Scrapbook Digitization

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Don Taylor

Scrapbook Digitization at the Scarborough Museum

Scrapbooks can be an incredible source of information regarding a place and time. However, by their very nature they can self-destruct over time. Often they are filled with newspaper clippings that yellow and become brittle as the years pass. Sometimes clippings and other documents are mounted with tape or other means that damage the exhibits within.

Several of us at the Scarborough Historical Society & Museum are working to preserve some of these treasures through digitization. The first one we have been working on is a medium sized scrapbook donated by 2006. There are nearly 200 pages of clippings of items that the creator found important during the 1930s, 1940s, and early 1950s.

To save the scrapbook we began by scanning each page of the scrapbook in a way that minimized potential damage to the book. The images were scanned as 600dpi color images in TIFF format. These TIFF originals are about 100MB in size and have excellent archival capabilities. The TIFF files are our digital originals and are never modified or changed. Then the TIFF files are imported into optical character recognition (OCR) software and searched for text. Next, the imported files are resampled to 300dpi and changed to grayscale (black & white) and saved as 300dpi PDF files that include the selectable text embedded in the image. Having selectable text allows for searching the files for keywords as a group. These files are also excellent for printing and typically are about 7MB per page, about 1/12 of the size of the original files. Now that we have the images, what do we do with them?

Just paging through the digital images on the computer is fun. For example, in this scrapbook, there are articles about the turnpike between Kittery and Portland being built. I found it amazing that construction began in May 1946 and the pike was open for use only 19 months later on 13 December 1947. The pike cost 50¢ to travel the distance with fewer charges for shorter distances when it opened.

Antique Wall telephone with hand crank - By JGKlein (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Antique Crank Telephone

It was also fun to read about how, in 1950, dial phones came to Scarborough and that the old crank phones could finally be replaced. There were complaints how party-line neighbors would listen in on private conversations and even join in and hopes that someday that would be a thing of the past. That brought back memories for me, as a child, we had an eight-person party line for a while. Our ring was two longs a short and a long. Anyway, I can definitely see how Scarborough historians would find the scrapbook a treasure trove of information about Scarborough and nearby communities.

I found the pages regarding Princess Elizabeth’s wedding and wedding dress to be historically interesting but not of particular genealogical interest. Although I do have a general interest in history, genealogy is my passion. Would the scrapbook help in genealogical research? I thought so, but I wanted to test that premise.

My “Thurlow Test”
I began with Thurlow. I know Bruce from the Museum (he is the Programs Chairman). I also know his family has been in Scarborough for many years. Might they be mentioned in this scrapbook? A quick search found three pages with “Thurlow” mentioned.

On 10 October 1939, a Miss Alice Thurlow attended a wedding shower for Miss Elizabeth Charlotte Moulton. This is the type of information that is important for genealogists wanting to do “friends, acquaintances, & neighbors” (FAN) analysis.

Alice Thurlow & Peter
Kelley, Jr.  1940

In 1940, Alice E Thurlow married Peter W. Kelley, Jr. at St. Joseph’s Church in a service officiated by Rt. Rev. Mgr. John Houlihan. We also learn that Miss Thurlow “is the daughter of Mrs. Harold F. Seal of Bell Street.” Humm. Interesting. I would interpret that statement as Alice’s mother remarrying. Certainly something to theorize, research, and prove genealogically in further research. There is also a photo of Alice and Peter. Although only black & white and newsprint pixelation, it does provide an image of the couple. Also, from the article, we learn that after they return from a honeymoon, they will live on Bismark Street. (Another area of research. Was there a Bismark Street in Scarborough or are they locating to Portland? There is a lot more information, particularly regarding Peter’s family. Any genealogist working on the Thurlow family would love the data and photo provided in this story.

Finally, the third article found mentions that Donald Thurlow was a boy scout who acted as an usher for Scarborough superintendent of schools Franklin H. B. Heald’s retirement testimonial dinner in 1946. This is really cool information because it adds texture to understanding about the individual’s interests. We now know that Donald was interested in the Boy Scouts.

