Donna Montran and “Chin Chin” play at the Grand Opera House in Canton, Ohio on 1 April 1920

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Don Taylor

 Donna Montran – Vaudeville

I have long known that “Chin Chin” played on 20 March 1920 at the Laird Opera House – in Greenville, PA and that they played at the Sandusky Theatre in Sandusky, OH on April 5th, but the 16 days between was a mystery until I searched Genealogy Bank. I now have one more date and location for Donna’s vaudeville career — The Grand Opera House in Canton, Ohio.

The first advertising I see for “Chin Chin” appears to have been on March 26th where there was a small notice of booking and a small advertisement for the show.

The Sunday, March 28th edition of the Sunday Repository, has ads and articles on several pages. On page 31 is there is an article:

Musical Melange With Dancing And Comedy Head Theater Bill

That includes a photo of “Tom Brown’s Clown Saxaphone Band” and a short paragraph which reads;

“Chin Chin,” in which Cantonians saw Doyne and Dixon several years ago, probably is like no other stage production ever conceived. It is just as coherent as its name and it is full of surprises for the beholder. One unusual stage feature follows another rapidly, while pretty girls and catchy music are plentifully interspersed.

That paragraph is followed up with a major article (7 paragraphs) elsewhere on the page titled: “CHIN CHIN” WILL SHOW AT GRAND.” The article doesn’t provide any new information but does highlight many of the acts and songs. There is also a substantial ad on page 45.

Over the ensuing days there were several other short articles and advertisements; however, after the show ran, an article after the show (April 2) had a great write-up. Under the headline,
LARGE AUDIENCE SEES MUSICAL COMEDY AT GRAND THURSDAY
“Chin Chin” Is Presented Here For Second Time—Comedians, Clown Band And Chorus Score Principal Hits of Big Production

The fourth and last paragraph of the article reads, “The best dance of the evening was presented by Wills and Irene McKay, a diminutive lass, whom Wills was able to whirl about as he pleased. Wills’ next best number was an imitation of a famous pianist. Donna Montran made a beautiful “goddess of the lamp. Starr Dunham did some fair work as a dancer. The chorus was provided with various costumes of unique design.”[i]

Donna was a beautiful woman.

Grand Opera House, Canton, Ohio

The Grand Opera House opened on 30 October 1890. Oscar Cobb, who designed more than 300 opera houses, designed the Grand.[ii]

Grand Opera House, Canton, Ohio Source: www.garrisonhouseephemera.com

Grand Opera House
Canton, Ohio

Different sources provide different Seating capacities from 1,000 to $1,400 over the years. I use 1,218 as my preferred capacity: Floor, 550; Balcony, 320; Gallery, 300; Boxes, 48.[iii] It had a 36×28 foot stage.

In 1920, the Thomas Waltenbaugh managed the Grand Opera House. The Grand had already begun showing movies by 1920. The week that “Chin Chin” played at the theater, the silent film, “Mary’s Ankle” starring Douglas MacLean and Doris May showed every other day that week. It appears that by April of 1920, the theater was still trying to bring in high-class live shows, but when they couldn’t, they showed silent films. Like so many of the grand theaters of the time, the Grand began a slow decline as it showed movies and presented burlesque shows. Bethel Tabernacle bought the Grand Opera House in 1946.

 

What Donna and the “Chin Chin” case would have seen – a full house.
Grand Opera House, Canton, Ohio
Source: The Internet – Joseph N. Rubin Productions
[Personal Note:  I was originally going to subscribe to Newspaper Archives and see what more I could find about Donna and her career. I had all kinds of problems. I had an account with them several years ago and tried to login with my old account. It told me I couldn’t log in so I requested a password reset.  I reset my password then tried to log in again. Again no luck.  Then I tried to just subscribe. It said I couldn’t use the email address that I had before. So, I tried calling them.  On hold…. On hold…. On hold…. Then I was told to leave a message, I did letting them know that I wanted to renew my subscription.  Never got a call back.  Tried calling again. On hold… On hold… Finally, I gave up.  I can only imagine how frustrated I’d be if I were trying to cancel a subscription and received the same lack of service.  Anyway, I decided to renew my long expired account with Genealogy Bank.  Worked like a charm.  I then took a look and found “Chin Chin” playing at the Grand Opera House in Canton, Ohio on 1 April 1920.]

