FAN Club: Larimer, Work, Short Families Go to Church

Once again, keeping the FAN club (Friends, Associates, and Neighbors) in mind when doing #Genealogy research has reinforced close connections in my husband's family tree. True, some of these connections are more than 200 years old, and that's a real plus--it shows how the Larimer, Work, and Short families were intertwined for many generations.

They lived near each other, worshipped with each other, and some married each other. A few clues (such as obits) suggest these families were related as cousins in Northern Ireland, and naturally decided to settle in America near each other. One group began in Pennsylvania and then moved westward to Ohio. Some relatives and descendants continued west to Elkhart county, Indiana. Along the way, church records in particular (plus census records) helped me document their close connections. (I viewed the new Presbyterian records posted on Ancestry, reading every original page rather than relying on the index/transcription--which allowed me to note "creative" spellings and spot instances of all the surnames I'm researching!)

Isaac M. Larimer (1771?-1823) and his wife, Elizabeth Woods Larimer (1773-1851) were my hubby's 4th great-grandparents. They had 10 children that I can account for. Many were baptized in the Rush Creek Presbyterian congregation in Fairfield county, Ohio, during the early 1800s. At top, the church record showing two Larimer children (James and Moses) baptized in June and July of 1806.

The youngest of Isaac and Elizabeth's children, Cynthia Hanley Larimer, was baptized in this church in 1815. She married Abel Everett Work there in 1836. Abel was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, while his father, Aaron Work, was married in Mifflin, PA, the town where hubby's Larimer ancestors lived before the move to Ohio.

Also in 1815, the year that Cynthia was baptized, a few Larimer and Work family members were admitted to that Rush Creek Congregation. Shown above, Aaron Work (Abel Work's father) was admitted "on certificate." John Larimer was admitted "on certificate" in 1816. And the list goes on. Who moved first, encouraging which family to join later? I'm going to find out, because they appear in groups, this FAN club of extended family members.

A granddaughter of Isaac and Elizabeth, Margaret Larimer, married Thomas Short in Middlebury, Elkhart county, Indiana, in 1842. Not long after Thomas's birth, his parents (James Short and Frances Gilbert Short) were admitted to the Rush Creek Congregation "on certificate" in 1822. (Interestingly, Thomas's later bio mentions that his parents were born in Ireland, but no indication of where.) Lots of Short relatives eventually settled in the Elkhart area, as did some Larimer and Work relatives, all members of the FAN club.

PS - Reader Janet asked how I keep track of FAN club names that may be important to my research. First, I have my Ancestry family tree open in one browser window (can do same for a Family Search tree) while I read any online records. Second, I have an alphabetized list of surnames I printed from my RootsMagic software. Then I can compare a name and date in, say, the handwritten church records with the names/dates in my tree or software. I also have notes in my software regarding suspected cousinship relations. Of course so many times the same name is used in multiple generations, which means I have to check closely to avoid making assumptions about the wrong Samuel Work or John Larimer.

The Mysterious David Mahler

My great uncle David Mahler (1882-1964) was a bit of a mystery in my paternal grandmother's Mahler family. And, I understand, a bit of a black sheep. I never met him in person, but I heard stories and found intriguing records that raised more questions than they answered.

David was born in Latvia, the second child of Tillie Jacobs Mahler and Meyer Elias Mahler. I believe he was named for Meyer's father, David Akiva Mahler (who was my 2d great-grandpa).

As an adult, David had a variety of occupations: paper hanger (age 18, according to 1900 Census); driver (age 23, according to 1905 NY Census); rigger (age 35, according to WWI draft registration); motion picture technician (age 58, according to 1940 Census); utility man, Columbia Studios, motion picture industry (age 82, according to California death certificate). He said he was living in High Point, NC in 1935--why? I haven't found him in the 1930 Census yet, so who knows what he was doing at that time!

There are a few other family mysteries surrounding this great uncle. His WWII draft registration card indicates he had a tattoo, D.M., which I'll bet his mother never saw (and would have disapproved of). When, where, and why did he get it? Maybe while a rigger in New Jersey during WWI?

An even bigger mystery: David told the 1940 Census that he was married, yet he was living in the "Universal Hotel" without his wife, along with dozens and dozens of other unrelated people.

