In case you missed it, FamilyTreeDNA is offering Mother’s Day Sales on it’s Family Finder and mtDNA tests.
“Family Ancestry” is their Family Finder test that tests autosomal DNA and can be taken by anyone. “Maternal Ancestry” is a mitochondrial DNA test that can be taken by anyone but looks at potential maternal ancestors.
The sale runs until May 11th.
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– – – – – Disclaimer – – – – –
Very good week for my Photo Identification Project. Four individuals were identified, however, one was not.
“Katie Farrington – Who married Starrett of Warren, Maine.”
There is a Katie Ella Farrington (of Gardner) who married Henry Vaill Starrett (of Warren) on January 1, 1901, in Gardner. Katie was 36 at the time of the marriage. I believe this photo to be of Katie, probably in 1900. See photo at Family Search.
“Edith H Lane.” No studio, date, or location information. However, this appears to be the Edith H Lane, born June 1871 of Simeon and Mary Lane who lived in Brownfield, Oxford County, Maine. She married Frederick W. Jameson on 28 December 1914. This appears to be a photo of this Edith H Lane. See her photo at Family Search.
“Miss Mills – Nurse” was taken at Hanson Studio, 12 Monument Square in Portland, Maine.
A look at the 1899 Portland City Directory discovered a Miss Inez L. Mills that was a nurse at 597 Congress, boarded the same place. I saw no other nurses with the Mills surname. It appears that Miss Mills was a nurse in Portland from 1898 to 1905. The 1920 Census finds the 47-year-old Inez living in Portland at 684 Congress Street and working as a registered nurse for the Red Cross. The 1880 Census finds Inez living with her parents Melvin J. and Abby Mills in Belgrade, Kennebec County, Maine. Finding no other “Miss Mills” that was a nurse in the Portland area, I am confident this is Inez L. Mills. Inez Luella Mills (1872-1944). See her photo at Family Search.
“Agnes Perry” – The photo is that of a young woman taken at Merrill Studio, Rockland, Maine. There is no date nor any other information. A search for “Agnes Perry” Rockland Maine provided a link to Agnes Mae (Perry) Radley on Find-a-Grave. It said This Agnes was born 2 Aug 1891 in Rockland, Knox County Maine. She married Franklin Leroy Radley in 1912. A search for her on Family Search found her with her parents in Rockland during the 1900 and boarding at 58 Camden Street in Rockland during the 1910 Census. A wider search indicated no other Agnes Perry’s in Maine during this period, so I’m sure this is the correct Agnes Perry. Agnes Mae (Perry) Radley, (1891-1963). See her photo at Family Search.
The last photo I looked at this week was of a woman standing. No name, no date, the only identifying items is that the photo was taken at Corson Studio in Madison, Maine. I posted a copy of the photo to the Madison Maine Historical Society Facebook page and asked if anyone can recognize the person.
If you are related to any of these individuals or can help identify or confirm their identities, I would love to hear from you. Please use the form below.
This week for Montran Monday[i], I found an article from the Philadelphia Inquirer dated 22 July 1917.
Article transcription:
ANNUAL CONCERT AT OCEAN CITY
Musical Feast to Be Given at Yacht Club July 27 With Noted Quartette
Plan for Dance Thursday Next for Benefit of Hahnemann Base Hospital Fund
OCEAN CITY, N. J., July 21—The…
[Eight paragraphs then]
Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, July 22, 1917, Page six. Found via Genealogy Bank.
This is clearly Maude Winter Montran (1875-1931) and her daughter Ruth Grace Montran.
Maude lived in Philadelphia in 1910 and in San Francisco in 1920. As such it makes sense that Maude and Ruth would visit friends or family before the move. Alternately, Maude’s other daughter, Thelma, was married in 1916 or 1917. Ocean City was a great place for marriages and Maude and Ruth could have been in New Jersey for Thelma’s wedding and then stayed with the Beams.
[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.
Alice Dorcas (Ladd) Harris was born in Saco, York County, Maine, and lived her entire life in York County, Maine.