Endnotes

[i] “Repository” (Newspaper) (Canton, Ohio) – 2 April 1920 – Page 14 via Genealogy Bank. Emphasis mine.
[ii] Web: Joseph N. Rubin Productions – Grand Opera House – https://sites.google.com/site/josephnrubin/grandoperahouse – Accessed 3 September 2016.
[iii] The Cahn-Leighton Official Theatrical Guide 1913-1914 – Page 510 – via Google.

 

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Ancestor Biography – Abner Darling (1747-aft. 1800)

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Don Taylor

Howell-Darling-2016 Research
Darling Line

By Don Taylor

List of Grandparents

Grandfather (#6): Robert Harry Darling (1905-1969)
1st Great (#12): Rufus Harry Darling (1856-1917)
2nd Great (#24): Rufus Holton Darling (1815-1857)
3rd Great (#48): Abner Darling (1780-1839)
4th Great (#96): Abner Darling (1747-18??)

Abner Darling (1747-aft. 1800)

Abner Darling was born on 19 May 1747[1] probably in New Hampshire.
Nothing is known about his childhood. There was a “terrible earthquake” in New Hampshire in 1757, when Abner was 10 years old. We don’t know if he experienced that or not. Certainly, the French and Indian Wars 1754–1763 would have affected him. In any event, it appears that he and his family located to New York and settled in the Beekman Patent area. I need to do further research to determine when the Darlings moved to the Beekman Patent area (Dutchess County, New York).
He married Hannah Carpenter on 23 Dec 1768[2]. Some researchers indicate that Hannah’s surname may have been Reed.  Much more research is needed regarding Hannah.
Children of Abner and Hannah Darling
1770 – 16 Jan– Abner’s first child, Mary was born. She would marry Daniel Felton on 7 Aug 1787.
1771 – Feb – Lucy was born.
1772 – another child was born; name and sex are unknown.
1773 – Feb – Sylvia was born; she married Robert Felton on 1 Feb 1790 and died on 8 May 1838.
1775 – 8 Feb – First known son, Thomas, was born. He died as an infant in 1776.
1776 – 2 Oct – Their second son, also named Thomas was born. He married Mary Winslow in October 1800.
1778 – 22 Oct – Esther was born. She married David Maker on 12 Oct 1800.
1780 – 20 Dec – Third-great-grandfather Abner was born. He married Sally Ann Munsell on 3 Feb 1803[3] and died on 11 Jan 1839.
1783 – 10 Jan – Reid (or Ried) was born. He married Mary Wayne on 1 Jan 1806. Many researchers indicate Reid married on 16 Jan 1806; however, I read the Bible record differently seeing “1806 Jan’ry 1st“ rather than “Jan’ry 16.”
Bible Entry for marriage between Reid Darling and Mary Wayne
I read as “Jan’ry 1st”
Source: The National Archives via Fold 3
1785 – 29 Jan – Twins were born Lucinda and Luana.
Lucinda married Andrus Munsell on 28 Aug 1803.
Luana married Job Gardner 18 Sep 1803.
1787 – 14 Jan – Another set of twins were born.
Alanson married Nancy Deming in August 1804.]
Deidama – Status unknown.
1789 – 3 Feb – Hannah was born. Hannah married Stephen V Walley in the Dutch Reformed Church on 22 November 1806.

Stories:

1781 – 2 Jan – Apparently there was some doubt about the loyalty of Abner Darling to the American colonies during the Revolutionary War, as shown in Minutes of Commissioners for Conspiracies, State of New York. He was acquitted, but his reputation was probably tarnished. More research on this is needed.

Census Records

1790 – Census reported him in Hoosick, Albany County, New York[1].
1800 – Census reported him in Augusta, Oneida County, New York[1].
I have not found a death record for him nor a burial location.

Further Actions / Follow-up

Determine exactly when the Darlings moved to the Beekman Patent area
Research his wife, Hannah Carpenter (Reed?).
Learn more about Abner facing the Commissioners for Conspiracies.
Determine Abner’s death location and burial location.
Research Abner Darling in the Dutchess County Store Books.
Fully research the United States Revolutionary War Pension Records for Daniel Felton for additional information regarding Darling family line.
Research Mary/Polly Darling in Job Winslow’s will, Abstracts of Columbia Co., NY Wills. FHL MF 908922.
Read/Review “Tree Talks,” the quarterly publication of the Central New York Genealogical Society, Syracuse, NY. For information regarding Abner Darling’s will.

