Hannah (Anna) McAllister Darling White (1886-1913)

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Don Taylor

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 33 – Hannah McAllister

Hannah is one of those ancestors that just had a sad and short life. Although entirely speculation, I believe her choices in life helped open a rift between her parents who eventually separated.  No society page articles about Hannah.

Bio – Hannah (Anna) McAllister Darling White

Hannah McAllister was born in Cockermouth, Cumberland, England on 15 August 1886. She was the fourth of six children — four boys and two girls. At the time of her birth, her father, Peter, was probably in the United States establishing himself and preparing the way for his wife and children to come to the States.

S.S. British King – Photo Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.

Her mother, along with three siblings, immigrated to the United States, aboard the “British King” out of Liverpool arriving in Philadelphia on 23 June 1886.[1]

The family joined their father in Catasauqua, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. On May 19th, 1887, Hannah’s oldest brother, Frank, drowned in the Lehigh canal.[2] We may never know if the anguish of that death prompted the family to relocate to Pittsburgh, but sometime during the following three years they moved.

2800 Berg Street (Oct 2012)
Courtesy: Google Maps

In 1990, Hannah’s father took out a building permit to build a two-story house at the corner of Vine and Cologne. It appears that Vine was renamed Berg because the family appears at 2800 Berg street in 1895 which is at the corner of Berg and Cologne and there is no Vine Street today.

Probably sometime in 1905, she met Rufus Darling. She was eighteen and Rufus was forty-seven. In March of 1906, they had a daughter, Elizabeth Grace Darling. Family history states that there was a rift between Hannah and her father. Certainly, a granddaughter born out of wedlock from a man more than twice the age of his daughter could cause such a rift.

It appears that Rufus and Hannah kept separate households during that time, he in Chicago and Hannah in Wheeling, West Virginia. In December of 1906, Hannah became pregnant a second time. This time Rufus married her, so on 16 February 1907 Hannah and Rufus were married in Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, a small town about 40 miles northeast of Pittsburgh on the Allegheny River.[3] Family history indicates that she changed her name from Hannah to Anna so that she would be “A. Darling” and became known as Anna after that. An interesting side note is that her daughter, Elizabeth, appears to have modified a copy of the Marriage Certificate to indicate that Hannah and Rufus were married in 1905, thus legitimizing her. Family history indicates that this may have been a cause of disagreement between her and cousin Katherine Lane. Katherine used to say the Elizabeth was born “on the wrong side of the sheets” indicating that Elizabeth was illegitimate. Producing a “doctored” marriage certificate[4] could have mitigated the issues.

Anna Darling (Hannah McAllister)
with children Elizabeth & Robert
About 1909

In August of 1907, their son, Robert Harry Darling, was born in New Kensington (about 20 miles northeast of Pittsburgh on the Allegheny River), Pennsylvania.

In 1910, Anna was living with her two children, Elizabeth and Robert, as a roomer at the home of Robert & Emma Hennig at 3319 Ward Street (Ward 4).[5]

Anna and Rufus were divorced by 1911. Interestingly enough, the 1912 Polk directory indicates Anna is the widow of Rufus (who didn’t die until 1917). Family Tradition indicates that she then married Thomas White, which is confirmed by her death certificate,[6] however, I have been unable to find other evidence of her marriage.

Anna died on 15 July 1913 at the age of 27 of pelvic peritonitis due to a ruptured ovarian cyst.[7] Her death certificate indicates she was buried in Chartiers Cemetery in Pittsburgh. A Find-a-Grave request has been unsuccessful in yielding a photo of the marker.

List of Greats

Hannah McAllister – 1884-1913
Peter McAllister – 1852-1878
Joseph McAllister – 1820-

Tasks

Find evidence of Hannah and Thomas White’s Marriage.
Find Hannah’s burial place and photograph marker.

ENDNOTES

[1] Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1883-1945, FamilySearch.org, British King from Liverpool arrived June 1886 – https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/23Q3-DLD.
[2] 1887-05-20, Page 1. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83032300/1887-05-20/ed-1/seq-1/., Lancaster Daily Intelligencer, Lancaster, Pennsylvania (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/).
[3] Pennsylvania County Marriages, 1885 – 1950, FamilySearch.org, Rufus Darling & Anna McAllister.
[4] Pennsylvania County Marriages – Armstrong County, Original ?___? numbered 9595 .
[5] 1910 Census, Ancestry.com, Pittsburgh Ward 4, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1300; Page: 16A; Enumeration District:
0330; Image: ; FHL microfilm: 1375313. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1910USCenIndex&h=23727552&indiv=try.
[7] Ibid.

