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Sympathy Sunday: Madeleine Hoffmann

Posted on by spuddled

Our 11th recurring theme for 2026 is Sympathy Sunday, so you can assume this post will be at least somewhat depressing. In past years I’ve highlighted a “sympathy” theme from time to time, though in those instances I wasn’t always posting on Sundays, so it was actually Sympathy Saturday. Of course, I also had Funeral Card Friday, Sunday’s Obituary, Tombstone Tuesday…

Anyway, we are directing today’s sympathy at my second great-grandaunt, Madeleine Hoffmann. She was born 9 May 1839 in Mackwiller, Alsace, France. She was the daughter of Nicolas and Marie Madeleine (Freyermuth) Hoffmann and was the fourth of nine children born to them. She was born three years after Jacob Hoffmann, our emigrant ancestor.

Her civil birth record confirms her birthdate and place, though it suggests the spelling of her first name may actually have been Madelaine. It further notes that she was born at 7 a.m., the legitimate daughter of Nicolas Hoffmann, aged 38, a journalier or day laborer and of Madelaine Freyermuth, 30. The two witnesses who came forward to confirm the details regarding Madelaine’s birth were Chrétien Friederich, a 35-year-old weaver, and Nicolas Bach, a 30-year-old day laborer. Chrétien’s wife, Marie Elisabeth Hoffmann, was Madelaine’s paternal aunt. Marie Elisabeth and Nicolas’s mother was named Caroline Bach, so it seems likely Nicolas Bach was a relative as well.1

Sadly, the next information I have for Madelaine is her death record from 1842. This record confirms her death took place at 8 a.m. on 6 June 1842 in Mackwiller and that she was three years old. Her parentage details are repeated here: her father Nicolas Hoffmann was now 43 and a day laborer, listed as born in Mackwiller. Her mother Madelaine was 37 and was born in Weyer. There were again two witnesses. The first this time was Charles Freyermuth, 37, a stonemason. He is listed as a neighbor of Madelaine, though it seems plausible he may also have been a relative since he and Madelaine’s mother both shared the Freyermuth surname. The second witness was Martin Faess (if my paleography skills are holding up). He was a 49-year-old weaver, and AI tells me that the blurry word describing his relationship to Madelaine is actually oncle (“uncle”).2

I’ll have to keep researching to see where he fits into the family tree (assuming AI knows what it’s talking about here). Especially since the very next record in the Mackwiller registre de décès (death register) is for a Marguerithe Faess, aged 11, the daughter of this same Martin Faess and his wife Marguerithe Anthony, who died exactly two weeks after Madelaine.

These records for both girls are bittersweet. Since both died so young, they would not have had any descendants or a larger impact on society by which they would be remembered, but because these records do exist, we can at least commemorate them here in a small way.

  1. Registres paroissiaux et documents d’état civil de la commune de Mackwiller > Etat civil > Registres d’état civil > Naissances > 1826-1852 ↩︎
  2. Registres paroissiaux et documents d’état civil de la commune de Mackwiller > Etat civil > Registres d’état civil > Décès > 1824-1846 ↩︎

Ahnentafel Number: Carl Ozro Wilson, #10

Posted on by spuddled

Our next theme, for this 10th Sunday of the year, is Ancestors by Ahnentafel Number. What in the heck, you might ask, is an ahnentafel number? In which case, you may have been asking yourself this question for a long time since it’s emblazoned across the top of my website. Wikipedia provides the following:1

An ahnentafel (German for “ancestor table”; German: [ˈʔaːnənˌtaːfəl]) or ahnenreihe (“ancestor series”; German: [ˈʔaːnənˌʁaɪə]) is a genealogical numbering system for listing a person’s direct ancestors in a fixed sequence of ascent.

What this means in practical terms is that every direct ancestor in my family tree is assigned a number. Most genealogy software programs will helpfully spit out reports or pedigree charts that automatically assign ahnentafel numbers depending on who you assign as the “home person” (or person #1) in your tree. From there, that person’s father becomes their number doubled (#2); their mother becomes their number doubled plus 1 (#3). That pattern continues throughout; your paternal grandfather becomes #4, the paternal grandmother #5, the maternal grandfather is #6, and the maternal grandmother #7, and so on.

So here we are on the tenth Sunday of 2026, taking a look at #10 in my ahnentafel numbering system: my great-grandfather, Carl Ozro Wilson. Carl has shown up in this blog a number of times previously; if you ever want to quickly find prior entries for a particular family member, you can take a look at the Subject Index. In Carl’s case, the index links to two blog posts that had at least some focus on him; one discussed his marriage, and the other his obituary. There is also this excellent article written by our cousin David Johnson about Carl and Sophie (Roberg) Wilson.

Because Carl has already received some air time here, I’m not going to give a full narrative rundown of his life but will instead focus on a few highlights. Photos are always a good starting point. This first one shows Carl (standing on the left) with four siblings. Carl was born 8 February 1885 in Creighton, Nebraska. In the back are Maud Ethel, born 1881, and Jerry Erving, born 1884. The baby perched on the table is Pearl Ethel, born 1892, and at the bottom right is Carolyne B., born 1889. I’ve never noticed before but now feel compelled to ask rhetorically: did Maud and Pearl really both have Ethel as a middle name? Anyway…

Eldest 5 children of Wellington and Lucinda Wilson

Some 14 years later the next photo was taken, a wedding portrait of Carl and Sophie.

