My wife and I recently visited her mother. During the visit, our conversations revealed that there was an old Bible that my wife’s great-great-grandmother, Margaret Mary (Lambe) McAllister, was gifted with. The Bible was printed in M.DCCC.LXXIV (1876) and contains both the Old and New Testaments.
The bible is inscribed to:
Inscription gifting Bible to Margaret Lamb.
Margaret Lamb,
With the best wishes of
The Rev. Wm Cassidi.
April 30th 1877
– – – – – – –
??Grindon??
I have some difficulty making out some of the words and have tried my best. I’m not confident of Mr. McCassidi’s first name nor of the word below the line.
Margaret Lamb was born on 28 April 1860, so, in 1877 she would have just turned 17 and was being let loose into the world. Margaret married Peter McAllister over a year later, on 22 August 1878, so it appears to have been a “coming out” type of gift. I don’t know who Mr. McCassidi is but I would expect him to be a relative or a close family friend.
On a second inscription page, it shows the book went to
Inscription gifting Bible to Elizabeth Darling Kemon. (page cropped)
Elizabeth Darling Kemon
Born March 22, 1906
granddaughter of
Margaret Lamb
Elizabeth had no children, so she passed it on to her oldest niece, my mother-in-law. A third inscription records that transfer and provides name, birthdate, and relationship to Elizabeth Kemon.
Conclusion
Holy Bible Cover Page
Besides being a valuable family heirloom, old bibles often provide important genealogical information. Even though this small, pocket-sized bible didn’t have a set of center pages for family history details, the inscriptions provided important information. In this case, a clue to a possible relative or family friend and the birthdate for Elizabeth (Darling) Kemon and their relationships.
My half-sister Glennis is a DNA match on Ancestry.Com with several individuals who have common ancestors with Francis and Fannie (McGregor) Morgan. In the search to determine Glennis’ biological father, I am continuing to develop a tree of the descendants of Francis and Fannie (McGregor) Morgan of Pleasants County, West Virginia. This time I look at Rosa Virginia Morgan who married Floyd Marvin May on 9 May 1896 in Pleasants County, West Virginia. She is the fourth of twelve children to be examined.
Francis and Fannie (McGregor) Morgan’s 12 children
Robert Harold May born 1929. Possible but unlikely.
Doria M May born 1932 – Not considered.
Francis Carol May born 1940 – Not considered.
Criteria:
“Candidates” are males born between 1925 and 1935.
“Not considered” are females who are unlikely to have had a male child between 1925 and 1935.
“Possible but unlikely” are males born between 1925 and 1935, but are not named Paul or Phil, which is the likely name of Glennis’ biological father, or otherwise don’t appear to fit the likely candidate who would have been in Minnesota or Michigan in 1953. I will revisit these possibilities later of this project fails to find a potential candidate.
In the search to find the biological father of my sister Glennis, I am continuing to develop a tree of the descendants of Francis and Fannie (McGregor) Morgan of Pleasants County, West Virginia.
Lewis V. P. Morgan was born 30 December 1871 in Lafayette, West Virginia. He was the third child of Francis Marion and Fannie R. (McGregor) Morgan.
He married Maude L. Lamp in 1899 in Tyler County, West Virginia. They had two children.
Lula Edna Morgan, was born in 1900 & died in 1902 at the age of 2 due to a fire.
Opal Jean Morgan, was born in 1902 in Pleasants County, West Virginia. Opal married William Henry Davis in 1920. They had two girls and appear to have had no sons.
Lewis’s wife died in 1908 and he never remarried.
During the 1910 Census Lewis was living with his sister Rosa and her husband, F. M. May.
During the 1920 Census, Lewis was living with his mother-in-law, Sarah L Lany.
During the 1930 Census, Lewis was living with his uncle, Elie H. Morgan.
It does not appear that the descendants of Lewis V.P. Morgan could be potential candidates for Glennis’ biological father.
Parkview Elementary, Fridley, Anoka County, Minnesota
Fridley House, circa 1958
In August 1958, we moved from Anoka to Fridley into a tiny little house on NE 2nd Street. At the time the address was 5853, however, sometime during the ensuing years, the address has changed to 5881. Zillow says that the house was built in 1948 and is a 480-square-foot one bedroom home. My grandmother and my mother had the bedroom. I had the bedroom closet as my bedroom. It was a large closet for such a small house but was really small as a bedroom. As I recall, it was only inches longer than my bed. My clothes dresser blocked the side of my bed by my feet. Boxes under the bed contained most of my clothes and my boy things. I had model airplanes hanging from the ceiling. The Fridley house is the first house I lived in that is still standing. There are still houses that I lived in that were built before the Fridley House, but none of the places I lived before I lived in Fridley are still standing.
Sylvia [Larson] in nurse uniform c. 1958 – Patty Hopkin’s house in distance.
My mother was still working at Anoka State Hospital when we were living there. I have a photo of her in her nurse’s uniform on the steps to the house.
My grandmother’s ledger (From the Donna Darling Digital Collection) says we paid $55/month in rent. I remember life in Fridley as idyllic. A short block away was a huge open field that I played in. Later that field was where I trapped gophers (See “My First ‘Job’ – Trapper.” Down the street was “Melody Manor,” a new development. There was a park where I joined “Little League” and learned to play baseball. I was pretty much a bench warmer and only remember batting once or twice when our team was many runs ahead.
