What Was Their Story

Sunday's Obituary - Charles Joseph Deller

2011-05-15T09:58:00.000-05:00

C. J. DELLER DROWNS

Former Coffeyville painter and O. C. S. Employe [sic] Falls from Motorboat.

    C.J. Deller, 33, painter and paperhanger and O. C. S. Mfg. Company employe [sic] here until two years ago, when he moved to Tulsa, drowned Saturday when he fell from a motorboat into deep water near Ketchum, Okla.
    Persons on the bank said that immediately after Mr. Deller started the motorboat, it whirled around several times and he plunged into the water. Mr. Deller had gone to Ketchum to spend the week-end fishing.
    He was born July 22, 1905, at Kane, Pa., and came to Coffeyville with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Deller, 907 Delaware street, in 1911.
    Mr. Deller's death was reported to have been the fourth drowning near Ketchum within 24 hours.
    Besides relatives mentioned, Mr. Deller is survived by his wife, Mrs. Thelma Deller; a 14-year-old son, Charles Deller, jr., who was visiting his grandparents at Neosho, Mo.; six sisters, Mrs. Charles Koehlhoeffer and Mrs. Ora Bonham, both of Coffeyville, Mrs. W. T. Stegall of Denver, who is visiting in Coffeyville, Mrs. Vernon Syons and Mrs. C. H. Jackson, both of Sommerset, Pa., and Mrs. J. A. Longnecker of Earlsboro, Okla., and two brothers, George and Ted Deller, both of Coffeyville.
    Funeral services, conducted by the Rev. H. Austin Smith, pastor of the First Christian Church, will be held at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon at the Skinner funeral home. Burial will be in Fairview cemetery. Members of the painters' local union will be pallbearers.

Sunday's obituary is a daily blogging prompt used by many genealogy bloggers to help them post content on their sites. To participate in Sunday’s Obituary, post obituaries along with other information about that person. This is an ongoing series developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here.

Wordless Wednesday - Charles Joseph Deller

2011-02-23T00:01:00.002-06:00


Digital image of Mable Alice Roark, Charles Joseph Deller, unknown girl, unknown boy, unknown man, c. 1923, probably SE Kansas, original held by D. & M. Deller, Tulsa, OK. c. 2011

Besides the interesting hairdo and hats, the first thing I noticed was what appeared to be 'sand dunes'. In fact, they're probably chat piles; remains from the ever present lead mining in SE Kansas, NE Oklahoma, and SW Missouri. Charles worked in those mines in Picher, Oklahoma for a short time. You can read more about it in this article about the Legacy of Mining and in an article, "Growing up in the Shadow of the Chat Piles."

Tombstone Tuesday - Charles Joseph Deller

2011-02-22T11:29:00.000-06:00

Digital image of Gravestone for Charles Joseph Deller,
Fairview Cemetery, Coffeyville, KS, A. B. Deller, February 2010

Charles Joseph Deller was born in Kane, McKean County, Pennsylvania on July 21, 1905 to Peter and Carrie Deller.[1] He died in a drowning accident July 15, 1939 near Ketchum, Oklahoma.[2] This is another one of those instances where the gravestone isn't accurate.

[1] Diller, not named entry, McKean County Births, Return of Births 1904-1905, File Number 29.
[2] Charles J Deller, Ketchum, Mayes, OK death certificate 12310 (15 July 1939).

Amanuensis Monday - The Last Letter from Charles Joseph Deller

2011-02-21T07:57:00.002-06:00

Digital image of Family Letter Envelope, July 1939,
Personal collection of D. & M. Deller, Tulsa, OK, © 2011.

This letter was quite a find for us. We were cleaning out and sorting through old family papers and pictures, when my husband saw his father's "box" of personal items. It was once a cigar box, now full of little treasures from the past. Inside the box was a small envelope, dated July 1939, from Charles Joseph Deller, to his son, Charles Franklin Deller. At the time, we knew Charles Joseph had died in 1939, but had no other information; only a family story of an accidental drowning.

After a search at Fairview Cemetery in Coffeyville, Kansas, and a talk with the very helpful grounds manager, we narrowed down his death to July 1939, and the cemetery record confirmed that it was a drowning. I then visited the Coffeyville Public Library and searched microfilm of the local paper, hoping to find an obituary or notice of death; instead I was thrilled to find a full article about the accidental drowning in the Coffeyville Daily Journal. This article (along with the death certificate I obtained from the Oklahoma Health Department confirmed that he died July 15, 1939, only a few days after the letter was posted to his son.

Digital image of Family Letter,
Personal collection of D. & M. Deller, Tulsa, OK, © 2011.

Both pieces of paper were in the envelope, one part written on the back of a used envelope, and the second on a piece of card. Both are undated. They are transcribed exactly as written.

Soney - Inclosed you will find a ticket and $1.00 I want you to come through Tulsa so I can get your Scout things and other nessaties and I will take you on to Graneys from here take the afternoon Buss that gets in here at 12 30 P.M. and I will meet you at Bus Terminal. From what you have told me about the trip to Yellowstone Park you don't have to much time to get ready. so will be looking for you
Love from
Dady.

Soney - Thanks for thinking of me. I hope you are enjoying your visit. I would like for you to come back in time to spend some time with me. I have a job on outside of the Cosden Bldg. and am doing it at night. so will have all day to be with you. I have a new boat trailer and outboard moter and I'm sure we can havea good time. I also want to get your Scout layout while I am working.
Let me hear from you soon. You should write to your Graney also.
Lots of Love from Dady.
[written on side of page] 711 S Cheyenne Tulsa

Wednesday's Child: Joseph C. Deller

2011-02-16T11:50:00.000-06:00

Gravestone for Joseph C. Deller, Calvary Cemetery, Coffeyville, Ks.
Digital photo by A.B. Deller, 2 Sep 2010

Peter and Caroline "Carrie" [Miller] Deller had 11 children[1] born between 1893 and 1914. In 1907 it appears that they had twins, Joseph and Josephine, born in October[2]. In 2009, not knowing exactly where Charles Joseph Deller had died, I ordered a death certificate from the Kansas State Board of Health. Instead of Charles Joseph Deller, I received a death certificate for Joseph C. Deller (I did find a death certificate for Charles Joseph Deller, in Oklahoma, but that's another story).

I had assumed Joseph had died before 1920 because he wasn't living with his parents and siblings in Coffeyville, so I hadn't searched census records for him as an individual. After receiving the death certificate, I looked for him in the 1920 US Federal Census in Parsons (where he died), and he was listed as a patient at the Parsons State Hospital for Epileptics.[3] The death certificate isn't as complete as I would think a certificate filled out by a hospital should be; it didn't include his date of birth or his parents names (and he was technically still a minor). He died June 22, 1922 at 6:00am of Status Epilepsy and Exhaustion.[4]

Joseph was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Coffeyville, Kansas on June 24th, 1922. His death and burial was recorded in the Holy Name Catholic Church parish register by Father J. O'Brien.[5]

[1] Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Wetmore, McKean, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1374; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 140; Image: 557.
[2]i.b.i.d
[3] Ancestry.com, 1920 United States Federal Census, Year: 1920;Census Place: Parsons Ward 4, Labette, Kansas; Roll: T625_536; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 157; Image: 1062.
[4] Joseph Deller, Parsons, Labette, Kansas death certificate 50 2693 (22 June 1922).
[5] Holy Name Catholic Church, Coffeyville, Kansas, "1922 Parish Register - Liber Defunctorum Ecclesiae," Page 8, Entry No. 5.

Back to Work

2011-02-16T05:25:00.000-06:00

It's been way over a month since my last post, and high time I was back to work. Blogging isn't my best skill, but it's definitely an important one in this world of genealogy. If I didn't know this before, I found it out a week ago, when I was contacted by an unknown, distant relative for the first time. She had seen the blog, and an entry for our common ancestor, and emailed me. And now, I'm the recipient of a new genealogy friend.

She's been researching as well, and found other family members in Pennsylvania who hold a treasure in family photographs. She also has old photos of the family, and has shared some with me. It's so exciting, seeing a picture of someone I've been researching; in a way, it brings them back to life for me, if only for a few minutes.

So now, I'll be working on sorting through all that information we collected over the summer (no, I still haven't finished that). And now, it's been long enough, that when I review a scan, I'm surprised all over again. Procrastination does have it's (few) rewards.

Sentimental Sunday - Family Christmas Card

2010-12-26T06:35:00.000-06:00

Deller Family Christmas Card, Tulsa, OK, 1961

Bartlett S. Jackson - Spanish American War 1898

2010-11-12T07:47:00.000-06:00

Photo of B.S. Jackson, Dick Ashbrook, John Fall, Chas. Davenport at Chickamauga,
Georgia, June 25, 1898 [Digital copy, A.B. Deller, July 2010]. Dudley Emerson Jones,
1829-1913, Papers, 1849-1976, Manuscript Collection MC 1305, Box 4, Folder 5.
Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville.

Bartlett S. Jackson was the brother of Georgia Jackson Jones (our great-grandmother). He was born on April 9th, 1871, the youngest son of William P. Jackson & Susan A. Johnson, in Missouri (probably in Sedalia). He joined the 2nd Regiment Missouri Volunteer Infantry in Sedalia, Pettis County, Missouri in April 28, 1898; and was listed as a Sargent in Company D, Mustered in Jefferson, Missouri, May 12, 1898, and discharged Feb 17, 1899.

According to this author, at The Spanish American War Centennial Website,

"The Carthage Light Guard [Company A], along with the remainder of the Second Missouri Volunteer Infantry never left the continental U.S. during its term of service during the Spanish American War."

During his enlistment, he sent a gift back to his Sister's son, Arthur Jackson Jones. We found this when we were cleaning out the attic. A small silver cup, with a note inside that read,

"Arthur. Sent by Uncle Bartlett from Chattanooga during Spanish American War. Mom."

In the 1900 US Federal Census, Bart was living with his mother, Susan [Johnson] Jackson in Sedalia, Missouri, and working as a Policeman [his brother John was working as a Detective]. On April 5th, 1904, he died and was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery next to his parents.

William Talifero Ingram and "Mug" or Heritage Books

2010-11-08T06:42:00.000-06:00

Mary Jennie Eddy (standing), & WT Ingram
holding his great-granddaughter,
Marguerite Blanche Smith.
Personal Photo, owned by E.N.Snodgrass.
Digital Copy, A. B. Deller, July 2010.

William Talifero Ingram was born on November 8, 1830 in Greenville, Kentucky, and if we are to believe the biographical information presented in the "Portrait and biographical record of Randolph, Jackson, Perry and Monroe Counties", then he had an interesting life indeed.

The majority of what we [think we] know about William was found in this book. I first learned about it from a letter that was written to Viola Taylor Ingram (his daughter-in-law) from Springfield, Illinois in 1902. Five of those pages are devoted to transcribing the entry about "Col. W.T. Ingram" from the book. I remember searching for the book online, and finding it at Archive.org. I read through the entry with excitement, but even so, thought it sounded just a little "too" good in places.

I began to search for information about the book itself, to determine just how accurate I could consider it. Initially I found a source that discounted the majority of information in these books, which sounded a bit harsh. Since then I've found better written articles, one at the website Common-Place ["A bit friendlier than a scholarly journal, a bit more scholarly than a popular magazine, Common-place speaks--and listens--to scholars, museum curators, teachers, hobbyists, and just about anyone interested in American history before 1900." It's a great site.] . The article by Rhonda Frevert, "Mug Books" says of them,

"Late nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century mug books are collections of biographical sketches, a curiously rich source for genealogists and historians alike."

