Edith Soule – One of Three

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Don Taylor

Photo Friday
By Don Taylor

Photo of Edith Soule.

“Edith Soule”

This was a frustrating week for my Photo Identification Project. The first photo I looked at says “Edith Soule” on the back. No other information except that H. M. Smith Photography at 478 Congress Street, Portland, Maine took the photo.

Luckily, Ancestry.Com has an excellent set of Portland City Directories. I found that H. M. Smith Studio was not in the 1890, 1991, or 1892 directories. It was listed at 478 Congress Street from 1893 through 1898. In 1899, at the same address was an S. K. Smith Studio. But in 1900, it too was gone. As such, I date the photo between 1892 and 1898.

Next, I went to Family Search. A Search for Edith Soule in Maine yielded over a thousand results.  Search for Edith Soule in Maine exact yielded five results.

  • Edith E. Soule – Born 31 July 1915 – Not my Edith.
  • Edith Soule – Born 1903 – Too Young to be my Edith
  • Edith Soule – Born July 1894 – Again too young to be my Edith
  • Edith Soule – Born 1875 – Lived in Somerville, Lincoln County Maine in 1880 with father (Lendon), mother (Nancy), & 2 siblings (Jennie and Rosella)
  • Edith Soule – Born 1850 – Probably too old to be my Edith.

There was an Edith M Soule, who resided in Cape Elizabeth and married Frank Eggert on 28 April 1894. Edith was 21 years old and was born in Hallowell. Hallowell and Somerville are only about 17 miles apart, so this is consistent with Edith Soule, born in 1875. It also fits that a photo of her immediately before her marriage would be very possible.

With that information, I felt pretty confident I had found the Edith Soule of my photo. I’m not sure why that search only gave me one Edith Soule with a middle initial and not many more. Because when I searched again without Edith being exact, I received many more candidates. Looking closely at the 1900 Census results killed my confidence. After further research, I realized there were three Edith Soule’s that this could be a photo of:

  1. Edith M (Soule) Eggert born in April 1873. Her parents were Rufus Soule and Bessie Jones; she married Frank Eggert and lived in South Portland in 1900.
  2. Edith L. Soule was born on 10 July 1872 in South Portland to Alonza K and Deborah L Soule. In 1900 she was living with her widowed mother, Deborah, in South Portland.
  3. Edith M. Soule was born in Oct 1876. She worked as an attendant at the State Hospital in Augusta during the 1900 Census. Her parents were Lendon and Nancy.

Dead Fred

I’ll post my photo of Edith Soule to Dead Fred.

Final Note

So, I don’t know which of the three Edith’s this is a photo of.  If you have a picture of any of the three Edith’s I’d love to see it and either identify Edith for sure or eliminate one of the three Edith’s I think my photo might be. Please contact me using the form below.

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Mary-Alice’s ThruLines – Part 2

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Don Taylor

DNA
ThruLines Thursday
Howell-Hobbs

This week I took a look at some of my wife’s Ancestry DNA matches and some of her ThruLinestm results.

DNA Matches

There were no new matches in her 2nd cousins and closer, so I started looking at her third cousins.

The first three were 3rd to 4th cousin.

Individual cM shared on x Segments Line Comments
3C = 3rd Cousin
D. L. 196 cM 11 Seg Hobbs 3C – Samuel Aquilla & Martha Ann (Bryan) Long.
C. C. 179 cM 8 Seg (Howell?) No Tree – I’m awaiting response to contact email. 
J-7 166 cM 9 Seg Hobbs No Tree – I’m awaiting response to contact email.

ThruLinestm

No new connections on her grandparents.

For her great-grandparents, there were 2 matches for her Howell/Vinson line and 3 for her Hobbs/Long line. There were no new individuals on her Darling, McAllister, Huber, or Trümpi lines.

Howell Line

Both of the individuals connect via Grandpa Howell’s sister Anna Lee Howell. One indicates that he is descended from William J. Boseman and the other indicates he is descended from Virginia L. Roseman.  My records indicate that Anna Lee married William Boseman in 1886 and had three children with the Boseman surname, Maggie, William, and Jesse. After that, my records show that she had five children with the surname Roseman. I’m not showing that Anna had a second marriage or showing any other reason for the surname change.

That lets me know I need to look more closely at Anna Lee Howell and her life and her children. Also, I’ll look more closely at William Jackson Boseman (1888-1962) and Virginia L Roseman (1905-___) and see if I can untangle the surname.

