Up In The Tree – Page 3 of 29 – A Genealogy Adventure

December 6, 2018November 23, 2018

{Treasure Box} Daniel Wise Newspaper Clippings

Daniel Wise (1812-1892) is my 4th great grandfather. We was born and lived in Western Pennsylvania. A few years ago, I found the Butler County Public Library had an online obituary index. You could then contact the library for the original newspaper article. I was surprised to find that Daniel Wise had multiple listings in the index. I was lucky that two references to a lunacy declaration was also included in the index.

The following articles relate to Daniel being judged a lunatic and his hospitalization at Dixmont. Dixmont was the first mental health hospital in Pennsylvania. It was a branch of the West Penn Hospital. Daniel passed away two years later in the hospital. I have sent some emails to try to locate the original court records regarding the lunacy case.

There are some discrepancies in Daniel’s date of death. The article below states it occurred 9 February 1892. His probate papers state he died 18 January 1892. I am hoping that a trip to the Pennsylvania State Archives might include records from Dixmont. Adding another genealogy trip to the list!

Butler Citizen Newspaper, 16 August 1889, page 3, col 4. Butler Area Public Library, Obituary Index, microfilm 14.

Butler Citizen, 24 January 1890, Page 3, column 6. Butler Area Public Library, Obituary Index, microfilm 015.

Butler Citizen, 19 February 1892, page 2. Butler Area Pulblic Library, Obituary Index, microfilm 015.

December 3, 2018November 22, 2018

{Treasure Box} Burial Site of Agnes Mattson

Agnes Mattson (1909-1982) is my husband’s great grandmother. She has an interesting burial story. You can read about Agnes’ many husbands here. You can also read a previous blog post about her grave site here.

Agnes was married to her 7th husband, Pat O’Malley, at the time of her death. Pat was a widow at the time of his marriage to Agnes. The couple had agreed during their marriage on a burial plan. Pat would be buried with is deceased wife. Agnes would be buried with her favorite husband, Donald Frazier.

This past summer the kids and I were driving past Colma, California and decided to make a spur of the moment decision to visit Agnes. Olivet Memorial Park is another very large cemetery. Although we have stopped by before, I could not remember where Agnes was buried. We stopped by the office and received the following maps. The pink area I have highlighted is where Agnes and Don are together.

Agnes Mattson burial site, Section I, Number 178-3, Olivet Memorial Park, Colma, California.

November 29, 2018November 22, 2018

{Treasure Box} Burial Site of William J Dempsey

William J Dempsey (1923-1998) is the brother of my grandmother, Mary Dempsey. His remains were interred at the Riverside National Cemetery.

My grandparents, Mary and Jay Capelli, are interred at the same cemetery. After burying my grandmother last year, we stopped at the kiosks at the administration building. The kiosks are to available to look up and locate the burial site of your family member. These are extremely helpful as this is a very large cemetery. The kiosk will print a map and burial site information for you.

Unfortunately, we were unable to visit Uncle Bill. The columbarium were his ashes are interred was closed to the public as they were doing construction on a new building.

If you are preparing to visit the cemetery (or any military cemetery) the information is also available online at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website.

Dempsey, Bill Burial Site, Section AH, Row G, Site 23, Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside, California.

November 26, 2018November 22, 2018

{Treasure Box} Burial Site Of My Paternal Grandparents

Last year my grandmother, Mary Dempsey (1921-2017) passed away. She was buried with my grandfather, Celio “Jay” Capelli (1914-2009) at the Riverside National Cemetery. While at the cemetery we stopped at the administration building. Outside of the building, there are kiosks available to look up and locate the burial site of your family member. These are extremely helpful as this is a very large cemetery. The kiosk will print a map and burial site information for you.

If you are preparing to visit the cemetery (or any military cemetery) the information is also available online at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website.

Website results for Mary and Jay Capelli

Capelli, Jay and Dempsey, Mary burial site, Section 58A, Site 2692, Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside, California. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator website, https://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/, accessed 22 November 2018.