Title Page from "Portrait and Biographical Record,
Randolph, Jackson, Perry and Monroe Counties, IL
(Chicago, 1894). Archive.org

In an old blog entry from the Genealogy Education website, they're also called "Heritage Books." And he references another article written by Connie Lenzen that submitted to the NGS Quarterly. All of them emphasize the importance of evaluating the source for accuracy. It's something I've [usually] done, and considered just plain common sense. Sources are important, and unfortunately, this book doesn't list any sources at all. There's no way of knowing if the information was obtained by personal interview, or even who wrote the entry [whether stranger, friend or even the man himself].

This is another reminder to always consider the source. I want to make sure that the information I use in our family history is accurate, or as accurate as possible, because, as Ms. Lenzen writes,

"...when family members or researchers possess a record or a piece of knowledge, publishing it without documentation is a disservice to others interested in that family."

Other blog entries about William Talifero Ingram include Sunday Obituary, and Tombstone Tuesday.

Re-Examine Your Historical Documents

2010-11-05T11:52:00.000-05:00

Currently I'm participating in NaNoWriMo, writing the first draft of a novel about one of our ancestors, Berthena Taylor Roark. Actually, I'm using this process to get myself geared up to write out an account of ALL the information we've gathered about the family, since I've been having trouble starting to write anything at all. I imagine I'm not alone in wondering how in the world I'm going to be able to make any written sense of all the documents and information I've gathered. So, while I'm not very far along with my word count (all participants are trying to write 1667 words per day, to total 50,000 words for November), I'm definitely farther along in writing out some of my research.

Now you might ask if I actually have enough information on this person who lived from 1828 - 1882 to write a 50,000 page novel, and I would have to answer with a definite no. So, what I'm really writing is historical fiction. I'm trying to imagine just what her life might have been like, being born and raised in Kentucky, moving away from all her family, with her new husband, to Kansas, having (at least) seven children, moving again into Missouri, and dying a long way from her original home. I'm reading up on as much 19th century history as I can get my hands on (which is really limited when you're outside the USA), and re-reading all the documents I already possess.

And last night, I made some surprising discoveries in documents I thought I'd read well. I had a date for her marriage to Saul Roark in January 1850 (I obtained this from an online family tree), but I had two census records for the same year, and the two young people were still living in their parents home, and both marked as single. I'd also missed seeing that Jeff Campbell was reported living in their household in the 1865 Kansas State Census. This made me wonder if he was related to Fannie Campbell who reportedly killed Berthena.

I also spent more than an hour looking for alternative sources of the 1880 US Federal Census (no, I don't have a membership to Ancestry.com, and yes, I do know it would be most helpful in cases such as this), only to find than my online friend had already found Berthena in the 1880 census, listed as "Bink". It appears to be the right person, the dates match other records for her birth year, and the children listed under her name are also in previous census records, although in this record, she has moved to a neighboring county, and now she has been marked as widowed [she was also marked as married, so I'm not exactly sure what that means].

It goes to show, sometimes I have more information that I really realize; it's just a matter of organizing it and reviewing it, an in my case, creating a timeline and transcribing all the details onto it.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T05:50:00.000-05:00

Charles Franklin Deller & Carolyn Jones, c. 1952.
Personal Photo, owned by D. & M. Deller. Digital Copy, A. B. Deller, July 2010.

Follow Friday: Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter & FamilySearch.Org Research Wiki

2010-10-22T06:53:00.007-05:00

I follow quite a few blogs, but I'd have to say, for sheer volume of good information, Dick Eastman Online Genealogy Blog is great. Considering how far behind I can get, his snippets of information (I read the free articles), are just right for letting me know if this is an article that will be useful for me. For example, his post of October 21st, was perfect. Two perfect paragraphs pointing out an important article written by Gary T. Wright, "Preserving Your Family History Records Digitally."

This in turn led me to look around the Research Wiki at FamilySearch.org. I could hardly believe I had missed this in all my searches through their website. I had to try it out, and in a search for "Wurttemberg" it returned 91 entries. I can see this will be a place I'll be visiting frequently. I'm sure others will too.

Wordless Wednesday - Birthday Party c.1899

2010-10-13T00:00:00.000-05:00

Birthday Party for Elizabeth Ingram [probably in Springfield, Illinois],
Personal Photo, owned by A. Smith. Digital Copy, A. B. Deller, July 2010.

Tombstone Tuesday - William Talifero Ingram

2010-10-12T13:15:00.000-05:00

City Cemetery, Murphysboro, IL, Personal Photo by A.B. Deller, July 2010

"Dr. Ingram."

Grave Marker, City Cemetery, Murphysboro, IL, Personal Photo by A.B. Deller, July 2010

This small stone, directly in front of the large stone reads,

"Dr. Wm T. Ingram, Nov. 8, 1830 - Feb. 20, 1908."

Grave Marker, City Cemetery, Murphysboro, IL, Personal Photo by A.B. Deller, July 2010.

This fallen stone, next to the name stone for Dr. Ingram, is a mystery. It lies directly between Dr. Ingram and his second wife, Mary A. [Moore] Ingram. The only clear thing on it is the hand pointing up.

Amanuensis Monday - William Taylor

2010-10-11T11:50:00.001-05:00

I thought it'd be good to follow John Newmark's example in his blog, Transylvanian Dutch. For him, Monday is Amanuensis Monday. He says,

"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

In July we were able to visit Fairfield, Illinois, and the Wayne County Courthouse. There we found estate papers for William Taylor (1828-1897), who was my husband's great-great Grandfather. I have attempted to transcribe two of the documents found in the packet [we especially struggled with the list of household items; and I apologize in advance for any errors]. Both of these pages were printed forms, and for clarity, I have formatted the printed text in brown, and the written text in italicized black. Comments within brackets were added by me.

PETITION FOR LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION. - PRESS STREAM PRINT, FAIRFIELD, ILL.

Petition of Elizabeth Taylor
In the matter of the Estate of William Taylor
deceased, for letters of Administration.

To the Hon. Wm G. Bonham Judge of the County Court of Wayne County, in the State of Illinois:
The Petition of the undersigned Elizabeth Taylor respectfully represents that William Taylor late of the County of Wayne aforesaid, departed this life at his home in said County, on or about the 15th day of June A.D. 1897 leaving no last will and testament as far as your petitioner knows or believes.
And this Petition further shows that the said William Taylor died, seized and possessed ~~of Real and~~ Personal Estate, consisting chiefly of 2 Mares & Colts 3 Cows 1 Calf 1 Sow and pigs 1 Wagon Plows Harrow Mower Colt Furniture & etc.
all of said personal estate being estimated to be worth about Four Hundred Dollars. No real estate.
That said deceased left surviving him Elizabeth Taylor his widow, and Melissa Ward wife of WHWard Viola Ingram wife of Ed. Ingram Clara Scott wife of Robert Scott Millie Taylor and Homer H. Taylor his children as heirs. That your petitioner (being Mdm of said deceased,) and believing that the said estate should be immediately administered, as well for the proper management of said Estate as for the proper collection of the assets, by virtue of her right under the Statue she therefore pray that you Honor will grant Letters of Administration to her in the premises, upon her taking the oath prescribed by the Statue, and entering into bond in such sum and with securities, as may be approved by your Honor.
[signed] Elizabeth Taylor

STATE OF ILLINOIS,
Wayne County, ss. Elizabeth Taylor

being duly sworn, deposes and says that the facts averred in the above petition are true, according to the best of h__ knowledge, information and belief.
Sworn to and subscribed before me

a notary Public
~~Clerk~~ of the ~~County Court of~~ Wayne County, this 9
day of August A.D. 1897
[signed] CBBarnhill ~~Clerk~~
Notary public

[signed] Elizabeth Taylor

WIDOW'S RELINQUISHMENT AND SELECTION. - ILLINOIS PRINTING CO. DANVILLE, ILL.   338

Estate of William Taylor Deceased.
STATE OF ILLINOIS,
County of Wayne
                                            SS.    I, Elizabeth Taylor Widow of William Taylor deceased, do hereby relinquish all my claim to the following articles mentioned in the "Appraisers' estimate of specific property," allowed me for my family, to-wit:

ITEMS
The Family Pictures and the Wearing Apparel, Jewels, and
Ornaments of the widow and minor children...
Schoool [sic] Books and Family Library ............ 100.00
One Sewing Machine...
Necessary Beds, Bedsteads and Bedding for Widow and family
The Stoves and Pipe used in the family, with the necessary
Cooking Utensils...
Household and Kitchen Furniture....................... 100.00
..... Milch [sic] Cow and Cal [sic]    (being one for every four
members of the family)...
..... Sheep and Fleeces, (being two for each member
of the family)...
One Horse, Saddle and Bridle...
Provisions for widow and family for one year...
Food for the Stock above specified for six months...
Fuel for the widow and family for three months...
Other Property......................................................100.00

TOTAL ....................................... 745.50

The aggregate value of which, as estimated, is ............. Dollars ($....), and in lieu of the same I desire to retain the following articles named in the "Appraisement Bill of Personal Property" of said ................ deceased, viz:

ARTICLES.        VALUE.
                   DOLLS. CTS.
1 Hay Rack              .05
Old Iron                  .05
1 Hay Rake             5.00
1 Broad Saw              9.00
7 Shoats                15.00
1 Bay Filley [sic]      20.00
1 [?]Sucking Colt   18.00
1 Yellow Mare           15.00
1 Cart                   1.50
1 Grain Cradle      .20
1 Bundle wire            1.00
1 [maybe spreader]    .10
1 Post Auger              .15
2 Pitch Forks             .30
1 Riding Plow            3.00
1 Black Cow and Calf    30.00
1 Bay Mare            45.00
1 Beuro [sic]            4.00
1 Confert [sic]      4.00
1 "                     2.00
5 Chairs                 2.00
1 Center Table           1.00
1 Organ                 10.00
1 Beuro [sic]          1.00
1 Stand Table             .50
3 Rocking Chairs         3.00
6 Chairs                 1.00
1 Clock                  1.00
1 Buck saw    .08
1 Barrell [sic]           .10
1 Iron Kettle           .25
1 Wheel Barrow .20
Old Iron      .10
1 Grind Stone             .25
1 Wagon                 10.00
1 Shovel    .25
1 Sled        .25
1 Double Trus             .25
1 Mower       6.00
1 Plow    .25
1 Shovel Plow .50
1 Breaking Plow 1.00
1 Harrow                 1.50
1 Rolling Cutter        .10
1 Stove                  2.00
1 "            .50
1 "          3.00
1 Sewing Machine         2.00
1 Table                  2.00
1 Sofa       1.50
Dishes       2.00

         227.15

The total value of which, as appraised, is $227.15 Dollars, and the balance, Five Hundred Eighteen & .35 Dollars, ($ 518.35) I prefer to have in money.
Witness my hand and seal, this 3rd day of November A.D. 1897
[Signed] Elizabeth Taylor

Sunday Obituary - William Talifero Ingram

2010-10-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

William Talifero Ingram was the father of William Edward Ingram, the grandfather of Nell Marie Ingram Jones, and the great grandfather of Carolyn Jones Deller. His obituary was printed in The Daily Free Press, Carbondale, Illinois, on February 21, 1908.

