Posting Ancestor Bios for Memorial Day

With Memorial Day only weeks away, I'm busy writing and posting brief bios of my ancestors and my husband's ancestors who served in the military.

Some of these bios were previously written for bite-sized family history projects. I'm condensing and repurposing the content to share more widely on genealogy websites, including Family Search, MyHeritage, Find a Grave, WikiTree, Fold3, and more.

Where I have no bio written, I'm doing research as the basis for a short narrative of each ancestor's life, with particular emphasis on military service. This is a plus for my genealogy research, because I'm double-checking my trees, adding people/facts/sources where missing, and getting more familiar with military databases.

At top, excerpt from the three-paragraph "memory" I posted to FamilySearch.org, honoring my husband's 1c3r Ira Caldwell (1839-1926), a Union Army veteran from the U.S. Civil War. I used the topic tag "US Civil War" to identify the topic of this story beyond the ancestor tag.

Below, part of the bite-sized bio of Train Caldwell McClure (1843-1934) I posted on MyHeritage.com. He was my husband's 2d great uncle, another Union Army veteran. As I compiled facts for this bio, I added family members and research to my tree, and resolved a couple of inconsistencies. 

After I finish documenting the Civil War vets in my hubby's tree, I'm going to write brief bios of veterans of other wars (from his tree and my tree) and post online to honor their memory for Memorial Day.

Coloring The Mom-in-Law I Never Met

Although I never met my mother-in-law, Marian Jane McClure Wood (1909-1983), it has been my honor to keep her memory alive through family trees and bite-sized family history projects. And captioned photos!

At top, a page from the ancestor coloring book I created for the Wood family. Marian is shown with her husband, Edgar James Wood (1903-1986). 

I began with a color portrait of the two, then used photo software to turn the color into black-and-white. Next, I used the "pencil sketch" feature to soften the contrast and allow plenty of white space for coloring. 

This page of the coloring book mentions relationships, for their grandchildren to note when they color. I'll change the relationship info for the youngest generation soon.

Posting Photos and a Bio on Genealogy Sites

Another way I'm memorializing my mom-in-law is to post photos (with attribution "courtesy: Wood family") on Family Search, MyHeritage, Find a Grave, Ancestry, and other genealogy sites. I've also posted her brief bio on these and other sites. 

I feel a bit sad that I never met my mother-in-law...but every day is Mother's Day as I memorialize her for future generations.

--

Mother's Day is this week's #52Ancestors prompt from Amy Johnson Crow. 

Why I Now Digitally Caption Copies of Ancestor Photos

In the past few months, I've been increasing my use of digital captioning on copies of scanned ancestor photos. 

It's an easy process: First, I create a digital copy of my scanned original photo. Next, I use photo software to write name and date on the copy. Then I save the photo with a "caption" notation in the file name.

If I'm going to post the photo on a public genealogy website, I now add an attribution to the caption (see photo).

Why digitally caption old family photos?

1. Keeps photo and caption together. Too often, photos and captions are separated. Maybe a relative wrote a note that was (ouch) clipped to a photo or a photo was removed from the album for scanning or storage, leaving the caption behind. With digital captions, descendants and researchers won't wonder who's in the picture (dates and places are a plus).
2. Convenient digital sharing. Especially when I connect with cousins for the first time, captioned digital photos allow me to easily share ancestor faces, names, and dates. It's convenient because the captioned versions are self-explanatory. I can always share non-captioned photos, if needed, because the original scan is intact.
3. Give credit where credit is due. I want to make it crystal clear whose photos these are. I don't obscure a big part of the photo in doing this, but I do want to acknowledge which family is kindly sharing the photo.  

Of course I realize that photos on public blogs (like this) and on public trees are visible to the world and easily copied. 

On genealogy sites such as Ancestry, it's quite common (and encouraged) to have photos and documents saved to other members' trees. The Ancestry system automatically includes the notation of who originally uploaded the image and when. 

That little notation makes all the difference. It credits me as the person responsible for submitting the image, and it acts as cousin bait in case someone wants to get in touch to discuss ancestors. 

This isn't the same as copying from my tree or my blog and moving a photo to an entirely different website.

No copying and reposting without permission

Recently, Judy Russell, the Legal Genealogist, wrote a detailed blog post explaining that copying photos and reposting without permission is illegal. Judy linked to the terms of use for several major genealogy websites. She included an excerpt from Family Search, indicating that users are legally responsible for content they post.

I'd just discovered that someone I don't know had copied some photos from my Ancestry family tree, without my knowledge or permission, and put them on the Family Search tree. Judy's comments encouraged me to take action.

After writing that person to ask whether we are related, with no answer, I tried a more direct approach. I politely and firmly requested that my photos be removed because they violate the Family Search terms of use. I said I would contact officials at Family Search and make them aware of the violation if my photos weren't deleted.

Within one hour, the user answered with a terse note saying the photos were taken down. I confirmed they were gone and responded: "Much appreciated."

My digital attribution ("courtesy: Wood family") is a strong and unambiguous public statement of the source of the photo. If all my public photos had this attribution, I suspect none would have been copied and posted to Family Search.

--

The Genealogy Blog Party's May theme has to do with photography. This is my entry!

