Denise's Life in the Past Lane: August 2012

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Wordless Wednesday - The Happiest Place on Earth

Digital image, original held by Deanna Golden, [ADDRESS WITHHELD FOR
PRIVACY], Portland, Oregon, 2012.

Don't know what that character said to

make Mom laugh so hard!

August 1967

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Sunday's Obituary - Margaret H. Roberts (1896-1957)

For the last few months, I have been transcribing the obituaries that my paternal grandmother, Mamie Olive (Martindale) Spurlock, had saved in her scrapbook. This last obituary puzzled me. All the other obituaries were for immediate family, but I couldn’t identify this person—Margaret H. (Lashly) Roberts. So off I went to research her and see what I could find.

My first search was for a death certificate on FamilySearch; success! I found that Margaret was born 25 December 1896 in Missouri, the daughter of [—?—] Lashley and Sarah Robinson, and that she died on 26 November 1957 in Houston, Harris County, Texas, where she had lived for 30 years. Her mother’s maiden name of Robinson rang a bell because I knew that A.B. Martindale (my great-grandfather) had been married to Zilla Robinson prior to his marriage to my great-grandmother Sarah Belle Forshee.

I next searched Missouri marriages on FamilySearch to see if I could find her parents’ marriage. I found a Sarah J. Robinson who married James J. Lashley on 2 December 1882 in Iron, Missouri (an area where my Martindale and Forshee ancestors had lived).

I turned next to the federal census. I found Maggie Lashly (born Dec 1896 in Missouri) living with her mother Sarah (widowed, born April 1860 in Missouri) and the siblings named in her obituary in Concord, Washington County, Missouri, on the 1900 census. I then found Sarah Robinson, age 20, in the 1880 census living with her parents Wm. (born about 1838 in Missouri) and Margareth (born about 1840 in Tennessee) in Concord, Washington County, Missouri. Sarah (age 2/12) was listed in the 1860 census in Concord, Washington County, in the household of Thomas W. and Margaret Robinson.

Back to Missouri marriage records! Thomas W. Robinson married Margaret Forshee on 2 April 1857 in Washington County, Missouri. Margaret was the sister of my great-grandmother Sarah Belle Forshee.

Voila! This obituary was for a relative like all the others in the scrapbook. Margaret Lashly Roberts was the first cousin once removed of my grandmother.

“MARGARET H. ROBERTS, 60, of 1127 West 30th Ave died 8:30 AM Tuesday in her home. Survivors: Sons, Lee S. and Louis H. Roberts, both of Houston; brothers, Benton Lashly, Port Arthur, Clyde and Tom Lashly, both of Lufkin; sister, Mrs. Ethel Perry, Lufkin; four grandchildren. Services 4 PM Wednesday Boulevard Funeral Home chapel, the Rev J. Kelly Neal. Burial Forest Park Cemetery. Boulevard Funeral Home.”

Source: Undated obituary for Margaret H. Roberts from unknown newspaper, Spurlock, Mamie Olive (Martindale), Scrapbook, ca 1950-1970; privately held by Cheryl Anne (Chaney) Beaver, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Lone Grove, Oklahoma. 2010. Photocopy in possession of Denise Spurlock.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Ahnentafel Roulette

For yesterday's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings presented the following challenge.

1) What year was one of your great-grandfathers born? Divide this number by 50 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person, and what are his/her vital information?

3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."

4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook status or a Google Stream post, or as a comment on this blog post.

5) If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then spin the wheel again - pick a great-grandmother, a grandparent, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, yourself, or even your children!

Ahnentafel Roulette is one of my favorite activites, and I actually wrote a post yesterday. However, after posting, I realized my brain wasn’t functioning properly (blame it on the coming Blue Moon!) and my division skills were severely impaired. So I’m trying again today!

My great-grandfather John F. Spurlock was born in 1850 (at least according to my research); divided by 50 is 37. I don’t currently have a person with the number 37 in my ahnentafel report. So I chose the next person, #38, Hugh Hammontree, one of my paternal 3^rd great-grandfathers.