SUDDEN DEATH OF DR. INGRAM

Well Known Murphysboro Physician Died Suddenly at Home in That City Thursday Night

PRACTISING PHYSICIAN FOR 56 YEARS

    Dr. William T. Ingram, one of the best known physicians of South Illinois for more than a half century, and a resident physician of Murphysboro for thirty years, died at his home in that city about 8 o'clock Thursday night. Death was due to heart failure, the end coming suddenly. Last December he was taken down sick with a severe brochial trouble and other ailments, but a week or two ago he had recovered sufficiently to enable him to partially resume his practice. During the part of the day yesterday he was not feeling so well but until a very few minutes before his death it was not believed that he was seriously ill.
Dr. Ingram was the oldest practising physician in Jackson county, having been engaged in the practice of medicine for fifty-eight years. He was born at Greenville, Ky., November 8, 1830, his age at time of death being 77 years, 3 months and 12 days. When he was ten years old his parents moved on a farm near Centralia, this state, where he grew to young manhood. When he was twenty years old he returned to Greenville, Ky., and began the study of medicine under Dr. Jost, returning to Illinois in the year 1852, when he began the practice of medicine at Xenia. In the next few years he was located as a physician in Wayne county and at Benton. At Benton he was engaged in merchandising in addition to the practice of medicine. At the beginning of the civil war he enlisted in the Fortieth Illinois, serving as private, lieutenant and captain. Later he was forced to retire from the service owing to rheumatic trouble. Before the close of the war. having regained his health, he was largely instrumental in the mustering in of the 136th Illinois, Dr. Ingram entering the service in this regiment as lieutenant colonel. After the close of the war Dr. Ingram served for a time in the government secret service, being stationed at Cairo.
After the war Dr. Ingram was located at various places DeSoto, Benton, Wayne county and St. Louis, coming to Murphysboro in the year 1876. Since that date he has practiced medicine continuously in the Jackson county seat and for a number of years has been one of the best known physicians in the county. In recent years he was for some time associated in partnership with his grandson, the late Dr. Will Hill. Since the latter's death he has continued his practice alone, with the exception of a partnership for a brief period with Dr. H. H. Roth.
   Dr. Ingram had been married three times. Besides his wife he leaves three children from a previous marriage. They are Mrs. Frances Hill, now spending the winter with her Daughter, Mrs. Dan Parkinson, at San Antonio, Tex., W. E. Ingram of Little Rock, Ark.; and Robert Ingram of Houston, Tex. Eleven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren survive also.
   During his residence at Murphysboro Dr. Ingram has always taken an active interest in public affairs. He has served as city alderman, member of school board and held other official positions. Although a member of the Methodist church for many years, he was one of the organizers and leading members of the Trinity Episcopal church at the county seat. In recent years he had been identified with the Democratic party, but about the time of his locating in Murphysboro was one of the leaders in the Greenback movement in this section and for a time conducted a newspaper known as the "Industrial Tribune", in the interest of the Greenback cause.
The funeral will be held Monday afternoon at the Murphysboro Episcopal church. Interment at Murphysboro.

Saturday Night Fun

2010-10-09T14:57:00.000-05:00

OK - this *really* shows just how behind I am! I was catching up on some blog reading (I'm only 649 posts behind now), and read one of Angie's posts about one of Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun and thought it sounded like fun. I didn't think to look at the date (I don't think I've read any posts since early June) and when I went looking at Genea-Musings, I couldn't find it and wondered why... duh! It was from Randy's post from July 17th, "Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - I Write Like..." It said,

1) Find something that you have written that you are really proud of - the best of your work. Do an Edit > Copy of it.
2) Go to the website http://iwl.me/ and Paste your text into the waiting box.
3) Tell us which famous author you write like. Write it up in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog, or post it on Facebook. Insert the "badge of honor" in your blog if you can.

Late though I may be - and I'm *way* later than Angie - I wanted to try it, it did sound like fun - and it was. The first thing I submitted was my first post for this blog - since I couldn't think of anything really good I'd written. It came up with this:

I write like
H. P. Lovecraft

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Since I wasn't familiar with this author, I googled his name,

"Howard Phillips "H. P." Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction." [1]

I do enjoy reading Edgar Allan Poe and Terry Pratchett (among other authors), but I I decided to double check things, and looked around my hard drive for a book I wrote during NaNoWriMo [2] thinking to copy a bit of it (I wouldn't consider it my best writing, but it's not a blog post). While I was looking, I found a little piece I wrote as an exercise. "The Witchy House" I barely remembered writing it, but I liked it and thought it was good, so I submitted it (totally missing the inference in the title). What do you know?

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Well. While I quite enjoy reading these types of books, I also read loads of others. I had no idea that style would show in my blog posts. [By the way, that book of mine? It's in the style of Bram Stoker.]

[1] "H.P. Lovecraft." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 8 Oct 2010. Web. Accessed 9 Oct 2010. .

[2] NaNoWriMo refers to the National Novel Writing Month. As they say at their web site, "National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30." Try it, it's a great exercise in writing.

Funeral Card Friday - Elnora Hussong Roark Asbell

2010-10-08T00:00:00.002-05:00

Almost a year ago, I wrote about Elnora Hussong Roark Asbell. This past summer we had the opportunity to travel to different places throughout the mid-west, and were able to visit previously unknown relatives, as well as known ones. I learned [again] just how important it is to ASK if there are pictures or papers that are related to the family being researched. I can't count how many times my husband and his family had visited their family in Forney, and they had never seen the photos that we saw this summer - after - I'd specifically asked. They'd been stored away in a small suitcase, that Nora's daughter Mable had given to her granddaughter. I brought up the old post, because I made a correction to it. One of Nora's granddaughters was able to identify the previous photo as a friend of Nora's. I was a bit dismayed to see that, but was quickly excited again, when they produced an authentic portrait of Nora, which I've now corrected on the blog entry.

But back to the Funeral Card. This particular card is not very unusual for the late 20th century. With a picture of the servicing mortuary, Broadway Mortuary, on the front, and a copy of the Twenty-third Psalm and details of the funeral service on the inside.

In Memory of

Nora Asbell

Date of Birth

May 1, 1888

Galena, Kansas

Date of Death

March 27, 1965

Dallas, Texas

Services

Broadway Mortuary Chapel

Monday, March 29, 1965

2:20 p.m.

Officiating

Rev. Leonard A. Clark

Grace Methodist Church

Interment

Wichita Park Cemetery

Organist

Mrs. John N. Free

Soloist

Mrs. Melvin H. McCune

Selection

"The Old Rugged Cross"

Jack H. Cozine, Funeral Director

Service by Broadway Mortuary

Wichita, Kansas

Funeral card of Nora Asbell. Personal collection of D. & M. Deller, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Marble Top Table

2010-10-07T00:00:00.001-05:00

Photograph 1

This little table, used in this photograph as a game table, is one of the family treasures. From a brief search, it appears to be a Victorian occasional table. One site described Victorian furniture as,

Late 19th century.
Woods used: Mahogany, walnut, rosewood.
Description: heavy, massive, substantial; dark finish; clumsy design; ornate carvings and decorations; marble tops used.
Description found at TLC.howstuffworks.com

Photograph 2

This really is a beautiful piece of furniture. For me though, even though it's a valuable antique, I think the best part is that it has been passed down through the family. It was either purchased by Dudley and Caroline Jones, or by their son Arthur Clifton and Georgia Jones, and it was used in that same house on Scott Street by Arthur & Nell Jones, until it was moved in the 1970's to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where it was used by their daughter and her family. Just this year it was moved to Dallas, where it has begun its service to the next generation.

Photograph 1 - Arthur Jackson Jones & his brother, Dudley Emerson Jones sitting at Victorian side table [probably in the Scott Street House, Little Rock, Arkansas]. Dudley Emerson Jones, 1829 - 1913, Manuscript Collection MC 1305, Series 4, Folder 10. Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville.
Photograph 2. Christmas at the Deller home in Tulsa, Oklahoma; the third great granddaughter of Dudley Emerson Jones sitting in front of Victorian Side Table. Personal photo by Carolyn Jones Deller. Christmas, 1990

October 3, 2010 - Happy First Blogiversary!

2010-10-06T06:38:00.000-05:00

Ok - I'm a 'wee bit' late here. But only by a few days. Last October 3rd, I started blogging about the Deller and Jones family of Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, etc. It's been a good learning experience, and I've [virtually] met a lot of wonderful people. I send out many thanks to Thomas MacEntee and GeneaBloggers - and a whole lot of other bloggers out there - who patiently answered questions, and provided uninhibited enthusiasm for a beginner genealogy blogger.

So I'm planning to celebrate, by planning to post much more regularly. This is a great blogging community to be involved in, and I want to be a bigger part. I want to put more family names 'out there' for anyone like me who might be searching for them. To me, there's nothing better than finding a new relative, and together, searching for and then remembering all those who have gone before us.

The Letters of Dudley Emerson Jones - Part 3 of 3

2010-10-06T06:37:00.001-05:00

In the political sphere, Dudley comments on some of the great issues of his time - in the 1890’s, for example, national monetary policy. Of this he says, “Everyone around here is crazy for free silver. It is literally a craze. It reminds me of nothing so much as the craze at the Secession Convention in Charleston in 1860.” These comments seem to indicate his lack of sympathy for radical revision of the money system. Still, at another point he speaks of the federal government as capable of providing some economic “relief,” in a time of particularly depressed economy. As on other issues, he can seem both conservative and progressive, at the same time, or at least flexible. Overall, he seems to have seen no basic conflict between private enterprise and government policy, but rather their mutual benefit, as in his enthusiasm over railroads.

He could at times be quite critical of state administration, even scathing. Once he really let them have it, referring to the Republican rule in 1872-3: “It is no wonder that we were bankrupt. The records show that the members of the Assembly charged 1200 to 1600 dollars per diem{?} for coming or going less than 100 miles. It is no wonder that scrip fell to 10 cents.”

Dudley did have clear preferences of some over others, and certain definite convictions. He favored Grover Cleveland in the presidential elections of the 90’s. “I voted for him twice, and would vote for him again if he would run.” He seems therefore to have been a Democrat, and reflects again, some of the complexities of the post-war South, as a northerner who had benefited from the period of Reconstruction, but who appears to have invested his longer-term loyalty with the more southern Democratic Party. He was quite chagrined at the thought of the Republican William McKinley as president. Before the election he said, “He is not a strong enough man to be president. But we shall probably have to accept him in any case.” He opposed the Spanish-American War that McKinley fell into, but also betrayed an ambivalent attitude about America’s possible role. Speaking of Filipinos -“It is nauseous to say that we can’t govern them. It is an acknowledgment that Spain can do what we can’t. I believe they will govern themselves.” And then, in an alternately whimsical, apolitical aside – “Perhaps you & Oliver would like to go to Porto Rico to spend the next winter” – but again acknowledging the reach of American power – “That will become a great winter resort for the East as Hawaii will be for the West.” Dudley saw expansion and opportunity even when showing confidence in those over whom America’s shadow was falling.

Company Card. Dudley Emerson Jones,1829-1913, Papers, 1849-1976, Manuscript Collection MC 1305, box 3, folder 8. Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville. Digital photo ©2010 A.B. Deller

Dudley was a businessman, an Arkansas booster, and a knowledgeable citizen concerning social and political affairs, if someone of generally progressive views who also reflected some of the tensions and prejudices of his time. But in the end, he seemed mostly a family man. His strongest feelings always came out there – why don’t she write, he would insist. When will you come to visit? The grandchildren were “great fat happy rascals; if there is any mischief,” he wrote, “they are sure to find it.” He acknowledges the great sadness when his daughter Kate moved away to California with her husband and 5 children in the 1890’s. Overall, at first, he seems philosophical about it. Writing to Jane Ann, he says, “It’s not so strange when you come to think about it. Why did I throw everything up and go West all those years ago?” [a time Dudley never forgot, especially the 4^th of July he spent rounding Cape Horn] Speaking of his son-in-law Philip, he “never had any fancy for my business. He never would learn more than the office work.” Philip had jumped on the business opportunity to invest in the bicycle craze of the 1880’s and 90’s, and went to California, and even across the ocean, in investing in it. That was something an entrepreneur like Dudley could understand. Still, deeper recognitions come out when referring to the loss of Kate and grandchildren. “Since they have left we have had a lonesome time. Think of taking 4 children away at one time for they were in our house almost as much as their own, to eat, to sleep, to ride[?] with GrandMa Jones. It is terribly lonesome for her,” he said of Madam Caroline. “The sighs come up from the bottom of her feet, every when we see something that reminds us of them, but they are not here. Every noise, we think of one of them is coming in their play house in the yard.” More happily, Caroline eventually made her way to California to see these that she had lost, as did Dudley, who was also able to revisit the wild doings of his youth late in life.

