Anna White – Death Certificate

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Don Taylor

I received Anna White’s (Hannah McAllister’s) Certificate of Death from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. (See my previous blog for details on ordering PA Death Certificates.) The certificate included some interesting information and insights.

Her mother, Margaret (Lamb) McAllister was the informant. She provided Anna’s birthdate of August 15th, 1885 which confirmed the year. Different documents indicated 1885 and 1886. Mother’s seem to remember those kinds of things so I’ll keep to the 1885 date.

1950 photo of a street scene at 335 Lincoln Ave

Interesting is that Margaret indicated that the place of death was at Margaret’s address of 335 Lincoln Ave. (Ward 12) in Pittsburgh. Anna’s ususal address was 509 Beechwood in Carnegie, PA. Google Maps indicates that 335 Lincoln is now either a vacant lot or a vacant barber shop. Back in 1950, the barber shop building was Fischer Groceries/Confections. I suspect that back in the day the grocery included a residence next to it. In 1917, Barnetta Dumm was the confectioner there at that shop. This may have been one of the many confection shops that Margaret worked at. The photo hints that across the street was Lincoln Elementary School, but the school wasn’t built until 1931. Google maps is inconclusive regarding 509 Beechwood. It appears to be a newer than a 1913 home to me.

Anna died July 11th, 1913, at the age of 27, of pelvic peritonitis due to a ruptured ovarian cyst.

According to the death certificate, she was buried at Chartiers Cemetery on July 14th 1913. I have created a Find-A-Grave memorial for her and have requested a photo of the marker.

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Florence Darling – Death Certificate

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Don Taylor
(Modern) Google photo of
423 Charles, Pittsburgh, PA

I received Florence Darling’s Certificate of Death from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. (See my previous blog for details on ordering PA Death Certificates.)  The certificate included some interesting information and insights.

Her husband, Robert H. Darling was the informant. He provided Florence’s birthdate of Apr. 23, 1908.  (New Information) He also provided their address of 423 Charles (30th ward) in Pittsburgh. It is interesting that Harry did not know his wife’s mother’s maiden name of place of birth.  

Photo of the South Side Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA.

Florence died October 5, 1934, at the age of 26, at South Side Hospital of bilateral pyosalpinx (a collection of pus in an oviduct. [Merriam-Webster]) and pelvic cellulitis of “undetermined cause.” Contributory cause of death was peritonitis. She had been in the doctor’s care for seven days before her passing. I’m sure it must have been seven days of agony. Sadly enough, penicillin, which was discovered in 1928, wasn’t in use until in the 1940s. Penicillin probably could have saved her.

According to the certificate, she was buried at Zion Memorial Cemetery on October 7th, 1934. I have created a Find-A-Grave memorial for her and have requested a photo.

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Arthur Eugene Brown

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Don Taylor

 

My mother sent a copy of the funeral card of her uncle, Arthur Eugene Brown. Of course that got me to thinking about him. I don’t recall meeting him, although I may have when I was young.  I have a photo of Arthur and his second wife Gertrude with my mother and my sister Glennis from the same year he died. 
 

Funeral-Card-Arthur-E-Brown

Funeral Card Arthur E Brown

Arthur was the 10th child of Arthur Durrwood and Mary Elizabeth (Manning) Brown. He was born 2 April 1909 (although the 1920 census says he was 8) in Williston, North Dakota. His death records and most other records indicate he was born in 1909.

 

A photo of Gertie & Arthur E Brown.

Gertie & Arthur E Brown.

He moved to Sylvan Township, Cass County, Minnesota about 1917.  His father died in 1928, when he was 19 years-old.  He lived on a farm near Brainerd, Minnesota in 1935 and married Gladys Grace Hoggarth at Zion Evangelical, in Brainerd, on 24 Sep 1938.

 
In 1939, the first of six boys was born; Art, Gladys, and the boys appear to have lived in Baxter, MN, which is a small town adjacent to Brainerd. 
 
On 7 Mar 1944, Art enlisted in the Army. 
 
Tragedy struck in 1968 when Gladys died. 
 
In 1980, Art married Gertrude Lillian Wilson and moved to Clearwater, Wright County, Minnesota. His mother died in 1983. 
 
Art died 20 Dec 1996. He was buried with his first wife at Evergreen Memorial Gardens in Brainerd, Minnesota.
 

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Autosomal DNA Test Results

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Don Taylor

By Don Taylor

Photo of Don Taylor with cat Nasi.After my success with the Y-DNA test and close match, I thought I’d try out the autosomal DNA (atDNA), test and see what it brings. I was in one of the first Ancestry Beta test groups and was really excited to take the test and see what I might find out.  I received the test in the mail, swabbed my cheek and sent it in.  Then I waited, and waited, and waited.  Oh did I mention that I waited. After and inexorable amount of time, I received a notification that my sample was inconsistent and needed to be taken later.  I had to reapply for a test (no charge) and they sent me a salvia vial. I’ve since learned that they only use the vial any longer for the atDNA test. 
 
