Donna Darling at Griffin’s Theatre, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, January 7th, 8th, & 9th, 1926.
Donna in the News 98 Years Ago by Don Taylor
“Donna in the News” is my reporting of newly found newspaper articles and advertisements regarding my grandmother, Donna Darling (aka Donna Montran and Madonna Montran). I am always excited when I find a new venue for my grandmother’s exciting show business career of the 1910s and 1920s.
This week, I learned from the St. Catharines Standard (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada) newspaper, dated January 6, 1926, that Donna played at Griffin’s Theatre in St. Catharines.
Four Acts at Griffin’s
Jewel Box Revue – Richard Dix and Esther Ralston in “Womanhandled.
Another four-act programme of unequaled vaudeville is announced for presentation at Griffin’s tomorrow, Friday and Saturday, the double headline programme intact jumping from Detroit where it was presented at Miles Orpheum Theatre all last week.
Donna Darling and Girls in her brilliant Jewel Box Revue, is a supreme achievement in music, song and dance, twelve numbers being introduced during the presentation of this elaborate twenty-two minute offering, which introduces the evolution of a bathing suit from 1860, 1900, 1926, besides National dances of France, Holland, Hawaiian and American. The offering is in two scenes.
It is time for another edition of “Montran Monday[i].” When I encounter a new, historical newspaper article about persons with the surname Montran, I try to add information about them to my family tree database in hopes of encountering something that might lead me to learn about my maternal grandmother’s father. This week, I found several new mentions of Montran:
My first false alarm was the marriage of Mr. & Mrs. Gerard Orcutt, published in the Schenectady Gazette. Gerard was in the U.S. Air Force stationed at Davis-Montran [sic] in Arizona. Of course, it should have read Davis-Monthan.
La-Gaceta (Tampa, FL) reported on Feb 19, 1942, that Charles Irving Berney married Anne Poquette Montran[sic]. Again, it should have read Anne Poquette Monthan.
The University of Arizona (Tucson) 1965 yearbook (page 178) indicates that Alan Montran[sic] was among the Army ROTC Seniors. Further research found an Albert Moutran whose son, Alan Moutran, was born in Hawaii in 1943. Albert was a Captain in the USAF and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. I believe this is a likely candidate for the typo of Alan Montran.
Finally, the New London (Conn.) Evening Day reported on Aug 28, 1930, that Alfred Montran filed for divorce from Mary Azzi Montran. They married on Dec 5, 1920. On Jan 9, 1931, the paper reported the Alfred Moutran case was continued pending a motion regarding alimony. Further research found an Albert Moutran, who lived in New London before WW II and died there in 2010. His obituary indicated he was born in 1921, and his parents were Alfred and Mae (Karam) Moutran. I am confident that “Alfred Montran” was actually Alfred Moutran.
No luck this time finding any new Montran’s in my various newspaper sources.
Endnotes
[i] Montran Monday – My grandmother’s father was John Montran. She used the surname, as a young child and when she began her career in show business. The name is uncommon and most of the Montrans I see in the newspapers are my grandmother during her early vaudeville career. However, with the constant flow of newly digitized material, I often learn of new articles which contain the Montran name. I pay attention to the finding and try to determine a possible relationship of any Montrans to Donna’s father, John Montran.
Marshall is an occupation name whose origin is from the Frankish mare (“horse”) + skalkoz (“servant”). It is commonly found as a surname but may also be used as a given name. It is also an old Scottish surname meaning ‘Love of Horses.’ It is also an anglicization of the German and Ashkenazic Jewish surname ‘Marschall,’ meaning ‘keeper of horses’ in German.[ii]
John Marshall (1755–1835) was the fourth chief justice of the Supreme Court. He descended from John Marshall, who came from Ireland and settled in Virginia during the 1600s. It will be interesting to find out if I descend from him.
A German form of the surname is Marschall.
Geographical
About 55% of the people with the Marshall surname lived in the United States. The highest density of Marshalls is in Barbados.