My 1950 U.S. Census Release To-Do List: Find Addresses

When the 1950 U.S. Census is released to the public on April 1, 2022, I want to be ready to find ancestors of special interest. I'm creating a list of priority ancestors and filling in their 1940 address/Enumeration District (ED) and then their 1950 address (see my previous post here). With an exact address, I can find the 1950 ED. This will enable me to browse images before the Census is indexed.

Sources for 1950 addresses

There are many possible sources for finding an ancestor's 1950 address, as shown in the above graphic. You may not find an address for that exact year, but one close to that year is a good starting point.

Today I'm on the trail of a 1950 address for my husband's maternal grandfather, Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970).

Spoiler alert: I don't yet have the address. But I can share the steps I took to try locating Brice in the years surrounding 1950. And I may be successful in the end!

Where was this ancestor in the 1940s?

I know where Brice Larimer McClure was living during and after World War II. The last "known sighting" of an actual address is in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, where he and his wife Floyda Steiner McClure were living at the time of her death on November 2, 1948.

Family story: Not long after his wife died, Brice moved to Willoughby, Ohio and then later, around 1953, he moved to Cleveland to be closer to family.

My search plan for an exact address

I began with a "from scratch" search on all the major genealogy websites, entering Brice's information and specifying residence in Willoughby, Ohio, in the years 1949-1953. That didn't work.

Records show Brice's Social Security card was issued "prior to 1951." Actually, it was just after World War II, when he intended to retire and collect (which he did). Unlikely I will find a Willoughby address on that application (and it takes time and money to get this document). 

Moving on, the Willoughby-area newspapers were either too old, too new, or not very local for my purposes. 

Looking for a house purchase/sale would take time, digging into deeds, land records, etc. I set this aside for now.

Other non-official potential sources I tried, as suggested by Joel Weintraub on his super- detailed, info-rich page about the 1950 Census were: photographs (nope); address book (not that far back); diaries (none that far back).

Check the directories!

High on my list and on Joel's list were--directories! After a few false starts, I checked the local library in Willoughby. The website has a convenient "chat with a librarian" feature (see my screen capture at top).

I typed in a succinct chat question. Within a few minutes, the librarian typed back that directories from the 1950s era are most likely at the Willoughby Historical Society. She provided contact info, and I wrote an email, requesting a lookup when convenient. My husband remembers Brice having a home phone in Willoughby, so he should be listed in either the phone directory or the city directory.

Update: Librarian found no listing in the directory. 

-- For more about the 1950 Census, see my page here.

Remembering Hubby's Emerald Isle Ancestors

Happy St. Patrick's Day! My wonderful husband has a number of ancestors born on the Emerald Isle. And of course I've been keeping their memory alive by reminding descendants every year on March 17th. Let me introduce you to:

• William Smith and his wife, Jean, both immigrants from Limerick, were hubby's 5th great-grandparents. Their son Brice Smith (1756-1828) was an “Ohio fever” pioneer, leaving his birthplace in Pennsylvania to settle the forested frontier of Ohio.
• Robert Larimer and his wife, Mary O’Gallagher, both from the North of Ireland, were hubby's 5th great-grandparents. Robert was shipwrecked sailing to America, worked off the cost of his rescue, ran away, married Mary, and farmed in Pennsylvania until they died about 1803. Their descendants were pioneers in Ohio and Indiana.
• John Shehen and his wife, Mary, from somewhere in Ireland, were hubby's 2d great-grandparents. They were born early in the 1800s in Ireland but had moved to London by the 1830s. Their daughter Mary Shehen married John Slatter in London in 1859. Her youngest daughter (Mary Slatter, 1869-1925) left London for Ohio, married James Edgar Wood and was a loving mother until her unexpected death from heart problems.
• Halbert McClure and his wife, Agnes, were born in County Donegal, Ireland, although the McClure family is originally from Isle of Skye. They were hubby's 5th great-grandparents. In the 1740s, this family sailed as a group to Philadelphia, walked to Virginia, and bought farmland. Their descendants became early pioneers in Indiana and other states.

Erin Go Bragh!

Remembering Their First Date on Valentine's Day

 

My husband's parents, Marian McClure Wood (1909-1983) and Edgar James Wood (1903-1986), had their very first date in Cleveland on Valentine's Day of 1934. Ed noted their "first date anniversary" on his daily diary every year and they always went to dinner to celebrate. 

Ed remembers his first date with Marian

How did they get together? As Ed told his son in an interview many years later, he was invited for a musical evening at the home of a friend on Valentine's Day. He remembered that a "gal in the office" named Marian played piano and expressed interest in hearing him play. Maybe he even told her that he had played piano to pay for college and still played on weekends while working as an insurance adjustor for the same company where she worked.

So it was on Valentine's Day of 1934 when Ed took Marian on their first date. He picked her up "not having any idea what I was getting into" (he told his son). They went out for a snack before going to his friend's house. The men, all friends, formed an impromptu orchestra and enjoyed playing for the ladies. Ed remembered that Marian fit right in from the very beginning and told him she'd had a good time.

Encouraged, he called for a second date the next week, and pretty soon they were going together. They married in 1935 and raised three children, including my wonderful hubby.

Pencil sketch for ancestor coloring book

On this 87th anniversary of Ed and Marian's first Valentine's Day date, I want to show how I turned their color portrait from the 1960s into a page for the ancestor coloring book I gave to the youngest generation.