Then, around 1920, this one, showing Sophie and Carl along with baby Mildred Genevieve (born 1919), Ozro Willie (born 1911), Pearl Jeanette (born 1912), my grandmother Blanche Agnes (born 1908), and Clarence Salmer (born 1915).

Finally I have an undated photo purported to be of Carl (in the dark jacket) picking corn. Who is that child with him?

Again, rather than reiterate what has already been captured here, I’ll include some geographical highlights from Carl’s life:

  • 8 February 1885: born Creighton, Nebraska
  • 1900 census: Lincoln, Nebraska
  • 13 March 1907: married Sophie Roberg in Boone County, Nebraska
  • 1907-1915: lived in Newman Grove, Nebraska
  • 1910 census: Midland, Nebraska
  • 1920 census: Mellette County, South Dakota
  • 1929-1939: Wood, South Dakota (managed restaurant/liquor store)
  • 1930 census: Wood, South Dakota
  • 10 June 1939: dies of heart attack in Wood, South Dakota (found dying in his liquor store/restaurant)
  • 13 June 1939: buried at Winner Cemetery, Winner, South Dakota

There you have it – a quick recap of the life of Carl Ozro Wilson, ahnentafel #10. If you want more details, or if you want an ahnentafel report of your own, just let me know. I’m happy to oblige.

  1. Wikipedia contributors, “Ahnentafel,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ahnentafel&oldid=1313256358 (accessed March 7, 2026). ↩︎

Census Sunday: Ancestors in 1801 Norway

Posted on by spuddled

This week’s new theme (because I love alliteration) is Census Sunday. And while I could choose from a multitude of U.S. census records, for this one I’m going to travel to our Norwegian homeland and the 1801 census that took place there. The Digitalarkivet, available online from the National Archives of Norway, has proven to be invaluable in filling out some of our family tree branches. Here are two examples.

First up are my 5G-grandparents, Jacob Arnesen and Ingeborg (Eliasdatter) Rodberg. In 1801 they were living in Innvik, in the Sogn og Fjordane area of Norway.1 The household was on the Rodberg farm. What looks to us like a surname was in fact the name of the farm where the family lived, though often this name did become a family’s chosen surname after emigration to America. In 1801 that household consisted of:

  • Jacob Arnesen, 46
  • Ingebor Eliasdtr, 44
  • Pernille Jacobsdtr, 17
  • Dorthe Jacobsdtr, 9
  • Mari Jacobsdtr, 5
  • Arne Arnesen, 27
  • Dorthe Andersdtr, 72

My Norwegian skills are nonexistent, but the Digitalarkivet provides a handy transcription of the Norwegian text, and I can Google. There is also this useful Norwegian vocabulary list provided by FamilySearch. With these tools, we learn that Jacob was the “husbonde,” or head of household and a “bonde og gaardbeboer,” or farmer and farm dweller. He is marriage to Ingeborg was a first marriage for both. Pernille, Dorthe, and Mari were all children of Jacob and Ingeborg; all were single.

Arne Arnesen, as you might expect from the fact that both he and Jacob used the patronymic “Arnesen,” was Jacob’s brother. His occupation, abbreviated “Nat. soldat,” indicates he was part of the area’s militia. Last in the household was Dorthe Andersdatter. She is listed as Jacob’s mother, and her marital status description, “enke efter 2det ægteskab,” indicates she had been married twice but was now a widow. Her occupation is listed as “inderste,” which apparently means something like a roomer.

Interestingly, my direct ancestor, Arne Jacobson Rodberg, born between Pernille and Dorthe, was not living at home with his parents and siblings but with Andersen Pedersen and Kari Andersdatter. He was fourteen and working as a “tienere,” or servant. Arne would marry Martha Jonsdatter Stauri in 1816, and they would have a daughter named Synneve Arnesdatter. Synneve, who has been mentioned here before, would marry Svend Arnesen Røberg in 1851, and they would be the parents of our immigrant ancestor Anders Mathis (Svendsen), who would take on the surname Roberg in the new country.

Where were Svend Arnesen Røberg’s ancestors in 1801? His mother, Ingeborg Svensdatter, had been born in 1798. Her family was living in the same Innvik parish as Jacob; their household consisted of the following individuals:

  • Svend Larsen, 39
  • Mari Christensdatter, 43
  • Ingebor Svensdatter, 2
  • Siri Svensdatter, 1
  • Jon Olsen, 18
  • Ole Olsen, 13
  • Baarni Olsdatter, 22

Some more fancy Googling reveals additional details. Svend’s marriage to Mari was his second, though this was Mari’s first marriage. Mari appears to have children by a man named Ole, however, as Jon Olsen, Ole Olsen, and Baarni Olsdatter are listed as Svend’s stedbørn, or stepchildren. Like Jacob, Svend was listed as a farmer and farm-dweller. Ingeborg and Siri, ages 2 and 1, are obviously “ugivt,” or single. The farm name I have seen listed for Svend in some sources is Fjellkarstad, but daughter Ingeborg would marry Arne Andersen from the Aland farm in 1824, and their son Svend would take on the Røberg farm/surname. I think my head is starting to spin.

