Trip to Richmond, VA

Enjoying the VA Museum of Fine Arts
Painting: Two Donors in Adoration before the Madonna
and Child and St. Michael, 1557-60
Giovanni Battista Moroni, Italian

Over the Labor Day weekend I took a short trip up to the Richmond, VA area partly to do some genealogical research and partly because I’ve driven through Richmond about a hundred times and had never actually stopped to see anything there.

I’m probably going to get a few posts out of this trip because I have a bit to share, plus since I got back into records I hadn't been in a while, I noticed info I hadn’t documented properly which led me to find more ancestors – Yay!

But, I’ll start at the beginning with a word of advice:  

If you are planning on going to a library or archive, double-check the calendar or give a call to make sure that they are open their normal hours.  

I had planned to go to the Library of Virginia, which is normally open on Saturdays; however, as I discovered late the night before I was going to go, they were closed all Labor Day weekend.  I figured they were going to be closed on Monday but they were also closed Saturday.  Sadness! 

At least I did figure it out before showing up, but it was a bit of a bummer since I was geared up to do some research.  I do think my husband breathed a large sigh of relief that he wasn’t going to be tethered to a library for several hours however.  

Dapper Dan - I'm fairly certain I had one of these

So, instead of the library, we went to the Virginia Historical Society which had some lovely exhibits about VA history and helped to answer some of the questions I had about some of my ancestors who migrated from VA to OH (via what is now WV) in the late 1700s.  They had some interesting interactive displays including one for Civil War battles that showed how many losses were had on what sides and then showed a graphic on where in the US those troops were from which was really fascinating to visualize.

Trolls - some of my Mom's favorites!

They also have a temporary exhibit currently on Toys from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s which was a lot of fun – my husband turned into a 7-year-old in that exhibit, it was adorable.

We also visited the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.  My favorite exhibits were the Art Nouveau jewelry and furniture as well as the Fabergé eggs.

Imperial Red Cross Easter Egg, 1915
Fabergé Firm

The Sorcerers Necklace, 1900

Buckle, ca. 1900

Buckle, ca. 1899

Fabergé Firm, Lilies of the Valley
19th-20th century
 

We stopped by the Edgar Allan Poe museum which was interesting and I learned a bit more about the author than I had known and I now need to go read some of his other works that weren’t part of my normal high school readings.

After that, we hopped over to the American Civil War Museum (Museum of the Confederacy) in Richmond.  We didn’t tour the Confederate White House because that involved a lot of stairs and my feet/ankles were already complaining loudly about all the walking we had been doing.  This museum focused a lot on the Confederate side of the war and how it was viewed from Richmond's point of view. 

View of the James River from
Hollywood Cemetery

We also did a self-driving tour through Hollywood Cemetery which is probably one of the prettiest cemeteries I have visited as it is right on the James River.  As far as I know, I don’t have any ancestors buried there but there are some Presidential gravesites: Tyler & Monroe.  It is definitely worth a drive around.

And on the last day of the trip since it was on the way back home again, we stopped at the Richmond Battlefield visitors center.  I discovered later (should have done a bit more research before coming) that the ancestor I was focusing on this trip was involved in a lot of the battles in the Richmond area.  I’ll need to come back another time to really spend time at these because there are several battle locations around the Richmond area – the National Park Service suggests 4 hours for the driving tour around the various battlefields.  But, I got an overview of these battles at the visitor’s center.

Hollywood Cemetery
Richmond, VA

Then we moved on to the Petersburg National Battlefield.  I knew that my ancestor, Freeman Hunt had been at Petersburg and that he had mustered out at that point.  The rangers at the National Park visitor center were super helpful in giving me information about where my ancestor might have fought/stationed at the battlefield.  Since I knew what group he was with they were able to show me maps of battle movements, etc.  If you make any stops to any of the national battlefield parks, make sure you take that info with you because the rangers there are very knowledgeable and might be able to give you even more information about what your ancestor was actually involved in at the battle.

I’m going to stop there for today.  I’ll have another post about much more detail about what I discovered about my ancestor, Freeman Hunt’s civil war stories and more in-depth genealogy wise.

