2020 - The year we want to forget

It's only Aug 1st and this year has been packed with "not so nice" events.

2020 started off, at least at our home, just fine. We celebrated both of our granddaughters birthdays in January. Jackee was lucky enough to get to spend 2 weeks with her aunt in Montana.

                                                           Jackee (10) and Addy (2)

February came and I was off to RootsTech 2020. For those who are thinking about attending, I would highly suggest it. It's 4 days of very interesting and informative classes and lots of goodies in the exhibit hall. Plus, some good networking with other genealogists and those that teach. 

To my surprise, one of the classes had my Facebook group as one of their slides. One of the ladies happened to be a member of the group. We are applying to teach a class next year in paying-it-forward with "lost" photos.

March roared in like a lion. Covid-19 or Coronavirus has come to our country. It's an unwelcome visitor. Besides causing the deaths of thousands of people, it has thrown us into chaos.

Las Vegas was shut down for a good 6 weeks. I still had to work. The bright side was the traffic. It's been awesome! Instead of it taking me 45 minutes to get to work, it only took 20.

My daughters turned 30 in April and since everything was closed, she had to have a boring birthday. No birthday dinner for her.

                                                                         Samantha

                                                                     

May would have been my grandmother's 112th birthday. I miss her every day. She was 10 when the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic hit and now my granddaughter is going thru this one. Funny how things repeat.

                                                           Ethel Mae Cooper Inman

As June came strolling by, we are still in partial lock down, still wearing masks and no one can make up their minds on how to best contain the Covid-19. One day it's one thing and the next it's the opposite. My husband lost his aunt to cancer. On a good note, his 17 year old 2nd cousin beat childhood cancer.

Both my husband and youngest daughter had their birthdays, a day apart. Emily lives in Montana so we were not able to really celebrate her birthday but we did take a trip up to see her after the fact.

                                         John and Emily (at Samantha's wedding)

We made it to July without anyone in the family getting sick. Found out my husband is going to have to have back surgery. Not sure I want him to in 2020 with the way things are going. We also had our pickup truck stolen from in front of our house. We don't expect to ever see it again. All we could do is shake our heads. My oldest daughter turned 36. It's hard to believe she's that old. She lives in Utah with our grandson so we don't get to see her very often. 

                                                              Bree'Aun and Sage

So that brings us to August. Just over half the year gone. Because of Covid, my granddaughter will be home schooled this year. I'm somewhat nervous to see what the rest of 2020 brings. No doubt we will still all be wearing the dreaded face masks until December. I guess when Santa comes down the chimney he will have one on too.

Known Only to God - Ohio

It's sad that there are so many unknown faces out in the world. These photos come from Ohio.

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This lovely young woman lived in Cleveland, Oh around 1896-1898

A family of four who have very light, see-into-your-soul eyes. This was taken Sandusky, Ohio by A.C. Platt between 1865-1875.

A well put-together fellow. Photo was taken in Beverly, Ohio by Chandler & Shinn. I was not able to find any info on the photographers. Possible between 1870-1880s.

Another lovely lady who had her photo taken by Jacobs in Mansfield, Ohio. Between 1890-1900.

Mother and daughter. Photo taken by LeRoy & Terrill from Youngstown, Ohio. Between 1890-1900

A wonderful family portrait from Rueppel Studios in Lebanon, Ohio. This was take some time in the early to mid 1950s.

These are a few of the many faces of the unknown. Like any good genealogist, I hope that some day someone will recognize them and return to them their given names.

Two's Company, Three's a Handful

I can only imagine what it is like to have triplets. But having them in 1911 seems to be a good deal more difficult. Of course, having two older children to help would take a small portion of the workload off Emma Estelle Ross Mason and her husband James Perth Mason.

1911 seems be have been a good year for triplets being born as there seemed to be an explosion of triplets born all over the United States. In 1911, Orville Wright flew for 9 minutes in N. Carolina, Ronald Reagan was born, Chevrolet enters the automobile arena, and the first Indianapolis 500 race was run.

Emma and James were married in 1901. He was ten years older the she. By 1910 had three children. Callie, Mallie and Allie were born on 27 Sep 1911. Emma And James went on to have two more children. 

All three triplets worked as top loopers in the local knitting mill in 1930 as well as a good number of children that lived around the Mason family. Most were between the ages of 16-20. More than likely, they were working there prior to 1930.  Spartanburg was a textile manufacturing center. Mallie and Callie continued to work in the mills in 1940. 