His death cert mentions that he was widowed, the informant being his sister Sarah, who also lived in California. Well, the only David Mahler marriage record in California that seems remotely possible is in September, 1937 to Charlotte Schlyer, but I haven't sent for it at this point.

Although David bounced around during his life, he wasn't really a black sheep until the day he helped out in his brother-in-law Louis's New York City paint store.

The way Louis's granddaughter heard the story and shared it with to me, things were quiet in the store, so Louis decided (uncharacteristically) to leave just a little earlier than usual and take his wife out to dinner. He asked David to watch the store and lock up.

David went into the back room for a smoke (and a drink, if I recall). He fell asleep and the lit cigarette accidentally touched off a roaring fire that destroyed the store and financially ruined his brother-in-law. Not surprisingly, the family got upset with David.

Ne'er-do-well David was lucky to be "offered" a job 3,000 miles away, at Columbia Studios in Hollywood. This was thanks to the kindness of another Mahler in-law, who kept David on the payroll for years. In 1964, David died of cancer at the Motion Picture Country Hospital, his residence listed as the Universal Hotel (the same as during the 1940 census). Rest in peace, great uncle David, and know that you are remembered, warts and all.

Thank you to Amy Johnson Crow for this week's "Black Sheep" prompt in her #52Ancestors series.

Clues Buried in Sources on Other Family Trees

Good genealogy researchers trust good sources, right?

And that's why, any time I view other people's family trees on Family Search or Ancestry, I go straight to the sources. This allows me to retrace the steps of any family history researcher and examine the evidence for myself. I analyze and weigh the details of every piece of evidence. If the evidence seems solid, I add it to my tree, cite the source(s), and factor it into my genealogical conclusion.

If a tree has no sources, I move on--nothing to see.  Family stories and relatives' memories are only a starting point--we need actual evidence to construct a reliable family tree. Too often, family trees posted online use other family trees as the source (a la the sources titled "Ancestry Family Trees"). Sorry, not good enough for the Genealogical Proof Standard.

Sources for other people's trees, if any, will be hiding in plain sight.* At the top, a family tree on Family Search, with the button "print family with sources" circled in dark green near the bottom of the image. Click, and up pops a pdf of a family group record followed by pages of full sources (like the ones below).

I compared this tree with a tree on Ancestry, where the sources are in the center column for convenient access. Both of these trees had good sources--different sources, in some cases. By viewing the original documents, not the indexed or transcribed versions, my neighbor and I picked up good clues to research as she follows the Crandall branch of her family tree.

* Thanks very much to reader Marian, who pointed out that on the profile page of each person in Family Search, there are sources listed. Clicking on a fact will bring up any linked sources--then click on the sources to see the documents. I print the list so I can check which I have and which I haven't seen before by comparing with my tree.

PS: Yes, my neighbor knows about the Crandall Family Association. She's actually done a ton of research. We were spot-checking dates and spelling by looking at sources connected with other people's trees.

PPS: Above, from a tree that will be nameless (to protect the guilty), one reason why I distrust trees without sources. Jean must have had quite a wedding in 1805, considering she's listed as dead by 1790.

Jane: The Name in the Middle

Margaret Jane Larimer McClure at right, with daughter Lucille Ethel McClure
and son-in-law Edward DeVeld

My sis-in-law has always told me that Jane is the traditional middle name for females in her family.

Not in the family tree of my late father-in-law, Edgar James Wood (1903-1986). One of Edgar's aunts was Jane Ann Wood Black (1846-1936), the eldest child of my husband's great-grandparents (Thomas Haskell Wood and Mary Amanda Demarest). None of the earlier Wood family females carry this middle name, so far as I can discover.

We learned that Jane is the most popular middle name in both sides of the family of the mother-in-law I unfortunately never met, Marian Jane McClure (1909-1983). She gave her daughter that middle name, and in turn my sis-in-law gave her daughter that middle name.

Marian's mother Margaret Jane Larimer (1859-1913) and grandmother Elizabeth Jane Rinehart (1834-1905) both had Jane as their middle name. Larimer and McClure ancestors often gave Jane as the middle name of one girl in each generation.

