Four Men & a Boy

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Don Taylor

Photo Friday
By Don Taylor

Very good week for my Photo Identification Project. three individuals were identified and one other I have a name for but I can’t confirm which of two individuals it is.

Photos of John Shaw, Ralph Marr Bragdon, Paul Brackett, Harold Bragdon (youth), & Harold Bragdon

John Shaw, Ralph Marr Bragdon, Paul Brackett, Harold Bragdon (youth), & Harold Bragdon

Ralph Marr Bragdon

The back of the photo says, “Ralph Marr Bragdon married Hazel Clynda Gardner – Feb 11, 1920.”  The photo is by The Pike Studio, Westbrook Maine and says “W. H. S. Class 1915.”

I believe this to be Ralph Bragdon, son of George and Minnie (Marr), Bragdon married Hazel Gardner on 11 February 1920 in Westbrook, Cumberland, Maine. Family Search ID LYRK-Y47: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/LYRK-Y47

Harold Bragdon

The back of the photo says, “Harold Bragdon.” The photo is by “Fenley Studio – Walter Fenley – Guy Kendall, Portland, Maine.”

There is also a second photo slipped inside of the photo pages which says “Harold Bragdon, 319 Warren Ave, Cumberland Mills, Me.” There is no photographer information on the second photo.

Ralph Bragdon (above) had a younger brother Harold. These photos appear to be of Ralph’s younger brother. The earlier photo probably about 1910. The older one of Harold is probably when he was 18 or so, 1918. Family Search ID LYRK-Y47: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LRL2-DX8

Paul Brackett

The back of the photo says, “Paul Brackett – Graduation 1935,” The photo is by “Roger Paul Jordan, Portland.”

There was a Paul Brackett, son of Ernest and Eva Brackett who was born in South Portland on 17 Jan 1915. This appears to be him. Family Search ID GMR3-43Y: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GMR3-43Y

John Shaw

The pack of the photo says, “Very Truly Yours, John Shaw.” In a different pen and hand it reads “January 5th, 1906.” The photo is by “The Hatch Studio – Chas. R. Higgins,  Prop., Bath, Maine.”

A review of the Census records between 1900 and 1910 resulted in two results.

  • John Oakman Shaw – b. Dec 1838 or 1839, d. 1906. Wife Mary, Lived in Bath in 1900                 Age 69 – Too old to be the person in this photo.
  • John Shaw – b. October 1872 – Wife Harriet, lived in Bath in 1900 & 1910 – Age 34 – Candidate.

There were several other John Shaws in Maine during 1906 but none in Sagadahoc County. There was a John E. Shaw, born 1886 who lived in Lowell, Penobscot, Maine in 1910. And there was a John Shaw, born 1876 who lived in Lewiston, Androscoggin county, Maine in 1910. Lewiston is only about 25 miles from Bath, so this photo could potentially be him.

I believe this is John Shaw, born 1872 and who lived in Bath during the 1900 and 1910 Censuses, I there is a possibility the individual in the photo could be one of the others.

Final Note

If you are related to any of these individuals or can help confirm their identities, I’d love to hear from you.

 

 

 

 

 

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Donna Darling Collection – Part 64

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Don Taylor

Treasure Chest Thursday
Donna Montran
Vaudeville

The National Theater, Chico, California, Oct or November 1926.

For this week’s Treasure Chest Tuesday, I’m looking at two clippings from the Donna Darling Collection. Both relate to the National Theater. The same movie and the same last act mentioned are the same. Other than this entry, I haven’t seen the “Ko-Ko Kwartette” singing “Sweet Adeline” before. That makes this show unique.

Luckily, one of the clips indicates that it comes from “The Chico Record,” so we know that the show played there. The “Donna Darling Revue with Sammy Clark” occurred in 1926. The show entered Southern California in early October 1926 and traveled north. On October 30th, the show played at the Modesto Theater and on November 3rd, the show had moved up the coast and played in Medford, Oregon. As such, it is clear this show occurred sometime between October 30th and November 3rd.

CHICO RECORD, CHICO, CALIFORNIA

National—The headline on to- vaudeville program at the National Theater is The Donna Darling Revue headed by Miss Darling, who won the title of “Musical Comedy Beauty,” in Madison Square Garden’s show and there’s Sammy Clark, known as the Juvenile Komik. Princess Winona, and Indian prima donna, sings modern and Indian songs. Billy Curtis and Lou Lawrence have a laughing skit called “Is that the Custom?” in which a lady traveler appears to claim her trunk from a hard boiled official. Zuhn & Dreis are a couple of “nut” comedians who, believing they are an amusement exhibit, adopt a placard billing called “Dementus Americanos,” habitat North America. Morel & Elynor introduce beauty, grace, and speed doing the “Charleston on Rollers.” The film feature is “The Road to Glory,” starring May McAvoy and Ford Stirling. The Ko-Ko-Kwartette sings “Sweet Adeline” for a real feast of humor.