Dudley finished this letter of Jan 6, 1891 with a characteristic humorous observation. Speaking of Kate’s son Philip, he commented: “I think he will turn out to be a minister if he grows up. He is not quite five years old & he can play ½ dozen games of cards as well as anyone & knows the rules of the games better. If this don’t indicate a preference for the cloth what does.”

The last letter we have was written in 1900, the year Jane Ann died. It contained the comments that Dudley had made for all the previous 25 years. “Madam has started a 10 block walk to church with the thermometer 110 in the sun & she 70 yesterday.” And “I hope you are all well & will soon write me. I don’t know when I have had a letter from any of you.”

This last and all the other letters found their way from Jane’s home in Clifton Park, Saratoga County to the Jones House on Scott Street in Little Rock where we found them in 1975. Perhaps a family member brought them back to the Joneses after she was gone. They are now kept in the Special Collections section of the University of Arkansas Library in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the university where Dudley was an original trustee, and where he had a grandson, a grand-daughter, and a great-great grandson graduate [the last there is me]. I wish I had letters like these from more relatives; I am so glad I have seen and read them – they are an immense treasure.

I wish too that I could have known Dudley Jones directly. He certainly couldn’t have known that his letters would make him known to anyone except Jane Ann and the immediate family. But family goes on, and sometimes people are found years later, as he was found. Dudley Jones made himself memorable times over as a public citizen. But in these letters you see a man who was not only philosophical and practical, but also poignant, in his own personal way, even if that is a way we in our day may see as quite formal.

“Write as soon as you can and as often as you can.

Yours affectionately, DEJones”

Guest blogger: David

The Letters of Dudley Emerson Jones - Part 2 of 3

2010-10-05T09:00:00.003-05:00

In turning to Dudley’s business interests more directly, there is no doubt that he was a natural entrepreneur, something of a risk-taker, first seen perhaps in that Gold Rush venture taken on when he was barely 20 years old. His Little Rock business included manufacture and sales of multiple types of farm equipment, and there are indications that he was optimally flexible for customers, offering to make or import virtually any related product they desired. He was very aware of the state and regional atmosphere for development as well, often remarking on the building of new railroads, and the great developments in the timber industry. In one letter he tells his sister about the great apple country up in Benton County, Arkansas, and how a young man could really make his mark were he to invest time and effort in harvesting them [she could recommend it, he perhaps implied, to some of the “younger folks” of Saratoga, as he called them]. He speaks at one point of the great store of minerals in Arkansas. But here his enthusiasm for once flags, communicating one possible reason for and frustration over his non-stop sales pitch. “If our minerals were in the Rocky Mountains, or way down in Mexico they would be sought by Capitalists all over the world. It has been long known that we have some..” [Gold, any amount of silver, Lead, Iron, tins] “I don’t know what all. But it is in Arkansas & that is enough to condemn it.” Dudley clearly seems aware of the view of his adopted state as a particularly backward and unpromising venue. But he had obvious personal reason to praise and recommend it [and it seems at times to exaggerate its potential]. He had greatly prospered there, and become one of the leading citizens of what he clearly had seen as an up and coming community all along. He exclaims in the 90’s, looking back, at the growth he had spoken of so often for at least 25 years. “There are 30,000 residents of Little Rock now; there were barely 3,000 when we came.” He had seen some of the first paved roads, and streetcars too.

Broader social and political observations also found their way into the letters to Jane Ann, the issue of race and race relations somewhat noticeably. Dudley had in effect served as part of the Reconstruction efforts, and administration, in the 1870’s. He was apparently directly involved in the Brooks-Baxter War, the conflict over the governorship of the state in 1874, which effectively signaled the end of Reconstruction in Arkansas. His role is not clear, but he ended up on the winning side. His appointment as a trustee of the first state university in Arkansas in 1875 seems connected to the political judgment and loyalties exercised at that moment.

The end of Reconstruction overall ended the public roles of African-Americans in many Southern states and communities. In assessing the situation, Dudley acknowledged both the capabilities and accomplishments of those he referred to as “colored,” and the reality of racism. He remarks on the good character, education, and bearing clearly evident in many of the “colored gentlemen,” and informs his sister, apparently to her surprise, that he has served next to colored men many times in court. “It is rare to sit on a jury without at least one colored man, and on grand juries 2 or 3, and they [the latter] are put on by Democrats.” But at one point, he recognizes the inescapable fact: “The whites will not be ruled by blacks,” he says, “even if there is ten colored to one white in a county.” He concludes, “ The Negroes soon find what is best for them take a back seat. It may be wrong & all that but it is human nature. The educated will rule.” But he also explained to his sister that he would not refer to blacks as “niggers,” as he actually thought northerners would. Dudley Jones obviously reflected the contradictions and difficult balances of his age.

Like most others no doubt, Dudley could sometimes sound condescending. One holiday season he remarked to Jane Ann about the excitement in the city. “You should have seen downtown yesterday. You’ve never seen so many darkies, all excited getting their Christmas supplies.” Another time he comments on the reaction of a colored employee at receiving a photograph of himself. “You’ve never seen a darkie so tickled,” he exclaimed.

What we might see as contradictory, or politically incorrect probably seemed normal to Dudley. Black men were to be respected, but also to be objects of fun at times. I blush to admit that some of his business advertisements seem straight out of StepinFetchit. His seemingly dual attitude no doubt indicates the different classes of blacks: both the educated, city colored, and those he would also be familiar with – servants, and the large numbers of unsophisticated country people who worked the plantations. [How his “colored gentlemen” would have seen some of his business ads does not seem to have occurred to him].

1 “Dudley E Jones Company Business Advertisement.” Arkansas Gazette. 2 June 1893. Genealogy Bank.com. Accessed 4 October 2010. < http://www.genealogybank.com>.

Guest blogger: David

The Letters of Dudley Emerson Jones - Part 1 of 3

2010-10-04T09:12:00.000-05:00

In 1975, my mother’s mother, Nellie Marie Ingram Jones, had to move out of her family home in Little Rock, Arkansas, as she was no longer able at 87 to take care of it. The home had been bought by her husband’s grandfather in 1865, and it had stuff in it that dated back somewhere near that far. The job of my mother, sister, and me was to empty that house.

One item that emerged was a collection of letters written by that great-great-grandfather [of mine], Dudley Emerson Jones. You may know him from elsewhere on this site. After relocating to Little Rock after the Civil War he lived there until he died in 1913. Dudley had left at least 2 sisters back in Saratoga County, New York, where they had all grown up. These sisters’ names were Jane Ann, and Martha. The letters were all from Dudley to Jane; they dated from 1876 to 1900.

Dudley E Jones to Jane Ann Wait, July 16, 1876. Dudley Emerson Jones,1829-1913, Papers, 1849-1976, Manuscript Collection MC 1305, box 1, folder 5. Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville. Digital photo ©2010 A.B. Deller

Dudley seems to have been a faithful correspondent. Of the letters that survived, and there may have been more, it was common for there to be 2 per year. The times varied – sometimes spring, sometimes summer, or fall, or around Christmas time.

A number of things stand out in the letters. Some of them seem mundane or commonplace to us, perhaps - health for example. But it occurred to me that concerns over health were much more germane in those days than they might be now. Dudley and his wife Caroline lost at least 2 children to illness. In the letters, Dudley claims over several years that his wife had cancer, and recounts how he insisted she go to Chicago to seek out treatment from specialists [I do not know the likelihood of that diagnosis, do not even know what kind of familiarity they had with cancer in those days]. It does seem that Caroline lived a good many years with whatever affliction that was, very stoically, according to her husband. Sister Jane’s husband Oliver is often spoken of in ill health as well. Dudley’s daughter-in-law Georgia Jackson Jones was apparently quite “poorly” after the birth of one of her sons. Concern was clear during the pregnancies of his daughter Kate Jones Bernays. Queries and assurances concerning health were not mere pleasantries.

On a lighter note, Dudley at times took the liberty of offering diagnoses and treatments, mentioning he had heard that cancer could be caused by eating tomatoes, and recommending “sarsaparilla” for Oliver’s rheumatism. He also favored “Homeopathic” treatment, mentioning it as a remedy for “the Grippe” [“When I had it I didn’t care whether I got well or not…After all it is a good deal as the Paddy said. He said he ‘was sick 3 weeks after he got well.’”]. He also volunteered a scientific method for discovering the cause of illness, which he linked to diet – just eliminate one item a day from daily diet, and when symptoms stop, the cause has been found. He was rather critical of doctors for not including diet in their instructions for patients, implying that a steady supply of sick people were necessary for their trade.

There is a good deal of mention of the weather as well. Dudley’s business was directly related to agriculture, as he manufactured and sold cotton gin elevators, among other things. He often referred to the weather in direct relation to the prospects of the cotton crop – sometimes good, sometimes bad. He also mentions the normal, how hot or cold it is in general, and the unusual as well. In one letter he speaks of an enormous storm that knocked down trees. He went into his back yard to watch his “mighty oak tree do battle with the wind.” The oak tree survived that storm, the like of which he said he had never seen, and Dudley had been around a good deal in his time, including to California in the Gold Rush. He also complains at times of the heat. When he left the windows, and even doors open at times in the evening, the “skeeters” [a clearly whimsical expression in his parlance] could be terrible. He also uses the heat as an excuse sometimes for not writing sooner. “It’s very hot writing next to a burning lamp in the summer,” he would say.

Family doings and relations would of course come up, probably the single most prevalent subject in the letters. In addition to health, certain regular activities would be referred to. Virtually all of Dudley’s references to his wife Caroline involved her religious practices. “Madam [as he always called her in these letters] has gone away to church again, and left me alone in the house.” “Madam” seemed to go to church a lot, Dudley not so much. These letters were very often written on Sunday evenings [the only time he had time, but often not the energy, to write, he once said; he obviously did it anyway]. Perhaps Madam went more than once on Sunday, and Dudley had fulfilled his obligation, or satisfied his preference already. Once he combines observation of the weather and Caroline’s Sunday practice. “It is now showering just as Madam is starting for church. She will put on rubbers & an umbrella & go anyhow.” Another time he adds, “If I could only get her to cross the street to our Dutch Church it would save her long walks.” Whether any of this indicates religious indifference on Dudley’s part seems possible, although he did have a tendency to joke a bit, often at his own expense.

Dudley very much valued corresponding with his family, and certainly missed them. He ends every letter, every one, with “write as soon and as often as you can.” He regularly complains that others haven’t written to him, or not soon enough. Sister Martha comes in for the brunt of his irritation; she just wouldn’t write soon or often enough to suit him.

No doubt from the same desire, he very often goes to great lengths to convince his sister to come out and visit him. This is repeated numerous times over a 15-year period, until finally sometime later in the 1890’s Dudley just seems to give up, saying, “I suppose I’ll never convince you to come out now.” It really seemed to matter to him.

Perhaps that is one reason that Dudley was such a Little Rock, and Arkansas booster. He was always commenting on “how much our state is growing” and “how great is our city’s expansion.” Dudley was a prominent businessman in the center of one of the key economic enterprises in Arkansas and surrounding states, the cotton trade, and he talks up not only the actual growth of the area, but its great potential as well. Perhaps this was one way of trying to engender some enthusiasm, some interest in the place in his sister Jane, and other relatives. It does seem that he did get recalcitrant correspondent Martha out at some point, but faithful letter-partner Jane seems never to have made it.

