Ancestors - I'd Like to Meet....

                There are many people in the family tree I’d love to meet and visit with, but one stands out among the rest.  She isn’t even in my direct line.  She is my husband’s great-great grandmother.  She lived through so much and I have always been drawn to her.

                Julia Talbot was born 11 August 1847 in Henryville, Quebec, Canada.  She was the oldest child of Gedeon and Flavie (Provost) Talbot.  When Julia was around ten years old, the Talbot family moved to Kankakee County, Illinois.   Many French Canadians were moving to the area at that time.  On the 28^th of October 1866 Julia married Marcel Balthazor, also a French Canadian transplant to Kankakee County. 

                Julia was a petite woman, like her mother, but she didn’t let her size hold her back.  Julia was a strong woman.  She gave birth to fourteen children over the course of 25 years.  Marcel and Julia moved from Kankakee County in 1870, settling in Washington County, Kansas between the towns of Clifton and Clyde.  They owned quite a bit of land, including a half section in her name (not common back in those days).  Reading the agricultural census gives us insight into the work Julia did around the homestead.  In the year 1884, she made 500 pounds of butter. 

               

(The Marcel Balthazor family, circa 1887.  From L to R: Mary, Marcel with Philip on his lap, Georgianna standing in back - she died at 27 after childbirth - Nels, Julia holding baby Rosie and Eli.  Julia would have two more children after this.  Annie would survive and Celia would be killed in a horrible accident at the age of 4).

Marcel and Julia retired from farming when their boys were old enough to take over the farm.  They bought a little house in Clyde that was within walking distance from the Catholic Church.  They celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary by renewing their vows and then having a big party out at their farm.  Julia’s surviving brothers and sisters were in attendance as were two of Marcel’s siblings.   Marcel passed away at the age of 80 in 1924.  Julia continued living in the little house in Clyde.  Her children stopped by regularly to visit and help her with what she needed.  Julia passed away on the 23^rd of January 1933 at the age of 85.  She and Marcel rest in the Catholic Cemetery just two blocks from their little house in town. 

(Marcel and Julia in their later years)

                Julia had a strength of spirit that amazes me.  Of the fourteen children she brought into the world, seven of them died as infants or toddlers, including five of the first six she had.   The hope she had to have as she brought another child into the world, hoping it would be healthy and she would get to raise it to an adult, and the devastation of having to bury another child.  Family legend tells us that one of the babies was born while Marcel was gone driving a freight wagon into Nebraska.  She had the baby on her own, the baby died and she took care of the burial, all alone.   Five of the first six.  I don’t think I could have gone on.  But she did and had eight more babies.  She had her last daughter when she was forty-four years old.  It took years to find the births of each of the children and their names.  I have searched for fifteen years for the locations her babies are buried and have only found one of the seven that died.  Nothing in church records, nothing in newspapers, no family Bible to look to.  I want to ask Julia where her babies lie, so that they can be remembered.  I want to ask her how she survived the loss of those babies.  And most of all, I want her to know how much I admire her incredible strength and fortitude. 

                                                              

#52Ancestors - Unusual Name

                In over twenty-five years of working on the family genealogy, I have stumbled upon some mighty interesting names.

                There was William and Catherine (Hisem) McVey who had nine children.  Some had nice normal names.  Some had unusual names and others were obviously named after famous folk.  The normal and slightly different were Alcy, David, Mary Ann, Ardenia, William and Elizabeth.  Then there was Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Coleman and last, but certainly not least, Commodore Perry McVey.  The name always has made me chuckle.  I could understand them naming him Perry, but Commodore Perry was pretty unusual.  Benjamin Franklin McVey had several children, most with fairly normal names.  However he had two sons that were not normal: Marion Elijah and Vincilius F. McVey. 

                Another unusual name in the family tree was a boy, born on the 11^th of May 1901 in Ada, Oklahoma Territory.  His daddy named him Terry Tory Bland in reference to the fact that he was born on Oklahoma Territory. 

