This week's is short but intriguing. Ghost Story would normally be one that I would not think that I had a story for, but in researching my 3rd great grandfather Toms Nixon (1807 - 1876), I found a book that was compiled by his son Jabez Hunt Nixon or J.H. Nixon. The book's title is "Rending the Vail" published in 1899 and it details various seance sessions attended by Jabez Nixon around 1890. Quoted here are the transcriptions of the seance sessions involving the Nixon family. The Mr. Nixon referred to is Jabez Nixon, Toms Nixon's son. The medium's name was William W. Aber. Spiritualism became popular in the mid 1800's with many followers including Queen Victoria and Mary Todd Lincoln. Mrs. Lincoln held several seance sessions in the White House after the deaths of their young sons.
You never know what will come up in your research!
" Séance No. 1 :
7. At evening-time, and at the residence of J. H. Pratt, Mr. Pratt and wife, Mrs. Phoebe Smith, and J. H. Nixon began a series of meetings with this medium, under promise of the spirits (for we had come to so regard them) that, if we would prove faithful to them, we would be amply rewarded in rare phenomena.
8. The medium being entranced and taken into the cabinet, bust forms appeared at the window, as usual, to eight in number, all
very brilliant and recognized.
Séance No. 2 :
June 5, 1890
19. Circle of the same persons as before. (#7 above)
20. Medium seated in a chair, outside the cabinet, near to the
cabinet doorway.
21. Automatic music organ wound and put to going.
22. Light down to dim twilight.
31. Then there came out a form speaking in a whisper to Mr.Nixon, saving: "Good-evening, brother." This was clearly recognized by Mr. Nixon as his sister Ann, who several years ago passed to spirit life. Mr. Nixon placed a small bouquet of flowers upon the stand table and said: "Sister Ann, please take that to
mother." The spirit said, "I will, brother," and returned into the cabinet, taking the flowers.
32. In a few moments an elderly-looking lady form, in appearance, clad after the manner of the women of the "Society of Friends," came out to the stand table, as bright-looking as if in the mortal form in good daylight, holding that little bouquet in her hand; and, addressing Mr. Nixon as "My dear son," threw the flowers into his lap; giving, in manners, gesticulations, and words, evidences of intense delight, and of identity, and was fully
recognized, at last, as at least a complete facsimile of Nixon's mother, though she long ago made the transition.
33. Next to emerge from the cabinet was a form claiming to be Priscilla Nixon, another sister to Mr. Nixon, and was by him identified as "sister Priscilla," who had passed to the morning land forty or more years ago.
34. These forms were, by all of us, all seen and heard to talk.
41. As this spirit returned into the cabinet there came out another spirit, which said to Nixon: "I am thy father.', All the others of the circle remarked: "He certainly looks like Nixon." Nixon then said: "Father, please be seated." The spirit said, "I will try," and then did sit down on a chair that was at the south end of the stand table, and sat there for two or three minutes, leisurely looking about the room, and, arising, returned into the cabinet.
Séance No. 3 :
July 17, 1890
51. Mr. Nixon took the pains to count his pulse during the writing, and since has counted the writing and timed his pulsebeats, and found thereby that Reed wrote about two lines per second, averaging six and a half words to the line, twenty lines to the page or nearly the astounding rate of six hundred common English words written in full in one minute.52. This writing alone ought to remove these manifestations above the region of fraud to any candid mind witnessing or receiving the facts. (See Faraday writing, par. 2594)
Séance No. 5 :
August 6, 1890
88. Another thrilling event of this séance was that, while the circle were singing the melody "We're Going Home," there stood a spirit in the cabinet door whom we call Zechey, brother to Mr. Nixon, and sang with us in tones clear and loud, away above our loudest and highest key—be that to our utmost.89. Brother on this side singing face to face with brother on the spirit side of life!90. J. H. Nixon from the beginning of these séances kept record of the proceedings of each séance and read the record so kept of each séance to the circle at the next subsequent séance, and so is henceforth known as secretary.
89. Brother on this side singing face to face with brother on the spirit side of life!90. J. H. Nixon from the beginning of these séances kept record of the proceedings of each séance and read the record so kept of each séance to the circle at the next subsequent séance, and so is henceforth known as secretary.