But, if you have a chance to visit Richmond, VA, I certainly recommend it.  There is a lot of history there, the Library of Virginia houses a lot of the state archives, and some great places to visit.

Betty's Baby Book: Genealogical Info & Horrifying Medical Advice

Betty Jane Grann

A couple weeks ago I went into a bit of the history and social context of Baby Books.  Now I'll talk about my grandmother's baby book I recently scanned.

Betty Jane Grann was born Sunday, August 29, 1926 at 2:00 in Jamestown, NY to Axel Grann and Eunice Hunt.

Her Baby Book was The Book of Baby Mine printed in 1915.

Like a lot of the baby books you find, some sections are filled out and several are left blank.  This one is no exception.

From a genealogists perspective, you sometimes get names & dates, places where they lived and just a general story of their life with the young baby.  I have a list of people who gave gifts (some of the names I don't know so that gives me something to look into as a genealogist).

On the page for the Baby's First Outing:

"I went over to my grandma Hunts when I was four weeks old.  My uncle Walter took me over in his car.  Sept 25 was the date.  In the evening I went down to see my grandma Grann.  My daddy carried me and everyone we met had to stop and have a look at me."

Axel & Betty Grann

My grandmother's first words were "pretty, pretty" and "da-da".

Betty started smiling at 3 months, waved "bye-bye" at 9 months, started walking (apparently never really crawled) at 11 months, and started playing "peek-a-boo" at 12 months.

Betty was named for one of her mother's childhood friends who lived nearby, Betty Jane Harris.

The birth of her baby sister, Barbara Jean is documented in the baby book:

"I have a baby sister now, her name is Barbara Jean.  She is very, very tiny, but I love her just the same." "I stayed with my aunt Dagmar one whole week when mother went to the hospital to buy my baby sister."

I now have documentation on the addresses this family lived at from 1926 - 1928:

"I moved from my first home on 7 Beechview Ave when I was nine months old. I lived on the corner of 8th & Cherry until I was 2 years. Then I moved to great grandma’s old home 312 Allen Street."  

And then there is some touching family moments documented in the book:

"My great grandma died July 18, 1928 age 78.  The last thing I did was to kiss her when she lay on the bed in the hospital.  She had been asking for me before.  She smiled so nice when I kissed her.  The last time she ever smiled."

I believe this photo is of Eliza Hunt (referenced great-grandma)
and Betty Grann

 There are a couple other parts of the baby book that I want to mention because I found them very interesting from a social perspective. One was the advertising in the baby book and the other was the multitude of pages (the entire baby book is over 90 pages long) on the early 20th century advice on taking care of a newborn.

There are seven advertisers in the baby book:

Nothing like a guilt-trip from buying your groceries
from your normal 'unclean' store

• Farmers & Mechanics Bank - ad to open a bank account for the baby
• Jamestown Evening Journal - publication stressing availability of bedtime stories
• Clark Hardware Company - household appliances (electric household helps)
• The Mutual Life Insurance Co. of NY - A Message to Father - re: savings funds
• The Camp Art Company - Photograph studio - portraits of family
• Crescent Creamery - Milk for mother & child 
• The Paquin-Snyder Co., Inc. - grocery store

The advertisements are very interesting on their use of the newborn baby to hawk their goods from opening a bank account to appliances to insurance to photography to groceries. 

Starting on Page 40 of the baby book is the section on "The A, B, C, of Baby’s Health".  I do have to admit that some of this medical advice is a bit horrifying to the modern reader.  And some of it just made me laugh out loud.

"Never let a day pass without a good movement" is going on a t-shirt.

