Genealogical Gems

Isabella McGuigan Coursault died a newlywed. She married Bernard Coursault in Philadelphia in 1917. The specific date, I do not know yet. On 5 June 1917, Bernard Coursault complied with the World War I Draft registration. At the time he lived at 102 Martin Avenue in Bryn Manor and listed himself as being single. The form only asks if married or single. By the end of September that year, poor Isabella had died of tuberculoses. Her short obituary, which ran in The Evening Public Ledger , reads: COURSAULT – Sept. 22, ISABELLA F., wife of Bernard Coursault and daughter of Daniel and Ellen E. McGuigan, aged 23. Relatives and friends invited to funeral, Wed. 8:30 a.m., 343 Sheldon Lane , Ardmore , Pa. Solemn requiem mass at St. Colman’s Church 10 a.m. Int. St. Denis ’s Cemetery. Auto funeral. Her death certificate offers little additional information in regards to their short marriage. She was born 2 June 1894. Her father was Daniel McGuigan and her mother was Ellen ...

While going through paperwork in my 3 rd great grandfather’s (George D Still) file, I came across a funeral invitation. It isn’t really a funeral card, in my opinion. It reads: Yourself and family are invited to attend the funeral of Robert McWilliams from his late residence 1507 Parish St. Phila. Pa on Jan 24 th /87. Meet at the house at 3 p.m. Internment at Mechanics Cemetery . I just love the wording, “are invited to attend,” but who is Robert McWilliams? My 3 rd great grandmother (George D Still’s wife) was Sarah Bing. Her mother was Sarah McWilliams so it is plausible that this Robert is a relative. He most likely is not Sarah McWilliams Bing’s father as that would put George’s wife Sarah in her late 70s when he passed, 76 to be exact. Through Ancestry.com, I was able to find him on the Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , Death Certificates Index, 1803-1915 . While it does not tell me who his parents were, it does offer some more hints. He was born in Pennsylvania...

Mabel Florence Eckman, my husband’s grandmother, passed away On This Day in 1975. She is buried at the Greenmount Cemetery in Philadelphia . She is buried with her husband, John Charles Eckman. Their stone reads: Eckman John C. 1885 – 1950 Mabel F. 1888 - 1975 Mabel was born 23 July 1888 in New Providence, Lancaster County to Aldus and Emma Miller Eckman. Before meeting John Eckman (very distant cousins), she was married to John Anderson. She married him in 1909. I am told – though I have no documentation to prove or disprove – that it was an abusive relationship. That first marriage ended in divorce on 23 June 1923. She married John Charles Eckman, a Lancaster City native, on 7 January 1924. He preceded her in death. Tombstone Tuesday is a genealogical prompt of GeneaBloggers. © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

It was On This Day in 1777 that Lydia Darragh, a Philadelphia housewife and nurse, overheard British General William Howe and his men planning an attack on General George Washington and the Continental Army.   Philadelphia , at that time, was an occupied city. Howe had taken over an upstairs room in Darragh’s house. She would listen in on their conversations and then steal out of the city to pass notes to Washington ’s men.   It is said that on this night she overheard plans to attack Washington ’s army at Whitemarsh on the 4 th or 5 th . Washington , instead of being caught by surprise, had his troops waiting for Howe. Howe finally returned to Philadelphia without claiming a win.   Sources Lydia Barrington Darragh. Find A Grave . (Photo) “ Philadelphia nurse overhears British plans to attack Washington ” 2 December 1777. History.com      On This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.     ...

