For this week’s Treasure Chest Thursday, I’m looking at two clippings from the Donna Darling Collection concerning “The Fox Washington – Washington Blvd at Clifford.”
Bond for the Marriage of Meredith Mannon [Mannin] and Rachel Fugate
Know all men by these presents that we Meredith Mannon & Rueben Fugate are held and firmly bound unto the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the just and full sum of £50 current money of Kentucky which payment well and truly to be made to the said Commonwealth we bind ourselves our heirs & jointly and several firmly by these presents sealed and dated this 14th day of February 1875 the condition of the above obligation in such that whereas there is a marriage shortly intended to be had and solemnized between the above bound Meredith Mannon and Rachel Fugate. Now should there be no lawful Occur to obstruct said intended marriage then this obligation will be void else to remain in full force and notice in law
Marriage Confirmation – Meredith Mannon [Mannin] and Rachel Fugate.
Memorandum of Marriages Confirmed by me in Bath County in year 1825.
Willis Moffett & Caroline Stone on the 4th of Jan Also Rice Burns & Elizabeth Hardin Febr 3rd Meredith Mannon & Rachel Fugate on the 14th Feb…. ….
January the 3rd 1826 – Jonathan Smi…
Discussion
14th or 17th?
The legibility of the “Marriage Confirmed” date leaves something of a question. It is unclear in my mind if the date is the 14th or the 17th. Both dates make sense. There are no other 7s on this page to compare his 7s against his 4s. Meredith and Rachel’s father, Reuben Fugate, signed a bond assuring Meredith and Rachel were able to marry. That they married on the same day makes sense, unless there was a waiting period. If Kentucky had a marriage waiting period in 1825 then their marriage three days later, on the 17th makes more sense.
Conclusion
I have decided to go with the 14th because Kentucky does not currently require a waiting period. I’ve tried to find Kentucky Laws in 1825, but have been unsuccessful. If anyone has a source for me to check, that would be a great help. If Kentucky had a waiting period in 1825, then Meredith and Rachel had to have been married on 17 February 1825.
Endnotes
[i] John Newmark started the “Amanuensis Monday” category in 2009 on his Blog, Transylvanian Dutch, and many bloggers have followed suit using the tag. Google provides the following meaning for amanuensis: “A literary or artistic assistant, in particular, one who takes dictation or copies manuscripts.”
[ii] “Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5ZH-L12 : accessed 16 September 2018), Meredith Mannon and Rachel Fugate, 14 Feb 1825; citing Bath, Kentucky, United States, Madison County Courthouse, Richmond; FHL microfilm 273,003.
[iii] “Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5ZZ-J2T : accessed 16 September 2018), Meredith Mannon and Rachel Fugate, 14 Feb 1825; citing Bath, Kentucky, United States, Madison County Courthouse, Richmond; FHL microfilm 273,007.
For a few years, I’ve hypothesized that my great-grandfather, John F. Montran and John Foster Montran were the same person.
I have been unable to find a record of John F. Montran and my great-grandmother, Ida Mae Barber marrying in 1892. My grandmother was born in 1893 with the name Donna Montran and when Ida remarried in 1897 to Max Fisher she indicated her surname was Montran and that she was married once before. So, I believe John Montran and Ida were married about 1892. Donna indicated in 1911 that her father was dead. Certainly, John F. Montran doesn’t seem to exist anytime in the 20th century. I have found no records for John F. Montran after my grandmother’s birth in 1893.
John Foster Montran married Maude Minnie Winter in 1894. I have found no records for John Foster Montran before 1894. He had two children with Maude, Thelma M. Montran and Ruth Grace Montran, in 1895 and 1897 respectively. In the 1900 Census, Maude is listed as a widow and John appears nowhere else.
1892 – John Montran married Ida
1893 – Donna was born.
1894 – John and Ida separate.
1894 – John married Maude Minnie Winter
1895 – Thelma is born.
1897 – Ruth is born.
1898-1900 John dies.
1911 – Donna indicates her father, John Montran, was dead.
All the parts appeared to fit. The locations weren’t too far off. Donna indicated her father was born in Pennsylvania but had lived in Canada. Maude indicated her husband was born in Canada, but Maude and (her) John married in Pennsylvania.
DNA image by Caroline Davis2010 via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
I figured that DNA testing would prove the two John Montrans were one. I began researching the descendants of John and Maude (Winter) Montran. In 2015, I found a living descendant, I’ll call Sue[i]. I contacted her and asked if she would be interested in doing a DNA Test. The results should prove my hypothesis that the two John’s were the same person. She wasn’t interested in testing then, but maybe sometime.