90. J. H. Nixon from the beginning of these séances kept record of the proceedings of each séance and read the record so kept of each séance to the circle at the next subsequent séance, and so is henceforth known as secretary.
Séance No. 6 :
August 20, 1890
93. Brother Zecchey (as we have learned to call him), standing in the cabinet doorway, having his arms folded, asked us to sing the melody "We're Going Home," and as we did so he joined with us, the spirit making such an harmoniously melodious bass as we had never heard before from human voice.
94. It may be of some interest to the reader if we here relate a sample of the psychic tests as given by our colloquial, who is known and designated by the name of Sam. The secretary's father and mother long ago passed to spirit life, and their given names had not been known to the medium nor to any person attending the séance except the secretary.
Sam said: "Mr. Nixon, there is an old gentleman here for you. His name is Zechariah; He is your grosserfader" (grandfather).
Sec: "Well, that is the name."
Sam: "He says your father's initial is T."
Sec.: "What does he say the full name is?"
Sam: "He says it is Toms Nixon. He says that was your father's middle name."
Sec.: "Father had no middle name."
Sam: "Oh vell, it ought to be de middle name ony how. Dond't you ondershtand dot?"
Sec.: "Father had no middle name."
Sam: "I say dot vash a middle name as a family relicum" (family relic).
95. Here was an intellectual test that could hardly be surpassed: The grandfather's name was Zechariah Nixon. The grandmother's maiden name was Martha Toms. To preserve the maiden name as a relic in the family, the youngest son was named Toms Nixon. In such ease it seems custom to make the relic name a middle name. Hence Sam said: "A middle name, or ought to be."
The book in digital form can be found at: http://iapsop.com/ssoc/1899__aber___rending_the_vail.pdf
Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved.
My apologies to anyone who has been following these stories for not posting these last six weeks. Sometimes personal things get in the way, but I am trying to get back to this writing now.
This week, the theme is Shadows. There are two individuals in my husband's family who just insist on hiding. Sometimes no matter how hard I look or how many times I start over with these two, I just never get past what I think I already know.
The first one, Benjamin Johns, whom I have taken to calling Bennie, is my husband's great grandfather. He was born, I think, in April of 1844 in St Austell, Cornwall, England. The family story was that Benjamin Johns was "supposed to have come from a well to do educated family who owned vineyards. They were a small people with red hair. His mother, Charlotte had red hair and was supposed to have been a teacher."
Bennie's naturalization papers, in the possession of the family, state that he was born in St Austell and left England at age 42, sailing from Liverpool and arriving in New York on May 2, 1869. His destination was Beaver Meadows, PA. He applied for citizenship in 1888 and was naturalized on Oct 2, 1890 in Carbon Co, PA. The date of 1869 would make him born about 1847 not 1844. The only record of a child born in St Austell to a mother named Charlotte was in 1844. I found two references to this. One was the England and Wales BMD Index and the other was an England and Wales Criminal Register. There were two individuals with the surname Johns on the same page in the Criminal Register. Charlotte Johns, age 24, was one and she was charged with "concealing the birth of an infant" and sentenced to two years imprisonment. The second was Joseph Johns, age 27, charged with "disobeying an order in bastardy" and found not guilty. Hmm, makes me wonder if the two were connected and both were Bennie's parents. Was Bennie a bastard child? What happened to him while Charlotte was imprisoned? Was he with Charlotte in prison? And did he make up the story about his family background? I'm inclined to think Yes, who knows and Yes!
But to move on in his story, he cannot be found in either the 1870 or 1880 censuses. Of course! The 1890 one is lost. So no help on Bennie there. He married Emma James, date unknown, but Emma was listed as single in June of 1880 in that census. Emma's first child was born in January 1881. There is a family story that this child was conceived out of wedlock but may still have been Bennie's as Bennie did raise him as his own. Six more children followed with the last born in 1896.