Conclusion

(circa) November 1, 1926 – Chico, California – National Theater – Donna Darling Revue with Sammy Clark – DDC-64.

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Lisa J Fannin and the Ancestry Trees.

Posted on June 7, 2020 by Don Taylor

Brown-Manning-Fannin
By Don Taylor

Photo of Don Taylor with cat Nasi.I’ve never been entirely comfortable with my entries for family relationships for my Great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Manning. I know my tree in that area goes back 30 years ago or more and was based upon other people’s trees. I know that her sister was Phoebe Jane Manning. It appears that her father was John William Manning and her mother was Lisa (possibly Elisa) Jane Fannin. The problem is that I don’t have sources for those relationships. I also believe that she had a half-brother, Robert J. Manning. Again, I don’t have much in the way of sources for that information.  So, I thought I look at other people’s trees on Ancestry and see what they have for sources.  There were two women that appeared to be my ancestor:

  1. Elisa J Fannin (1861-1880), married to John Mannen (1841-1919). The only source used in any of five trees that relate to her only cite other trees. Additionally, this John Mannen died in 1919, which would be inconsistent with other aspects of my Lisa Fannin’s husband.
  2. Lisa J. Mannin (1861-1880), married to John William “Joe” Mannin. This John Mannin appears to be correct, however, I’m not convinced this is the correct individual either, but more about that after I’ve analyzed the documents. Ancestry indicates there are 58 trees associated with Lisa J. Mannin.

The majority of trees that Ancestry associates associated with Lisa J. Mannin only have other trees as their sources, however, the first tree has 2 sources associated with it. So, I’ll take a look at those first.

1880 Census – I had already found John and Lisa in the 1880 Census. Nothing new there.

1870 Census – George M. Mannin household consisting of an implied wife and four children. Lisa’s name in this census is Louisa J. Mannin. The age is correct (9) but the name is different, and the location is questionable. This Census location is Greenup County. John lived in Bath County before the Civil War and He and Lisa lived in Rowan county in 1880. The logistics of a young girl marrying an older man from two counties away seems difficult for me to reconcile.

So, absent any compelling connections, I will not ascribe Louisa to my Lisa; however, I will add tracing the George M. Mannin household to future tasks.

Kentucky Marriage Records – The next source shows the marriage between John W. Mannin to Sarah J Garvin. The couple took out a license on July 29, 1868 and married the following day in Carter County by a Judge of CC. The individual whose tree provided this source is incorrect in ascribing it to John and Elisa’s marriage. However, it might provide insight into who might have been John’s son’s mother. I tentatively added this record as a “first marriage for John W. Mannin.” There is nothing compelling that this John W. Mannin is my (2nd Great-Grandfather) John Mannin other than name and location. I need to find other evidence to collaborate this is my John W. Mannin.

1860 Census – Simon Manning household consisting of an implied wife and one child, a girl Eliza Manning. Lisa was 19 in the 1880 Census, so it appears unlikely this two-year-old is the same person. I might add a note to Lisa’s profile: Do not confuse with Eliza Manning, born 1857-1858 Implied daughter of Simon and Polloy Manning.

There are 14 private trees identified on Ancestry which appear to have Lisa J. Mannin. All of them either have no records or only 1 record associated to Lisa. As such, I suspect they are all citing Ancestry Trees.

Conclusion

Other people didn’t have sources any better than mine. So, I should probably explore surname studies or other research avenues.

Future Actions

Trace the George M. Mannin household through other censuses.

The George M. Mannin household in 1870[i] consisted of:

      • George Mannin           49
      • Elizabeth Mannin        33
      • Martha A                     12
      • John B                         10
      • Louisa J                         9
      • James D                        8

Follow John W. Mannin and his wife Sarah Gavin in other records.

ENDNOTES

[i] Year: 1870; Census Place: Precinct 3, Greenup, Kentucky; Roll: M593_466; Page: 67A; Family History Library Film: 545965

 

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Two Sisters & Two Others

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Don Taylor

Photo Friday
By Don Taylor

This week’s Photo Identification Project items included two of my easiest finds and one of my most frustrating. First, there were three photos showing two sisters. Very easy to identify.  So was a class photo. The last photo I looked at was very frustrating.