The McKibbin family, which intermarried with Larimer ancestors, included a number of women with Jane as their middle name. Same tradition in the Hilborn family, which intermarried with the Rinehart family.

By the way, I identified all the ancestors with "Jane" as a first or middle name by doing a search with my RootsMagic7 software. Very convenient way to prep for this #52Ancestors post.

99-cent Kindle Special Ends at Midnight on June 14

Wow! #1 in Amazon's Kindle Genealogy list from June 13-17.

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• put your genealogy collection in order and downsize duplicates?
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Now, for only 99 cents, you can download the Kindle version of my book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past.

But this special price expires on midnight of Thursday, June 14th, New York time, so please click to take a look soon!

UPDATE: More than 260 ebooks sold in 5 days (plus printed copies too), keeping my book at the top of the Amazon Kindle genealogy best-seller list for five days in a row. Thank you! Please, if you own my book, would you take a moment to post a review on Amazon? Your feedback would be most appreciated!

Father's Day: Where Dad Lived (and Why)

For Father's Day, I'm telling stories of where Dad lived, and why, and stories he told me about everyday life. Harold Burk (1909-1978) was born in Jewish Harlem, 77 E. 109th Street in Manhattan. That's the address on his birth certificate and the address where he lived at the time of the 1910 Census. It's just a short walk from the Northern end of Central Park.

Thanks to the images in the New York City Public Library's digital collections, I can see tenements similar to the building where Dad lived and read about conditions there. These East Harlem buildings were not quite as cramped and dank as tenements in the Lower East Side. Another plus: They were "uptown" and therefore more desirable, with less-crowded streets and within reach of greener pastures (literally) in upper Manhattan and lower Bronx.

The reason Dad's family lived uptown, rather than downtown in the Lower East Side where so many immigrants lived, has to do with family connections as much as infrastructure. When my grandpa Isaac Burk (1882-1943) got to New York City in 1904-5, he boarded with the Mahler family at 1956 Third Avenue in Manhattan. That's where Isaac married my grandma Henrietta Mahler (1881-1954) in June, 1906.

The bride and groom may have been cousins, a possibility I'm still researching, because documents show Isaac's mother's maiden name as Shuham and the maiden name of Henrietta's grandmother as Shuham. Both of those families had roots in Lithuania. Strong possibility of family connections, but no proof (yet).

By 1909, when Dad was born, his parents Isaac & Henrietta were living only a seven-minute walk from Henrietta's Mahler family apartment on Third Avenue. By 1915, according to the New York City Census, the two families were living in separate apartments in the same tenement house at 7 East 105th Street in Jewish Harlem. Built-in babysitters for a growing family: Dad was 6, his older sister was 8, and there were two more siblings under the age of 4.

Both the Burk and Mahler families found it convenient and desirable to live uptown in East Harlem because workers could commute by "el" (elevated trains) to jobs located in midtown or downtown. The Third Avenue El, as it was known, was fast and affordable.

This elevated train line stopped running during my lifetime as other mass transit options took its place, and the car culture took hold. In the early 1900s, however, the el and later underground subway lines enabled working people to escape the dirty, noisy, crowded Lower East Side. The NYPL has some atmospheric photos of the "el" at various periods.

Dad told stories of playing stickball in the streets as a youngster (maybe ducking the few cars that passed). He also told of boys daring each other to jump from one tenement rooftop to another. Even though the tenements were often butted up against each other or barely a few inches away, it wasn't at all easy or safe. Dad admitted he was just plain lucky to live through those escapades. Bet his parents never knew what he was doing!

Dad also told stories of taking horse-drawn buses from his Harlem home north to the Bronx for a daylong picnic outing. Sounds like the children would eat and then play while the adults shmoozed and snoozed before returning to their tenements. By the time I was old enough to hear these stories, it was hard to imagine the Bronx as a bucolic collection of farmlands and rural picnic vistas--but entirely true, as photos in the NYPL collection demonstrate.

Happy Father's Day to my Dad and I'm delighted to keep his memory and his stories alive for future generations, in the spirit of #52Ancestors and the #GenealogyBlogParty's Dynamite Dads.