  1. https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/census/person/pf01058410000551 ↩︎

On This Day: Swift-McDonald Wedding

Posted on by spuddled

Our next recurring theme is a return to an old one. All through 2024, my posts centered on events that had taken place on that same date in earlier years. So today we’re taking a look at the wedding of Martha Harriett McDonald, my second cousin five times removed, to Frank Swift. As an aside, it was also on this day in in 1883 that my great-grandfather, Charles William Montgomery, married Laura Maud Walker in a double wedding ceremony in Richland County, Illinois, in which his sister, Hattie F., married Martin V. West.

First, a little background on Martha. Born 15 August 1848 in Mackville, Washington County, Kentucky, she was the twelfth child of James and Martha Shepherd (Peter) McDonald.1 Her mother was 47 when she was born, and her oldest sibling was 28. In 1850 the family was enumerated in Washington County and consisted of James, 52, a farmer with real estate valued at $5520; “Patsy,” 50; Dewitt, 21; M. J., 19; Marcus, 16; Joseph, 14; Josephine, 12; Maria, 10; Alice, 8; and Martha, 2.2 Older siblings Richard, Milly, Martin, and James had either left home already or, in the case of Martin, died in infancy.

Sometime before 1860 the family moved to California. In that year they were enumerated in Sacramento.3 James died five years later and is buried in Woodlawn Memorial Park in Colma, having been moved there from the Masonic Cemetery in San Francisco sometime in the 1940s.4 Another five years after that, on 22 February 1870, Martha married Frank Swift at the home of her brother, M. J. McDonald, in San Francisco; she was 21, and he was 22.

The San Francisco Call Bulletin; 25 February 1870, pg. 3

I’m tempted to leave the story there with a happy wedding, and the attendance of both newlyweds at a St. Patrick’s Day Ball in Sacramento a month later.5 But instead I’ll move on to sadder things. Frank and Martha would have two children, both of whom died young. Jasper McDonald Swift was born 18 May 1871 in Sacramento and died 21 September 1874. Florence Swift was born 23 January 1873 and died in May 1877. Of cold consolation is the fact that Martha did not have to experience either loss; she herself died on 1 June 1874 in San Francisco, aged 25. And Frank predeceased Florence, dying on 6 January 1877, about four months before his daughter. Funerals for both Jasper and Martha were held from the family residence at 534 Ellis Street, San Francisco. A history of the McDonald family references Martha’s death “in her child-bed,” suggesting she may have been expecting a third child in 1874 and died of complications.6 Causes of death for the rest of the family remain a mystery. The family history also refers to Frank as a “handsome, successful, and popular young man.” Corroborating this account is the fact that when his will was probated, his estate was valued at $80,000.7 This would be worth roughly $2 million today.

  1. J. Harvey Sweeney, Jr., Moses Sweeney Descendants (n.p: 2006, n.d). ↩︎
  2. The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Washington, Kentucky; Roll: 221; Page: 154a ↩︎
  3. The National Archives in Washington D.C.; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M653; Residence Date: 1860; Home in 1860: Sacramento Ward 4, Sacramento, California; Roll: M653_63; Page: 562; Family History Library Film: 803063 ↩︎
  4. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/120527749/james-mcdonald: accessed February 21, 2026), memorial page for Col James McDonald (16 Dec 1797–16 Mar 1865), Find a Grave Memorial ID 120527749, citing Woodlawn Memorial Park, Colma, San Mateo County, California, USA; Maintained by Nancy Farmer (contributor 49834495). ↩︎
  5. The Sacramento Bee, 19 March 1870, pg. 2 ↩︎
  6. Supplement No. 1 to Edition B of the Macdonald Genealogy. Containing Records of the Descendants of Jesse Peter, One of the Pioneer Settlers Near Mackville, Washington County, Kentucky; Together With A Few Remarks on the Early History of the Peter Family, and Whatever Other Information of Value Concerning This Branch of the Name Could Be Collected Up to Feb. 25, 1880; Author: McDonald, Frank V. (Frank Virgil), 1852-1897 ↩︎
  7. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144482560/frank-swift: accessed February 21, 2026), memorial page for Frank Swift (30 Oct 1847–6 Jan 1877), Find a Grave Memorial ID 144482560, citing Woodlawn Memorial Park, Colma, San Mateo County, California, USA; Maintained by Douglas Robinson (contributor 46999364). ↩︎

Heirloom Highlight: the Camellia Dishes

Posted on by spuddled

This week’s theme is a slight departure from the usual doom and gloom. Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll be back to the depressing soon enough. But first, I wanted to incorporate a theme intended to explore some of the many heirlooms with which I am surrounded. To my knowledge, none of the heirlooms have significant monetary value, but all are priceless.

For our first Heirloom Highlight, I’m taking a closer look at a set of dishes I inherited from Grandma Hoffmann. The “Camellia Dishes” are a set that Grandma had for as long as I can remember and always brought out for holiday dinners. Mom, also, when I interviewed her and Dad based on questions found in To Our Children’s Children by Bob Greene and D.G. Fulford, included the camellia dishes as one of her memories of her childhood kitchen, noting Grandma had had the dishes “for a long time.” The earliest photos I’ve found of the dishes (so far) are from 1970. Here is one taken before digging in to the holiday meal, and one after. Grandma seems very startled in the latter.

I don’t know exactly when Grandma acquired the dishes, nor whether she purchased the entire set at once or piece-by-piece over time, but I have learned something of their general history. A quick reverse image search of the maker’s mark led me to the W. S. George Pottery Company and the (sure enough) Camellia pattern, which often used the Bolero shape. The Bolero shape refers to scalloped edging that appears on some of the pieces.

