Serendipity

One of those rare but wonderful cases of genealogical serendipity happened earlier this year.

I have been going to cemeteries on Memorial Day since I was a kid. Mom and I went on the “real” Memorial Day, before it became a three-day holiday and the unofficial beginning of summer. Mom would prepare silk and plastic flowers to decorate the graves and if she was lucky, the peonies were blooming and she could put them on her first husband, George’s, grave, as well as her mother’s grave.

I have kept up the tradition because, well, I love family history. I love cemeteries and wondering about the stories each person could tell if given another chance.

One person whose story I want to know more about is that of my dad’s first wife, Florance May (Predmore) Baker Russell. I’m working on it and will tell it sometime. For now, this is about a wonderful coincidence, a bit of serendipity.

My usual routine is to visit West Union cemetery, where dad and my husband are buried, and probably Almeria cemetery, and then go to visit my siblings at the Red Roof, their hunting cabin in the Sandhills. But this year, it had rained and I wasn’t sure how muddy the country cemeteries would be. So I went and had a great visit with three of my siblings and two sisters-in-law. I still hadn’t decided if I would stop when I headed for home, but realizing I probably wouldn’t get up to the ‘hills again for a long time, I decided to stop.

As I pulled in I saw a family near the graves of what I knew were Florance’s parents. I decided to see if they were related, or if they were just walking around reading gravestones like crazy genealogists like to do. When I asked the younger lady if she was related to the Predmores, she said yes. I introduced myself and told her I was the daughter of Hugh Russell, who was married to Florance Predmore. She called her mother over, who was also excited and said she would have to tell her Aunt. I told them I had a beautifully framed portrait of Florance as well as a couple snapshots that I wanted to give back to her family. I mentioned that I had been trying to find family, and was very excited that I had happened to run into them that day.

Long story short, she contacted her Aunt “J”, who was Florance’s youngest half-sister and gave her my phone number. “J” called and we had a great visit. She was much younger than Florance and was 13 when she died. She didn’t have many memories of her but always knew who dad was and kept up with his life through the newspaper, knowing that he had remarried and she and her family were so happy to see that. And then they heard that Hugh had a daughter and they thought that was just great (that was me). We talked about how Hugh and Florance met as teenagers, were separated for 20 years and finally got together again and married.

I was so honored to send her the portrait along with some vases that had belonged to Florance.

I love knowing she is back with family.

Week 10 - 52 Ancestors - Strong Women

I'm participating in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge started by Amy Johnson Crow, professional genealogist. Each week we use a new prompt as a theme. This week’s theme is strong women.

Just a few facts from the lives of some of my Strong Women ancestors:

Grace - Mom loved kids and had six and was pregnant with the seventh when her husband, the love of her life, was killed in a tractor accident. Five years earlier, their third child died of pneumonia as they rushed her to the doctor.
Lizzie - Lizzie lived through two depressions, 1890s and 1930s. In the 1890s, the family of six or seven children were nearly out of food before provisions arrived. In her 20’s, she homesteaded in the sandhills, living in a straw bale house while she proved up her claim.
Flora - Six months pregnant, Flora climbed into a wagon in Iowa with her husband, parents, two toddlers and all their possessions and headed to the west side of Loup county, Nebraska. She gave birth two months later in a tent. She had 13 babies, buried five as infants and two as young adults. Her father died in the Civil War.
Eunice - Flora’s mother kept the family and farm together when Charles left to fight in the Civil War. She made decisions about hiring a hired man, “how much corn you think you will have and how many hogs you are a going to fatten and how many cattle you are a going to winter and who gets wood for you and whether you have got the spokes hauld (sic) or not…” (Letter from Charles to Eunice dated 13 December 1862.) Charles was about 35 when he left to fight and he died 5 months later of illness. Charles and Eunice had 5 children whom Eunice had to get guardianship of through the courts. She remarried and joined Flora and George on the trip to Nebraska. Eunice was 31 when she applied for a widow’s pension.
Rachel - Not much is known about Rachel, except that her husband Aaron was ill and unable to work for two years before he died, leaving several children still at home, the youngest of whom was 11 years old.
Ann - Born in England, Ann survived the trip across the ocean with husband John and son William who was about a year old. William died between ages 5 and 15, and gaps in the ages of the other children suggest there were babies who were born and died that we have no information about. She traveled to Nebraska with George and Flora and may have been ill during the journey. She died one month after they arrived.
Alvina - She was born in Wales to an unmarried mother, but the man her mother married a few years later may have been her biological father. She came on a boat to America, settling with her family first in Pennsylvania and then moving with her husband, parents, and children to Missouri. John was a coal miner and they moved back and forth from Missouri to Illinois and Ohio. John was most likely an alcoholic. Alvina suffered from “bone erysipelas” or perhaps varicose veins. She died at age 51.
Jane - She was a single mom to Alvina before marrying Daniel. They had one more child before leaving Wales and coming to America. She lived to be 95 years old.
Della - A widow with 5 children, she married her hired man and had 4 more children. He decided to live separately from Della, coming home “only often enough to get her pregnant,” according to two of their children. She relied on her sons, especially Hugh, to make a living for her and Hugh’s siblings from the time he was very young. She was treasurer on the local one-room school board.
Elida - She moved away from family in Iowa to Nebraska and then Missouri. She had 7 children, one who died as an infant. She suffered sometimes from “heart palpitations” and died at age 44 of pneumonia. She was a woman of strong Christian faith and encouraged her children’s education, especially her daughter’s. One daughter graduated from nursing school in 1904 and another, after returning from Africa as a missionary, got her master’s degree in her 50s.
Mary Alice - She and her husband moved to Hamilton county, Nebraska, and took out a homestead. She, like other of our ancestors, lived in a sod house. They eventually moved to Wyoming.
Melissa - The only story I know about Melissa is that when she died, age 80, the river between where she lived and the nearest town 7 1/2 miles away was flooded, so her son went to a neighbors farm 3 miles away, and from there walked to Salina on the Union Pacific railroad tracks to purchase a casket. The casket was sent out on a boat to be ferried from Salina to the neighbor’s place where her son would pick it up.

Stories like these are why I do family history.

Week 8 - 52 Ancestors - Prosperity

I'm participating in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge started by Amy Johnson Crow, professional genealogist. Each week we use a new prompt as a theme. This week’s theme is prosperity.

I don’t know of any ancestors who were very prosperous. Most were hard working farmers who earned enough to take care of their families, and maybe have a little left at the end to enjoy some retirement years. I remember mom and dad talking about growing up in the depression. Both said they were poor before so it didn’t affect them much. The family would fatten the milk cow’s calf to butcher, and raise chickens for eggs and meat. Gardens they planted provided vegetables.

I have copies of the wills and probate records of several ancestors, but no time this weekend to sort them and post about them. I am putting it on my list of things to do.

Week 7 - 52 Ancestors - Favorite Discovery

Tombstone of Elida May (Newcomb) Russell 1854-1899

Elida May (Newcomb) Russell’s Grave

I'm participating in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge started by Amy Johnson Crow, professional genealogist. Each week we use a new prompt as a theme.

Picking your favorite family history discovery is like picking your favorite piece from a box of Russell Stover chocolates. Impossible. But since I’ve been writing mostly about mom’s side, here’s one from dad’s. This trip happened in July or August of 1994 on the way home from a Hollowell family reunion in Muskogee, Oklahoma. I wrote the following shortly after.

 ###

Rain beats down and the wipers keep a steady rhythm as we drive northeast on the Will Rodgers turnpike.  On this part of our trip we skirt around Vinita, Oklahoma, former home of my great-grandfather, Henry Russell. He and his daughters Agnes, Mabel and Lida, lived there from 1907 through 1937. We had stopped at the Vinita cemetery on our way down to Muskogee for my husband's family reunion. We found Henry's grave and that of his daughter Mabel. Her tombstone tells the story of a much loved daughter and sister. Thirty years later, when Henry died, times were harder - it was 1937, depression years - and his stone is much more humble.  But would we find his wife Elida's grave?