Along with a lot of commentary on the baby's bowel movements (A LOT of commentary) and an excess of uses for Cod Liver Oil and Castor Oil, you get helpful tips like these:

• As to Medicine. No mother should quiet her child with a blow on the head, nor should she stun her baby with the opium and morphine of soothing syrups.
• Rest. All young infants are extremely nervous, so avoid exciting them, playing with them, or handling them too much….holding the baby habitually may cause spinal curvature….most of the time young infants should lie quietly in bed till strong enough to sit alone and play.
• Baby’s Bath.  Never put baby in tub while tub is on a heater.
• Borax solution recipe for sore mouth & to clean baby’s eyes; use to clean mother’s nipples
• Airings. Sunshine purifies the air….Children deprived of sunshine grow up like pale, weak, cellar plants.  Baby should begin taking daytime naps outdoors in summer when three weeks old….In bad weather give baby the benefits of being outdoors by dressing as for an outing, then opening all windows of a room and letting it sleep, protected from wind and dampness.  Babies accustomed to cold air and cool baths are hardened against taking cold.
• Diarrhoea: Summer Complaint. The average mother will be tempted to resort to some dose containing opium, but nothing more injurious could be done…
• Only the most ignorant or indulgent parent would give young children tea, coffee, or beer.

And my favorite:

• Teaching the Bowels Regularity.  Any baby over 3 months old may be trained to evacuate the bowels….Stimulate the bowels to action by tickling the anus, of if this fails, insert a suppository" [with instructions on how to create your own suppository].

In conclusion: don't hold or play with your baby too much, don't drug them with opium, don't cook them in a pot during bath-time, let them get plenty of air and if the air is too cold it's OK - it builds character, use borax on everything, when not using borax use either castor oil and/or cod liver oil, and regularly tickle your baby's butt so they poop on schedule.

FYI - I don't recommend any of this medical advice (except please don't hit, drug, or cook baby - that's probably good advice), please consult modern doctors and modern child care manuals.

From the look of it, I think this child was just given an enema.

Family Recipe Project

Eunice Hunt Grann is my maternal great-grandmother.  My middle name is Eunice after her and I bear a great resemblance to her.  Seriously...when I found this photo and shared it with my family my brother thought it was me in one of those old-timey photos.

From 1978 - 1980 my maternal uncle, Bruce gathered and compiled a lot of the family recipes and had them typed up and gave them to members of the family.  My mom has always had a copy of the recipe book and I found my grandmother's copy when she passed away in 2015.  My grandmother, Betty is technically my step-grandmother since she was my grandfather's second wife, they were married in December 1979, but she is the only grandmother I knew on that side.  But, to keep us genealogists on our toes, both my biological and step grandmothers were named Betty.

Since I inherited my grandmother's copy, I also found this letter from Bruce to Betty in the cookbook:

"Christmas 1980

Dear Betty,
This project was started over three years ago and includes recipes from my mother's and grandmother's cookbooks, as well as sorted selections from other people.  Dorislee did the typing for a year and a half, and it's taken me another year plus to get the books put together.
Since this doesn't include the recipe for the one thing Dad can make - scalloped potatoes - I guess you'll have to execute any of the recipes if they are going to get done.  Since it's a loose-leaf book, I assume everyone will add their own favorites.  However, as I was folding all the pages and punching all the holes, I realized you'll have to annotate your contributions with Betty "B" Barber to make the distinction.
Welcome to the family!
Love, Bruce"

I do have to admit reading this that I am so grateful for modern technologies that make creating a recipe book for the family much less labor intensive (at least as far as typing on a typewriter and manually punching holes goes).

This recipe book has many recipes that have very basic (or no) instructions - mostly the ones from my great-grandmother.  Probably because most cookie and cake recipes tend to have similar assembly instructions so they just didn't bother writing down.

But, from a modern cooks perspective, these recipes can be very difficult to follow if you aren't familiar with some of those basics.  I know my mom has mentioned not making a lot of these recipes because she just wasn't sure what to do.

So, one of my projects is to create an updated family cookbook.  I want to update the recipes with some more detailed instructions as well as add some additional family recipes and like my uncle before me, distribute the cookbook to family members.  But, since it is 2017 - I can also detail my experiences online as well!  Again, reference above thought on modern technology!

So, for your first taste of my family recipes here is the recipe I have made several times for Spritz.  It's attributed to both Eunice and her daughter, Betty.

Since I've made this before, I did actually blog (on a different blog) this modern recipe equivalent so here is the link: https://recipebuster.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/swedish-christmas-cookies/

My mom remembers these cookies at Christmas-time and that is when I tend to make them as well.  They are a lovely soft, almond flavored cookie that uses a cookie press.

