A Find-a-Grave visit to the Gorham Cemetery (Old Village Cemetery)

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Don Taylor
Find a Grave logo. Source: "Musings From Mommyland"
Logo for “Find A Grave”

I love Find-a-Grave. It is a fantastic resource for genealogy research; and, I really like to do my part in helping the database along. As such, I like to volunteer to fulfill photo requests. It provides a great opportunity to get out into the fresh air, get some sun, and provide a purpose to visit a cemetery. The other thing is I often request photos on Find-a-Grave and think it is only right to take as many photos for others as I request.

Since moving to Maine last year, I really hadn’t had an opportunity to get out for a cemetery walk. The snow was gone, the ground was fairly dry, the temperature was comfortable, no reason not to do my part. I had seen six requests for photos for Gorham Cemetery. (It is also known as South Street Cemetery according to Find-a-Grave and Old Village Cemetery by the local historical society). I saw it was fairly small, 130 interments, the size I could mindfully walk in an hour or so. It was also close enough, about 20 minutes away.

Rather than just looking for the six photo requests that were active, I thought I’d apply the filter of “Names with no grave photos” and print out the list. Then I highlighted the six names that were active requests so I could provide special attention to them. I packed my camera, a mirror, and a whisk broom and headed out.

This is a small cemetery in the center of town, very old (for the U.S.), and well kept. As I walked the cemetery I looked carefully at each marker. As I walked, there were a few that were damaged or worn beyond my ability to read. In all but two cases, I could tell none of them, based upon the information I could read (part of a name, date of death, etc.), were the six requests I was working for. Happily, I never needed the whiskbroom. A couple markers could have used the mirror but they were too far under trees to make its use helpful. (Take the mirror and direct the sun to the marker from an extreme angle to make worn markings more visible.)

Marker of William Gorham
Gorham Cemetery
Photo by Don Taylor

As I walked I looked to see if the name was on my list of individuals whose markers should be photographed for Find-a-Grave. All together, I took 27 photos of 9 markers that weren’t in the Find-a-Grave entries for the cemetery.

Back home posted 8 of the photos to Find-a-Grave (One of them will need some Photoshop work to make it usable.). I then reported that I walked the entire cemetery and was unable to find the markers to FG.

I wondered if the Gorham Historical Society had anything regarding the cemetery. Sure enough I found their website and on it was a downloadable spreadsheet of “Town of Gorham Cemetery Records.” None of the six individuals requested were on the listing, however, all eight of the markers I did find were there. My inference is that the six requests were based upon entries in Find-a-Grave that were there by mistake. I then went back to Find-a-Grave and indicated for those requests that, “The Gorham Historical Society’s ‘Town of Gorham Cemetery Records’ has no listing for this individual. Please see: https://www.gorhamhistorical.com/vital-records.” I also suggested that their photo request be withdrawn.

As I looked at those records I realized there was no source for the information other than the creator of the memorial. There is a place for general notes but nothing to identify what the entry creation was based upon. I feel that is a major shortcoming of Find-a-Grave. Maybe, now that it is owned/managed by Ancestry.Com, they will add a source field to the data. I think it is a necessary addition that will help volunteers understand the data they are looking at and suggest revisions or removal of incorrect data.

A few notes regarding Find-a-Grave.

Don’t use Find-a-Grave entries as a source. Consider them as clues.  
Consider Find-a-Grave entries with photos done by someone other than the creator as confirmed there is a grave with the stone shown. Remember, markers often have errors, too.
Always check and check for a local historical society and see if they might have additional information on the cemetery. 
When you do find a problem with Find-a-Grave information, query back to the originator. Be nice, state the facts as you have them including your sources.

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Might they be cousins?

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Don Taylor

Many years ago I was hanging around in the Navy barracks at Treasure Island and was chatting with another sailor. I mentioned I was from Minnesota and he said he had many relatives in northern Minnesota. I said, “Where ‘bouts.” And he said, “The Motley-Pillager area.” I said, “Really, that’s where my family is from.” Sure enough, after a bit more discussion, we learned that his mother was my grandfather’s youngest sister. We were first cousins, once removed.