November 23, 2018November 22, 2018

{Treasure Box} Loretta Palmatier Death Certificate

Loretta Elizabeth Palmatier (January 29, 1887- January 21, 1979) is my husband’s great grandmother. She was married first to Percy Fuller and then to Alexander Fraser. Born in Nebraska, she lived there until moving to Chicago, Illinois in her forties. Her last move was to California to be closer to her children, Marshall and Gwendolyn (June).

I know from talking my mother in law that the family brought Loretta to Novato, California a few weeks before her death because she was sick. Clearlake is about a two hour drive from Novato. Loretta’s daughter and granddaughter were both living in Novato at the time of Loretta’s death.

Fraser, Lauretta Death Certificate (1979), Certificate #79-002411, January 21, 1979, Novato, Marin, California. Department of Health, State of California, Sacramento, California.

November 21, 2018

A Renewed Effort To Digitize My Archive

I live in Northern California. Our geographic area has seen several disastrous fires in the last year. The land my husband’s family has in Hopland had a near miss this past summer. The entire other side of the valley burned as part of the Mendocino Complex Fire. The western side of the valley has burned before and it will again sometime in the future.

One of the biggest lessons in the last year is urban/suburban areas are not immune to fire. Both Santa Rosa and Redding saw how fire does not discriminate cities from rural areas. My family has created a fire evacuation plan. We have boxes ready to load and go with supplies. I also have a list inside one of my kitchen cabinets of other items to grab if I have time when evacuating.

While I would love my genealogy archive to be at the top of that list -realistically my kids, dogs, and husband need to come first. Within my genealogy treasures I have a mental list of how to prioritize what to take. Physical items need to be cataloged and kept in one area so they are easy to grab. Paper items will be at the bottom of the list.

The good news is there is a way to lower my risk of losing my genealogy treasures. I can digitize all of my paper records and keep them in the cloud. I can also photograph all the physical items.

Over the years I have talked about getting this project accomplished. Sadly, I always started and never finished. Instead the pile has slowly grown.

I have been listening to Janine Adams, The Organized Genealogist, new podcast, Getting To Good Enough. I have identified with sooo (yes, all the o’s are needed) many of the episodes. I feel that having a better understanding of why my attempts at my digitization project have not worked will hopefully help me to complete the project this time. My personal favorite episode is about rewarding yourself as you go. I will definitely be implementing this concept!

I will be using a “Treasure” tag at the front of my digitizing blog post names to identify what I am trying to accomplish. I am also using the ClearScanner app on my Android phone to speed up the process. It allows you to identify the edges of a document before you save. Also, I am creating citations but will not be focusing on perfection for each one. Instead my goal is to get enough information included so someone else can follow my research. The punctuation may not be perfect but again, not my goal.

So please, sit back and enjoy all the digitized images coming your way!

November 18, 2018

My First Photo Restoration

Last weekend, while enjoying time in Hopland, California with friends and family, I had an incredible find! Currently, our family is in the fifth generation of staying and playing on this land. My husband’s grandmother was the original family historian on that side of the family. Grandma Shirley left the most incredible treasure trove of documents and photos as part of her legacy. Most of these documents are now in my possession. I have been slowly digitizing them to share with family.

To my surprise, on a trip into the barn, my husband found another (previously unknown) 100+ year old photo. It is a photo of the members of the Star of Finland celebrating 15 years (1896-1911). There are approximately 140 individual photos included. Someone (maybe Agnes Mattson) left markings on the photo to identify her parents (Charles Mattson and Wendla Botmaster, and Uncle and his wife, Matts Mattson). The Star of Finland was a sick benefit society. The information I have found online includes many names from Malax and Solf where my husband’s ancestors immigrated from.

So why does the photo need some love? Unfortunately, being left out in the open in the barn means it was covered in dust and mouse poop. We carefully wrapped the the photo before coming home.

Luckily, my local genealogy society, Marin County Genealogical Society, had Gawain Weaver speak at one of our meetings years ago. Gawain is a photo conservation expert who owns his own conservation studio here in Marin, California.

Since I know very little about photo conservation and this photo is so old, I made the call to Gawain Weaver Art Conservation . After a consultation with Gawain, I contracted with him to clean the photo, make a small fix to a corner, and take high resolution scans.