The rest of the family story about Bennie was that "when Bennie came over from England, he came thru Canada to America. One time when he was returning to visit England, he was traveling thru Canada and only got as far as Niagara Falls. Apparently he lost all of his money drinking and gambling and only had enough left to buy his wife a picture of Niagara Falls, which hung in their home for many years. He never did get to England. Benny was murdered by Irishman after one night drinking. He was ambushed and found down a coal bank on the way to his home. The family story as told to me, was that Benny was buried under a sidewalk at the Vine St Cemetery, Hazelton, Pa." Bennie died in 1897, about age 52.
I searched for a news article about the supposed murder, but no luck there either. And I think the sidewalk story leaves a little to be believed. But his wife is buried in that cemetery....
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The second individual is Amy Light, my husband's 3rd great grandmother. Amy was born about 1820 in New York state according to the 1850 & 1860 censuses. Amy's headstone has been photographed, but the only thing that is readable is her first name Amy. She died in 1869 according to a self published family history scarce on sources. She married about 1839 to Alfred Estus, of New York state, in Pennsylvania. They had only two or three children between 1840 and 1845, all born in Pennsylvania. Amy & Alfred must have each come separately from New York to Pennsylvania. I do have a possible family for Amy but no records that can say for sure that she belongs to them. It is tentative at best. With a name like "Light", she still stays in the shadows.
Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved.
I could not find a good story to share this week for the topic High and Low. But I would imagine all of the ancestors had those in their lives just like you or I do today. Whether it was the loss of a job or a home. A sudden loss of a loved one or birth of a long awaited cherished child. Maybe there were health problems that created the ups and downs in life. Someone finally found the love of their life and lived happily ever after. Severe weather events or the vacation of a lifetime. The first in a family to graduate from high school or college. Or maybe as simple as a hug from someone that you haven't seen in awhile. Sometimes I look at the sparse events of an ancestor's life and wonder what they really went through and what events they would call their highs and lows. Did the farmer have a good crop this year to get his family through the winter? Did a family lose a loved one in a war? Some events are both a high and a low. As when a young married couple leave the country of their birth hoping for a better life in a new country, knowing they would never see their family again. All of these highs and lows are so relative to each individual. A low for one person may be a high for someone else. It just wouldn't be life without all of it.
Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved.
It's pretty common for Americans to find a story or two that have to do with crossing the ocean. From the first explorers to Jamestown and Plymouth to a recent immigrant relative. I believe that no matter the reason that brought one here, you are still an explorer to a new land and way of life. I have several seafaring stories that come to mind from our families.
In 1620, my first explorer ancestor came to America on the Mayflower. His name was Myles Standish. He was born about 1584 in England, but there are conflicting theories about where and to whom. He was hired by the Pilgrims in Leiden, Holland to be an advisor on military affairs once they arrived in America. So he and his first wife, Rose, came aboard the Mayflower bound for an adventure in the New World. Arriving near Cape Cod in November, winter was close behind. They lived on the ship until a shelter could be built on the land. Rose Standish died the first winter along with about 50 other Pilgrims. Myles survived and was one of those who cared for the other sick Pilgrims. I reading much about Myles, he was a controversial character. He both befriended and fought the Native Americans. He was both caring, as in the winter sickness time, and was also accused of using too brutal of methods when fighting. No matter what , he survived and around 1634 moved with some other families to found Duxbury, Massachusetts. He took on many roles in running the community but died in 1656. He was the husband of a 2nd wife, Barbara, and father to 7 children.
After reading Nathaniel Philbrick's book, "In the Heart of the Sea", I have come to the conclusion that I must be related to nearly every early family in Nantucket, Massachusetts! This book was the true story of the whaling ship "Essex" and it's shipwreck and sinking in 1820 in the Pacific Ocean. This story was said to be the inspiration for Herman Melville's "Moby Dick". It was a voyage that was supposed to last about 3 years. The trip from Nantucket to the waters where whales could be found was about 2500 miles long having to go south around the tip of South America and north again. As I was reading the book, I kept seeing familiar New England surnames of the crew and other associated individuals making me wonder where they fit into the family tree. Not only was the ship Essex exploring the ocean in her search for whales and subsequent rescue after the Essex sank, but I began exploring the family ties of the crew and others mentioned in the story. In all, I looked at 70 individuals and was able to connect all of them, either by a blood relationship or thru marriage. It was one of the more fascinating family explorations that I have done. Just a few of the names that I descend from are: Coffin, Starbuck, Paddock, Bunker, Gardner, Shattuck & French. The Macy & Sears names are prominent in the families as well, among others. Tristram and Peter Coffin and Thomas Macy were among the 9 original purchasers of Nantucket Island in 1659. Other families arrived later to populate the island. All of these families intermarried for generations and were a tight knit community with many whaling ships coming and going from Nantucket for hundreds of years.