Lilla Parmenter

“Lilla Parmenter – Married Dr. Hayes” – Photo by H. M. Smith, 478 Congress St., Portland, ME.

Lilla Parmenter | married Dr. Hayes

This was one of my easiest identifications ever. A search for Lilla Parmenter with a spouse of Hayes on family search quickly found Lilla Sibley Parmenter, born 15 October 1870 who married Daniel William Hayes, MD, on 3 October 1898. Her timeline on Family Search did not indicate any time for her to live in Portland. A search of the Portland City Directories did not result in any results. However, Family Search did indicate she had a sister Clara Maria Parmenter. Posted to Family Search.

“Clara Parmenter” – Photo by H. M. Smith. 478 Congress St., Portland, ME.

Clara Parmenter 1

Clara Maria Parmenter was born on 4 Feb 1873. She married Isaiah Greenleaf Elder on 15 Apr 1926 in Polk County, Florida.  The 1895 Portland City Directory does not list Clara, however the 1896 directory indicates that Miss Clara Parmenter was a nurse at Maine General Hospital.

So, I believe she located to Portland about 1895. Posted to Family Search.

“Clara Parmenter” – Hanson Studio, 12 Monument Square, Portland, ME.

Clara Parmenter 2

The second photo of Clara is clearly much more recent than the first. She appears in the Portland City Directory under her maiden name until 1925. So, this photo must have been taken before that. Again, I was able to post the photo to Family Search.

Florence Caroline Dot

“Florence Caroline (Dot) Wood, Rockland, Maine | Married William Smith of Bangor or Brewer 1923 – They have four children.” Class ’09.

Florence Caroline (Dot) Wood 1

 This appears to be a 1909 photo of Florence Wood. My search quickly found that Florence married William Burke Smith on 16 October 1912 in Bangor. Her parents were Charles P Wood and Margery E. Britt. She was born 21 Jul 1891 in Rockland, Knox County, Maine. She would have been 17 when this photo was taken. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a Family Search ID for the individual. I did find 15 trees on Ancestry which include her.

The original of this photo is held by the Scarborough Historical Society, Linwood Dyer Photo Collection. I have a digital copy of the photo on my Flickr photostream (https://flic.kr/p/2iS8Lmn). – Don Taylor.

Helen Doyal

“Helen Doyal” – L & W.C. King Studio, Portland, ME.

Helen Doyal

A search of the Portland City Directories found Miss Helen S. Doyle, a nurse at Maine General Hospital in 1895. (She was not in the 1894 directory.) She was also listed in the 1900 at 20 Hill and 1901 Directories as a nurse at 19 Ellsworth, however she does not appear in the 1900 Census. Searches at both Ancestry and Family search did not yield results for Helen Doyle/Doyal. A search of the census indicated there were 35 women with the Doyle surname, none of whom was Helen. Likewise  search of women named Helen, yielded 126 individuals, none of whom was a nurse nor lived near the hospital.

Finally, I was able to find the residents of both 20 Hill and 19 Ellsworth in the 1900 Census. Neither of them nor their neighbors had anyone enumerated that appears to be Helen.

Likewise, a search of Ancestry Trees failed to yield a Helen Doyle that was a reasonable candidate to be this Helen Doyal. I will post Helen to Dead Fred in hopes of a family member discovering her photo there.

Final Note

If you are related to any of these individuals or can help confirm the identify them, I’d love to hear from you.

These photographs were “rescued.” I’m hoping to return the photographs to the family and would appreciate you contacting me if you are a member of one of these families, or you know someone who is.

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Donna in the News – 4 June 1924

Posted on June 4, 2020 by Don Taylor

Donna Darling & Co. at the Hippodrome, Sacramento, CA, 4 through 7 June 1924.

I recently found four ads that ran in the Sacramento Bee from June 4th through June 7th.  Donna was the headliner “Donna Darling & Co. | Madison Square Beauty” at the Hippodrome Vaudeville.

Ad showing Donna Playing at the Hippodrome, Sacramento, on 4 June 1924.

Hippodrome ad in The Sacramento Bee Wed, Jun 4, 1924, via Newspapers.Com

On stage with Donna were:

  • Parks & Clayton–“Laugh Producers”
  • Mascot–“The Human Mind Pony”
  • Valente Bros.–“Accordionists”
  • Harte & Helene–“Another One”

Plus the Katherine McDonald photoplay “White Shoulders”

 

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