Allie had married Dewey Merle Smith by 1940. He was 8 years younger than Allie. Both were unemployed in 1940. Dewey was called to serve in WWII. They had one son born in the '50s. Dewey passed away in 1985 and Allie would follow in 1991.

Mallie never married and she retired from the Beaumont Mill. She passed in 1987 in Spartanburg and is buried, along with her parents in the First Baptist Church of N. Spartanburg graveyard.

Callie married George Willis Allen in the 1970s. She never had any children of her own. She did, however, have three step-children and 11 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great-grandchildren. Callie was a member of the Fairview Free Will Baptist Church. She passed in 2002, the last survivor child of Emma and James. 

The Unforgotten Daughter

Meet the Crow family.

Russell Taylor Crow Jr, our patriarch, was born in 1845 in Jefferson City, Tennessee. This might be incorrect as per his obit it states he was born in 1847 in Kentucky. Of course, as genealogists, we run across misinformation from time to time. However, in 1850 he was living in Jefferson Co, Tennessee.

By 1860, he and his parents and 10 brothers and sisters were living in Polk, Missouri. His father, Russell Sr, a farmer, must have been somewhat well-off as their real estate value was $4,000 and their personal estate value was $1,250. Russell fought with the Union during the Civil War

On 19 Aug 1869, he married his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Stewart and this union produced 12 children. All 12 children lived to adulthood. 

Clay, Missouri was their home in 1880 thru 1900. Russell was still farming. I found it funny that in 1900, they only accounted for 11 children instead of 12. I guess when you have that many children you might miss one!

Moving on to 1910, the family had moved again to Ogden, Utah. Russell lived there until his death in 1919. He was sent to be buried beside this life-long partner Sarah in Missouri.

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Carrie Lovenia Crow was the last surviving child of Russell and Sarah. She was born in 8 Jan 1885 in Missouri. The 9th child, she was 15 years younger than her oldest sibling.

Carrie married William Drake on 12 Aug 1906 in Elko, Nevada. Her nickname was Lovie. Within that first year of marriage, they had Zeula Marie Drake. Seven more children were to follow with great joy.

William ran a lodging house in 1910. The boarding house had a servant and 25 lodgers. Most were sheep shearers with a smattering of miners, saloon workers, and laborers. They were a diverse group of people speaking French, Spanish, and Japanese. Must have been a very busy and interesting residence!

Life was to get very sad for Carrie and William. Baby William Lee died at 10 months on 23 May 1917 in Odgen, Utah. The next year brought another baby to fill her life.

1930 brought Carrie a need to supplement their household income. She worked as a seamstress out of their home. Three more daughters were added to their brood by 1928. Having a 1 1/2-year-old running around the house, Carrie was surely a busy wife and mother.

William was living off his pension in 1940 and Carrie was now sewing for the WPA, bringing in about $620 a year. A good many people on their block were working for the WPA. Their last three daughters were still living at home. 

Carrie passed away on 21 Feb 1968 in Snohomish, Washington. She was possibly living with her daughter Betty Jean as Betty was the only child living outside of Nevada. She is buried in Wells, Nevada alongside her husband and William Lee.

The Crow Family: bottom row (l to r): Anna Crow Holland, Russell T Crow Jr, Sarah E Stewart Crow, Lydia Crow Walker, Elsie Crow Whiteside; top row: (l to r): Charles Crow, Willis Crow, Nora Crow, Harvey Crow, Alva Crow, Leo Crow; Carrie Crow (insert).

I believe this photo was taken sometime between 1907-1910 as Leo looks to be between 13-15. Carrie would have been living in Nevada, far away from Missouri. I'm sure she was missed by her parents. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. This photo went home to family.

Little Miss Frances Payne

Frances E Payne was born in Holland, Michigan on 16 Sep 1888, the daughter of Frank Ernest Payne and Frances Edmonson Payne. 

In 1900, Frances was living with her parents and siblings, Gertrude (20), Ruby (17) and Marguerite (7) in Polkton, Michigan. I can just imagine the cute 12-year-old playing house, with dolls or even checkers.

Frank was a photographer. His accomplishments and a small biography are listed here: https://clements.umich.edu/files/tinder_directory.pdf on page 1937.

Sadly, Frank passed away in 1908 leaving Mrs. Payne and their children without a father. 

On 17 Jun 1910, Frances was married to Edward Thomas Palmer in Paris, Idaho. How she got there is unknown as I was not able to find her in the 1910 census. 