First, I cropped the portrait to focus on their head/shoulders. Next, I used photo software to make the image into a black-and-white "pencil sketch" picture that can be colored. Finally, I positioned the portrait on a blank page, typed their names, and included their relationship to the recipients. I printed a copy for each of Ed and Marian's great-grandchildren, sending a digital version to the adults for reprinting in the future. 

"Ancestor coloring book" is just one of the bite-sized projects I'll be demonstrating during my talk for the all-virtual NERGC Conference in April. For more information, see the NERGC page here.

"Valentine" is this week's #52Ancestors prompt from Amy Johnson Crow!

Five Men Named Brice in 265 Years

The given name Brice is distinctive in my husband's family tree, appearing only five times in the 265 years his family has been in America.

At left, a search I conducted on my Ancestry tree to identify the five men named Brice.

Adding them to my online trees and posting more detailed bios on Family Search, Find a Grave, and other websites keeps their memories alive. 

This is all part of my plan to disseminate family history now, before I join my ancestors and my research and artifacts are bequeathed to the next generation.

Brice Smith - Brice #1 in America

Brice #1 is shown at bottom of the search results. That's Brice Smith (1756-1828), my husband's 4th great-grandfather. 

This first Brice in America was born in Cumberland County, PA, a son of Irish immigrants. As an adult, Brice caught "Ohio Fever" and moved west to Fairfield County, Ohio with his wife, Eleanor Kenny (1762-1841). Their daughter Rachel Smith (1799-1838) grew up and married John Larimer (1794-1843) - and this couple named their oldest son Brice S. Larimer, in memory of the first Brice. 

Brice S. Larimer (1819-1906) - Railroad Agent

Born in Rush Creek, Fairfield County, OH, Brice was brought to Elkhart County, Indiana in 1835 by his pioneering parents. There, he met and married New York-born Lucy E. Bentley (1826-1900). Brice and Lucy raised a family of four children while Brice was first a farmer, then a postmaster. Later, he served as the area's first railroad agent during the heyday of rail travel through Elkhart. This Brice was a grandson of Brice #1.

Margaret Jane Larimer (1859-1913) was the youngest daughter of Brice and Lucy. At the age of 17, with her parents' consent, she married William Madison McClure (1849-1887) who--like his father--worked for the railway in Indiana. 

Their oldest son was Brice Larimer McClure. Months before his birth, however, another Brice was born into the family. Brice #3 and Brice #4 were both great-great-grandsons of the original Brice in America, both grandsons of the second Brice in America.

Milton Brice Larimer (1878-1968) - Electrical Entrepreneur

Milton Brice Larimer's parents were William Tyler Bentley Larimer (1850-1921, a son of Brice S. Larimer) and Elizabeth Stauffer (1852-1936). Born in Elkhart County, Indiana, on January 16, 1878, Milton Brice was the third Brice in the family.  

He began his career as an electrician. At the age of 27, he married Elizabeth Luzetta Wright (1877-1968) in 1905. Within a few years, they moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where Milton Brice was president of Protective Electrical Supply. They had no children and died within months of each other in 1968, both aged 90.

Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970) - Master Machinist

The fourth Brice was born on December 29, 1878 in Little Traverse, Michigan, during the very brief period when his parents--William Madison McClure and Margaret Jane Larimer McClure--lived there, close to other McClure relatives. The Michigan foray lasted only a couple of years, until the family returned to Elkhart, Indiana, where Margaret had been born. Brice's father worked for the railroad, but died of typhoid fever when Brice was just 9 years old.

Following in his father's footsteps, Brice became a machinist for the railroad. In his 20s, he was already a master machinist, working for the "Big Four" railroads. Brice met Floyda Steiner (1878-1948) and they married in 1903 at the home of one of her sisters in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. 

They immediately settled in Cleveland, close to Brice's work in the railyards. Their beloved only child, Marian Jane McClure (1909-1983), grew up in Cleveland and remained there most of her life. Brice continued working as a machinist, foreman, and supervisor until the end of World War II. He died in 1970, two weeks before his 92d birthday.

Brice in Current Generation 

While Marian Jane McClure was working at an insurance firm in Cleveland, she met and married Edgar James Wood (1903-1986). They gave their younger son the middle name of Brice in honor of his grandfather, the master machinist. This youngest Brice is a 4th great-grandson of the original Brice in the family, the first in America. 

Currently, there are only five men named Brice in the family. But perhaps that will change with future generations, and now they will know the story of their namesake.

--

Namesake is the #52Ancestors challenge for this week.

A Winter Wedding for Hugh Benjamin McClure and Olivette van Roe

 

On this day 118 years ago, my husband's great uncle Hugh Benjamin McClure (1882-1960) married Olivette Van Roe (1885-1905). The groom was 20, the bride was 17.

Winter Wedding Weather in Wabash

What was the weather like on that wedding day in 1902?

I found a bit of info on weather.gov (see image at top from my result here). 

Also I used newspaper sources to research the weather on that wedding day. 

The free Hoosier State Chronicles site has an issue of the Indianapolis Journal from that date--and on page 2, the weather forecast indicates below-average temperatures for that month and for that year.

