Genealogical Gems

1968 MS State University Robert P Still I found a Baseball Questionnaire today on Ancestry.com. I got excited because there is a family story that involves a local baseball team but this questionnaire was for the professional teams. So naturally I played with family names. I got a hit, even though I doubt he is of the same line. Robert Philip Still was born 24 April 1949 in Georgia to Clinton H Still and Louise Cowan Still. In May 1972, Robert Philip STILL filled out a questionnaire. He played for the Oneonta Yankees, a minor league team of the New York-Penn League.He played Third Base for the Oneonta Tigers. Still was born in 1949 and lived down Decatur, Georgia. He graduated from DeKalb HS in Decatur in 1967. That same year then, in 1967, he was drafted out of high school by the Cleveland Indians in the 27th round of the 1967 MLB June Amateur Draft, according to Baseball Reference . Three years later, the Baltimore Orioles drafted him in the 10th round of the 197...

William Chester Ruth, son of  Samuel and Maria Louisa Pinn Ruth, invented several pieces of farm machinery. He was born 19 July 1882 in Ercildoun, Chester County, one of 12 children to Samuel and Maria Ruth.  Ruth  married Gertrude Miller on 6 June 1906. They moved to Gap, Lancaster County in 1917. He was, at that time, working for Midvale Steel in Coatesville. Six years later, Ruth opened Ruth's Ironworks Shop.  Ruth became a well-known and capable blacksmith to the farming families of Eastern Lancaster and Western Chester Counties. Among his patents were a machine feeder used between the thresher and straw baler, a cinder-spreading truck, self-raising elevator, and other machines.  Landis Valley Museum will remember Ruth on 6 June . The event is scheduled for 10 a.m.  at the  Landis Valley Christian Fellowship, next to the Landis Valley Museum. It will last until 2:30 p.m. After a light complimentary lunch, Dr. Leroy Hopkins wi...

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...

Setting aside the to do list this #SundayMorning to research my Irish female ancestors, beginning with my great grandmother Catherine #OFlaherty . It is after all #IrishAmericanHeritageMonth and #WomensHistoryMonth Catherine O'Flaherty Catherine was born on 2 August 1880 to Dennis and Martha (Durkan) O'Flaherty in Phoenixville, Chester County, PA. This is confirmed through various records and family members, including my grandmother (her oldest child. Her marriage application however notes she was born on 2 October in 1885. She was the youngest of eight known children. Her siblings (in birth order) are: James - 1868 to 1870. Twin to Mary Theresa. Mary Theresa - 1868 to 1945. Twin to James. Married Patrick Rogers. They had five children. Through Ancestry.com, I have connected with one of her descendents.  Hugh - 1869 to 1947. Married Katherine Dee. They had six children. Michael - 1871 to 1904.Married Margaret McQuade. He died just two years after they married, le...

I found a wife! Not for me (my husband is work enough!) but for my Uncle Jim! Years ago, my great Aunt Helen (Still) Webster told me a story about my Uncle Jim (James Franklin Still) having a son. By the time we all came along, Uncle Jim was back East living with his brother/my grandfather (Lloyd Pierson Still). He spoke of working on ranches but never mentioned a wife or a child.  Searching on Ancestry.com today, I found a marriage record for James Still born 1910 to a Julie Riddle on 14 April 1931 in  Deep Creek, Routt, Colorado The 1930 US Census shows Uncle Jim, obviously single, still living in East Marlboro, Chester County, PA. The 1940 Census shows him living in Clark Township, Routt County, Colorado. The 1940 Census also reveals he lived there in 1935 as well but now his father, Pierson George Still, has moved out with him and Uncle Jim is single. In fact, it shows that the two of them are living by themselves on a farm.  I found land records for U...

Today (Sunday, 17 June) is Family Day at Historic Huguenot Street .. Admission is free and includes the historic house tours and exhibits. Tours will be done on a first come first serve basis with a limit to 12 people per tour. You are welcome to bring a blanket and bagged lunch and have a picnic on the grounds.  Learn about the families who founded New Paltz, including Pierre Deyo. The Pierre Deyo House, built in 1692, is one of the house on the tour. We went awhile back, not on Family Day but just a regular day. My husband is descended from Jacobus "James" Deyoe (1760-1819) and Annatje "Hannah" Walker (1764-1835). The Deyoe and the Deyo families are of the same family.  Those interested in tracing their family lineage to one of the 12 lines may also be interested in this (from a March 2018 press release): Thanks to a grant from the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Historic Huguenot Street (HHS) has digitized records from the Reformed ...

Memorial Day is is a day set aside in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in the country's armed forces. While I am appreciative of everyone who has served - both in war and in peace - this weekend is for those who died while serving ... like my Uncle Paul. Paul Kurenda - Paulie as Baba always called him - died while serving in World War II. He had been serving in Europe and came down ill so the Army sent him stateside, first to South Carolina then to West Virginia then finally home to die. He passed away 11 August 1944 at the Valley Forge Army Hospital in Phoenixville, Chester County, PA. His official cause of death was "tuberculosis, pulmonary, acute, military, bilateral." He was just 22 years old when he died. His obituary was published in the now-defunct Coatesville Record. Coatesville Record August 12, 1944 PFC. Paul Kurenda, aged twenty-two years, of 1047 Rock Run, died last night in Valley Forge General hospital aft...