Two Birth Years in Family Lore for Minnie

 

What if family lore indicates two different dates for an ancestor's birth year? These two notes were handwritten by hubby's grandfather, Brice Larimer McClure. One of his sisters-in-law was Minnie Estella Steiner Halbedel, who died on this day in 1947, as shown in the note above (see blue line). Brice recorded Minnie's birth year as 1867 in that note.

Here's a second note, written at a different time by this same man, with Minnie's birth year recorded as 1868. 

So which year is correct? 

AI Record Finder says birth was in 1868

I asked MyHeritage's new AI Record Finder to locate church records for Minnie, providing her full name and birth place to get the process started. In response, I received several family tree records (from MyHeritage and FamilySearch), but no church records. 

Then I asked: "Show me birth info to prove Minnie's birth in 1868." The AI's response: "The records confirm that Minnie Estella Halbedel (née Steiner) was born on May 1, 1868, in Ohio. Her parents are listed as Edward George Steiner and Elizabeth Jane Steiner (born Rinehart). These details substantiate her birth date and place for your genealogical inquiry." 

Well, no. All that was shown were family trees asserting Minnie's birth year was 1868. No proof as such. Since no official birth records are available for the time and place of Minnie's birth, and church records from that time/place are scarce, how could I resolve the conflicting dates in family lore?

My research: census records, obit, death cert, gravestone

I looked at what Census data, obits, and the death cert said about Minnie's age at different points in her life, and also looked at her gravestone. I found out:

  1870 US Census - Minnie was 3 years old (implied birth year 1867)

  1880 US Census - Minnie was 13 years old (1867)

  1910 US Census - Minnie was 42 years old (Census was taken weeks before Minnie's May birthday) (1867)

  1920 US Census - Minnie was 52 years old (Census was taken weeks before Minnie's May birthday) (1867)

   1930 US Census - Minnie was 63 (Census was taken weeks before Minnie's May birthday) (1866)

   1940 US Census - Minnie was 73 (Census was taken weeks before Minnie's May birthday) (1866)

    Obituaries: Two obits noted Minnie's age as 79 when she passed away (implied birth year 1868)

    Death cert: Informant was Minnie's youngest sister, Floyda, who gave the birthday as May 1, 1868. The cert showed Minnie's age at death as 78 years, 8 months, 2 days (calculation agrees with birth year of 1868).

    Gravestone: Birth year is shown as 1867. Not the same as the death cert!

1867 or 1868?

Ordinarily, I would put more weight on what a sibling says on a death cert than on what a Census says. The informant, a sister, should know her sister's birth year. She said on the cert that it was 1868. Yet the gravestone shows the birth year as 1867, so one of the sisters or more of them believed that was the correct year.

Contemporaneous Census records of 1870-1920 point to a birth year of 1867. I put considerable weight on earlier records like these since parents are likely to know when their children were born and what their ages are.

A bit murkier: IMHO both the 1930 and 1940 US Census enumeration answers were probably meant to suggest a birth year of 1867, with the assumption that Minnie's age was "approximately 63" in 1930 and "approximately 73" in 1940. In other words, even though Minnie's birthday was a few weeks later than the date of the Census, her age was recorded as though she had already celebrated her birthday. That's what I think, anyway.

My conclusion: Minnie was almost certainly born in 1867. The detailed note about family lore most likely had the correct birth year, 1867; the briefer note about sibling birth years was most likely incorrect in asserting 1868.

Given the scant info available to MyHeritage's AI Record Finder, I understand why it told me the birth year was 1868. Yet the AI seemed so certain! Not me. I thought it was worth digging deeper. Then again, these are my husband's ancestors.

"Family lore" is the first #52Ancestors genealogy challenge of 2024 from Amy Johnson Crow. 

November Is NaGenWriMo Time

A few years ago, my husband participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), writing fiction every day during November. The idea was to set goals, and make the time to write consistently throughout the month. He found the structure helpful and motivating. 