One last story from my husband's family was found in family research done by a distant cousin. I have not found any paper documentation for this yet, so it can be considered a story handed down. Jonas Latham Gray who was born in 1762 in New London County, Connecticut is said to have been a carpenter & cabinet builder by trade. What has been proven is that Jonas was a veteran of the Revolutionary War who served in place of his father, Philip, when he was less than 18 years old. Toward the end of the war Jonas, along with his father and a brother sailed on a trading vessel which went around the horn of South America to the west coast of America. Later they took regular trips to the West Indies. They continued these trips for about 12 years. Jonas and his half brother Asa Gray once pooled all of their money to build a large ship. While Jonas was at sea, Asa sold the ship and absconded with the money leaving Jonas penniless and in debt. By Jan 1, 1819, Jonas had worked hard to pay his debts and he and his wife and three youngest children left Connecticut, on foot in the middle of winter. Stopping for a brief stay in Schoharie county, New York, the family continued, on foot, to Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania. A journey west of about 240 miles. Jonas lived in Dimock, Pennsylvania for the remainder of his life. He died in there in 1832. Having been buried in a small cemetery near his farm, two of his sons moved his body to a cemetery in Dimock in 1845. They opened his coffin in the presence of all his living descendants. The body was in a remarkable state of preservation and his features were as natural as the day of his burial. I'm not sure that I would take exploration quite that far, but an interesting story none the less.
Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved.
"Free Space" this week means just about anything goes. But since I talked about photographic negatives in week 12, I thought I'd continue that into cameras. Believe it or not, we have a collection of every camera that was used to make those same negatives.
Because my husband is an amateur photographer and was usually the one with camera in hand at family gatherings, some vintage family cameras were sent our way. Some we picked up because no one else wanted them. And the rest are cameras that we have owned through our life. Ebay and Etsy have been great in finding some vintage film and flash bulbs and manuals to go along with various cameras in the collection.
We have about 30 cameras that range in age from 1901 to 2011 (not counting cell phones!) My favorite one is the Pocket Kodak 1A because of it's style. It was made from 1926-1932. The one that we have was owned by my grandfather and confirmed as we have a photo of him with the camera in hand.
I have to admit, I have not used timelines very often in my research. At least not purposely. When I think of timelines, I picture a chronological list of events. But I have found that my timelines do not always show up in that form.
One place that I have found them very useful though is in Civil War soldier research. When I delve into one of these soldier ancestor's military history, I find timelines of their regiments already spelled out and from there I can research each battle in depth and very often place their exact locations. Once, a NPS battlefield Ranger told me that I "would breathe his air". I found that to be a very moving description.
I like to then write as much of a biography of the soldier that I can using any record that I can find. The first ancestor soldier that I did this for was my 3rd great grandfather, John Border Amos, back in 2005. It has turned into a nice 30 some page document complete with photos and documents, plus added pages of other records and images that are not integrated into my text. Over the years, I have added more information as I come across it. I have been fortunate to have been in contact with other descendants of John who have shared photos of John and a letter written by John the day after one of his battles. I always send away to the National Archives for any military or pension records of the soldier as well. All of this adds such dimension to my biographies. The pension files often give details not found in other records and can often fill in gaps with at least medical information that can give me an idea of what his life may have been like after the war.
So his timeline fills out without my having to list each and every event before I write. I am sure though, that if I would compile a list, there would be some gaps to fill.
In researching these soldiers, I have read many interesting books that I otherwise would not have run across. I have come across stories that create their own timeline as a branch of the original biography, which are added to my story. My "timeline" becomes like a tree itself.
Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved.