I continued searching and finally found another descendant of John and Maude (Winter) Montran, I call him James[ii]. I contacted him, and learned he wasn’t interested in testing either.
I continued searching but didn’t find any additional living descendants of John and Maude and I set the project aside for a while.
It had been nearly two years since I had contacted Sue, so I thought I’d follow-up with her and see if she was interested in testing now. She replied that she had tested with 23 and Me and had her results. My mother tested with 23 and Me several years ago. My mother and Sue should show as a match. If my hypothesis is correct, they would be half first cousins, once removed. No match on 23 & Me. When you look for matches on 23 & Me, the page says, “Note: your anonymous matches have been opted out of DNA Relatives and are no longer visible within the tool.” I thought, maybe Sue opted out of DNA Relatives. I asked her to double check her settings. She responded that she opted in to DNA Relatives the day before. She also shared her results with me. Again, nothing, nada.
Using Blaine Bettenger’s “Shared cM Project 3.0 tool v4,” I could see that half first cousins, once removed (1C1R) should share 226cM of DNA. And that the range seen for half-1C1Rs was from 57 to 530. I even decreased the match criteria from the usual 7cm segment match required to only 4cM segment match and still no match with Sue.
Of course, it is possible that there was a non-paternal event that caused these DNA results, and it is always good to keep an open mind. However, these results prove to my satisfaction that my great-grandfather, John F. Montran, and the John Foster Montran who married Maude Minnie Winter were two different people.
Further Actions / Follow-up
Separate John F and John Foster in all my records and notional work and indicate that they were definitely different individuals.
For this week’s Treasure Chest Thursday, I’m looking at a clipping from the Donna Darling Collection concerning “The Elsinore.”
From the Donna Darling Scrapbook.
This was one of the strangest clippings in the scrapbook not only because it was cut out oddly but also had a color image included. At first, I thought the clipping went together, then I realized it was two clippings that touched each other. The first part was a standard vaudeville advertisement. Donna was playing at “The Elsinore” and was part of “5 Association Vaudeville Acts.”
Donna Darling Revue – With Sammy Clark
Curtis & Lawrence – in “Is That the Custom”
Morell & Elynor – Introducing the Charleston on Rollers
Princess Winona – Indian Prima Donna
Zuhn & Dreis – Dementas Americanas
Donna and Sammy played at the Elsinore Theater in Salem, Oregon for one night, on 5 November 1926. A venue I knew about, thanks to Newspapers.Com.
But the other part of the clipping was an odd little man in bright orange pants with a belt that said “Wild to Go.” When I zoomed in on the photo, I could read the logo on his hat, “Red Crown Gasoline.” I searched the internet for Red Crown Gasoline and learned it was a brand of Standard Oil[i]. It is mentioned as possibly being the first movie product placement advertisement. The 1920 film, “The Garage” starring “Fatty” Arbuckle and Buster Keaton[ii] showed the Red Crown Gasoline several times. A search of Google Images discovered a couple images of this little man but none of this exact image. Certainly, this little man is rare, if not unique.
My grandmother was a vaudeville star and I am following her career, trying to learn of her many performances. In October 1919, she joined the cast of the Charles Dillingham production of “Chin-Chin.” “Chin-Chin” played in the US and Canada until June 1920. I monitor several newspaper services watching for new venues that the show played at while she a was a cast member.
This week I found an article in the Edmonton Journal (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) dated Jan 1, 1920 (via Newspapers.Com).
Edmonton Journal, Thu, Jan 1, 1920, Page 9.
Article transcription:
BY PRESS AGENTS
CHIN CHIN AT EMPIRE
There appears to be no doubt that Mr. Charles Dillingham’s stupendous production of “Chin Chin” with Walter Willis and Roy Binder in the lead, will duplicate its record of absolute capacity audiences at the Empire theatre where it will open a three-day engagement with a holiday matinee today.
Though the title of “Chin Chin” suggests a Chinese setting, it appears that the scenes are not laid anywhere near the Celestial Land.
There is no leading lady in this organization, although a number of beautiful women, principals and otherwise, song birds and actresses are in the cast, it appears that the who is to enjoy the place of honor as first favorite is left to the choice of the public.
Tom Brown of the Six Brown Brothers’ famous Saxaphone clown band, composed “That Moaning Saxophone Rag” which is one of the hits of the play.
It is estimated that 250,000 people all from points more than one hundred miles from New York have already seen “Chin Chin” while it was presented at the Globe theatre in New York, and not Mr. Dillingham is actually bringing this his only company in its entirety to the Empire theatre.
New Venue Added:
Jan 1-3 – Edmonton, Alberta Canada, Empire Theatre – “Chin-Chin”