Guest blogger: David

No, I haven't died...

2010-08-04T15:06:00.002-05:00

I've been living a genealogy dream - and been completely overwhelmed by it!

We have been spending many of our vacation days traveling around to our family home towns, visiting with distant relatives and searching for local documents at libraries and courthouses. It's been absolutely wonderful, but as I mentioned, also overwhelming. I was able to scan in loads of documents and photos, and I still haven't completely integrated them into my other records because we've been on the road going to other places, or involved in the tasks of everyday life.


©2010 A.B. Deller

One place we visited was Keokuk, Iowa. The library workers there were extremely helpful, and we found more information (about collateral relatives) there than I thought we would. The land there is beautiful, but oddly enough, we both fell in love with Oakland Cemetery. It was obviously an old cemetery, evident at first glance. We were fortunate, and knew which section (though not which plot), our relative was buried in. It was a warm day, and quite a workout, walking around that section; but worth it when we found Dudley E. Jones' cousin (by marriage), and business partner, Campbell Kennedy Peck's grave marker (the tall one is his). Reading about him at the library, seems he stayed on after the Civil War, continuing to run the hardware business, ["Cady & Peck," it had been "Cady, Peck & Jones" but Dudley E. Jones moved to Little Rock, Arkansas after the Civil War] and went on to enter the Fur Trading business with his brother-in-law, E. H. Durfee. [Note: There's a great article online here about Durfree & Peck Indian Traders that is taken from an article that appeared in the Jan. and Feb. 2004 issues of "Talkin' Tokens" magazine, monthly magazine of the National Token Collectors Association.]

As we drove around the cemetery (it is huge), we stopped to walk around various other sections and take random photographs of interesting stones, and in one case, a cat. You just never know what you'll find in cemeteries. I'm sure someone has a blog about cemetery animals...

At the library, we read about the Keokuk National Cemetery located right next to Oakland. It was established in 1862. Here's a brief excerpt from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website,

"By the beginning of the Civil War, Keokuk was home to a population of approximately 13,000 people. Its location, at the confluence of the Des Moines and Mississippi rivers, made an ideal location for the transportation of produce for the war. The first Civil War facility in Iowa was Camp Ellsworth, located near Keokuk, where troops were mustered as early as May 1861. More posts, including Camps Rankin, Halleck and Lincoln were established in 1861 and 1862. As the war progressed, five Army hospitals were established in the area to help care for the thousands of sick and wounded soldiers transported up the Mississippi River from Southern battlefields. Most of the original interments at Keokuk National Cemetery came from these hospitals."

Tomorrow we'll be taking another day trip; to the libraries of Galena, Kansas and Joplin, Missouri, where at least three of the families lived for part of their lives.

When we get back to a routine, of sorts, I'll have a ton of information for entries... I just need time to organize and write them up!

Memorial Day - All Our Veterans

2010-05-30T13:19:00.000-05:00

Original held by D. & M. Deller

When we say the word "Veteran" or speak of honoring those who have served on Memorial Day, I immediately think of the men and women who gave their lives in service to our country. But a few weeks ago, I was reminded that the soldiers and sailors were not the only ones serving their country. They left behind many family members who did their part on the home front; and in many cases were left after the wars end, grieving for those who had died.

I am thinking of our Great-Uncle and Aunt, Edward Curtis Jones and Jessie Colclasure Jones. Their only son, Edward Curtis Jones Jr., after two years of college, left his home in Tennessee, and entered the U.S. Army Air Force in January 1942 as an Aviation Cadet. He was killed in action over Budapest, Hungary, July 2, 1944. He was survived by both his parents, and in March 1945, three sets of parents, including Curtis and Jessie, represented their lost sons in Memphis, Tennessee, as their sacrifice was honored.

So while I am thankful for all those men and women who have served with the military, I am also thankful for all those family members who supported them.

Wordless Wednesday - Dudley E Jones House

2010-05-26T06:59:00.001-05:00

Dudley E. Jones House, Scott Street, Little Rock, Arkansas, c. 1899

Dudley E. Jones House, Scott Street, Little Rock, Arkansas, c.1970

Dudley E. Jones House, at it's new location on S. Broadway St.,

Little Rock, Arkansas, c.2009

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun! December 2, 1950

2010-05-23T07:36:00.002-05:00

OK, this is late, obviously, but as someone else said, it looks like fun. Randy, over at Genea-Musings, has challenged us.

Your mission, should you deign to accept it (come on, it's fun!), is to:
1) Go to the dMarie Time Capsule Website - http://dmarie.com/timecap/
2) Select a date in your family history that you want to know about. You might pick a birth date or wedding date of your parents or grandparents.
3) Enter the date into the search form, and select the news, songs, toys, books and other things that you want to feature.
4) Share the date, why you picked it, and the results of your Time Capsule study on your own blog, in a comment to this post, or in a comment or post on Facebook.

So off I go - I chose Charles Franklin Deller and Carolyn Jones Wedding day (I was just updating their profile in RootsMagic with media earlier today),

December 2, 1950.

Let's see what we find...

Top News Headlines this Week:

Nov 26 - China enters Korean conflict, sends troops across Yalu River
Nov 30 - US Pres Truman threatens China with atom bomb
Dec 2 - Vic Toweel knocks down Danny O'Sullivan 14 times in a title fight

Top Songs for 1950:

Harbor Lights by Sammy Kaye
If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake by Eileen Barton
I Can Dream, Can't I? by Andrews Sisters
The Tennessee Waltz by Patti Page
Mona Lisa by Nat King Cole
All My Love by Patti Page

U.S. President

Harry S. Truman

U.S. Vice-President

Alben W. Barkley

Academy Award Winners

Best Picture: All About Eve, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Best Actor: Jose Ferrer in Cyrano De Bergerac
Best Actress: Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday

People born on December 2

1950 - Merrill Ashley, St Paul MN, ballerina (NYC Ballet)

On TV in 1950

The Ed Sullivan Show
The Burns & Allen Show

Top Books in 1950

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
Florence Nightingale by Cecil Woodham-Smith

1950 Prices:

Bread: $0.14/loaf
Milk: $0.82/gal
Eggs: $0.70/doz
Car: $1,750
Gas: $0.27/gal
House: $14,500
Stamp: $0.03/ea
Avg Income: $3,815/yr
Min Wage: $0.75/hr
DOW Avg: 235

They were right... this *was* fun! And educational!

(Not Really) Wordless Wednesday - Edward Curtis Jones

2010-05-19T02:27:00.003-05:00

Edward Curtis Jones, 1889 - 1960, c. 1890

Curtis, as he was known to his family, was the oldest son of Arthur Clifton Jones and Georgia A. Jackson; and later brother to Dudley Emerson and Arthur Jackson Jones. He was born 25 August 1889 in Sedalia, Missouri, moved with his family to Little Rock, and graduated from the Little Rock High School in 1908. Though we don't have his college records, we know he went to some institute of higher education; in every census after 1910 his occupation is listed as Engineer.

He registered for the World War I draft, and fought in Europe, along with both of his brothers. Family members recall seeing a picture of all three brothers together on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but it has been lost.

He returned to Little Rock, and to his wife, Jessie M. Colclasure in 1917. The couple lived with his parents until after 1920, and their only child, Edward Curtis Jones, Jr., was born in 1921 in Arkansas, probably in the family home. By 1930 the little family had moved to Memphis, Tennessee. The next public record we hold is a newspaper clipping from 11 March 1945 that pictures a line of grieved parents, including Curtis and Jessie, as the "Army Recognized Their Sons' Valor in Europe's Sky," E. Curtis Jones Jr. had been killed in action over Hungary in World War II.

His wife, Jessie, died in January 1957 of pneumonia and stomach cancer, after a fierce battle, and is buried at Memorial Park in Memphis. We believe Curtis died on 7 March 1960 in Memphis Tennessee. He was survived by his brothers and their spouses, and one niece and her family.

Wordless Wednesday - Dudley Emerson Jones 1892-1971

2010-05-05T07:43:00.002-05:00

Dudley Emerson Jones 1892 - 1971;

son of Arthur Clifton Jones

Little Rock, Arkansas, c. 1893

Wordless Wednesday - Dudley E. Jones Company

2010-04-28T03:55:00.002-05:00

Dudley E. Jones Company
L-R: Unknown, Arthur Clifton Jones, Unknown, Dudley E. Jones

Little Rock, Arkansas; c. 1895

Wordless Wednesday - Roy & Mable Roark

2010-04-21T11:15:00.000-05:00

Roy & Mable Roark

Joplin, Missouri, c. 1916

Treasure Chest Thursday - Autograph Book

2010-04-15T06:01:00.002-05:00

One of our family treasures is an Autograph book that belonged to "Ed & Ollie Ingram," also known as William Edward Ingram and Viola F. Taylor. The entries in the book date from January 1882 to January 1887. During this period, they moved from Jeffersonville, Illinois, to Hempstead, Texas, where three of their children were born.

This entry from Ed's sister Fannie seems to be a typical entry:

Dear Brother and Sister,

Let peace attend thy home retreat,
Far from the friends you love so well,
And linked virtue hold her seat,
In cot or mansion where you dwell.
May heavens richest choicest boon,
Entwine and crown your brow,
And make thy pathway bright as noon
To cheer the friends you are far from now.
Fannie Hill
Murphysboro, M'ch 8th, 1882

Besides the beautiful handwriting and the interesting quotes and poems, it's been a source to confirm relationships. Fannie's entry starts, "Dear Brother and Sister"; other entries through the book are signed, "Your Sister," and "Your Cousin." And it's possible that, considering the number of Taylor family members who signed it, Viola was primary owner of the little book.

In addition to all that, it also indicates locales that were important to their family. Murphysboro, Illinois, Jeffersonville, Illinois, and Hempstead, Texas.

It really is a great little treasure chest of information.

Sweet Easter Memories

2010-04-04T00:38:00.003-05:00

Hats, purses and white gloves. Those were the days!

Happy Easter!

Share Your Memories

2010-03-23T08:05:00.004-05:00

Hi All,

We [the Deller family] are in the process of putting together a family history book, and would like to ask family members and friends to send in stories and memories of anyone in the family. This basically means anyone related to Carolyn or Charles Deller, and specifically including Mabel and Rudy Valdez, Mona and Delores, as well as relatives of the Jones [Carolyn] family.

The hope is to put together something for the family which they can keep and share in the future, preserving memories that might otherwise be lost. The best things would be specific memories or stories.

[David speaking: “I remember asking Rudy when we were fishing whether the fish knew they were going to cut their heads off. ‘Yeah,’ he said with a grin, ‘they know.’ Or when I visited Granny Mabel in Tulsa as a kid, and she would always be sitting at the coffee table, smoking Salems, watching TV, and playing solitaire. That’s how I remember her. Those are weak examples, perhaps, but are just off the top of my head. Think of something you think would interest other family members, and is worth remembering.

Another example: When I was 4, my sister threw the bologna from a sandwich accidentally/on purpose into my hair. That’s silly, but might help someone remember Diane. Or seeing her dance.

Just whatever you remember fondly, and would like to share with others. There is no necessary limit, but the “editors” may have to alter some to get them in. But we can handle quite a bit, because whatever we cannot get into the “book” itself, we plan to put on a DVD/CD inside the back cover which could contain a lot of stuff. And I [David], characteristically, want to include as much as possible. We hope to put together something that others would be interested in having [we haven’t figured out the logistics yet].