My “Delaware Test”
After finding amazing bits of information on the Thurlow family in just one scrapbook, I thought I’d do one more quick search for another Museum regular. This time I searched for “Anna Delaware.” Instantly the results come back; two pages include both Anna and Delaware.

Anna Wright
1945 newspaper
clipping

The first one, from 1945 is the announcement of the engagement of Anna Wright and Cpl. Warren H. Delaware. The article provides their parents names, where they went to school, where they worked, and photos of both Anna and Warren.

The second finding is hand annotated “23 May 1946,” the date of the article. It talks about how Anna and Warren were to marry Thursday. It mentions Anna’s sisters, Mary and Margaret and several other relatives. There is more about Warren’s family as well. There is also a photo of Anna in an amazing wedding dress. From a genealogical perspective, there is almost enough data in those two articles to rough out a family tree.

If you are a member of the Scarborough Historical Society & Museum, can’t make it to the museum, let me know (through the museum) and I will be happy to do a look-up for you. Better yet, if you can make it in, I’ll be happy to show you how to search for your ancestor in the scrapbook collection. If you are not a member, please become a member.

Finally, are you a member of your local historical society? If not, join and volunteer. Besides the benefit of learning more local history, they are bound to have genealogical tidbits galore, maybe even some old scrapbooks that need digitizing that you can help with.

Sources
Scarborough Historical Museum, Scarborough, Maine.  Small Scrapbooks Collection; Accession # 06-69.1; various pages, scan images 051, 068, 125, 153, & 164.

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Bio: Delilah J. Hoefner Rode

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Don Taylor
Delilah J. Hoefner Rode (1911-1995)

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 

Week 2016-01

[Note: This ancestor is part of my Rode/Arvis Project and not an ancestor related to me. It has also been privitized to not include information regarding living individuals. -Don]

Introduction

When Delilah Hoefner (or Hoefener) was born in 1911, in Wisner, Nebraska, her father, William, was 59 and her mother, Marie, was 43. She married Reinold Rode in 1930. She had four children by the time she was 25. She died about 1995, in Tacoma, Washington, at the age of 83, and was buried there.

Details
Delilah Hoefner was born on 2 September 1911[i], the youngest of ten children in Wisner, Cuming county, Nebraska. Her siblings included Emil, Ella, Albert, Edmond, Hattie, Arthur, Wilburt, Martin, and Paul – seven brothers and two sisters.

The 1920s were a bad decade for Delilah. It started out with her living with her parents and three brothers in West Point, Cuming county, Nebraska[ii] which was fine. But later that year, 9 August 1920, her father William Henry Hoefener died[iii]. Her mother, Marie, followed William five years later, passing on 30 December 1925[iv]. Her brother, Albert, also died in 1926. Life improved by the end of the decade. She married Reinold Rode in 1927 at the age of 16; Reinold was 22 years old.[v]

The 1930s began with the couple living near Allen, Pierce county, Nebraska.[vi] The couple also had four children, two girls and two boys. In 1935, the couple were still living in Cuming county, Nebraska but moved to Willow, Antelope county, Nebraska before the 1940 Census in April.

The Rode’s moved to the Tacoma, Pierce county, Washington state. Reinold died in 1992. Delilah (Hoefner) Rode, died about two years later at the age of 83, at Tacoma, Pierce county, Washington state on Thursday, 12 January 1995[vii]. She is buried at Trinity Lutheran Cemetery, Tacoma, Pierce County, WA with her husband.[viii]

Anyone who has additional information, photos, or comments, please reply via the comments below.

Endnotes

[i] “U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014,” Delilah Rode, Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File., Number: 475-40-6730; Issue State: Minnesota; Issue Date: 195, Ancestry.Com.
[ii] “1920 Census,” West Point, Cuming, Nebraska, Roll: T625_984; Page: 13A; Enumeration District: 76; Image: 1106, William Hoefner – Head, Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C., Ancestry.Com, 31 Dec 2015.
[iii] “Find A Grave” Memorial# 61604374 – William Hoefener
[iv] “Find a Grave” Memorial 61603413 – Marie C. C. “Mary” Raasch Hoefener
[v] “1930 Census,” Allen, Pierce, Nebraska, Roll: 1290; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0001; Image: 11.0; FHL microfilm: 2341025, Reinold Rode, United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C, Ancestry.com, 1 Jan 2016.
[vi] “1930 Census,” Allen, Pierce, Nebraska, Roll: 1290; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0001; Image: 11.0; FHL microfilm: 2341025, Reinold Rode, United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C, Ancestry.com, 1 Jan 2016.
[vii] Tacoma News Tribune / Morning News Tribune, “Tacoma Area Obituaries Database,” https://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/obits/, 31 Dec 2015, Tacoma Public Library.
[viii] Find a Grave, “Memorial# 39026556,” Delilah Rode, https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=39026556, 31 Dec 2015.
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Cousin Dawn & the Appleton Ancestors