Most Marshalls in the US live in Texas, California, and Florida. The greatest frequency of the Marshall surname occurs in Virginia, where one in 801 people have the surname.[iii]
4th Great-grandfather: William Marshall (c. 1795-___).[v]
My Marshalls in History
At the start of the Civil War, Patience was married to Thomas Dean. Thomas died in 1863. I don’t know if it was due to military service. In any event, Patience married Asa Ellis Roberts in 1865 and received a pension because of Asa’s service.
William Marshall was too old (60-70) to have fought during the Civil War. I need to research further to determine if he fought during the War of 1812. (He would have been between 12 and 23 years old then.)
Locations of my Marshall Ancestors
Illinois – Patience Anna (Marshall) Dean Roberts was born, lived her entire life, and died in Illinois.
Tennessee – Patience’s father {FNU] was born in Tennessee.
Famous Marshalls
Wikipedia shows many famous people with the Marshall surname, including two Supreme Court justices, generals, businessmen, and some 18 cities and towns in the United States.
Surname Studies
Family Tree DNA has 637 members in the Marshall Surname Study. The Family Search Wiki has a page about Surname Studies and can direct researchers to several dozen surname studies and groups, including the Marshall Family Tree on Facebook.
I have 221 known descendants of William Marshall in my tree; 47 are Roberts, 12 are Harts, 9 are Childers, and 9 are Derringtons. I have written 14 blog posts about four of them.
I examined the people in five photos from the Linwood Dyer Collection this week for Photo Friday. This collection includes hundreds of photos, documents, and genealogies of people who lived in Scarborough, South Portland, and Cape Elizabeth, Maine. My goal is to reunite the photos with family members who may have never seen the image. The Scarborough Historical Society holds the originals in this collection.
Alexander Carleton Potter, circa 1900.
The identifying information on the back of the photo indicates:
Alexander Carleton Potter
Taken by Purdy
146 Tremont St. Boston
Alexander Carleton Potter, circa 1900.
Why I believe this to be the individual.
The 1900 Boston City Directory lists Alex Carleton Potter boarding at 82 Commonwealth Av.[i]
He was living with his father, Henry (Harry) Staples Potter, a principal of Potter & Wrightington. Alexander was a physician.[ii]
The 1900 Census indicates that 24-year-old Alex C Potter was born in Mass in August 1875 and was a physician.[iii]
Alternate Individuals.
My research failed to identify any other Alexander Carleton Potters in the US during the late 1800s when this photo was taken. I am confident this is the correct Alex Potter, so I uploaded it to Dead Fred.
Henry Staples Potter (1870-1920), circa 1893.
Henry Staples Potter
The identifying information on the back of the photo indicates:
H. Staples Potter 2nd
At time he graduated from Harvard 1893
Why I believe this to be the individual.
The Cambridge Tribune, of 28 August 1920, reported Henry S Potter, Jr., passed at age 50. He was born on 5 Nov 1870, attended Harvard, and graduated cum laude. His wife, his sister, Mrs. R. D. Small, the wife of a Portland, Me., physician, and his brother, Dr. Potter of Cambridge survived him.[iv]
I uploaded this photo of Henry to his Family Search Memories.
Hilda Libby Ives (late 1920s)
Hilda Libby Ives
The identifying information on the back of the photo indicates:
“Hilda Ives daughter of Hilda Ives.”
Why I believe this to be the individual.
A search of Ancestry found only one person named Hilda Ives, whose mother is also Hilda.
Hilda Libby Ives, the daughter of Howard and Hilda (Libby) Ives, was born on May 29, 1909, in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.
This photo is of the style of the late 1920s, which fits with the young woman in this photo.
I am sure this photo is of Hilda Ives (1909-2001), Family Search profile L2H9-6HV.
John Kimball.
Back of the John McK Kimball Photo.
The back of the photo indicates, “John McK Kimball at Exeter.”
John McK Kimball
My research failed to find a clear identification for this photo.
There is a John Porter Kimball, who was born on 10 Aug 1896 in Exeter, New Hampshire. He married, lived, and died in Exeter. Looking at his life story, I do not see anything that would tie him to the “McK” mentioned on the back of the photo.
