Genealogical Gems

Last month I received an email from a potential Van Horn connection! Many of the names fit but the dates seem off a bit. It took a little searching but our two lines do connect. Hi Jeanne, I found your blog while on Amnesty.com and I’m wondering if you would have any information on my Grandmother’s mother.    Grandma was Margaret E. Van Horn/ Lilley(DOB 1897-1968). She married Roy E. Lilley. They had 4 girls and two boys. One of the girls, Laura Lilley/Kulp/Hilbish was my Mother. My question who was Margaret’s Mother .    She died while my Grandmother was very young and no one in the family knew who her Mother was or how she died.  I have George W. as her father (DOB 1867) and 1900 census shows George W. and Margaret E. living with Robert Newsom (DOB 1840 England-Immigration 1877-Married 1882 to Martha Van Horn/Newsom (Dob- June 23, 1845-June 6, 1915) but can’t figure out what the first husbands name was.(George W. ’s father)  George is list...

My oldest turned 22 yesterday. Although it was, in my opinion, a difficult birth, we were released to go home the next day! She was born on the 8 th . She was 7 lbs 15 oz. and 20 cm. long.    Entry from Tuesday, 9 March 1993: Mary Theresa and I can go home today, as soon as she gets bathed and hubby gets here.   Entry from Wednesday, 10 March 1993:             Birth announcement was in last night’s paper.   A few days after we got home, the Blizzard of 1993 hit with a vengeance. On Saturday, the 13 th we were supposed to go to the hospital for some testing (Mary was jaundice) but the snow and winds were horrible so we did not go then.   Entry from Sunday, 14 March 1993: Not even attempting church this a.m. They are calling this the Blizzard of 93. The entire East Coast has been affected. … Our electric went out around 4:30 p.m. yesterday. It finally came back on around 6 a.m.  ...

As I go through my journals, I wrote about many things, including pets. When I first met my husband he had his dog, Bear – a shepherd who had been training to be a drug sniffing dog for Maryland law enforcement. His mom had a nasty thing out back. It was part greyhound and part wolf. I would not even go near it. Bear, on the other, I absolutely loved!   His mom’s dog got pregnant – neighbor’s dog – and had a litter shortly after we got married and were expecting our own bundle. We ended up with one of the pups from that litter … though not for long.   Entry from Thursday, 28 January 1993:            The other day (Tuesday) the man came to take the puppies when Glenn dropped me off at my parent‘s. I started bawling. I didn’t want to loose my puppy – the black one. He is so adorable! He cuddles right up to me and he’s really good in my car.   Anyway, Tuesday morning Glenn got back to the house five minutes bef...

My journals are a combination of a record of genealogy notes, a simple diary, a writing journal and finally a place to vent. Today, I continue to pull all possible genealogical information from them, and remove the venting entries.   Entry from Tuesday, 16 February 1993: Mom said Dr Jackson had said mid February. It was the 15 th and she saw a little blood so she called him and he told her to meet him at Chester County Hospital .    She was in labor for 12 hours. In that time she got me turned around since I was in the breech position when she went in. I was born in the morning on the 16 th .   When I was little and in school, there was never school on my birthday. It was either President’s Day or a snow day.    My grandmother always said she was 29 ½ like Jack Benny! I guess I decided that was too old. Entry from 16 February 1995:   Today is my second 25 th birthday.   I was not so casual about getting older every ...

Last week I started reviewing my own journals. As I mentioned then, my journals were a combination of a record of genealogy notes, a simple diary, a writing journal and finally a place to vent. Today, I continue to pull all possible genealogical information from them, and remove the venting entries.   Entry from 27 October 1992, a Tuesday: Went to the Phila branch of the Archives yesterday. Hubby found his mom’s dad, Morgan Deyoe, on 1920 census. Morgan was a boarder and still single. Found five year old Morgan Deyoe in Greene County , NY in 1880. Father was Daniel G, age 44, and mother was Lousie, age 42. Also an adopted boy William Parker.   That entry continued on with some other finds on my lines. Some entries of course have nothing to do with research but rather life as I was living it. On Wednesday, 28 October 1992, I wrote that hubby was laid off. I was scared, being six months pregnant and knowing that the store I was working at would be closing soon....