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Don Taylor
In the presentation I am giving next Wednesday evening at the Scarborough Museum on “Social Networking for Genealogy,” I emphasize the importance of connections. Connections with people and connecting with cousins are among the best. A cousin, who is into genealogy, cares about the accuracy of your family tree, particularly at your shared ancestor and beyond. They may also have researched areas that you haven’t and can provide great insight into potential sources and facts. I tentatively accept a lot of information from cousins; however, I flag the source and know that I need to try to find original documents to replace my tentative source as having come through someone else’s research.
An example of this is my cousin Dawn M. Through Ancestry.Com’s DNA test I had a match with a 4th to 6th cousin, Dawn M. (Not to be confused with my 1st cousin, Dawn M.) First, through Ancestry’s “Send Message,” then through direct emails, we quickly learned that our first common ancestors are Henry and Marion (Sanford) Brown. They are 2nd great-grandparents to both of us, thus making us 3rd cousins. According to Ancestry.Com, Dawn M. and I share 29.9 centimorgans across 4 DNA segments. It is really interesting to note that my half-sister, Glennis, and Dawn M. share more than double the DNA, 77 centimorgans across 5 DNA segments and is predicted by Ancestry to be 3rd cousins. Seeing that difference in shared DNA between Dawn M. and Glennis compared to between Dawn M. and me reinforces the importance of testing siblings as well to better identify DNA connections and improve the odds of finding the best possible matches. In this case, I almost didn’t pursue contacting with Dawn M because the suggested match was so distant (4th to 6th cousins).
I shared my tree on Ancestry.Com with Dawn and she shared a genealogy file she works with. It was 276 pages of information. Nearly overwhelming – No it was overwhelming. I decided to analyze her material based upon surnames. The first surname we matched alphabetically was “Appleton.” Samuel Appleton, Esq. and his wife Hannah are our 10th great-grandparents.
I had a lot of information she didn’t have, much of it from Chandler Wolcott’s book, The Family of HENRY WOLCOTT published in 1912. What is really good about that source is that it is available through the Internet Archive (a key genealogical research tool). Anyway, I sent her a link to the book and sent her an extract of the appropriate pages. Her information included the names and relationships for four 11th, four 12th, and two 13th great-grandparents. Just learning the names and potential sources for the information is huge and is a great beginning. Learning the probable names of 10 new ancestors is always a good day.
8 new ancestors thanks to 3rd cousin Dawn.
Altogether, just the Appleton section (15 of 276 pages) provided details, which I didn’t have before, on 25 individuals. As slow as I am, (I like to think of myself as thorough instead of slow) this is several days of verification and validation research, thirteen of which are direct ancestors.
2 new ancestor names
thanks to 3rd cousin Dawn
In all the Appleton material, there were only two minor items that were in conflict with what I have. Both these conflicts give me additional research areas so I can double or triple verify my interpretations of other sources. If I still disagree with Dawn M.’s assessment, then I’ll let her know my thoughts and why.
Thanks to DNA Testing, I found a third cousin, Dawn M. Thanks to communications with her I was able to assess that her unpublished tree. Thanks to that assessment, I have tentatively added twenty-five new ancestors. Yes, social networking can provide amazing results.  Five percent done, only 95% to go.