The W. S. George Pottery Company was founded in 1904, with plants eventually in East Palestine, Ohio, and in Canonsburg and Kittanning, Pennsylvania. The company would close in 1960 after having gone bankrupt in 1955.1 Vintage ads for W. S. George wares can be found on the Laurel Hollow Park website; these include other patterns using the Bolero shape, but not our friend the Camellia. Etsy, eBay, and Replacements.com all include Camellia dishes for sale, but I don’t think any new additions could compare to the originals that have been used by family over the years. Not to mention I don’t think there’s much room left in the china cabinet.

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._S._George_Pottery_Company ↩︎

Morbid Curiosity: The Tragic Death of Edith Baker, et al.

Posted on by spuddled

This week’s theme is “Morbid Curiosity,” although doesn’t that really describe most of these entries? Anyway, our focus for this one is Edith Elizabeth Baker, my fourth cousin twice removed. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on 13 November 1922, she was the third great-granddaughter of my fifth great-grandparents, John and Mary (Simpkins) Furrow. She was the third child of Horace Madison and Rebecca “Beckie” (Reeves) Baker, with older sisters Hazel Marie and Florence Marguerite. When Edith was born, her father was 42 and a fireman; her mother was 28. She was born at home, at 306 S Woodrow Street in Little Rock.1

In 1930 the family was enumerated in the same house on Woodrow Street. Horace was listed as a railroad engineer, 48 years old. “Rebeca” was 38, Hazel 12, Florence 9, and Edith 7.2 The tragedy that struck the family came six months later; information can be gleaned from newspaper articles as well as Edith’s death certificate. The latter notes her date of death as 15 October 1930 and states she died at 5th and Booker Streets in Little Rock, the result of an automobile accident. The certificate also notes that an inquisition was held, and that Edith was buried on 17 October at Roselawn Cemetery.3

A more detailed account of the accident is provided by contemporary newspaper articles. The Jonesboro [Arkansas] Evening Sun of 16 October 1930 describes how Edith and her father were walking next to the curb on a street which had no sidewalk. Drivers of two cars, approaching at an intersection, realized they were about to collide, and swerved. The cars struck one another and spun. One of the cars pinned Horace and Edith against a telephone pole. Edith’s head and chest were crushed, while her father’s left leg, collar bone, and possibly his skull, were fractured. He had still not regained consciousness by the time the article went to press.

The drivers, along with witnesses including one physician, tended to the wounded, although Edith was dead on arrival at the Baptist State Hospital. The news article revealed also that the driver whose car pinned Horace and Edith against the telephone pole was J. E. Garrison, a Little Rock Police Department patrolman, and the driver of the other car was D. R. Fones, secretary of the Little Rock School Board. Patrolman Garrison was immediately suspended pending further review, and both men were released on a $1000 bond, charged with manslaughter. The investigation appears to have proceeded quickly. By 18 October, three days after Edith’s death, the Southwest American of Fort Smith, Arkansas, was reporting that both Garrison and Fones had been exonerated of criminal negligence.

Life went on for the Baker family, as it does, though there is still more tragedy to come. Still in Little Rock in 1940 in the house on S Woodrow, the household consisted of Horace, Rebecca, and Florence, along with nieces Marjorie and Maxine Baker, and a granddaughter named Reba Sue Baker.4 Reba, as we shall see, was the daughter of eldest daughter Hazel, though I’m not sure where Hazel was in 1940 or 1950. By 1950 the household had shrunk once more, now consisting just of Horace, Rebecca, and their granddaughter, now listed by her full name, Rebecca Sue.5 Interestingly, they are still at the same address, which means either this Zillow record is incorrect, or the Baker family had a new house built in 1945 to replace the one they’d lived in since at least 1922.

Horace would live another six years, dying on 26 April 1956 of uremia and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.6 His wife died 30 March 1963 of coronary thrombosis and coronary sclerosis (at least I think that’s what it says).7 Returning to the vanishing Hazel, though I haven’t found her marriage record, I did find a record of her divorce from a J. C. Camp on in November 1950. The decree notes that no children were affected by the decree, suggesting Rebecca was not his daughter.8

Nine years after the divorce, the second tragedy would strike, but the groundwork was laid in 1952. On 3 January of that year in Faulkner, Arkansas, Rebecca (the younger) married Jimmie R. Scott. She was 18, and he was 22.9 The following year the young couple had a daughter, Sue Ellen.10 Daughter Norma Jo was born sometime around the middle of 1957, and Charlotte Jean followed around September 1958. Apparently it was not a happy household, however, as by January 1959 Rebecca had filed for divorce, with Jimmie also seeking custody of the children. Again, details are provided by newspaper and death records.

