December 4, 2011

What’s in a name?: The Charles Morrill Holden Family

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Dr. Charles Morrill and Sarah (Skiff) HoldenToday’s the 191st anniversary of Dr. Holden’s birth and seemed a fitting time to introduce my Holden family.

The first of my Holdens to settle in Kent Co., Michigan were my 4th Great Grandfather Dr. Charles Morrill Holden and his family. Dr. Holden, his wife Sarah Ann (Skiff), and eleven of their children settled in Courtland Township where, Dr. Holden practiced medicine and farmed. When I was started researching this line I was interested in Dr. Holden’s role as one of the pioneer doctors in Kent County but, to be honest, I was more fascinated by the names of his children.

Charles and Sarah are common enough names and maybe their children’s names are a strange reaction to that. I knew going in that my 3rd Great Grandfather’s name was Chapin—which didn’t seem common for the time but was at least a name I was familiar—but then I was introduced to the rest of his siblings.

  1. Cassius—Died young.
  2. Catherine—Unknown.
  3. Americus G.—He died after being sent home from Union Army due to illness.
  4. Horatio Seward—Became a doctor in Pierson and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
  5. Chapin B.—Married my 3rd Great Grandmother Lois Blakeslee.
  6. Rosalia D. —Died young.
  7. Xantippe—Married Edd P. Nelson.
  8. Cassini J.—Married Flora Lewis.
  9. Ida—Married William Pitts.
  10. Nellie—Unknown.
  11. Saracence—Married Frank D. Saunders.
  12. Kendric Charles—Married my 4th Great Aunt Minnie Isabel Porter (George’s sister).

I don’t know the what the middle initials stand for where I have them listed—though I could swear that I saw Balean as Chapin’s middle name somewhere, sometime before I learned to accurately cite my sources. My favorites have always been Xantippe (pronounced with a Z) and Saracence (totally guessing here: Sarah-sense). I know the latter is mostly noted as Sara in articles and family notes. I love names!

A copy of this photo is held by the Rockford Area Historical Society Museum, Rockford, MI.

Happy hunting,

Jessica

 

December 1, 2011

Julia A. Moore, The Sweet Singer of Michigan

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One interesting character I found through cluster research is Rockford Area Poet, Julia Ann Davis Moore—and incidentally, it’s her birthday. Julia and my 4th great aunt Louisa Morningstar married brothers Frederick and John Moore. And Louisa’s brother, William H. Morningstar, married Julia’s sister Viola. And her niece married into my Holden family. Julia was a quaint country poet who chronicled the precarious ups and downs of life in the 1870’s through lyrical verse. For decades she was scorned, even inspiring a poetry contest for awesomely bad verse, but in the last twenty years there has been a renewed interest in her work for its historic value. Regardless of your taste in poetry—though I have found far worse—her work spotlighted the concerns of the citizens of Algoma Township, Kent County, Michigan. She’s particularly noted for her poetic obituaries which include verses on members of my family.  The following was is about a 3rd cousin (4 times removed).

Hiram Helsel

Air — “Three Grains of Corn”

Once was a boy, age fifteen years,
Hiram Helsel was his name,
And he was sick two years or so;
He has left this world of pain;
His friends they miss this lovely boy,
That was patient, kind and brave.
He left them all for him to mourn —
He is sleeping in his grave.

He was a small boy of his age,
When he was five years or so
Was shocked by lightning while to play
And it caused him not to grow,
He was called little Hi. Helsel
By all friends that knew him well —
His life was sad, as you shall hear,
And the truth to you I’ll tell.

His parents parted when he was small,
And both are married again.
How sad it was for them to meet
And view his last remains.
He was living with his father then,
As many a friend can tell;
‘Tis said his father’s second wife
That she did not use him well.

Just before little Hiram died —
His uncle and aunt were there —
He kissed them both — bid them farewell,
They left him with a prayer.
Now he is gone, Oh! let him rest;
His soul has found a haven,
For grief and woe ne’er enters there,
In that place called heaven.

For more of Julia A. Moore’s work check out Mortal Refrains: The Complete Collected Poetry, Prose, and Songs of Julia A. Moore, Sweet Singer of Michigan edited by Thomas J. Riedlinger.

Happy Hunting,

Jess

 

November 30, 2011

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

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My Great-Aunt Rachel York Elliott has fascinated me ever since my father told me about her. He remembers going to Arkansas to live with his Aunt Rachel for a year when he was about 4 years old. Rachel was a teacher and he went to school each day with her and attended Miss. Alexander’s class learning his numbers and letters. This is the only picture I’ve seen of her. She was the second child of Philip Henry York and his first wife Mary Wilfong and lived from 1898 to 1971. She married Fred Elliott in 1925, in Warren, Bradley Co, Arkansas.

This photo is from my grandmother’s photo collection.

Happy Hunting,

Jess

 

November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

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On this Thanksgiving Day I am thankful for so many things but I’ll confine my comments to my year in genealogy.

I started the year with a solid layer of dust on my research and a series of events made me rethink what was important to me in my hobbies and life in general.  One of the choices I made was to put more time into this hobby both for myself and for my family and to share as much as I can with them as I work. Hence, this blog was born. Throughout the year both leading up to this and since I started the blog I have received support, warm wishes and lovely advice from great readers I’ve never met, as well as my family and friends. Thank you all! I am also very thankful for my little cheering section—the ones I hear when I can’t decide what to write, who have inspired me with kind words and feedback. Thank you, Jeri, Bobbie, Kris, and Ariana!