The helpful clerk at the Git-n-Go in Joplin gave clear directions to Oronogo, Missouri.  North to Webb City, east past 2 stoplights, then north.  Can't miss it.  Rain gives way to mist as we cross over Center Creek. It is early in September and the gently rolling hills are still green. The trees have not yet begun to turn. The quarry is quiet.  Small mountains of rocks surround giant rusting machines.  Were those the machines Henry and his son Ben, my grandpa, saw when they worked at the quarry?

Turning west again we drive into Oronogo and another helpful clerk points southeast. I had been somewhat confident of finding Henry's grave in Vinita. He died an old man, and had had time to prepare financially for his final needs. I also had a cemetery lot number for him.  But Elida died in mid-life.  Had the family been able to afford a tombstone? The mist lets up as we drive into the cemetery. Forgetting my request for an organized search, the kids scatter as soon as we stop.  (They are now trained to cringe when they hear the words "auction" and "cemetery".  I really don't know why!) It's so easy to get side tracked by the tombstones and the stories they suggest.  Humble and elaborate, simple markers and grand monuments. A well-laid out plot for a family of ten. The solitary, moss covered, lamb headstones remind me that Henry and Elida buried little Grace in an unmarked grave near Doniphan, Nebraska.

The cemetery is somewhat triangular, so I start at the far west point. I come round a tree and see on a tall, thin tombstone, "H. H. Russell".  Above that is "wife of" and above that what might be a rectangle with words no longer legible. There she is. We take pictures of the tombstone and use paper and crayon for a rubbing. The name Elida M. slowly  appears. A rubbing of the verse below isn't successful. Shaving cream is applied with a plastic putty knife to the name and verse.We take more pictures. Her name and the verse at the bottom are not readable. Then we wash off the shaving cream and take a last look.[2] I wonder who the last one was in our family to visit Elida's grave.

Elida was one of 24 to die of pneumonia in the area the winter of 1898-99.[1] Her daughter, Gertrude, 25, had her own family in Custer County, Nebraska.  Agnes, 20, was away teaching school. (This was to signal a turning point for her. She returned home and took care of Papa until his death in 1937.)  Ben was 20,  Mabel was 13, and Harry, 11. Ben & Harry would be joining Gertie in Custer County over the next few years. Little Lida, age 8 when her mother died, became a missionary to Africa and then returned home to teach school.

(Obituary below photo)

Elida May (Newcomb) Russell, taken about 1895-96 in Nebraska

Obituary of Elida May (Newcomb) Russell 

Elida May Newcomb was born in Deposit, N. Y., June 7, 1854. She was converted when about 18 years of age and united with the Presbyterian church. She was married to Henry H. Russell at Manchester, Iowa, October 22, 1872. From Iowa they moved to Nebraska, and from there to Oronogo, where she resided until her death, which occurred January 22, at 11:30 p.m. She was a person of strong christian (sic) character and the influence of her daily life was felt by all with whom she came in contact. She will be missed in all departments of church work, especially as an attendant on divine worship, as a teacher in the sabbath schools and a worker in the prayer meeting, but what is our loss is heaven’s gain. Her life will still redound to the glory of God in the seed she has sown.

To Mr. And Mrs. Russell seven children were born, sic of whom are still living, three of them being present at her death. Three daughters were absent, two in Nebraska and one in the Territory[3].All the children are christians, (sic) and one, Agnes, is preparing herself for missionary work.

The husband and children have the sympathy of the community in their inestimable loss.

The funeral services were held at the M. E. Church in Oronogo, conduced by Rev. E. J. Hunt, using as a text. Romans 14, 7 and 8. The remains mere (sic) laid to rest in the Oronogo cemetery.

J. C. Bell, Pastor.

[1] "Increased Number of Deaths," undated clipping, ca January 1899, The Carthage Press; viewed on microfilm labeled January 6, 1898 - January 29, 1899; Microfilm was ordered through interlibrary loan. Full source information not captured.

2 Comment: Please, genealogy world, forgive me for using shaving cream. That was the best advice at the time (1994) as a way to emphasize the letters engraved on a tombstone. I have mended my ways and will never do that again!