ENDNOTES

 

[1] “The Darling Family” by Frank J. Doherty. See https://www.beekmansettlers.com/ for details and ordering information.
[2] Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files; Daniel Felton – W 19259 – Page 4 – NARA – Fold 3 – https://www.fold3.com/image/17868586.
[3] Ibid.

 

———-  DISCLAIMER  ———-
Search for Ancestors at OneGreatFamily.com

Posted in Darling-Huber | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Community Context Research Yields Clues

Posted on August 26, 2016 by Don Taylor

 Adair Project

By Don Taylor

Determining Elmer D. Adair’s parents has been frustrating me for some time. He is the paternal grandfather in my Adair Project and something of a nefarious character. He wasn’t spoken about in the Adair family.  We did not know if he had any siblings, nor did we have his parent’s names.

Blank Wall with Crack
Blank Wall with Crack in it.

We know he had several run-ins with the law, including one when he was just 18-years-old that resulted in his going to prison for a year.  That event was in 1931, in Paulding County, Georgia. I thought it should be easy to find a 17-year-old Elmer in the 1930 Census; however, I had no success. So, I decided to do a Community Context (Cluster) Search for Adairs in Paulding County, Georgia in 1930. I used both Family Search and Ancestry.Com in my searching. In both cases, I searched the 1930 Census for “Adair” in “Paulding County, Georgia.” On Ancestry.Com, I added criteria that the relationship to head of household should be “Head.” On Family Search, I just looked for “Head” in the household role.  The results on both were 13 families. Two of the families were black, so they were dropped from my focus leaving 11.

Household Role Age Comments
Memary R Adair Head F 60 Owns Home, on Farm, Single) Farmer
Bertha E Adair Sister F 32 (No Occupation)
Sharon S Wright Nephew M 10 Farm Laborer

John E Adair Head M 60 1st marriage at age 30 – Not a vet.
Flora E Adair Wife F 58 1st marriage at age 28
Relia E Adair Daughter F 20

Verley Adair Head M 23 Renting First Marriage at age 23, Farner
Beatrice Adair Wife F 16 First Marriage at age 16,

Crenfal N Adair Head M 29 Renting – 1st marriage at 19, Farmer.
Molly L Adair Wife F 27 1st marriage at 17,
Howell J Adair Son M 8 Attending School
Alton H Adair Son M 5
Herbert P Adair Son M 1

Alonzo L Adair Head M 56 First Marriage at 21 – Farmer
Fannie L Adair Wife F 53 First Marriage at 18
Raymond E Adair Son M 24 Teacher
A L Adair Jr. Son M 19 Teacher
Edna E Adair Daugh F 14 Attended School

Allen Adair Head M 50 Renting – First Marriage age 21.
Ella E Adair Wife F 41 First Marriage age 15.
Elma D Adair Son M 17 Farm Labor
Paul E Adair Son M 11 Attending School
Mary L Adair Daugh F 6

Adair, Sanford Head 32 Rents Farm Farmer
___, Darthula Mother   52 WD
___, John D Brother 20 Farm Laborer
___, Flossie Sister 15 Farm Laborer
___, Ila Sister 13 Farm Laborer
___, Paul Brother 10 Attending School

Adair, Joseph Head Age 55 First Marriage at age 22 Farmer
___, Melinda, Wife Age 55 First Marriage at age 22
___, Estell Daughter   23 Farm Laborer
___, Charlie Son 20 Farm Laborer
___, Clandil Daughter 17 Farm Laborer

Adair, Veto Head 26 First marriage at age 25, Renting farm. Farmer
___, Hallie Wife, 26 First marriage at age 25.

Adair, Milton R. Head 73 Owns home, Age at 1st marriage: 22
___, Amanda Wife 70 Age at 1st marriage: 20
___, Benjamin Son 47 Age at 1st marriage: 47 – Road Tractor Driver.
___, Opal Dau. in law 24 Age at 1st marriage: 23

Adair, Robert H Head 70 First marriage at 19, Renting farm.
___, Mary Jane Wife 69 First marriage at 18,
Calif, Gladys Granddau. 18 Attended School – Farm Laborer
___, David Grandson 16 Attended School – Farmer
___, Mary Granddau. 14 Attended School – Farm Laborer
___, Maggie Granddau. 12 Attended School

Note: All individuals listed above were born in Georgia.