Hugh Hammontree was born about 1802, probably in Blount County, Tennessee. He died about 1866 and is buried in an unmarked grave in Arcadia Cemetery, in Arcadia, Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

Three facts about Hugh:

1. He married Rachel Caskey, probably in the early 1820s in Tennessee.

2. Hugh and Rachel are believed to have had nine children, but only seven have been identified by name: Sherreldia Jane (my 2^nd great-grandmother), John A., Sarah Anne, Rachel Elizabeth, Mary Delilah, Lucinda Adeline, and Hugh A.

3. After Rachel’s death, Hugh married Nancy (Holland) Harrell on 29 November 1864, probably in Bienville Parish.

I can see that I need to devote some time to researching my Hammontrees -- so many ancestors, so little time!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Surname Saturday - Ancestor #25 - Catherine Sitterly

One of my goals for 2012 is to use the Surname Saturday blogging prompt as a way to assure that I spend some time researching each of my family lines and that I have appropriate source citations for the genealogical facts related to my ancestors. I’ve decided to use my ahnentafel report and work back through the generations starting with my grandparents, writing a summary of each ancestor. If you discovered this post through a search engine and find one of your ancestors listed here, please leave a comment to let me know.

My maternal 2^nd great-grandmother Catherine Sitterly was born 13 May 1813 in Guilderland, Albany County, New York.[1] She was the sixth child of Jurry Hendrick “George” and Deborah (Hogeboom) Sitterly.

On 24 June 1834, Catherine married Andrew Yawman in Schenectady, Albany County, New York.[2] The couple had eight known children:

William A. Yawman (1831[3]-1895[4])
Mary Elizabeth Yawman (1835[5]-1911[6])
Catherine “Kate” Yawman (1838[7]-1922[8])
Apalonia “Abbie” Yawman (1840[9]-1919[10])
Michael H. Yawman (1842[11]-1913[12]) – my great-grandfather
Deborah Anna Mary Yawman (1845[13]-1927[14])
George Nicholas Yawman (1847[15]-bef 1860[16])
Rebecca Mary Yawman (1853[17]-?)

Catherine died on 3 August 1889 and is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Denison, Grayson County, Texas.[18] A transcription and image of her obituary from the Dallas Morning News can be found here.

I don’t have much information about Catherine and what I do have comes from derivative sources so I need to do a lot more research on her:

I need to obtain records for Catherine’s birth or baptism and her marriage to Andrew Yawman; likely these will be found in church records.
I need to check on whether Texas counties were maintaining death records at the time of her death, and if so, see if one is available for Catherine.
Most of what I have on Catherine came from my cousin Gary Yawman; perhaps he has copies or scans of documents or other anecdotal information he can share.

[1] Gary A. Yawman, The Yawman Family and Related Families PDF, The Yawman Family Home Page (http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/y/a/w/Gary-A-Yawman/index.html).

[2] Find A Grave, online database (www.findagrave.com : accessed 10 Aug 2012), Andrew Yawman, Memorial #21374584, created by Gary Yawman, 5 September 2007.

[3] 1850 U.S. census, population schedule, Rochester, Monroe, New York, p. 11B, dwelling 128, family 160, household of Andrew Yawman; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 Nov 2009); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll M432_530.

[4] Oakwood Cemetery (Grayson County, Texas), Wm. A. Yauman marker, personally photographed by Denise Spurlock, 2007.

[5] 1850 U.S. census, pop. sch., Rochester, Monroe, New York, p. 11B, dwell. 128, fam. 160, household of Andrew Yawman.

[6] Missouri State Board of Health, death certificate 27756 (1915), Marrie E. Omeley; digital image, Missouri State Archives, Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1961 (http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/ : accessed 10 Aug 2012).

[7] 1850 U.S. census, pop. sch., Rochester, Monroe, New York, p. 11B, dwell. 128, fam. 160, household of Andrew Yawman.

[8] Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate 28487 (1922), Kate Phillips; digital image, FamilySearch, Texas, Deaths, 1890-1976 (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 10 Aug 2012).

[9] 1850 U.S. census, pop. sch., Rochester, Monroe, New York, p. 11B, dwell. 128, fam. 160, household of Andrew Yawman.

