Genealogical Gems

Public Domain Photo: (l-r) USS West Virginia (sunk); USS Tennessee (damaged);  and the USS Arizona (sunk). Every year, on 7 December, the United States observes Pearl Harbor Day. The "Day of Infamy" remembers and honors the 2,403 citizens who were killed in the Japanese surprise  attack on Pearl Harbor  in Hawaii on Sunday, 7 December 1941. That Sunday, by all reports, began as a beautiful, tranquil morning. The morning was soon devastated. The Japanese bombed the ships that were in port. Explosions. Fires. Sirens. Sounds and smells no one ever expected. Our Navy bore the brunt of the attack, obviously. The US National Park Service has compiled a list of those killed in action that day. They are: Navy , Marines , Army , and Air Force . In addition, 68 civilians lost their lives that day as well. Vichnaya Pamyat. Sources: "Military Casualties," National Park Service.  https://www.nps.gov/valr/learn/historyculture/military-casualties.htm Wortman,...

My great great grandfather, Michael Walsh, got lost in the coal strike. The United Mine Workers of America demanded higher wages, shorter workdays, and union recognition in eastern Pennsylvania. On 12 May 1902, the coal miners laid down their pickaxes, hammers, chisels, and pans. At this time most homes in America were heated with anthracite, that is hard coal. It lasted through October that year. In the end, the miners' demands were met. It was also the first time in American history that the federal government stepped in as an arbitrator to negotiate. Most important to me personally is that it was due to this strike that I lost my Michael Walsh. Public Domain Image of miners in Hazelton, PA in 1900. Now, to clarify, when I say I lost him to the strike, I do not mean that he died in the mines. I do not mean that there was an argument on the streets and he died. No, I mean I lost track of him at that point. It was reported by Commissioner of Labor Carrol D. Wright, at tha...

This past weekend, we were at a show down in Solomons, Maryland. On our way back to Pennsylvania, we saw this Historic Marker along Route 2 in Harwood, Maryland. I had to turn around and come back so we could actually stop and read it. I grew up relatively near the Mason-Dixon, yet I never knew this!  A quick search led me to this site:  https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=3042 (c) 2019, Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman  

My Aunt Helen used to write me long letters about various family stories and information. Sometimes the letters were nothing more than a specific line's names and vitals. Sometimes she would include little stories about her mother or family stories she had heard growing up. Sometimes it might be a newspaper clipping she thought I'd enjoy. No matter what she sent, even if it was simply a birthday car, she always found the most interesting stamps. Today, it is US Postage Stamp Day. T he United States issued its first postage stamp on July 1, 1847. They were not mandatory thou until 1855. Today, not only are they mandatory, but they cost an arm and a leg. To put this in perspective, Aunt Helen was actually my great grandfather's youngest sister. Born 24 August 1903, Helen Mae Still was the youngest of six children of Franklin & Sarah Jennie Van Horn Still. She was an incredible woman. She grew up on the family farm. All the Still girls were educated and Aunt Helen w...

1968 MS State University Robert P Still I found a Baseball Questionnaire today on Ancestry.com. I got excited because there is a family story that involves a local baseball team but this questionnaire was for the professional teams. So naturally I played with family names. I got a hit, even though I doubt he is of the same line. Robert Philip Still was born 24 April 1949 in Georgia to Clinton H Still and Louise Cowan Still. In May 1972, Robert Philip STILL filled out a questionnaire. He played for the Oneonta Yankees, a minor league team of the New York-Penn League.He played Third Base for the Oneonta Tigers. Still was born in 1949 and lived down Decatur, Georgia. He graduated from DeKalb HS in Decatur in 1967. That same year then, in 1967, he was drafted out of high school by the Cleveland Indians in the 27th round of the 1967 MLB June Amateur Draft, according to Baseball Reference . Three years later, the Baltimore Orioles drafted him in the 10th round of the 197...

William Chester Ruth, son of  Samuel and Maria Louisa Pinn Ruth, invented several pieces of farm machinery. He was born 19 July 1882 in Ercildoun, Chester County, one of 12 children to Samuel and Maria Ruth.  Ruth  married Gertrude Miller on 6 June 1906. They moved to Gap, Lancaster County in 1917. He was, at that time, working for Midvale Steel in Coatesville. Six years later, Ruth opened Ruth's Ironworks Shop.  Ruth became a well-known and capable blacksmith to the farming families of Eastern Lancaster and Western Chester Counties. Among his patents were a machine feeder used between the thresher and straw baler, a cinder-spreading truck, self-raising elevator, and other machines.  Landis Valley Museum will remember Ruth on 6 June . The event is scheduled for 10 a.m.  at the  Landis Valley Christian Fellowship, next to the Landis Valley Museum. It will last until 2:30 p.m. After a light complimentary lunch, Dr. Leroy Hopkins wi...

Young Alexander Meyer was a disturbed and angry young man with some major issues. He had failed sixth and seventh grade, and instead of having to repeat eighth grade again, he finally gave up on school. At age 16 he quit Downingtown Junior High. Meyer is not a relative, nor are his victims (that I am aware). I stumbled upon young Alex while reading Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre - But Forgotten - Murders by Tammy Mal. On 11 February 1937 Alexander Thweatt Meyer killed young Helen Moyer as she walked home from school in Coatesville along Modena Road. She was not his first. The jury was out only three minutes after hearing Dr. Michael Margolis' testimony on the death of Helen Moyer. The jury determined Meyer had murdered Moyer and should be held for first degree murder. The jury also condemned the parole system which had released Meyer back into the public, after having served just 14 months in Huntingdon Reformatory, for the murder of two other girls - Anna Blasc...