Genealogical Gems

The small town of Scranton – it was small in 1867 – was shocked by the murder of Dr. John D. Durkin. Durkin was a Lung and Throat Doctor and was killed 5 June 1867. The article, as it appeared in the Pittston Gazette, read: Our city was startled yesterday forenoon by the announcement of the murder of Dr. John D. Durkin, a Lung and Throat Doctor, having his office in John Zeidler’s new building. The Doctor, was found about 10 0’clock, a.m. in his room by G. H. Walters, who has an office on the same floor. When discovered he was lying on his bedroom floor stiff and cold, with a little pool of blood near his head. He was in his night clothes and seemed to have fallen from the floor, or been placed there. Alderman Jay action Coroner, summoned the following persons to act as a Jury of Inquest, viz: Lorenzo Zeidler, Patrick Scanlon, Patrick McGovern, Phillip Frier, A. Sweeney, G.H. Walters. The post mortem examination was concluded by Drs. Squires, Boyde and Masser. The examin...

John Still is my 3 rd great uncle and – like his grandmother Margaret Still – is a bit of a mystery. He was the first child of George David Still and Sarah Bing. He was born 3 October 1832 and died on 6 May 1910. He married Edith Jane Naylor in 1864. They had a daughter named Clara. I have traced him through the Census records, Civil War records and newspaper articles but still cannot confirm - without a doubt that is - if he is white or black or mixed! Allow me to back peddle a moment. Margaret Still, my 4th great grandmother and John's grandmother, fathered my George - yes John's father - out of wedlock. There are many speculations: a passing soldier, a patron at her father's tavern, a family member, a slave, etc. So, imagine my surprise when I found John's Death Certificate and it said "colored." Was he really colored? He died at the old Embreeville State Hospital. Did the informant not even look? Was he simply darker than one would e...

A nationwide search for a missing man began – and ended – in Duryea in 1941. Duryea is in Luzerne County . State Police in Pennsylvania were looking for him, assumably to give notice of his father’s passing. An article titled “Missing Youth Returns” ran in the Wilkes-Barre Evening News on 17 April 1941. It read: Wilkes-Barre Evening News 17 April 1941 Frank Matys, 1216 Spring Street, Duryea, for whom a nation-wide search was instituted two weeks ago when his father, Peter Matys, was fatally injured when struck by an Erie train, returned to his home. He received the first notice of his father’s death when he purchased a newspaper in Colorado . Had he run away or gone for work? If he went for work, why did his family not know his whereabouts? So why was Frank Matys in Colorado ? Two weeks prior, on 4 April 1941, the same paper ran its initial article, titled “See Frank Matys.” It read: Wilkes-Barre Evening News 4 April 1941 State Police were requested ...

A friend’s grandfather was said to have committed suicide in jail and he asked me to research it a bit. He knew very little to start. His grandfather was born in the Ukraine and died sometime before September 1918 in the Clearfield County (PA) jail. His name is another puzzle. His first name was Ludwig. His last name was Novakosky or sometimes it was spelled Nowakosky. It might have been spelled other ways as well. After a few unsuccessful searches, I turned to the Clearfield County PA Genealogy group on Facebook. Back around Thanksgiving, I posted “ Looking for info pls on a Ludwig Novakosky. He allegedly died before September 1917 in Clearfield County Jail. Story is suicide. Looking for proof ... or direction. TIA ” One lady actually found an article dated 30 August 1917 titled “Gulich Township Citizen Makes Noose of His Belt and Is Found Dead by Attendant.” The article states Ludwig Kowokosky committed suicide while at the County Home. He was mentally defective and had bee...

My first post this morning fell under Amanuensis Monday and was a letter written to my 3x great grandfather Chrispin Pierson Van Horn from Ramsey. As I stated in that post, some letters identify him as a friend and others state he was a cousin. Some include his last name as Dudbridge. Chrispin’s mother was Jane Dudbridge (born 1811).   The 1900 Census reveals a 16 year old Ramsey Dudbridge living in Warminster Township , Bucks County . The head of house is his older brother Harry. Harry was born in October 1875. Other household members are their mother (Elizabeth), their aunt Nancy Carr, brother Charles, and brother C. Carr. Their mother was born in September 1842. Aunt Nancy was born in September 1850. Charles was born in November 1878. C. Carr was born in June 1880. Ramsey was born in September 1883. The Census shows both mother and aunt were widows. Their mother had been married for five years and had four children, all of whom were still living. These four would ob...

  George Van Horn was my 4x great grandfather. I have his parents listed as John and Jane Van Horn but I have little to nothing on John and his parents. I am hoping that if I take a step back and re-evaluate what I do know then perhaps I will be able to document the next generation. As do most stories that involve my mom’s paternal side, this one begins with my Aunt Helen and her say so.   Aunt Helen Still Webster is my great grandfather’s sister. Their parents are Franklin Still and Sarah Jennie Van Horn. Sarah’s parents are Chrispin Pierson Van Horn and Maria Rice. Chrispin’s parents are George Van Horn and Jane Dudbridge. These facts are certain. Not only could Aunt Helen personally recall the information, but I have also documented through several sources. It is George’s parents who are my mystery.   One note of interest that I should point out before continuing: I have seen the surname written primarily as Van Horn. However, I have seen it too as Vanhorn...