On 5 January Jimmie, Rebecca, Sue Ellen, and Charlotte were in downtown Little Rock. Norma does not appear to have been with them. The foursome had visited a doctor’s office in “the busy Donaghey Building.” Jimmie left the doctor’s office first, then waited for Rebecca, who was carrying Charlotte, in a stairwell. When Rebecca reached him, her estranged husband pushed her into the stairwell, pulled out a gun and began firing at Rebecca before turning the gun on himself. Luckily, neither Sue Ellen nor Charlotte were physically injured, although both witnessed the attack.11

Rebecca’s death certificate, which lists her father as a Bob Camp, notes her cause of death as “Gun shot wound of chest and head,” noting she lived “a very few moments” after the shooting, and listing the manner of death as homicide by her estranged husband.12 Jimmy’s death certificate notes his manner of death as suicide. The two were buried in two different cemeteries.13 Hazel would outlive her murdered daughter by 17 years, dying at age 58 of an acute coronary occlusion.14

What of the remaining child of Horace and Rebecca (the elder)? Florence was married on 14 May 1945 to Paul S. Thurston.15 On Halloween of that year Paul enlisted at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, and by 1950 Paul and Florence, along with daughter Janice and son James, were living at Fort Bliss Air Force Base in El Paso.16 17 Another daughter, Patty, would later join the family. Florence and Paul were married for 37 years before his death in July 1982.18 Florence would die in 2003. A grandson, as well as her husband, preceded her in death; she was survived by her three children, two grandsons, and a chihuahua named Tia Maria.19

  1. Arkansas Department of Health, Vital Records Section; Little Rock, AR, USA; Birth Certificates; Year: 1922 ↩︎
  2. Year: 1930; Census Place: Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas; Page: 41A; Enumeration District: 0033; FHL microfilm: 2339827 ↩︎
  3. Arkansas Department of Vital Records; Little Rock, Arkansas; Death Certificates; Year: 1930; Roll: 5 ↩︎
  4. Year: 1940; Census Place: Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas; Roll: m-t0627-00168; Page: 18B; Enumeration District: 60-63 ↩︎
  5. National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas; Roll: 1818; Page: 13; Enumeration District: 77-107 ↩︎
  6. Arkansas Department of Vital Records; Little Rock, Arkansas; Death Certificates; Year: 1956; Roll: 2 ↩︎
  7. Arkansas Department of Vital Records; Little Rock, Arkansas; Death Certificates; Year: 1963 ↩︎
  8. Arkansas Department of Vital Records; Little Rock, Arkansas; Divorces; Year: 1950; Film Number: 4 ↩︎
  9. Arkansas Department of Vital Records; Little Rock, Arkansas; Marriage Certificates; Year: 1952; Film: #6 ↩︎
  10. Pulaski County Clerk; Little Rock, Arkansas; Marriage Records ↩︎
  11. Hope [Arkansas] Star, 6 January 1959, pg. 8 ↩︎
  12. Arkansas Department of Vital Records; Little Rock, Arkansas; Death Certificates; Year: 1959; Roll: 1 ↩︎
  13. Arkansas Department of Vital Records; Little Rock, Arkansas; Death Certificates; Year: 1959; Roll: 1 ↩︎
  14. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/124102775/hazel_marie-camp: accessed February 7, 2026), memorial page for Hazel Marie Baker Camp (3 Oct 1917–16 Sep 1976), Find a Grave Memorial ID 124102775, citing Bradfield Chapel Cemetery, Daingerfield, Morris County, Texas, USA; Maintained by KindredWhispers (contributor 46986453). ↩︎
  15. Pulaski County Clerk; Little Rock, Arkansas; Marriage Records ↩︎
  16. National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, USA; Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946; NAID: 1263923; Record Group Title: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1789-ca. 2007; Record Group: 64; Box Number: 00381; Reel: 106 ↩︎
  17. National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Fort Bliss Military Reservation and Biggs Air Force Base, El Paso, Texas; Roll: 4174; Page: 78; Enumeration District: 71-13 ↩︎
  18. Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File ↩︎
  19. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/florence-thurston-obituary?id=29936340 ↩︎

Black Sheep Sunday: Mysterious Deaths of George and Hazel Lowry

Posted on by spuddled

Almost two years ago, as I’m sure you will recall, I published a blog post regarding the death of Marguerite Lowry and noted then that the story of her brother George would fill a post of its own one day. That day has come, just in time for our fifth theme, “Black Sheep Sunday.” Though whether he can really be called a black sheep is unproven.

George W. Lowry, my sixth cousin 3 times removed, was born in December 1891 in Illinois1; or on 29 December 1892 in Spring Lake, Tazewell County, Illinois2; or on 28 December 1893 in Spring Lake3; or on 29 December 1893…somewhere4. He was the son of John Clayton and Josephine West (Golden) Lowry.

In 1900 the family was living in Isabel, Edgar County, Illinois. John was working as a farm laborer; rounding out the household were Josephine (who was listed variously in different records by her full first name, Jossie, or Josie); Bessie, 12; Jessie, 10; George, 8; Walter, 5; Marie, 3; Addie, 11 months; and a boarder named Trent Wallace.5

By 1910 George was working as a hired man for the family of Gurdin Woodruff in Sand Prairie Township, Tazewell County, Illinois.6 During World War I, George was a private in Company H, 121st Infantry. U.S. Army Transport Service documents record his departure on 18 September 1918 from Hoboken, New Jersey, listing his residence as Manito, Illinois.7 By 1920 George was living back home with his parents in Spring Lake. His father was now working as an electrical engineer at a pumping station. Both George and his brother Walter were listed as general farm laborers. New children added to the household since George was last a part of it were Margaret, 17; and Blakesly, 12. Mable Dwyer, 5, daughter of George’s now-deceased sister Bessie, was also part of the household.8

