Treasure Chest Thursday: The Power of the Written Word

Finding old written words is exciting.  Finding the scan of the original words online is breathtaking.  Here is just one example of the power of words.

JSBuchanan 1883 letter, received 2013 by email

Written by the Rev. Joseph Smith BUCHANAN in 1883 is a summary of his family.  What strikes me as I reread this great document is the way he starts by mentioning  his (and my)grandpa came from Scotland.  He then quickly moves to the names of his brothers and the role the family played in early Lancaster Co, PA, with the Covenenter Church.  He mentions the services being performed in the house and in the barn......

Of particular interest is he then goes to explain how many of his peer aged kin were elders in the church which later evolved in to the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.

Of course, cousin Joseph was a minister as many, many of his kin have chosen.  He states his grandfather's descendants are like the tribe of Levi with their devotion to God.

Of more genealogical interest on this particular day is his first wife, Jane WADDLE.  She was born in VA around 1813.  She married Joseph in 1841 in Wheeling, WV.  In 1850, they are living in Donegal, Washington, PA, near many, many kin.  She is gone by 1857, when Joseph remarries Ellen CLELAND.

Death Notice of JS Buchanan, found online

I suspect Jane's brother was most likely the Rev. Benjamin WADDLE (1802-1879), who was, yet another, Presbyterian minister and the President of Muskingum College in Ohio.

Why this interest in finding out?  Well, I have more than one connection to the BUCHANAN family as well as the WADDLE family as they keep marrying my kin.  Oh wait, they are my kin, too.  So....

Ahh, genealogy.  More fish to fry as I waddle through the ponds looking for the just the right species.

©2017  AS Eldredge

Sources:

1850 Census, Donegal, Washington, PA

Kohler, Minnie.  A 20th Century History of Hardin Co, OH, Vol 2, page 622.

Buchanan, Rev JS.  Letter in possession of a descendant.  

The Moffitt Book of Obituaries, Vol 5, Warren Co, Ill

Treasure Chest Thursday: Living in a 1913 Wedding

Oh, the horror of it all!  My hard drive crashed and I was devastated.  Over 20 years of genealogy finds were there.  Why, I couldn't think!  What to do?

Joyfully, I had a great backup and was able to recover all the information after the hard drive was replaced.  To thank the wonderful sibling who volunteered to help me during this crisis, I am now going back and looking through the many, many boxes of papers I have gathered over the years.  What this long term exercise is doing is forcing me to reevaluate what I think I know as I look at papers not seen in probably 10 years or so.

In addition to all my boxes of paper I am going through and trying to scan in, I am finding some really cool treasures.  Take, for instance, the wedding book of my spouse's grandparents.  They were married in August 1913.  Opening the pages of the book this morning revealed many exciting treasures for me.  The announcement, the newspaper write-ups, the guests, the gifts, the honeymoon details, and the death of the groom.  While the newspapers don't contain the name of the newspaper or the date, I can use the information I know to locate them.

Aug 27, 1913 Wedding of Hazel and Ralph

These fragile and yellowed pieces of paper link me to the joy of the young couple that have been gone now for 40 years or more.  I never knew them, but I get a sense of them through stories and pictures.  Perhaps, I should take a closer look around my house to see if any of the gifts survived and made their way here?

Ahh genealogy, cherish the beloved hands that took the time to document the times of their lives.  For today, their treasure chest of happiness provides inspiration for me to continue looking in the past to find the future.

©2017  AS Eldredge

Those Places Thursday: Wettest Spot in the Nation is Western Pennsylvania

Wettest?  No, no, not the weather.  Twas called the wettest spot in the nation during Prohibition.

Reading articles from the past are so enlightening on the subject which was greatly debated during its time.  Transcriptions of some of the articles have been completed and can be seen on the Pittsburgh Old Newspapers Project site.

Whether or not you have your roots in Western PA, these articles provide a glimpse in to our country's past- complete with raids, arrests, headless bodies, scandals, murders and more.  Included in the articles are lots of names of Pittsburgh area residents who ran afoul of the law of the day.

Just one example is found over a number of days starting with the Apr 2, 1930 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article:

HEADLESS BODY OF GANGSTERS' VICTIM FOUND
Jammed Into Barrel and Rolled Over Hillside
Racketeers' Vengeance
Murder Makes 51st Killing in 51 Months in City, 78th in County.

Pittsburgh racket killers chalked up their fifty-first murder in 51 months in defense of their concessions yesterday. It brings the total of racket murders in Allegheny county to 78 for the same period.
The headless, mutilated body of the latest gang victim was found packed in a barrel along Grine run, Penn township, shortly before 5 o'clock last night.
County detectives, familiar with racket feuds declared last night that the barrel murder likely was in retaliation for the recent killing of Sam Monastero, corn sugar baron, garroted with his own necktie and left dead in his automobile along Jacks Run. Sam's killing followed by a few months the slaying of his brother Steve Monastero, king of the moonshine racket, who was credited with being the moving force behind more than a score of racket killings.

Head Is Missing
The head of the fifty-first victim is missing. The slayers ruthlessly slashed strips of flesh from the arm and shoulder of the dead man which detectives believed bore a tattoo mark, in order to hamper identification. The body was nude so that no telltale piece of clothing might aid detectives in establishing identity.
An examination showed that he had put up a furious struggle to save himself. Practically his entire body was discolored with bruises. The head was severed about an inch above the shoulders.

Slain In City.
The man, an Italian about 30 years old, 5 feet 5 inches tall, and weighting about 130 po9unds, was apparently slain in the city, detectives said. Aside from the newspapers, on which finger prints may be found, detectives admitted they were without a tangible clue. One of the papers was of Monday, this week.
The corpse was taken to where it was found either late Monday night or early yesterday, it was learned. It was seen by Mrs. H. E. Damp, who resides a short distance away, at 6:30 o'clock yesterday morning. Mrs. Damp said she mentioned to her 11-year-old son that the barrel could be used for kindling and asked him to get it. However, the son neglected to do so.

Rolled From Road.
Thomas Kirk, 22, of 318 Forty-Fifth street, who was taking a short cut through the wooded section on his way home made the discovery.........

Read more about the thriller case and its final solution.


Ahh, genealogy.  Just keep reading about the past and how wild those places which we hold near and dear could be. 

Sources:
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=67VhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=v2gDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4399,1675718&dq=steve+monastero&hl=en
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~paallent/page15/page15.html

©2016 ASEldredge

Thursday Thriller: Slain Over a Grudge

Looking at the headlines of today with all the crimes and murders can leave us so very saddened.  Why do folks just have to be so violent?  Good thing the past was always so peaceful.....or was it?

Here's a story about a family grudge gone wrong in 1894.

Ouch.. shot and the body was left for hours until the inquest?  It would appear that J A Coward was indicted for the murder of Madison Connell (1852-1894).  Well, it wasn't the first time he was in trouble.  According to church records, JA Coward was "in trouble" in 1892 for not supporting his church.  He asked to be dropped from the rolls when questioned by the Hebron Baptist Church in South Carolina.

The death of Connell left a widow, Mary E Myers Connell (1849-1918) and three children.

Both men now rest in the same cemetery at the church of their family.  I wonder how close they are in proximity?

Ahh, genealogy. Gotta inspect both sides of the fence when looking at history.

Source: 
The Florence Weekly Times, November 1894.
FindaGrave.com  Hebron Baptist Church Cemetery, Florence Co, SC

©2016 ASEldredge