[10] Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate 2397 (1919), Appolonia Y. Lavallee; digital image, FamilySearch, Texas, Deaths, 1890-1976 (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 10 Aug 2012).

[11] Find A Grave, online database (www.findagrave.com : accessed 13 Oct 2011), Michael Heman Yawman, Memorial# 21259594, created by Gary A. Yawman, 30 Aug 2007.

[12] Labette County, Kansas, death certificate no. 13 (1913), Mike Yawman; Kansas Board of Health.

[13] 1850 U.S. census, pop. sch., Rochester, Monroe, New York, p. 11B, dwell. 128, fam. 160, household of Andrew Yawman.

[14] Find A Grave, online database (www.findagrave.com : accessed 10 Aug 2012), Deborah Ann Yawman Tallinger Clay, Memorial #56885995, created by Gary Yawman, 10 August 2010.

[15] 1850 U.S. census, pop. sch., Rochester, Monroe, New York, p. 11B, dwell. 128, fam. 160, household of Andrew Yawman.

[16] 1860 U.S. census, Ramsey, Minnesota, population schedule, St. Paul, p. 95, dwelling 871, family 770, household of A. Yawman; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 Nov 2009); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll M653_573.

[17] 1860 U.S. census, Ramsey, Minnesota, pop. sch., St. Paul, p. 95, dwell. 871, fam. 770, household of A. Yawman.

[18] Oakwood Cemetery (Denison County, Texas), Catherine Yawman, died 3 August 1889, marker, personally read and photographed by Denise Spurlock, 2007.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Wordless Wednesday - Summer Fun in Alaska

Digital image; original held by Denise Spurlock, [ADDRESS WITHHELD FOR PRIVACY], Lomita, California, 2012.

My best friend Jill, me, and sister Jennifer

Fairbanks, Alaska

circa 1963

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - My Ancestral Name Number

This week Randy Seaver, of Genea-Musings, issued a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge in which we look at how "complete" our genealogy. Here is the challenge:

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (and I hope more of you do than participated in the SNGF Genealympics the last three weeks), is to:

1) Determine how complete your genealogy research is. For background, read Crista Cowan's post Family History All Done? What’s YourNumber? For comparison purposes, keep the list to 10 generations with you as the first person.

2) Create a table similar to Crista's second table, and fill it in however you can (you could create an Ahnentafel (Ancestor Name) list and count the number in each generation, or use some other method). Tell us how you calculated the numbers.

3) Show us your table, and calculate your "Ancestral Name Number" - what is your percentage of known names to possible names (1,023 for 10 generations).

4) For extra credit (or more SNGF), do more generations and add them to your chart.

5) Post your table, and your "Ancestral Name Number," on your own blog, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook Status or Google+ Stream post.

It’s always interesting to look at the results of one’s research results statistically so this was fun for me!

I already had a 10-generation ahnentafel report compiled by my genealogy software program saved in a pdf file. I hand-counted the number of individuals in each generation; the numbers include ancestors for which I have only a first name or a surname. Here are the results:

Generation	Relationship	# Possible	# Known	Percentage
1	You	1	1	100.0%
2	Parents	2	2	100.0%
3	Grandparents	4	4	100.0%
4	Great-grandparents	8	8	100.0%
5	2^nd Great-grandparents	16	16	100.0%
6	3^rd Great-grandparents	32	20	62.5%
7	4^th Great-grandparents	64	30	46.9%
8	5^th Great-grandparents	128	22	17.2%
9	6^th Great-grandparents	256	22	8.6%
10	7^th Great-grandparents	512	24	4.7%
Summary		1023	149	14.6%

Less than 15% identified!

Although I have identified all 16 of my 3^rd great-grandparents (the 5^th generation), my numbers start dropping dramatically in the sixth generation. Part of the reason for this is I have been unable to identify many paternal ancestors (my “southern” line). A couple of my maternal lines, however, stretch back to the earliest days of Colonial America.

I can see that I have plenty to keep me occupied researching right here in the U.S. Someday maybe I’ll get to the point where I can cross the pond!

