Tag: Illinois

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Sunday’s Obituary – Ettie May Palmatier

Etta May Conklin is my husband’s great-great-grandmother.

john to etta conklin

I recently pulled out my husband’s grandmother’s bible to use as an example for how to digitize items using a camera.  To my surprise, from the middle of the bible, fell a couple of newspaper clippings. Big mistake on my part to not check the rest of the bible to see if there were any hidden gems.  At the same time, I am so happy that I did pull out the bible and find these gems!

One of the newspaper clippings was the obituary for Etta Palmatier.  While I do not know the source newspaper or date it was published.  I can make the educated guess it was from Ord, Nebraska.  I will follow-up to see if I can find the exact date it was published.

Etta Palmatier obituary

 

Palmatier Rites Are Held Monday Here

Funeral services were held Monday afternoon for Ettie May Palmatier, 87, who died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Stella Grindey, in Chicago, Friday.

The service was held from the Ord Methodist church, with Rev. Keith Shepherd officiating. Glen Auble was soloist, accompanied by Mrs. Orin Kellison.

Bearers were Wilbur Rogers, Robert Noll, O.E. Patchen, Don Long, Orin Kellison, and Leo Long.

Burial followed in the Ord city cemetery.

Mrs. Palmatier was the daughter of John and Senath Conklin.  She was born May 2, 1868 in Stevensville, N.Y.

August 13, 1884, she was married to Charles A. Palmatier, of Youngsville, N.Y.  The couple came to Valley county, as pioneers.  Their home was in Geranium township for several years. Later the family moved to Ord.  Thirteen children were born to the couple.

Mr.  Palmatier died in 1953. Six children have died.

Mrs. Palmatier was a member of the Ord Methodist church and also a member of the women’s auxiliary of the American Legion here.

Surviving are Lauretta Fraser, Grace Roe, Stella Grindey, Ellery Palmatier, all of Chicago; Marshall Palmatier and Alyce Reed, of California and Edmund Palmatier, of Boise, Idaho.  Fourteen grandchildren, 21 great grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren.

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Follow Friday – Geneseo Public Library, Henry County, Illinois

About 1853 my 4th great-grandparents, John and Margaret Lawbaugh, migrated West from Ohio to Illinois.  They and many of their children settled in and around Geneseo, Illinois.  My 2nd great-grandfather, William Henry Lawbaugh was the next ancestor to leave the area in the late 1880’s.  I have a lot of research I want to do in this town!

I recently found myself at the Geneseo Public Library website.  I will admit I was having a random genealogy tangent moment and was not planning to check this website.  I have been here before and seen the extensive listing of genealogy materials the library holds.  I would love to take a genealogy vacation and hole up in the library to comb the materials.

This time I visited the website, I noticed a link to “digitized local newspaper.”  There are ten city and county newspapers that have been digitized and posted to the website.  The newspapers span 1856-1977!  The best part is that the database is searchable!

I did a search for my family using just the surname Lawbaugh.  The results page includes 211 hits from three newspapers over a 100 year period.  I am so excited about all the research I have on my to-do list!!

If anyone has ancestors from Geneseo, Illinois, I highly suggest visiting the Geneseo Public Library website and taking full advantage of the great resources there.

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Sunday’s Obituary – Sarah J Morris

Sarah Morris is my 3rd great-grandmother.

Me to Sarah J Morris

 

She is another ancestor that I really do not know much about.  I found her obituary at the Kansas State Archives on my trip to Kansas last month.  I feel really lucky to have another great obituary in the paper to learn more about my ancestor.  Along with a lot of personal information about Sarah, the obituary has great descriptions of the grief of the family.

Hudson, Sarah obit

 

Mrs. Sarah J Hudson

Another of La Cygne’s good mothers has passed from this world to her home in heaven.  A family that she has tenderly cared for and nursed to manhood and womanhood is now deep in grief.  The old home that has been one continued pleasure for more than a quarter of a century with a good mother presiding over it is now stilled in the sadness that death brings.