This year, I'm participating in NaGenWriMo, which stands for National Genealogy Writing Month. Taralyn Parker Pope (@KeepMovingTara on Twitter) is giving this a social media push and I'm jumping on the bandwagon! 

Today is the kickoff. 

My goal is to write and post bite-sized bios of more ancestors on my family tree and my husband's family tree. I've already completed and posted bios for nearly all of the ancestors in our direct lines: parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and some great-greats. 

Now I'm branching out [pun intended] to write bios for aunts, uncles, and cousins in multiple generations--including spouses and partners, including infants who died young. 

I'll be posting the bios on sites like Family Search, Find a Grave, WikiTree, My Heritage, and so on. 

In the process, I'm sure I'll notice gaps in my knowledge of an ancestor and need to do a bit of additional research and attach sources before polishing a bio. That's great! 

But my main focus in November will be writing family history that I haven't written before and sharing widely because LOTS OF COPIES KEEP STUFF SAFE. 

Tuesday, day #1 of NaGenWriMo, I wrote about my hubby's great aunts and great uncles, including Carrie E. Steiner Traxler (1870-1963) and her husband John Newtown Traxler (1862-1924). 

On day #2, I wrote about two other Steiner ancestors, Etta Blanche Steiner Rhuark (1864-1956) and Minnie Estella Steiner Halbedel (1867-1947), and their husbands. Also I wrote about Lola A. McClure Lower (1877-1948) and her husband, Edward A. Lower (1873-1920).

On day #3, I wrote briefly about milliner Lucille Ethel McClure De Velde (1880-1926) and her husband, John Everett De Velde (1874-1947), a plumber. Also I added a memorial page for him on Find a Grave, based on the burial place listed on his death cert.

On day #4, after participating in the WikiTree Symposium, I wrote about Hugh Benjamin McClure (1882-1960) and his first wife, Olivette Georgianna Van Roe McClure (1885-1905). Next will be Hugh's second wife.

On day #5, while watching WikiTree Day festivities, I wrote about Rebekah V. Wilt McClure (1896-1975), the second of Hugh Benjamin McClure. Now moving on to siblings of hubby's other grandfather, Edgar James Wood.

On day #6, I wrote about Lucy Maria Kize Wood (1851-70) and her brother Alfred Olando Wood (1855-1895), and will continue with more of their Wood siblings. 

Day #7: Wrote about Francis "Frank" Ellery Wood (1857-1933) and his wife, Louisa Mary Schultz Wood (1860-1948), and continued with their descendants, partly based on genealogy researched by a Wood cousin and supplemented with additional details. Also corrected Find a Grave info and located vital records for some of the Wood ancestors. 

Day #8: Wrote and posted sad story of Robert Orrin Wood (1873-1933), who died of myocarditis in the Toledo State Hospital for the Insane. While hospitalized from 1925-1933, one of his children was placed in the Institute for the Feebleminded in Columbus, Ohio, where she remained for the rest of her life. The other two children were taken in by the Lutheran Orphans' Home until they were of age to work. One grew up to be a nurse, the other worked for an oil refinery for his entire career. Also finished other siblings in the Wood line, now ready to begin working on my grandparents' siblings on day #9.

Day #9: Wrote about my great uncle, Lithuanian-born Abraham Berk (1877-1962) and his English wife Anna, who crossed the pond to settle in Montreal and raise their family. Then I wrote about Abraham's sister Jennie Birk and her husband, Paul Salkowitz, who operated a citrus grove in Florida during the late 1940s/early 1950s.

Day #10: Wrote about Matel Max Birk (1892-1953), one of my grandpa's brothers, and about Matel's wife Rebecca. He was a jeweler, she was a bookkeeper, and they eventually left New York to live close to Matel's sister Jennie in Florida.

Day #11: Wrote about Meyer Berg (1883-1981) and his wife Anna Paris Berg (1888-1981). Meyer was my great uncle and lived for a short time as a boarder in the NYC apartment of his brother's in-laws. 

Day #11: Wrote about g-grandpa Meyer Eliyash Mahler's first marriage/divorce in Riga, Latvia and about his oldest son, Riga-born David Mahler (1882-1964), a black sheep of the family. 