A couple years ago my half-sister, who lives in Oregon, started dating a guy who was also from Oregon. In their discussions, they learned that he had family from Pillager, Minnesota, also. They laughed about it and started calling each other “cousin.” Not that they thought they were actually related, but they figured if both their families were in Pillager during the same years, it is likely that they must have known each other. The town only has 469 people, according to the 2010 census. Back in 1910, it only had 252 people,[i] so it is easy to suspect that someone in one family married someone in the other. So she asked me the obvious question – are she (a Brown) and her new beau (a Haywood) related?

The family of interest is George Edgar Heywood (or Haywood) and his wife Christina Catherine Hull. It appears that George and Christina came to Minnesota from Wisconsin about 1875 and had all 10 of their children in Minnesota. Several were born in Kandiyohi County, but most were born in Cass County in Township 133 (May Township (S)). Christina died in 1901 and it appears that the family moved out to Idaho shortly thereafter. In the 1900 census, George’s sister, Delia, shows in the as a schoolteacher. In the 1905 Minnesota census, she still shows up in Pillager, but by 1910 she and, apparently, the rest of the family had moved on. Most of the Heywood family moved to Idaho, but some moved to other places.

Family locations by year.

Year
Heywood/Hull
Brown-Manning
1875
Kandiyohi Co., MN
1885
Kandiyohi Co., MN
North Dakota
1892
Pillager, Cass Co., MN
Cass Co. MN
1894
Sylvan Township, Cass Co. MN
Note: Pillager is in Sylvan Township,
1896
Pillager, Cass Co., MN
   next to May Township.
1897
Pillager, Cass Co., MN
1900
May Township, Cass Co. MN
Pequot Lakes, Crow Wing Co., MN
Note: about 25 miles
1901
Pequot Lakes, Crow Wing Co., MN
1902
North Dakota
1905
Pillager, Cass Co., MN
Note: Delia only (Other gone).
1910
Montana (Marian)
1910
Texas (Delia)
1917
Backus, Cass Co., MN
1920
Idaho
Sylvan Township, Cass Co., MN
The Browns moved from Cass county to North Dakota about 1896 and then back to Cass County about 1897. They then moved to Crow Wing County by 1901 and back to North Dakota by 1902. They moved back to Cass County, again, about 1916.Anyway, it appears that the Philips and Brown families were both in the Pillager area from about 1892 until about 1897.

It will take a while to go through all of the descendants of George and Christina and their siblings that lived in the area to see if there were any marriages between the families; however, it doesn’t look that way. I’m fairly certain my sister and her beau are much farther apart then that sailor I encountered so many years ago are.

ENDNOTES

[i] United States. Bureau of the Census – Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910: Population by Counties and Minor Civil Divisions 1910, 1900, 1890. Page 252 – https://books.google.com/books?id=T9HrAAAAMAAJ
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Angley Project – Sarah Jones’ mother’s maiden name was Thomas

Posted on May 31, 2015 by Don Taylor

Today’s goal was a simple one — determine Sarah Jones’ mother’s surname as a part of my Angley Project.

I started with very little information. Sarah was born in October 1899 to James E and Catherine Jones. They lived in Edwardsville, Luzerne County, PA for many years.

The first step was to begin searching the 1900 Census. I really like the 1900 Census because it shows the month and year for the individual’s birth as well the number of years of the present marriage.  Two important identifying items.

Using Ancestry.com, I quickly found the couple in Edwardsville loving on Slocum Street. Not only did the record show daughter Sarah but also three other siblings, James E (who would be proven to be a Junior in the 1910 Census), Annie and Mary. The census showed James & Catherine were born in November 1869 and June 1872 respectively. It also showed they had been married for 10 years. So now, I had their birthdates and Marriage date.

Marriage Record – James E Jones
& Catherine Thomas – [ii]

Hoping for the easy look, I searched Ancestry.com and didn’t find a record fitting the criteria I had. I then went to Family Search and there they were. James was born on 2 November 1869 and Catherine was born on 22 June 1872. They were married on 21 October 1890[i]. All the pieces fit the and the goal was realized because the marriage record indicated her maiden name was Thomas.

As something of a side note, I noticed that the reverend W. D. Thomas married them. I wonder if there is a relationship there. Further research will tell.

The ultimate reason for this project is to find a common ancestor between two people’s trees who share a large segment of DNA. The comparison tree doesn’t have a Catherine Thomas in it, so we don’t have a match, yet. That said, the comparison tree does have other Thomas surnames living in Pennsylvania about 100 miles away at the same time. Therefore, the Thomas surname is definitely an area for further research.