Hobbs Line

There were three ThruLinestm matches along the Hobbs line. All three were through great-aunt Annie Hobbs (1872-1953) who married Frank Alton Armstrong, Sr in 1890. They had three children, their oldest, Hazel G Armstrong (1895-1997). Hazel married Itimous Thaddus Valentine (1887-1970) and had five children that I am aware of. One of those children (possibly living) had at least four children, two of whom tested and were already in my (private) tree. The third person matching is J.H. a great-grandchild of Hazel through one of the other children (possibly living). I didn’t have him in my tree, but I did have his mother in my private tree, so I’m confident enough in his relationship to add him to my tree.

DNA Relationship

ThruLinestm indicates that both are second cousins twice removed. DNA Painter’s Shared cM Project 3.0 tool v4 indicates that 2C2R should share between 0 and 261 cM of DNA with an average being 74cM. The ThruLines match “RC” and my wife share 52 cM and the second match shares 60 cM; so the proposed relationship fits the amount of DNA shared.

Conclusion

Genetic matches and TrueLines confirmed several people in my tree. It let me know that I need to further research three ancestors on a secondary line, and it allowed me to confidently add one new cousin.

Final Comment

If you are a descendant of Peter Fletcher Howell (1842-1924), I’d love to learn how you and my wife are related. Testing with Ancestry DNA is an excellent way for us to confirm our relationship and possibly you broaden your tree as well.

My other ThruLines posts are listed under the ThruLines Thursday category.

Disclaimer

The ads and some of the links on this website are “affiliate links.” If you purchase after clicking on them, I will receive a small commission which will help me pay for this site. Please see my Disclaimer Page for more information.

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Ancestor Sketch – James Walter

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Don Taylor

Darling-Swayze-Walter
By Don Taylor

Image by Kate Honish from Pixabay

It is always difficult to follow a person’s records when their name is recorded differently over the years.  James’ surname was recorded as “Waters,” “Walter,” and “Walters” over the many years. I have settled on Walter because it appears to be the surname he was buried with. James was a Patriot, serving in a Virginia artillery detachment during the Revolutionary War.

Howell/Darling – Ancestor #102

List of Grandparents

James Walter (aka Walters, aka Water) (1752-1838)

James Walter was born on either 16 or 17 Feb 1752.[i]in the Province of Maryland (now state of Maryland). He was the first child of John Walter and Ann Parker. He had five siblings, namely: William, Rebecca Conyers, Richard, Lawrence, and James.

Military service

Image courtesy of the Kentucky Secretary of State.

James was a Sergeant in the Revolutionary War. It appears that he joined up about 1777 in Virginia. On 02 Apr 1782 he was assigned to an Artillery detachment commanded by Capt-Lt Lewis Booker. He was known as the “Forage Master.” After the war, he received a warrant for 400 acres of Bounty Land, in what would become Kentucky, for his Revolutionary War Service to Virginia.

In 1793, when he was 40, he married Margaret Ann Swan of Virginia.

James and Margaret Ann (Swan) Walter had six (known) children.

    1. Nancy Anne Walter was born in 1788.
    2. Elkina Walter was born in 1789. she died in 1852.
    3. Catherine Ann Dent Walter was born on 15 Jun 1794 in. She married David Swayze on 30 Jan 1817 in Fairfield County, Ohio. She died on 16 Apr 1868 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, at the residence of her daughter, Elizabeth.
    4. James C Walter was born in 1800; he died in 1874.
    5. Elizabeth Walter was born before 05 Jan 1804[ii].
    6. John Walter was also born before 05 Jan 1804ii.

In 1804, James Walter executed a Deed of Trust transferring his property in Kentucky to Elijah Pollard of Frederick, Virginia, USA

James Walter died on 10 May 18381 in Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, USA. He was buried at the Old Methodist Cemetery. Later, he was reinterred at the City Burial Plot, Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio.

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Blanchard Project Photos – Part 2 of 2 – Utterstrom & Cassidy

Posted on March 27, 2020 by Don Taylor

Utterstrom/Cassidy
Photo Friday

I recently received a group of 13 photos all relating to people in my Blanchard project—one Cassidy, four Utterstroms, seven Halversons, and 1 blurry photo. Today, I’ll look at the five Cassidy and Utterstrom photos.