More June Weddings - My Side of the Family

Here are some of the June weddings on my side of the family and what I learned about them during my research:

• June 3, 1934: Above, an invite to the wedding of Rachel Chazan and Solomon Ash in Manchester, England, 84 years ago. The invitee, "N. Block," turned out to be Nellie Block, older sister of my paternal Grandpa Isaac Burk. In 1901, Isaac had lived in Manchester with the parents of the bride, en route from Lithuania to his new home in North America. Once a cousin unearthed this invite, I quickly connected with descendants of this family in Manchester (hi, cousins!). And only last year, I connected with more descendants of Grandpa Isaac's other siblings (hi, cousins!).
• June 7, 1930: My mother's uncle Fred Farkas married Charlotte Chapman 88 years ago in Chicago. His career and growing family meant he rarely returned to New York City, where the Farkas Family Tree association was based. Staying in touch, Fred and Charlotte wrote letters to be read out loud during these family meetings. WWII letters indicate that some Farkas family members serving in the military were able to visit Fred and Charlotte on leave during the 1940s.
• June 10, 1906: Happily for me, Isaac Burk married Henrietta Mahler on this day, 112 years ago, in the NYC apartment of the bride's family. (Hi, Grandma and Grandpa!) Interestingly, the 1905 NY Census shows Isaac as a boarder in the Mahler apartment in Manhattan, along with Isaac's brother, Meyer Berg. Could Isaac's family have put him in touch with Henrietta's parents to arrange a place to stay, and then love bloomed within close quarters? 
• June 14, 1932: Morris Mahler, brother of my grandma Henrietta Mahler,  married Carrie Etschel 86 years ago in New York City. Both bride and groom were in their 40s when they married, against the wishes of my father's Mahler family (because of religious differences). Relatives told me they were happy together, which makes me happy.

Going to the Chapel - His Side of the Family

So many ancestors were married in June, in my husband's family tree and in my tree! I used RootsMagic7's calendar report to see who was married, when, and how long ago, tree by tree. This is a good opportunity to revisit my research, summarize what I know, see what's missing, and take the next step. Thanks to Amy Johnson Crow for this #52 Ancestors prompt.

Here are some of the early June marriages in my husband's tree:

June 3, 1903: Hubby's great-aunt Mary Amanda Wood married August Jacob Carsten 115 years ago in Toledo, Ohio. Sadly, Mary Amanda died at age 32, just months after giving birth to their fourth child. Mary Amanda was named for her mother, Mary Amanda Demarest Wood.

June 10, 1903: At top, the license application for hubby's Grandma Floyda Mabel Steiner and Grandpa Brice Larimer McClure, who married 115 years ago in Wyandot county, Ohio. Only through this record did I discover that Floyda had been married before. She was brave enough to divorce the first husband, who called her vile names and threatened her. Plus she won an alimony settlement!

June 12, 1856: My husband's 2d great-uncle Samuel D. Steiner married Maria L. Forrest 162 years ago in Crawford county, Ohio. While researching the Steiner family in Wyandot county a few years ago, I discovered that Samuel had been arrested for aiding/abetting burglary and not showing up in court. What happened? Don't know yet, but I did find Samuel at home in the 1880 census. 

June 13, 1847: My husband's 3d great-aunt, Elizabeth E. Bentley, married Emanuel Light 171 years ago in Elkhart, Indiana, as shown on the marriage license below. During the 1850s, Elizabeth and Emanuel left their home and traveled west, as her father had done in 1848 early in the Gold Rush. The Light family farmed in California. Despite years of research, the Bentley family's ancestors are still a bit of a mystery, one of my genealogical works in progress.

DNA Results: Not Even Close

Dear cousins I don't yet know but hope are out there,

Up front, I have to say I'm sincerely grateful for all the cousins I've connected with through genealogy! I treasure our kinship, our friendship, and the shared history of our ancestors.

But I can't help wondering: Do I have more cousins I haven't yet found?

Of course I'm using conventional methods to trace all the branches of my tree. I've also hopped on the genetic genealogy bandwagon, posting my results to multiple sites. New matches pop up regularly.

However, as shown above in last week's Ancestry DNA matches (sorted by date, not relationship) most are not even close. At best, if I followed up on this lot, I might find a 5th cousin. And only one of these matches is in the "good confidence" range.