So, if you like vintage recipes, keep an eye on this spot for more.  I am actually cooking up a couple new recipes today that I haven't tried before so there will be another blog post soon on Danish Tarts!

Jamestown, NY Research Adventure

Over the holidays I had a bittersweet research adventure.  I ended traveling up to Jamestown, NY because my grandmother had become very ill (she ended up passing away a few days later) but while I was up there (after visiting my grandmother) I decided to do some genealogy research since I am rarely up in that area of the country.

Freeman J. Hunt

This is story about how sometimes you *really* have to get off your bum, step away from the electronic searches and go into some of these research places because I would never have found some of this great info if I hadn't decided to go to the Fenton History Center in Jamestown, NY.

The librarian researcher and one of the library volunteers there helped me find some information on
my Hunt family as well as finding that one of my ancestors, Freeman J. Hunt, was a member of Company B in the 72nd NY Volunteer regiment.  At finding that, the librarian got a special glint in her eye and scurried off to the archives and came back with several scrapbooks.

Company B apparently remained very close after the Civil War and they kept photos and newspaper clippings not only from during the war but all of their various reunions after as well as clippings for wedding anniversaries and obituaries for those who were part of the company.  Most of this is not electronically scanned at the moment.  It was amazing looking through the picture albums which had been saved by this group.  I was able to find a photo of my ancestor, which I did not have previously as well as obituaries and details of his civil war service.

It really was so exciting and it was also fun to see the librarian and volunteer at the Fenton History Center so excited about it as well.

So, remember to go out and see if there are local history centers that have genealogical info because you never know what someone, sometime had squirreled away and donated to one of these archives that you will be able to find!

My husband helping me find my 3rd great-grandfather's photo in the scrapbook

Company B, 72nd NY Volunteer Infantry

1st Regimental Flag, 72nd NY Volunteers

1884 Reunion Company B, 72nd NY Volunteers

So a great big shout out of thanks to Barbara at the Fenton History Center library (and her great volunteer - although I don't think I grabbed his name).  If anyone has family research in the Jamestown area - certainly check this place out!

Fenton History Center - 67 Washington Street, Jamestown, NY 14701

2016 Genealogy Goals

The end of 2015 ended up being quite a bit crazier than I had anticipated so I haven't done much genealogy for the past couple months.  But, now it's calming down it's time for me to set some goals for myself and for this blog for 2016!

Prune my Tree
First and foremost, my first goal is to clean up my Ancestry.com tree.  I have a lot of stuff in there that I think is incorrect or I don't have any sort of back up documentation on and I really need to go in and delete or unlink some of the people from my tree.

Back when I first got on Ancestry I got the little green leaf and I just went a bit too crazy copying things to my tree.  Can I put that down as being "young and silly"?  But, the result being I have a lot on my tree that just shouldn't be there.  So my first goal of the year is to go through and if I don't really have any sort of backup for someone being in my tree then it's time to prune.  That way I can work on focusing my attention and expanding my actual tree - with documentation!  :)

Fertilize my Tree
I am going to start working and filling in missing documentation for the family I do have and have some back up documents for but am missing some items.  So, it's working from the ground up to fill in some of those missing holes and expanding on some extended family.

Chasing Down a few Fussy Roots
There are a few "problem children" I want to focus some time on to expand on their stories or to see if I can get past a brick wall/stumbling block.

Migration of Henry McDaniel's Family
I actually have a decent amount of info on Henry McDaniel because he was a Revolutionary War veteran so a lot of folks have documented his family, especially post-Rev war.  What I actually want to look more into is his story of where he came from pre-Rev war and maybe more about his migration from Virginia to Ohio.

What I know (briefly):
1763 - Henry McDaniel born in Pittsylvania County, Virginia
1779 - Enlisted during the Revolutionary War in Bedford County, Virginia
1780 - Wounded during the battle of Kings Mountain
1781 - Discharged from service at Camden (I am assuming SC given his Rev war history)
1788 - Married Hannah Bryan in Greenbriar County, VA (now WV)
1810 - Migrated from Lewisburg, VA (WV) to Gallia County, OH
1838 - Died in Gallia County, OH

I'd like to learn more about why families moved from this area of Virginia to Ohio (I can't imagine this was an easy trip) and see if I can trace their footsteps (or theorized footsteps) from fighting to create this country to expanding it's frontiers.