Blanchard Project

Four photos of the Utterstrom & Cassidy Families“Olaf and Hannah (Halverson) Utterstrom – Marriage 30 June 1897” – The back of this photo indicates “Hannah & Olaf Utterstrum 1890’s | Wedding? Olaf and Hannah were married on 30 June 1897. It was taken by The Elite Studio, 518 Congress St. Portland, Maine. I have added this photo to my project and added a copy to Family Search L1QQ-R6J and L1QQ-PCK.

“Anders & Oscar Utterstrom” – The oldest annotation on the back of the photo says “Grampy & Oscar Utterstrom.” However, in a second (and newer) hand the annotation is “Anders & Oscar.” Finally, a third hand says “Grampy Anders | Oscar Utterstrom.” So, this is clearly Oscar Utterstrom (1899-1958) on the right and his grandfather Anders Utterstrom (___-___) on the left. Oscar was born in 1899 and the boy in the photo could be about 15 years-old. I haven’t had a chance to research Anders’ life yet, however, I believe he died in 1915. If so, this photo must have been taken about 1914-15. The backdrop for this photo is The E. T. Burrowes, Co that manufactured wire window and door screens at 70 Free St, Portland, Maine.[i] Andrew (AKA Anders) Utterstrom was a “screen maker” at 70 Free St. and lived at 81 Chestnut.[ii]

Anders is not listed in the 1916 City directory suggesting his passing before that directory went to press. I have added this photo to my project and added a copy to both individuals on Family Search – L1Q7-8RQ and L1Q7-9MJ.

“Dorothea Utterstrom, dog, Annette Cassidy, Etta Utterstrom, ca 1940s” – Dorothea, Annette, and Etta are three first cousins with three different parents. Frank, Dorothea, and Harold Utterstrom respectively. Dorothea Utterstrom was born 28 Aug 1927, Annette Cassidy was born 2 August 1929, and Lucy Etta Utterstrom was born 17 April 1928. The back of the photo indicates the photo is ca. 1940s. However, if the photo was taken in 1940, the kids would have been, 12, 10, and 11 respectively. My sense is that they are a younger than that, probably 8, 6, and 7. If my ages are correct, the photo is ca. 1935 and not in the 1940s. I have added the photos to my Ancestry project but not to Family Search.

“Cassidy’s & Utterstrom’s at Bonny Eagle Lake – ca 1940” – During the 1940 census, William (Jr.) was 8, Lois was 7, and Beth was also 8. Circa 1940 fits with the apparent ages of the children. I cropped the photo to allow for one of just Dorothea and William (Sr.) to be in one photo and them and the kids to be in another photo in my Ancestry Project.

“William (Sr.) & Dolly Cassidy – ca. 1927-28” – The back of the photo identifies who and when and is pretty clear.  William and Dolly married on 24 September 1928. The photo shows some leaves on the ground a some of the distant trees somewhat bare, so I believe the photo is probably from the fall of 1928. This photo is not of high enough quality to post to any of the sites.

Final Note

If you are related to the Utterstrom and have photos you can share, I’d love to hear from you. Please use the comment form below. Add “PRIVATE” to the subject line if you do NOT want your comment published to the website.

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The Butterfield Bible – Part 4 – Success!

Posted on March 26, 2020 by Don Taylor

Cover of the Daisy Butterfield Bible

Some weeks ago, I received a copy of an 1889 “Butterfield Bible” from a friend who asked that I share its contents with the “Genealogy World.” During the ensuing weeks, I digitized, transcribed, and posted the contents of the Family sections of the bible.  (Part 1 – Births | Part 2 – Marriages | Part 3 – Deaths)  In the “Final Comment” in Part 3 about the bible, I stated, “If you are a descendant of Sarah Ella “Daisy” (Butterfield) Larrabee (1879-1953), please contact me. I would love to reunite this bible with its family.”

Well, wow! I love it when a plan comes together. Three days after the blog article posted, John Hiatt contacted me. Daisy (the original owner of the bible) is John’s 2nd great-aunt (his grandmother’s aunt. His grandmother and Daisy were raised in the same household, so they were very close.

Anyway, I was able to send the bible to him and reunite the bible to its family.  John is interested in his family’s genealogy and he and his sister are very excited to add the heirloom bible to their family history.

I am glad I could help restore the heirloom bible to its family. It is a good day.

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