Pete & Shirley’s Meeting

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Don Taylor

Pete & Shirley’s Meeting

[I recently asked Shirley how she and Pete met and about their wedding, who were the witnesses and why did they select that particular minister. The following is extracted from an eMail response from Shirley Howell dated 20 Jan 2013.]

Image of a matchbook from La Salle Du Bois, 18th & M Streets, Washington, DC
Matchbook
La Salle Du Bois

Pete and Shirley met while Shirley was a student at American University. She worked at Colortone Press, an offset printer, as a receptionist/paste-up artist.  Her desk was a drawing board in the reception area.  Pete came in as a customer to order stationary and then called back later to invite her to have lunch. She agreed.  To her schoolgirl amazement, he took her to La Salle du Bois, then considered a most elegant restaurant in Washington. They piled caviar on her plate and she was very, very impressed.  They had another date.  Pete represented an adult world that Shirley was not used to, having previously only dated boys her age.  Pete was twelve years older, married, and had a (recently failed) export-import business. Pete said his wife was in Reno getting a divorce.  Pete took Shirley, in an almost formal way, to meet several of his friends and their wives. Through those meetings, Shirley confirmed what he was saying about his wife was true.

Photo of Bethesda Presbyterian Church Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda Presbyterian Church Bethesda, MD

After dating for a few months, they decided to marry. They looked for a minister who would do it.  Things were more conservative then and many ministers would not marry divorcees. Pete’s father, a Baptist pastor, was willing to do it, but resistance from Shirley’s family was a barrier for him.  Aunt Betty was horrified and upset and absolutely would not come to the wedding, she said, nor would any of the rest of my family. So Pete’s family stayed away too, sympathetic but intent on doing what they felt was the right thing under the circumstances.

They found a Presbyterian minister in Bethesda, which is near  American University, who was willing to marry them.  Several of Shirley’s college friends provided emotional and material support that Shirley needed. Two of them signed as witnesses at the wedding.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Georgia Virtual Vault & Edward Lamb McAllister

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Don Taylor

By Don Taylor

I’m taking a genealogy course with the Cobb County Genealogical Society, with whom I am a member. Although I’ve done many webinars, I’ve never taken an official class in genealogy.  I have been asked on a couple of occasions to give classes. I suppose I’ve been reluctant because I’ve not seen classes of this type put on by regular folks, only videos of professionals.  So, I thought I’d take the class mainly because I had never taken one before, and I thought I would pick up a few tidbits.  I am also new to the CCGC, so I thought it’d be an excellent opportunity to meet some people there. This class would be my first activity with the CCGC folks.

The first of two classes yesterday was on Census Records. It was an excellent class.  The instructor reminded me of the mortality schedules and the agriculture schedules.  I never looked at them, and I was reminded that I really should.  She did a short bit on Soundex codes and how they work. It was helpful and put it together more clearly for me. (See my frustration in a previous posting.) Beneficial was one of her Internet Resources Links that she suggested was the Soundex Calculator on the Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter site. I bookmarked the calculator and put the bookmark in my Genealogy Tools folder.  I feel bookmarks are much more manageable than remembering where I put the paper instructions.  

During the class, I was reminded of the Georgia Virtual Vault, and due to funding cuts, the Georgia Archives is only open two days a week, the least of any state archive facility.  (Note: Contact your state legislators and ask they improve funding for the State Archives. 

Image of Death Certificate for Edward L McAllister.
Death Certificate – Edward L McAllister.

None of my ancestors are from Georgia, nor are my wife’s, so I’ve never done much with the Georgia Virtual Vault. I was reminded of it, so I thought I’d refresh my memory of some of the site’s things.  My wife’s great-granduncle, Edward “Ted” McAllister, died in Georgia.  Family oral history said he had “bedded a married woman and was killed by a jealous husband.”  I wondered if the story was true. A quick search and there was his death certificate.  Cause of Death: Murder.  Wow.  Maybe the story is true. Another part of the story is that Harold, the husband of my wife’s Great-Grand Aunt, went down to take care of business and have his body returned to Pennsylvania for burial.  The death certificate shows who the informant was, not Ted’s brother-in-law, as oral tradition would indicate, but Ted’s youngest brother.  The death certificate also says he was widowed.  Interestingly, I had no information on a wife or other family.  It also indicated he was buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah.  I guess they didn’t ship the body back. 

Logo of the Atlantic Coast Line - Virginia-North Carolina-South Carolina _ Georgia-Florida-Alabama
Logo of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.

He also worked as a car inspector for the “A. C. L. Ry.”  Not being from Georgia, I didn’t know what that was.  After a quick check at Wikipedia, I learned it’s the Atlantic Coast Line Railway (Railroad).