Service can mean so many things. Service to your country in the military or other capability, volunteering in many service organizations, or simply giving great service through your job or business. The first individuals that came to my mind from my family tree whose lives equaled service were my daughter in law's great grandmother, Flora Moschell Schiller Daggs and my 1st cousin 6 times removed, Levi Coffin.
Flora was born in 1901 in Indiana. From her first marriage, she had three children but the marriage ended in divorce after 20 years. It would be another 20 years before she would marry again, only to lose that husband to death just 13 months later. I am not sure exactly when her service to the Salvation Army began, but she appears as a very active participant after her second marriage in 1957. I have found many news articles about a group within the Salvation Army where Flora was a guiding hand. It was a group for seniors called the "Older Americans of the Salvation Army". They held weekly meetings to plan their activities. Flora lived to the age of 95. Two articles that detail the work her chapter was responsible for.
Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved.
I spent many, many hours at the local library when I was a young girl. It was one of my favorite places to go. In those days, I was fortunate to be able to walk from my house to downtown and bring home an armload of books to read. I would meet my best friend, Mary, there too. We both loved to read. I always thought that being a librarian would be the best job. It was not to be, but as I got older, I spent my time in the library doing research for homework assignments. It never felt like "work" to me because I loved the search and the results of the search.
My hometown library in Pottsville, PA
Then the Internet came along. It was like having a library at my fingertips. My genealogy pursuit came alive as I was able to find much more of the information that I wanted. I also began finding more books that I wanted to read and now I have my own home mini library.
Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved. .
For the topic "Help" this week, I am going to write about how I helped an individual determine who his biological family is. Names have been changed to protect privacy.
A little more than 4 years ago, I received a message through Ancestry from a man I will call Timothy. Timothy found me through six closely shared DNA matches on Ancestry. One of these matches was shown to Timothy as his father, so Timothy was asking me if I could possibly help him identify this match. This match had a somewhat cryptic user name so we had to take a different track for awhile to see if I had this individual, that I will call James, in my tree.
So I told him that I would see what I could do. One of the matches was my Mom and another was a maternal cousin of hers which immediately helped narrow down which side of the family Timothy and James would be on. A third match, who we both tried to contact, never replied but Timothy did eventually identify her as another cousin through James' family.
A fourth match we never did identify. And a fifth match, I had already figured out that she did belong to James' Family as well. So knowing now that all 6 matches along with Timothy and I all do belong to the same family line, that I will call Kelley. We both also did try to contact James but received no reply. He had not checked into his account in over a year.
Timothy already knew who his birth mother was and was able to get documents from his adoption and from this estimated his birth father to be around 80 years old already. And with the exception of my mom and I, all of the matches lived in the same area of New York state where Timothy was born. The documents also told him that his birth father was never told of his existence.
I started looking at all of the men in this particular Kelley family who would be about the right age and also who may have lived in the correct area. I came up with 6 possibles. I sent these names to Timothy to see what he thought. After looking at these for a day or so, I could only see one very possible match. For me there was a catch, I had been in contact with this man years before when he wrote to my mom to ask for family information. We traded alot of family history with each other. So now I was wondering how to handle this so as not to invade James' privacy. But the way that I figured James' identity helped with that and went back to his user name on ancestry. He used his father's house number followed by the street name and then an abbreviated from of his city. These were found in a US Public Records Database on Ancestry. But too huge of a coincidence not to be true. So I decided to go ahead and let Timothy know.
So with the information that I had about James and the information that Timothy had about his birth mom, 2 + 2 = James. James and the birth mom were both school teachers in the same district but did not stay together. Both went on to marry and have other children.
After about a month, Timothy told me that he was going to approach James but he wasn't sure quite how yet. This ended our correspondence for awhile and then about 3 years later, I heard from Timothy. He told me how he finally met his other family. About a year and a half after we figured out that James was the one, Timothy reached out to his half brother's wife. They arranged to meet n New York State. Unfortunately, it turned out that James was suffering from Parkinsons and dementia and the family did not think it would be a good idea for Timothy to meet James. This was in 2019, right before covid hit, so a meeting with the rest of the family had to be put on hold until last summer when he was able to meet his half sister and family. A few months later, James passed away at the age of 83. But Timothy was very grateful that he now had this new family to call his. And I have a new cousin. It felt very satisfying to have helped Timothy connect to his long lost family and I am honored to have been a part of this happy story.
In another coincidence, my new cousin, I found, was also connected to me by his adoptive father, who I will call Ellsworth, who turned out to share a common ancestor with me also. One of Ellsworth's great grandmothers was a Mendenhall. I also have a 5th great grandmother who was a Mendenhall. They are both descendants of James Mendenhall who was born in 1718.
Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved. .
The first thought that came to mind when I saw this week's topic, Teams, was of my grandmothers and my dad and the sports that they played. And of course my husband, kids and grandkids and all of the teams that they have been on. I wouldn't say it runs in the family, but it seems that there are/were alot of active people doing their thing.
The most surprising were my grandmothers. They both played basketball and this was back in the 1920's & 1930's when there were not many opportunities for girls in sports. My paternal grandmother, Elizabeth then Arnold, was said to have played on an upper floor above a store if I am remembering the story correctly. It was said that they played the "Morgert girls" ( a family) and they were tough. We do not have any photos of this, just the story. I try to imagine her doing this and just smile.
My maternal grandmother, on the other hand, played on a team. Helen then Boardman, played Guard on her high school team in 1931 as a senior at Lock Haven High School in Pennsylvania. This must have been a new sport at the school, as the yearbook says that there was more turnout that year and the team was improving.
This week for Fun Facts, I thought I would write about a well known individual to whom I am distantly related but whom also lived in my maternal grandfather's home which I found out when searching the censuses for family homes.
William Thomas Piper was born in 1881 in Cattaraugus county, New York. After graduating from Harvard in 1903, he went on to the Army Corps of Engineers during WW1 and the also worked in the oil fields of Pennsylvania. While living in Bradford, PA, he became interested in aviation and purchased a bankrupt aircraft company which was later renamed Piper Aircraft Company and moved to Lock Haven, PA. It was here, in 1938, that the famous bright yellow Piper Cub J-3 was introduced. William Piper is often called the "Henry Ford of Aviation" because of the Cub. The company was highly successful for many years. William Piper died in 1970 and is buried on a hilltop in Highland Cemetery above Lock Haven, Pa.
So how did I find out that William Piper and I were related? I've always been interested to know how old various family homes were and who else may have lived in them before my ancestor. I was never sure exactly when my grandfather moved into 9 West Walnut St in Lock Haven, Pa, so I began by searching the 1940 census for the address. I found it fairly quickly and was very surprised by the name of the residents at that time. It appears that William T Piper's son Howard was head of household and Howard's wife Helen and father William were living there also. It shows the family as renting the residence for $40. This was for a first floor 2 bedroom, 1 bath, living & dining rooms and small kitchen residence. The residence was one of a double house with the other residence accessed by steps to the 2nd story. The census also lists William as widowed. He was working 70 hours a week as a manager and engineer. His son working as an engineer with him. In 1935, the family was living in Bradford, PA.
At some point after 1942 when my grandmother died, but before 1949 when my mom graduated from high school, my grandfather bought the building, living on the first floor and renting out the second floor. He owned this home until the early 1970's. Since I've found out about this well known occupant of my grandfather's home, I have often wondered what kind of conversations were had there. Were they planning the future of the eventually very successful company into the wee hours in grandad's living room? It is fascinating to think about. I wonder what my own dad would have thought of this connection to aviation history. He earned his own pilot's license when he was 16 years old and very likely flew a few Piper Cubs. I flew with him in other Piper aircraft when I was young.
But this discovery led me to look at William Piper's ancestry. Just for fun, but I eventually found out that we were 9th cousins 3 times removed. We share my 11th great grandfather and William Piper's 8th great grandfather, Christopher Osgood who was born in 1571in England.
I love these rabbit holes.
Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved.
When I saw this week's theme, I immediately thought of this family of characters! Bad luck and even worse choices! I wrote this up about 5 years ago.
What A Family!!!
This is about a collection of newspaper articles that I ran
across while searching the Rosengrant name, which detail various members of
some families from the Forkston area of Wyoming Co, PA. Most of the events recounted here, you can
refer to a clipping about it. The rest have public records.
George Rosengrant was born Feb 18,1864, the son of John
Rosengrant and his 2nd wife Mariah Palmer. In 1870 the family was
living in Forktson Twp, Wyoming Co, PA.
By 1880, George was 17 and working as a live in servant for Charles
Burgess in Forkston and his future wife Cora Spencer was living in Bradford
with her parents. George and Cora, who
was born on July 29, 1872 in Lovelton, Wyoming Co, PA, were married on Sep 20,
1888. They had three children, John
Henry in 1889, Loretta in 1892 and Wesley in 1895. There is no information available from 1890 or
1910 but in 1900 George was listed as a boarder in Forkston. So we will rely on
these news articles to follow him.
Cora had the first newsworthy event when her father Samuel
Spencer and her brother Samuel Jr were both killed by a freight train on Feb
17, 1897 in Wyalusing. Earlier, in 1871, Samuel Jr was sentenced to Eastern
Penitentiary for one year. His crime was Forgery and he was 18 years old.
George’s notoriety starts hitting the newspapers in 1898. There was a dispute over a coon dog that George had sold. But his most notorious act comes early. On July 5, 1900, he “sells” his wife Cora to his 1st cousin Raymond Palmer for $3 and agrees to “throw in the girl (Loretta)”. The transaction was complete with a written receipt that was also published in the newspaper. All parties were agreeable and lived happily for a time. This story went viral, to use today’s lingo. It was picked up by newspapers all over the country and reprinted for years after the event. George was a farmer at the time and Raymond was a wood chopper. One account says that George was so happy that he bought a pig, roasted it and gave it to the new couple which they celebrated over for a few days, including George.
George and related families kept the Gossip column busy. In 1901, George’s sister, Ruey, found herself involved as one of two wives of Jacob Mansfield. But then she herself took a 2nd husband, Henry Brewer and flitted back and forth between them. All without the use of divorces. Jacob went on to have 5 wives. 1901 was a big year. Cora, the sold wife, had a brother, Samuel Spencer who was rumored to have had at least 4 or 5 wives. But wait – I thought Samuel was dead! If true, he did all of this by age 44. Not impossible based upon this family’s activities! I was only able to find one wife, but 8 children. No evidence of these rumors found. And one of George’s other sisters, Euphemia, found herself abandoned by her husband leaving her with 3 or 4 children to raise.
In the meantime, George has fancied himself a book agent and
has been selling Bibles among other miscellaneous books and in April 1901, he
found himself in a fist fight with a postmaster when he tried to recover a
letter that he had forgotten to place the proceeds from his sales into. His sister, Ruey’s, death was suspicious
enough that there was a coroner’s inquest after her 2nd husband
Henry requested help from a passerby in placing her bloody body in a
coffin. George and her 1st
husband, Jacob Mansfield ended up on the scene as well. She was buried but exhumed a few days later
for the inquest. It was determined that there
was no foul play, so she must have done it herself.
By the end of 1902, George was calling himself a retired
book agent, farmer and handy man. He
found himself working the farm of a woman and in court over an unpaid
blacksmith bill. None other than Ruey’s first husband, Jacob Mansfield defended
him but they lost the suit. After this
Jacob took up with George’s sister Euphemia.
They were to marry, but could not prove that she was free from her 1st
husband who had run off on her.
And speaking of divorce, in 1904, George decides that he had
better divorce the wife, Cora, that he had sold. Rumors were that he had found his next lady
love. Apparently the divorce went thru(Apr
20, 1905) because, Raymond Palmer and the sold wife Cora were married by 1906 (Feb
14, 1906, really Valentines Day!). And George was married to Theresa Carpenter
in July of 1905.
Now Cora and George’s daughter, Loretta, who was “threw
into” the sale, was 8 years old at the time.
Now it is 1906, she is 14 and finds herself with child by one Claude
Rose who at some time before the birth of their child, disappears into the local
woods. Little Madaline is born in May
1906. Loretta’s parents demand that he
be found, so the police conduct a search but with no luck send one officer
under cover into a lumber camp and finally catch Claude. They bring him back and he and Loretta marry
in July 1906. By 1909, Loretta must have
been divorced from Claude Rose because she had a child with one Daniel Adams
and their marriage date is Apr 16, 1909.
Poor little Edward Adams was born on Feb 9, 1910 and died on May 4, 1910
of syphilis that was contracted from his mother before he was born.
In 1910, Raymond & Cora Palmer were living in Noxon Twp
with one of Cora’s young sons, Wesley, from her marriage to George.
And apparently, Theresa, the lady love George had needed the
divorce for, had placed a notice in the newspaper stating that she was not
responsible for any debt that George may incur as he had taken his bed and left
her.
But back to George.
In June of 1914, George files a marriage license with Alice Wright
Smith, a widow. She becomes George’s 3rd wife.
Six months after Cora passes in July 1920, her daughter
Loretta is applying for a marriage license with a Samuel Dailley and claiming
that she had never been married before. Also in 1920 we find George living in
Tunkhannock still married to his 3rd wife, Alice. He is listed as the owner of
a restaurant. One can only assume that Alice may have been a good influence on
him as he is the owner of various restaurants over the years until around
1930. Unfortunately, Alice dies in December
1926 and in January 1930, George is in trouble again. He was pleading guilty to violating liquor
laws and sentenced to 6 months in county jail where we do find him listed in
the 1930 census as an inmate. By 1940,
George is living alone in Tunkhannock and at age 81 he dies in 1947 and is
buried in Sunnyside Cemetery.
Remember Madaline, born to Loretta & Claude in 1906? There is a marriage record from 1920 where she marries a John Butters. AND a corroborating news article about 13 yr old Madaline running away to marry 17 yr old John Butters in Elmira NY and fudging their ages. The marriage lasted but two months when according to the newspaper, Madaline left and returned home to her mother. Neither party pursued each other and Butters left to join the Navy. But next, we find Madaline living in Endicott, NY in 1925 with a husband Albert Warfle, whom she married in 1922. She calls herself Elizabeth Rose on this marriage certificate. Elizabeth is her middle name and she must have taken her father’s name at some point also. Albert Warfle died in Feb of 1925. His death notice in the newspaper mentions a long illness and no mention of a surviving wife. I do not want to think that Madaline left him because of this illness, but it can be a possibility. Later in 1925, Madaline marries for a 3RD time to Ralph Lee. They have a son Ronald in 1927. All of this by the time she was 21 years old! In the 1930 census there are two older Lee children living with them and we can only assume that Ralph had a previous marriage as well. It appears that they may have divorced because Ralph Lee marries again in 1947 and passes away in 1958. The trail runs cold after this, except for one family tree and two records of death that has Madaline passing away in 1983 in Binghamton, NY. with the name Lee.
The only loose end here is Raymond Palmer who “bought” Cora
for a wife. I was unable to find out what happened to him.
You can’t make this stuff up !!!
Here is how we are related to the three characters from the
wife sale.
My husband Tom Sinton &
George Rosengrants are 11th cousins 4 times removed and have to
go way back to the year 1436 to find the common ancestor, Frederick
Rosenkrantz, Tom’s 14th great grandfather and George’s 10th
great grandfather.
Ann Heacock Sinton
& George Rosengrants are 5th cousins 3 times removed and
have to go back to William Holdridge born in 1680 who is Ann’s 7th
great grandfather and George’s 4th great grandfather.
Tom Sinton &
Raymond Palmer are 5th cousins 4 times removed thru Walter
Palmer born in 1590 who is Tom’s 10th great grandfather and
Raymond’s 6th great grandfather.
Ann Heacock Sinton
& Raymond Palmer are 5th cousins 3 times removed thru
William Holdridge born in 1680 who is Ann’s 7th great grandfather
and Raymond’s 6th great grandfather.
Ann Heacock Sinton
& Cora Spencer are 8th cousins 3 times removed going back to
Stephen Hopkins who was born in 1518 and is Ann’s 12th great
grandfather and Cora’s 9th great grandfather.
Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved.
This week I discovered that two of my husband's new DNA matches have familial connections to both myself and Tom's nephew-in-law. ...