Thank you in advance, and looking forward to your stories. We’re trying to get this done by August, so we are hoping to get all the material by June.

Thanks again for your contribution.

David

Pictures from top to bottom, left to right
1- Carolyn Jones & Charles F Deller at Tulsa Airport, OK abt 1995; 2- Mable Roark Deller Valdez holding Diane Deller, & Rudy Valdez holding Martha Deller, abt 1955; 3- Mable Roark with her father George Thomas Roark & brother Roy Roark, abt 1910; 4- Charles Franklin Deller & Carolyn Jones, 1950; 5- Mable Roark Deller Valdez

52 Weeks To Better Genealogy - Challenge #6

2010-02-11T18:55:00.005-06:00

When I'm in the United States, the Tulsa City-County Library is my library. And I love it. Every single location, but especially the Genealogy Center at the corner of Harvard Avenue & 29th Street (for obvious reasons).

This weeks challenge is to find Online databases at your public library. And our library has them, sometimes even if you don't have a library card (I've heard the librarians giving out temporary "visitor" cards to those without regular cards). There are a few web based databases available for use: Edition, Heritage Quest, New England Ancestors, and Footnote; these are only available for use in the Genealogy Center branch of the library. Ancestry.com is available at all the library branches. There are also web links to the Broken Arrow Genealogical Society, FamilySearch.org, the Family History Center (the library's own web site), National Archives & Records, Oklahoma County Section Line Maps, Oklahoma Historical Society, Tulsa County page at US GenWeb, Social Security Death Index, State Archives Referral List, Tulsa Genealogical Society, Tulsa Historical Society, US GenWeb & Where to write for Vital Records. All that, AND, links to the websites for the Five Civilized Tribes.

All these last web links can be access from any computer, anywhere with internet access.

In the library is one computer with many different CD's installed on it. I don't have the list in front of me, but one I remember is the German Immigrants one (since I recently accessed it). They also have CD's of births

That's a bunch of information. Now if I could just access some extra hours to view it all...

In Praise of Hometown Libraries

2010-02-06T10:52:00.002-06:00

Since I last wrote, I've had little time for any research at all, but yesterday I was able to take a long awaited road trip to a town the Deller's lived in for years, Coffeyville, Kansas.

More than once during my library visit, I said to the librarian, "I love this library!" She replied, "That's only because you've found something." And she was right, in a way. Even when I don't find information, I love being in libraries, but yesterday I found something because they are repository for the local newspaper, The Coffeyville Journal. And the local historical society had also taken the time to create at least a dozen books of obituaries from that newspaper, making it even easier to find obituaries.

Yes, I WAS a happy camper, to find obituaries and news articles that linked family members and introduced me to new family I didn't even know were there. I will be returning, there was just too much to absorb in one visit; and I'm looking forward to that just as much as I did to yesterday's visit

I know it'd difficult for many people to make trips like this (it's taken me more than six months to be in the right place at the right time), but if and when you get a chance to visit, don't pass it up. Those libraries hold gems for the mining.

New Years Resolution: Backup Data Regularly

2010-01-03T00:56:00.004-06:00

It's been a full month since my last post (and a few of those I created in advance); it was a hectic time, but I'm back and ready for a few serious research trips. Yea! It's time for our annual holiday trip back to the good old U.S. of A. and I'm getting all my papers together and have updated RootsMagic for all the new information I hope to gather.

But before I actually fly out of here - most importantly - it's time for a backup. I have good intentions for monthly backups, but that doesn't always happen. But I get nervous when it's time for travel, worrying that something will happen to my computer en route; so I break out an old external hard drive, and back up both our systems, just in case. The hard drive is big enough that I can just copy one system to the other, but soon, that won't be possible; I'm gathering too many big files, so researching new backup systems is on my to do list.

I know my system isn't top of the line, and nothing is completely foolproof - but it is a backup of all the really important files - and I can recreate it (with time) if needed. I hope you have a system for backing up your files - as an old programmer told me once, "It's not a matter of IF you'll need a backup file, it's WHEN!"

Wordless Wednesday - Newspaper Article

2009-12-02T01:00:00.001-06:00

This photo and the accompanying article appeared in the
Arkansas Gazette, dated Sunday, June 7, 1936.

This is the wedding picture of Philip H. Bernays and Kate P. Jones Bernays, who were married Wednesday, September 10, 1879 in Little Rock.

Mrs. Bernays, who will be 80 July 2, is the only daughter of Dudley E. Jones, who with Augustus H. Garland and Gordon N. Peay, was a member of the state Board of Supervisors at the Arkansas Constitutional Convention of 1874.

Mr. Jones, the father of Mrs. Bernays, came to Little Rock in 1865 and went into the general merchandising business with General Bussie in 1866. This business known as the Dudley E. Jones Machinery Company was located for 47 years on East Markham street, near Commerce Street. It was closed out shortly before 1913, at the death of Mr. Jones.

The late Philip Henry Bernays was proprietor of a men's furnishing goods store under the Capital Hotel from 1879 to 1884 and did his own buying in New York. The Little Rock Boating and Athletic Club, now the Little Rock Athletic Association and the oldest athletic club west of the Mississippi, was organized in 1873 in his store and he was its first vice president.

Mr. & Mrs. Bernays left Little Rock for Oakland, Cal., in 1890, taking their small daughter, Edith; sons, Dudley and Ralph, and infant daughter, Anna Louise. Two more children, Ralph Fearing and Dorothy Caroline, were born in Oakland. The children are all living in Southern California except Dudley E. Bernays, who is in Little Rock, working on the federal historical survey under the direction of Mrs. Bernie Babcock. Dudley Bernays was associated with D. Palmer Patterson and the late Dr. Charles Hillman Brough for a year in the Community Sunday Forum here, 1932-33.

Philip H. Bernays was killed in an automobile accident in 1926.

On their 25th wedding anniversary Mr. & Mrs. Bernays had a picture made in Los Angeles, posed similar to this wedding picture.

Mrs. Bernays makes her home in Los Angeles.

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T01:24:00.003-06:00

Philip & Kate Bernays & Family
Dudley, Regula II, Regula, Will, Dorothy, Kate, Philip, Anna, Goodwin,
Ralph, Edith, Katherine, Charlie Guild, on porch: Philip and Eva.
The Bernays Home, Los Angeles, California
Thanksgiving Day, 1914

A Nice Surprise

2009-11-20T05:21:00.003-06:00

My thanks to Denise Levenick, a.k.a. The Family Curator, for presenting me with the Kreativ Blogger Award. It was a bit exciting for me, and very kind of her. Having said that, onto the 'requirements.'

Seven Things You Might Not Know About Me:

I am an eighth generation North Carolinian (though I'm not living there right now).
I lived in Coventry, England for two and a half years and am quite an Anglophile.
I absolutely adore dogs and almost everything having to do with them and one day hope to be called 'the dog lady'.
I used to be a Certified Emergency Nurse.
I love new technology - almost any kind - and love learning about them.
I can bake a great chocolate cake.
I love Indian food (lucky for me there are loads of Indian chefs and cooks where I'm living now!)

Blogs that Deserve This Award:

This part is consuming - but lucky for me there are so many good blogs to choose from - now if I can just pry myself away from them long enough to write about them!

Jean Wilcox Hibben at Circlemending will teach you loads about all kinds of topics
James Tanner at Genealogy's Star will keep you updated on the latest at FamilySearch (a special thanks for the Wiki article!)
Free Genealogy Tools is exactly what you'd expect - a great resource
Phyllis Matthews Ziller at Genwriters will challenge you to write what you know!
Larry & Marlys make me laugh at Hesch History - and are helping me learn more about Germans in Bohemia.
Amy at WeTree always has something interesting to read - her blog about Spinster Aunts made re re-evaluate some of my own family searches.
And when I'm tired and just need a break, I read Chris's entertaining articles at Genealogue

I do know that almost all of these - if not all - have already been awarded the Kreativ Blogger Award too - but I believe they deserve it again! Thanks to all of them for helping me out!

What do you do if you receive the Kreativ Blogger Award?

Like most blogger tags and awards, The Kreativ Blogger Award asks you to tell your blog readers a bit about yourself and then "pass it on" to other blogs. Specifically, write a post announcing that you have been named a Kreativ Blogger by The Family Curator. In your post, list seven things about you that your readers might not know, and then name and link to seven other blogs that you feel are worthy of the Kreativ Blogger Award. You don't have to tell why you are naming these particular blogs, but it is nice to know why they stand out in your book.

Wordless Wednesday - E. Curtis Jones Jr.

2009-11-12T06:44:00.003-06:00

Edward Curtis Jones, Jr.
Killed in Action, July 2, 1944

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-04T13:04:00.005-06:00

Nora Hussong Roark Asbell and Carolyn Jones Deller
at the University of Arkansas Graduation, June 3, 1950,
to watch Charles Franklin Deller receive his
Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration

Surname Saturday - Hussong

2009-10-31T04:12:00.008-05:00

"Hussong is the Germanized spelling of the French name, Husson, from a pet form of the Old French personal name Hue or Hugh. Hugh is English: from the Old French personal name Hu(gh)e, introduced to Britain by the Normans. This is in origin a short form of any of the various Germanic compound names with the first element hug ‘heart’, ‘mind’, ‘spirit’... It was a popular personal name among the Normans in England, partly due to the fame of St. Hugh of Lincoln (1140–1200), who was born in Burgundy and who established the first Carthusian monastery in England."

So says Ancestry.com. This has been a difficult family branch to work on. I have a few hints, but nothing substantial. I wrote of Nora Hussong in a previous post. She is my husband's paternal Great-grandmother. I found her in each U.S. Federal Census, 1900 - 1930, and in the Kansas 1895 census. In the 1895 and 1900 census, she lived with George W. Hussong and Elizabeth Hussong, identified as their daughter in the 1900 census. In the 1910 census, she was the wife of George T. Roark, and in the 1920 census she was the wife of William T. Asbell. Her death certificate informant was her son, William T Asbell Jr., who listed her parents as George Husong and Elizabeth Gilbert. So, it would seem I have a positive ID on Nora's parents.

George and Elizabeth Hussong are listed together in the 1880, 1900, 1910 and 1920 U.S. Federal Census records. In every census, George's birthplace is listed as Illinois, his occupation is 'Miner' or 'Mining'. Elizabeth's birthplace is listed as Indiana, and by the 1910 Census, she indicated that she'd had 10 children, 5 of which were living, and they'd been married for 33 years .

I found Elizabeth Hussong's death certificate at the (wonderful) Missouri Digital Heritage website. Jane Hussong Land, Elizabeth's daughter, was the informant. She gave information that indicated Elizabeth's husband was George Hussong. Since Elizabeth Hussong was listed in the 1930 U.S. Federal Census as widowed, this would indicate that he died between 1920 and 1930. I can find George and Elizabeth in census records, but I can't find either one of them in records before they were married. Unfortunately, I can't find George's death certificate in this database. I believe I did say it wasn't a perfect website.

So, I'm having to wait until January and February to do some more sleuthing on this family. Looking for birth records in Galena, Kansas, and death records in either Joplin or Neosho, Missouri. Wish me luck!

Follow Friday - Missouri Digital Heritage

2009-10-30T06:36:00.006-05:00

Personally I don't have any relatives from Missouri; in fact, few of my relatives ever left North Carolina once they arrived, so before I started researching my husband's family, I knew very little of other state's resources. Soon enough, I found the Missouri Digital Heritage website, and fell in love. It isn't perfect, no website is. But it certainly made me wish more ancestors had lived and died there. It was the first online web site I found that provided a digital copy of the death certificate that I could actually read and interpret for myself. I'm not downplaying transcribed copies, but we all know that people make mistakes, especially if they're transcribing hundreds of records. The family records are my favorite part of the website, but there's much more that I haven't begun to explore. An introductory paragraph reads,

"Through the Missouri Digital Heritage Initiative, the Missouri State Archives and the Missouri State Library, in partnership with the State Historical Society of Missouri, are assisting institutions across the state in digitizing their records and placing them online for easy access. We invite you to explore our website and to join with us in celebrating our collective past.