I searched for McAllister in Laurel Grove Cemetery on Find-A-Grave (FAG) (one of my favorite sites) and quickly located a memorial for him.  The memorial spoke of his first wife, three children, and a second wife who died and was also buried in the cemetery.

Sadly, the memorial indicated that “A Find-a-Grave volunteer reports that he is buried in an unmarked grave in Strangers Ground…- this is where county-paid burials are located. “  His wife is likewise in Strangers Ground, so they must have been extremely poor. 

The FAG memorial also mentioned his immigration in 1886 aboard the ship, “British King.”  In genealogy, one bit of information found leads to another and another. 

Photo of the SS British King
SS British King

I knew he came across with his mother and three siblings in 1886, but I didn’t know the date, port, or ship. I’d quickly look at Ancestry and see if they had the record.  Sure enough, he was with his mother “Marg t” (instead of Margaret), and siblings. They arrived on 23 June 1886 aboard the steamship “British King” from Liverpool to Philadelphia. Surprisingly, Ancestry didn’t have a photo of the British King, but I found several elsewhere.

So hours pass as I thoroughly document all these findings.  But,  so much more to research.  Can I confirm his two marriages?  What happened to his first wife, divorce or death?  Can I find the names of his three children? Did he have other children?  Can I find a newspaper article that speaks of his murder?  Did a jealous husband really murder him?  

UPDATE

I did confirm his wife Violet died in 1910. They had three children, Edward L., Albert W., and Paul Y. McAllister.  The Savannah Press, 13 January 1925, has a multipage article regarding his murder.  The article uses four headlines to really grab your attention.

Headlines:

  • Edward L. McAllister is Found Murdered in Home
  • Railroad man had been dead since Saturday
  • Beaten in head with hatchet; body on kitchen floor
  • Lived Alone since wife died last year

Edward L. McAllister, employed at the Atlantic Coast Line Railway shops, was discovered murdered at this home on Thirty-ninth street near Ash by H. B. Brown…..

Now the question is, who did it?  Was it a jealous husband, as oral history indicated?  Oral history was wrong because he hadn’t been shot, but rather a hatchet to the head.  Much more personal than a shooting.  The article also mentions that his wife, who died the previous November, was under the care of a physician at the jail.  Why???  Always more questions.

Gently edited and reposted on 13 January 2023.

Posted in Darling-Huber | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Pennsylvania Death Indice – Gold Mine

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Don Taylor

Huber Research

 

Photo of Florence Huber (1924)

Florence Huber at 16 (1924)

The Huber side of the family is one shrouded in mystery.  Because my wife’s grandmother died when my wife’s mother was only four years old, and there were no siblings, very little was known about her.  I decided to look into her death information. What is her exact date, place, and cause of death?

First, I contacted my mother-in-law.  Did she have any additional information? A response from her indicated that she was sure it was 1934. Probably September. She thought her mother was buried somewhere in Brookline, Pittsburgh, PA. I went to the usual search places, ancestry.com, family search, etc., and wasn’t successful. I then looked at find-a-grave and several other grave sites and came up empty-handed. Archives.Com, which I am not a member of, indicated they had one hit for the right name and place, but they expanded the search period to a ten-year scope. I hate paying for information that only has a chance of being right. If they had left the search parameter to the one year I asked for, I would have gone for it, but I figured when they expanded my range to ten years, it was because they didn’t find anything in my one-year search, so it probably wasn’t the correct record.

Next to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The genealogical request form has many requirements that it wants that I didn’t have, primarily the date of death. I figured I was going to have to request a search.  I have had bad luck with searches in other states, paying for a search that yields nothing. Then I found Act 110 – Public Records (Senate Bill 361).

The Act “provide[s] for public access to certain birth and death certificates after a fixed amount of time has passed. This legislation provides that such documents become public records 105 years after the date of birth or 50 years after the date of death.” Through the act, you can get a non-certified copy for only $3, which is suitable for my purposes, and they have indexes.

I went to the death indexes and pulled up 1934. I was so confused.  The names were all jumbled up, and I couldn’t find anyone with the correct surname or the specific person I was looking for. Several years of indices are listed according to the Russell Soundex indexing method. I read about it and was still confused. Her surname had to be here someplace.  I downloaded the index to my computer (a pdf file) and then ran my OCR software (PDF Pen) against it. It is a big file, which took a while, but I found my person immediately when it was done. The name and place were right; the date was October instead of September, which is understandable.  I’m sure it is the right person.  I downloaded the order form and will send it today.