                There are the old New England names as well: Grizzell Coleman, Mehitable Dickinson, Patience Job and Experience Church.

                My husband’s great-great grandfather had an unusual name.  When I first started tracking down the family history this man was a mystery.  All I had for a name was M. E. Mitchell.  I checked census records and all kinds of important documents.  All said M. E. Mitchell.  Newspaper clippings?  M. E. Mitchell.  Once in a while they would put in Erv.  Finally, I stumbled on to it, and I understood completely why he used his initials.  His full name was Mordecai Erwin Mitchell.  His granddaughter told me he hated the name and never used it.  He was named after his father’s brother.  M.E. Mitchell is in the photo below.

 

                Out of all of these names, the most unusual has to be Halfhide. It’s one of those names that is incredibly simple to say and spell, however it is often mispronounced.  I grew up in the small town of Horton, Kansas, which is next to the Kickapoo Indian Reservation.  When my folks were asked who I was marrying, they would tell the person and the first thing they were asked was “Is he Native American?”    The name is actually English and we think it comes from one of the early ancestors owning half a hide of land (a hide is a land measurement in England).  There was one Halfhide family to come to the US and every Halfhide that is here is related somehow.  The name is very rare and easy to research.  Sometimes unusual is better!

#52 Ancestors - Challenge

It took me awhile to decide who was I was going to write about as my Challenge subject.  I have several.  But the one I kept coming back to was my third great grandmother, Emelia (Lee) Whetstine.  Unfortunately, I don't even have a photo of her to share with this post.

I have had several people in the old family tree who have presented me with challenges in finding information about them.  However none have been as challenging as my third great grandmother, Emelia (Lee) Whetstine. 

                The Whetstine line has been interesting anyway.  There were two men named Mathias Whetstine, born around the same time.  One of them was the son of Mathias Whetstine, Senior.  Since Emelia’s husband Mathias went by Mathias Whetstine JUNIOR one would assume he was the son of the Senior.  But there are naysayers out there who say that their Mathias Whetstine was the Junior and mine was the imposter.  That should be challenge enough.  But Emelia….well, Emelia has been an altogether different story.

                Emelia Lee was born 11 October 1812 in Indiana.  Who were her parents?  Well, that is a very good question!  Emelia married Mathias Whetstine Junior on 21 August 1834 in Morgan County, Indiana. In Indiana, they welcomed five of their six children: Rufus (18 August 1838), Enoch (7 Dec 1839), Catherine (25 July 1842), Thomas (born in 1845) and John (1 Nov 1848).  From there they moved to Washington County, Iowa where my great-great grandfather was born, Anson Dunham Whetstine, born 24 October 1854.  From the large gaps between several of the children, I imagine that there may have been other children born to them that did not survive, just another mystery for me to solve. 

                Around 1870 the Whetstine family moved to Washington County, Kansas, less than an hour from my current home.  Emelia passed away on the 7^th of May 1887 near Linn, Kansas.  Mathias died twelve years later.  Mathias was a GAR member as he had enlisted and fought in the Civil War at nearly 50 years old! 

                I spent hours in Washington County, Kansas looking for any type of clue as to who Emelia’s parents were.  Nothing.  I looked for an obituary.  None.  Just a tiny little mention that she had died.  I tracked each of her children, hoping for some little tidbit to give me a clue. 

                Finally, in the Clay County Kansas County History book, in a biograph of her grandson I found a clue.  It talked about Mathias Junior being the son of Mathias Senior (go figure), Mathias Junior’s enlistment in the same company has his son Enoch during the Civil War and the following sentence: “He married Emelia Lee, whose father was a brother of Colonel Lee, a well-known pioneer circus man.”  YIPPEEE!!!  The clue I needed, right?  How hard can it be to track down a well-known pioneer circus man?  Well, it is a lot harder than one would think.  I spent more hours trying to track down the infamous Colonel Lee and found nothing for him either. 