I am so excited to add this photo to my family archive! After the photo gets some love, I will be sharing it!

Gawain Weaver with Star of Finland photo

June 25, 2018June 20, 2018

Agnes Marie Gingg Newspaper Diary #2

Agnes Marie Mattson is my husband’s great-grandmother. She kept a newspaper clipping diary from 1928-1931. You can read more information about the diary at this link: Diary Prologue.

This clipping, hand dated Feb 1928, refers to Nancy Malone. Nancy was married to Charles Britton Wells (Frank Gingg’s grandparents). Agnes’ first husband was Frank Gingg. I had to check twice to make sure I had the correct person because Charles and Nancy had a daughter named Carrie Bell Wells.

This clipping is full of information to research. I need to follow-up to identify the grand children. I also need to check the Santa Rosa Newspapers for 1881-1885 for any references to the Malone and Wells family.

There is also at least one error in this clipping. The baby was actually a girl. My husband’s grandmother (Shirley Gingg, 1927-2003) was born six months before the visit.

Mrs. C.B. Wells Here On Visit With Relatives

Mrs. C.B. Wells is here for a visit with relatives and is delighted to make the acquaintance of her youngest great grandchild, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gingg of Benton street. Mrs. Wells first came to California shortly after the Civil War and was a resident of Santa Rosa from 1881-1885. The oldest of her grandchildren is thirty-eight years, and the age of her eldest great grandchild is seventeen years.

Mrs Ellen Wells of this city is a relative also. The visitor will spend several weeks here and will renew many old acquaintances.

June 18, 2018June 18, 2018

Agnes Marie Gingg Newspaper Diary #1

Agnes Marie Mattson is my husband’s great-grandmother. She kept a newspaper clipping diary from 1928-1931.

This clipping is about Agnes’ younger brother, Carl (1913-1996). The clipping is hand dated as 1928.

BOY. 15. SAVED FROM DEATH IN RUSSIAN RIVER

Seized with cramps in deep water, Carl Mattson, 15-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. J Long of 2 Wright street, San Francisco, had a narrow escape from drowning yesterday afternoon in the Russian River at Vacation Beach, near Guerneville, when his brother, Albert, 18, and Albert Saaransen, 19, plunged to his rescue.

The boys, who are vacationing on the Russian River, were swimming at the beach. Mattson swam out into deep water and was seized with cramps before he could return to the beach.

He shouted for help and was able to keep afloat after going down once until the other two boys reached him.

He is a brother of Mrs. Frank Gingg, of this city.

This is a google map of of Vacation Beach, California. Carl and Albert most likely visited their sister in Santa Rosa on the way out to their vacation.

June 18, 2018June 18, 2018

Agnes Marie Gingg Newspaper Diary (Prologue)

My husband’s great-grandmother, Agnes Mattson, married Charles Frank Gingg as a young woman. After moving to Santa Rosa, California, Agnes kept a newspaper clipping diary. The diary is a book with lined blank pages. The newspaper clippings were glued onto each page. Many clippings have the month and year written next to the item of interest. The Diary begins in 1928 and ends somewhere about 1931.

From what I can tell, most if not all of the clippings are related to family, friends, or acquaintances of Agnes. I recognize names in 80 percent of the clippings.

I am going to post photos of the newspaper clippings. They offer an interesting insight to the world Agnes lived in.

First page of diary written by Agnes Mattson Gingg

This is a google maps street view of the home the Gingg’s lived in while the diary was created. The home is just north of Downtown Santa Rosa. It sits on an east-west street between downtown and the Santa Rosa Junior College campus.

There was an envelope of photo negatives in the genealogy papers my husband’s Grandma Shirley collected. The outside of the envelope was dated 1933. There were several different types of negatives and based on the age of Grandma Shirley in the photos they were taken anywhere from 1925-1933. I believe this photo of Shirley and Frank Gingg (ca.1932) was taken in front of the home at 485 Benton Street. The shape of the front door stairs and wood porch supports match closely.