Sunday's Obituary - W. I. Martindale (1883-1958)

Walter Ivan Martindale, my grand-uncle and son of Ambrose B. and Sarah (Forshee) Martindale, was born 17 September 1883. On 4 Aug 1903, he married Snowdie Chambers in Nacogdoches County, Texas. He died 2 April 1958 in Houston, Harris County, Texas.

“W. I. Martindale

W. I. Martindale, father and grandfather of three Houston law enforcement officers, died today in Houston hospital after an extended illness.

Mr. Martindale, 74, had two sons, A. C. Martindale, a former Houston police captain, who is an investigator for the Harris County Medical Examiner, and Don H. Martindale, who is bailiff for the Harris County grand jury. His grandson, A. C. Martindale Jr. is a patrolman with the Houston Police Department.

Born in Ironsdale, Mo., Mr. Martindale worked in the saw mills of Louisiana, Missouri and East Texas before coming to Houston in 1917.

He was an employe of the maintenance department of the Southern Pacific Lines from 1919 till his retirement in 1946.

Survivors besides his sons are his five daughters, Mrs. Marie Rosson, Mrs. E. R. Tripp, Mrs. E. A. Sisk, Mrs. William Knast and Mrs. E. D. Hartnett, 12 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Services will be announced by Heights Funeral Home.”

[Source: Undated obituary for W. I. Martindale from unknown newspaper, Spurlock, Mamie Olive (Martindale), Scrapbook, ca 1950-1970; privately held by Cheryl Anne (Chaney) Beaver, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Lone Grove, Oklahoma. 2010. Photocopy in possession of Denise Spurlock.]

© 2012 Denise Spurlock

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Wordless Wednesday - A Picnic in the Park

Digital image; original held by Deanna Golden, [ADDRESS WITHHELD FOR PRIVACY], Portland, Oregon, 2012.

My brothers-in-law Dale and Gary

setting up in the park

circa 1960

Sunday, August 12, 2012

2012 Genealympics - Events 7-10 and Final Medal Count

The 2012 Genealympics are coming to a close today. In this post, I’ll report on my final events and recap my medal count! Rather than re-post the event descriptions, I just included a link to the blog post in which it was described.

Event 7: Genealogy Book Collection

From the list of 15 books Randy posted for this challenge, I have the following:

Professional Genealogy, edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills
Evidence! Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills (print and PDF editions)
The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy, any edition
Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy, by Val Greenwood
BCG Genealogical Standards Manual

BRONZE MEDAL

Event 8: Go Back and Cite Your Sources!

For some time, I’ve been using different techniques to go back and find events that have no source citations. For this challenge, I ran a report in my genealogy software to show all direct-line ancestors that were missing source citations for any one of the following facts: name, birth, death, or marriage.

Using that report, I was able to write proper source citations for 134 events!

WOO HOO! PLATINUM MEDAL!

Event 9: Write, Write, Write!

I completed two parts of this challenge:

Prepare several posts in draft mode (if possible with your blog platform) and pre-publish.
Write a brief biographical sketch on one of your ancestors.

SILVER MEDAL!

Event 10: Reach Out & Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness!

I completed three areas of this challenge:

Comment on a new (to you) genea-blog.
Participate in an indexing project.
Join a genealogical, historical, heritage or lineage society.

GOLD MEDAL!

And my final MEDAL COUNT

for the 2012 GENEALYMPICS!

Bronze – 2

Silver – 4

Gold – 3

Platinum – 1

The Flag of Me

Sunday's Obituary - Maude Thompson (1881-1958)

My grand-aunt Maude Alberti Martindale, daughter of Ambrose B. and Sarah (Forshee) Martindale, was born 12 November 1881 in Missouri and married Richard Albert Thompson on 29 April 1900. She died 24 December 1958 in Missouri.

“THOMPSON, MAUDE (nee Martindale), Wed., Dec. 24, 1958, widow of the late Richard Thompson, dear mother of Mrs. Verna Kohlberg, Ivan (Walter), Edwin, Guy and the late Maymie Wilson and Robert Thompson, dear sister, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, grandmother, great-grandmother and aunt.