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2015: Year in Review

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Don Taylor

2015: My Genealogical Year-in-Review

This year has been amazing for my genealogical research, my genealogical connections, and my telling my family history. My most popular blog post from this year, in terms of pageviews, was “My Response to Ancestry’s Business Decisions,” which is my rant regarding Ancestry’s decision to drop Family Tree Maker. It is also, by far, the blog posting that have received the most comments regarding. My most popular post of all time remains my 2013 review of Family Tree Maker Mac 3. In light of Ancestry’s decision to drop Family Tree Maker from its product line, it is also my most embarrassing post.

January

I was blessed by guest blogger Jenne M., whose incredibly interesting articles I began posting. I thank Jenne for her work and for sharing her family’s history with us.
I also continued my research into the life of my grandmother Madonna Montran and her vaudeville days. In particular, I followed her “Chin Chin” experiences through several articles.
Jacob & Bertha (Trümpi) Huber
Regarding my Howell/Darling research, I posted several biographies and documented my brick wall regarding Jacob Huber.

February

In February, I wrote an unpopular post regarding my great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Manning Brown. It was “unpopular” because I laid out why I believe she was born in 1878 and not 1876, thus her family jumped the gun when they celebrated her 100th birthday in 1976.

March

My social networking activities resulted in a treasure trove of photos from a newly found cousin. The photos included definitive proof that my grandfather was in Panama about the time my grandmother was also in Panama, thus confirming family oral history. There were also hundreds of scanned imaged included in a disk from my cousin as well as some original poems written by my grandfather. The photo images I received included dozens of my direct ancestors that I had never seen before. It was an amazing sharing of information. Thank you so much to my cousin Beverly.
Arthur & Mary (Manning) Brown

April

Again, thanks to social networking I was able to share memories of a cousin, this time from my late cousin, Sharon Huffman. Sharon wrote about her grandparents, my great-grandparents, Arthur and Mary Brown. Much of what she wrote I have verified in independent research, such as great-grandfather Arthur dying of cancer. But more importantly, her shared memories provide texture to the lives of Arthur and Mary and insights into their personalities. Thanks again to Tim and Julia for sharing the stories with me.

May

Besides expanding upon my grandmother Donna’s time in Panama as a “Cabaret Girl,” I wrote an extensive post regarding searching newspapers and the process I use for using them in my research.

June

I was able to take the time to volunteer for Find-a-Grave by going to an old cemetery in nearby Gorham, Maine, and take photos of several markers that weren’t on the site already. It can provide a great way to help the genealogy community and get outside.

July

I put the final changes on a presentation, Social Networking for Genealogy. It was the first genealogical presentation I’ve given since moving to Maine. I gave the presentation at the August 1st meeting of the Greater Portland Chapter of the Maine Genealogical Society. I will be giving the presentation again to the Scarborough Historical Society on January 6th, 2016.
My research also uncovered what I believe to be a new cousin on the Montran line. I am pretty certain that her ancestor, John F Montran, and my great-grandfather, John F Montran, are the same person. I exchanged several emails with her but seem to have lost contact since an original flurry of correspondences. I hope she is okay.

August

I continued my research regarding the Montran line with articles about John Montran and Ruth Grace Montran.

September

I attended the Maine Genealogical Society’s annual conference in Brewer, Maine. It was an excellent experience. 
Another guest blogger, Melody Pettus, wrote about her second great-grandfather, Shadrick. I give my thanks to Melody for sharing her research and some of her family’s story.
I attended the Scarborough Historical Society’s September presentation about yearbooks. It revolutionized my thinking about yearbooks and some of the not so obvious things you can learn from them, so I posted about both the presentation and what I learned.

October

Ancestry.Com added “Wills and Probate Records” to their multitude of databases. Using the database, I was able to learn much more about my wife’s great-grandmother, Annie D (Long) Hobbs. It is one of the most significant databases that Ancestry has provided access to in quite a while.  
I was also able to discover new details about my grandmother’s biplane flights. She was an incredible woman.

November

Randy Seaver’s blog, Genea-Musings, often suggests topics for consideration. He often inspires me to think about my research and some of the fun facts you can learn. One such topic included my most recent immigrant ancestor. I hadn’t thought about whom it might be until after I read his blog.

