Category: In the news

Newspaper articles about individuals I am tracking “In the News.”

Donna in the News – Princess Theatre – Kirksville, MO – 1924

In The News
Bathing Beauty Revue
By Don Taylor

Photo of Don Taylor with cat Nasi.“Donna in the News” is my reporting of newly found newspaper articles and advertising regarding my grandmother, Madonna Montran (Donna Montran and Donna Darling). I am always excited when I find a new venue for my grandmother’s exciting show business career of the 1910s and 1920s.

This week’s article is from the Kirksville Daily Express & Daily News (Kirksville, MO) dated September 7, 8, & 9, 1924.

I didn’t find any write-ups for the vaudeville shows, but an ad for the Princess Theatre indicates that:

Donna Darling presents
Her Moving Picture Bathing Girls
and
The Life Guard
in a Beach Promenade. 3 Shocks and 2 Gasps!!
“The Evolution of a Bathing Suit”
It’s a real vaudeville treat!
Don’t Miss It!

The advertisements over the three days indicate that it played at the Princess on Monday and Tuesday, September 8th and 9th. The display ad on Sunday spelled the name of the feature film correctly, but the text ad on Monday misspelled the feature film as “The Excitors.”

On Monday, besides the feature film “The Exciters,” a Mack Sennett short, The Hollywood Kid also played. It appears that Donna’s show was the only vaudeville at the theater Monday and Tuesday.

Because of those newly available online articles, I was able to add another venue for Donna’s 1924 Bathing Girls show:

1924-09-08 – Kirksville, MO – Princess Theatre – Moving Picture Bathing Girls.

Endnotes

  • Kirksville Daily Express and Kirksville Daily News (Kirksville, Missouri) Sun, Sep 7, 1924 · Page 2
  • Kirksville Daily Express and Kirksville Daily News (Kirksville, Missouri) Mon, Sep 8, 1924 · Page 2
  • Kirksville Daily Express and Kirksville Daily News (Kirksville, Missouri) Tue, Sep 9, 1924 · Page 2

Donna in the News – Mission Theatre, Santa Barbara, 1926

In the News
Donna Darling Revue
By Don Taylor

Photo of Don Taylor with cat Nasi.“Donna in the News” is my reporting of newly found newspaper articles and advertising regarding my grandmother, Madonna Montran (Donna Montran and Donna Darling). I am always excited when I find a new venue for my grandmother’s exciting show business career of the 1910s and 1920s.

This week’s article is from the Santa Barbara Daily News (Santa Barbara, CA), dated October 15th, 1926[i].

The ad doesn’t mention Donna, but Page 13 does have a brief mention of the shows at the Mission; it says:

The Mission will offer a very entertaining and jazzy program today and Saturday, headed by “The Donna Darling Review.”

Other acts mentioned include:

  • Herbert Cagger (Balancing Act)
  • Kostner and Vivian (Old-time rube act)
  • Curtis and Lawrence (Skit)
  • “Those Who Dare” (Screen Feature) (IMDB)

The fifth vaudeville act isn’t mentioned either.

Donna played in Santa Ana on October 7-9 and Porterville on October 19th, so her playing at Santa Ana on the 15th and 16th makes sense.

Thanks to this newly available online article, I was able to add another venue for Donna and the “Donna Darling Review.”

October 15-16, 1926 – Santa Barbara. CA – Mission Theatre – Donna Darling Review

Endnotes

[i] Newspapers by Ancestry – Santa Barbara Daily News (Santa Barbara, California) · Fri, Oct 15, 1926 · Page 13 “MISSION” – Accessed on Oct 7, 2021

Albert S. Bodge in the News – Death, Draft, and life in Westbrook

In the News
Blanchard Project
Blanchard-Bodge
By Don Taylor

Photo of Don Taylor with cat Nasi.“In the News” is my reporting of discovered newspapers articles and advertising regarding ancestors I am researching. Albert S. Bodge is a 2nd great-grandfather in my Blanchard-Utterstrom Project. The information found in newspapers invariably provides fresh texture to understanding the life of an ancestor.

This week I look at five articles I found through the website Genealogy Bank.

The Portland Daily Press (Portland, Maine) dated 24 Aug 1897, page 5.

WESTBROOK

The Funeral of Albert S. Bodge was held at the Advent church yesterday afternoon. Mr. Bodge had been an employe of S. D. Warren & Co. for the past twenty years. His age was 59 years. He leaves a widow and three daughters.

What I learned:

    • Albert died before 24 Aug 1897
    • Albert worked for S. D. Warren & Co. 1877-1897 and (probably lived in Westbrook during that time.
    • Albert was (probably) an Adventist.
    • It was confirmed that Albert was born about 1838.
    • It was confirmed that Albert left a widow (Emily ?) & three daughters; Berta, Minnie, & Hattie. 

The Portland Weekly Advertiser (Portland, Maine) dated 25 Jul 1863, page 4.