3 Comment: Daughter Gertrude was living in Custer County, Nebraska, baby Grace was buried in Hall County, Nebraska, and daughter Agnes was probably the one living in Indian Territory.

Week 6 - 52 Ancestors - Same Name

Stock Photo of English Countryside

I'm participating in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge started by Amy Johnson Crow, professional genealogist. Each week we use a new prompt as a theme. This post is later than usual because I needed to get information about each family on the website. Each page (except George) has some facts about their lives, but I will be re-writng at some point to add more information.

John, John, John, John, and Johnny

There are four generations of John Worths, then a skipped generation, then the one final John.

The last John Worth, called Johnny by his sister, Lizzie (Worth) Jones, was born 20 April 1890 and died 20 May 1891 in the West End community of Loup county. He was buried in the family plot 10 miles away in the Almeria Cemetery.  Johnny was 1 year and 1 month of age and was the 7th of 13 children born to George and Flora (Swift) Worth. John died on 20 May 1891 and his next sibling, Freddie, was born and died on 7 November 1891. Eventually five of George and Flora's children would die before age 16 months of age. Why did two babies die in the same year? The drought that helped bring on the economic depression of the 1890s was causing poor crops. Johnny and Freddie were Flora's 7th and 8th children in 10 years. It may be safe to assume their deaths were because of poor nutrition. Flora must have been worn down. There were no vitamin supplements to take like there is today. If the milk cow had dried up there would be no milk to supplement what Flora could provide.

His brief life is listed on the tombstone of the person he was named after, his grandfather, John Worth, (1815-1893).

I've posted a rough draft for each of the preceding four John Worths here. They are a work in progress…I just needed to get this posted!

Week 5 - 52 Ancestors - So Far Away

I'm participating in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge started by Amy Johnson Crow, professional genealogist. Each week use a new prompt as a theme.

This week’s theme is So Far Away. I found myself wondering how far the John & Ann Worth family came from England to the west end of Loup county, Nebraska. I found a website that helps find the distance between two points in the world. I used this tool: https://www.mapdevelopers.com/distance_finder.php. 

Their trip, along with son William, age 1, started in Harberton or Berry Pomeroy, Devon, then on to London, according to the manifest, where they boarded the St. James, a 3-masted, square-rigged ship that arrived in New York City harbor on 27 March 1846.[1] The ship averaged 36 days on this voyage.[2] From there they found their way to Henry County, Illinois.[3] They stayed there over 20 years. This is where their children, Amelia, Emma, George, and Susan were born. (Son William is not listed in any other records; he probably died after they arrived in America.) From Illinois they moved on to Marion, Union,[4] and finally Crawford Counties, Iowa.[Comment 1]  In the early spring of 1884 they left Iowa and arrived in Loup County, Nebraska, in April.[5]

As the crow flies, the distance is about 4,800 miles. Given the winding roads they undoubtedly took, the actual distance they traveled may have been well over 5,500 miles.

John left his siblings behind in Devon. Several of Ann’s sisters, at least one brother, and perhaps an Angel cousin, came to America as well. None came to Nebraska with John & Ann.

____________

[1] Port of New York, passenger List, St. James, 27 March 1846, p. 1 of 2, entry John Worth (age 30), Ann Worth (age 32), Wm Worth (age 1); digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2/2/2020), citing Microfilm Serial M 237, 1820-1897, roll 60.

[2] Albion, Robert Greenhalgh, Square-riggers on Schedule; The New York Sailing Packets to England, France, and the Cotton Ports (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1938), pp. 282-283]; posted to the Emigration-Ships Mailing List by Michael Palmer, 28 November 1997.

[3] 1850 U.S. census, Henry, Illinois, population schedule, p. 97B, line 39, dwelling 57, family 57, John Worth; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Aug 2015); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll 109.

[4] 1870 U.S. census, Marion, Iowa, population schedule, Pella, p. 167A, dwelling 257, family 247, John Worth; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Aug 2015); citing NARA microfilm M593, roll 409. 

1880 U.S. census, Union, Iowa, population schedule, Highlanad Township, enumeration district (ED) 257, p. 2, dwelling 15, family 15, John Worth; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 Aug 2015); citing NARA microfilm T9.

