Genealogical Gems

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...

Chrispin Pierson Van Horn is buried at the Old Doe Run Cemetery on Strasburg Road in East Fallowfield, Chester County. He is my 3rd great grandfather. Chrispin P Van Horn Born 21 September 1839. Died 9 February 1902. He was the son of George Van Horn and Jane Dudbridge. He was the husband of Maria Rice. Tombstone Tuesday is a daily genealogy blogging prompt of GeneaBloggers, in which one depicts a tombstone.

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...

One way to track a person or family through their years is through the US Census records. In this particular example, Chrispin Pierson Van Horn will be tracked.    First begin with what you know. For example, Chrispin was born 21 September 1839 and passed on 09 February 1902. He is buried at the Old Doe Run Presbyterian Cemetery in East Fallowfield Township with his wife Maria Rice.   1850 (at right) Chrispin lived with his parents, George and Jane Van Horn, as well as his seven year old brother Franklin, five year old Martha E., and two year old Joanna. A 30 year old team driver named Samuel Tyler also lived with the family. They lived in Kensington in Philadelphia . George was a lawyer. The family was all born in Pennsylvania . 1860 George and Jane Van Horn, Chrispin and his two sisters and two brothers now show up in Valley Township , Chester County . He was 20 years old then. Chrispin, his 45 year old father and 17 year old brother Benjam...

Helen L. Rice, 91, of Coatesville, passed away on Sunday, 13 April 2014 at the Neighborhood Hospice Center of West Chester.  She was the widow of the late Everett Rice Sr., with whom she shared 48 years of marriage before his death in 1988.   Born in Compass, she was the daughter of the late Helen (Thompson) and Fred Schlimme.  Helen was a member of the Fraternal Order of The Eastern Star Chapter #249 of Coatesville and the Hibernia Methodist Church.   She had been employed by the Lukens Store, Pepperidge Farms, Lukens Office and most recently drove school bus for Krapf Bus Co.     Helen is survived by her beloved son Everett Scott Rice, Jr., husband of Linda, of Parkesburg.    Funeral Services will be held on Friday, 18 April 2014 at 11 AM at the Wilde Funeral Home, 434 Main St., Parkesburg, followed by interment in the Fairview Cemetery.  The viewing will be held from 10 until 10:45 AM at which time the Order of th...

Chester County (PA) has uploaded several records on its sites that may be of interest if tracing your family there, including marriage records. Chester County kept marriage records from 1852 to 1855 and then again from 1885 to the present. Go to the "Records, Guides and Indexes" page on the Chester County, PA site at http://www.chesco.org/index.aspx?NID=193 . Now to be honest, I have this page bookmarked because I can never find it on the main page and it just frustrates me to no end so if you would like to do the same ... go to the page then add it to your Favorites. Once there, you have a choice of so many records! But for today - click on the " Birth, Death and Marriage " link on the left side. Select Marriages. For the years mentioned above, you can search by groom or bride. Remember if you are searching by the bride to use her maiden name.   The information that you MAY get from these records include: Groom's last name Groom's first nam...

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...

Annie Groff Rice was the wife of T. Edgar Rice, the policeman shot by Zachariah Walker. This weekend I attended the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the lynching of Walker, put on by the Coatesville Historical Society. In most accounts, understandably so, everyone focuses on Rice or Walker, but everyone neglects the widow Rice and her five children. Annie R. Groff was born in April 1865. She married T. Edgar Rice in 1888 or 1889. He had been born in October 1865. Their first son, Thomas E. was born in December of 1889. The young couple had two more sons: James Vincent (born August 1892) and George Harvey (December 1895). They also had two daughters: Rachel C. (born November 1872) and Elsie M. (born February 1899). In 1900 Edgar was a farmer, according to the 1900 Census, and the family lived in Newlin. They also had a servant Alfred Hess - an 18 year old farm hand - who lived with them. The 1900 Census showed Annie had five births and all five children were alive. The 19...