The Draft
14th Sub-District—Brighton and Naples.
358 Enrolled—107 drawn.
Windham

…Albert S Bodge… 

What I learned:

    • The clipping confirmed that Albert lived in Windham in 1863 and was drafted in the Windham draft.

Portland Daily Press (Portland, Maine) Dated 14 Aug 1863, Page 4.

List of persons who furnished substitutes:

… Albert S Bodge,…

 

What I learned:

    • The article confirmed that Albert paid a substitute in the Civil War.

Portland Daily Press (Portland, Maine) Dated 30 Apr 1866, Page 2.

Letters Remaining Unclaimed

In the Post Office at Portland, State of Maine, 30th day of April 1866.

To obtain any of these letters, the applicant must call for “Advertised Letters,” give the date on this list and pay ONE CENT for advertising. If not called for within ONE MONTH, they will be sent to the Dead Letter Office….

GENTLEMEN’S LIST.

…Bodge Albert…

What I learned:

    • Albert lived in Windham in 1863, during the draft, and lived in Portland in April 1867 when he married Lizzie Maybury. In 1866 his residence may have been fluid as he apparently received mail in Portland but wasn’t picking it up.

Portland Daily Press (Portland, Maine) Dated 30 Jun 1896, Page 3.

WESTBROOK

DUCK POND

… Mrs. Albert Bodge and daughter Hattie from Cumberland Mills, are visiting at Mr. Wm. Smith’s;…

What I learned:

    • The Bodge’s were living in Cumberland Mills in June 1896.

Cumberland Mills was a neighborhood in Westbrook, Maine. Duck Pond was a village about five miles north of Cumberland Mills, still within the township.

Donna in the News – “Route of Flight Changed”

Montran Monday
Montrans in the News
By Don Taylor

“Donna in the News” is my reporting of newly found newspaper articles and advertising regarding my grandmother, Madonna Montran (aka Donna Montran and aka Donna Darling). I am always excited when I find new information regarding my grandmother’s exciting show business career during the 1910s and 1920s. 

This week’s article is from the Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, Mass.) dated 22 July 1915.

Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, Mass.) dated 22 July 1915. (Via Newspapers.com)

ROUTE OF FLIGHT CHANGED

City Officials Refuse to Allow Miss Montran to Drop Pennants on Boston Common

Because of inability to secure a permit to drop the “Birth of a Nation” pennants on the Boston Common, the route of the biplane carrying Miss Donna Montran had to be suddenly changed. Miss Montran, one of the “belles of 1861” in the moving picture at the Tremont Theatre, expected to make two round trips with Captain J. Chauncey Redding, in his aeroplane, from Saugus to Boston, dropping from the machine, while over the Common, one hundred pennants advertising the “Birth of a Nation, twenty-five of which had free ticket attached.

City officials would not allow this to be done, so that instead of coming to Boston Miss Montran flew over Lynn and Revere, where the pennants were dropped. She was attired similar to the lobby girls at the Tremont Theatre, with the exception of the hoop skirt. It is doubtful if the flight over Boston could have been made even if a permit had been granted, for the weather conditions today would not allow for the altitude necessary to insure safety.

This article provided additional detail regarding Donna’s biplane flight in 1915 over Lynn and Revere and how come she didn’t fly over Boston Common and drop the pennants there.

For more about Donna’s 1915 Biplane Flight see July 22-23, 1915 – Saugus, Mass. – Donna’s Biplane Flight (Boston Daily Globe).

Montrans in the News – “At the Summer Resorts”

Montran Monday
By Don Taylor

Photo of Don Taylor with cat Nasi.This week for Montran Monday[i], I found the following article in the Boston Evening Transcript dated 4 August 1899, Page 9, Column 5, 1st full paragraph.[ii]

“At the Summer Resorts”
Golf the Feature at Camden

 Madame Najia Maqhabghat and her brother, Joseph Montran, of New York, are guests of Mrs. Horace Barnes, at the Eager homestead. Madame Maqhabghab will give a Persian tea, early in August, in Camden [Maine]. 

 I learned:

It is not clear if this Joseph Montran is the same Joseph Montran I had identified before. So I added a new Joseph Montran, who lived in New York in 1899, and his sister Najia.

Other Actions

A search on Newspapers.com and Ancestry.com for Maqhabghat and Maqhabghab yielded no results other than this one article. So the spelling of Najia’s last name is still unclear and was probably misspelled in the newspaper – twice.

ENDNOTES

[i] Montran Monday – My grandmother’s father was John Montran. She used the surname, as a young child and again when she began in show business. The name is uncommon and most of the Montrans I see in the newspapers are my grandmother during her early vaudeville career. However, with the constant flow of newly digitized material, I often learn of new articles which contain the Montran name. I pay attention to the finding and try to determine a possible relationship of any Montrans to Donna’s father, John Montran.

[ii] Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, MA), Newspapers.com, 1899-08-04 – At the Summer Resorts – Joseph Montran. Page 9. https://www.newspapers.com/image/735420074/?terms=Joseph%20Montran&match=1.