This month marks the 110th anniversary of the birth of my Aunt Susie. Born Elizabeth Naomi Jane, she was the first child of Charles and Lucy Brown, and her maternal grandmother helped to deliver her on September 19 in Davidson Township, Sullivan County, PA. She was known to most as Susie, although some called her Lizzie. Susie grew up in the Sullivan County area until she was about 6 years of age, and she likely knew something of her grandparents. Continue reading
Surnames
Asa and Mary: Leaves of Gold on the Fowler Tree
Most people look to family and friends throughout their life to share joyful moments like weddings and baptisms, to witness important decisions similar to making a will or transferring land, and to offer support in challenging times when struggling to raise a family or a death occurs. When doing family research, if any of these events are documented it helps to paint a broader picture and bring to life a name on the family tree. Such was the case with Asa Fowler, a brother to my 2nd great grandfather John Fowler as well as an uncle to my great grandfather Charles Fowler. Continue reading
Mattie’s Maiden Name Mystery
Several years ago I compiled my research on the family of my 4th cousin, Kaye, into a book. I was intent on trying to answer several questions before I finished it, especially, “Who were the parents of Martha Irene Kline?” Martha, Kaye’s great grandmother, was also known as Mattie. I had found conflicting clues about her maiden name and attempted to sort it out. But the more I searched, the less clear the answer became. Continue reading
The Flood of St. Patrick’s Day
Today St. Patrick’s Day is often celebrated with festive parades, Irish food and drink, and all things green to obtain some luck of the Irish. But eighty years ago, for many Pennsylvanians, March 17 was not a time of merriment but one of misfortune. The day before, temperatures reached the 50s rapidly melting the winter snow and ice and quickly swelling nearby waterways. Weather forecasters warned of possible rising water, but a steady rain that accompanied this warm weather resulted in floods more severe than anyone had anticipated. Continue reading
Catherine and the Springs of Lycoming
During the War of 1812, Catherine Spring, a 23 year old widow, married her second husband, Daniel Dugan, a veteran of the earlier war waged against Britain to gain independence. Daniel was 40 years Catherine’s senior when, according to records, they married on August 19th 1813 after a Methodist meeting in Moreland Township, Lycoming County, PA. This was Daniel’s third marriage, having fathered seven children with his previous wives. Catherine had five young children with Mr. Spring, one of them a baby boy, named Peter, who had been born within the year, indicating her husband had recently died. Continue reading
Marjorie’s Memories
My maternal grandmother Marjorie Fowler Ludwick lived to be almost 102. When I became interested in genealogy, I would try to get information from her about the family and her life. On one such occasion I asked her about her early life, which began in Fayette County, PA. Marjorie was born in 1894 in Smithfield, PA, the youngest of seven daughters of Charles W. and Eliza Fowler. Continue reading
Ludwick Lore and the Civil War
Most families have a few old stories that contribute to the chronicle of its history. These accounts, usually handed down verbally through the generations, might include an ancestor who was robbed of land or possessions, descended from a famous person in history or from royalty, or encountered great difficulty on the journey to America. The retelling of the events becomes an integral part of the heritage and tradition of the family. However, the details we know today are probably changed from the original, like in the children’s game of telephone, where a sentence is passed around a circle and invariably is altered when it reaches the last person. Most likely there is some grain of truth in the version we hear, even though it might sound more like legend or myth.
In my family there are numerous stories; however, some of them, unfortunately, have unraveled into bits and pieces in my memory. One such fragment involved a relative who was sick in bed when troops came by the house during the Civil War, an event now over 150 years ago. Where I had heard it, or what relative it included was unclear to me until about 10 years ago. Continue reading
Remembering Silveretta
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of my aunts, Laura Silveretta Oranna Brown, who was born in January 1915. She was the 5th child born to Charles and Lucy Swank Brown, in Aurora NY or “York State” as the family always referred to it. In 1918 the family moved to Indiana county PA where Silveretta, or Sally as she was commonly called by family, spent most of her life, except when she worked for General Electric Company as a laborer in Erie for a period of time. She never married and resided on North 11th Street in Indiana PA in the house her parents bought during the 1940s.
Maryland Mission: The Blackstone File
“I’m looking for information in a vertical file that might be here,” I explained to the librarian. We were recently in Baltimore on our way to D.C. and I was trying to find documents that would fill in some gaps for my 4th great grandfather James Blackston—also spelled Blackson, Blackstone, Blacksen, and Blackiston. Earlier last year I stumbled upon a post on Genforum.com by a distant cousin mentioning a vertical file in a Baltimore library containing something that seemed to substantiate James’ parents–although it didn’t indicate what the actual information was. I have lost touch with that cousin, and I hadn’t printed out the query. So I went back to the site before our trip only to find it had been archived by another company; searching was greatly inhibited and the particular query I needed could not be found to identify the library. A quick online search of Baltimore libraries with vertical files had 2 possible candidates, so we stopped at the first one I found, where I tried to explain, without sounding like a complete novice, my quest. Unfortunately, the vertical files there didn’t contain any Blackistons, but the librarian, from a quick card catalogue search, indicated some Blackiston material was at the Maryland Historical Society Library (MHSL), which we decided to visit on our way back home. Continue reading
Searching for Sarah
Hunting for one’s foremothers can prove challenging in the United States, where a woman usually takes her husband’s surname when she marries. If she marries more than once, she becomes further removed from her initial surname. Early records might even list her only as Mrs. Smith or Widow Smith additionally distancing her from her original identity. Then generations that follow often confuse their maternal ancestor’s birth names as evidenced by records, like death certificates, that have muddled a mother’s maiden name.
In 19th century America, a female had fewer rights than men for owning property or conducting her own business and often needed a man to assist her. When she transferred land, created a will or even administered her husband’s estate, she would often turn to someone she trusted, like a brother, cousin, son or father to aid her in the matter. Finding documents created by women, especially young women or widows, can aid us in identifying our female ancestor’s lineage, if we closely observe the names of the people mentioned and include them in our research.
Following this thinking, last spring I ventured to track my 3rd great grandmother, Sarah, for whom I had only a handful of facts. I had established the following: Continue reading
Relatively Speaking Blog 