Last Monday afternoon the spirit of Sarah J. wife of Frederick Hudson, departed this life and went to claim the reward in heaven that is promised to all good women.   Mrs. Hudson had been in poor health for some time and while it really could be no surprise that the silver cord of life should sever at the ripe old age the deceased had attained, yet even with that possibility the friends and relatives were unprepared to meet the crisis.  To take  from the home the mother who has been its guardian for so many years is something that is hard to temper the heart to forego.

Sarah J. Morris was born in Pike county, Illinois, August 6, 1835; she was married to Frederick Hudson December 30, 1855 and they removed to Kansas the winter of 1880 where they have resided ever since.  In the sixteenth year of her life the deceased joined the Christian church and has been a worker for the Lord ever since.  She leaves a husband, and seven children who are W.B. Hudson of Kansas City, Mrs. W.H. Lawbaugh of Wellington, Kansas, Mrs. F.H.  Howard, Mrs. Chas. Moore, Mrs. L. H. Hetzer, and Ralph and George Hudson all of this place to mourn her death.  Two brothers, Samuel Morris of Dallas, Texas and Geo. Morris of Pittsburgh, Kansas also survive.

Funeral services were held at the family home in the south part of town on Wednesday morning at 10 o’clock by Elder R.A. Odenweller of Pleasanton.  His remarks were very beautiful and he pictured the kind and loving woman who had fought life’s battles to the end and through it all maintained a sweet friendship for all.  After the ceremony at the home the large concourse of grief stricken friends interred the body of the departed on in the Oak Lawn cemetery.

 The La Cygne Weekly Journal, La Cygne, Kansas, 8 April 1904, Page 1, Column 3

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Sunday’s Obituary – Frederick Hudson of La Cygne, Kansas

Frederick Hudson is my 3rd great grand father on my maternal side.

Sierra 3rd Great Grandpa

I found this obituary at the Kansas State Archives last weekend.  I was so excited to find an obituary that offered so much information!  Definitely another dancing at the microfilm reader moment.  You know you are among friends when other researchers do not look at you funny but instead smile at your victory dance.  My favorite part of the obituary is the description of the moments when Fred passed away.  La Cygne is pronounced La Scene.  Thank you to my Kansas cousins for teaching me this!!

 

Old Citizen Passes Away

Fred Hudson died at his home in the south part of town Tuesday evening.  He had been a resident of La Cygne since 1880 and had an active part in building the town.  Bricklayer and plasterer by trade, soon after coming here he started a brick yard and began manufacturing brick.  Most of the brick buildings in town are built with the Hudson brick.  Because of failing health Mr. Hudson quit active work several years ago.

Frederick Hudson was born in Scalford, Leicestershire, England, August 22, 1834, and died in La Cygne, Kan., May 22, 1923, at the age of 88 years and 9 months.

When about nine years of age he came with his parents to America, making the voyage in a sail ship.  Landing at New Orleans he traveled up the Mississippi River to Illinois, where he grew to manhood and worked with his father at the bricklaying and plastering trade which he followed so many years.

He was married to Sarah G Morris at Milton, Ill., on December 30, 1855.  To this union were born ten children, four of whom are still living and were with him when the end came.  With his family he moved to La Cygne, January 1, 1880 and since the death of his wife, 19 years ago he has made his home with his son Ralph and family who have cared for him so devotedly, sparing no pains to make his life as pleasant as it was possible to do.  Two or three years ago he suffered a stroke of paralysis but recovered sufficiently to be around most of the time, until last Friday morning when he had a serious attack and never fully regained consciousness.  He made a confession of religion in his early manhood and later united with the Christian church at La Cygne during Rev. Irwin’s meetings several years ago and was one of the deacons of the church for some time, but owing to his age and failing health he had not been very active in church work in late years.

He was an honest, upright citizen, honorable in all his dealings, a good neighbor, a devoted husband, a kind and loving father and a friend to those in need.  He bore his sufferings patiently with never a murmur or complaint, and after a life of usefulness he passed peacefully away just as the sun was sinking to rest, and when the spirit was taking its flight he quietly laid his hands down as though he had finished his work and passed to his reward.  His wife and two sons, W.B. and George H., and one daughter, Mrs. Belle Howard preceded him in death several years ago; also three children died in infancy.