After several weeks I received notification that the test was complete. Sadly nothing of interest.  No surprises in my genetic ethnicity. 
Genetic Ethnicity Summary = 75% British Isles, 13% Central European, 7% Scandinavian, 5% Uncertain.
Well, maybe. There has been a family story that my third great-grandmother was Cherokee Indian. If true that would amount to about 3.1% which could make up some of that uncertainty amount. They mention that as time goes on some of the uncertain identifications may become identifiable.  So maybe, someday I’ll learn if the legend is true.  Better yet, maybe I’ll find someone with a matrilineal ancestry that includes her and can do a Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) test. 
 
There were no individuals identifies as first, second, or third cousins.  Currently there are 61 people with whom I have a 95% or higher likelihood of being a fourth to sixth cousin with. Although I have had a few close matches, one with the same surname (Fannin) in the Carter County, Kentucky I am yet to find any one with a common ancestor. That means we aren’t fourth cousins, maybe fifth or sixth.  I only have my lineage back four generations on that line. None of the other “matches” are even close — disappointing.  Of course, I get excited when I have a match that has a common surname of Roberts.  None of them have an ancestor which has a common match to my  Roberts Notional work.  That is not to say that none of the other testers don’t have a match. I’ve emailed several folks that matched but have a private tree who haven’t responded.  I’ll probably try again soon and see if I can nudge a few responses. 
 
Generally, I’ve been unimpressed with the Ancestry Autosomal Test results.  The test is a lot of money to learn what I already knew or would have supposed.  My ancestors are mostly from the “British Isles” (I disagree with calling Ireland “British Isles” as would most Irish) and Central European (although I’ve always thought of France and Germany as Western Europe). 
 
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Enoch Mannin

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Don Taylor

By Don Taylor

Photo of Don Taylor with cat Nasi.Today I am reminded about the importance of doing it right the first time.

When I first seriously began doing genealogy, I was so excited by what I was finding. I didn’t document things very well.  I imported GED files from others without concern.  I seldom connected the sources I did have with the data entered into my software meaningfully.

When starting, there is often a key, pivotal person in your ancestry that provides the foundation for many other searches.  For me, it was Enoch Mannin, my 3rd great-grandfather. Many other people were researching his line, and they were willing to share GED files.  Also, he was readily findable in the censuses and many other places, so he was a great person to research, find information, and put it in my tree without properly documenting it.  Well, that laxness finally caught up to me, and I’ve spent the last several days cleaning up the sources and the links to facts for Enoch.  Not a small task. I have 26 sources for Enoch and many different kinds of information. Census records, Civil War records, Pension Application Records, Land Patents, Death Registration, and even the image of his entry into the family bible regarding his birth. It was a lot of effort to sort out everything, remove relationships between source and data that don’t exist, and create new data elements that fit the source information.  For example, most census records only provide a birth year estimate, plus & minus a year. Also, the census records only give the birth state, so associating the county and specific date information is inappropriate. Consequently, I created a lot of different alternate information entries. 

I cleaned his records up and promised myself never to take shortcuts in documentation again.

Biography – Enoch Mannin

Photo of Enoch Mannin
Enoch Mannin

Enoch Mannin/Manning was probably born on 3 Jan 1823 in Owingsville, Bath County, Kentucky. I say probably because his enlistment papers indicate that he was 44 when he enlisted in 1863, making his birth year 1819. In various documents, his birth year ranges from 1819 to 1824, but the bible record indicates 1823. 

It appears his father and mother, Meredith and Rachel Fugate Mannin, were married about two years after his birth.  Enoch was the oldest of twelve children and grew up in Bath County, Kentucky. In 1843 he married Minerva Ann Tolliver and remained married to her for nearly 60 years until her death in 1902. They had nine children, four of which died before 1900. 

During the Civil War, he volunteered for a year with Company E, 40th Kentucky Mounted Infantry Volunteers (Union), and served from September 1863 until December 1864. He lived in Carter County, Kentucky, when he enlisted.  On the day he volunteered, 29 Aug 1863, he also gave his permission for his son, John W. Manning, my 2nd great grandfather,  to volunteer when John W was only 17.  Also enlisting on the same day was John N. Mannin, the son of his brother Tarleton Mannin.

He served primarily in Eastern Kentucky. Morgan captured him in May or June of 1864. His regiment of over 1000 lost about 1% to wounds and another 9% to disease for 102 total deaths. He spent much of his time on scout duty. Later, he cited actions in December 1863 as the start of hearing loss and dizziness.  His regiment had action on December 2nd and 3rd, which were the probable cause of his medical issues later in life. In May and June of 1864, he was involved in action against Morgan and was captured by Morgan during those actions.

In 1883 or 1884, Enoch moved to Holding, Stearns County, Minnesota. In the spring of 1888, Enoch and Minerva moved to Cass County, Minnesota. In 1890, Enoch applied for an Invalid pension and a disability pension, and in 1894, Enoch received a land grant for 160 acres in northern Minnesota. Today, the land does not have a home on it, and looks like it is mostly swamp with some woods and a little grassland. It is the Northeast quarter of the section shown in https://goo.gl/maps/zkjT7.

I am sure life was harsh in May Township (north of Motley), Minnesota, at the turn of the century.

Minerva died in 1902, and Enoch passed five years later, on 7 Apr 1907. He is buried in Bridgeman Cemetery, about 2 miles south of his Minnesota homestead.

Sources for the above information are available at https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/177688032/person/302307570610//facts

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