61 years ago, tomorrow, my grandparents married in the 1st Congregational Church in Rockford, Michigan, surrounded by family and friends. From Gran’s photo collection.
Happy Hunting,
Jess
February 8, 2012
Not Quite Wordless Wednesday
Posted by JessLibrarian under Photographs | Tags: Johnson, Shea, Wordless Wednesday |Leave a Comment
February 4, 2012
I Love Letters…
Posted by JessLibrarian under Great Sources | Tags: Letters, Letters of Note |1 Comment
Letters have been on my mind lately. My Gran recently loaned me a packet of letters to go through. They were a mix—a couple from her to my late Grandfather, a few from Grandpa to her, and a number of letters from her children—including one from my Mother to Gran that was so remarkably close to one I wrote Mom when I was away for a summer (and recently read from Mom’s Archive). Letters can offer such interesting insight into a person’s character, the times, and the trials of those discussed. Some of my favorite lines in this stack include:
From Grandpa stationed in San Francisco, CA in to my Gran back in the Michigan: “I hope you are not being bothered too much by my going away present.” (i. e. my Mother)
From Gran visiting my Uncle’s family while he was stationed in Germany to my Grandpa in Michigan: “Sandy hasn’t had a letter from her mother yet and we would really like some mail—Tell Lorraine to get on the ball!” And in close, “P.S. Did you water my plants?”
From my Mom to Gran: In a list of reminders… 2) Put my doll up, out of Vicky’s friend’s reach… please!! Not that I don’t trust them or anything… but!
Letters are also on my mind because I started following Letters of Note after Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing made my day by linking to a really interesting letter from a former Slave to his former Master. Check it out and be sure to read to the end!
Happy Hunting,
Jess
February 1, 2012
Not Quite Wordless Wednesday
Posted by JessLibrarian under Character Studies, Family Almanac, Photographs | Tags: Rogers, Trotter, Wordless Wednesday |1 Comment
This is my Great Grandmother Rhoda (Rogers) Trotter who would have turned 118 today (or tomorrow—there appears to be some disagreement between the documents and between family members) along with three of her children. Love the glasses! In back is my Grandpa Levie, in the middle is Aunt Lee Ellen (Trotter) Hampton, and on the end is Uncle Graham. Rhoda was the daughter of Pete and Mattie (Martin) Rogers. She married Harrison Trotter in 1911 and was the mother of 14 children. What few pictures I have seen and the stories I have heard make me wish I had met my Grandma (and Papa Monk).She died in 1981.
The digital files are from my father’s collection but the originals were turned in during a call for photos before our last Trotter-Rogers Reunion.
January 29, 2012
Wandering Far Afield…
Posted by JessLibrarian under Character Studies | Tags: Botruff, Helsel, Morningstar |[2] Comments
It seems I either read (for work or pleasure) or do genealogy in a lot of my off time. This past week has been spent reading but the two weeks before that I wandered far off my path following a distant line by marriage after realizing a friend and co-worker’s family showed up a page after my own in a Kent County, Michigan. I doubt we’re actually related but it is always fascinating to me how small the world is.
But in my “wandering”—and it truly is wandering because this is not the family living near my friend but another offshoot from the neighborhood—I found more information about the Botruff families of Kent County who are tied tightly to my Helsel and Morningstar families.
Jacob and Mary Helsel Morningstar (my 3rd Great Grandparents) had a daughter, Lavinia, also known as “Viney,” who married William Henry Botruff. William was the eldest of nine children born to Adam and Barbara (Hammer) Botruff who had come to Michigan from West Sparta, Livingston, New York in the 1850s. His next sibling, Isaac J., married Mary’s cousin (and Jacob’s sister-in-law) Melissa Helsel Morningstar. Also, William and Viney’s daughter Alice married her first cousin once removed (and Mary’s nephew), Darius Helsel. Additionally, Mary and Jacob’s son, William, lived with Adam and Barbara Botruff at the time of the 1870 Census and that same year Norman Morningstar (I have no idea who he belongs to) lived in the next farm with Isaac’s family. The Botruffs also tie into the Magoon and Hoyt families in Kent County.
An additional fun find… I knew Isaac was a veteran of the 3rd Michigan Infantry but I found a fabulous biography of him on Steve Soper’s blog here.
Happy Hunting,
Jess
January 25, 2012
Not Quite Wordless Wednesday
Posted by JessLibrarian under Character Studies, Family Almanac, Photographs | Tags: Packer, Vaughan, Wordless Wednesday |Leave a Comment
This is my 3rd Great Grandmother Harriet (Vaughan) Packer and today is the 186th Anniversary of her birth. Harriet was born in 1826 in England to John and Frances Vaughan. She married Joseph Packer at St. Mary the Virgin at Upchurch, Kent in 1847. The couple had at least seven children: William James, Thomas William Horton, Joseph Malcolm Ross, Sarah Maria, Charles, my 2nd Great Grandfather Cornelius, and their youngest child Albert. In 1871 the whole family immigrated to Canada and my Gran and Aunt June remember being told about Albert being young and active enough that they were afraid he’d go overboard during their journey. They settled first in Hamilton, Ontario near her siblings but moved quickly on to Woodstock, Ontario until the early 1890s when Joseph, Cornelius, Charles, and Albert eventually moved their families to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Harriet died in Grand Rapids and is buried in Fairplains Cemetery.
This photo is from the collection of my Great Aunt.
Happy Hunting,
Jess
January 19, 2012
Seth Porter of Porter’s Hollow
Posted by JessLibrarian under Character Studies, Photographs | Tags: Porter, Wordless Wednesday |1 Comment
Update: And now with picture!
Update: Picture will get added in tonight. For some reason I can’t get to at the moment. Thanks, Ariana!