Day #12: Revised bio of g-grandma Tillie Jacobs Mahler, whose exact birth year has long been in doubt. She's my longest-living ancestor, supposedly either 99 or 100 years old when she died in 1952.

Day #13: Revised bio of Tillie's mother, Rachel Shuham Jacobs, who is buried in Mount Zion Cemetery in Queens, NY, where her two children are also buried. 

Day #14: Enriched bio of Flora Jacobs, daughter of Joseph Jacobs & Eva Michalovsky Jacobs, granddaughter of Rachel Shuham Jacobs. She died at age 33, the third daughter of that family to die young. I added a gravestone photo to her bio.

Day #15: Corrected portion of Henry Arthur Slatter's bio on Find a Grave to include current link to photo of his gravestone, which also mentions his wife Alice and their son Arthur A. Slatter, a WWI casualty. Added Alice and Arthur's bios to various sites. The Slatters were part of my husband's family tree.

Day #16: Improving Mahler family bios, including Morris Mahler and his sister Sarah Mahler, who were siblings of my grandmother Henrietta Mahler.

Day #17: Finished Sarah (Sadie) Mahler Smith's biography. Will be documenting the military service of her sons.

Day #18: Wrote about Ida Mahler Volk (1892-1971), who was a favorite sister of my grandma Henrietta, and about Ida's husband Louis.

Day #19: I set up an account at Mastodon where I'll try tooting as @MarianBWood@genealysis.social so please say hello there! Wrote about my great aunt Mary Mahler Markell and her husband, Joseph A. Markell.

Day #20: More on Mastodon and writing about my uncle and aunt, Fred and Daisy, who were lifelong educators in New York City.

Day #21: Returning to my husband's family, beginning to write bite-sized bio of his Wood uncles.

Day #22: Wrote a blog post about Thanksgiving week weddings in my family tree, saved the info to plan future bite-sized bios. Created a Find a Grave memorial page for a cousin's baby born prematurely in 1924, who sadly died after only two days.

Day #23: Wrote bite-sized bio of Rosalind Ashby Wood, who was married to Theodore William Wood in 1949. 

Day #24: Wrote bite-sized bio of Leona "Lee" Zonna Wallace, my maternal aunt's life partner. Aunt Lee directed the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade for a number of years! Nov 24, 1903 was her birthdate so I wrote her bio on what would have been her 99th birthday.

Day #25: I blogged about Aunt Lee Wallace, an immigrant from Poland who rose through the ranks of Macy's to direct the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Day #26: I posted bite-sized bios of my great-grandparents, Leni Kunstler Farkas and Moritz Farkas. They were the journey-takers who left Hungary in search of a better life in New York City, after Moritz's harvest failed.

Day #27: I posted grandma & grandpa Schwartz's bios on additional genealogy websites and linked to their Find a Grave memorial pages. Here's Grandma Minnie's memorial page, for instance.

Day #28: Working on bios for Hermina Farkas's siblings and in-laws. Today I wrote and posted bios for Alexander Farkas and his wife, Jennie Katz Farkas. They were active in the Kossuth Society, a benevolent group helping Hungarian immigrants, founded in 1904.

Day #29: Wrote bios for Hermina's brother Bertalan Albert Farkas and his wife, Sadie Sari Klein Farkas, also active in the Kossuth Society. 

Day #30: Finished this month's write-ups with Albert & Sari's son George Eugene Farkas.

Wrapup: I wrote 70 bite-sized bios during the 30 days of #NaGenWriMo! 

Which ancestor(s) will you be writing about in November?

This is my blog post for the Genealogy Blog Party, November, 2022.

Colorizing the Past

A few days ago, I tried the new MyHeritage in Color feature, which automatically colorizes sepia or black and white photos.

Having a bumper crop of old family photos, I also experimented on the same photos using Restore by Vivid-Pix and Picasa (no longer offered by Google, but software I've used and liked for years).