Even more discouraging, just 4 of this week's crop have bothered to post any kind of family tree. Two of those are private trees, making it difficult to check out potential relationships. The latest matches on other DNA sites are also distant cousins, and therefore not high on my priority list.

When Family Tree DNA finally delivers my long-awaited mtDNA analysis results (delayed three times already), I want to use that data to focus on my maternal line.

So, dear cousins I don't yet know, I hope we connect with each other. Don't be a stranger.

Thanks to Amy Johnson Crow for the #52Ancestors prompt, "so far away," my starting point for this post.

Diary Entries Describe Decoration Day Traditions

Today is the 150th anniversary of Decoration Day. The original purpose was to honor those who died serving in the Civil War by putting flowers on their graves. After World War I, the concept of Decoration Day expanded to decorating the graves of all U.S. military men and women who had died in wars.

For decades, my late father-in-law, Edgar J. Wood (1903-1986) would drive his wife, Marian J. McClure Wood (1909-1983), from their home in Cleveland to Upper Sandusky, Ohio, for Decoration Day. In his diaries, he wrote "Decoration Day" on the space for May 30th and jotted notes about laying flowers on her relatives' graves. Interestingly, only one diary entry ever mentioned decorating his parents' graves in Highland Park Cemetery, Cleveland, and that took place on the day before Decoration Day.

At top is a partial listing of Marian's relatives buried in Upper Sandusky's historic Old Mission Cemetery, including her mother, Floyda Mabel Steiner McClure (1878-1948). Also buried there are her aunts, uncles, and grandparents. None of these folks had fought or died in war; it seems it was family tradition to honor the memories of much-loved relatives by laying flowers on their graves every Decoration Day.

According to the diaries, Edgar and Marian would pick up her father, Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970), for the drive to Old Mission Cemetery, where they laid flowers and had a picnic nearby. If it was raining, they ate in the car. Then they visited relatives in the area, such as Marian's Aunt Carrie Steiner Traxler (1870-1963), before driving home.

For this generation of my husband's family, Decoration Day was a day of remembering those who had passed away and spending time with family members they rarely saw.

Write Family History Now, Add or Change Later

Thinking about writing your family history? There's no time like the present. Anything you write will be a real gift to your family and to future generations, whether you write about a special family photo or trace the life of a matriarch or patriarch.

If all you have is a photo and the names of some or all of those pictured, you've got enough to make a good start. The goal is to write as much as you know about who, what, when, where, why, and how. Today, you may only know "who" and "when" but tomorrow, when you discover "where" or "when," you can add that to your write-up or make corrections.

Always ask family members for help. Many times, cousins can identify people we've never seen or met. Photos can also trigger recall of a family story that adds color and personality to the family history.

Here's a photo taken at the NYC wedding of my parents, Daisy Schwartz (1919-1981) and Harold Burk (1909-1978). When I was writing about their courtship and marriage, I asked several cousins to help identify the wedding guests. Unfortunately, we identified only four of my mother's maternal aunts and uncles shown here. Still, I kept moving ahead with my write-up.

A few weeks later, one cousin suddenly remembered the name of the lady seated fourth from the right. Based on this new info, I located the lady's son and ultimately connected his branch to my great-grandma's family tree in Hungary. Because of my cousin's memory, I now have more names, relationships, and stories to add to my family history.

Never give up! Eventually, we identified the last two "unknowns" in this photo as more cousins on my mother's side.

Please, do the "write" thing for the sake of future generations. There's no time like the present for starting on this gift to the descendants of our ancestors.

NOTE: This is part of my series about writing family history:

• Be honest and ethical when writing family history
• Set the stage for a written family history
• Find the drama when writing family history
• Focus and research when writing family history
• Write about one person, photo, occasion, heirloom, surname

Saving WWII Letters for the Next Generation

One of my 2d cousins was kind enough to lend me a scrapbook of letters written by my mother's 1st cousins and her sister serving in World War II.

The letter-writers were the American-born grandchildren of Leni Kunstler Farkas (1865-1938) and Moritz Farkas (1857-1936). Leni and Moritz, my great-grandparents, were born in Hungary and came to New York City at the turn of the 20th century. Their children (my grandma and her generation) formed the Farkas Family Tree (the FFT) association during the Depression to keep the family close-knit.