Funeral from HOFFMEISTER Chapel, 7814 S. Broadway, Sat., 9 a. m., to Hopewell, Mo., Cemetery. Member of Mellow Memorial Methodist Church and Venus Chapter No. 153. O. E. S.”

[Source: Undated obituary for Maude Thompson from unknown newspaper, Spurlock, Mamie Olive (Martindale), Scrapbook, ca 1950-1970; privately held by Cheryl Anne (Chaney) Beaver, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Lone Grove, Oklahoma. 2010. Photocopy in possession of Denise Spurlock.]

© 2012 Denise Spurlock

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Surname Saturday – Ancestor #24 – Andrew Yawman

My maternal 2^nd great-grandfather Andrew Yawman was born 29 March 1810 in Schmittviller in the Alsace Lorraine region of France. His parents were Philip and Magdalena (Hoffman) Jamann.[1]

On 24 June 1834, Andrew married Catherine Sitterly in Schenectady, Albany County, New York.[2] The couple had eight known children:

William A. Yawman (1831[3]-1895[4])
Mary Elizabeth Yawman (1835[5]-1911[6])
Catherine “Kate” Yawman (1838[7]-1922[8])
Apalonia “Abbie” Yawman (1840[9]-1919[10])
Michael H. Yawman (1842[11]-1913[12]) – my great-grandfather
Deborah Anna Mary Yawman (1845[13]-1927[14])
George Nicholas Yawman (1847[15]-bef 1860[16])
Rebecca Mary Yawman (1853[17]-?)

Andrew is my most recent immigrant ancestor having arrived in New York with his parents and brothers in 1832.[18] His parents died in the cholera epidemic that year.

Andrew appeared on the 1835 New York state census in Schenectady, Schenectady County, New York,[19] but by the 1840 U.S. Census had moved west to Rochester, Monroe County, New York.[20]

In 1842, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America. The Yawman family considered themselves German; but when Andrew naturalized he had to renounce his allegiance to the King of France.[21] At the time of his naturalization, Alsace-Lorraine was under French control.

By 1857, Andrew and his family had moved even further west – to Saint Paul, in Ramsey County, Minnesota.[22] They were in Minnesota for the 1860 census,[23] but by 1863 were in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.[24] Based on information from Chicago city directories, it appears that Andrew’s residence and business were in the path of the Great Fire.[25] I wrote about the possible impact of the fire on the Yawman’s in a previous blog post. It appears the family moved back to Minnesota shortly after the fire as Andrew is not found in the Chicago city directories after 1871.

Andrew took advantage of the U.S. Homestead Act to acquire 155 acres of land in Pipestone County, Minnesota, the patent on the land being granted on 31 May 1884.[26] However, he did not stay long in Minnesota, moving to Denison, Grayson County, Texas, by 1887.[27]

The census records indicate that Andrew was engaged in business as a milliner during his time in Rochester and in Saint Paul; daughters Kate, Apalonia, and Rebecca all worked as milliners as well. During the time Andrew was in Chicago, he worked as a watchman for a railroad,[28] as a salesman for his son-in-law Lee M. Phillips,[29] and as a clerk for daughter Rebecca’s grocery business.[30] The only time he was enumerated as a farmer was in Pipestone County, Minnesota, in 1880.

Andrew died on 24 December 1891 and is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Denison, Grayson County, Texas.[31] A transcription and image of his obituary from the Dallas Morning News can be found here.

Over the years, I have accumulated quite a lot of information about Andrew Yawman’s life, but there is more that I would like to find and learn:

I need to obtain records for Andrew’s birth or baptism and his marriage to Catherine Sitterly; likely these will be found in church records.
I have not been able to locate documentation of Andrew’s arrival in the United States with his parents and brothers.
I’d like to have more information and understanding of why Andrew moved so much, and I’m curious as to why he went to Minnesota, then back to Chicago, and to Minnesota again.
One of my cousins has done a great deal of research on the Yawman family; perhaps I can get more information from him.

[1] Gary A. Yawman, The Yawman Family and Related Families PDF, The Yawman Family Home Page (http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/y/a/w/Gary-A-Yawman/index.html : downloaded 30 Mar 2011), 5.