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving!

Happy hunting,

Jess.

 

November 23, 2011

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

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Thanksgiving has always been a holiday I associate with my father’s family. So, that’s the direction I wanted to go with my Not-Quite-Wordless-Wednesday post this week.

 Herman, Sandy Napoleon, Mary, and Preston Garet York.

This picture shows four of my grandmother’s fourteen older siblings: Herman, Sandy Napoleon, Mary, and Preston Garet York. They are all the children of Philip Henry York and his three wives. Sandy was the second oldest and the son of Mary (Wilfong) York, Mary and Preston were two of Mattie (Phillips) York’s children, and Herman (like my Grandmother) was the child of Sally (Wheeler) York.

Happy Hunting & Happy Thanksgiving!

Jess

 

November 18, 2011

Follow Friday: Seekingmichigan.org and Look

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I’m somewhat winding down on my research on the Michigan State Sanatorium and it’s Follow Friday—both of which bring to mind the Look blog article which I had saved in my email (for almost two years) entitled “A Healing Place.” I don’t think I would have thought to search the archives for information on my great grandparents’ time at MSS if not for this article (even though I let it sit forever). And between Look and the rest of the amazing collections on SeekingMichigan.org I would heartily suggest you follow them—if you have any interest in Michigan history or genealogy.

Happy Hunting,

Jess

 

November 16, 2011

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

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It’s seems the natural progression to come another step forward with the Porter’s from last week’s Wordless Wednesday post—especially since I have grander plan for introducing the Holdens (coming soon!). So, this week meet my Great-Grandmother Crystal (Porter Johnson) Bailey and my Step-Great-Grandfather, Harold Bailey, Sr. Grandma Crystal died in 1968 so my stories about her came mostly from my mother and Grandpa Bailey. I credit Grandpa as one of the people who helped me get started on my genealogy when I had to work on a family tree for a Girl Scout badge back in elementary school.

 

November 15, 2011

The Homestead Act of 1862

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Here’s my first follow-up post from research inspired by sessions from the Michigan Genealogical Council’s 2011 Family History Month Workshop.

As I noted in an earlier post, Pamela J. Cooper’s Homestead Act session encouraged me try requesting a selection of the Federal Land Entry files for my ancestors.  On October 30th I started out by ordering the file of Levi Hampton who was listed in the 1900 Census as my Great Grandfather’s uncle and is one of the few members of my Arkansas family to have a patent listed in the BLM database.  

I searched the BLM database for Levi Hampton in Bradley County, Arkansas (one can further limit a search under the “Miscellaneous” section switching the drop down menu beside “Authority” to “Homestead Entry Original”). I took the information in that entry to fill out the NARA order form. The request is currently $40—but it should be noted that this is a flat fee regardless of the size of the file. The deliverables can be photocopies or a digital copy.  I ended up requesting a digital copy to save myself the time scanning.

I was thrilled to receive the disk within 11 days—which is a little funny because it still shows on my NARA account as waiting to be sent. Levi’s file is 44 pages and includes his testimony, as well as that of two distant relatives—Wil Newton and Wilson Terry. I will admit that I really got my hopes up because Levi initially named my 3rd great-grandfather Sam Trotter, his brother, Rial, and their stepfather James Newton all as witnesses. But when the time came for the hearing Newton and Terry were the only witnesses. But regardless, there is a lot of information that I can cull from the file and I’m looking forward to spending more time on it.

Maybe the most interesting moment for me in reading the file was when I got to the presiding Judge, W. J. Hickman’s note on the change of witnesses. He comments, “I think myself that this witness is as good as either one of the others as he has been raised in the neighborhood of the said claimant. They are all Colored and one is as good as the other not withstanding his name does not appear in the publication.” I’m not sure why but it momentarily took my breath away to see that stated so plainly in a federal document. But as my parents noted when I shared it with them… it was a different time.

These files are definitely worth the price and slowly but surely I’ll start ordering Shea, Cunningham, Wilfong, and other family files.

Happy Hunting,

Jess

 

November 11, 2011

A Veteran’s Day Thank You

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Mine is not, in contemporary times, what I think of as a military family but I have cousins, uncles, and both grandfathers that served in the U. S. Army. And as I follow my lines back I have found whole generations shaped by the family’s military personnel and the trials and opportunities that came with that vocation.  So I couldn’t let Veteran’s and Remembrance Day pass without expressing my respect and appreciation for the dedication and hard work of our military servicemen and their families. Thank you, all!

Cheers,

Jess

My grandfathers: Sgt. William Eugene Johnson and Sgt. Levie Trotter.

            

 

November 9, 2011

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

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These are my 2nd Great-grandparents Lula V. (Holden) and Charles Erwin “Wynn” Porter. Charles was the second son of George E. Porter (from last week’s Wordless Wednesday Post). He was a farmer and is noted in the Rockford Register for making key plays for the Rogue Rex baseball team. Lula was the daughter of Chapin and Lois Holden and was a favorite of my grandma—both of them being noted gossips!

Happy Hunting,

Jess

 

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