                Eventually I hope to break through the Lee family brick wall.  New records and newspapers are added to digital archives daily.  Occasionally I go back and search for Emelia and her famous uncle again.  One day this challenge will just be a memory.  A frustrating, infuriating memory!

#52Ancestors - First

I accepted Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors challenge this year.  I spend so much time researching others, my own family has been neglected.  I am using this challenge to get back in touch with my ancestors (and my husband's) one ancestor a week.  Here is my first effort.  The topic for week one was First.  For that I chose my great-grandfather, pictured below with his wife Martha Ann, daughter Melba and son (my grandfather) Vernon.  I hope you enjoy!

The first child of Noah Frank and Armeda (Bland) Hedrick was Elmer Ross Hedrick.  Elmer was born the 4^th of March in 1890 on a farm in the Ozarks near Linn Creek, Missouri.  Elmer grew up to be a tall, slim drink of water with brown hair and pale blue eyes.  About two months after his eighteenth birthday his father passed away, leaving him the man of the family.  And what a job he inherited. 

            It had been a cold, wet spring and area farmers had struggled to get their crops into the fields.  Noah had nine hungry mouths to feed so despite the inclement weather, he was out in the field.  Noah caught pneumonia and in the time before antibiotics, that was nearly always a death sentence.  Noah fought for a couple of weeks before he succumbed to the dread disease. 

            Elmer had to step into his father’s boots and finish getting the crops in, take care of the livestock and take care of his mother and siblings.  When his younger brother Guy was old enough to take over as the man of the house, Elmer went to northeast Kansas.  He got jobs to earn money.  He kept some to help get his own life started, and sent some home to his mother and siblings. 

            Elmer went home to visit in January of 1916 and on the 16^th, he married Martha Ann Shipman.  Elmer was 25 and his bride was 19.  Martha had never been out of the Ozarks, and family stories say she’d never worn shoes up to this point in her life.  They were an adorable couple with six foot tall Elmer towering over petite Martha Ann, who wasn’t even five feet tall.

Elmer married her and took her back to northeast Kansas with him.  They settled in Severance, where they became the parents of three known children.  Their first daughter, Melba Louise, was born July 28^th, 1917.   On March 13^th, 1919 son Elmer Vernon was born and on the 4^th of January 1921 they welcomed another son, Otto Kenneth. 

            In 1917, Elmer was stricken with influenza and never truly recovered.  The Kansas Chief of August 16^th, 1917 said that Elmer Hedrick was rejected for the draft due to disability.  In January of 1919 a newspaper reported that he was receiving treatments from a kidney specialist in St. Joseph, Missouri.   By this time, Elmer’s mother and siblings had moved to Robinson, Kansas.  And just after his thirty-second birthday, Elmer and his family moved there as well.  This move was most likely so that Armeda and his siblings could assist Martha Ann in Elmer’s lingering illness. It was their turn to care for him, as he had taken care of them after his father’s death.   In January of 1922, Elmer was taken to the hospital in St. Joseph.  He had been suffering from pneumonia and puss had formed in his lungs, requiring surgery.  He was in the hospital for over a month.  Elmer suffered all year long and finally passed away at his Robinson home on New Year’s Eve of 1922. 

            Elmer was the love of Martha Ann’s life.  Even though she remarried, she never loved anyone as much as she did her first husband. 

A New Beginning

This is new for me.  I've been a genealogist for more years than I care to say.  But blogging about it is something altogether new.  I don't just work on my family and my in-laws anymore.  For the last three and a half years, I have been the Head Researcher at the National Orphan Train Complex.  This work is extremely challenging.  Researching Orphan Train Riders is not quite like searching for your own roots.  It is also amazingly rewarding.  It brings me such joy to be able to connect someone with roots they didn't know anything about.  Sometimes I can't find much for people - most of the time because it is an extremely common name that is nearly impossible to track.  

I hope my blog entertains you and educates you.  I am starting out this year by doing the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by Amy Johnson Crow.  I am grateful to her for getting me in touch with my own ancestors.  It's been awhile since I dabbled with my own genealogy.