What happened to George over the next 18 months remains something of a mystery, and the sources I’ve found can only piece together so much. What is known for sure is that in Peoria on 31 October 1921, George was found dead in his bed, asphyxiated by gas from two open jets. He was 28 (maybe). With him was a woman who was either his current or former wife. I’ll run down the variations on this story as they appeared in different newspapers at the time. The Decatur (Illinois) Herald and Review of 1 November stated that George was 29 and Hazel was 27 but referred to the later as “Hazel Burhans.” The article noted that police believed the couple had “been married and divorced.” George was described as a grain sampler at the local board of trade and noted that John Bailey, a railroad switchman who had been living with the couple, discovered their bodies when he came home at the end of his workday. The article, titled “Double Suicide in Peoria,” stated that a double suicide was indicated because all windows were closed but two gas jets were turned on.9

The Chicago Tribune of 1 November 1921 stated many of the same details,10 and a similar article appeared in the Dallas City [Illinois] Review of 22 November 1921, explicitly stating that the couple were believed to have been married and divorced and to have made a suicide pact.11

A much different spin is given by a 1 November 1921 article in the Freeport (Illinois) Journal-Standard. In this article, what appear to be more correct ages for the couple are given (29 for George and 32 for Hazel), and Hazel is described as George’s wife. No mention of them having divorced is provided, though the author states that Hazel had been divorced “last August” from “a man named Renz,” and that George and Hazel had had many arguments in recent days. The biggest divergence, however, is that the author of this article noted that the coroner’s investigation had led him to believe that, rather than being a double suicide, Hazel had turned on the gas while George was sleeping.12

So what really happened that Halloween night? It’s no clearer now than it was in 1921. Death certificates for George and Hazel, signed by the aforementioned Coroner William Elliott, confirm some details. Both have 304 Warner Avenue in Peoria listed as their place of residence, and they are listed as married to each other. Hazel’s certificate lists her birth as taking place on 2 November 1887 in Braidwood, Illinois. Her parents were Peter and Ellen (Ryan) McLaughlin, both born in New York City. Her full name was listed as “Hazel Frenz Lowry,” so the account of the prior divorce appears to be correct, though the spelling of her first husband’s name is not. Her burial took place 3 November in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. George, however, was buried in the Springlake Township Cemetery in Tazewell County.

Could Hazel’s burial far from her husband suggest that her family (or his?) thought this was not just a tragic incident but a criminal one? The cause of death provided by Coroner Elliott does not offer much clarification; both death certificates state the cause of death as “Asphyxiation from illuminating gas – found dead in bed,” with a contributory cause detailed rather helplessly as “gas turned on in some unknown manner.”13

  1. 1900 Census. ↩︎
  2. FamilySearch Historical Records, Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947. ↩︎
  3. www.ancestry.com, World War I Draft Registration Cards. ↩︎
  4. www.findagrave.com, www.findagrave.com. ↩︎
  5. 1900 Census. ↩︎
  6. Year: 1910; Census Place: Sand Prairie, Tazewell, Illinois; Roll: T624_328; Page: 12a; Enumeration District: 0153; FHL microfilm: 1374341 ↩︎
  7. The National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985; Record Group Number: 92; Roll or Box Number: 520 ↩︎
  8. Year: 1920; Census Place: Spring Lake, Tazewell, Illinois; Roll: T625_410; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 183 ↩︎
  9. Decatur [Illinois] Herald and Review. 1 November 1921, pg. 9 ↩︎
  10. Chicago Tribune, 1 November 1921, pg. 6. ↩︎
  11. The Dallas City [Illinois] Review, 22 November 1921, pg. 5. ↩︎
  12. Freeport [Illinois] Journal-Standard, 1 November 1921, pg. 11. ↩︎
  13. “Illinois, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9KB-6GSM?view=explore : Feb 1, 2026), images 120-121 of 522; Illinois. Public Board of Health. Archives.
    Image Group Number: 004008167 ↩︎

Photo Highlight: Nathan Davis

Posted on by spuddled

Theme #4 for the year is Photo Highlight – in which we’ll focus on one photograph from our family tree. It could be a photograph physically in my possession, one I found online, or one sent to me by email. This week we are taking a look at the following photo of my fifth great-granduncle, Nathan Davis.

This is not a photograph from my collection but is one that I’ve found on several different websites, including Find a Grave.1 It’s fascinating to be able to access a photograph of a relative who died more than 150 years ago. Nathan Davis was born 21 June 1772 in New Jersey and was the son of my 6G-grandparents, Nathan and Ann (Gifford) Davis. In 1794 he married Jane Sutton in New Jersey; they would have eight children.

In 1807 Nathan, along with his brothers William and Joseph (the latter of whom was my 5G-grandfather), purchased 20,000 acres of land in the area that would become West Union, West Virginia. They moved to the area in 1808, though much of their land they sold to Lewis Maxwell. Nathan Davis lived in a brick house where the courthouse later stood.2

In the 1850 census, Nathan and Jane were enumerated in West Union. Living with them was Jane’s 99-year-old father, Cornelius Sutton (who was also my 6G-grandfather). Cornelius died a month shy of his 100th birthday, on 30 September 1850. Jane died on 27 April 1857. In 1860 Nathan was living with his son Lewis’s family. Nathan died in West Union on 23 May 1866. He was 93 years old and was preceded in death by at least 3 of his children.

As I noted, the photograph of Nathan Davis is not physically in my collection. This next photograph, however, is, as I took it myself. In September 2010 Mom, Dad, Sammy the Dachshund, and I went on a genealogical road trip to West Virginia. We visited the Old Seventh Day Baptist “Block House” Cemetery in West Union, and there I took a photo of Nathan’s gravestone, with another smaller one leaning up against it. If you take a look at the photo of Nathan’s gravestone that appears on his Find a Grave memorial, you can see that in the 15 years that have passed since we visited, someone has cleaned the grave, and the small one is no longer resting on it. Maybe it’s time for another road trip.

