My Family Calendar This Week

Thursday of this week is National Puzzle Day. I used to love putting jigsaw puzzles together but why I bring this up is because it dawns on me that genealogy is like a big family puzzle. We spend our time seeing if this person fits here or there and matching up events and such. So really Thursday could be “National Place An Ancestor Day”!

Birthdays

Happy birthday this week to David and Mark Peters, and Doug Schlichter! May God grant you all Many Years.

Memory Eternal

Today (25 January) is the 104^th anniversary of the death of Julia T Coursault. She is my husband’s 2x great aunt and the daughter of Oliver C Coursault, of Philadelphia, and Catherine Wren, of

Ireland

Monday is the second anniversary of Aunt Jo passing. Aunt Jo is Josephine Eckman Pelikoski. She was (hubby’s) Dad’s sister. She married Tony Pelikoski. Tomorrow I will share more about Aunt Jo during Matrilineal Monday. That's her photo at right.

It is also 152 years since John F Longnecker passed away in Colerain Township, Lancaster County. He is my husband’s 3^rd great grand uncle. He is the son of John Longnecker and Susan Barr. One of six children, his sister Elizabeth is hubby’s 2x great grandmother. He married Mary J. Atchinson.

Tuesday is the 113^th anniversary of Elizabeth Herr Creswell’s passing. Elizabeth is hubby’s 2x great grandmother. The daughter of David Herr and Catherine Bumberger, she was one of seven children. Elizabeth married James Cresswell and had six children together. James preceded Elizabeth in death and she married Martin Barr afterwards.

Friday we remember three people who passed: Wilda Bing Sensor (84 years), E.Wayne Sammons (10 years), and Thomas A VanHorn (98 years).

Wilda is my second cousin 4x removed, according to FTM. She is the daughter of John Bing and Melissa Iddings. John is the son of Joseph Bing who is the son of John Bing, who is my 5^th great grandfather.

Wayne Sammons is the husband of my cousin Janet Webster. Janet’s mom is my Aunt Helen (Still Webster) who I mention at least once a week probably! Aunt Helen is my great grandfather’s sister and she was such a great help when I first got interested in genealogy. It doesn’t seem like 10 years since Wayne passed. I still see Janet from time to time, usually at a major family event.

Thomas is the son of Chrispin Pierson VanHorn and Maria Rice, my 3^rd great grandparents. He married Minnie Wisner. They had two children – Thomas Andrew and Mary – before they divorced. Aunt Helen wrote about him once. She stated that after he and Minnie separated, Thomas came to live with them – Franklin and Jennie VanHorn Still and family.

My Family Calendar This Week will be a weekly feature.

Coatesville's First Serial Killer

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...

Thaddeus Stevens at the Lancaster Convention Center

Within the Lancaster Convention Center (Lancaster, PA) is a small section dedicated to Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. The section is known as the Stevens & Smith Historic Site. It is scheduled for development this year. At the moment one can only get a glimpse of it through the Convention Center or by peeking in from the outside. Here at Queen and Vine Streets in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, Thaddeus Stevens had his law office. Stevens was an abolitionist. An abolitionist is a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or (formerly) slavery. Stevens was born 4 April 1792 to Joshua Stevens and Sarah (Sally) Morrill in Danville Vermont. One of four children, he attended Vermont University from 1810 to 1812 when the War prompted its closure. He then went to Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1814. He then studied law and found himself set up in Gettysburg, PA in 1816. He practiced law there until 1828 when he...

52 Ancestors: Remembering the King

Today is Elvis’ birthday. He would have been 80 today. I was only eight when he died so obviously I am too young to have seen Elvis perform. However, when I hear his music, I go back in time. I am once again that young girl dancing in the living room to Elvis and other greats with my father. Back then girls learned to dance by dancing with their fathers not some video of scantly dressed people doing all sorts of things young ladies should not be doing in public! What is YOUR favorite memory - either of your father or of Elvis? 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a weekly genealogical challenge issued by Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small . Look for my weekly posts each Thursday! © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

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