There was a John Kimball, born 10 April 1891 in Ontario, Canada, to William and Mary J. (McKay) Kimball. Looking at his life story, I do not see anything that would tie him to the “at Exeter” mention on the back of the photo.
I am not convinced this is either of these young men; consequently, I only posted the photo here and my Flickr Photostream. Further examining the Linwood Dyer Collection may connect this photo to a specific John Kimball.
Mary S Small (1922)
The back of the photo indicates, “April 26, 1922 | Mary S. Small.”
Back of Mary S Small Photo.
What I learned while researching this photo:
Mary S Small
Assuming Small is a maiden name, that the photo was taken in 1922, the woman in the photo was between 12 and 32 years old, and was likely born in New England, my search at Ancestry found no Mary S Smalls.
Assuming Small is a married name (search last name blank, spouse last name Small), I found no Mary S Small candidates
I failed to determine a viable candidate for this photo. As such, I only posted the image here. Hopefully, further examination of the Linwood Dyer Collection may provide a candidate.
Conclusion
I identified Three of the five individuals. They have Family Search profiles, so I uploaded their images to their Family Search Memories.
I would love to hear your reaction if any of these photos are of your family member. Especially if this photo is of a loved one for whom you hadn’t seen this photograph before.
Today, I examined a small photo album from the Scarborough Historical Society Photo Collection[i]. The album is titled “Class of 1941” and consists of individual thumbnail photos. All but two photos have names hand-written on the back. My goal in this project is to unite these photos with family members who may have never seen the images before.
What I learned while analyzing this photo package:
The 1941 Scarborough Annual Report indicates that Florance A. Scott and Norman McWilliam were the teachers at Dunstan School. Florence had 5½ years of teaching experience. She was a graduate of Gorham Normal, she practice taught at North Scarborough School and was an instructor on Portland Playgrounds for four years. Mr. MacWilliam has 1½ years of experience. He was a graduate of Farmington Normal.
It is interesting to note that Beech Ridge and Broad Turn schools closed on 16 February 1940. Beech Ridge students were transported to the new Oak Hill Grammar School and the pupils at Broad Turn School were transported to Dunstan. Additionally, Libby Grammar School closed on 15 December 1929 and were transported to Oak Hill. Libby Primary School still had students.
Dunstan School was reported as being overcrowded and in need of a new 6-room building.
Dunstan Grammar Class of 1941
This mini-album consists of 34 students and two teacher thumbnail photos. Miss Scott and Mr. McWilliam are pictured as are the following students:
Shirley Blood, Ann Bradford (2), Mattie Brooks, Dick Buckley, Charlie Burnham, Fanny Burnham, Gary Carter, Hazel Carter, Jean Carter, Roberta Carter, Audrey David, Gladys David, Dick Gantnier, Dottie Gochie (2), Jim Gochie, Doug Goodrich, Juliet Gervais, Louis Gervais, Lorna Hersey, Adelaide Higgins, Bill Higgins, Earl Jones, John Jones, Charles Kilby, Florence Merrill, George Merrill, Marion Milliken, Dana Morris, Helen Nielsen, Patricia Seavey, Edna Wilbur, Melvin William, Francis Raymond “Mike’ Wood,
Please comment below if you can identify the two unknown students.
I am confident this album consists of students from 1941 at the Dunstan School
Conclusion
I am sure these photos, taken in 1941, represent the 5th, 6th, and 7th grade classes of Dunstan Grammar School with the identities of 34 of the 36 students’ photos in the album. Besides here, I uploaded these photos to the Scarborough Historical Society website.
I would love to hear your reaction if any of these photos are of your family member. Especially if this photo is of a loved one for whom you hadn’t seen this photograph before. Ultimately, my goal is to reunite the pictures with family members who may have never seen the image.
Endnotes
[i] This photo was donated to the SHS Collections and accessioned as #2023.19.56. The cover of the small, 3.85×5,” album is blue in color and has “Class of 1941” printed on the cover and consists of 38 thumbnail photos.