I sure hope Hugh Benjamin and Olievette bundled up warmly for their winter wedding!

Understanding the weather and other elements in their lives helps me envision their activities  at a time and place so far removed from my own.

This is my #52Ancestors post for week 51, with a prompt of "winter."

Documenting Grandma Floyda's Needlework Legacy

Handmade items by Floyda Mabel Steiner McClure

My husband's maternal grandmother, Floyda Mabel Steiner McClure (1878-1948) left a legacy of beautifully-crafted needlework! 

Above, a snapshot showing only a few of these treasured crocheted doilies and dainty gloves, a lacy embroidered tablecloth, a cross-stitched tablecloth, and a colorful crocheted afghan, and more . . . all painstakingly hand-made by Floyda, with great care. 

Being a needlecraft enthusiast myself, I can appreciate Floyda's expertise. For some projects, she used the tiniest steel crochet hooks and ultrathin cotton threads. Her stitches are neat and even, with fine finishing touches. 

These lovely items were preserved neatly and safely for decades by my sis-in-law, who kindly gave them to me for documentation before we share with other descendants. 

My sis-in-law also wrote down some personal memories that will accompany these needlework keepsakes to their new homes in the family. One specific memory is that Floyda "taught me to sew when I was about four years old, and gave me fabric for my projects, mostly doll clothes..."

After I air these items, I will preserve them in archival tissue and archival boxes. Each box will include a write-up of Grandma Floyda's life story, growing up as the beloved only child of doting parents and becoming an accomplished crocheter and embroiderer, plus family remembrances of Floyda.

I do hope that sharing Floyda's legacy and details of her life with her descendants will inspire them as they admire the needlework items she created with love and dedication! 

The Women Married to Civil War Ancestors

Excerpt from Wood Civil War Ancestors booklet

In researching and writing about my husband's Civil War ancestors (both blue and grey), I'm making sure to document the lives of the women they married.

Some wives outlived their Civil War veteran husbands, by a few years or decades; some wives died while their husbands were away at war; some wives died soon after the vets returned home. Each has a story and I want to be sure their lives are remembered, along with their husbands.

Here's my plan for writing "cradle to grave" about each veteran and his wife or wives:

• Head the first page with veteran's full name and dates. 
• Explain the veteran's relationship to readers in the next generation.
• List the full name of his wife (or wives) and her dates. 
• List the units in which the veteran served (blue indicates Union, red indicates Confederate).
• First paragraphs summarize the man's family background (parents, siblings, birthplace, movements, occupation). This is the "cradle" part of "cradle to grave" in a nutshell.
• Emphasize "story" part of family history by adding a dramatic hook early in the veteran's life narrative. Here, I say that this man and two brothers were all in the Union Army, but their lives diverged after the war was over.
• Include at least one illustration, such as a newspaper obit or a Civil War Pension card. 
• Say when and where the man got married, and any special circumstances. In the excerpt above, John N. McClure married Rebecca Jane Coble only 3 days after he enlisted in the Union Army, just before he shipped out with his unit. Quite a start to their married life.
• Describe the wife's life as well as the veteran's life to add context to the family tree overall. 
• Say when and where (and why) the veteran and his wife died and were buried, the "grave" part of this "cradle to grave" profile.

What's in This Family History Booklet?

My booklet will have a table of contents, a listing of Civil War military units in which the men served, and possibly the key battles or actions in which they participated. 

This is a work in progress, having grown from the quickie booklet I originally envisioned, so I may decide to add an index. After all, I'm profiling 19 men and their wives/families. That's a lot of names. I want to make it easy for descendants to look up any particular ancestor by checking the table of contents and/or the index.

Highlight the Drama: Spoiler Alerts Wanted!

I'm going to write a page highlighting "not to be missed" dramatic or interesting details about some key ancestors. Spoiler alerts will actually whet my readers' appetite for more. 

For instance, Robert Crooke Wood was the next generation's 4c5r and a senior U.S. Army surgeon. He married Ann Mackall Taylor, the oldest daughter of Major General Zachary Taylor--yes, the U.S. Army veteran who later became the 12th U.S. president. Zachary Taylor's daughter Sarah married Jefferson Davis. Yes, that Jefferson Davis. So Robert Crooke Wood's father-in-law was a future U.S. president, and his brother-in-law was a future Confederate president.

The Civil War intensified the family drama: Two of Robert Crooke Wood's sons fought for the Confederacy, while their father remained on active duty in the Union Army. (Many thanks to my hubby's wonderful cousin L for sharing his knowledge of this distant part of the Wood family tree.)

Don't you think such spoiler alerts will get my readers' attention?

Louisa's Cause of Death Was . . . It's Complicated

Indiana Death Certificate #17600 for Louisa Jane Austin McClure

Union Army veteran Theodore Wilson McClure (1834-1927) was my husband's great-great-uncle. He married Louisa Jane Austin (1837-1924) in Wabash County, Indiana, in 1858.

In researching great-great-aunt Louisa's death at age 87, I had two small surprises.

Surprise #1: Louisa Jane Austin McClure had two death certificates, both signed by the same doctor, both listing the same undertaker and same burial date/place. This is undoubtedly the correct person--husband's name is same on both, parents' names are same, same birth date, same occupation ("housewife" and "housekeeper").