Original black and white scan of Wood house

I began with a scan of a black-and-white photo of my husband's grandfather, James Edgar Wood and my hubby's grandmother, Mary Slatter Wood (see original at left).

They're standing in front of a home that James built in Cleveland, Ohio, more than a century ago.

James posted a sign "Jas. E. Wood, Carpenter and Builder" which is visible next to the bicycle in front of the house.




The MyHeritage in Color version is below, right. I was thrilled to see the colorized sign, as much as the people and the building.

Black and white colorized by MyHeritage in Color

Notice the small white widget at bottom left of the MyHeritage colorized photo, intended to distinguish the adapted version from the original.

This is important because genealogists might otherwise mistake the newly colorized photo for an original.







I also used Restore by Vivid-Pix to see how the original b/w scan could be improved. Here's the result:

Black and white improved by Restore by Vivid-Pix

Both the Vivid-Pix and the MyHeritage versions show lots of detail and clarity, even if they are NOT originals. (The Vivid-Pix enhanced versions go into a special "Vivid" folder, leaving the originals untouched).

Original b/w of Minnie and Edward, 1930s

Next, I tried MyHeritage colorization on an old b/w of my husband's great aunt Minnie Steiner Halbedel and great uncle Edward Halbedel, in their backyard in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, holding two youngsters. Above, the original scan of this photo, taken in the late 1930s. Below, the MyHeritage colorization of this same photo. For quick, no-fuss colorization, it looks really good!

MyHeritage colorized version of Minnie & Ed

Finally, I tested MyHeritage's colorizing on a photo of another home under construction by hubby's Grandpa James E. Wood. Below is the original scan of a b/w photo taken on February 18, 1915, exactly 105 years ago today.

Original b/w scan of James E. Wood's house under construction, 1915

Next, the MyHeritage colorized version, which brings out the color of the bricks and lumber as well as making the people look real-life.

MyHeritage colorized version of Wood house under construction, 2015

And then I used Picasa to slightly tilt the color toward yellow, hoping to add to the natural colors of the lumber and bricks.

Picasa enhanced version of MyHeritage colorization of 1915 house under construction

Color always catches the eye of younger relatives, and that's a plus when I'm trying to get them interested in family history. In all, I'm excited by the many possibilities for working with old family photos.

At the Wyandot County Courthouse

Many of my husband's ancestors are buried in the Old Mission Cemetery in Upper Sandusky, Wyandot County, Ohio (shown above). Yes, this is the cemetery with the famously incorrect gravestone for Christiana Haag, showing a death date of February 31, 1869.

Wyandot County Courthouse

We visited a few years ago and also went to the nearby Wyandot County Courthouse, which has a place in movie history: It was featured in  the 1993 feature film The Shawshank Redemption.

While at the courthouse, my hubby and I searched for records of the STEINER family. We quickly found records showing his great-great grandpa Edward George Steiner and great-grand uncle Samuel D. Steiner had been been charged with aiding and abetting the felony burglary of a store-house. We never found proof of conviction, or any other resolution. End of that story.

Probate at the Courthouse

Great-grandpa Edward George Steiner and his wife Elizabeth Jane Rinehart had eight children in all. The five siblings who survived to adulthood were close throughout their lives. All are, in fact, buried at Old Mission Cemetery, near their parents.

Using Family Search to browse the unindexed, image-only book of files at the Wyandot County Probate Court, we found hubby's grandpa Brice Larimer McClure and grandma Floyda Steiner McClure named as fiduciaries for the estate of Minnie Steiner Halbedel. (See image above.)

Floyda and Minnie were born 10 years apart but still maintained close bonds. I wasn't at all surprised that Minnie's estate records show so many family members in her bequests.

Thanks to Amy Johnson Crow for this week's #52Ancestors prompt of "At the Courthouse."

Tombstone Tuesday: 7 Steiner Ancestors in Old Mission Cemetery

A number of hubby's Steiner ancestors are buried in historic Old Mission Cemetery, Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Among them are 7 of the 9 children of Edward George Steiner (1830-1880) and Elizabeth Rinehart (1834-1905), my husband's maternal great-grandparents.

