Honor Roll Project, Part 1: Newtown, Connecticut

There are two places where servicemen and servicewomen are memorialized in Newtown, Connecticut.

One memorial is the tall, graceful monument at the head of the main street. At left, a view of what the base looks like.

Embedded around the base of the monument are bronze plaques listing the names of Newtown residents who served, from the Revolutionary War onward (see photo below for an excerpt).

This memorial was dedicated in 1939, with two prominent opera stars singing during the ceremony: Grace Moore (who lived in town at that time) and her friend and fellow diva, Gladys Swarthout.

Some of the bronze plaques with
names were added in stages after the dedication. Many but not all of the plaques were transcribed during the 1930s but I'm double-checking and correcting before posting, having found errors and omissions.

The other place where Newtown residents who served are memorialized is on "roll of honor" plaques hand-lettered and framed in the lobby of Town Hall on Main Street. See photo here for a peek at one of these plaques (to be transcribed later this month). These have not been written up in the town's archives, to my knowledge.

Today, I'm posting Part 1 of the listing of Newtown residents who served in the military. Part 2 (names from 1944-1971) can be found here. Part 3, with names from the Civil War and Gulf War, is here.

Watch for more in the coming weeks, each separate list alphabetized to help people find their ancestors!

Newtown residents who served in the War of 1812

Beardslee, Bailey
Beers, Abel
Beers, Philo
Bennet, Abel
Bennet, Eli
Bennet, Isaac
Bennet, James
Bennet, James W.
Bennet, Joseph
Bennet, Philo
Booth, Philo
Botsford, Daniel
Botsford, Daniel, Jr.
Botsford, Theophilus
Bradley, Abijah
Camp, Lemuel
Caulkins, Joseph L.
Chapman, Alma
Crofut, Abel F.
Curtis, Abijah B.
Curtis, Alfred D.
Curtis, Matthew
Dibble, Philer K.
Dibble, Squire
Fairchild, Kiah B.
Fairchild, Philo
Foot, Arnold
Foot, Isaac
French, David
Gilbert, Elisha
Glover, John
Glover, William S.
Gray, William
Hard, Niram
Hawley, Lemuel
Hays, Abraham
Jarvis, Charles
Johnson, Ichabod
Judson, Abner
Judson, David
Judson, Zera
Middlebrook, Peter
Nichols, David
Northrop, Isaac
Peck, Andrew
Peck, Ezekiel
Peck, Rufus
Prindle, Jonathan
Shepard, Amos
Shepard, Timothy
Stilson, Abel, Jr.
Stilson, Jacob
Taylor, David
Thorp, Ira
Tousey, Joseph
Wells, Amos
Wheeler, David
Wheeler, Joseph B.
Whitney, Philo
Winton, Czar
Wooster, Roswell

Newtown residents who served in the Mexican War

Barnum, Franklin
Cole, Andrew

Newtown residents who served in the Spanish American War

Brennan, James
Hawley, Willis
Lovejoy, Arthur G.
Lovejoy, Morris B.
Morris, Charles G.

Newtown residents who served in the Mexican Border War

Barnett, William E.

Thanks to Heather Rojo for the opportunity to participate in her Honor Roll Project!

Remembering Ancestral Mothers with Love

A tribute to the ancestral mothers in my family . . . 

And in my husband's family . . . 

They are loved and remembered, not just on Mother's Day!

Do the "Write" Thing for Genealogy: Be Honest, Be Ethical

As family historians, how can we write about ancestors in a way that is both honest and ethical?

After all, every family has a secret or a story that the current generation knows nothing about. Maybe an ancestor hid an early marriage or had some other hidden relationship . . . or committed a crime . . . or behaved in a manner considered, then or now, to be shameful or questionable or downright wicked.

Our genealogy research can turn up things that families never expected would be known. Especially if we want people to share stories and documents with us, I believe we have an obligation to use that information in a responsible way. It's a balancing act between the honesty we genealogists owe to future generations and the ethical responsibility we owe to those living today.

My personal approach is: If disclosing something about an ancestor would be truly harmful to someone living today, I don't write about it, either on my blog or in any "public" family history.

This has been a real issue only once in my 20 years of genealogy research. In that instance, I put the information into my private genealogy files so the story won't be lost forever. This allows me to be honest with future generations and act responsibly by avoiding potential damage today.

My "genealogical will" leaves my files to relatives who will safeguard them for the sake of descendants. Years from now, when these genealogical heirs sift through the files, they can weigh the consequences of disclosure in light of how much time has passed and whether anyone would be harmed if the story is told then, not now.