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James Dallas Howell – Education

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Don Taylor

Follow-up regarding James Dallas Howell

James Dallas Howell
From The Howler, 1905
Wake Forest College
Courtesy: DigitalNC

After my posting of the Bio regarding James Dallas Howell, I was speaking with my mother-in-law who knew James. She mentioned that James attended Wake Forest. A quick Google search found that Digital NC had many yearbooks from Wake Forest starting with the 1903 volume. I knew that James Dallas had a congregation in 1909 so he had to have attended college before that. I also knew that he was born in 1879, so figuring he may have graduated when he was about 22; I thought he might have graduated about 1902. Oh no – hopefully he didn’t graduate the year before the available yearbooks. A search of the 1903 yearbook (The Howler) found him on page 30 in the sophomore class roll.

The 1904 volume of The Howler found him again, as expected, in the Junior Class.

Then, as I expected, the 1905 volume of The Howler was a treasure trove of information. The 1905 volume was the first volume that included individual photos of he seniors. There was a photo of James Dallas as a senior graduation with a BA. It also indicated that he had “a way of tossing [his] head as a horse reined too high, and twisting [his] body in a peculiar fashion.” Further searching found that he was a member of the “Night Hawks” He was also a member of the “Non Compos Mentis Club” Finally it indicated that he was the manager of “The Claw-Hammer Boarding Club” whose motto was, “It’s a strong stomach that has no turning.”

DigitalNC has many digitized items; major categories include Yearbooks, Newspapers, Images, Memorabilia, and City Directories. If it is not part of your North Carolina research, it should be. Check them out at https://www.digitalnc.org.

[Note: Wake Forest College was located in Wake Forest, NC until the main campus was moved to Winston-Salem, NC in 1956. It became Wake Forest University in 1967.]

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Peter Fletcher Howell (1842-1924)

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Don Taylor

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 32 – Peter Fletcher Howell (1842-1924)

By Don Taylor
Peter Fletcher Howell
Thanks to Robert Capel via Flickr

There is a kind of look in his eye that says he has seen too much – To much killing for sure. The Civil War was a horrific event – So much killing, so much carnage. A lot of fought here and there, but Peter Fletcher Howell was part of the 61st Infantry Regiment Virginia that saw action throughout the war. Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Savannah were all major battles. In my research, I found that one of the more horrific family stories was most likely true. Peter was there; and sadly to say, yes, his regiment did what the family stories told.

Bio – Peter Fletcher Howell (1842-1924)

Peter Fletcher Howell was born 2 June 1942, the fourth child of Peter M and Caroline M. A. Pankey Howell in Buckingham County, Virginia. 

When he was young, five or six, his family moved from Virginia to North Carolina, first to Murfreesboro, then Raleigh, Kitty Hawk, Wilmington, New Burn, then finally to Halifax County. His father, Peter M, was a preacher, a fire and brimstone Baptist preacher that preached wherever he could. When Peter M found a congregation, to they moved which is why they moved so much in the early years. Finally, when Peter F. was about eight his father found a steady congregation and appears to have stayed in Halifax County throughout most of Peter F.’s youth.

In 1860, Peter F was living with his parents and an older brother, Phillip C Howell. Peter was working as a farm laborer.[i] With war breaking out, it appears that Peter didn’t want to wait to join up with the slowly forming regiments in North Carolina. Peter went the sixty miles north to Sussex County Virginia and enlisted on 23 Oct 1861. Peter must have been a great soldier because he was promoted to fourth Sergeant on 22 May 1862. He then transferred to Company G, Virginia 61st Infantry Regiment on 8 Aug 1862.

On July 15, 1864, he was promoted to full second Sargent probably during the time of the great losses that the regiment was experiencing at the Siege of Parkersburg. On July 30th, the Union blew up a mine creating a huge crater. To make a long story short, the Union (stupidly) went into the crater to attack the Confederates and instead became the target A black company of union troops was sent to reinforce the first troops who went into the crater. . Confederate Brig. Gen. William Mahone later called the event a “turkey shoot.” According to a Wikipedia article, many black soldiers were killed by Confederate bayonets and musket fire even after surrendering. In addition, many more black soldiers were killed by Union soldiers who feared reprisals from the Confederates.[ii]

The Richmond Daily Dispatch reported that Sargent Peter Howell was at The Crater and captured on of the Union flags, which clearly places him there. [iii]

Family legend told the story that Peter was part of a group that was on the edge of a pit (crater) firing down on the Union soldiers below in a “turkey shoot.” He was also told to bayonet the Black soldiers if he wanted to get a furlough to go home for a couple days. It was a horrific day; one of the many that Peter Fletcher Howell saw.

Peter was promoted to Full first Sergeant on 15 Feb 1865 and mustered out on 9 April 1865 at Appomattox, VA. 

There is some oral tradition that indicated that Peter was the only one of six boys who lived through the Civil War in that family. I know of his brother Philip C and his brother Lorenzo but I have no knowledge of their lives after 1860. There is also a six year gap between Peter and his sister Elizabeth suggesting there might be another child or two that I don’t know about.

After the war, Peter married Susan R. Vincent (sometime Vinson) on 10 December 1866. Wasting no time, their first child, Anna Lee Howell was born 10 month later.

Children of Peter Fletcher Howell and Susan R. Vincent Howell

Anna Lee Howell – 8 Oct 1867
John D. Howell – abt 1873*
Augusta E Howell – abt 1875
Martha F Howell – abt 1877
James Dallas Howell – 2 Sep 1879
David Bushrod Howell – 3 Oct 1881
G. C. Howell – Feb 1884

Marker SGT Peter F Howell
Courtesy: Find a Grave

With such a large gap between Anna and John, I suspect there may have been children born during those years that I haven’t learned about

In 1880, Peter is in Faucetts as a farmer and in 1900 he appears again as a watchman living in a rented house in Conocondy. In 1910, he is working as an engineer at a sawmill and living in Weldon. His wife of 43 years, Susan, died on 1 March 1910

He continued living in Weldon until his death on 27 October 1924. He is buried in Cedarwood Cemetery in Weldon.

Further Actions:

Continue research into Peter F. Howell’s military (CSA) service. 
Research Peter Howell’s siblings and their lives.
Research for other potential children of Peter F. Howell.

List of Greats
1.    Peter Fletcher Howell
2.     Peter M. Howell


Confederate Soldier Records - Fold3

[i] 1860; Census Place: Western District, Halifax, North Carolina; Roll: M653_899; Page: 471; Image: 323; Family History Library Film: 803899. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1860usfedcenancestry&h=41288528&indiv=try.

[iii] Tuff University, Perseus Hopper, Richmond Daily Dispatch: August 3, 1864. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2006.05.1135%3Aarticle%3D3.

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Donna in Pendleton, OR, at the Oregon Theater – Dec 10, 1919

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Don Taylor

Donna in Pendleton, OR, at the Oregon Theater – Dec 10, 1919

I’m not sure yet where the Chin Chin group was on December 8th and 9th, but the on December 10th the company played a one night show at the Oregon Theater in Pendleton, Oregon.

Besides the usual advertising there was an “info ad” in the Dec 10, 1919, Eastern Oregonian which called out “Mina Montran.” It said, in part:

“Mina Montran, who is the leading singer, has the part of the Goddess of the Lamp. She is a young woman of attractive personality, handsomely gowned, and with a clear and sweet soprano voice admirably fitted to the requirements of this role. Her two solos, “Violets” and “The Gray Dove” are rendered with much feeling and win the enthusiastic applause of her hearers.”[1]

This is very odd and, so far, the only reference to her with the name “Mina.” We don’t know yet if it was just a typographic error in the paper or if she was trying on a new stage name. Further research will tell. We know that Donna had the part of the Goddess of the Lamp so this name difference was odd.

A “review” the day after the show also called out,

Two solos, “Violets” and “The Gray Dove,” were sung by Mina Montran, who as the leading singer, had the part of the Goddess of the Lamp.[2]

This second use of “Mina” indicates to me that it wasn’t a typesetting error.  We’ll see if we can find Donna and the “Chin Chin” company at another venue in the days preceding or following this venue.

The Oregon Theatre
The 1913-14 Julius Cahn Gus Hill Theatrical Guide reports Pendleton having a population of 5,500 people. The Oregon Theatre was on the second floor and could hold an audience of 684 people, 324 on the main floor with 160 in the balcony and another 200 in the gallery. The stage was a small 25 x 18 feet with a backstage width of 49 feet.


With only a one-night show it is unlikely that the cast stayed in any of the four recommended hotels, Pendleton (the nicest at $2.00/night), St. George, Bowman, or Golden Rule. They would have arrived, set up, did the shoe, packed up, and headed for the next town all in the same day.

Further Research

I have been unable to find out much information regarding the Oregon Theater in Pendleton. I have contacted the Umatilla County Historical Society to see if they can direct me to history regarding the theater.

Endnotes:

[1]  East Oregonian, Pendelton, Oregon (oregonnews.uoregon.edu) 1919-12-10 – Page 6 – CHIN CHIN PRESENTS BRILLIANT SPECTACLE. https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn88086023/1919-12-10/ed-1/seq-6/.,

[2] East Oregonian, Pendelton, Oregon (oregonnews.uoregon.edu) 1919-12-11 – Page 6 – COLOR EFFECTS MARK CHIN CHIN PERFORMANCE. https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn88086023/1919-12-11/ed-1/seq-6/., 

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James Dallas Howell (1879-1964)

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Don Taylor

Research Howell/Hobbs

By – Don Taylor

Sometimes uncovering the life of an individual is a grind. Just keep searching and you will find more and more about an ancestor’s life. James Dallas Howell is such an individual. He was a minister in rural North Carolina and changed churches frequently. Consequently, there are church records and newspaper articles that mention him. Finding those records and deterring the movements in his life is a daunting task. I wish I could find a book or other documents in which all the Baptist ministers are listed and which church they are ministering to. There probably is such a book or set of documents, but I just haven’t found it yet.  

 

Bio – James Dallas Howell (1879-1964)

James Dallas Howell
Courtesy: Debby Ziegler via Flikr
James Dallas Howell was born on 2 September 1879, the fifth of seven children Peter F. (and Susan R Vincent) Howell. He was probably born in Faucett Township in Halifax County, North Carolina.
We find James in the 1880 Census as a one year old, although he should have been only 8 months old during that census.[1] This is consistent with the 1900 Census where he is reported to be 21 years old with a birthdate of September 1979. Considering an enumeration date of 12 June 1900, he should have only been 20 at this previous birthday.[2]
We don’t know anything of James’ childhood. The 1880 Census indicates he has four older siblings, Anna Lee, John D., Augusta E., and Martha F. Howell. The 1900 Census also indicates he has two younger brothers, D. B. Howell and G. C. Howell. The family is well enough off, in 1900, to have a black servant and a black laborer living with them.
First Baptist Church of Davis
(Today)
By 1909, James Dallas Howell had begun his ministry and served at the First Baptist Church of Davis. [3]
1910 was a really busy time for James. In March his mother died; also, in March, he became the pastor at the Roanoke Island Baptist Church in Nags Head, NC. When the 1910 Census was taken on 20 April, he was a boarder, living at the widow Forbes’ [Forles] home with her son, & her daughter. This must have been a short-lived arrangement because he married Mary Lillian Hobbs on 27 April.[4]
I am still researching James’s ministry. The following list includes other known ministry periods:
·      1911, July – Rev. J. D. Howell let a workshop at the Camden & Currituck union with the church in Manteo.
·     

Clarkson Baptist Church today

1915-1917 – He was pastor at Clarkton (NC) Baptist Church.

·      1917, March – He was pastor at church in Warsaw, NC.
·      1918 – Minister at Sharon Baptist Church, Beaulaville, NC.
·      1920 – Minister in Plymouth, NC.
·      1928-1931 – Pastor at Ansonville (NC) Baptist Church.
·      1932-1933 – Pastor at Gethsemane Baptist Church, Whitakers, NC.
A respectable 20 months after James and Mary were married their first son, James Dallas Howell, Jr. was born. Two years later by another son Ashley was born and three years after that a third son, Frank was born. In 1918, a fourth son, Clarence was born. Finally, in 1925, a daughter, Mary Elizabeth was born.
The family moved often as James Dallas Howell, Sr., followed his ministry as pastor and minister at Baptist churches throughout eastern North Carolina.
In his latter years, he and his wife Mary moved north and lived with their son Ashley and his family in the Washington, D.C. area. Mary died sometime between March and December of 1964. James Dallas Howell died on 18 Dec 1964 at the Kensington Gardens Sanatorium, Kensington, MD, of Bronchio-pneumonia due to cerebral encephalopathy, due to senility and acteriosclorsis.[5]
He is buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery, Suitland, Maryland.[6]
Further Actions:
·      Do further research on his ministry
o   Visit churches he pastored
·      Get a photo of his marker.

Footnotes:

[1] 1880 Census, Ancestry.com, https://www.Ancestry.com, 1880; Census Place: Faucetts, Halifax, North Carolina; Roll: 966; Family History Film: 1254966; Page: 627C; Enumeration District: 137; Image: 0720. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1880usfedcen&indiv=try&h=19555434.
[2] 1900 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com, https://www.Ancestry.com, 1900; Census Place: Conocondy, Halifax, North Carolina; Roll: 1199; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0027; FHL microfilm: 1241199. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1900usfedcen&indiv=try&h=57153615.
[3] Web Sites (Various), First Baptist Church of Davis – Pastors. Rev. J. D. Howell – 1909. https://davisfirstbaptist.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/pastors.doc.
[4] North Carolina, Marriages, 1759-1979, Family Search, J. D. Howell & Mary Lillian Hobbs – Accessed 2013-12-07. https://familysearch.org/pal:/mm9.1.1/f847-tqy.
[5] Maryland, Dept. of Health, Death Certificate, James Dallas Howell – Died 18 Dec 1964. Place: Kensington Gardens Sanatorium, Kensington, Montgomery County, Maryland.
[6] Ibid.

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