One by one, as these grandchildren of the matriarch and patriarch joined the military in the 1940s, they wrote letters to be read out loud during the family tree's monthly meetings. In all, five men and one woman wrote home about their WWII experiences. They were dedicated, patriotic, and often quite candid about their military experiences.

Above, a letter from my mother's first cousin Harry, who trained as an X-ray technician after enlisting in the Army in 1943. He was stationed at Camp Grant (Rockford, IL), Lawson General Hospital (Atlanta, GA), Fort Lewis (Tacoma, WA), and Fort Jackson (Columbia, SC), among other places.

While being shipped cross-country every few months for additional training, Harry wrote about wanting to finally, finally work with patients, which he eventually did. After the war, he went to medical school, set up a practice in a small town, and was sorely missed when he passed away at age 89.

My aunt Dorothy Schwartz (1919-2001) enlisted as a WAAC in 1942. She was keenly aware of what she was and wasn't permitted to say in her letters, describing where she was stationed without actually naming the place or revealing other details. In the letter above, she reassures her family by mentioning the beautiful countryside in England (no town mentioned) and gives the latest news about a WAAC controversy over wearing "overseas hats" when out and about.

At the same time, my aunt didn't mince words when expressing her outrage about German prisoners of war being allowed to stand and watch while U.S. servicewomen handled jobs like cleaning mess halls that could and should have been performed by the POWs. She was also realistic about the dim prospects for an early peace in Europe, from her vantage point of being the administrative support for military officials.

On this Memorial Day weekend, I salute my cousins and all the men and women who have defended our country over the years. This military post is for week 21 of #52Ancestors.

Where Have All the Gen Bloggers Gone?

Do you remember that 1950s folk song, Where Have All the Flowers Gone? by Pete Seeger (read the story here)?

This mournful song came to mind today as I tested the links on every one of the dozens of genealogy blogs I follow. Where have all the genealogy bloggers gone?

• Nearly 3 dozen blogs haven't been updated in at least 6 months. Of these, at least 10 have been dormant since 2015. Most of the blogs had been active for a few years, on and off, and then activity dwindled to zero.
• Several blogs have transitioned to websites (and are still functioning, so I changed my "follow list" to reflect the new address). These are keepers.
• Inexplicably, 2 blogs are now "hidden" from view. Can't see what they are now, so I deleted them from my reading list.

Now I'm down to reading only 78 genealogy blogs. Since few bloggers post as often as, say, Randy Seaver on Genea-Musings, I can easily keep up with the blogs I like to follow.

But I really miss the meadow of genealogy blogs that once blossomed with information, education, and discoveries. I miss buzzing from blog to blog and enjoying the diverse voices and stories that these bloggers were kind enough to share.

Despite the shrinking population, I do not think that genealogy blogging is dead. Some bloggers have, I imagine, decided to focus on Twitter or Pinterest or both. Some are surely active on Facebook genealogy pages or Instagram. Most are probably busy living their lives and researching their trees. At least, I hope that's what happened. My 10th blogiversary is coming up in August, and I plan to keep blogging as I climb my family tree.

Let me thank all of you genealogy bloggers who are still posting, and encourage those of you who are new to add your voice and believe you have an audience. I look forward to seeing what you're doing, learning from your experiences and expertise, commiserating with you when an ancestor refuses to be found, and rejoicing with you when you smash a brick wall.

So Many Ancestors, So Many Languages

For #52Ancestors #20, I'm trying to identify the different languages spoken by key ancestors in my family tree and my husband's tree.

My paternal grandparents (above) probably spoke three languages apiece. Grandma Henrietta Mahler Burk (1881-1954) was born in Latvia, and surely spoke Latvian as well as English and, I'm guessing, Yiddish. Possibly she spoke Russian too, although I don't know for sure.

Her husband, Isaac Burk (1882-1943) was born in Lithuania, and spoke that language plus Russian and maybe even Yiddish in addition. Isaac certainly picked up some English when he stopped in Manchester, England, to stay with family in 1901, en route from Lithuania to North America.