By 1920, Frances and Edward were the proud parents of Frank Alfred (9), Rex Angus (6), and Marguerite (4). They were living in Thayne, Wyoming where Edward was working on a farm. Frances was a stay-at-home mother. Son Edward Lawrence was born in 1925.

Frances, Edward and the children had moved to Tooele, Utah by 1930 and they lived on S. Main St. Edward was born in Utah and now he was working in the lead mines. During this time, there were quite a few mines around Tooele. I can't imagine how very hard that job must have been.

The depression hit Utah hard. It had the 4th highest unemployment in the United States at 35.8% in 1933. 

In 1934, Francis lost her mother who was 73 years old. A sad time for Frances I'm sure.

Edward Lawrence was the only child still living at home in Sandy, Utah in 1940. Edward continued to work in the mines. Between 1941 - 1959 the couple lived in Salt Lake City, Utah. Edward Lawrence made his parents proud by joining the Navy and fighting in WWII and Korea. 

Like all wives, the loss of Edward in 1973 broke her heart. After 63 years of wedded bliss (and some hard times), the love of her life was gone. Frances moved to Ogden sometime after Edward's death.

Frances died at the age of 97 on 23 Oct 1985. In those 97 years, she was a school teacher while in Michigan. Due to an attack of pneumonia and the fear of TB, she moved to Denver, Colorado to live with her uncle. After the fear of TB passed, she accepted a teaching position in Thayne, Wyoming.

She was an accomplished pianist and had a beautiful singing voice. She was also the organist of the LDS church in her town and gave piano and singing lessons. 

Frances E Payne Palmer was an amazing woman and just about the cutest baby I've ever seen. This photo was sent to her family. 

A life well lived.

Taken in 1889 by her father, Frank E Payne

 

1901900 •Ottawa•O

A Starting Point and Why I Pay-It-Forward

It's been about a decade since I started my real genealogical journey.

My first foray into genealogy was in high school. We had an assignment to do our family tree. Mine was pretty lopsided. My maternal grandfather had a sister who put together a huge family tree book with pictures and all the goodies we look for while doing our genealogy. However, my dad's side just looked like a stick. He was adopted and we only knew the basic who-bore-who for just a couple of generations.

My thought, at the time, was that no one in my family ever did anything exciting or important. Boy was I wrong!

In the fall of 2013, we knew my dad didn't have long to live, so I started the process to find his biological parents. After getting in touch with an attorney in Texas, and jumping through some hoops, I was able to get his records unsealed.

My dad, Jerry Bennett Kidd and me

With a lot of sweat and hours upon hours of computer time, I was able to find his mother's sister-in-law. I got her phone number from her daughter and bless her, she sent me a photo of not only his mother but also one of his grandfather. Unfortunately, the sister-in-law passed about 6 months later from cancer. I will always be grateful to her as long as I live.

By the time this was accomplished, it was nearing November. That only gave me a short period of time before Christmas as I was going to present all the information to him as a gift.

Christmas came and it was a big day. My dad never wanted to know who his birth parents were as he figured they just didn't want him. That was not the case. Now mind you, my dad had a severe stroke 10 years prior and was non verbal. But his mind was still sharp. I put the pictures and genealogical information in a binder to make it easier for him. He looked and looked at it. We don't know if he could read it but I was very glad I could give him a 

piece of his life that he knew nothing about. 

We lost him on Easter Day that next year.

Why I Pay-It-Forward

Several years ago, my husband and I were in an antique store and I ran across some photos with names on the back. I purchased them in hopes of finding someone I could send them to.

I just hate to leave someone else's family sitting in a store (of any kind)! That's a personal motto for me.

The search to see family that you never knew is always on a genealogists mind. I had some good luck in tracking down living relatives and it soon turned into something much more.

Feeling like there were others out there who did the same thing, I started a Facebook group in 2018 called, "From Shrubs To Trees - A Pay-It-Forward Genealogy Group." 

To think that by one simple act of sending someone a photo or a handwritten letter, could give them the greatest joy. To give someone a piece of memorabilia that could affect their family for generations, isn't that really what life is about?

Case in point: I found letters that were written in the 1950s from a soldier to his fiance. They did eventually get married and I was able to track down their daughter who lived in Pennsylvania. I received a lovely email from the daughter stating, "My father had passed some years before and my mother has Alzheimer's. I just want to thank you for giving my mom back a part of her life that had been forgotten."

This is why I give back. You just never know who you might bless. Genealogy is a "giving" hobby.