Above, the headstones for hubby's grandmother and five of her siblings:

• Orville J. Steiner (1856-1936) 
• Adaline "Addie" Steiner (1859-1879)
• Etta Blanche Steiner Rhuark (1864-1956) 
• Minnie Estella Steiner Halbedel (1868-1947)
• Carrie Eileen Steiner Traxler (1870-1963)
• Floyda Mabel Steiner McClure (1878-1948) - Grandma Floyda

Below, the unusual footstone in Mission Cemetery for the seventh Steiner buried in Old Mission, hubby's great aunt, Margaret Mary Steiner Post (1861-1913), who married a painter.

The two eldest children of Edward & Elizabeth Steiner are buried elsewhere. Their first-born's stone, marked "Infant son of Steiner, October 23, 1852," is in Oceola Cemetery #2, Crawford County, Ohio.

Their first daughter, Elveretta (1854-1855), is also buried in Oceola Cemetery #2, a small cemetery that hubby and I were able to visit and photograph only because a kind Find A Grave volunteer provided very detailed directions. Thank you!

Amenuensis Monday: Looking Up Famous In-Laws

When hubby and I were researching in Upper Sandusky, Ohio this summer, we wandered into the Wyandot County Museum and talked with the curator about paintings on the wall by artist Frank Halbedel, brother-in-law to hubby's great-aunt Minnie Estella Steiner Halbedel.

One of the most famous paintings shows the Old Mission where Wyandot Indians were converted and worshipped. The mission been reconstructed and is surrounded by many graves of hubby's ancestors in Old Mission Cemetery.

The museum curator kindly copied local news articles about Frank Halbedel, including one about his parents' golden wedding anniversary. Here is an excerpt that describes Mrs. Nicholas Halbedel's father's 15 minutes of fame. This man would be the grandfather of the husband of hubby's great-aunt, but still . . . I've transcribed it below. And the article had one more surprise--keep reading!

"[Mrs. Anna Schactela Halbedel's father] who is still remembered by our older citizens, was a soldier under Napoleon Bonaparte, and he, with the father of Philip Tracht of this city, was present at the famous ball at Brussels when the exultant soldiers of the Little Giant were surprised in their revelries by the forces of the Duke of Wellington, on the eve of disastrous Waterloo, when the Emperor of the French was overwhelmed."

Now for the surprise. Buried in the fine print listing all the attendees were these two names: "Mrs. Edward G. Steiner and daughter, Miss Floyda." Bingo, a direct connection with my hubby's pedigree.

Floyda was my husband's grandma, Mrs. Edward G. Steiner was his great-grandma. Now more research is ahead: This 1902 story appeared soon after Floyda was divorced from her first husband (a brief marriage that I haven't yet found the divorce papers for) and a year before she married hubby's grandpa, Brice Larimer McClure.

2022 update: I do have Floyda's divorce papers. Here's her story!

Surname Saturday: Rinehart

Elizabeth Jane Rinehart Steiner,

hubby's great-grandma

1834-1905

 

Thanks to the responsive librarians in the Heritage Room of the Upper Sandusky (Ohio) Community Library, I have a copy of the obit for Elizabeth Jane Rinehart Steiner.

Now I know she was one of four children of Joseph and Margaret (Shanklin) Rinehart. I may even receive a copy of Joseph Rinehart's obit from the Heritage Room before December 9th, the day Joseph died in 1888.

Here's the obituary, transcribed from the Wyandot Chief (Ohio), November 6, 1905:

Mrs. Elizabeth Steiner 

Dies at home of her son-in-law and daughter at noon Saturday

 

Another of Wyandot county's grand old ladies has passed to that beautiful home where sorrow and sickness are unknown. At the residence of ex-Auditor and Mrs. E.N. Halbedel, on North Fifth Street, at 11:45 o'clock Saturday morning, the spirit of Mrs. Elizabeth Steiner took its flight heavenward and a home is cast in deepest gloom. All her daughters except one were at her bedside when final dissolution came. Mrs. Steiner had been an invalid for five years. For the past six weeks, she had been hovering between life and death. Demise came as a sweet relief to a noble woman, who had bravely battled against the ravages of disease for years.