I came across some old journals while cleaning this weekend and decided to go through them. Over the years I have used my journals as a notebook when out and about, a record of genealogy notes, a simple diary, a writing journal and finally a place to vent. My reason for going through them is actually two-fold: first, to make sure I have gleaned all possible genealogical information from them; second, to make sure I remove the venting entries so they are never seen or worse taken the wrong way if left behind.   The earliest I still have in from 1992, the year I got married. The first entry is dated 25 October 1992, a Sunday: “Today is hubby’s parents’ 42 nd anniversary. They got married at a JP in East Petersburg, Lancaster County , in 1950. … Father Fiore said mass this am. Good sermon too. He talked about prayer and how sometimes it’s not that God doesn’t answer or that He ignores but rather that we simply don’t pray right or don’t as for the things we really need.” ...

My 3x great grandfather Chrispin Pierson Van Horn corresponded often with someone named Ramsey. Some letters identify Ramsey as a friend and some as a cousin. Some include his last name as Dudbridge, to whom Chrispin would be related.   In 1900 Ramsey lived in Hartsville, Bucks County , according to postmarks on various letters. Chrispin lived in Mortonville, Chester County at that time.   Below is one letter dated 12 April 1900: Dear Friend,   News of the (?) was received and was glad to hear that you stood your trip allright and that you are in good health, hoping you will still continue the same.   Auntie refunds the money to you because you need the money worst than she does and as for the (?) mess, that is free gratis. It is no more than right.   We do miss you so much. The table looks queer without you and the violin. It seems as if we had moved into another house.   The boys have been very busy the last week. They have g...

On 13 October 1926 Alma A. Bliss, of New Orleans, LA, wrote Mr. Thomas F. Russell of 1709 Lovespring Avenue, Wilmington, DE concerning her family line. The letter, found in a collection of Bliss letters, was stamped "unclaimed" and returned to Alma Bliss. The letter reads: Dear Sir, Please let me have all information you can possibly give regarding your father's family. We are trying to complete the Russell Family Tree. If you will kindly assist us by [sending] us your family data, writing names in full, with dates of births, deaths and marriages, should we be successful in connecting your family. I will gladly send you a copy of records we have been successful in obtaining. I have been working at this for 2 yrs, assisting a cousin who has been on this job almost 3 years. To save time please give all the family data you can in first letter. Please pardon pencil scribbling, etc. Thanking you for your kindness, I am. Very sincerely, Alma A Bliss A brief...

This weekend I rearranged my work area and came across a misplaced letter from a Thomas A. Van Horn. The letter is dated 12/13/32. The letter reads: Phila 12/13/32 Mr Butterworth, I except my share which was $20.00 twenty Dollars I am payed in full $10.00 is all I want I am giving the other half to my Aunt Jennie I remain yours Thomas A. Van Horn 1313 Mt Ephrain Ave Camden NJ The letter was among many correspondence I received years ago at a family auction. It is from my cousin Thomas A. Van Horn and mentions his Aunt Jennie. She is my 2nd Great Grandmother. Knowing the author, I can surmise the year is 1932. I am not sure who exactly Mr. Butterworth is or what Thomas is paying for here however I do know that his grandfather, Chrispin Pierson Van Horn, was an active member of the Knights of the Golden Eagle so it is possible it is that or a similar fraternal organization. The "new" information I gleamed from this letter was his address. His WWII Draft Reg...

Genealogy has been a hobby of mine for as long as I can recall. Since I got interested early on, I knew some of my great aunts who were great at telling family stories! I found it easier to write them then schedule a time and travel to them (even the ones who were close). Catherine Rothermal was one of those great aunts. Catherine was the daughter of my great grandmother's brother and she knew her! This meant I was able to ask (and receive) personal information. I did however have to remember that Catherine knew her as a child and we do tend to see things differently as children. I wrote her once asking what she recalled of my great grandmother, Bessie Matys. She wrote: 18 September 1986 Dear Jeanne, I enjoyed hearing from you. It's great that you want to know more about the family tree. I'm afraid I won't be too much of help. My father Frank, who was your great grandmother's brother, told us he was born in Galicia. The family name was Matys. There were ...

Today is Amanuensis Monday! As many of you transcribe your family letters, take note of the zip-code. The US Postal Service introduced the use of two-digit zone numbers (zip-codes) on 1 May 1943. The use of the five-digit zip-codes began in July of 1963.