Today is the Anniversary of the birth of my 4th Great Grandfather, Seth Porter. He was born January 19th in 1825 in Rutland County, Vermont to Seth and Rheumina Porter. He came to Michigan with of his brothers Dennis and Harvey in the 1840s and they settled in Kent County. In 1852 he married Rebecca Huntington and they had a family of seven children including my ancestor, George Erwin. Seth was a successful sawyer and miller settling in Edgerton at what became known as Porter’s Hollow. He was a lifelong Spiritualist. He died in 1911.
Happy Hunting,
Jess
January 16, 2012
Howell Carnegie District Library Archives
Posted by JessLibrarian under Great Sources, Roadtrips | Tags: Howell Carnegie Library, Livingston County Michigan, Michigan State Sanatorium |Leave a Comment
I did make it out to Howell this past week—despite cough and winter weather advisories—to check out the Howell Carnegie District Library and more specifically visit its Archives. I had a great time going through boxes of materials on the Michigan State Sanatorium which gave me even more insight into that institution. And some wonderfully illustrative material which I think will bring it to life better for my relatives.
I also noted earlier that my 4th Great Grandfather was listed in one of the online indexes for the Archives. He was listed because they have indexed all Livingston County Civil War Veterans and Henry R. Massy was a replacement soldier for a Hartland, Michigan draftee. So I didn’t really find new information there but it gave me the chance to better study the information offered in the regimental histories created by the state of Michigan.
The volunteers were fabulously helpful gentleman with interesting stories about the more recent history of the hospital (before it was demolished) and about fellow researchers. And the collection looks like it could be a gold mine for researchers with Livingston County roots. Also, the building itself is lovely, with an ornate Carnegie façade, and an unobtrusive modern addition off the back including space for the fiction and non-fiction collections on one floor and an enviable children’s and teen area on the lower floor.
It was definitely a worthwhile road trip!
Happy Hunting,
Jess
January 13, 2012
160 Years Ago Today…
Posted by JessLibrarian under Character Studies, Family Almanac | Tags: Holden, Nelson |Leave a Comment
Today marks the 160th anniversary of the birth of my 4th Great Aunt Xantippe Roseanna Holden. She was born 13 January 1852 in Kent County, Michigan to Charles Morrill and Sarah Ann (Skiff) Holden (introduced in this post last year). She married Edwin Percival Nelson, on 26 Dec 1869 in Kent County. After the birth of their first child the young family headed north to make a life near Harbor Spring, Michigan. The story of their first few years there are laid out in a book entitled Home is Where the Heart Is by her niece, Lorna Holden DeBoer.
Ed and Tippie had seven children: Gilbert Arthur, Jay Hartwell, Cassisus, Clara, Rowena, Rose, and Berniece. I took a bit of time this weekend to follow out the children. I had more success with the men, of course. Gilbert and Cassius settled in Chicago—Bert working as an engineer and Cassius as a street car conductor. Jay settled his family in Detroit where he also did a stint as a conductor but ultimately worked as a pipefitter. As for their sisters… Bernice married Guy DeArment and they settled in Detroit where he worked as a machinist in an auto factory and I believe both Roe and Rose married and settled in Chicago—but I haven’t had much success tracking them yet.
Today also marks the 190 Anniversary of the birth of my 4th Great Grandmother, Mary Helsel Morningstar Whitebread who I discussed in this post last year.
Happy Hunting!
Jess
January 11, 2012
Not Quite Wordless Wednesday
Posted by JessLibrarian under Photographs | Tags: Bailey, Groner, Wordless Wednesday |Leave a Comment
My step-Great-great-grandparents Lizzie Groner and George Bailey were married on this date in 1893 in Cannonsburg, Michigan. They were the parents of 7 children including two sets of twins (which run steadily through that line). They are also the reason I will never give twins cute matching names—no offense meant to Aunts Lydia and Lyndia or any of their line. My great grandfather, Harold, was their youngest child.
Happy Hunting!
Jess
January 10, 2012
The Next Roadtrip… Howell Carnegie District Library
Posted by JessLibrarian under Roadtrips | Tags: Howell Carnegie Library, Michigan eLibrary, Michigan State Sanatorium |Leave a Comment
So, assuming I can breathe comfortably without coughing fits, I will be heading over to the Howell Carnegie District Library this week for a little more research on the Michigan State Sanatorium for Tuberculosis. As noted in previous posts, both of my Grandmother’s parents did a stint there, and though their patient dates don’t actually match up—the family story is that they met there.
I’ve been doing a bit of research up front to try and figure out what I’d like to look at. I’ve spent a little time making a list of items that show up on MeLCat, the Michigan eLibrary shared catalog that can be used for interlibrary loan or to just figure out who has what in state. It includes some archival collections including the Michigan State Sanatorium Hillcrest Center collection, 1907-1990 and the Michigan State Sanatorium photograph collection 1917-1957—both of which cover the period when my great-grandparents were patients.
In addition to the material listed on MeL, the Howell Carnegie District Library has a nice newly updated website that includes a set of searchable collection indexes on their archives page. Somewhat idly, I decided to look at the scrapbook indexes and happened to zero in on a relative’s name—it wasn’t either of the grandparents I was hoping to research there. Instead, there is a listing for my 3rd Great Grandfather, Henry R. Massey, who was a replacement soldier for a Hartland resident… You never know where you’ll find things.
So I have a plan… now I just need to get rid of the cold.
Happy hunting,
Jess
Photo: 8 Miles to Coons in Howell, MI: I can’t identify the women but the men are both Sheas. The younger one on the left is probably Dick Shea and the gentleman on the right is my Great-grandfather Robert Shea. I have numerous shots around this sign so my guess based on people subbing in and out of them is that my grandmother actually took the picture. It is from the collection of my Great Aunt.
Genie Road Trip 