Elizabeth Rinehart was born in Ashland county, February 18, 1834, having passed the seventy-first milestone of her life. She removed to Crawford County with her parents, Joseph and Margaret Rinehart, when ten years of age. Here on August 7, 1857 [sic--year was actually 1851], she was united in marriage with E. G. Steiner. Shortly after their marriage they moved to Nevada [OH] where they resided for many happy years. That village was then but a hamlet of perhaps a dozen houses. Nine children blessed this union. Three preceded their mother to the other shore. Mr. Steiner's death occurred in 1880. For a number of years Mrs. Steiner has resided with her daughter, Mrs. E.N. Halbedel.

The living children are Orville, of Marion; Mrs. E.D. Post, Knoxville, Tenn.; Mrs. F.W. Rhuark, Topeka, Hansas; Mrs. E.N. Halbedel and Mrs. J.N. Traxler, of this city; Mrs. B.L. McClure, of Bellefontaine. A brother, Hugh Rinehart of Antrim township, and two sisters, Mrs. Samuel Hilborn of Nevada [OH] and Mrs. Nannie R. Gregg of Bellefontaine, survive her. She also leaves three grandchildren: Mrs. John Rummell, of Galion; Mrs. A.T. Welborn, of Detroit; and Edgar Traxler. 

Mrs. Steiner had been a kind/christian wife and mother, a woman who loved her home and she was never happier than when surrounded by her children. Her dear, kindly face will be missed here on earth, but the heavenly hosts have already rejoiced in its coming.

The last sad rites over the remains of Mrs. Elizabeth Steiner occurred from the home of Ex-Auditor and Mrs. E.N. Halbedel, on North Fifth Street, at 1:30 o'clock, Monday afternoon. Rev. J.W. Holland conducted the services. A choir, composed of Miss Mildred Hughey, Mrs. Geo. F. Pierman, Mrs. W.C. Teter, and Miss Lottie Hutter, accompanied by Miss Alice Blaser at the piano, sang several selections. The floral tributes were very beauiful. Burial was made at Old Mission [cemetery], where Rev. T.D. Fidler had charge of the ceremony. The pallberarers were Capt. G.W. Hale, William Gregg, Judge Allen Smalley, Jonas J. Hulse, H.W. Peters and W.H. Frater.

Sunday's Obituary: Elizabeth Jane Rinehart Steiner

Hubby's maternal great-grandma was Elizabeth Jane Rinehart Steiner, b. 8 February 1834 and d. 4 November 1905 in Wyandot county, Ohio. I know from Find-A-Grave that she's buried in the Old Mission Cemetery in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, where her husband Edward G. Steiner (1830-1880) and at least two of her children are buried.

Thanks to handwritten notes left by her daughter and granddaughter, I know Elizabeth's death date. Today I had the (rather late) brainstorm to look for her obit on the Ohio Obituary Index and voila! I'll be spending $2.50 to get her obit from the Wyandot Chief newspaper.

The 1900 Census, conducted on 7 June, shows Elizabeth living with her daughter Minnie Halbedel (spelled incorrectly in the Census of course) and son-in-law Edward Halbedel in Crane Township, Wyandot County, OH. This Census says she was born in Ohio in Feb 1834; her pa was from Pennsylvania and her ma from Delaware, still to be confirmed.

On the 107th anniversary of Elizabeth's passing, I'm thinking of her and looking for her ancestors!

Sunday's Obituary - Mrs. Brice Larimer McClure, Nov. 2, 1948

My late mother-in-law (who, sadly, I never met), saved her mother's obit...and someone saved her mother's wedding notice, shown at bottom, as well. Both are from a newspaper in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, where much of the family lived. Throughout the obit, Mrs. McClure's husband's name was spelled incorrectly as "Bruce" but his name was Brice, as I show here. 