Normally a post for Amanuensis Monday would be more about a specific letter or card but this week, I would like to talk about postcards in general. I personally love postcards. They are a great way to say hello, stay connected with someone and yet because of the limited space not feel obligated to write a novel. From a historical point of view, postcards are a great way to preserve local history. For example, I have come across several postcards of dams, railroads, simple scenes of towns and businesses, and buildings no longer standing. Often a postcard will reveal a tidbit about a place as well. One card features the Schwartz Stein Collection, located (at that time) at 2177 Fruitville Pike, Lancaster, PA. The tidbit reveals this is the "largest collection of antique steins in the world. There are over 4,600 from the largest 48" to the smallest 1/32" high. Open to the public by appointment only." Postcards can reveal so much information if you know where to...

Maria Rice VanHorn is my great great great grandmother. She wrote often to her husband, Chrispin Pierson VanHorn and I am fortunate to have several of those letters. Many are hard to read as she wrote in run on sentences and her handwriting is small. Below are images from one such letter from 1892. The letter was dated "Phila June 5th 1892." She address Chrispin as "Dear Husband." Her letters reveal day to day things, like it rained a lot and she made a dress, and John and Lizzie moved to a new house. Their new house is a four room house and bath at 816 Como and backs up against the Quaker Burying Ground. She mentions working and that may be why she is living apart from him at the moment. She also mentions a visit from Jim Van Horn and his son Joseph. She signs it simply "from your wife Maria Van Horn" The envelope is addressed to: Mr C P Van Horn Elview PO Chester County Pa Elkview is a small hamlet of a town near Oxford in Chester Cou...

Amanuensis Monday is a blogging theme for GeneaBloggers which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. The letter transcribed here today is another letter from my Aunt - Helen Still Webster. This one she wrote me while I was at Lock Haven University. It is dated Wednesday, 11 January 1990. My dear Jeanne, I wish to thank you for the lovely xmas card. I know you had a wonderful holiday with all your loved ones. I had a nice holiday, too much to eat and too many gifts. I talk with Lloyd each day. When Mary was sick I used to call each day so I just continued to do that. He makes out very well. I am so happy you are the News Editor on the University Newspaper. Congratulations. Long ago I used to write a column each week for the Coatesville Record Mortonville News. I got paid 5 cents each inch and if I had 1 column from top to bottom I made $1. That was big money then. Congratulations. Keep up the ...

As I was organizing paperwork, I came across this letter from August of 2001 from George Scopel of Illinois. At the time I was putting together and editing an Eckman Family Newsletter and I believe this letter was in response to an article I wrote about Baltzer Draucher Eckman. Dear Jeanne, I am a great great grandchild of Baltzer Draucher Eckman. I enjoyed the subject newsletter very much and would like to point out a few errors. The maiden name of Baltzer's wife was Wescott. The son of Baltzer that you have listed as George Washington Eckman was George Wescott Eckman. The son of George Westcott Eckman that you have listed as Alfred Eckman is actually Aldus Eckman known as Alley. George Westcott Eckman was my great great grandfather and his son Baltzer D Eckman was my grandfather. My mother was Mildred Eckman a daughter of Baltzer D Eckman. I knew all of George Wescott's children except Aldus who died at an early age. My mother's sister Verda Eckman Brunetto is 86 ...

Amanuensis Monday is a blogging theme for GeneaBloggers which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. The letter transcribed here today is another letter from my Aunt - Helen Still Webster. I am going to transcribe exactly as she has written it. My comments will be placed in {} marks. Happy Thanksgiving Sat. Nov. 21, 1992 My dear Jeanne & Glenn, I received your letter and glad you are working on history. That was a cute thank you card. Yes I would like to meet Glenn. {Glenn is my husband. We married 22 August 1992}. It seems I have not seen much of you lately either. At Mary Still funeral you sat with Lloyd {my maternal grandparents}. I do not know where our relatives came from. Well the only real americans are the american Indians and we are allfrom them and foreign countries. If you would go to West Chester courthouse and look up Bing & Way - my father's mother, Still, Rice, Van...

Amanuensis Monday is a blogging theme for GeneaBloggers which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. The letter transcribed here today is from my Aunt - Helen Still Webster. She helped so much with my research on the Still line. Her letter - dated 8 March 1994 - combines general chit chat as well as a bit of family history and memories. I must also first say that Aunt Helen was born 24 August 1903 so at the time of this letter she was 90 years old. While she was still sharp often her style of writing took some following. I have chosen though to transcribe the letter exactly as written. My dear Jeanne & family,      I received the history material and thank you and appreciated it very much.      I talked with Tom Still wife and she said Beth Still Garris had got one and all enjoyed it.      Well you deserve a lot of credit for do...