What do you think? Please share your thoughts on this delicate balancing act.

A Close-up Look at One Brick-Wall Mother

Combining two #52Ancestors challenges ("Close Up" and "Mother's Day") with this month's Genealogy Blog Party theme of "Marvelous Mothers," I thought it would be fun to take a closer look at a particular brick-wall mother on my husband's tree.

Eleanor Kenny (1762-1841) was hubby's 4th great-grandma. She is intriguing because, according to some family trees, she is shown as the daughter of James Kenny, a private in the Cumberland County (PA) militia who died during the Revolutionary War in 1784. He served in the 7th Co., 1st Battalion of this militia.

Eleanor's father (hubby's 5th great-grandpa) would be the first direct family connection to that war, if this is the right Eleanor and right James Kenny.

Now, before you say "grain of salt," this James Kenny's will specifically lists his daughter "Elinor Kenny" (she wasn't yet married). That's not enough, of course, but consider that one of the witnesses was . . . Brice Smith, who married Eleanor Kenny one year after her father died. Seems more likely that this is hubby's family after all.

The only other clues I currently have about Eleanor Kenny are:

• Her marriage to Brice Smith took place on Aug. 23, 1785 in Carlisle, Cumberland county, PA. The Family Search transcription of the original ledger is shown above.
• She is mentioned (as "Elenor") in her husband's will of 1828. So she was clearly alive when he died.
• She is buried in Driver Cemetery, Bremen, Fairfield county, Ohio, alongside her husband. The Find A Grave memorial provided her birth/death dates and shows her as "Ellen Smith."

So very possibly this James Kenny is hubby's 5th great-granddaddy and his only ancestor who we know fought in the Revolutionary War. And I discovered this link by taking a closer look at his probable daughter Eleanor, an elusive brick-wall mother on my husband's tree.

Remembering Little Sis with Love

On what would have been my youngest sister's birthday ...

 ... remembering her with love.

War Memorial Honor Roll Project: Woodbury, Connecticut

Memorial Day is only a month away, which means it's time to photograph and transcribe war memorials so I can participate in Heather Wilkinson Rojo's Honor Roll Project.

This year, I'm paying tribute to the service of men and women from Woodbury, Connecticut. The neat little town green is the setting for plaques honoring those who served during three wars.

At top, the memorial that honors those from Woodbury, CT who served in Vietnam. Their names, as inscribed above, are:

Alba, Louis G.                   Anderson, Mark E.            Bacon, William Jr.
Barry, Kevin G.                 Benjamin, John D.             Brown, Edward C.
Brown, Thomas M.           Brownell, Thomas D.        Burmeister, Richard R.
Cacy, Thomas E.               Carroll, Peter J.                  Cassidy, Brian J.
Castings, Walter J.            Churchill, James H.            Cole, Arthur R.
Cole, Donald E.                Connelly, Joseph F.            Coppola, Andrew F.
Creighton, David B.         Curtiss, Alan C.                  Daury, James P.
Eyre, Harry D., Jr.            Eyre, Stephen B.                 Faraci, William S.
Garrick, Edmund J.          Geraci, Joe L.                     Geraci, Richard J.
Green, Kenneth G.           Hoffman, Theodore A.        Hollister, Gordon E.
Hotchkiss, Berkeley W.    Hoxley, Martin D.               Huff, Harold C.
Jasper, Carl S.                   Jefferson, David W.            Jensen, Linda S.
Jones, K. Nickerson          Jones, Steven W.                Judson, David P.
Judson, Donald H.            Judson, Ronald P.               Kelleher, Robert D.
Koeppel, Robert A.          Leavenworth, Jeffrey M.    Leigh, David F.
Lonegan, Daniel P.           Marquis, Gene D.               Maxwell, Barry W.
Maxwell, Philip D.           Neal, Harris G.                   Neal, Leslie R.
Newell, Charles R.            Newell, Edward W.           Newell, Wales A.
Norton, Frank L.               Peck, Hiram W.                 Pond, J. Lawrence
Quint, Donald P.               Quint, Michael G.              Rehkamp, George M.
Rehkamp, Ronald D.        Richards, Donald W.          Roberts, Dennis A.
Rogers, Christopher C.     Rowell, James P.                Ryan, Robert F.
Scherer, Celester C.          Scherer, Martin A.             Seymour, Terry R.
Shanny, David E.              Taff, Frederick S.              Talarico, Thomas J.
White, John F.                   Winus, Richard J.              Woodward, Charles S.
Woodward, Lawrence S.   Woodward, Thomas M.