[5] Book, Compendium...Western Nebraska Vol I, Compendium of History Reminiscence and Biography of Western Nebraska containing a History of the State of Nebraska, George & Lucinda (Swift) Worth, vol 1; Chicago: Alden Publishing Company, 1909, 1:405-406.

 [Comment 1] Thought to be the birthplace of George’s two oldest children, Grace & Calista.

Week 4 - 52 Ancestors - Close to Home

I'm participating in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge started by Amy Johnson Crow, professional genealogist. Each week there is a new prompt to use as a theme.

Frank & Lizzie (Worth) Jones

 Lizzie Worth and Frank Jones, my mother's parents, met each other "close to home."

Lizzie was busy helping her mother, writing and receiving postcards, helping with the garden and chores. Who knows what she thought about her life. Was she happy to be an adult living with her parents? Human nature hasn't changed over the generations, and I suspect Lizzie wanted a husband, children, and a home of her own. Then one day, when she was probably about 31 years old, an age at that time to be considered an old maid, Lizzie met Frank. "First time I ever seen him he was coming around the corner of a house someplace and he had a pipe in his mouth."

…

In about 1919 Frank moved to Loup county and bought the place his children and grandchildren knew as the Jones ranch. In the 1920 census, Frank's nearest neighbors were Perry Dye, John Strohl and George Worth. He was 42 years old and single. Frank lived two miles east of the Worth family. And at some point, he walked around the corner of a house, smoking a pipe, and saw equally single Lizzie Worth. Was it love at first sight? Well, we'll never know, unless another grandchild has "the rest of the story" and they'd like to share it.

Excerpt from my website: https://www.ecstaticgreenleaves.com/jones-frank-1877-1951-01

#52ancestors

Week 3 - 52 Ancestors - Long Lines...of Laundry

On summer Monday mornings as my brother, sister, and I played outside, we kept watch on mom working in the enclosed porch as she washed clothes in the wringer washer. As soon as she drained the first tub outside, we got stick and rocks and created dams and roads. The water would soak away and we would wait for the next flood. While we were playing, I'm sure Pat was helping mom hang clothes on the clothes line.*

Mom ran an efficient laundry operation for our family, making it look easy. From the time I was born until my oldest brother married when I was 4, mom did laundry for 9 people in a house with no running water. The kids pumped water from a well on a small hill maybe 25 yards away and brought it to the house. Mom probably did this herself when they were in school. The white wringer washer sat in the enclosed porch. I remember mom saying how good it was to finally have a washer with a motor on it to power the wringer instead of cranking clothes through the wringer by hand and bicep power.

Clothes were dried on the clothes line as she described (see images, transcription is below images). She didn't mention that blue jeans had stretchers pushed inside the legs to stretch them and give them a nice crease down the front and back of the legs. Throughout the years we often heard, "Go get the clothes off the line. Looks like it might rain," or "The wind blew the pole down. Go put it back. The clothes are dragging on the ground."

Because laundry was a lot of work, we would wear the same clothes to school several days in a row, as did some of our class mates. After school we changed into "after school" clothes, probably hand-me-downs, or clothes that were about to be outgrown. These were clothes that had stains or patches and that could be worn outside without worrying about ruining them. Shoes were purchased at the beginning of the school year and last year's shoes were worn after you got home from school until they fell apart or were just too small to be tolerated.

It was a long line of laundry, stretching throughout her 86 years, from heating water on a wood burning stove, to stepping into the kitchen and throwing a load of laundry in the automatic washer and dryer. Mom took hundreds of photos, but none of the everyday activities and chores. I wish I would have asked her to write about ironing, another weekly chore, another long day.

(*This memory is from the Lakeman place west of Sargent, Nebraska, where we lived when I was born and moved away from when I was 5. I asked mom about some of the every day things they did when she was young, and she wrote and drew illustrations on the hand-written pages included here. Sisters  & brothers, please correct any facts I got wrong...how far the well was from the house, etc.)

Wash Day 1

Written by Grace (Jones) Ferguson Russell

Wash Day 2

Wash Day - Transcription

Written by Grace (Jones) Ferguson Russell (1923-2010), in the 1990s.