If you have any family from this state, you shouldn't miss this gem of a website.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Photographs

2009-10-29T12:09:00.006-05:00

Photographs. We take them for granted today. They're everywhere - and considering the many sources for them - digital cameras, cell phones, computers, 'spycams', security cameras, old fashioned film cameras - we're in danger of being overwhelmed with images. But in generations past, they were something special.

When I asked my husband, what he would consider a 'treasure', his first response was this portrait of Dudley Emerson Jones, his Great-great Grandfather.

I admit - I like this photo too. I see the picture of the man who joined the Third Regiment Iowa Volunteer Calvary September 20th, 1861 in Keokuk, Iowa, leaving his wife and two children, one of them less than a year old. I see a man who served his time honorably, appointed First Battalion Quartermaster on entrance to service, promoted First Lieutenant of Company L, May 2, 1862, and mustered out August 9th, 1865.

The war changed Dudley and his family, as it was during their Company's occupation of Little Rock, Arkansas, that showed him the opportunities for business, and convinced him to move there after the war.

This picture is a copy of the original that now is stored in the University of Arkansas Special Collections. Many other pictures and personal papers, were donated in 1995 for the purpose of preservation and research. Now anyone studying a relevant topic, can, with permission, access those papers. [This picture is David in 1995 at the University of Arkansas, behind the portrait of Dudley E. Jones, surrounded by the other pictures and papers.]

Unlike a lot of family members, Dudley wrote a lot about his life. And though I didn't come along in time to look through those papers and pictures before they were donated to the University, I'm still glad they're there, being preserved for future generations.

Wordless Wednesday - Reading

2009-10-28T01:47:00.003-05:00

OK - I know - this picture has nothing to do with genealogy. Or does it? Before the next generation can take up our research, they've got to be able to read; and read well. This picture combines two of my greatest loves - reading and dogs. Enjoy the whole article at my hometown newspaper, The New Bern Sun Journal.

Tombstone Tuesday - Arthur Clifton Jones & Georgia Ann Jackson

2009-10-27T06:35:00.005-05:00

Arthur Clifton Jones was the first son, and second child, of Dudley Emerson Jones and Caroline Peck. Born September 18, 1860 in Keokuk, Iowa. After the Civil War, Dudley moved his family, including Arthur, to Little Rock, Arkansas. We don't have many details of his life, but an a short biography that Aubrey F. Williams wrote in 1980 for the Masons lodge hall, included the following:

"He was raised to Master Mason in Western Star Lodge on March 5, 1890, and served as Worshipful Master in 1895and 1897. In 1900 he was High Priest of Union Chapter No. 2, R.A.M. He also was member of Knights of Pythias.

"The family lived at 814 Scott St., the house just south of First Presbyterian Church at 8th and Scott. His father owned Dudley E. Jones Co., a well known machinery and hardware business, where Arthur was employed s secretary and treasurer until the company went out of business in 1912. He died August 28, 1923.

"The obituary contains an interesting paragraph about Jones' life, as follows:

'In his youth and early manhood Mr. Jones took a lively interest in the activities of the time, and was a member of the Quapaw Guards, a drill team of the '80's, and he won a gold medal for being the best drilled man in the company. He also was a member of the first Boathouse Association here. Mr. Jones when a boy was the owner of a fine pony which took many prizes at the old state fairs held here.'"

Georgia Ann Jackson was born October 18, 1856 in Boone County, Missouri, the eldest child, and only daughter of William P. Jackson and Susan B. Johnson. The U.S. Federal Census lists Georgia's father as alternately a brick mason or a stonemason, and by 1880 he was listed as unemployed while his sons (who lived in his household) worked in the brick industry. On June 1st, 1875, Georgia graduated from high school, and nearly 12 years later married Arthur Clifton Jones, April 13, 1887. In the 1880 census she was listed "at home" - but family members remember her as a school teacher.

Arthur and Georgia's life together is a bit of a mystery. We have no photos of them together, and the only photo we have of Georgia herself is a portrait that we found buried among old family items labeled "Mrs. A.C. Jones". This seems odd to me, since there were quite a few pictures of her three sons, Edward Curtis, Dudley Emerson and Arthur Jackson Jones.

We know that they lived in Little Rock for the majority of their married life. Initially they must have lived in Sedalia, since both of the older boys were born there, in 1889 and 1892, but we have no records or information about that time (another instance of my 1890 U.S. Federal Census blues).

After his father's business closed, Arthur continued to work as a bookkeeper with another business, while his sons enlisted and were deployed to Europe in World War II. We have a book of letters written from Europe from the boys to their parents. One day soon I'll get those scanned in and write another entry on them.

After Arthur passed away, Georgia continued living at the Scott Street House, joined by her youngest son Arthur Jackson Jones and his new wife, Nell Marie Ingram. She welcomed Arthur and Nell's only child, her second grandchild, Carolyn Jones, just two months after Arthur Clifton passed away.

At Christmas 1928 she went to visit her oldest son, Edward Curtis Jones, his wife, Jessie M. Colcasure and her oldest grandson, Curtis Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee. On December 29th, After less than a weeks visit, she died from pneumonia and influenza, and was buried in Oakland Cemetery, Little Rock, Arkansas, next to her husband.

Graveyard Rabbits Carnival - Plan Your Epitaph Day

2009-10-24T13:38:00.004-05:00

After reading Lance Hardie's website, and a few other epitaph 'assistance' sites, I decided I wanted something simple and succinct. C.S. Lewis wrote some of my favorite books, and one of my favorites is The Last Battle. Granted, the storyline is a bit awkward at times, but the ending is the best description of Heaven I've ever read. And when I leave this oh so human body behind, I'll be going "further up and further in."

Genealogy Site Trials

2009-10-23T12:55:00.004-05:00

You know, those trial periods using the different internet sources are actually quite helpful. My current subscription to Ancestry.com started that way. I started it with the idea that I might be able to search out all I needed during the two week trial. A foolhardy idea, I know. Even though I spent almost every waking moment working at the searches, I quickly realized that even if I did find everything I searched for, each search inevitably ended in needing a new search.

This week I put the free 7 day trial at Footnote to good use. The Civil War Confederate records and the World War II Army Air Force records were of specific interest to me, having quite a few ancestors from North Carolina who fought for the Confederacy and a distant cousin who died in an airplane crash during World War II. After finding quite a few Civil War records, and even a few Revolutionary War records, last night, right before the trial was to end, I found a record of the Army Report submitted after our cousins aircraft was shot down. There were twenty-four pages of information, the first page of which confirmed that this was indeed our cousin. It was an exciting find, and certainly worth the efforts expended during the trial. However, after this find, I reviewed their currently holdings, and found little else that might be of use, so I let the trial lapse.

I also tried the 7 day trial at Genealogy Archives, but had very little luck there. I entered quite a few of our family names in the general search, and came up with only a few results, all of which I had already found at Ancestry.com. In my case, I didn't think it would be very useful, and let it lapse as well.

So if you're considering trying them, I'd say do it - especially if there's a free trial period.

Wordless Wednesday - Cycling Club

2009-10-14T06:11:00.007-05:00

Now those were bicycles!

Arthur Clifton Jones (second from left), ca. 1885, Little Rock, Arkansas.
For history of this bicycle, see Peddling History.

Tombstone Tuesday - Dudley & Caroline Jones

2009-10-13T04:54:00.007-05:00

This is the gravestone for Dudley Emerson Jones and Caroline Peck Jones, located in the Oakland Cemetery in Little Rock, Arkansas. This is the couple that whetted all our appetite for more family history. From the family papers left, I'd say Dudley was the first known member of the family who was interested in his family's history. We have six or so pages of family groups with typed transcriptions, at least one letter from someone in New York that collected information for him, and multiple pictures from his generation. His own biography was written by his son-in-law, Philip Bernays, and published in the History of the University of Arkansas. Many of the pictures and letters were donated by his great-granddaughter, Carolyn Jones Deller, to the University of Arkansas Library, Special Collections. Dudley is considered one of the 'famous' people within the family, and I'll devote more entries to him at a later date.

Music Monday - 1904

2009-10-12T06:22:00.010-05:00

I was still thinking about Nora today when I saw a meme entitled 'Music Monday', and wondered, "What kinds of music would Nora have heard in 1904, around Galena, Kansas and Joplin, Missouri?" That one question has taken me on a daylong internet search; some of it was for fun, some was very educational.

As soon as I thought, "Joplin", I thought, "Ragtime Music." In fact, Ragtime was popular between 1897 and 1918. And Scott Joplin was the most famous of the Ragtime composers. A Wikipedia article names Joseph Lamb and James Scott along with Joplin as the "three most sophisticated Ragtime composers." While its popularity waned after 1917, there have been revivals - I remember the one in the 70's when The Sting was released. I was hooked and spent many hours learning The Entertainer as well as The Maple Leaf Rag. That was great stuff.

Here's a YouTube recording of Valery Lloyd-Watts performing The Cascades, by Scott Joplin.

Wikipedia's article on the Music of Kansas, stated that Home on the Range was written there in 1870, and music from the area remained in a "similar folk, or old-time music style". Now I know what I mean when I say old-time music, but I wasn't sure it was the same thing. So I took a trip to YouTube and found a most extraordinary young woman, Ashley Hull, Old Time Fiddler. She talks about the old-time-fiddler, and how his primary purpose during those early days, was to provide music for dancing. She goes on, "To some it was the welcomed (and necessary) escape from the rigors of pioneer life." I don't think I would say 1904 was a 'pioneer' time, but the fact that Old-Music continued through to that time is undeniable. If you want a quick escape, here's a fine example of music that Nora might have heard.

Ashley Hull playing Salty River Reel at the Ozarks Heritage Festival

Wikipedia led me to Charlie Walden's web site, Missouri Old-Time Fiddling which has loads of historical information about the genre. At his other web site, CharlieWaldon.com, you can hear some of the tunes he's learned over the years at his Project page. Certainly worth the time, if you can spare it.

So life wasn't all dreary hard work; there were times to dance and listen to music too. You never know, Nora and George might have met at one of those Old-Time Music dances.

Saints & Sinners Sunday - Elnora 'Nora' Hussong

2009-10-11T11:30:00.011-05:00

Saints and Sinners. What do I mean by that? Well, I use the word 'Saint' as described by the Merriam Webster dictionary: "one eminent for piety or virtue, or an illustrious predecessor." And 'Sinner'? Well, the dictionary doesn't give much of a definition, just "one that sins." But the synonyms given are much more descriptive, "reprobate, scamp." So, I'd say the odds are better that an ancestor is more likely to be a combination of the two, since no one is ALL saint or sinner. But I'd have to say, that in the research I've done thus far, Nora is more saint than sinner.

Elnora Hussong, or Nora as she was known to her family, was born May Day [May 1st], 1888, in Galena, Cherokee County, Kansas, the sixth child to George W. Hussong and Elizabeth A. Gilbert. George and Elizabeth probably married in Illinois, and then moved to Kansas early in their marriage where they had ten children. George made a living in the zinc mines, as did many others of his day; and although by the 1910 census he owned the home they lived in, we can still assume that life was difficult for them. Nora told one of her grandchildren, that when she was small, she was hired out to another family as a servant, and left with them when her family moved away.