My best friend was a girl, Patty Hopkins, who lived on Main street. (I wonder what ever happened to her.) Her house was across a vacant lot (now Skyline Park) to a house no longer there. A few houses down 2nd Street was where Mark and Rodney Sabo(?) lived. If I was going to get into trouble, it would be with them. There were a couple derelict houses between where we lived that were a source of fun – mostly things like knocking down hornet’s nests and yellow-jacket nests. The derelicts are long gone and a 2-1/2 story apartment is there today. Also, about a half a mile away was the Mississippi River and Chase Island. There was usually a tree down bridging the distance from shore to the island. Lots of fun playing there. Of course, I wasn’t supposed to go there to play – it was across both a busy highway (without any lights) and across multiple railroad tracks. Sometimes, I’m amazed that I lived through my youth.
My Mom and I with American flag at Fridley house
We lived in the Fridley house for two and a half years, by far the longest I had lived anywhere up to that point in my life. As I recall, we painted that house, fenced it, put on awnings, put up a flagpole, and did many other improvements to the house, yard, and property even though we were renters. My grandmother planted moss roses along the side by the side door – they are still one of my favorite flowers. I love how they open-up to full bloom every morning and close every night.
Parkview Elementary
Parkview Elementary was about six long-blocks away (nine long-blocks in a mile) and I walked. I don’t remember much about third grade. I know the school was new. In fourth grade, I had Mrs. Peterson as my teacher. She, as I recall, was older and she saw something in me that she encouraged. Fourth grade was the year I shifted from “getting by” to one of the smart kids. She became an “Ancestor of Spirit” for me that year. She helped make me the person I am, today. Maybe it was also because it was the first school I attended two years in a row. In any event, I excelled that year and carried on into the following year.
Today, Parkview Elementary is the Fridley Community Center and supports a senior center, adult education, and a youth hang-out center called “The Zone.”
Montran Project
52 Ancestors – Week 192
By Don Taylor
Now, I go off on a speculative tangent. It is my assertion that my great grandfather, John Montran who married Ida Mae Barber is the same individual as John Foster Montran, who married Maude Minnie Winter. Both John’s were probably born in France, both lived for a time in Pennsylvania, both were traveling agents, and both died before 1911. Finally, John Montran is a fairly unique name; I have only found two lived contemporary to my grandmother’s birth – John and John Foster. Anyway, I suspect my John and John Foster are the same person. I have searched and have been unable to find any time or place where both can be seen at the same time. John pops into existence about 1892 and marries my great-grandmother, Ida, has my grandmother, then vanishes. A John Foster Montran married Maude Minnie Winter about 1894 and had two children. Then he vanishes about 1897. Ida remarried in 1897 and Maude claimed to be widowed by the 1900 census. My speculation is that John Foster Montran is my Great Grandfather and that the two John Montran’s are one person.
DNA testing would answer the question clearly if I am able to find a descendant of John Foster Montran and if that descendant agreed to test. With that in mind, I have begun researching the descendants of John Foster Montran to see if I can find a direct descendant. John Foster Montran had two children with Maude Minnie Winter. They are Thelma M. Montran and Ruth Grace Montran.
John Montran Project 2017 – John’s Daughter Thelma
Great-grandfather: John Foster Montran (Potential)
Generally, I like to use the census closest to the birth of the individual to identify the birth year. However, in the case of Thelma, the 1900 census indicates that she was six years old, and was born in June 1894. However, every other record I can find about Thelma, census records, newspaper articles, and Social Security records all indicate or support that she was born on 23 June 1895 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to John Foster and Maude Minnie (Winter) Montran.
The 1900 census finds Thelma, and her younger sister Ruth, living in Waterloo, New York, with her aunt, Jerusha; uncle, Penrose Brown; and their grandmother, Maryann Winter. Their mother was living 50 miles away in Rochester, New York working as a live-in nurse.
The 1910 census finds the two girls living with Jerusha and Penrose, but were identified as adopted daughters. They lived in Shamokin, Pennsylvania and their mother lived 120 miles away in Philadelphia.
Marriage
About 1915, Thelma married Minor Howard Babcock and moved to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan where their first child, Olga Ruth, was born in February 1916 and the family appears in the 1916 Canadian Census.
Children of Minor Howard and Thelma M (Montran) Babcock
Birth
Death
Olga Ruth Babcock
Feb 1916 (in Canada)
4 May 2001
Montran Benson Babcock
11 June 1922
June 1972
Adult
The 1920 census finds Thelma had moved back to the United States and was living with her husband and daughter in San Francisco.
The 1930 census finds Thelma living at 534 W. Nectarine St. in Inglewood, California. Minor is an accountant and their two children are with them. Also, in the household is Thelma’s mother, Maude Montran.
In 1935 the family is still living on Nectarine Street, however, Thelma is running a Confectioner business at 211 E. Queen. Her daughter, Olga, is working as a clerk for her.
The 1940 census indicates that Thelma and Minor had become divorced. Thelma was working as the proprietor of a guest house with many lodgers. With her are her two children, Olga and Montran.
Stories
A 1944 newspaper article indicated that Thelma was “widely known as a poet,” she owned a 20-acre apple-tree ranch near Lake Gregory and owned a hotel in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Death
Thelma died on 7 May 1974 in Los Angeles County, California. I have not determined Thelma’s final resting place.
Conclusion
Family Tree Maker 2017 indicates that Thelma is the “daughter of my Great-Grandfather.” By my reckoning, she is my grandmother’s half-sister, thus my grand-aunt. Thelma’s children would be my mother’s 1st cousins and my 1st cousins once removed. Finally, Olga and Monty’s children would be my 2nd cousins. A DNA test of any of them would prove conclusively if my speculation that John Montran and John Foster Montran are the same person. If you are a descendant of Thelma Montran Babcock, I would love to hear from you. We might be cousins.
1910 Census, Other, Penrose Brown – Shamokin, Northumberland, Pennsylvania;. Family Search.
1916 Canada Census, Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, , Other, 1916 Canada Census. Year: 1916; Census Place: Saskatchewan, Moose Jaw, 17I; Roll: T-21931;.