Surprise #2: Louisa Jane Austin McClure had two different causes of death, both listed by the same doctor.

Apoplexy and Bright's Disease

On the lower-numbered cert, shown at top, the doctor listed the cause of death as apoplexy (cerebral) with Bright's disease as contributory. Her age is listed as 87 years, 1 month, and 28 days. She had been under Dr. Stewart's care from December 1, 1923 to her death on May 11, 1924.

General Debility with Weak Heart

On the higher-numbered cert, shown below, the doctor cared for her from November 24, 1923 to her death on May 11, 1924. The cause of death on this cert was general debility with weak heart. The apoplexy listed on the first cert would suggest a stroke, which could definitely lead to debility. The Bright's disease listed on the first cert is a kidney problem often accompanied by heart disease.

Louisa Died on a Sunday

My guess is that Louisa's death on a Sunday meant that the paperwork didn't flow as smoothly as it would ordinarily. The time of death is missing from the second cert, whereas on the first cert, it appears to be 11-something p.m.

Do these small discrepancies matter? For genealogical purposes, not really. But in 22 years of family history research, this is the first time I've seen two death certificates for one person. I sure hope it will be the last time.

Indiana Death Certificate #17869 for Louisa Jane Austin McClure

"Small" is the #52Ancestors prompt for week 32.

Looked for Civil War Service, Found Flu Victim

Civil War record of John W. McClure - including date/place of death

In my quest to investigate the Civil War veterans in my husband's family tree, I spent hours tracking down the Union Army service of his Indiana-born 2d great-uncle, John N. McClure (1840-1919).

John, his older brother Theodore Wilson McClure (1834-1927) and his younger brother Train Caldwell McClure (1843-1934) all enlisted in the Union Army. My research shows that their lives diverged after the war.

Initially, I had few specifics about John's military record, let alone his post-war experiences. The trail had gone cold after 1910, when he told the Census he was a Union Army vet. His wife was a widow in 1920, living in the Indiana State Soldiers' Home. This helped me narrow his possible death date to after April 15, 1910 (Census Day) and before January 1 of 1920 (Census Day)

I used a wide array of resources to dig into his history, including Ancestry, Indiana state military databases, Find a Grave, Family Search, Fold3, and newspaper databases. I needed every one of those resources to uncover his past, trace his movements, and learn where, when, and why he died.

Civil War Records

John enlisted as a private in Company A of the 89th Indiana Infantry on December 28, 1863. This was the same regiment in which his brother Train served. Three days after enlisting, John married Rebecca Jane Coble (1846-1928) before shipping out with his unit.

The 89th Indiana Infantry was involved in the Battle of Nashville; the siege and occupation of Mobile, Alabama; the Red River campaign to take Shreveport; and the capture of Fort Blakely, Alabama. According to Indiana's Civil War database, John later transferred to Company E of the 26th Indiana Infantry (which occupied Mobile, Alabama) and was discharged on January 15, 1866.

Shown at top is the best Civil War record I found. It reported his invalid status in 1874 and . . . his death date and place in 1919. This allowed me to find John's obit and then his Find a Grave memorial.

From the Hoosier State to the Beaver State

The obit published in the Oregon Journal of April 30, 1919 was headlined: "Civil War Veteran of Forest Grove Dies at His Home." In addition to providing an exact birth and death date, and confirming his military service with the 89th and 26th Indiana Infantries, the obit said he had moved to Oregon eight years earlier. No cause of death listed, and only one son mentioned in the obit.

What was he doing in Oregon? Looking at his children in the 1910 Census, I noticed his youngest daughter was in Oregon. So that's most likely why John and his wife Rebecca moved to there.

There was NO John N. McClure on Find a Grave in the cemetery mentioned in the obit. There was a John V. McClure. Turns out, his gravestone is incorrectly marked but this is definitely the correct man. Thanks to the kind Find a Grave volunteer who created John's memorial and fleshed it out, I now could see his death certificate.

Death During the Pandemic

I was surprised to learn what happened to this ancestor in 1919. The date should have been a clue, given that we are currently living through a pandemic being compared to what happened a century ago.

John N. McClure died of influenza, at age 78, in the midst of the flu pandemic of 1918-9. 

This ancestor grew up in the early settlements around Wabash, Indiana, survived dozens of Civil War battles, returned to farming, later worked as a railroad engineer, and was part of the boom times in Oregon. RIP, Great-Great-Uncle John, you will not be forgotten.

Union Army Pensions and Reunions Were Both Newsworthy

Train Caldwell McClure (second from left in top row) at Union Army reunion on Aug. 18, 1922

In researching Union Army veterans in my husband's family tree, I was interested to see newspapers reporting on military pensions. Not surprisingly, Civil War reunions were also newsworthy, especially decades after the war's end.

Train Caldwell McClure's Union Army Pension

Hubby's great-great-uncle Train Caldwell McClure (1843-1934) enlisted in Company A of the 89th Indiana Infantry Regiment at the end of July, 1863, in his hometown of Wabash, Indiana. He was mustered out in Mobile, Alabama, on July 19, 1865, having fought in key battles such as capturing Mobile and defending it from the Confederate Army.

On November 22, 1892, the Indianapolis Journal reported that Train was one of dozens of Indiana veterans to be granted military pensions for their Civil War service.