The American Plague. That is what yellow fever was referred to in 1793. The death toll from this epidemic rose to 100 On This Day in Philadelphia . The epidemic would claim 5,000 souls by the time it ended.   Yellow fever was a virus that was carried and transferred by mosquitoes, much like malaria today. October is known for her early frosts and that, in 1793, is what finally killed off Philadelphia mosquito population.   Sources “Yellow fever breaks out in Philadelphia ” This Day in History, 1793 . History.com.     On This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Professor Emil Aust, a musician, applied to Judges Livingston and Patterson to have his two sons sent to the House of Refuge in Philadelphia On This Day in 1880. Aust alleged that his sons were incorrigible. Source Lancaster Daily Intelligencer. ( Lancaster , PA ), 8 October 1880. Chronicling America : Historic American Newspapers . Library of Congress.    On This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Soldiers head to Philadelphia On This Day in 1864 after a day of riots in Baltimore . A riot broke out yesterday at the Provost Marshal’s office involving some 200 men of the 23 rd Pennsylvania Regiment. Many of the men were at Soldiers’ Rest and were drunk. The PM’s guard arrested many. Others got upset and a riot broke out. Approximately a dozen men on each side were injured.    Source The Evening Telegraph. ( Philadelphia , PA ), 24 August 1864. Chronicling America : Historic American Newspapers . Library of Congress.    On This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Robert Acheson, a conductor of a construction train, was killed On This Day in 1880 in West Philadelphia. Acheson had been walking on the track. His train had been backing up at the same time. The train struck him down, running over him. Both his legs were cut off in the accident. He died soon after the accident.   Acheson was the son of farmer Charles Acheson, of Mechanic’s Grove in Drumore Township, Lancaster County .   Source: Lancaster Daily Intelligencer. ( Lancaster , PA ), 3 August 1880. Chronicling America : Historic American Newspapers . Library of Congress.      On This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

  Captain Alfred Sanderson, one of the founders of the Daily Intelligencer, has moved on, according to the Daily Intelligencer On This Day in 1882. Sanderson is now at the Philadelphia Press. Source: Lancaster daily intelligencer. ( Lancaster , PA ), 26 June 1882. Chronicling America : Historic American Newspapers . Library of Congress.      On This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Richard G Gellers became Philadelphia’s Treasurer On This Day in 1891. He succeeded John Bardsley.   Source: The Evening Herald. ( Shenandoah , Pa. ), 2 June 1891. Chronicling America : Historic American Newspapers . Library of Congress.      On This Day is a prompt I started this month to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

The Philadelphia and Reading coal and iron company announced On This Day in 1880 that it has faltered. The company, announced President Franklin B. Gowen, suspended payments and cannot pay its bills.   As a result of this announcement, stock in the company dropped 16 ½. The company was obliged to pay parties in New York back a borrowed $600,000. The stock recovered appoint or so and ended the day at 23.   The company had been the largest producer of anthracite coal from 1871 through the 1920s in the nation. I ts parent company was the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad.   Source:   Lancaster daily intelligencer. ( Lancaster , Pa. ), 21 May 1880. Chronicling America : Historic American Newspapers . Library of Congress. On This Day is a prompt I started this month to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Lancaster native Civil War General John F. Reynolds was honored at the Pennsylvania Historical Society in Philadelphia . Dignities, military, prominent citizens and three governors made up the audience on 8 March 1880. The executors of the Admiral William Reynolds (the General John Reynolds’ brother) estate presented the Society with a portrait of the General, it was reported On This Day by the Lancaster Daily Intelligencer.   The portrait was done by Dane Balling, who had originally planned for the painting to go to West Point . At the time of his death, General Reynolds was the commander of the First Army Corps.    Both Reynolds brothers were born in Lancaster City . The admiral was born in 1815 and the general was born in 1820. Their father was John Reynolds, the editor and publisher of the Lancaster Journal, who himself was born near Lancaster in 1787 to William Rynolds.   Williams Reynolds, an Irish Protestant, came to Pennsylvania in 1760. He...

The Lancaster Daily Intelligencer reported, On This Day in 1881, that William Shields, a Philadelphia policeman, was acquitted. He had been charged with the murder of Francis Burk, who died as a result of being shot by Shields last May.   Image: Chronicling America , Lancaster Daily Intelligencer , 3 March 1881 On This Day is a prompt I started this month to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Josephine Eckman Pelikoski passed away peacefully two years ago today. So, today Matrilineal Monday just seems a perfect fit to remember her.    Born 25 July 1926 in Philadelphia , she is the daughter of John Charles Eckman and Mabel Eckman. She was the middle child. Her older brother is John Charles Eckman and he younger is Frank Raymond Eckman (Dad). They three kids grew up in Philadelphia , attended school there and worked there after high school.    During World War II, Aunt Jo worked in the payroll dept. of the John B. Stetson Co. when they were working on military contracts. The Stetson Hat Company was located on the corner of intersection where 5th Street , Germantown and Montgomery come together in the Kensington area. When the War ended, she worked for the So. Philadelphia National Bank in the bookkeeping department.   Then in 1948, after serving six years in the US Navy, she married Anthony Pelikoski. Their first son, named Anthony Jr., wa...