He leaves one son, Ralph, of La Cygne; three daughters, Mrs. Clem Lawbaugh of Wellington, Mrs. Minnie Hetzer and Mrs. Sytha Moore of Parker, eighteen grand children, eight great-grandchildren and a host of relatives and friends to mourn his loss.

Funeral services were conducted by Rev. Boyer at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Hudson and the body was laid to rest in Oak LawnCemetery.

Those from out of town for the funeral were: Mr. and Mrs. C.A. Moore and children and Mr. and Mrs. L.H. Hetzer of Parker; Mrs Clem Lawbaugh and son of Wellington; Mrs. Ida Hudson, Mrs, Irvin Wagner and Mrs. Hazel Smith of Kansas City; Fred Moore of Miami Station, Mo.

KansasState Archives
Microfilm L20: La Cygne Journal, July 1, 1921-June 27, 1924
The La Cygne Journal, La Cygne, Kansas
Friday, 25 May 1923
Page 2, column 1

 

 

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Genealogy Jackpot!

In the middle of April I traveled to Northern Virginia to visit with my parents.  While there, I made a deal that I would help my mom with some computer issues and in return she would watch my kids for a day so I could visit the Daughters of the American Revolution Library.

For me, the day spent in the library was like riding a rainbow and finding the jackpot of genealogy gold at the other end.   I arrived with a four page list of books I wanted to look at.  All day I was making finds and shoring up research I have already completed.  I would have been happy with the information I found in the first five hours of the day.  I had no idea the day was going to get even better.

I wanted to end the day with further research on my Lawbaugh line.  As part of my research I have already checked online trees to get clues where I needed to look.  I had a feeling that I could connect my Lawbaughs via Kansas, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania to Johannes Laubach.  Even with the online information, I want to conduct my own research for originals to prove my hypothesis.  I currently have research completed for my line up to William Lawbaugh (1823-1896) m. Lydia Ummel.  I have collected death certificates, obituaries, and cemetery information for the family.  My research log has finding marriage and birth information for both of them next on the list.

The jackpot moment at DAR came just after 3pm.  I made my way over to the Seimes Technology Center to look up a book called “An Ancestor To Remember: Johannes Laubach (Labach-Lawbaugh 1728-1808) of Chester County, Penna.” by Mrs. William T. Alston.  I had found the book in the online catalog during my pre-visit research.  The librarian in the room helped me to find the scanned book in the digital collection.  She was concerned because I had under an hour left in the day to get through an 170 page book.  I was almost immediately excited because the index listed names in order of descendent and the page numbers they would be found on.  I quickly found my William Lawbaugh and realized I only needed to get through the first 55 pages of the book.  I started hitting the print button on each page in case I ran out of time.  I plan on going back and looking at the rest of the book on another visit.

I had a couple of moments where I had to shut my mouth to not scream in delight.  Instead I was punching my fists into the air like a boxer with a punching bag!  Not only did this book list my William Lawbaugh and his direct line to Johannes Laubach, it also included his descendants including my mother! There are lots of photos of important cemetery markers and photocopies of church records. The most important is the author included her sources.  I have a road map to follow on my own research!

It still gets even better.  The reference librarian was scanning the pages I was printing and  mentioned to me that I should run back over to the Library room to pull a book by Stassburger/Hinke.  The book was listed as one of the author’s sources for date of arrival in Pennsylvania.  With just 15 minutes before closing, I rushed back over and went straight to the reference librarian to get assistance to find the book.  As I quickly flipped to the pages for my ancestor Johannes Laubach, I realized that this book contained signatures of people who arrived in the British Colonies from Germany.  Upon arriving in the British Colonies, passengers were required to sign an oath to England and an oath of abjuration for Germany.