As I went through the families, I noticed an obvious mistake in the Census. In the household of Allen Adair, there was a son named “Elma D.”  Could this be Elmer D.?  The age is right; the location is right. I suspect that Elma is Elmer. A quick search of the 1920 Census didn’t yield any results for Allen, Ella Elmer/Elma or Paul Adair.

I’m not sufficiently confident to ascribe Elmer’s parents as Allen and Ella Adair yet; however, I suspect that an in-depth look at the Adairs of Paulding County, GA in the 1920 Census and a close look at the neighbors of the 1930 Allen Adair family may result in success. Also, following the other children of Allen & Ella may well lead to confirmation. In any event, what was once a blank wall has cracks in it — clues about how to get through it.

Lessons
A community context search can illuminate facts that you may have missed previously.
Names such as “Elmer” can be misinterpreted as “Elma.”

Future Actions
Follow the children of Allen and Ella Adair and look for potential references to Elmer.
Look at the 1930 neighbors of Allen and Ella Adair and see if there are any to find in the 1920 Census.
Look at the Adair’s of Paulding County, GA, in the 1920 Census and document any new relationships found.

Sources
Ancestry.Com 1930 United States Census search Adair, Paulding County, GA.
Family Search 1930 United States Census search Adair, Paulding County, GA.

———-  DISCLAIMER  ———-

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Peterson Paternal Project – Anderson-Bishop Branch

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Don Taylor

Glennis DNA Project

By Don Taylor

Part 3

[Previously, I wrote about my Glennis DNA Project in Not a Grimm Tale – So Far and Hemsworth-Morgan Branch. This is a continuation of that project.] 

My half-sister Glennis has long wondered who her biological father is. Thanks to Ancestry DNA we have a great clue. She has a match with a person, I’ll call M.A., [i] who she shares 201 centimorgans of DNA across 8 segments with. M.A. does not match with me, so we know that the match is on Glennis’ paternal side. Ancestry DNA predicts the relationship to be 2nd to 3rd cousins and Blaine Bettinger’s “Shared CM Project”[ii] suggests they are second cousins. That means that she and M.A. likely share a great grandparent. The really great thing is that M.A. has all of his/her great grandparents identified. If I can take all eight of those great-grandparents and follow their descendants, possibly one of them was in the right place at the right time. If so, I will have a very likely candidate to my Glennis’ biological father.

Background notes: Glennis’s mother was 21 when Glennis was born. I estimate that Glennis’ biological father must have been between 19 and 32, suggesting a birth year from 1920 to 1934. Supposedly his name was Paul, but he went by Phil. Additionally, Glennis was probably conceived in either Minnesota or Michigan.

M.A. provided a skeleton tree showing his eight great-grandparents and included Jeremiah Anderson his wife Parcidia Bishop and the three direct descendants to MA. My goal with this segment of the project was to follow the descendants of Jeremiah and Parcidia to find an individual who potentially was in either Minnesota or Michigan.  I was able to expand my initial knowledge of

Using Ancestry Family Trees and the family tree at Family Search as well as a few census records, I was able to piece together a “notional” family tree showing the basics of Parcidia’s descendants and where they might have lived.  I know it is not perfect and relies on the research of other people, but it does give me a first brush stroke and lets me know of this potential line deserves much more research or not.

Jeremiah died very young, at age 29. His only known children were his four children with Parcidia.  Parcidia had six more children with her second husband, Isaac Lewis Anderson. Her ten children were:

Four with Jeremiah Anderson:

  • Isaiah P. Anderson (25 Jul 1854 – ? | 13 Feb 1931 – ?)
  • Alice Peora Anderson (8 Oct 1856 – ? | 26 Dec 1932 – ?)
  • Isaac Anderson (1857 |  – )
  • Mary Anderson (15 May 1859 – Amelia | 13 Mar 1950 – Ravenswood)

Six with Isaac Lewis Anderson:

  • Irene Evangaline Anderson (1 Mar 1862 – Jackson | 16 Apr 1944 – ?)
  • Ezra Anderson (Sep 1864 – ? |  – )
  • Benton Anderson (1872 – ? |  – )
  • John Crittenden Anderson (25 Aug 1875 – ? |  – )
  • Clifford Oscar Anderson (Jun 1879 – ? |  – )
  • Rena Anderson (1882 – ? |  – )

Using Ancestry Family Trees and the family tree at Family Search as well as a few census records, I was able to expand my list of descendants from an initial 3 to 58 known descendants including the following known surnames:

Anderson
Abels (sometimes Ables)
Maple
Rankin
Shaber
Simmons
Snider

The total number of surnames is relatively short because both Alice and Mary married men with the Abels surname (John William Abels and J. Bruce Ables respectively).  Neither Irene nor Rena appear to have had children.