Nearby is the plaque paying tribute to the men and women of Woodbury, CT, who were in the Korean War. Their names are:

Abbott, Frank K.                                Clark, John E.
Cole, Norman F.                                 Cole, Walter H.
Cowles, Robert B.                              Creighton, E. Donald
Deschino, John J.                               Drakeley, George M.   
Fawcett, Edward F.                            Hardisty, Chester C.
Hellwinkle, Ronald F.                        Judson, Melvin P.
Metcalf, Fred L.                                 Phillips, Edward W.
Rehkamp, Dr. Charles J.                    Robinson, Kenneth L.
Robinson, Richard H.                         Terrell, Donald W.
Warner, Thomas H.

The plaque above is one of two honoring people from Woodbury, CT who served during World War II. This is A through N, with an asterick denoting those who were killed in action.

On this plaque are listed:

Abbott, H. Ellsworth                 Atwood, Gilbert               Atwood, Henry S.
Atwood, Kenneth                      Balch, George F.              Barnes, Randall C.
Bassett, George G.                    Bassett, Harold E.            Beauregard, Howard F.
Belz, Mary E. (nurse)               Bennett, Sherwood           Bergensten, L.J.
Bowker, Ruth N. (nurse)          Bradley, Kenneth A.         Brown, Charles E.
Brunet, Richard D.                   Brunet, William M.           Bull, David
Burdick, Elward C.                   Burdick, Harold              Burton, William J. Jr. *
Bynack, Joseph G.                    Cable, George                  Cable, Louis D.
Carlisle, David                          Cassidy, J. Donald           Cassidy, Joseph J.
Cassidy, Marjorie E. (WAC)    Cassidy, Paul F.                Chatfield, Robert E.
Churchill, Howard                   Coats, John E.                   Coey, Albert L.
Cole, Ferris E.                           Cole, Francis P.               Cooper, Ralph E.
Cooper, Earl D.                        Cooper, James R.              Cowles, Paul G.
Crane, Robert T.                      Crighton, David B.           Cunningham, Harold W.
Daury, Vincent P.                     Davidson, James H.          Dawson, John
Dawson, Richard                      Decker, E. Norton, Jr.      Decker, Robert S.
Dillon, James *                        Dillon, Richard                  Drake, Arthur W.
Drakeley, Robert I.,  Jr.            Duda, Casimir J. *            Duda, Peter A.
Dyer, Carroll L.                       Elting, Charles E.               Elting, Stewart E.
Eyre, Alfred G.                        Eyre, Harry D.                    Eyre, Stanley B.
Ferrell, John W.                        Fegen, Charles W. * .        Fleming, William P.
Fray, Ralph                            Fray, Robert                       Frazier, Charlotte (nurse)
Freeman, Arthur                    Gardiner, Shirley B.            Giggey, Kempton L.
Gillis, Carter E. (chaplain)    Goodrich, Ruth H.               Graham, Leslie W. *
Green, Ernest H.                    Green, George A.                 Green, Robert
Griswold, Hobart W.              Hahn, William A., Jr.          Harriman, Charles S. Jr.
Harriman, Ellen                      Hirsch, Arthur Z.                Hirsch, Charles E.
Hirsch, Clifford B.                  Hogan, Michael J.              Hohimer, Ernest
Hower, William D.                  Johnson, Clifford M.         Judson, Donald F.
Kalesky, John C. *                  Karagulla, Selim M.           Kenny, John *
King, Arthur C.                     King, Charles W.               Klatka, Catherine (nurse)
Knox, Delmar A.                  Koch, Edgar M.                  Kozenieski, Lloyd M.
Laukaitis, Anthony               Lavery, James                     Leach, John
Leesemann, Frederick W.     Lewis, Warren                    Lizauskas, Stanley
Lundin, David J.                   Lundin, Frank G.                Lucas, Frances A.
Lyon, Frank C.                      Lyon, James G.                  Macbeth, S. Alexander
MacCallum, John *               Mansfield, Paul H.            Manzi, Edward J.
Manzi, Roland                       Manzi, Vincent D.           Markham, Fred. A. Jr.
Markham, Hurlburt A.        Markle, Raymond D. MD  Martinson, William F.
Marvin, Everett D., Jr.         Mason, Howard F.R. Jr.     May, Russell C.
Michaels, Richard W.          Miller, Robert E.                 Miller, Vincent A.
Minor, Emerson *                Minor, Lewis R.                  Morgan, Addis W.
Morgan, Henry                   Morris, Hobart D.               Morris, Vernon H.
Mosevage, Anthony J.       Mosevage, George W.         Munson, Richard S.
Munson, William L., Jr      Murphy, Franklin                Nichols, Joel L.
Nutting, Parker B.