Historical note: Floyda, according to the obit, was a member of the "D of A" which apparently was the Daughters of America, a "Junior Order of the United American Mechanics." Since Floyda's husband Brice was a mechanic, this makes sense. By the time she became a member, I hope the group had given up its anti-immigrant mission and was then an insurance/fraternal aid organization.

Mrs. B. L. McClure Dies Early Today

Services to be held Friday from Funeral Home Here

Mrs. Brice L. McClure, 70, of 119 East Finley Street, passed away at 1 o'clock this Tuesday morning at Bucyrus City hospital following an illness of one week. Death was attributed to a cerebral hemorrhage.

Born in Nevada [OH] March 30, 1978, Floyda Mabel (Steiner) McClure was the daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (Rinehart) Steiner.

June 10, 1903, she was united in marriage in Upper Sandusky with Brice L. McClure, who survives with one daughter, Marian [my late mother-in-law], wife of Edgar Wood of Cleveland [my late father-in-law].

Also surviving are three grandchildren, Wallis [my hubby], Richard, and Barbara Wood and two sisters, Mrs.  F. W. Rhuark and Mrs. Carrie Traxler, both of this city. Two sisters and one brother are deceased.

Mrs. McClure was a member of the Methodist church and of the Eastern Star lodge in this city and of the D. of A. in Cleveland. She and her husband had resided here for the past four years, coming from Cleveland, where she also leaves many friends.


She was a good neighbor and very active in church and community affairs.

Funeral services will be conducted Friday at 2 pm from the Bringman & Co. funeral home here. Rev. Cecil F. Fogle will officiate with interment in Old Mission cemetery.

The body will remain at the funeral home where friends may call after noon Wednesday.

--
Here's Floyda Mabel Steiner McClure's wedding announcement, from June 10, 1903. Floyda's father, Edward Steiner, was dead but her mother, Elizabeth Steiner, was present at the ceremony.

M'Clure-Steiner

-

Quiet Wedding at Home of Auditor Halbedel Wednesday Morning.

The scene of a happy event was the residence of County Auditor and Mrs. E.N. Halbedel, on Fifth Street, on Wednesday morning, when Miss Floyda Steiner quietly entered matrimony with B.L. McClure of Wabash, Ind. The ceremony was performed at 9 o'clock by Rev. P. Langendorff, pastor of St. Paul's Church, in the presence of the bride's mother and the families of Auditor Halbedel and Auditor-Elect J.N. Traxler. Mrs. Halbedel served a splendid dinner at 11 o'clock. Mr. and Mrs. McClure departed on the afternoon Hocking passenger via Marion for Wabash, Ind., where they will reside and be at home to their friends after July 1. The bride, a sister of Mrs. Halbedel and Mrs. J.N. Traxler, is highly esteemed in this city, and the best wishes of many friends accompany the young couple to Wabash, where Mr. McClure, whose acquaintance impresses sterling character, is employed as a machinist in the Big Four shops.

Matrilineal Monday - the Steiner sisters

My husband's maternal grandmother, Floyda Mabel Steiner McClure (1878-1948), was the baby of nine in her family. Here's a photo of Floyda with three of her sisters. From left, Carrie E. Steiner Traxler (1870-1963), Blanche (Etta) Steiner Rhuark (1864-1956), Floyda, and Minnie Estella Steiner Halbedel (1867-1947). Carrie and Blanche lived around the corner from each other in Upper Sandusky, OH. Floyda lived in Cleveland.

The above photo must have been taken about 1938 or so. How do I know? The photo below, with Minnie at right and her husband Edward N. Halbedel (1865-1946) at left, includes my husband Wally, age about 3 or 4, and his younger sister. 

Recently I was in touch (via Ancestry) with a Traxler descendant and we plan to share info. I can hardly wait! More cousins to connect with. She and my husband both remember Aunt Blanche's parrot, who would say "Brice McClure" and "Polly want a cracker" over and over (and over and over). Why would the parrot be talking about Floyda's husband Brice? No clue, but it's a vivid memory for both.