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Endnotes
[i] Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950, Family Search, James E Jones – Catherine Thomas. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VF4W-DB7.
[ii] Ibid.

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Jump Hunting and the Maine Register

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Don Taylor
 

Painting by Henry Thomas Alken
[Public domain]
My foster father, Duane Olson, took me hunting when I was in high school. He liked to “jump-shoot” ducks. He knew places where there were likely to be ducks. We would then stalk the ducks at those locations. Once we got close, we would “jump” the ducks into the air. We’d get a couple birds most every time.Often my genealogical efforts use the same method. First, it helps to know where the information might be. Then, I stalk the places and “bag” my information.

I was recently at a genealogical conference and saw a copy of the Maine Register. I was immediately struck with how useful the book could be. After I got home, I looked to see if there were on-line copies of the book. There were. I found three editions on Archive.Org:

Maine Register, State Year-Book and Legislative Manual

1887-1888 – https://archive.org/details/maineregisteror00donhgoog
1891-1892 – https://archive.org/details/maineregisteror01donhgoog
1912 – https://archive.org/details/maineregistersta00port

Maine Register #43 (1912)
Page opposite of 889

I don’t have many trees that have Maine roots, but I thought I’d take a quick and see if the Maine Register would shed light onto the families that I do have. I pulled up the 1912 edition to see what I could find. Sure enough – there were over twenty entries on a “Bickford” search and nearly as many for “Whitten.” Briefly looking at the search results, I saw noticed several known ancestors in the findings. I also found an interesting company, the Swan-Whitten-Bickford Co., wholesale grocers in Belfast[i]. I would speculate there must be some kind of connection between that company and the Whitten-Bickford marriage twenty-five years later.

Thanks to the Maine Register, I’ve jump-shot the ducks. Next, I need to clean them, and then cook them. (Document and interpret the findings.)

If you use the Maine Register, great! If you aren’t using it yet, I highly recommend adding it to your list of important sources to “jump shoot” when you are hunting for information on your Maine ancestors.

I’ll bet other states have them too.  If you know of a similar book for another state, please let me know by posting a comment below.

[i] Maine Register, State Year-Book and Legislative Manual – No. 43 – July 1912, Published by Grenville M. Donham, Portland, Maine, 1912. Accessed via Archive.org. (https://archive.org/details/maineregistersta00port)
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Donna – A “Cabaret Girl” in Panama.

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Don Taylor
We know that Grandpa Dick (Clifford/Richard Brown/Durand) was in the Army in the late 1920s and early 1930s and was stationed in Panama where he and Donna met. We don’t know exactly when Donna and her husband Sammy Amsterdam went to Panama, but we do know they left Panama and headed for the States in April of 1930. We are also fairly certain that they were estranged at the time. Donna and her three-year-old son, Russell, indicate their address was her mother’s in Detroit, while Sammy indicated that his address was his mother’s address in Brooklyn[i]. Family oral history has long held that Dick and Donna met in Panama and that Sammy and Donna split up because of Dick.
While I was researching Dick’s activity in Panama I encountered An American Legacy in Panama: a brief history of the Department of Defense installations and properties, the former Panama Canal Zone, Republic of Panama by Suzanne P Johnson; United States; Department of Defense; Legacy Resources Management Program; U.S. Army Garrison (Panama)[ii]. In An American Legacy… there is a photo of two “Cabaret Girls,” one of whom looks just like Donna. I talked with Russell and he agrees, it looks like Donna to him. The photo is also from the correct time and place that Donna would have been in Panama, and finally, it shows here in a bathing suit, something that Donna started being photographed in when she was seventeen. She also starred in several Bathing Suit Revues over the ensuing years (See Donna Montran).
Family oral history also says that when Dick saw Donna in Panama, he told an army buddy that he was, “going to marry that girl.” Dick and Donna never married but they did have a child in January 1932. In any event, I consider this another photo of Donna. When I have a chance to visit the National Archives, I’ll do some more searching and see what additional information they may have about the “Cabaret Girls” of Panama

Sources:

[i] Ancestry.com, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Original data – Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls); Records of the U.S. Customs Service, R), iOS Application, Year: 1930; Arrival: Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_4710; Line: 1; List number:.
[ii] University of Florida Digital Collections.
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