On July 15, 1898, the Indiana State Journal reported on new pension amounts. Train's pension went up from $6 monthly to $8 monthly (see excerpt at left).  In today's dollars, $8 = $247. Not such a tiny pension after all.

Train Caldwell McClure's Civil War Reunions

Train went home to Wabash, Indiana after the war. He married Gulia E. Swain (1847-1920) in 1867. As their family expanded to four children, he operated an oil mill (extracting oil from crops) and later worked as a janitor.

According to news accounts, Train participated in more than one Civil War reunion of Union Army veterans. At top, a clip from the News-Sentinel of Fort Wayne, Indiana, dated September 23, 1922, shows Train with a dozen other vets at a luncheon reunion on August 18, 1922. The caption notes that their ages totaled 1,040 years. This was nearly 60 years after the Civil War ended, and veterans were all in their 70s and 80s by then.

Train also went from Wabash, Indiana to Washington, D.C., to attend the First Reunion of the Survivors of the Army of the Tennessee on September 21-23, 1892. I located his name among the attendees from the 89th Regiment (above) in a book about the reunion (via Google Books, see cover at left).

Wabash to Washington is a trip of 600 miles. Since Wabash was a major railroad hub, Train could change trains [no pun intended] and arrive in Washington without too much hassle.

BTW, Train is not as uncommon a name as I originally thought. I wrote five years ago about how he came to have that name.
--
"Newsworthy" is this week's prompt for #52Ancestors.

Remembering Fathers in Our Family Trees

Brice Larimer McClure (left), Edgar James Wood (right)

Today is Father's Day! To celebrate, I'm remembering the fathers and grandfathers in my husband's family tree and in my family tree.

Hubby's Father and Grandfathers

James Edgar Wood

At top: Edgar James Wood (1903-1986), my hubby's father, very much enjoyed the company of his father-in-law, Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970). They got along well and after Brice was widowed, he was included in Wood family dinners nearly every weekend and for every holiday.

I'm grateful to Brice, my husband's maternal grandfather, because he made notes of names and dates in the family tree--giving me a head-start on my genealogy research.

My husband's paternal grandfather was James Edgar Wood (1871-1939), a carpenter and home builder who came from a long, long line of carpenters. His father had been a carpenter and a coach-builder with the railroad. None of James's sons took up carpentry--all became white-collar professionals.

My Father and Grandfathers

Harold Burk

My Dad was Harold Burk (1909-1978). He was on his way to becoming a travel agent when World War II interrupted his plans.

Enlisting in the US Army, he was stationed in Europe and returned home in October of 1945, after the war ended.

Back in civilian life, Dad settled down with my Mom and pursued his dream of being a travel agent. He quickly opened his own travel agency in the lobby of New York City's swanky Savoy Plaza Hotel, and remained there until the hotel was torn down.

Harold's father, my paternal grandfather, was Isaac Burk (1881-1943). At the very start of the 20th century, Isaac and five of his siblings left their home in Gargzdai, Lithuania, making their way to new lives in North America.

Isaac Burk

Isaac and his older brother Abraham were both trained cabinetmakers. Unfortunately, Isaac died of a heart attack while his two sons were serving abroad in World War II. It was my quest for Isaac's death date, place, and cert that started me in genealogy some 22 years ago. That was my very first blog post in August of 2008.

Theodore Schwartz

My maternal grandfather was Theodore "Teddy" Schwartz (1887-1965). He left his bustling home town of Ungvar, Hungary to settle in New York City early in the 1900s. He worked as an agent for steamship lines and other jobs before marrying and beginning a family.

At that point, Teddy opened his own dairy store in the South Bronx. That store is one reason the family weathered the Great Depression fairly well (except for the day Teddy's store was robbed).

In the wake of the Depression and WWII, Teddy was a great admirer of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. I recall seeing a newspaper photo of FDR pinned up in the apartment for many years.

Remembering these fathers and grandfathers with love and keeping their memory alive on this Father's Day of 2020.

Sifting Through Hints for Cousin Bait

Use surname filtering to focus on cousin bait

If you're looking for cousin bait, you have to focus your attention on the most productive possibilities when sifting through family-tree hints on Ancestry.

At left, the hint summary for my husband's family tree on Ancestry. There are 3,200 people on this tree, so it's not surprising that I have so many total hints.

Stories and photos are often very good cousin bait, especially if you filter the hints by surname as you focus on specific ancestral lines. Then you can look at the contributor's profile and tree (if public) to see how he or she fits into your family tree. (I'm not going to talk about DNA or ThruLines in this post--topics for another time!)

Stories as Cousin Bait

In this case, I looked at all 21 of the "stories" to see what they are, who posted them, and how many were personal vs. transcribed documents or records. Most could be seen without downloading any files (which I won't do unless I know the person, just in case).

Many of the stories were summaries of family histories with footnotes leading to county histories or other books. Two were transcriptions of will/probate materials for distant ancestors. All useful in my research, but not specifically cousin bait, although of course I checked to see how the contributors might fit into the family tree.

A good number of these 21 stories were transcriptions of oral history from someone who actually knew one of my husband's ancestors! Great cousin bait. I've now invited that contributor to see my public family tree, and he has invited me to see his public family tree. There is a distant cousin connection here, and the oral history posted as stories served as effective cousin bait to reel me in.