Genealogy Roadshow filmed in Philadelphia this weekend and I had submitted some info about my family mystery. I did not hear back, not even a "sorry you're family is not exciting enough for television." Nothing. I suppose that may be true. We were not slaves (seems to be the current trend of these shows recently) nor did we (to my knowledge) ever own any or help any escape. We did not mingle with the local Lenape nor did we stand out in any major sort of way locally. My STILL family simply seems to be a small white family of farmers throughout the year. All the same, we do have a mystery and a tale ... My 4th great grandmother (Margaret Still) has always been a bit of a roadblock for me. I have traced most of my other lines back to my immigrant but my STILL line is stuck in Chester County , PA around the time of the Revolutionary War.   The story goes: Margaret got pregnant out of wedlock and her father put her out on a farm away from the family and left her ...

Charles Eckman has been found! Years ago shortly after we married, I attended a genealogy fair and saw a book titled "Genealogical Record of Rev. Hans Herr and His Direct Lineal Descendants" by Theodore Herr. I glanced through it and saw several names I recognized as being in my husband's family. I found my husband's grandfather, John C Eckman (b. 25 April 1883). John was listed as #10577. He was the son of Charles Eckman (6867) and Rosa T Kerchner. That entry led me to Charles and a mystery I have been searching for the last 20 years. His entry showed he is the son of Catherine K Cresswell (2949) and John Eckman. The numbers, by the way, were assigned to the descendants, with the first of course being the Rev. Hans Herr. Charles entry read: 6867. Charles, Lancaster, Pa., b. Feb. 1, 1860; d. Aug. 26, 1888; m. Aug. 24, 1881, Rosa T. Kerchner, b. Sept. 4, 1859; dau. John Kerchner and Barbara Kuhn. Since then I have been trying to find out where he was buried....

Many of my Still family members are buried at Doe Run Cemetery, across from Doe Run Presbyterian Church in East Fallowfield on Strasburg Road. In randomly searching PA Death Certificates for Stills of Chester County, I found a John S. Still who I have never heard of before and cannot find much information on so of course he is my mystery subject today! The Death Certificate reveals that he died at the Chester County Home in Embreeville in West Bradford Township. His birthdate was unknown but he was believed to be 78. The informant, a hospital administrator no doubt, did not know who John's parents were but did indicate they had both been born in the state. Born in Pennsylvania, he had been a laborer. He was a widower. The physician had tended to John since 13 June 1905. One could surmise then that John had been in the hospital since that time. He died 6 May 1910 from "exhaustion of senility" at 6 p.m. "Exhaustion of senility" is an archaic medical term. ...

A friend recently received some information and included in it was an envelope addressed to a Mr. Adolf Medeksza in Philadelphia, PA in America. So who was he? I quickly found (with the help of Ancestry.com of course) seven year old Adolf on the SS Haverford arriving in Philadelphia on 30 September 1907 with his mom and two siblings. Adolf was born approximately 1900 in Tzawb, Russia, although they list their ethnicity as Polish. His mother is Anna. She is 26 years old at the time. His brother Alen is five. He also has another sibling who is only a couple months old. The handwriting is difficult to read but Ancestry.com identifies him as Kazimer. The passenger list notes who they left behind and that person is identified as Anna's father! I cannot read the first name but his last name is Hatusky. The 1910 Philadelphia census reveals young Adolf, who is now 11 according to the census, is a junior. Adolf Sr., who the letter mentioned in the beginning was addr...

In the mail awhile back, someone sent me a news clipping concerning a Eugene Eckman who tried to rob a casino. At the bottom of the Associated Press article there was another paragraph that could have been part of that story or - knowing the way papers used to run everything together and avoid white space like the plague - it could a completely separate article. The article read: Eckman Killed Woman in St Louis in 1922 Eckman, who formerly lived in St. Louis, shot and killed Mrs. Nora Gartland in her home at 2944 Cass avenue, Sept 19, 1922. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison when he pleaded guilty of murder. Mrs. Gartland and Eckman had been partners in a bootlegging business and quarreled over that . The article about the casino had the dateline "MIAMI, Fla, Feb 27". A handwritten note above the article reads "1932". It is conceivable that Eugene Eckman is the Eckman who was a bootlegger in St Louis, and who quarreled and killed his partner, Nora Gartlan...

I am still trying to find information on my Uncle Theodore. Theodore's brother - and my grandfather Joseph - had told me that there was a horrible accident at home one day and Theodore died. According to him, young Theodore was just starting to crawl and burned himself fatally in the kitchen. He also said it happened around Pascha (Easter). My grandfather was born in 1917 and young Theodore the year prior. A cousin recalls being told that the child died as a result of a miscarriage. His death would have been 1918 most likely as my great grandmother Bessie had a third child in 1919 and they named him Theodore as well. I recently asked my Aunt Katie - his sister - about young Theodore. She is the only sibling still living. Being of that particular generation, I thought she might recall a mention on him even though he would have been passed for many years before she had even been born. Sure enough, she recalled that her mother would have her drive "up the Polish Cemetery t...

Mary Kilpatrick Still is my great grandmother and is hard to find information on since she was not here all that long. 12 November 1887 - born in Ireland (as per Chester County marriage records ) 1907 - Immigrated (as per 1910 Census) 5 June 1909 - Married Pierson George Still in Mortonville (as per Chester County records ) 1909 - 1st child Margaret Nora Still born (appears on 1910 census but did die in infancy) 5 September 1910 - 2nd child James Franklin Still born 1912 - 3rd child Dorothy born 1913 - Dorothy dies of whooping cough 24 March 1914 - 4th child (my grandfather) Lloyd Pierson Still born 17 February 1916 - died in childbirth (child stillborn) February 1916 - buried at Doe Run Presbyterian Cemetery in East Fallowfield, Chester County, PA My "Mystery" is where exactly Mary Kilpatrick was born. I had been told County Mayo but have not found any documentation to prove or disprove that. I also am still searching for immigration information. I have sear...