I have the signature of my ancestor who was born in 1728 and arrived in Pennsylvania on the Two Brothers on September 15, 1748!!!  Holy Genealogy Jackpot!!  Even now, a month later, I am giddy with excitement about this find.  I have to give a huge shout out to the librarians at the DAR Library.  I would have missed this jackpot if they were not so knowledgeable about the library collections. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Laubach signature

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Sunday’s Obituary – Lydia Ummel Lawbaugh

Lydia Ummel is one of my maternal great-great-great-grandmothers.

Lawbaugh to Lydia Ummel

This obituary is one of the best I have ever seen.  Not only does it tell me where she lived, it gives a death date, cause of death, madien name, birthplace, number of siblings, migration information, marriage information, and what church she attended.  I wish all obituraries held so many clues!!

 

Geneseo Republic
Geneseo, Henry, Illinois
March 18, 1898
Page 4, Column 1

Mrs. Lydia Lawbaugh, widow of the late Wm Lawbaugh, died at her home, corner of Second and Stewart streets, at noon Tuesday, March 15th, 1898, of heart trouble from whjch [sic] she had been suffering for  over 20 years.  The maiden name of the deceased was Lydia Ummel.  She was born in Juinata county, Pa., Aug. 21st, 1823, being one of a family of five children all but one of whom, as sister who resides at Spokane, Wash., are now dead.  Deceased moved to West Salem, O., in 1832, and Nov. 22d, 1849, was married there to her late husband whose death occurred Feb. 17th, 1896.  She leaves two children, Mrs. Miles, of this city, who has cared for her since Mr. Lawbaugh’s death, and William J., of southern Kansas.  Deceased moved to Henry county in 1854, and in 1862 settled in this city, which has since been her home.  She united with the Evangelical Association church fifty-seven years ago, and in her daily life was an exemplay [sic] christian.  She leaves many warm friends, especially in her church circle, who sincerely mourn her death.  Funeral service was conducted at her late home Thursday at 2 p.m. and her body was laid beside that of her husband.

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Census Sunday – The 1940 Indexes Are Here

Most people know that the 1940 U.S. Census was released on April 2nd.  At the time of its release, there was no index for the census.  You had to search by enumeration district to find your family members.  I was able to find most of the family on my ‘most wanted’ list.  There were a couple of families on my husband’s side that had to wait for an index because they had no known address for 1940.

After the census was released, I helped with transcribing efforts by participating at FamilySearch.org.  This was the crowd-sourcing effort to index the census for free.  There was also a simultaneous effort taking place at Ancestry.com.  The indexing at Ancestry.com was outsourced to several companies located outside of the United States.

This week Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org both announced that the transcribing has been completed.  FamilySearch has most states up and ready to search.  The remaining states are completed and will finish a quality check before they are posted to the Internet in the next couple of weeks.  Ancestry.com has all states ready to search on their website.  Both sites offer free access to the 1940 census.

I took a spin yesterday on the Ancestry.com index in an effort to find my husband’s Chicago area relatives.  Up first was the Radvany family living in Whiting, Indiana.  I searched using the last name and the location.  They were the first family listed in the search results.  I will post their individual census record on another Sunday.

The second family I wanted to locate includes my husband’s grandmother.  I knew this search would be a little tricky.  Gwendolyn (June) Fuller and her mother, Loretta, moved to Chicago after Loretta divorced June’s father.  Sometime between 1930 and 1940, Loretta was married a second time to Alexander Fraser.  I knew that there could be a lot of last name variables when looking for this family.  I was unable to locate the family by searching for a mix of first names and last names.  I then tried using variations of Fraser but still no luck.  My next plan of attack was to search using the first names for mother/daughter or spouse/spouse.  Bingo!  Using the location and first names only for Loretta and Alex*, I found them transcribed with the last name Troger.  I have already added name variations to this family.  I cannot fault the transcriber for this entry.  The census enumerator did not have very clear handwriting.  In fact, if I had transcribed this page I would have gotten it wrong also.

I will be interested to see how Grandma June is indexed in FamilySearch.org.  Illinois is one of the states that still needs to be posted on that website so I will have to wait a couple of weeks.