  1. Find a Grave, (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/72692098/nathan-davis: accessed January 24, 2026), memorial page for Captain Nathan Davis, Find a Grave Memorial ID 72692098, citing Old Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery, West Union, Doddridge County, West Virginia, USA; Maintained by Guernsey Girl (contributor 51468294). ↩︎
  2. Hardesty’s 1883 History of Doddridge County. https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~wvpioneers/genealogy/doddridgecountyhistory.html ↩︎

Document Detail: Death Certificate of Samuel Slegel

Posted on by spuddled

I’ve always thought of both sides of my family as essentially midwesterners who migrated to the “Intermountain West” in the 1940s, leaving the remainder of their families (and my ancestors) behind. Today’s post, my inaugural “Document Detail” entry, takes a closer look at how things are not always as they seem.

My maternal grandparents, Joseph Benjamin and Velma Marie (Swing) Hoffmann were both certainly midwesterners. Grandpa was born in Fairbury, Illinois, and Grandma in Francesville, Indiana. They married in Peoria, Illinois, in 1938, and moved to Idaho in 1940. Though Grandma’s parents later moved to Texas, the fact that their move took place after Grandma and Grandpa’s made it seem that Grandma and Grandpa were the trailblazers, the first to really leave their midwestern roots.

On Grandpa’s side, his parents and three of his grandparents are all buried in Fairbury. One outlier, his paternal grandmother, is buried in Cissna Park, Illinois. Again, all in line with my familial identity. My maternal relatives emigrated from France, Germany, or Switzerland, wound up in the midwest, and stayed until Grandma and Grandpa set off for the west so Grandpa could hunt and fish. At least that is the lore.

But if we backtrack, we find a different story. Grandpa’s mother, Emma Alice Slagel, as I’ve said, died and is buried in Fairbury. She was born there as well. Her mother, Mary Demler, was born in Baden, Germany, married Samuel Slagel in Fairbury in 1875, and was buried in Fairbury in 1928. Samuel Slagel was born in Wisconsin in 1849 (or possibly Iowa; sources differ), eventually moving to Fairbury before marrying Mary. His parents, Samuel John and Mary (Walty) Slegel, were born in Bern, Switzerland (Samuel between 1815-1816, and Mary between 1819-1820).1 Their first child was born in France, but the remaining 11 were born in the midwestern U.S. Mary died in Iowa, though I have yet to determine exactly when.

But Samuel John? He died in…Oregon. And his was not a mid-twentieth-century move. He was living in Dairy Creek, Washington County, Oregon, by 1880, as he was enumerated there with his married son John.2 In the 1887 Washington Territorial census, he was living in Klickitat (now part of Washington State, and about 120 miles east of Washington County, Oregon).3 I haven’t found him in the 1900 census yet, which at first led me to believe he died before 1900. But Ancestry.com’s Oregon Death Index provided a death date for him of 3 February 1905,4 and when I emailed the Oregon State Archives, they responded quickly with a copy of Samuel’s death certificate.

Since the entire premise of this theme is to focus on one document in detail, I’ll do that now (finally). Right off the top (literally), what stands out is that he passed away in the “Insane Asylum” in Salem, Oregon. A quick stroll through Wikipedia tells me that what is now called the Oregon State Hospital was founded in 1862, but the current building was constructed in 1883.5

The next thing that jumps out from Samuel’s death certificate is his name. Here he is listed as “John Schlegel, Sr.” He might, in fact, take the prize for the highest number of name variations in the numerous records in which he appears. In the “Alternate Name” field in my database, he shows up as: John Schlagle, John Schlagel, John Schlegal, John Slagle, Samuel John Slegel, John Schlegle, John Slagel, John Schlegel, and John Samuel Slegel.

Whatever his name was, he is listed as 88 years old at his death, and a widower born in Switzerland who had worked as a farmer. All of that seems pretty accurate, though I do wish someone had entered an actual birthdate for him! And next we get his date of death. Interestingly, it seems that the Oregon Death Index was inaccurate, and that he died on 13 February 1905 rather than 3 February. The doctor who signed the death certificate, W. D. McNary, notes that he had attended John from 31 January – 13 February, last saw him alive on the 13th, and that John died that day at 1 p.m.

Dr. McNary gave “senile exhaustion” as Samuel John’s cause of death. This vague term describes fatigue in older adults that could be caused by any number of factors so isn’t terribly helpful. What is interesting is that Samuel’s death certificate notes that he was only at the asylum for 14 days before his death, and before that his “former or usual residence” was Banks, Oregon (which is in Washington County). So his was not a long extended stay at the asylum. Which makes me wonder what happened to necessitate taking him there on 31 January. Then the final piece of information gleaned from the document is his place of death: the Asylum Cemetery. Samuel John would not have been buried here for long; after a vote by the Oregon Legislature in 1913, all the remains in this cemetery were disinterred and cremated, some being claimed by relatives and reinterred to location designated by the family members. I’m not sure if Samuel was one of these, or where his remains are now.6 But in spite of my preconceived notions, at least three of Samuel’s children would also live and die in Oregon. It’s just that my direct ancestor wasn’t one of these three, and it took another two generations for my branch to make the journey west.