[page 1 of 2]

This is similar to the washer my mother used early on. I don't really remember it much. The one I remember was half moon shape as below.

The first thing was to fill the boiler, a large container which held about 10 gallons. The water was hand pumped from the Pitcher pump by the sink.

It had a lid.

The boiler fit over the front two lids on the range. Of course a good hot fire was going. A large tub was situated by the side of the washer below the wringer and filled [over, page 2 of 2] with cold water in which some bluing was added (blueing was blue liquid from a bottle) it helped to whiten the clothes. After the water was hot it was carried by pail to washer. While the water heated the clothes were sorted whites, such as shirts, dishtowels sheets pillowcases etc. (no colored linens then) then light colors, dresses towels washclothes (if lighter) light shirts etc. next was shirts overalls dark towels. Last came rags rugs mops etc. The hot water had to be carried by pail to the washer, the white clothes added. Then agitated 20 min by the handle on side of washer. After emptying the boiler it had to be partly filled again as the white clothes were put in it to boil, to help whiten them. From the boiler back to washer the water was so hot had to use a pole to fish them out of boiler. Now they go through the wringer into the rinse. The wringer swings around so can wring them from rinse into a clothes basket usually a bushel basket lined with newspaper or oil cloth. Now ready for next pile of clothes etc. but they go into rinse then basket, don't need to boil. From rinse to clothes line, which was a wire or wires strung between two poles with a middle prop so the real heavy items wouldn't drag. Clothspins, which usually were carried in a apron like bag, one type a wooden straight pin or snap type. In winter clothes that were hung out would freeze stiff, bring them in at night and drape them around be dry by morning. I had a clothe dryer a wood contraption made of dool [dowel] sticks & folded up when not in use. Clothes dried faster from frozen state. Of course the water had to be emptied outdoors. In summer washed on porch winter in kitchen, farther to carry hot water & rinse to porch.

 A Long Day!

P.S. A pan of starch had to be made from flour & water to starch shirt collars & cuffs or dress shirts some dresses dresser scarfs or what [end]

Week 2 - 52 Ancestors - Favorite Photos

I have many favorite photos, but these show our parents as young adults.

Dad, Hugh Benjamin Russell, was 25 years old. He wasn’t as tall as the corn stalk but he was almost as thin. This was probably on the farm west of Sargent, Nebraska, where he farmed for his mother.

Mom, Grace (Jones) Ferguson Russell, was probably a teenager. It’s hard to imagine her with ice skates on, but then I was the 8th of her 8 children, so she was too busy taking care of us to have any fun! She was skating on the frozen irrigation ditch south of the house, “West End” of Loup county, Nebraska.

George and Grace (Jones) Ferguson. Ages 21 and 19 when they got married. A love story♥ I can see traits of my (half) siblings in their faces.

Week 1 - 52 Ancestors - Fresh Start

#52 Ancestors - Fresh Start

Most of my ancestors came to America a long time ago, looking for their Fresh Start. I haven’t found the immigration stories of 99% of them. Those that I do know about are:
1) John Jones
John was born in Wales. I have a good candidate for his father, but need to research it more.

2) Daniel Davis (possibly Alvina’s step father, not bio father) and 3) Jane (Williams) Davis, with daughter 4) Alvina Davis (aka Elwina Williams) and son John Davis.
Daniel, Jane, Alvina and John were born in Wales and came to Pennsylvania before between 1851 and 1860.

5) John and 6) Ann (Dugdale) Worth
John and Ann were married in Berry Pomeroy, Devon, England on 5 May 1845. On 27 March 1846 they are on the ship St. James, sailing to New York.

7) William Bradford and 8) Alice (Carpenter) Bradford
The Bradfords were born and raised in Yorkshire (William) and probably Somerset (Alice). They were separatists who moved first to Leiden, Netherlands, in order to practice their religion as their consciences dictated. They then sailed on the Mayflower to what became Plymouth Plantation, Massachusetts, in 1620.

Eight out of thousands isn’t too good! But I’ll be able to add to this list eventually.