My maternal grandparents also spoke multiple languages. Grandpa Theodore Schwartz (1887-1965), shown above escorting my mother down the aisle at her wedding, had a way with languages. His native Hungarian tripped off his tongue, but he could also speak several other languages, including English--which is why the steamship lines employed him in NYC as a runner around Ellis Island in the 1910s.

His wife, Hermina Farkas Schwartz (1886-1964), was fluent in Hungarian, having been born there, and learned Yiddish in the Lower East Side of NYC as an immigrant. Also she learned English in NYC night school.

In my husband's Wood family tree, there are three adult Mayflower ancestors (Degory Priest, Isaac Allerton, Mary Norris Allerton). Therefore, in addition to English, they may have learned some Dutch when the Pilgrims fled to the Netherlands prior to sailing to the New World. Once in Plymouth, perhaps they learned a few words to talk with Native American tribes? Photo above shows my late father-in-law (Edgar James Wood, 1903-1986) at left with two of his Wood brothers.

Also in my husband's McClure line, his ancestor Halbert McClure (1684-1754) was born in County Donegal, and sailed to Philadelphia with his family in the 1740s. Because the McClures were originally from Isle of Skye, hubby's ancestor may have spoken Scottish Gaelic or Gaelic (or both). On arrival in the American colonies, however, the McClures would most likely have learned English, because they walked from Philadelphia to Virginia. They would probably need to speak English to buy provisions along the way. Once in Virginia, they bought land--again, a transaction that probably required English.

Honor Roll Project, Part 3: Newtown, CT, Gulf War and Civil War

In Newtown, Connecticut, the stately memorial at the head of Main Street includes plaques with names of men and women who served in our country's military over the years. As part of Heather Rojo's Honor Roll Project, I'm transcribing the names and including photos to pay tribute to these brave people.

This is Part 3 of names from Newtown. Part 1 covers those who served during the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, and the Mexican Border War. Part 2 covers those who served from 1944-1971.

Here are the names of those from Newtown who served during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, 1990-1991:

Check, Emory T. (Army)
Demand, Dana B. (Air Force)
Denslow, Alan L. (Navy)
Evans, William (Navy)
Fischer, Lawrence B. (USMC)
Godfrey, Kenneth C. (Air Force)
Gottmeier, Richard P. (Army)
Hannah, Stephen (Army)
Hayward, Brian P. (Air Force)
Knapp, Letitia Renee (Army)
Knapp, Robert D. (Army)
Kieras, Christopher (USMC)
Killing, Robert E., Jr. (USMC)
Klewicki, John E. (Army)
Leavitt, Brian (Air Force)
Leedy, Roberta C. (Army)
Mead, James g. (Navy)
Schaedler, David A. (Army)
Schmidle, Paul W. (Navy)
Schmidle, Robert E. (USMC)
Swart, John J. (Army)
Sturges, Donald (Navy)
Wade, Brian (Navy)
Waller, Darrick (USMC)
Wrinn, Johnathan (Air Force)

And here are the names of Newtowners who served during the Civil War:

Adams, James

Alldis, Frederick G.

Andress, David

Banks, Allen

Banks, Edward A.

Beers, Hawley

Beers, James M.

Benedict, Edwin

Benedict, Henry W.

Bigelow, Henry B.

Bissell, Henry

Blake, Martin

Blakeslee, George B.

Booth, Charles, Jr. 

Booth, John W.

Booth, Starr L.

Botsford, Gideon B.

Botsford, Israel C.

Bradley, George A.

Bradley, Thomas

Brewster, John H.

Brisco, Ephraim

Briscoe, Charles

Briscoe, George

Briscoe, Gustavus

Brown, George W.

Brown, Jeremiah

Brown, Jerome

Bruno, Gottfried

Bulkley, George

Burritt, Charles H.

Butcher, Charles

Camp, Daniel B.

Camp, George B.

Carley, Edward

Carmody, Michael

Casey, Barney

Cavanaugh, Michael

Chipman, Charles C.

Clark, Allen B.

Clark, Newell

Clark, Robert

Clinton, George

Coger, Henry B.

Coley, George S.

Colgan, Matthew

Conger, Charles T.