A completely unrelated postscript: in doing a quick search for the Dr. W. D. McNary who treated Samuel John, I discovered that he had been born at Klickitat, Washington, but moved to Salem, Oregon, where he served on the state hospital staff. He died in 1943. But his son, Wilson Davis McNary, Jr., died in 1941 in San Mateo, California, shot to death by someone who accused him of “stealing his girl.”7 There are a whole slew of newspaper articles about that, but that’s too much of a digression even for me.

  1. 1850 Census (n.p: www.ancestry.com, n.d). ↩︎
  2. FamilyHistory Search and/or www.ancestry.com, 1880 Census. ↩︎
  3. Washington State Archives, “Washington, U.S., State and Territorial Censuses, 1857-1892,” censuses, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1018/ : accessed 25 March 2025), John Schlagel. ↩︎
  4. Ancestry, Oregon Death Index, 1903-1998. ↩︎
  5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_State_Hospital ↩︎
  6. https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2626933/asylum-cemetery ↩︎
  7. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/108775348/wilson_davis-mcnary ↩︎

Newspaper Tales: Robert Miller Conklin

Posted on by spuddled

Our next recurring theme for 2026 is “Newspaper Tales.” Thanks to the digitization of newspapers (some available for free, and others through subscription sites like Newspapers.com), it’s sometimes possible to glean details about an individual’s life (or death) without ever leaving home.

Today’s tale concerns my third cousin twice removed, Robert Miller Conklin. Robert was the second child of Charles Miller and Virginia Morrow (Davis) Conklin and was born 30 October 1907 in Cincinnati. In the 1910 census the Conklin family was enumerated in Cincinnati; Charles was listed as a mechanical engineer, and Virginia was the mother of three children: Charles, Robert, and Virginia.1 By 1920 the family had moved to Glendale, California. Charles was now described as an electrical engineer, and son Andrew had joined the family.2

On 15 May 1928 in Bakersfield, California, Robert married Jewell Myrtle Sprayberry. He was 20, and she was 18.3 By 1930, Robert and Jewell were living in Berkeley. Robert was working as an insurance salesman, and Jewell as a saleslady in a dry goods store.4 The following year Robert and Jewell had a daughter, Barbara C., who was born in Oakland.5 In 1940 Robert, Jewell, and Barbara were enumerated in Walnut Creek California; they were now living in the same residence as Robert’s parents, Charles and Virginia. Robert was listed as the sales manager for a creamery, and Jewell worked selling “novelties.”6

Robert did not make it to the 1950 census. He died on 20 January 1945 at the age of 37. Newspaper articles that appeared at the time tell us more about what happened. The Reno Gazette-Journal of 31 January 1945 states that Robert had lived in Greenville, California, for the past 4 1/2 years, and that he operated the Conklin and Hall sawmill near Taylorsville. This seems like quite a change from his prior sales positions. On 20 January, Robert was helping to load a truck at the mill when a log came loose and crushed him. He died en route to the Batson Hospital in Greenville.7

The Feather River Bulletin [Quincy, California] of 25 January 1945 tells a similar story but adds the poignant detail that the death occurred 20 minutes before the mill was set to close until the spring. It also provides more information regarding the mill, naming it as the “Hall-Conklin Lumber Co.” and noting that Robert operated it in partnership with John Hall. It states, as well, that before going into the lumber business Robert had operated the “Indian Valley 5, 10, and 15c Store” in Greenville.8 He is buried in the Greenville District Cemetery. Jewell appears to have continued to operate the Indian Valley store after her husband’s death; The Indian Valley Record of 29 November 1945 includes an advertisement for the Christmas cards available at the shop and lists the proprietor as Jewell S. Conklin.9 Jewell would go on to marry twice more and live to the age of 95. She is also buried in the Greenville District Cemetery.

  1. 1910 Census (n.p: 1910, n.d), Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio; Sup 1, Enum 236, Sheet 10B. ↩︎
  2. 1920 Census, Glendale, Los Angeles, California; Sup 8, Enum 29, Sheet 9A. ↩︎
  3. Sharon S. Iamele, Conklin Cousins: the Many Children of Joseph and Mary (Cory) Conkling, 2014 Kindle Version (2014), ; kindle, Purchased through Amazon, Amazon (https://read.amazon.com/?asin=B00IMQ2A7A&ref_=kwl_kr_iv_rec_1 : My Kindle Library 10 October 2024. ↩︎
  4. 1930 Census, Berkeley, Alameda, California; Enum 1-287, Sup 8, Sheet 8B. ↩︎
  5. Iamele, Conklin Cousins: the Many Children of Joseph and Mary (Cory) Conkling. ↩︎
  6. Ancestry.com, 1940 Census, Walnut Creek, Contra Costa, California; SD 6, ED 7-11, Sheet 61A. ↩︎
  7. Reno Gazette-Journal, January 31, 1945, Page 5. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/reno-gazette-journal-robert-conklin-deat/167850748/ : accessed January 10, 2026), clip page for Robert Conklin Death by user pruesarn ↩︎
  8. Feather River Bulletin, January 25, 1945, Page 1. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/feather-river-bulletin-obituary-for-robe/167850542/ : accessed January 10, 2026), clip page for Obituary for Robert Miller Conklin by user pruesarn ↩︎
  9. Indian Valley Record [Greenville, California], 29 November 1945, pg. 2 ↩︎