December

“Crumbling Brick Wall” by John Schneider
(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) 
The biggest genealogical breakthrough I had this year was figuring out who my biological father probably is. Through a combination of both Y-DNA and atDNA tests and analysis, I feel about 75% certain that I have the name of my biological father. It isn’t a “slam-dunk,” but it is the best lead I have ever had. I really opened a completely new area of research for me.
The above is only a sampling of the 103 blog articles (including this one) I wrote this year – nearly two a week. I have written about my three major research areas, Brown-Montran (my maternal line), Darling-Huber (my wife’s maternal line), and Howell-Hobbs (my wife’s paternal line). I have had a “Roberts Notional” project for several years; however, now I’m almost ready to change it to a new, Roberts-Barnes, research area. I also have two secondary research areas, Donna Montran – her show-business life is fascinating, and DNA Research, which augments all my research areas and several of my projects.
For other projects, I have several. They include Adair, Angley, Burlison, Middleton, Mowbray, Rode, Schlotterbeck, and Whitten. In addition, I am encouraging others in their research that has resulted in guest blogger postings. I also review books and software and write general genealogical interest articles. So, I am keeping busy.

My Goals for 2016

Brown-Montran – Prove the connection between my grandmother and a potential a half-sister.
     Determine the biological father of my half-sister, Glennis.
Darling-Huber – Determine the connections and family unit for the Bernhead Trümpi household.
Howell-Hobbs – Determine who “M,” George Hobbs’ wife was.
     Determine who Peter M. Howell’s father is.
Roberts-Barnes – Prove the connection to a paternal ancestor.
Donna Montran – Continue research and detail at least 12 of her vaudeville shows.
DNA Research – Continue using DNA in my research for all my research area and my Adair and Angley projects.
Continue supporting the Scarborough Historical Society and the Scarborough Museum.
Continue supporting the Greater Portland Chapter of the Maine Genealogical Society.
Take at least 104 hours of genealogical training (2 hours every week). I could do even more.
Finally, I want to post at least 121 blog articles (one every three days) in 2016. I expect 2016 to be a busy and fruitful year.


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Remembering Great Uncle Clarence Edward Huber

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Don Taylor

Happy Birthday Great Uncle Clarence

One hundred and six years ago, John and Bertha Barbara (Trümpi) Huber had the Christmas Eve present of their second child. Clarence Edward Huber was born on 24 December 1909 in Elberta and Josephine, Baldwin County, Alabama. Clarence didn’t grow up in Alabama as his family bought a farm in James Township, Saginaw County, Michigan about 1918 and moved there then.
Clarence went to school in Saginaw County and graduated from the eighth grade.
In 1942, Clarence enlisted in the army and served until his release in September 1945, when he returned to James Township and worked on his father’s farm until his father’s death in 1948.
For the next twenty years, he helped support his mother on the family farm until her death in 1968. He continued farming on the family farm until his death on 25 June 1994.
Sources:

1910 Census (A), Ancestry.com, Year:1910;Census Place:Elberta and Josephine, Baldwin, Alabama; Roll: T624_1; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0013; FHL microfilm: 1374014.
1920 Census (A), Ancestry.com, Year:1920;Census Place:James, Saginaw, Michigan; Roll: T625_793; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 164; Image: 475.
1930 Census, Ancestry.com, Year: 1930; Census Place: James, Saginaw, Michigan; Roll: 1021; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 0018; Image: 767.0; FHL microfilm: 2340756.
1940 Census, Ancestry.com, 1940 Census – Place: James, Saginaw, Michigan; Roll: T627_1811; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 73-18.
BIRLS Death File 1850-2010 (Name: US Dept of Veterans Affairs; Location: Washington DC; Date: 1911;), Ancestry.com, Clarence Huber.
Lutheran (Alabama), Baptism Certificate, Clarence Eduard Huber.
Michigan, Deaths, 1971-1996, Ancestry.com, Michigan Department of Vital and Health Records. Michigan, Deaths, 1971-1996[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1998.  Original data: Michigan Department of Vital and Health Records. Michigan Death Index. Lansing, MI, USA.
Michigan, Dept of Public Health, Death Certificate, Seeking Michigan, Clarence Edward Huber.
Saginaw News, Public Libraries of Saginaw, 1948-10-05, Page 19, Huber, John.

 

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