Photos as Cousin Bait

Ineffective as cousin bait

My favorite cousin bait (to leave as bait or to follow as bait) is a personal photo of an ancestor.

With 627 photo hints to sift through, I narrowed the focus by specifying a particular surname for searching photo hints.

Within the photo hints for McClure were dozens of flags, patriotic images, DNA symbols, and other non-personal images.

These are NOT effective cousin bait. Folks like to use such images to tag certain categories of ancestors, but they don't work well for cousin bait.

On the other hand, the photo shown below is top-notch cousin bait I discovered when searching photo hints for Larimer, another of my husband's ancestral surnames.

Effective cousin bait: A personal photo with a title

Not only is it a real photo, it has a title that indicates who and what the photo is about (I masked some info for privacy). I've confirmed that the person who posted the photo is actually a cousin. He has meticulously researched his branch of the tree and we are now guests on each other's family trees, sharing info about the Larimer line.

For all the other record hints, I will filter by surname and work down the list. I don't generally check family tree hints this way, by the way. Instead, I look at them when I'm researching a particular ancestor.

Have fun with #CousinBait! 

Ancestors Who Served in the Military, Honored on This Memorial Day 2020

Capt. John Daniel Slatter
World War I, Camp Borden

In my husband's family tree, many ancestors served in the military during wartime.

Searching for clues to their service, I've checked enlistment records, pension files, 1910 Census (which asked about Civil War participation), 1930 Census (which asked which war served in), Fold3, obituaries, death certs, newspaper articles, and beyond.

On this Memorial Day 2020, I'm honoring these military veterans and continuing to look for additional clues to other ancestors who served. I'll add names as I locate more veterans in hubby's family tree.

War of 1812
* Isaac M. Larimer - hubby's 4th g-grandfather
* Robert Larimer - hubby's 4th great-uncle
* John Larimer - hubby's 3d g-grandfather
* Daniel Denning - hubby's 3d great-uncle
* Elihu Wood Jr. - hubby's 3d great-uncle

Union Army, Civil War
* James Elmer Larimer - hubby's 1c4r

* John Wright Larimer - hubby's 1c4r
* Isaac Larimer Work - hubby's 1c4r
* John Wright Work - hubby's 1c4r
* Train Caldwell McClure - hubby's 2d great uncle
* Benjamin Franklin Steiner - hubby's 2d great uncle
* Samuel D. Steiner - hubby's 2d great uncle
* Hugh Rinehart - hubby's 2d great uncle
* Ira Caldwell - hubby's 1c3x
* John N. McClure - hubby's 2d great uncle
* George H. Handy - hubby's 1c2r

World War I
* John Daniel Slatter - hubby's great uncle
* Albert William Slatter - hubby's great uncle
* Arthur Albert Slatter - hubby's 1c1r
* Albert James Slatter - hubby's 1c1r
* Ernest Slatter - hubby's 1c1r
* Albert Matthew Slatter - hubby's 1c1r
* Frederick William Slatter - hubby's 1c1r

World War II
* John Hutson Slatter - hubby's 2d cousin
* John Albert Slatter - hubby's 2d cousin
* Albert Henry Harvey - hubby's 2d cousin
* Harold McClure Forde - hubby's 2c1r
* Albert Lloyd Forde - hubby's 2c1r
* Joseph Miles Bradford - hubby's 2c1r

Curating Faces for the Family Tree

Yesterday's post was about how personalizing family trees with photos of ancestors can be wonderful cousin bait.

Putting faces on the family tree also preserves those images for future generations to see.

It's a process of curation...and it puts a face to the name.

Which photo to post?

My goal is to have at least one clear face for each ancestor in my husband's direct line and my direct line. If possible, I want that main photo to be of the ancestor as an adult.

Above are the photos I posted on MyHeritage of my father-in-law, Edgar James Wood (1903-1986), and mother-in-law, Marian Jane McClure Wood (1909-1983).

I chose good, clear photos of my in-laws in their mid-50s, recognizable to anyone who might have known them even in their later years.

Obviously there will be no photos when I get back beyond the mid-1800s, but occasionally I have something else suitable (such as the woodcut portrait of my husband's great-great-granddaddy Benjamin McClure from an 1880s newspaper).

I promise, no images of flags or ships or DNA! Update: Dara asked why no DNA image, since it's a quick way to see who's a match when we look at our own family trees. IMHO, a DNA image isn't good cousin bait and often there are too many DNA images that come up in "hints." I'm posting photos of deceased ancestors, using them specifically as cousin bait.

Captioning on the photo

I cropped each photo to focus on the face. Then I put a caption on the image. As shown above, the captions are:

Edgar James Wood, courtesy Wood family

Marian Jane McClure Wood, courtesy Wood family

No matter where these photos get copied, and no matter how many years have passed since being posted for the first time, the faces will always be identified (along with the source).

Once I have the photos cropped and captioned, I can upload to all of my trees (Ancestry, Family Search, MyHeritage, and Find My Past).

Thanks to the pandemic, I have the time to systematically climb each family tree, adding a photo to key ancestors on multiple genealogy websites.

Personalized Family Trees Are Great Cousin Bait

Family photos as cousin bait on FamilySearch.org

Ancestor photos are terrific cousin bait on family trees!