In my quick research, I found all of Parcidia descendants remained in West Virginia and western Ohio. I found no branches that located to Michigan or Minnesota, thus no potential father for Glennis from this line.

Certainly, it is possible that someone from this like left West Virginia or Ohio and located to Michigan or Minnesota sometime between 1940 and 1953, but I believe researching the Biddle-Wykert line next will be a better course of action.

Tracing these lines is grueling work, but I believe is the most likely way to the ultimate answer to the question, “Who was Glennis’ biological father.”My Peterson Paternal Project Notional Tree is accessible here.  If you do not have an active Ancestry.com account and would like to access the tree, please leave a comment below and I will send you an access link.

———-  DISCLAIMER  ———-

 

Posted in DNA & Genetic Genealogy, Peterson Paternity | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Harmon’s Mill, Scarborough, ME

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Don Taylor
Mappy Monday
Museum Monday

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words; well, a good map can be worth ten times that. In my volunteer activities at the Scarborough Historical Society, I had been asked to confirm the locations for Scottaway Hill, Harmon’s Mill, and Mill Creek.

I looked into the society’s families files. The Harmon’s have a nice sized file, but all the documents we have seem to relate to other Harmons in the area (presumably descendants of Samuel Harmon). I looked at some of my other regular sources and found the same quoted information in several locations, “Samuel Harmon purchased several large tracts of land at Scottaway Hill in Scarboro, ME, built a mill on the river there known as Harmon’s Mill, and settled at the place in 1728.”

Map of Blue Point & DunstanI thought this should be simple; I had seen the Blue Point and Dunston map from The History of Scarborough, which does a great job of showing where Scottow’s Hill, Harmon’s Mill, and even Harmon’s Landing were. Of course, “the road to Falmouth” is Route 1 today and the R.R. shown on the map is the Eastern Trail today. I double-checked with the society’s curator and she confirmed that Scottaway Hill and Scottow’s Hill are the same place.

1.  Assuming the “Blue Point and Dunston” map is correct, Harmon’s Mill should be about 1/3 of the way between Route one and the Eastern Trail along the creek. That would put it right near the ninth hole at Willowdale golf course – behind the Portland Pie Company’s Corporate Headquarters.

My “go to” place for anything dealing with water is the USGS. They have a hydrography map that is incredible. https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/nhd.htm. Zoom in to the area you are interested in. I like to toggle on layers for Geographic Names, Structures, and Transportation.  You can toggle on imagery as well.

2.  To confuse things, the USGS map, and some other maps I’ve seen, indicate that Mill Brook is the right hand of the two forks shown on the Blue Point and Dunston map, not the one shown to host the mill. If so, the original site could be anywhere along that right-hand stream.  I think this is the least likely scenario, but one that could be considered.

3.  Finally, local tradition says that the mill was along the creek that doesn’t show up on any modern maps. Certainly, there is evidence that a creek ran through the area, but because of the development over the centuries there is no evidence of the mill there.  Also, this site would be along the way to Harmon’s Landing. 

Harmon’s Mill Location
Map by Google – Annotations by Don Taylor

 

So, if local tradition is correct and Harmon’s Mill was located along Manson-Libby Road, probably about half way to Harmon’s Landing. If so, then Scarborough History is incorrect. That said, three sites are really close to each other; all are within a half-mile circle and are within 1/2 to 1 mile from Scottow Hill. I may never know, for certain, where Harmon’s Mill was exactly, but to know that it existed and to know it was an important business in Scarborough 250 years ago is the important thing.

 

If you have evidence supporting that Harmon’s Mill was at one of these or some other location, I’d love to hear from you. I would like to know where Harmon’s Mill was, and I know the descendants of Samuel Harmon would love to learn where it was also.

 

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