Adoption of Eugene Chambers
This is one of my "brick walls".  Eugene was adopted by the Chambers family in West Jefferson, Ohio but I have never really been able to find out much about his biological family.  We believe his family name was Costella (o).  We have some family stories that have been passed down but not really anything to back that up.  According to one of my cousins who has also been doing genealogy work, the courthouse records in that area burned down.
So, I need to try to find other sources that might give me some clues as to where Eugene came from and more about his family.  I know I want to really hit some newspaper resources to see if I can find some clues that way and try to come up with some other creative ideas to find information.
If anyone has any ideas for me - please let me know!

What I know:
1893 - Eugene Costella born (possibly Ohio but some sources have said Virginia)
1900 - Living with the Chambers family, the census lists Eugene as a "cousin" (I don't know if he is actually a cousin, or if they just told the census taker he was a cousin since he wasn't officially adopted at that point, or if the census taker didn't know how to list the child so just put cousin)
1910 - Living with the Chambers family, this census listed him as an "Adopted Son" (somewhere in that 10 year time period he was officially adopted by the Chambers family)

Samuel Ernest Dishner After His Divorce
Samuel is my great-grandfather and his divorce from my great-grandmother, Phoebe Gillenwater was drama-filled and messy.  My father never knew his grandfather and my grandmother never saw him again after his divorce.  This wasn't just a divorce, it involved Samuel just disappearing (at least for a while). So, I have started finding some information, but I don't really know much about his life after his divorce and he moved away and I would like to see if I can find out more about his life after he left the rest of my family.

What I know:
1899 - Samuel Dishner was born in Scott County, Virginia
1917 - Married Phoebe Ethel Gillenwater in Scott County, Virginia
1931 - Lived in Jenkins, Kentucky (had a chiropractic practice)
1939 - Lived in Kingsport, Tennessee (had a chiropractic practice)
1947 - On Aug 2 Samuel disappeared, his family filed a missing person report
         - On Aug 26 Samuel sent a postcard to one of his family members saying he was in FL
         - On Aug 31 Reported in the newspaper that Samuel had moved to Kentucky
1948 - Lived in Jenkins, Kentucy (had a chiropractic practice)
1956 - Lived in Houston, Texas
1971 - Died in New Braunfels, Texas

Gertrude Morgan After Her Divorce and her Missing Son, Emerson Morgan Hunt
Another divorce case, and I'm really not quite certain what happened to Gertrude afterwards.  I have a few clues but I'm not sure if it's the same Gertrude.  With women it always gets a bit hazy because did she keep her married name?  Did she revert back to using her maiden name?  Did she re-marry?  The only clue I have - and I'm not 100% its the same people but I think it is, is related to a record I have for her son, Emerson Morgan Hunt.  Emerson was a bit of a surprise because we didn't really know about him.  My theory is when his parents divorced, he went with his mother (I believe he was a young adult at the time of the divorce) and most of the information like obituaries for his other siblings and father don't mention him at all.  The record I have is his draft card and enlistment.  But, after that, I can't find any more about him either so I am unsure if he died during the war.

What I know:
1870 - Gertrude Morgan born in New York
1896 - Gertrude married William Hunt in Jamestown, NY
1899 - Emerson Morgan Hunt born in Jamestown, NY
1910 - Living in Conewango, PA
1918 - Draft card for Emerson Morgan Hunt lists him as a student at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD and his nearest relative as Gertrude Morgan Hunt residing in Boone, MD.
1920 - Census for William Hunt lists him as married but does not list Gertrude as living with him, their two other children, Paul and Eunice are living with William.
1929 - William Hunt dies in Jamestown, NY, his death certificate lists him as divorced (no mention of Gertrude or Emerson in his obituary).

So, I think all of this will keep me occupied this year and I'm going to try to be good and blog about what I'm finding and sharing and documenting those stories as I find them!