Recently, I contacted someone who had posted a photo of a descendant of my husband's great-great-granddaddy, Benjamin McClure. She immediately wrote back to confirm the relationship! We are excited about exchanging other photos and genealogical details. That's why I'm taking the time to personalize all my trees with photos on key ancestors. It's simple, it's easy, so I'm going for it.

Photos Catch the Eye

The handful of photos I've posted on my family trees on Family Search (above), Ancestry, and MyHeritage are designed to attract the eye of anyone researching these ancestors. Instead of a generic silhouette, these ancestors have a face!

I'm in the process of adding some photos to FindMyPast as well, since many of my husband's ancestors (Wood, McClure, Larimer, and more) were from England and Northern Ireland.

The faces personalize family trees and encourage cousins to get in touch. I'm including brief photo captions as well for a bit of added personalization. My photo caption for Marian Jane McClure simply provides her birth/death years and says she is the daughter of Brice Larimer McClure and Floyda Mabel Steiner McClure.

Of course, for privacy reasons, any photos and captions I post do not include faces or names of living people.
Watch Those Ancestors

Click the star to "watch" an ancestor on FamilySearch

On Family Search, I've clicked the star to "watch" key ancestors (see purple oval above). That means I'll get a message if and when anybody else makes any change to these ancestors. Usually I'm notified by email about a message.

But I can also log in and look for a dot above the "messages" link (see purple arrow). If a dot appears there, I'll know there's been a change to a "watched" ancestor OR a possible cousin is getting in touch!

Happy cousin hunting!

Why I Love the 1900 and 1910 US Census

Is it wrong to play favorites? I have two favorite years in the U.S. Census: 1900 and 1910.

As shown above, these are favorites because of the specific questions asked during those two Census years. The answers that ancestors gave were clues to further researching their lives. Here are just two examples.

1900 US Census Clues: Farkas Family

As enumerated in the 1900 Census, my maternal great-grandfather Moritz "Morris" Farkas (1857-1936) was a boarder in the household of a Roth cousin. His birth year is shown as 1857. The month is not indicated (it's omitted from many on this page).

Thanks to this Census hint about birth year, I went looking for Moritz's birth in the Hungarian records a few years ago. At the time, I had to request FHL microfilm #642919 of Jewish records gathered at Fehergyarmat, Hungary. Very exciting to find him there (as "Moses Farkas") after two hours of cranking the microfilm reader at a nearby Family History Center!

1910 US Census Clues: McClure Family

Here's the 1910 Census for my husband's great-great uncle Train Caldwell McClure (1843-1934). Look way over to the right on this record and you'll see "UA" in the column reserved for recording veterans. UA = Union Army!

I searched for and found his Civil War service in Company A of the 89th Indiana Infantry. Train entered the Union Army on August 3, 1862, and was mustered out nearly three years later on July 19, 1865 at Mobile, AL, according to the Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana.

These are only two examples of why I love the 1900 and 1910 U.S. Census. For now, these years are my favorites.

But in April of 2022, I'll have a new favorite: The 1950 U.S. Census, which will be released that year with a lot of detailed information about my ancestors. I can't wait!

His and Her Heirlooms from When We Were Born

With the Covid-19 pandemic keeping us inside since mid-March, I've been documenting family history by writing about heirlooms that will be passed to the next generation.

Wally's baby book and silver porringer

Today is a look at keepsakes from when my husband and I were born.

His: Baby Book and Silver Porringer

My late mother-in-law (Marian Jane McClure
Wood) was given a small baby book to record milestones in the life of her first-born child, my wonderful hubby.

Shown here is the baby book alongside a silver porringer, engraved with baby's initials (WEW). Although the book contains the names of several dozen well-wishers who gave baby gifts, this silver porringer isn't listed. Nor is it listed as a gift for "baby's first Christmas." Although we don't know who presented it to my husband, it's still a treasured heirloom.

The baby book turned out to be a bonanza for my family-history research. In it are the names of many people identified by family relationship, such as "Aunt Nellie Kirby" and "Grandparents McClure." Over the years, as I've fleshed out the family tree, I've recognized other gift-givers as great aunts/uncles and cousins.

By correlating the book with other sources (such as Census records and the diaries of my late father-in-law, Edgar James Wood), I've confirmed who's who in the family's inner circle, and also narrowed down dates for the death of people who don't appear.

Hers: Silver Napkin Ring

Marian's silver napkin ring from the Farkas Family Tree

In my mother's Farkas Family Tree association, the traditional baby gift was a silver napkin ring.

On one side was engraved the baby's initials (mine is shown here).

The other side was engraved with the birth date and "Farkas Family Tree."

No matter whether a baby was a boy or a girl, the Farkas Family Tree bestowed this napkin ring, personalized for each child.

Because I have the Farkas Family Tree meeting minutes from 1933-1964, I know that controversy erupted when the mother of a baby boy asked whether the gift might be something other than a napkin ring. After heated discussion during a family meeting, the mother was out-voted.

According to the minutes, this aunt asked for reconsideration several times at meetings over the years, only to be voted down every time.

Tradition won out, and all babies in the family continued to receive silver napkin rings. That's part of the legacy I'm sharing with my heirs along with this keepsake.