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Mystery Monday – Where did Catherine Bradley die?

I am still on the hunt for the death records and probate for Catherine (Carey) Bradley.  She is the mother of Mary Eugenia Bradley, my great-great-grandmother.  There is a family story that states Catherine is not the biological mother of Mary.  I have been trying to prove or disprove this story.  You can read my previous posts: Mystery Monday – Who was Mary Bradley’s Mother and Mystery Monday – Mary Bradley Update.

My last plan of action was to:

  • find death records including death certificate, obituary, and probate records for Catherine Bradley.
  • research Mary’s siblings (Walter, Norbert, and Charles)
  • search the 1870 census to identify any Udell’s living in LaSalle County, Illinois

Since that last post, I have done some research in the first two bullet points.  I thoroughly searched the Cook County, Illinois death records on Ancestry.com, Familysearch.org, and the Illinois State Death Index for variations of Catherine or Kate Bradley.  There were many results but none appear to be my Catherine.

The last place that I can identify Catherine as living is the 1910 census.  She is living with her oldest son, Walter and his family in Chicago, Cook, Illinois.  Her age is listed as 70.

Since I hit a another wall, I moved on to locating more information about Mary’s brothers starting with Walter.  Unfortunately, Walter passed in 1912 from a brain aneurysm.  I tried to find his wife, Hannah, and their 4 children (Eugene, Margaret, Walter, and Bernadette) in the 1920 census but have been unable to do so.  I have been playing with just listing first names and relationships but this has not worked yet.  I do not know if Hannah remarried after Walter’s death.  I would like to find the family to see if Catherine was still alive and living with them in 1920.

I moved on to Mary’s younger brothers.  I believe that I have found them living in Texas and Nebraska in the 1910, 1920, and 1930 census.  Catherine is not listed as living with either of them in these census enumerations.

So where did Catherine die? and when did she die?  In order to help myself see the bigger picture, I created a timeline for Catherine with all of the information I know about her.  I am glad to have the timeline but it did not produce any “wow” moments.  Catherine had lived in Chicago for 25 years at the time of Walter’s death.  It is hard to imagine her moving but you never know.

My updated research plan is to find an obituary for Walter Bradley in 1912.  Hopefully, it will list more information about his immediate family and if his mother survived him.  I will also try to locate a marriage record for Hannah Bradley to see if she remarried.

The search continues…

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Mystery Monday – Mary Bradley Update

Mary Bradley is my 2nd great grandmother.  She was born 18 December 1867 in La Salle County, Illinois.  Her father was Charles Bradley.  Her mother is up for debate.  The death certificate for Mary states that Catherine Carey is her mother.  Stories passed down in my family state that Catherine is not her biological mother.  The story continues that Mary was forced on Catherine by her new husband, Charles.  I have written a blog post Mystery Monday – Who was Mary Bradley’s mother? to summarize what I already know.

I sent an inquiry to the Catholic Church, St. Columba to see if they had any birth or baptismal records for Mary Bradley.  This is the church that Charles Bradley and Catherine Carey were married at 31 days before Mary was born.

In my email inbox on Tuesday was a reply!  I was excited to hear a response since I sent my letter several months ago.  Unfortunately, there are no records of Mary Bradley.  The wonderful woman who assisted me looked in a multi-year range from 1865-1874 but was unable to find anything.  She did confirm the 18 November 1867 marriage of Charles and Catherine.

So there is still on answer to who is Mary Bradley’s mother.  I need to make a plan of attack for further research.  First, I need to look into what other records are available in La Salle county, Illinois.  There may be something I missed the first time around.  I also want to find the death records for Catherine (Carey) Bradley in Chicago.  This includes her death certificate, obituary, and any probate records filed in the county.  Also on the list is more research on Mary’s brothers, Walter, Norbert, and Charles.  It might be wise to move sideways instead of up in this case.  I may also do a search to see if anyone with the last name Udell was living in La Salle county in or around the 1860’s.  That is a shot is the dark so it is low priority.