List of Grandparents
Alice Dorcas Ladd was born on 26 October 1901, in Saco, York County, Maine. She was the third of four children born to Edwin Grant and Dorcas Annie (Patterson) Ladd.
Alice had an older sister, Florence, who died in 1898 at the age of 2. Her other older sister, Lillian was ten years older than Alice. Lillian kept two autograph books wherein she collected the autographs of various important Saco and Biddeford individuals. Alice’s younger sister, Albertha, was born in the summer of 1904, so she was less than three years younger.
The 1910 Census shows Alice living at home with her parents and her two living siblings. Her father was a farmer, who owned his farm. Living with them was her (paternal) uncle, George Ladd. Alice, along with her younger sister, Albertha, were attending school.
In 1918 the Spanish Flu hit. When Alice had her seventeenth birthday, October 1918, nearly 2,500 Mainers died of the flu. Over 5,000 Mainers died of the Spanish Flu during that time.[i]
By late 1919, Alice was working as a Mill Operative in Saco.
On December 13th, 1919, a Marriage Intention was filed and nine days later, on Christmas Eve, 1919, Alice Dorcas Ladd and Thomas Washington Harris were joined in marriage by Horace H. Hayes, a clergyman in Saco.
The 1920 Census finds Alice and Thomas rooming in Saco at 106 Elm Street. Alice was working as a beamer at a cotton mill and Thomas was a laster at a shoe factory.
The 1920s also saw the births of their two children—first a girl in 1923 and then a son in 1928.
In 1929, Alice visited Mrs. Paul Huff in Kennebunkport and brought her two children along.
The 1930 census finds Alice, her husband, and their two children living on her parent’s farm on Boon Road in Saco, Maine. Alice’s father died inn 1937, and Thomas took over as the head of the household.
The 1940 Census finds Alice, her husband and their two children living on the farm at 142 Boon Road. Living with them is Alice’s mother Dorcas and a lodger, Benjamin Luce. Their son went into the Marine Corps.
Their son married and farmed the land next to them, while Alice’s husband, Thomas, continued to be identified as a shoemaker.
In 1987, Alice’s husband died. Alice continued on alone and died on 25 February 1990 at the Trull Nursing Home in Biddeford. She was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery.
————– Disclaimer ————–
[i] “In 1918, A Pandemic Swept Through Maine — And Offers Lessons For Containing COVID-19”. 2020. Bangor Daily News. Accessed April 22, 2020. https://bangordailynews.com/2020/04/05/news/bangor/in-1918-a-pandemic-swept-through-maine-and-offers-lessons-for-containing-covid-19/.
By Don Taylor
For this week’s Treasure Chest Tuesday, I’m looking at a page from the Donna Darling Collection. Scan #1437 consists of three clippings. One clipping is generic and doesn’t include the theater name. The other two are the Mission Court Theater and the Yost Broadway.
Clipping – Mission Court Theater – Vaudeville – Donna Darling Collection
The Donna Darling Music Review played at the Mission Court Theater, Fullerton, Cal., on one Thursday night. Donna’s show was in Northern California in the early part of June and made it to San Bernardino, CA, by June 28th. It is possible that she played in Fullerton on Thursday, June 26th, however, it is more likely she played in Fullerton on Thursday, July 3rd. Donna played in Whittier on June 30th and in Santa Ana on July 5th, so playing her playing at a theatre between those to venues on July 3rd, makes sense. As such, I’ve added the following venue to Donna’s Career Listing.
July 3, 1924 – (Probable) – Fullerton, CA – Mission Court Theater – Donna Darling Music Revue – DDC-62
Clipping – Yost Broadway – Donna Darling Revue – 8 October 1926
The second clipping has “Oct 8-9 Santa Ana” written above the clipping in the scrapbook. That coincides with articles found at Newspapers.Com which indicated that Donna and Sammy played at the Yost Broadway Theater on October 7-9.
October 7-9, 1926 – Santa Ana – Yost Broadway Theater – Donna Darling Revue – Newspaper Archives. Newspapers.com – DDC-62.