Conley, William

Connell, William

Cornell, Hiram

Cunningham, John

Curtis, Charles G.

Curtis, Jasper L.

Curtis, Joseph

Curtis, William

Curtis, William E.

Davis, Daniel

Davis, William

Dayton, Charles W.

Dick, Charles L.

Dimon, Arthur

Downes, Munroe D.

Downs, Oliver

Downs, Smith

Dunn, Hugh

Dunning, Edward A.

Edgett, Seneca

Edwards, Levi H.

Egan, James

Ellwood, Frederick

Ellwood, William

Evans, James

Evarts, George A.

Fairchild, Alpheus B.

Fairchild, Henry W.

Fairchild, Jerome B.

Fairchild, Lewis

Fairchild, Lewis H.

Fairchild, Reuben A.

Fairchild, Robert B.

Fairchild, Theodore B.

Fairman, Arthur

Faulkner, John

Flannery, Patrick

Foote, John G.

French, David R.

Gage, George R.

Gannon, John

Gilbert, Charles E.

Gilbert, Henry A.

Gilbert, Horace 

Gillette, David A.

Glover, Henry J.

Glover, Martin V.B.

Gordon, James

Gordon, William A.

Greene, John W.

Griffin, John

Groever, Paul

Guernsey, Truman

Hall, Henry C.

Hall, James P.

Hawley, Charles E.

Hawley, David B.

Hawley, George

Hawley, James

Hawley, William G.

Hayes, Dennis

Hickey, John

Hubbell, George S.

Hubbell, John P.

Hull, Andrew C.

Jackson, Henry J.

Johnson, Henry

Johnson, Jacob

Johnson, Thomas

Jones, Charles

Jones, David W.

Jones, John

Kaine, Patrick

Kane, Daniel

Kane, James

Kane, John

Keenan, Michael

Kelly, Bernard

Kelly, James

Knapp, John S.

Lake, George

Lattin, John O.

Lewis, George H.

Lillis, Griffin P.

Lillis, John

Lillis, Martin

Lynch, Patrick

Manley, Henry T.

Matthews, Benjamin W.

May, Charles

McArthur, William L.

McMahon, Michael

McNerney, Thomas 

Merritt, Charles

Meyer, Fritz

Monson, Charles

Nash, Adelbert

Nichols, Beach

Nichols, Elijah B.

Nichols, Harmes L.

Nichols, Henry E.

Nichols, James

Northrop, Alpheus

O’Brien, David

O’Brien, Thomas

O’Halloran, Michael T.

Olmsted, Peter D.

Parker, James

Parsons, Charles M.

Payne, Charles H.

Payne, David S.

Peck, Albert W.

Peck, Austin L.

Peck, Chester D.

Peck, David M. 

Peck, John F.

Peck, Nelson J.

Peet, Benajah H.

Pete, Elijah S.

Peterson, Arlan

Peterson, Carl

Platt, Francis W.

Platt, Orlando M.

Ramsay, George W.

Reed, Hawley

Reicker, Edward

Rigby, Matthew

Riley, James

Roberts, Charles H.

Root, Nathan H.

Ryan, Michael

Sanford, Andrew W. 

Sanford, Julius

Schriver, Andrew

Seeley, Eli B.

Seeley, John D.

Shaughnessy, Lawrence

Shepard, Charles

Shepard, Charles S.

Shepard, Hall

Sheridan, James

Sherman, George H.

Sherman, Ira

Sherwood, Charles R.

Smith, Frederick E.

Smith, John

Smith, Pearl

Smith, William A.

Spencer, George H.

Spitzler, Gottlieb

Spring, Charles

Squire, Cyrenius N.

Squires, George D.

Stuart, Louis L.

Sullivan, James

Tappan, John

Tappan, Robert

Taylor, Ammon

Taylor, Milton C.

Taylor, Roswell

Tongue, Elam M.

Tongue, Hanford

Troy, Edward

Twitchell, Franklin S.

Tyrrell, Stephen

Urmston, Thomas D.

Walsh, John

Weed, Daniel B.

Weed, Joseph B.

Weible, Christian

Wenzel, Frederick

Wheeler, Cyrus W.

White, Joseph

Williams, George W.

Wood, Smith B.

Wooster, Charles