Nora was listed as living with her parents in Galena, Kansas in the 1895 Kansas Census and in the 1900 U.S. Federal Census. My husband and I only know the very basics of this family story, and if the census records are to be believed, I'm not sure how her story fits in with them. But whatever the case, Nora's story told of an unhappy childhood, and in 1904, at the age of 16, she lied about her age and married George Thomas Roark. Within 5 years, they'd had two children, Roy and Mable. And then in February, 1914, her young husband died. The cause of death was Pulmonary Tuberculosis, worsened by working in the mines.

In 1919 her son, Roy, died from influenza and pneumonia, and by 1920, Nora had married William 'Bill' Franklin Asbell, and delivered her third child, Bill Jr. Bill Sr. was not known to be a 'gentle' man, and it's generally understood that Nora was a long suffering wife. Records show that they lived in Coffeyville, Kansas and Neosho, Missouri; and when her daughter Mable divorced her husband, their child, Charles Deller, joined her in Neosho.

Nora outlived two husbands, raised three of her own children and a grandchild, and lived a long, full life. She died in Dallas, Texas, March 26, 1965 at the age of 76, while visiting with her daughter, and was buried by her second husband, Bill Sr., at Wichita Cemetery in Wichita, Kansas.

Update 10/6/2010: Original picture was incorrectly assumed to be Nora; and replaced with correct picture.

Top Photo: Portrait of Elnora Hussong. Personal photo in collection of D. Bell, Forney, Texas.
Bottom Photo: Great-grandma Nora with M. Deller. Personal photo in collection of D. Deller, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Handpainted China

2009-10-08T01:20:00.001-05:00

Nell Marie Ingram was born 13 July 1888 in Hempstead, Texas to William Edward Ingram [1859-1925] and Viola F. Taylor [1858-1937]. She was brought up as a lady, and developed the hobby of painting on pottery. An article on Hand Painted Porcelain at the Kansas State Historical Society describes it as a "sophisticated hobby", a "respectable occupation" and a "creative outlet for women artists." From the stories told by her daughter and grandchildren, I think this 'hobby' was all of the above for her. As a lady, she could express herself artistically, while maintaining her respectability. And then later in life, she used these skills to share them with another generation through Art Classes and at Gypsy Camp for Girls in Siloam Springs, Arkansas (which is another whole blog post in itself).

Nell created a lot of one-of-a-kind pieces, but this particular piece is one of my favorites. The signature on the bottom reads, "Nell Ingram, 1914."

If you're interested and want to learn more, there's another article at My Granny's Attic Antiques.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

L-R: unknown children (possibly Dellers, Hussongs, or Koehlhoffers), Mable Roark Deller holding Charles 'Charlie' Deller, & Charles Joseph Deller. Ca. 1927, probably in southeast Kansas.

Tombstone Tuesday

2009-10-06T03:33:00.000-05:00

It's "Tombstone Tuesday" - this is exciting - it's my first time participating! This isn't just an entry for the day - but yet another tribute for the Find A Grave website. This has to be one of the best sites ever. I'm sure there are loads of people who already know about this site - but it changed my life. More than just providing pictures for my eyes to feast on - it reassured me that I wasn't the only person in the world who enjoyed walking through cemeteries and graveyards and snapping pictures of the interesting stones. So - to the founders and contributors of Find A Grave, I offer my sincere thanks. This picture was taken by Betty Saltenberger, one of the fine volunteers there.

George Thomas Roark was born 23 March 1880, in Barry County, Missouri. From what we know, he lived most of his life in Missouri. He married Elnora Hussong 5 November 1904, and they had two children, Roy [1907-1919], and Mable [?1909-1988], both born in Galena, Kansas. George died 15 Jan 1914, in Joplin, Missouri; the cause of death was tuberculosis, and a contributing factor was working in mines (the 1910 census lists him as a 'powder man').

When I was searching for ideas for this post, I read a comment at Adventures in Grave Hunting that Lisa made about a cemetery in California, "Rumor has it that the larger the monument, the more a deceased person was loved." This might have been the case here. Their marriage license records Nora's age as over 18, but if her death certificate and funeral card are to be believed, she was only 16 when she married. When George died, Nora was just 26 years old; they had only lived together nine years . I can't imagine they had a lot of money, but this stone looks expensive. While I don't know how much Nora loved George, it would appear that she definitely appreciated him, and wanted others to know that.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - A Childhood Memory

2009-10-04T07:36:00.000-05:00

To keep things moving along - I thought it'd be interesting to participate in some of the online 'challenges.' So for today Randy Seaver says in his blog, Genea-Musings, "We all have childhood memories, but if you're like me, you're concentrating on getting the family history of your parents and earlier generations. Let's think about ourselves here."

1. What is one of your most vivid childhood memories? Was it family, friends, places, events, or just plain fun?

For me, there's not one specific memory, as much as mixtures of memories. But almost all of them revolve around playing with my sister, and playing outside - on Meadows Street, Cherry Tree Drive, and at my Grandmothers farm.

On Meadows Street I loved climbing a big old pine tree in the back yard. It had wonderful low branches, and lots of pine straw underneath for the inevitable falls. One of the most memorable climbs was when a neighborhood boy joined me in climbing, and fell, probably 10 or more feet down, but immediately got up and went crying home. Playing football in the front yard was also a frequent pastime; using two parallel sidewalks as the goals (it wasn't a particularly large football field, but we weren't particularly big kids). And yes, I was a bit of a tomboy. We also had various inflatable pools for the hot North Carolina summers. Our father would inflate it, and set it up so we could put the end of the slide in it. It only took a couple of seared legs to remember to splash water onto the slide before making the descent.

On Cherry Tree Drive, we played a lot of 'cops and robbers' and 'cowboys and Indians' using leaves from the corner bushes as ammunition. As we got older, we utilized the neighbors basketball goal for frequent games of H-O-R-S-E.

And at my Grandmother's house, we got filthy running around barefooted in the summer months chasing each other, playing house (outdoors), making and serving mud-pies, and walking along the railroad tracks that ran in front of her house, pretending to be gymnasts.

Those were some good days... thanks for the challenge.

Peter and Carrie Deller

2009-10-03T12:57:00.001-05:00

[Picture Left: Grandpa Pete & Pawpaw Bill Asbell.
Picture Right: Maybe a Deller son with Carrie Miller Deller.]

Peter & Carrie Deller are my husbands great-grandparents. From a relative, we had a little information about him; his name, place of birth (Germany), and where he had lived (Coffeyville, Kansas).

Both Peter and Carrie arrived after the 1880 Federal Census, and there is no 1890 Federal Census (to speak of), but I did find a listing in the 1890 & 1891 Norristown City Directory (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), for Peter, whose occupation was listed as glass-maker. This would fit with the census records of 1910, which lists his occupation as 'gatherer' in a glass factory.

I'm still searching for them in the 1900 census, so the 1910 Federal Census, is the first Federal record I've found with Peter & Carrie Deller listed. According to this census: they lived in a rented house in Wetmore Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania, both they and their parents were born in Germany, and spoke German in the home. Peter immigrated in 1885, and Carrie in 1883, and Peter nad been naturalized. It also indicates that Peter could read and write, but Carrie could read, but not write.

They had been married 18 years, and Carrie had borne 10 children, 9 of which were living. Nine children were listed in their household: Jennie - 17, Sophia M. - 15, Mary - 13, Pauline - 10 (or 18), George M. - 8 Margarette (Marguerite) - 5, Charlie (Charles) J. - 4, Joseph - 2, and Josephine - 2 (these last two may have been twins).

By the 1920 Federal Census, Peter and Carrie had moved, and were living in a rented house at 907 Delaware Street, Coffeyville, Kansas. In this census, Peter's immigration was 1882, and naturalization in 1891. Carrie's immigration date was 1883, and this record marks her naturalized in 1891. Peter's birth place is listed as Alsace-Loraine, Germany, where he spoke German in his home. His parents were born in Bavaria and spoke German in their homes. Carrie's birth place was listed as Bavaria, where she spoke German; her father was from Bavaria, where he spoke German, and her mother was from France and spoke French. [This may be the French grandmother who loved to dance!] Peter worked as a laborer at a Rail Road Shop, and Carrie worked in the home.

The children listed in the household are: George M. - 17, Marguerite - 16, Charles J. - 14, Josephine - 12, and Theodore - 5. All of the children were unemployed, except for Marguerite, who was a sales girl in a Notions Shop. All of the children were born in Pennsylvania, except the youngest, Theodore, who was born in Kansas.

From the 1930 Federal Census I learned that Peter and Carrie still lived at the house in Coffeyville, Kansas, except now they owned it, AND they owned a Radio too (one of those strange questions asked). Peter was 23 when he first married, and Carrie was 18. This Census records both their immigration years the same, 1882, and lists both them and their parents as all born in Germany speaking German in the home. Peter is still working as a laborer, but now he's working in a Foundry, and Carrie still works at home.

Theodore - 16, and George - 28, are living in the home with them and George is working as a paper hanger. Their daughter Sophia - 35, is also living with them, with her husband, Charles H. Jackson, daughter Lillian - 18, and son Keith - 22 months.

Other than these Federal Census records, I've found Peter in the Coffeyville City Directories in: 1937, 1939, & 1941. We have a family picture of the double grave stone, Carrie, 1874-1945, and Peter, 1869-1944. We're assuming these graves are in Coffeyville, Kansas, but we don't have proof of that.

Things I'm still looking for: immigration records, 1900 Federal Census record, death and burial records - and any living family connections. We don't have any family information about Peter's or Carrie's parents, except what was found in the Census. I found a limited gedcom at FamilySearch.org that included Peter as a brother to Charles, Nickolas Joseph, Margaret and Catherine, children of Carl and Catherine Deller - BUT - there were no sources for this, and I can't find anything that either refutes it or supports it. This is one of those time when I REALLY wish I were near a library and could refer to the Germans to America reference books. The web is good - but all the records aren't there yet.

So from all that I can say, with a little certainty, that Peter Deller was born in 1869 in Alsace-Lorraine, Germany, and died in 1944, probably in Coffeyville, Kansas. He immigrated from Germany in either 1882 or 1885, and was naturalized in 1891. He married Carrie about 1892, probably in Pennsylvania, and together they had 11 children. Peter worked primarily in the Glass Industry, and Carrie worked in the home. In 1891, they lived in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and by 1910 were living in McKean County, Pennsylvania. Theodore was born about 1915 in Kansas, so that would date their move to Kansas between 1910 and 1915. They continued living in Coffeyville, Kansas until at least 1941, but most likely until their deaths.

So until next time... I'll keep searching.

The First Post

2009-10-03T10:39:00.000-05:00

Years ago, my grandmother shared her love of family. She showed us the family Bible, filled with names of parents and grandparents. She wrote lists of grandparents, their children, her parents and her brothers and sisters. She seemed proud that she knew all their names, and her enthusiasm was contagious. I asked her to show me where these relatives were buried, and she took me for rides. We didn't have to go far; a few miles in different directions took us to four or five different family cemeteries. She'd lead the way to gravestones, pointing them out one by one, telling me how we were all related. While I did encourage her to tell me about them, I'm sure I didn't learn as much as I could have.

Since then I've been collecting family information, but I still feel like a beginner to the world of genealogy. In spite of the overwhelming scope of it all, I want to keep searching and collecting information about these family members. With each bit of information I find, I keep wondering, 'What was their story?' I know, it's not an original thought, but it keeps recurring, and I thought it was as good a title as any.

So I'm starting this blog with the purpose of sharing information that I've found about the Deller, Jones, Roark, Ingram, Miller, Hussong, Jackson, Taylor, Hogan, Gilbert, Peck, Vaught, Lappin, Starkey, Perry, Montgomery, Reno, and more (there always seems to be more).