The WWII plaque honoring those who served from Woodbury, with surnames P through Z, lists the following servicemen and servicewomen:

Pagano, Anthony            Pastore, William E.            Pearson, James E.
Pearson, Robert R.          Peck, Hiram W., Jr.            Petruzzi, Marco
Petruzzi, Michael             Phelan, Robert L.               Phillips, John M.
Phillips, Thomas J.           Pinard, Alton H.                  Platt, Alfred H.
Pond, Sebastian L.           Quint, Carmen G. (nurse)  Quint, Carleton L.
Quint, Donald H. *          Quint, Franklin E.               Racenet, Amelie H. (nurse)
Racenet, J. Ernest           Reichenbach, Frank (MD) *  Reichenbach, Herbert I.
Rice, Roy E.                     Richards, David K.               Richards, James H. Jr.
Richards, Robert K.         Richardson, Phillip E.            Riese, Frederick K.
Robinson, Walter A.        Savage, David W.                  Schmidt, Clifford
Scott, Joseph M.              Sears, Richard A.                  Sharp, Charles M.
Shaw, Raymond W.          Sherwood, Albert C.          Sherwood, Charles C.
Shippee, Harold E.           Slattery, Frances P.             Slattery, James J.
Smith, Allen G.               Smith, Carleton E.               Smith, Edward
Smith, Robert G.              Smith, Walter E.                 Snyder, Melvin L.
Somers, Harold               Starr, Robert F.                   Stevens, Fannie P. (Marines)
Stockwell, Charles         Strattman, Dwight              Strever, Charles W.
Sturges, Edward B.         Sturges, George R.             Sweeney, Bernard J. *
Sweeney, Lawrence W.   Talarico, Joseph                  Talarico, Louis
Talarico, Thomas             Taylor, Raymond                 Thomas, Ferris F.
Thompson, David        Thompson, Louise J. (WAVE)   Titus, Howard
Tomlinson, James H.      Towne, Ernest H. Jr.               Travers, Sherwood W.
Underwood, H. Gilbert   Underwood, Homer R.         Voytershark, Frank P.
Walcott, C. James           Wallace, Raymond D. *      Walston, Harvey D.
Weeden, Willis M.           Weeks, Carnes, Jr.              Weeks, Robert
Westerlund, Charles H.   Westerlund, Harry F.        Weymer, Russell W.
Wilson, Herbert R.          Wilson, Robert L.            Wolcott, George
Wooden, Paul M.           Yurkunas, Kasimir           
Farrell, John J.
McConville, Marion
Weeks, Carnes
Cam, John H.
Coe, Albert B.

Sad Family History Buried in Oceola #2

A few years ago, hubby and I took a genealogy trip to Ohio to see where his Steiner ancestors lived and pay our respects at their burial sites.

Tucked away in a less-traveled part of Crawford County, Ohio, was Oceola #2 Cemetery, shown above. Since this week's #52Ancestors challenge by Amy Johnson Crow is all about cemeteries, I'm looking back at our time there.

Edward George Steiner (1830-1880) and Elizabeth Jane Rinehart (1834-1905) were my husband's maternal great-grandparents. They were born, married, and lived their entire lives in Ohio. Both are buried in historic Old Mission Cemetery, Nevada, Wyandot county, OH, a couple of miles away from Oceola #2.

Most but not all of Edward and Elizabeth Steiner's 9 children are also buried in Old Mission Cemetery. And yes, that's the cemetery where the famous gravestone for Christiana Haag is located--the stone showing her death date as February 31. (Of course, like everybody else, I took a photo as a reminder that gravestones are not necessarily correct!)

Once we left Old Mission Cemetery and located Oceola #2 (a bit off the beaten track), we found the gravestones for two other children born to Edward and Elizabeth. Sad to say, their eldest, "infant son Steiner," was born and died on October 23, 1852. Their second child, Elvaretta, was born some time in 1854 and unfortunately died on February 17, 1855.

As heartbreaking as those little grave sites were, we already knew that, thankfully, the next child born to the Steiner family was a son who lived to be 80 years old!