McAllister

Photo of Anna (Hannah) McAllister Darling, circa 1910.

Anna (Hannah) McAllister Darling, circa 1910.

Being an opportunist, I wondered if the Pennsylvania DoH site would help with a couple of other problems I’ve been having.  My wife’s great-grandmother died in 1913.  I looked up her name and quickly found an Anna White, who died in 1913. The date was different, I had 15 July, and the record indicated 11 July. The name wasn’t quite right. Oral history said that Hannah used Annie at that time; however, she used Anna earlier when she was “A. Darling.”  

Next, Annie’s mother, Margaret McAllister – shows up in the 1920 Census but not the 1930 Census. We know she died before my wife’s mother (1934). I then searched the indices for the years 1920 to 1930. Drats!  The 1920-1924 indexes used the Russell Soundex system. I searched and searched and finally found a McAllister. I then realized that the Russell Soundex code used a 242 under the “M” to describe the sound.  I quickly searched the other indices and found one Margaret McAllister, who died in Apollo, PA, in 1926. What would my Margaret be doing there? Apollo is only 32 miles away from Pittsburgh – It didn’t feel right.  I searched and found Margaret McAllister, who died on 27 March 1927 in Pittsburgh. It has to be the right one.

Conclusion

So, I have three death certificates to order and a new site for my favorites. The Pennsylvania Death Indices 1906 to Current minus 50 years (1962) is an excellent resource. Thank you, Act 110.  The Birth Indices only cover 1906 & 1907, but they will definitely help if you need to find someone in that period.

.

 
Posted in Darling-Huber | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Beautiful Mother of Mine – By Donna Darling

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Don Taylor

As I mentioned at Christmas, I was really impressed with the material I found on the Fulton History website.  I’m still not done going through all 60 articles/images, and fully organizing them, but I did find some real gems.  One of the best was a never-before-seen front-on photo of Donna from 1925.  It is amazing how much mom looked like her when she was young.  Anyway, the article indicates that Donna was playing at the Palace in Hamilton, OH as a headliner. 

The other big find was the New York Clipper had a service where you could register your act, song, etc., with them. They did it as a service to the vaudeville community.  I found references to Donna having registered a song with them.  Her name shows in several different issues of the Clipper that she registered a song and was issued a certificate of registration.  

Interesting…. I wondered what she had registered with them. Was it the song I knew about or was it something entirely different?  What was certificate 1767 issued for?  

I found out that the New York Clipper began in 1854 and was absorbed by Variety in 1924 (1). That is why I quit seeing Clipper articles about Donna and started seeing Variety articles.  I also learned that Variety is still in publication.  

I then began searching for references to the registry. I quickly found that Emerson College has a document, The New York Clipper Vaudeville Registry Collection which listed her certificate and her name and they have the collection.  Amazing. 

Apparently, the Registry was located in two file cabinets at the Variety offices in Los Angeles. An archivist from the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences came across the documents that were about to be thrown out.  Although it wasn’t something that fit within their archival scope, they thought it best to save the collection and find a permanent home for it.  They finally found a home for the collection at Emerson College, and they were transferred there in 2011.

I understand that four interns went through the material and cataloged that collection. Apparently, the task was complicated because many of the items were “protected” by being wrapped in another layer of paper that was highly acidic.  They published a finding aid about the collection in May 2012.  The collection was saved and, most thankfully, Donna’s submission was there.  
  
After talking with the director, I was able to get a copy of the music and the forms that Donna Submitted in February 15, 1923.

It is reproduced below.

Hear the song – Performed by Russell, Donna’s Son. 

Thank you to the old New York Clipper for providing the original service, Variety for keeping the material for so many years, the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for saving the material from destruction, Emerson College for accepting the material into their collection, and archivist Christina Zamon for making the material available.

Footnote:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Clipper

Reference Credit:

Box 20, The New York Clipper Registry Collection, Emerson College Archives, Emerson College, Boston, MA.

Posted in Donna Montran | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

James Lane Video – Amanuensis Monday

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Don Taylor

James LANE Video – Amanuensis by Don Taylor.

[In the 1970’s the Howells (Clarence, Shirley, Mary, Peter, Martha, Jerome, Libby, Elizabeth) & the Darlings (James & +Jane Darling) met with James Lane at the Pittsburgh airport. That meeting was video taped by an unknown person.  The video tape has been
converted to DVD.  Copies are with Don Taylor and Jane Darling. The first part of the video includes background music and family videos of Jane, James, and their father Robert Harry and their mother Florence (Drexl) Darling.  This
part of the video has no voices.

The second part of the video is the Howells and Darlings meeting James Lane. The
quality of the audio is extremely poor at the recording was done with the built in mike while at a busy airport. Initially, the meeting and everyone meets. Virtually none of those meetings are discernable. Then Gray Beard (Clarence Howell) talks with James about a bit of his family history.  He speaks of Roanoke Island and of Frank Armstrong.   Then James Lane talks with Jane & James Darling about his past with their father Robert Harry Darling. Everyone leaves but the video continues on with James Land talking about important places in Pittsburgh where the family lived. He speaks while at each of the locations. 2800 Burg, 2700 Pleasant, and Arlington Ave.  The transcript of the
video is below. My comments are identified by brackets in the below text.]

At the Airport

Gray Beard Speaking.

[His Father was] First pastor on the eastern coast at a place called Roanoke island.

One Sunday morning there were six of his congregation that were normally at the service but were missing one Sunday Morning.  Later that that day he ran into Allen Bigit  [?] and  asked where they were.   They said they went across the sound over to
Nag’s Head and helped those crazy kids from Dayton launch that contraption
they’ve got over there.

I remember as a child going back, my parents were born in
other parts of the state, were Springport, Telegraph agent that sent the telegraph.   – That happened before I was born. They were the stories my father told. … They were.

I also have another family connection with [???] My first cousin was Frank Armstrong. My middle son is named after him.  He was in the Army Air Corps…  and the Army Air Corp took over and flew the airmail. My cousin Frank had Denver and flew to the coast.

He went on and made a career in the Army Air Corps which became the Air Force. I don’t know if you remember during the movie Twelve O’clock high. That movie character was
based upon him.  He flew the first B17 raid.  The last the [B}24 raid over Tokyo.  He survived the war and after the war he was in commander general of the 4th.
of northwest and Alaska.  He & Byrd Balkin [?] did the first flight over the North Pole.  [Note: Frank Armstrong flew in the first daylight bombings over Germany and the last conventional bombing over Japan.]

[James Darling asked:]

My dad said something about learning how to fly or flying –
did you teach him.

[James Lane:] No- I missed him on that.

Open cockpit – two seater or something

Yeah. He was around

How old were you when you started.

      18-19- How

      It all started with a moter boat with

[There is an exchange between Jerome & Libby with James
Lane wherein he mentions something about machining candlesticks that they have.]

[James Lane]

I’ve been in Pittsburgh all my life, except when I was in
school in Cleveland for five years in Cleveland.  Most of my family was here though.  Many years we lived in the same place.

[James Lane] – I’m the last yet.  Even some of the next generation is gone
now.  Born in 1910 –

[Jane Darling  – Dad
(Robert Harry Darling) died in 1969.

[James Lane} – I remember that.

[Jane Darling – He died of leukemia.  It a lot of years ago.

[James Lane] I remember it like it was yesterday.

[Jane Darling]- He didn’t live in Pittsburgh very long did
he?

[James Lane] – In his early life all of it. Was he was
married in Pittsburgh. Yea. He was just a year or two older than me. We used to
hang out – ice skate. Together. All kinds of things.

  [Jane & James
Darling leave to catch a plane. Video shifts to outdoors]

On the Street

James Lane Speaking.

2800 Burg Ave.  The place where Peter McAllister brought his family from Catasauqua, PA.  Catasauqua on the Lehigh Canal. Lehigh University is right handy to Catasauqua.  He built this place a date I don’t know for sure but it can easily be figured out.  Somewhere in the 90’s I imagine.   This place just over the knoll leads down to the river to the Jones and Laughlin Steel mill. This place at one time had a stable in the back. In the late 90s or
early zeros.

Location was up over the hill and then down the other side
to the Mill.

[The mill is] absolutely dead. But not town down yet.

2700 Pleasant Street [??] . McAllister & Family move there 1900 . James born in that house in 1910. Plenty of rooms. Double house exploded in the middle there.

From there Grandmother went to East Liberty.  East end part of Pittsburg.  She had a store there.

In the meantime, Hanna or Anna died.  While grandmother still had the store and was
buried there  Shortly after Anna died,
grandmother McAllister took Anna’s two children Elizabeth and Harry [to
England.]

Arlington Ave. Grandma’s last store.  Elizabeth and Harry went to school from this
location.

Mount Oliver school Elizabeth went to business school and Harry
went to business school from here. Grandma came here after her wartime trip to
England. Across the water and back during the war.

The store has been abandoned for 20 or 30 years,

That apron in the front was the last place I saw Peter
McAllister, my Grandfather. Last time I saw Peter was at this location. In the
20’s or yep or early 30’s at the latest.  [Note: Peter returned to England in 1921.]

Posted in Darling-Huber | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment