Leaves & Branches

1940 Census Indexing

2012-01-12T18:50:00.000-05:00

I have been a bad, bad blogger and researcher recently. I go through these periods when I feel like I am hitting brick wall after brick wall and temporarily suspend my research. Then I find one small clue or piece of information, the floodgates open, and I'm back in the swing!

I know I'll get back in the swing in less than three months when the 1940 census is released. I can't wait to find my mom's name in a census for the first time and be able to show it to her. I plan to help in the effort to index the 1940 census. I have started indexing other genealogical records on FamilySearch.org to become comfortable with indexing before the 1940 census is available. Access to the 1940 census will be free.

If you are interested in helping index the 1940 census, please click this link for more information:

https://www.familysearch.org/1940census?CID=adwords&gclid=CK7LxajUy60CFTOCtgodbWSNiA

What If?

2011-10-16T06:00:00.000-04:00

A fewyears ago I was walking from my bus stop to work. As I approached a street where the traffictravelled one way to the north, the“Don’t Walk” signal began flashing. Iheard sirens approaching as I stopped at the corner. As I stood there, I saw a car speeding on theintersecting street with a police car in pursuit. The car turned south onto the street I was preparing to cross. It was a “What If?” moment. What if my bus had been just a couple ofseconds earlier or I had walked a little faster or I hadn’t stopped to letsomeone exit the bus before me? I wouldhave arrived at the corner before the “Don’t Walk” signal started flashing andlikely been in the middle of that street at exactly the time that car made thewrong-way turn to elude the police.

Ourlives are filled with these What If moments. However, we are also the result of What If moments in our ancestors’lives. It is awesome to contemplate how eventsin our ancestors’ lives, some seemingly insignificant, resulted in our veryexistence.

What ifmy second great grandfather Peter Ballein decided to remain in Bavaria insteadof immigrating to the United States? What if he settled in New Orleans, where he first set foot in thiscountry, instead of Brown County, Ohio? What if his first wife Margaret Yochum hadn’t died so young? There would have been no Hite Ballein, EstherBallein, Russell Lee Davis, or me.

My dadtold me that his parents met at a store near his dad’s home. Although both Quincy Davis and Esther Balleinlived in Brown County, Ohio, they lived around 11 miles apart when theymet. There were probably a lot of storesbetween her home and his. Did that storecarry some type of merchandise that other stores didn’t? Did she have friends in that area? Why was she there? I’ll never know what led my grandmother tovisit that store, but if she hadn’t, it is unlikely my dad would have beenborn.

If mygrandfather Eddie Earl Donaldson hadn’t moved from Oklahoma to Cincinnati, ifhe hadn’t found work where he did, if my grand-uncle Charles Dudley hadn’t workedat the same company, if Charles hadn’t introduced Edd to his little sisterMary, my maternal grandparents would have never met, married, and had tenchildren.

My momhas often pondered what her life would have been like if her father hadn’t diedwhen she was seven years old. EddDonaldson was an alcoholic who sometimes abused his wife, Mary Dudley Donaldson. My mom wonders if she would have graduatedfrom high school, gotten a decent job, or been in church if her father hadn’tdied. If she and her family hadn’t attendedthe same church as my dad and his family, they most likely wouldn’t have metand married.

As afamily history researcher, I typically only learn about the big events in myancestors’ lives – births, deaths, marriages, military service – and not the decisions,accidents, illnesses, hardships, successes, tragedies, and victories. However, these things happened to myancestors just as they happen to all of us and set the course for their livesand, in turn, mine. I think that’s whyit is so important to me to learn more about my ancestors. In a sense, it helps me understand why I amhere.

Asamazing as it is to recognize that the events of my ancestors’ lives resultedin my unique existence, I am humbled by the realization that one small changein the course of the life of any one of my ancestors might mean I wouldn’t behere.

Santford and Sarah Ogden

2011-10-09T06:00:00.000-04:00

I'm getting lazy. I will be taking the easy way out this week and instead of writing my own post, I will let the September 7, 1905 News Democrat do the writing for me.

To provide a little background (well, maybe I'm not so lazy after all), Santford Ogden was born March 19, 1836 in Clark Township, Brown County, Ohio, the son of Alfred and Hannah Harriet Leonard Ogden. Sarah Steward was born February 17, 1838 to Francis and Catherine Price Steward. Santford and Sarah were married in Brown County and had at least ten childen, including my great-grandmother, Rosa Ogden Davis. The article that follows describes their golden wedding anniversary celebration.

The golden wedding of Sanford Ogden and wife of this place was celebrated on Saturday August 26, 1905, with a large dinner and family reunion, their nine living children all being present for the first time in ten years. About the noon hour the ladies began to bring out the baskets and boxes and the men began to prepare a table and when it was finished it was 60 feet long and and 4 feet wide. Among the good things we counted 22 large cakes and other good things in proportion. 115 persons were present - 9 children, 30 grandchildren, 2 brothers of Mr. Ogden and their wives and 74 friends and neighbors. Among those from a distance were W. H. Ogden and little daughter of Dayton, Ohio, Alfred Ogden and wife of Huntington, Mrs. Lizzie Palmer of Dayton, Ohio. Charles Redmon brought his graphophone and Alvin Roots his accordian, and to say we had a good time is putting it mildly. At a late hour we parted, wishing Father and Mother Ogden many such events to brighten their old age. The aged couple were the recipients of many handsome and useful presents.

Sarah died October 16, 1907. Santford died November 10, 1920 in Pike Township, Brown County, Ohio. They are buried in the Warner Cemetery in Clark Township, Brown County, Ohio.

Charles Henry Dudley - A Life in Pictures

2011-10-02T06:00:00.000-04:00

A few years ago I was looking through a collection of familyphotographs and mementos. I was struckby the number of photos of my grand-uncle, Charles Henry Dudley and his family.

Uncle Charlie was the eldest son of Jesse and Mary ShaperDudley and brother of my grandmother Mary Dudley Donaldson. He was born October 18, 1878 in ClarkTownship, Clinton County, Ohio. Below isthe earliest photo I have of Charlie.

Charlie grew up in Clark Township with his brothers Lew, Frank, Ab, Tom, andClarence. By the time my grandma wasborn in 1898, Charlie was already a young man. Just a little over a year later, Charlie married the pretty AnnaDora Meyer and they made their home in Clark Township near his aunt MariettaDudley Himes and her family. Charlie worked as a day laborer.

Charles & Anna Dudley

On August 14, 1900, Anna gave birth to the couple’s firstchild, Walter Sherman Dudley. Sadly, thechild died on September 17, 1900. After Walter’s death, Charlie and Anna hadthree more sons. James Logan was bornJanuary 25, 1902, Wilmer Matthew was born August 11, 1904, and Charles Henrywas born August 19, 1906. My grandmotherwas closer in age to her nephews than she was to her brother Charlie. I love this photograph of my grandma andCharlie’s and Anna’s boys.

Henry, James, Mary, and Wilmer Dudley

In 1910, Charlie and Anna were living in Lynchburg,Ohio. Charlie was working as a grocerysalesman and Anna was a hotel landlady. They lived in the hotel with their three sons. Among their boarders at the time of the 1910census was Charlie’s cousin, Carl Himes. The photo below is labeled“Dudley Hotel.” I recognize Charlie inthe back wearing a bow tie and his mother Mary Shaper Dudley standing next tohim. I’m not sure, but the lady standingin the doorway between Charlie and his mother may be Anna. I wonder what occasioned the taking ofthis photograph; there are somedistinguished-looking gentlemen in this picture.

In the early 1910s, Charlie also did home repair work in Lynchburg. This was his letterhead:

Some time during the early to middle 1910s, Charlie and Annadivorced. Their sons continued to livewith Anna. My mom believes that Charliethen moved to Cincinnati and where he found a job. At work, he met a teenager named Eddie Earl Donaldson. Charlie introduced Edd to his sister Mary and they were married on December 7, 1915.

Charlie and his sister Mary, around the time of her wedding.

I’m not sure exactly when and where Charlie met Ida MayBoice Ostrander. Ida was a widow withtwo children, Helen and Arthur. I believe she wasliving in the same area of Cincinnati at the same time as Charlie, so I assume that they metin Cincinnati. However, theywere married in Detroit, Michigan on December 11, 1916. I don't have any photos of Ida or Helen, but do have this photo of Charlie and his step-son Arthur during World War I.

At the time of his second wedding, Charlie was working as a machinist. I’m not sure where he wasworking at that time, but by 1920 he was employed by the Packard Motor Car Company and livedwalking distance from the factory. The1930 census listed his occupation as an inspector at an auto factory, but saidthat he had not worked the previous work day. I’m not sure whether he was still employed by Packard; he was then livinga few miles from the Packard factory.

Charlie (right) and unknown man at the entrance to the Packard factory

Charlie also seems to have had an appreciation for familyhistory. He compiled the Dudley album, acollection of family information and photographs that is truly a familytreasure. On December 9, 1922, Charliecopied the Dudley family record “through the advice of Jessey Dudley,” his father. He supplemented the album with additionalmaterial through the years. This albumhas provided me with so much information that I never would have known otherwise andwhich is most likely not documented elsewhere.

Charlie had the opportunity to visit his family in Ohio, though I'm not sure how often. He made a trip to Lynchburg around 1939, when he was able to visit with his mother Mary Shaper Dudley, his aunts and uncles, and his brothers and sister.

Mary Shaper Dudley and her sons, Charlie, Ab, Tom, and Clarence around 1939

My mom first remembers meeting her Uncle Charlie in 1957,when she travelled by Greyhound bus to Houghton Lake, Michigan with her mom,sister Helen, nephew Eddie, and niece Ruth Ann. They had a layover in Detroit and Charliecame to the bus station to spend time with them until the connecting busarrived. However, she had previously met him when she was a small child at thetime of his visit around 1939, as is displayed in the photo below.

Dottie Lea Donaldson, Charlie, Rosemary Donaldson, Mary Shaper Dudley, my mom, and Mary Dudley Donaldson

Charlie visited his sister Mary in the early 1960s. By that time, Ida had died. My mom shared this memory of that visit:

Ifound him to be a gentle, soft spoken man. He had suffered from colon cancer but was still going strong. In fact, he climbed a ladder to paint thetrim on our house, in spite of his advanced age and physical condition. He seemed to enjoy his visit and complimentedme on the love and care I gave to my Mom.

Charlie and his sister Mary, early 1960s

I believe the last photo I have of Charlie is the Christmascard shown below. I find it one of themost interesting photos of Charlie. Ilike that he is wearing his overalls and posed with his two little dogs. I wonder if he did the landscaping andplanted and tended the garden. It lookslike there was a bird bath nestled in the shrubbery. Since he used this photo for his Christmas card, I think his dogs and his beautiful yard must have made him very happy.

Charles Henry Dudley died on May 11, 1965 in Detroit. He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Detroit.

The Rusks

2011-09-25T06:00:00.000-04:00

Thisblog has, unintentionally, become the means for me to fill in gaps in myresearch. When writing a post, my usualprocess goes something like this: (1) I choose a subject for my post,(2) I review the information I have on that subject, (3) I realize I don’t have as much information on the subject as I thought, (4) I do additional research on thesubject, and (5) I compose the post. Thisweek’s post certainly fits this pattern.

JamesRusk is my fourth great grandfather (James Rusk – Jane Rusk – James Donaldson –David Donaldson – Eddie Earl Donaldson – my mom – me). I thought I had sufficient information onhim, since I had his Revolutionary War pension file and he had a famousgrandson about whom much was written. But,as usual, once I looked a little closer at my research I realized I didn’t haveas much information as I thought. I even made a mostly unproductive trip to theMain Branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County to try togather more information. So, although Iknow I still have a lot more digging to do, here it goes!

I willbegin by briefly mentioning James’ famous grandson, Jeremiah McLain “UncleJerry” Rusk. Uncle Jerry , the son of James' son Daniel and his wife Jane Faulkner, was acongressman, governor of Wisconsin, and Secretary of Agriculture during the BenjaminHarrison administration. Some of theinformation in this article is from UncleJerry: Life of General Jeremiah M. Rusk, Stage Driver, Farmer, Soldier,Legislator, Governor, Cabinet Officer by Henry Casson. As a disclaimer, I must admit that I am morethan a little skeptical of many of the 19^th and early 20^thcentury histories and biographies, so I will use information from this booksparingly.

JamesRusk was born in Ireland on March 15, 1754. I don’t know the names of his parents or siblings. James arrived in America prior to theRevolutionary War. According to Uncle Jerry, James arrived at Baltimoreand then was “sold in bondage,” as an indentured servant, to pay for hispassage from Ireland to America. Priorto the expiration of his indenture, on March 22, 1777, he enlisted as a privatein Captain James Greer’s Company of the First Pennsylvania Regiment.

DuringJames’ service with the First Pennsylvania, the regiment was involved, in partor in full, in the battles of Brandywine, Paoli, Germantown, and White Marsh. After spending the winter of 1777 – 1778 encampedat Valley Forge, some or all of regiment fought in the Battles of Monmouth andStoney Point. In January 1780, theFirst Pennsylvania joined other regiments in the Pennsylvania line in a mutinyat Morristown, New Jersey. The troops were demoralized because of thepoor conditions, poor food, and lack of pay. The mutiny failed, but many troops were discharged. According to James’ pension filed, he wasdischarged at Trenton, New Jersey in 1781.

Around1781, James married Ann Robb, who was born in Maryland on January 31,1760. I also don’t know who Ann’sparents were. James and Ann settled inFallowfield Township in Washington County, Pennsylvania. James appeared on the 1783, 1784, and 1793Fallowfield Township tax lists. He madehis living as a farmer. James and Annwere the parents of nine children, all of whom were born in Pennsylvania – John(born about 1782), Nancy (1784), Daniel (1786 –about 1845), Samuel (1790), Sarah (1792), William (1795 – 1850),James (1797 – 1863), Margaret (1801), and Jane (1804).

Sometime between Jane’s birth in 1804 and his application for a Revolutionary Warpension in 1818, the Rusk family moved to Clayton Township in Perry County,Ohio. In 1820, the Rusk household wascomprised of James, Ann, and their daughter Margaret. In James’ pension file, Ann was described as“feeble” and unable to perform housework. Because Margaret was his adultdaughter, he stated that he was obligated to pay her.

At thatpoint, James’ property consisted of 100 acres of ”3^rd rate land” and40 acres of cleared land. They had athree year old colt, two cows and one heifer, two yearling calves, and eightsheep. As far as household goods, theyowned a regular pot, a small pot, a Dutch oven, knives, forks, spoons, pewterplates and dishes, a desk, and four chairs. James also owned a handsaw, two augers, and a mattock (a tool similar toa pick axe).

By 1823,James claimed that he had given much of his property to Margaret as compensationfor caring for her parents. He sold 100acres of land to his son, William in 1821 or 1822 in exchange for paying off hisdebst and paying an annuity to James and Ann for their lifetimes. The annuity consisted of 30 bushels of wheat,20 bushels of rye, 20 bushels of oats, and 60 bushels of corn. The survivor would collect half of theannuity after the death of the spouse. In 1823, James still owned a horse, a cow, a calf and some householdgoods and furnishings.

Ann diedin Clayton Township on August 26, 1838. James died July 1, 1839. They areburied in the Unity Presbyterian Cemetery in Somerset, Perry County, Ohio.

On May29, 1844, the Rusks’ loyal daughter, Margaret, went from the frying pan intothe fire. She married WilliamMcKittrick, a Morgan County, Ohio widower with several children. After William’s death, Margaret lived with mytwice-widowed third great grandmother, Jane Rusk Donaldson Greer in MorganCounty, Ohio.

Where Were You?

2011-09-11T06:00:00.000-04:00

Last week I shared my memories of the days surrounding theSeptember 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This week, I have asked family members to help me out by sharing theirmemories of other modern historical events. The family members who were kind enough join me in sharing memories are my mom, mycousins Mary and Sue, and my niece Alyssa.

In my early years of researching my family history, I triedto better understand my ancestors’ lives by considering the historical events duringtheir lives. However, I found that itwasn’t really meaningful to me because I had no idea how these events directlyaffected my ancestors or their feelings about these events. Hopefully, this blog will survive the currentgenerations of my family be meaningful to future generations of our family.

Victory over JapanDay (V-J Day), August 15, 1945

My mom shared the following memories of V-J Day:

WhenJapan surrendered on August 15, 1945, I can remember hearing all the churchbells ringing. We lived on BedfordStreet in Fairfax, Ohio at the time. Iwas only nine years old, so I don’t have too many memories. I do recall thinking that my brothersClarence (who fought in France) and Edward (who fought in the Philippines)would soon be coming home. They wereboth part of what is now called “The Greatest Generation.” V-J Day is celebrated in the United States onSeptember 2, because that is when the surrender ceremony was held.

World War II Memorial, Washington, DC

The Assassination of PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, November 22, 1963

My mom remembers:

Onthe afternoon of November 22, 1963, I was sitting at my desk at Mead BoardSales in Oakley, Ohio, where I worked as Secretary to the Sales Manager.

Itwas like any other day until my sister, Helen, called and told me thatPresident Kennedy had been shot. I wasin a state of shock, since nothing like this had ever happened in mylifetime.

My cousin Sue recalls:

Ihad graduated from high school that year and was working at Inner Ocean LifeInsurance Company in Cincinnati. We hadmusic that played all the time with no breaks. The day President Kennedy was assassinated, they broke in and said hehad been shot. I will not forget theshock that went through that office. Everyone was crying, even the men. We were all glued to the radio and the TV later when we got home. It was a very sad time for our country.

Eternal Flame, John F. Kennedy Gravesite, Arlington National Cemetery

First Moonwalk, July20, 1969

My mom shared her thoughts on the first moonwalk:

WhenI was a child, I can remember looking at the moon and thinking that it seemedlike it had a face. I was told “that’sthe man in the moon.” Little did I knowthat 25 to 30 years later I would actually see men walking on the moon.

NeilArmstrong and Buzz Aldrin were those men. I am in awe of those amazing men and their journey into space and walkon the moon. They did something I couldnot even comprehend. When I hear thewords Neil Armstrong uttered, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leapfor mankind,” it’s still hard to believe that it happened in my lifetime.

Space ShuttleChallenger Disaster, January 28, 1986

I had an off day from work on January 28, 1986 and wasglad. I had a stomach virus and was ableto spend the day in bed. The televisionin my room was tuned to Good Morning America. I watched the now-famous footage of the Space Shuttle Challenger crew,including Christa McAuliffe who was to be the first teacher in space, walkingto board the shuttle. I then dozed off.

When I awoke less than an hour later, I saw video of a plumeof smoke and learned that the space shuttle had broken apart a few secondsafter liftoff. I was feeling sick to mystomach, but it wasn’t only from the stomach virus. It was a horrible day.

Challenger Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery

The September 11,2001 Terrorist Attacks

My niece Alyssa remembers:

Iwas sitting in my first grade class where my teacher was reading us a storywhen our principal walked quickly into our classroom and said to our teacher,“Turn on the television.” Our teacher quickly walked over to the television andon the screen was the image of a tall tower with a great amount of smoke aroundit. Our teacher just stood there in a shocked awe. Our class then proceeded totalk amongst ourselves, about what, I cannot remember. A few minutes later, ourprincipal announced on the PA system that we were all to be sent home. As I waswalking home with my mother, she told me “A bunch of bad men did some badthings and killed a lot of people.” A few years later, I found a journal ofmine from that time. It said “Mom said that some bad guys hit towers and killeda bunch of people.”

My cousin Mary recollects:

Onthe morning of September 11, 2001 I was at work at the PromiseLand Church inAustin, Texas. Someone came running to my office to let me know what was goingon. We have a Television Studio just down the hall from where my office was atthe time, so all of us were standing, watching on the large television screenwith utter disbelief at what we were witnessing. We cried together and couldnot do anything but continue to watch and saw so much more than any heart canunderstand. The total destruction of the Twin Towers, and the other two crashesthat took place on that dreadful day. Today, September 11, 2011, we rememberthat horrible tragedy even after 10 years past. It is a day that all of us willnever soon forget.

Sue remembers:

Iturned on the TV that morning and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. All the years of feeling safe and comfortablechanged in just a few minutes. Ourcountry was under attack. My husband andI had already purchased tickets for a trip to Hawaii in the beginning ofOctober. I wanted to cancel, but myhusband said “no,” we were going.

Wehad been to Hawaii several years before, but the trip that followed 9/11 was atotally different experience. The firsttime we were there, it was crowded everywhere we went. On this trip, we walked on the beach atWaikiki all alone. We went to PearlHarbor and this time you couldn’t take a purse or diaper bag. Every place we went had security. We stayed for three weeks. Two of those weeks we stayed in a cabin ownedby the military. It was beautiful, but Iremember being on the beach with one other woman. It made me very aware that everything hadchanged. I was not really comfortablebeing away from home at the time and can remember being very scared to fly. I was so happy to get back home.

Many thanks to my mom, Mary, Sue, and Alyssa for sharingtheir memories. I would like toencourage everyone to record memories and impressions of the historicalevents that occurred during their lifetime. Future generations of your family will appreciate it.

Modern History

2011-09-04T15:25:00.001-04:00

I’m sure I don’t need to tell anyone that next Sunday is the10^th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks. I’m also sure that each of us has a story totell about the 9-11 attacks. As I do mygenealogical research, I am often frustrated that it is only possible to getsmall glimpses of my ancestors’ lives and not really get to know theperson. I would like to know how their lives were impacted by what we now consider history. I hope this blog will survive insome form for a long time and that someday future generations of our familywill be interested in how major historical events impacted our lives. Today, I will share my recollections ofSeptember 11, 2001. Next week, I hope toshare other family members’ memories of the major events of our time.

My 9-11 memory actually begins before September 11,2001. It starts on Sunday September 2,2001, the day before Labor Day. There is a carillon in Mariemont,Ohio with concerts every Sunday and on holidays. Although I had often heard parts of theseconcerts from time to time, I had never actually gone to Dogwood Park (or “the BellTower” as it is more frequently referred) for the purpose of listening to oneof the concerts. September 2, 2011 wasthe first time.

My then-six-year-old niece Alyssa joined me for theconcert. She played in the playgroundwhile I watched her and waited for the concert. I saw the mostly elderly crowd – “the greatest generation” - drag theirlawn chairs into the park. The concertbegan and, as I recall, it was mostly patriotic and traditional Americanmusic. Toward the middle of the concert,The Star-Spangled Banner was played. I looked around me. The womansitting next to me was speaking on her cell phone. A couple of young mothers were chatting. I glanced over toward the area where theconcert-goers were seated. Around halfwere standing in respect to their country and the national anthem. Many of the oldercrowd – most of whom were able to carry their lawn chairs into the park – didn’tseem able to stand for two minutes for the playing of the national anthem.

I was at work on Tuesday September 11, 2001. That morning, I heard a coworker say that aplane had struck the World Trade Center. At first, I thought that asmall plane had struck the building in a terrible accident and didn't think much of it. That assumption didn’t last long, as word gotaround that a second plane hit the World Trade Center. My mom called me and askedif I heard about the terrible events in New York. I then heard that the Pentagon had been hit. After a while, I couldn’t bear to just sit atmy desk. News was slow in appearing onthe internet. So, I went to theassociate lounge where there was a television. I watched the video of the second plane hitting the World Trade Center asDan Rather emphasized that this was actual video and not an animation. Dozens of associates stood in the lounge areain silent astonishment.

I returned to my desk and, although it seems silly now, wonderedif I would ever see my family again. Itwas obvious that the country was under attack and no one knew at that pointwhat else might be in store. News camein that a jet crashed in Pennsylvania and that there was a bomb threat at theState Department. It was truly afrightening day. I made it home thatday, of course, and fear turned to sadness and anger as we watched hour afterhour, day after day of news reports about the attacks.

I live near Cincinnati’s municipal air field, Lunken Airport,and we didn’t hear the almost constant sound of aircraft overhead for severaldays, since air travel was suspended. Manycompanies closed for the next few days out of safety concerns and to allowtheir employees time to mourn. At work,I didn’t receive a call from outside of the company for the rest of theweek. A day or two following the attacksI learned that one of my high school classmates perished in the World TradeCenter.

Prior to the attacks, my mom and I had made arrangements tovisit Washington, DC at the end of September 2001. We debated for several days whether to keepour reservations. I would awaken in themornings and feel determined to stick to our plans and visit DC. I didn’t like the idea of terroristscontrolling my life. But as the day woreon and I heard more and more rumors and news reports, I would end the daywanting to cancel our reservations. Thiscontinued for several more days until my mom and I decided to postpone our tripuntil September 2002. When we finally made it to DC the following year, I was able to visit the September 11th exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

On Friday September 14, 2001, there was a prayer observanceon Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati. My employer allowed time off for associates to attend. Thousands of people crammed the square. It might have been the only time in my life Ifelt like I was truly part of “one nation under God, indivisible.” As I took my evening walks in the coming days,I was struck by how much friendlier people seemed as we passed each other in the streets. There was a feeling that we were all on thesame team. This was the positive thatcame out of an almost unimaginably tragic and violent situation.

In the days that followed September 11, 2001 and quite oftensince then, I have thought back to that day at the Bell Tower. I wondered if the national anthem had been onthe program for the September 16, 2001concert if the young mothers would have stopped talking, if the lady would endher phone call, or if more people would have stood to honor the playing of thenational anthem. I believe they wouldhave because we had all changed, mostly for the better. But, sadly, it was only a temporarychange. If the national anthem were tobe played at today’s concert, I believe the reaction would be much as itwas ten years ago. We should never forget, but it seems we always do.

Happy Sylvester Shaw

2011-08-28T06:00:00.001-04:00

From the November 28, 1875 Cincinnati Daily Enquirer:

HAPPY SYLVESTER SHAW, of Russellville, Brown County, Ohio! On Tuesday he celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday in company with his twenty-one children. After dinner he took them out to the mud road in front of the house, and the old man left them all in a scrub race of a hundred yards. The ole man then showed his wondering offspring what boys could do when he was young. He jumped a nine-rail fence without touching his hands, climbed a branch of the apple tree nineteen times, climbed to the top of the well-pole hand over hand, threw a bull calf over the house, and ripped the back seam of his pants in the effort, and told the old woman "if she didn't fix 'em afore mornin' he'd knock the socks off of her!" Hale old SYLVESTER SHAW! Long live the oldest inhabitant!

What a man! This incredible specimen of manhood was my fourth great-grandfather. Sylvester Shaw was born November 19, 1800 in Rensellaer County, New York. In the early 1800s, Sylvester's parents Russell and Johanna Reynolds Shaw moved their family to what would later become Brown County, Ohio. There, Russell Shaw established the town of Russellville.

Sylvester married my fourth great-grandmother Elizabeth Hatfield on November 29, 1821 in Brown County. Their first child was born and died in 1822. My third great-grandmother, Elmina Shaw Dunn, was born in 1823 and was their first child to survive to adulthood. Sylvester and Elizabeth had a total of ten children. Elizabeth died August 22, 1851.

Sylvester married Sarah Jane Wire on June 24, 1852 in Spencer County, Indiana. I don't know how they met. Did Sylvester have business in Spencer County? Was she a mail order bride? Anyway, they got hitched and Sarah Jane got a house full of kids. Sylvester's passion obviously didn't subside with his second wife. He and Sarah Jane had eleven children. Sylvester had his first great-grandchild before his youngest child was born in 1868!

Sylvester was a man of many interests. Early in his life, he made his living as a carpenter. He was also a farmer, with an apple orchard, cornfield, cows, pigs, and sheep. He was known as a veterinarian and developed a "throwing harness," so horses could be thrown without injury to the horse.

So, I wonder what the real story was with his 75th birthday celebration? Although he had 21 children, a few had died and others had moved away, so he didn't spend his birthday with all 21 children. I wonder who counted how many times he climbed the apple tree. I think it would have become a little tedious after about the second time he had done it. Plus, I would probably be feeling a little downhearted after losing to him in the 100 yard dash.

I'm most curious about Sylvester's hurling the calf over the house. I have heard of throwing cow chips, but not calves. How would one go about doing that - grab the calf's legs and then do sort of a modified hammer throw? Obviously, his concern with the wellbeing of horses didn't extend to his livestock.

Even though Sarah Jane was more than 20 years younger than Sylvester, she was the "old woman" whose socks Sylvester planned to knock off if she didn't mend his busted seam by morning. Ultimately, Sarah Jane's body (and, no doubt, patience) wore out and she died on October 11, 1879.

Sylvester, however, still had some life in him, not to mention a house of teenagers. He married Mariah Sowers on October 6, 1881. I don't know much about Mariah, except that she was a "hired girl." Their marriage record refers to her as "Mrs. Mariah Sowers," so she must have been married before. As far as I know, Sylvester and Mariah had no children, but given Sylvester's history, I'm not making any assumptions.

Sylvester Shaw died February 27, 1884 and the bovines of Brown County all breathed a little easier.

Clearing the Air

2011-08-21T06:00:00.001-04:00

I’ll always remember the day I stood in the Wardlow Cemetery, looking at my great-grandfather Hite Ballein’s grave and telling my parents that if I would ever do any family history research, I would like to research the Ballein family. At that time, I was most interested in the Ballein family for a couple of reasons. First, I bear a resemblance to my grandmother, Jennie Esther Ballein, who died when I was a toddler and whom I don’t remember. Second, I was intrigued with the unusual Ballein surname, as well as the name Hite.

Of course, I did begin researching my family history, starting with my paternal grandmother’s branch of the family, which includes the Balleins. I then branched out to the other side of my dad’s family and later to my mom’s family also. Along the way I have met a lot of distant relatives with whom I have shared information and am always excited when I meet a “new” relative.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had much success with the family that inspired me to start this journey, the Balleins. Although I have corresponded with a couple of descendants of the siblings of my great-grandfather Hite, I have struck out with the descendants of Hite’s children, my grandmother’s siblings. I have tried to write to a couple of my dad’s cousins with no response. There have been other situations when I have made contact with Ballein relatives who initially seemed quite interested in sharing information, but from whom I never heard again. I couldn’t help but wonder why this happens, when most people I contact or who contact me are happy to share information.

I know there are a lot of reasons they might not have responded. They might not trust me, be interested in their family history, or have any information to share. Maybe they didn’t have time to respond, had difficulies in their lives, or didn’t want to go to any trouble for someone they didn’t know.

I suspect, though, that it could be related to events following the death of my grand uncle Oscar Ballein. I won’t go into any details - I don’t know most of the details. However, there is one thing I can state with no hesitation or doubt. Neither my father Russell Lee Davis nor I had anything to do with what transpired.

My dad spoke kindly of his mother’s family, his grandparents, aunt and uncles, and cousins. Like all families, this family has a story needs to be preserved and shared. There is so much more I need to know. I would also love to have at least one photograph of Hite Ballein – I suspect there has to be one somewhere. I hope that someday a Ballein family member will find this post and contact me through the Post a Comment section on this blog so we can share information.

I feel that those of us in possession of family photographs, documents, and bibles are not owners of these items, but only caretakers. I look forward to meeting a lot more distant relatives in the future and sharing photos, information, and family stories with them. And maybe, just maybe, one of them will be a Ballein.

I would like to end by stating that the purpose of this post is not to complain about, blame, or embarass anyone. My intention is simply to reach out to these family members and clear the air in the event there has been some misunderstanding in the past. If any family members are uncomfortable about this post, please contact me through the Post a Comment section and I will remove it. Your comment will not be visible to the public.

What's in a Name?

2011-08-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

My recent posts have been a little depressing with tales of hardship and tragic death. This week, I would like to take on a lighter subject – the interesting names of some of the people in my family tree. Now, I realize that some of these names weren’t too unusual in the era in which they were bestowed upon my family members, but they sound a little strange now.

· ELIHU EMBREE Elihu Embree was the grandson of my fifth great-grandfather Moses Embree and nephew of my fourth great-grandmother Rebekah Embree Hockett (Rebekah – Prudence Hockett Lamb – Nathan Lamb – Mary Lamb Donaldson – Eddie Earl Donaldson – my mom – me). Elihu was born into the Quaker Embree family on November 8, 1782, the son of Thomas and Esther Coulson Embree. If you wish to research Elihu, you will have little trouble finding information, since he holds the distinction of publishing the first abolitionist newspaper in the United States, the Manumission Intelligencer. Elihu died at the age of 38 on December 4, 1820.

· PLEASANT LEROY HIMES Roy Himes was my grandmother Mary Jane Dudley Donaldson’s cousin, born to Marietta Dudley and Jeremiah Himes on December 1, 1888 in Lynchburg, Ohio. Roy initially worked as a blacksmith in his father’s shop. After his parents died, Jeremiah in 1911 and Marietta in 1912, Roy married Jessie Coffman and moved to Springfield Township, Hamilton County, Ohio. There, he made his living as a machinist. He lived with my grandparents for a while, probably after he and his first wife Jessie were divorced and before he married his second wife Mary. From what my mom has told me, the name “Pleasant” fit him well – she really liked him.

Pleasant Leroy Himes and his first wife, Jessie. We believe Roy is the man
on the left. We aren't sure who the other man is.

· EXPERIENCE DAVIS REYNOLDS This isn’t the only Experience in my family tree, but the first I discovered in the course of my research. Experience was born April 9, 1751 to William and Elizabeth Gifford Davis in West Greenwich, Rhode Island. She married Joseph Reynolds on October 31, 1771. Experience is my sixth great-grandmother (Experience – Johanna Reynolds Shaw – Sylvester Shaw – Elmina Shaw Dunn – Lulu Dunn Wardlow – Elma Wardlow Ballein – Esther Ballein Davis – Russell Lee Davis – me). At some point after their marriage, Experience and Joseph moved to New York. Experience and Joseph had 15 children. By 1799, they had moved to Limestone (now Maysville) in Mason County, Kentucky. Shortly thereafter, they crossed the Ohio River and settled in what later became Jackson Township, Brown County, Ohio. Their community became known as the Yankee Settlement. Experience died November 11, 1832, surviving her husband Joseph by almost nine years.

· THE PURCELL FAMILY My great grand-aunt Mary Elizabeth (Lizzie) Ballein and her second husband Simon Purcell hold the distinction in my family tree for having the children with the most unusual names. Their children were my grandmother Jennie Esther Ballein’s cousins. Ready? Laura Ina (OK, that name’s all right), Ethel U. (Ethel isn’t unusual, but what could the U stand for?), Cleta Q., Rhemi Olen, Philo Uscana, Euchus Orien, and Seanthus. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about this family but I would love to hear about them.

· NIMROD PRICE I remember when I announced to my parents that there was a Nimrod in our family tree on my dad’s side of the family. My mom commented “Now it’s all starting to make sense!” However, this Nimrod wasn’t anyone’s fool (and neither was my dad or I, Mom). Nimrod was the brother of my fourth great-grandfather Jeremiah Price (Jeremiah Price – Catherine Price Steward – Sarah Steward Ogden – Rosa Ogden Davis – James Quincy Davis – Russell Lee Davis – me). In the early 1800s, he settled with his parents Daniel and Catherine Preisch in a settlement known as Germany in Hamilton County Ohio. By the time of the Civil War, Nimrod was a fairly successful farmer. However, during the war his land became valuable for another purpose. The Union Army established Camp Dennison, a military recruitment and training camp and hospital in Germany. He leased his land to the government for an estimated $12 to $20 per acre per month. After the camp was deactivated, the name Camp Dennison stuck and the town continues to be known by that name.

Nimrod Price died in 1874 and is buried in the Waldschmidt Cemetery
in Camp Dennison, Ohio

Donaldsons on the Frontier

2011-08-07T06:00:00.004-04:00

I have to admit that it wasn’t easy for me to become excited about researching the Donaldson family, my maternal grandfather’s family. Maybe it was because until my grandfather, Eddie Earl Donaldson, moved here in the 1910s, none of my direct Donaldson ancestors lived in southwestern Ohio. So, information on the Donaldson family wasn’t as easy for me to come by as it was for other branches of my family.

For quite a while, I wasn’t able to trace any further back than my fourth great-grandfather, Ebenezer Donaldson and his wife, Rebecca Hillis Donaldson. Then one day I came across A History of the Donaldson Family and Its Connections by Alexander Donaldson on Google Books. The story told in this book of Ebenezer’s parents and grandparents, if accurate, is quite incredible. Personally, I am a bit of a skeptic about some of this story, since much of it was passed on through family tradition. I have found additional information from other sources, some that corroborates the information in the Donaldson history, and some doesn’t. This is the story I have pieced together from the various sources.

Jacob Donaldson (Ebenezer’s grandfather and my sixth great-grandfather) was born in York County, Pennsylvania and ultimately settled in the area of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He and his wife Janet had six children, Margaret, James, Jane, Mary, Elizabeth, and James. Margaret first married a Mr. Stewart. I’m unclear where the Stewarts lived in Pennsylvania. According to the obituary of one of Margaret’s sons, during the French and Indian War, she and Mr. Stewart left their children in their home while they went to a spring to get water. Margaret and Mr. Stewart were attacked by Indians, who killed and scalped Mr. Stewart and captured Margaret. While prisoner, Margaret gave birth to her third child whom her captors reportedly killed because of its crying.

Margaret was later given to a different tribe that treated her more kindly. She was away from her home for six or seven years before she was finally released. When she returned home, she learned that another of her children had died while she was gone. Later, she married Robert Orr and had five more children. The Orr family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1798.

Jacob Donaldson was killed in battle against the Indians prior to the Revolutionary War, possibly during the French and Indian War. At the time his estate was settled in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania in 1762, his eldest son James was also dead. By this time, Margaret had apparently been captured and released by the Indians, since she was referred to in the estate documents as Robert Orr’s wife.

Jacob’s son Isaac was my fifth great-grandfather. He and Martha Reynolds were married around 1769. Isaac served in Captain John Rea’s militia company of the First Battalion of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War according to documentation contained in Pennsylvania Archives, Fifth Series, Volume VI. Jacob purchased land in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania and settled there with his family.

By 1780, Isaac and Martha had five children, James, Ebenezer, Sarah, Margaret, and Isaac. The Donaldson History says that in the summer and fall of 1780 there were Indian attacks in the area. Back in those days, there were stockade forts where settlers could take refuge from such attacks. Isaac, Martha, and their young family took refuge at Fort Wallace, moved onto Fort Ligonier (more likely a nearby stockade fort, Fort Preservation, rather than the military fort used during the French Indian War), and back to Fort Wallace.

In the spring of 1781, Isaac, returned to work on his property and Martha and the children remained at the fort. The Donaldson history states that Isaac boarded with a “George Pumroy.” Old Westmoreland: A History of Western Pennsylvania During the Revolution by Edgar W. Hassler indicates that Isaac was working for Colonel John Pomeroy. Sources differ slightly on what exactly happened on the morning of Sunday April 1, 1781. The Donaldson history states that Isaac walked a little distance from the house when the Pomeroy family saw Indians attack. The Hassler account says that Pomeroy and three hired men were working in a field when the Indians attacked. One man (Isaac) was killed, two ran for help, and Pomeroy ran back to the cabin to hide his children and fight off the attack with his wife. When help arrived the following morning, they found Isaac’s scalped body and buried it.

Martha was now widowed with five children. The Donaldson history describes her story as follows:

Shortly before [Isaac’s] death, [Martha] was bitten on the foot by a copper-head, and her oldest son dug a hole in yellow clay and buried her foot in it, and then poured cream around it until the cream assumed a greenish color, and the poison was extracted. On the day when [Isaac] was killed, . . . she was crossing a stream on a log, carrying her youngest son, an infant, when, losing her balance, she fell into the water, and again the oldest son ran for help, and secured their rescue from a watery grave.

According to the Donaldson history, these events and her husband’s death caused Martha to descend into mental illness. Her sister, Sarah Reynolds, took over the childrearing duties. Martha died in late 1782.

In April 1783, Martha’s brother John Reynolds returned to the area where Isaac was killed and took four of the five Donaldson children with him. The exception was Ebenezer, who lived with family and acquaintances in York County, Pennsylvania. Since Ebenezer is my ancestor, I would like to know why he didn’t go with the rest of the family and with whom he lived.

Ebenezer apparently lost contact with his brothers and sisters. During the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, James Donaldson scraped together enough money for a trip to the Pittsburgh area, surmising that Ebenezer might be among the troops President Washington sent from eastern Pennsylvania counties to put down the insurrection in southwestern Pennsylvania. After making some inquiries, James found his brother and the family was reunited.

Unbelievable story, isn’t it? The stuff that movies, not my family history, are made of. Maybe someday I’ll be able to determine how accurate it is!

Putting Things in Perspective

2011-07-31T06:00:00.001-04:00

Last week I wrote about what I learned about Campbell Dudley’s death from the military pension application filed by his mother, Lettitia Dudley. My primary objective in ordering the pension file was to learn more about Lettitia. Most of what I knew about Lettitia and her husband Thomas I learned from the Dudley album I received from my great-uncle Clarence Dudley’s step-grandson a year and a half ago. I have gleaned other information from the usual genealogical sources, mostly census records.

Iva Lettitia Tankersley was born January 18, 1811 in Virginia. There is a Virginia marriage record that indicates that a Thomas Dudley married a “Malitia Tankesley” in Pittsylvania County, Virginia on November 17, 1830. However, the Dudley album states that Thomas and Lettitia were married in 1829 and moved from Virginia to Ohio. The Dudleys’ first child, Matilda, was born on October 11, 1830 and died June 24, 1831. They then had ten more children, Absalom, Robert, Campbell, William, John, Jane, twins Jesse and Berryman, Mary Etta, and Lewis.

The Dudleys first lived about two miles north of Lynchburg, Ohio. In 1849, they moved to the “Old Dudley Homestead” in Clark Township, Clinton County Ohio. The Dudley album states that this land was a gift to Thomas and Lettitia for naming their twins after Jesse and Berryman Hundley. I haven’t been able to confirm it yet, but I think the Hundleys and Dudleys might have travelled from Virginia to Ohio together.

Although I suspect that Lettitia never had an easy life, the 1860s must have been nearly unbearable for her. Berryman died on November 29, 1860 and Thomas on March 11, 1861. A month after her husband’s death the Civil War began. By this time, Lettitia’s eldest son Absalom had left home and Robert married and was living in his own home. Lettitia was a widow with seven children at home. Her sons could help her earn a living, but their services were also in demand by their country. Campbell Dudley enlisted in the 48^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry on October 3, 1861. William and John also served in the Union army. Campbell died by suicide while on his way home on a furlough on July 29, 1864.

An affidavit from Isaac Foster stated that Campbell worked for his father Christian Foster, a Lynchburg, Ohio farmer, prior to the war. His wages were paid to Lettitia in the form of corn for “breadstuff.” Dudley neighbor Amos Fisher’s affidavit also stated that Campbell Dudley worked for him before the war. Fisher indicated that he paid Campbell’s salary to Lettitia in meat, flour, corn, and wheat. At the time Campbell enlisted, Amos Fisher owed him a half month’s pay, which Campbell asked him to give to his mother. In Lettitia’s affidavit, she stated that she had included five letters from Campbell which indicated that he was sending her money while he was in the army.

Letters and affidavits in the pension file describe Lettitia’s poverty. She owned ten acres of what was described as “swamp land” with one log house and no outbuildings. The land couldn’t be farmed because it was too wet. She owned a cow for a while, but had to sell it. In an 1877 letter to the Pension Office, she stated that she was "supported by the cold charities of the neighborhood in which I live.” Even a Pension Office document described her as an “unquestionable [sic] deserving claimant.”

Lettitia first applied for a pension on January 2, 1865. The Pension Office obtained an affidavit from P. A. Willis, the 48^th OVI’s regimental surgeon. Dr. Willis stated that Campbell committed suicide due to “temporary insanity” due to alcohol deprivation. The Pension Office denied Lettitia’s application on September 23, 1865, stating that Campbell’s death wasn’t due to his military service.

In response to the denial, Lettitia’s son Absalom and Clinton County farmer William West submitted an affidavit testifying to Lettitia’s poverty. They testified that as an old woman with rheumatism she was unable to support herself. The Pension Office obtained an affidavit from regimental commander J. R. Parker, who confirmed that Campbell jumped from the steamboat. He said that he didn’t know why Campbell jumped, but that he “overheard” that he was intoxicated. The pension rejection was reaffirmed on July 24, 1870.

On January 4, 1877, Lettitia wrote to the Pension office that her attorney, R. E. Doan of Wilmington, Ohio, wouldn’t give her information on her application. On August 15, 1878, Lettitia hired attorney Isma Troth of Lynchburg, Ohio to represent her. In September, her application was rejected yet again.

At this point, it appears that someone went to work, either Mr. Troth or nationally prominent pension attorney George Lemon, who had also been engaged to handle Lettitia’s claim. Two of Campbell’s comrades submitted very similar-sounding affidavits stating that Campbell was not intoxicated at the time of his death, that he was sick with “camp diarrhea,” and that his insanity was caused by the medications he was taking. The application was denied again on October 6, 1880.

Less than two weeks later, George Lemon sent a letter to the Pension Office asking that they make a decision based on the documentation on record and blamed the delay in submitting evidence on the claimant, Lettitia. Apparently, he hadn’t received notification of the denial. It sounds like he was ready to rid himself of a case that was unlikely to result in payment of his contingency fee.

29-year-old Lewis Dudley, Lettitia’s youngest son, now became involved in her case. At the time of the 1880 census, Lewis was residing in the household of widow Mary J. Young, who was a storekeeper at Farmer’s Station in Clark Township, Clinton County, Ohio. His occupation was listed as “clerk.” Lewis later became a pension attorney himself.

Lewis sent a letter to the Commissioner of Pensions on December 19, 1881 asking for a favor with his mother’s claim. Lewis pointed out that in his capacity as assistant postmaster he had often been asked by the Pension Office to attest to the standing of others in the community. He wrote that George Lemon was doing nothing for his mother’s case and that it had been difficult for his mother to obtain testimony from Campbell’s comrades because most of them had been imprisoned at the time of his death.

Over the next 16 months, four more of Campbell’s comrades submitted affidavits with noticeable similarities. The Pension Office followed up with letters to these four men. In some instances the affidavits and the veterans’ responses to the Pension Office letters contradicted each other. Neither the similarities between the four affidavits, nor the contradictions between the soldiers’ affidavits and letters escaped the notice of the Pension Office and Lettitia’s application was denied again on July 17, 1884.

The final notation regarding Lettitia’s pension application was that that the rejection was affirmed on February 13, 1890. Lettitia never received a military pension for Campbell’s death and died five years later on January 26, 1895. The Dudley album indicates that she is buried at Troutwine Cemetery in Lynchburg, Ohio. If this is correct, her grave is not marked.

I often find myself thinking of my ancestors when I am unhappy over some perceived hardship or setback in my life. I can’t say that the comparison of my life to Lettitia’s stops me from complaining, but I know it should. It at least helps me to put the events of my life in perspective.

The Death of Campbell Dudley

2011-07-24T06:00:00.001-04:00

Several weeks ago, I was exploring footnote.com and discovered that my second great-grandmother, Lettitia Dudley, had filed a pension application after her son Campbell died in the Civil War. I am desperate for information about Lettitia and her husband Thomas, so after a couple of days of debating with myself whether I wanted to spend $75.00 to order the pension file from the National Archives and Records Administration, I took the plunge and did it. My purpose in ordering the file was to hopefully learn more about Lettitia and, in the process, find out more about Campbell’s military service and death while serving in the army.

I have received the pension file and, yes, it provided a little illumination on Lettitia’s life. I will cover what I learned about Lettitia and her application for a military pension in next week’s post. The real surprise in the pension file was the story of Campbell Dudley’s death.

Campbell Dudley was born March 25, 1837, the fourth child of Thomas and Iva Lettitia Tankersley Dudley of Clark Township in Clinton County, Ohio. He was an older brother of my great-grandfather Jesse Dudley. On October 3, 1861, Campbell enlisted in Company C of the 48^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI). Company C was composed primarily of men from Clinton and Highland Counties.

According to History of the 48^th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry written by Major John A. Bering and Captain Thomas Montgomery, the 48^th OVI fought in the Battle of Shiloh, the Siege of Corinth, the Battle of Arkansas Post, and the Battle of Vicksburg. By late February 1864, Campbell’s regiment set up camp near New Orleans, Louisiana. On February 29, the regiment re-enlisted as a group for another three year term with the promise of a 30 day furlough. As the soldiers were preparing for their furlough, they were ordered to Franklin, Louisiana, where the army was organizing for the Red River Expedition.

It was around this time that, according to an unsigned document in the pension file, that Campbell began taking medications prescribed by the regimental doctor. The pension records indicate that he was being treated for chronic laryngitis, though some of his comrades claimed in their affidavits that he suffered from “camp diarrhea.” On April 8, 1864, the regiment fought in the Battle of Sabine Crossroads. In the battle 177 members of the regiment were captured by the Confederates and imprisoned at Camp Ford in Texas. Most of the captured 48^th OVI soldiers remained there until a prisoner exchange in October 1864.

Campbell, however, was not captured and the army fell back to Pleasant Hill, where the Battle of Pleasant Hill was fought the following day. Campbell lost his clothing, blankets, and knapsack. On April 10, the army retreated to Grand Ecore. On April 20, Campbell boarded the steamboat for New Orleans, where he entered Charity Hospital on April 29. He was discharged from Charity Hospital on May 27. According to notes in the pension file, Campbell wrote a letter to someone stating that he was “well as common,” “doing bully,” and “having plenty to eat and nothing to do” while waiting for his regiment to arrive in New Orleans for their furlough. He ultimately rejoined his regiment.

The long-awaited 30 day furlough was finally granted in late July 1864. Campbell and his comrades boarded a steamboat heading north up the Mississippi River, then east at the Ohio River, then home. On July 29, Campbell was apparently sleeping with some other soldiers when he got up and, within a few minutes, jumped overboard and was drowned. I knew that Campbell had died on July 29, 1864 when he drowned in the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, but the possibility of suicide never crossed my mind.

Why? Why would a man who two months earlier supposedly wrote to someone that he was “doing bully” and was on his way home for a 30 day furlough jump to a watery death?

The affidavits, letters, and other documents in the pension file suggest a number of possibilities. An unsigned, undated document in the file suggested that Campbell might have gotten too close to the edge of the steamboat and fallen or even that some of his comrades might have pushed him overboard. However, no one else suggested this.

A number of people indicated that Campbell was known to have “peculiar spells” when he seemed to be temporarily insane. When he had these spells, he seemed indifferent to his surroundings and seemed “troubled in mind.” In a letter to the Pension Office, comrade Jonathan Pratt described Campbell’s odd behavior at camp in Algiers, Louisiana. He said that Campbell was normally “of lively disposition,” but had become melancholy and wouldn’t pay attention to what was going on around him. He wrote that some people thought he had been drinking, others thought he was upset because some money had been stolen from him, and others thought the problem developed because he had re-enlisted.

A common theme in the comrades’ affidavits and letters was Campbell’s illness. His comrades said he had been afflicted with camp diarrhea for some time, but other documents indicate that the true nature of his ailment was chronic laryngitis. Some of his comrades suggested that the medications he took for his ailment was the reason for his spells. The hospital steward pointed out in his affidavit that Campbell hadn’t been on the sick list for two months prior to his death.

Nearly all the affidavits and letters in the file reference Campbell’s drinking. Many acknowledge that Campbell was known to drink to excess, though not while on duty or in camp. However, most said that he had not been intoxicated for several weeks and that liquor was not available on the boat. Others said, though that he had been drinking in New Orleans prior to his furlough.

In the opinion of regimental surgeon P. A. Willis, Campbell “deliberately sprang” into the river and drowned due to temporary insanity caused by being deprived of liquor after drinking to excess in New Orleans prior to furlough. Others suggest that Campbell’s bouts of temporary insanity were caused by delirium tremens. Although there is testimony that Campbell hadn’t had a drink in several weeks, my hunch is that the regimental surgeon is probably correct.

Would Campbell have ended his life had he spent the years of 1861 to 1864 back home in Clinton County? My guess is he probably wouldn’t. Most of us can only imagine the hardships and horrors he and his comrades and millions of fighting men and women have experienced through the centuries of warfare. Campbell no doubt saw friends, possibly men he grew up with, injured, killed, and taken prisoner. He fired at the enemy and may have wounded or killed Confederate soldiers. He saw battlefields strewn with the mangled bodies of young men. He endured weather extremes, hunger, and dirty drinking water. How did he cope? Through drinking to excess? Through zoning out? Maybe he was just not able to cope. Perhaps his excessive drinking and suicide had nothing to do with his war experience at all. I don’t know and most likely never will. Regardless of how or why Campbell Dudley’s life ended, we should still honor the three years of service he gave to his country.

Civil War Memorial, Lynchburg, Ohio

Robert Hamilton

2011-07-17T06:00:00.001-04:00

Robert Hamilton was my fifth great-grandfather (Robert Hamilton – Elizabeth Hamilton Dunn – Robert Dunn – Lulu Dunn Wardlow – Dora Elma Wardlow Ballein – Jennie Esther Ballein Davis – Russell Lee Davis – me). He was born in Ireland on May 16, 1760, but came to America as a teenager and soon thereafter joined the Pennsylvania Line of the Continental Army.

Robert first married Susannah Kean, my ancestor, on April 30, 1781. They had three children, Elizabeth, Robert Jr., and Joseph. After Susannah died, Robert married Ann Hays on February 23, 1792. Robert and Ann had one child, William Hays Hamilton. The Hamiltons moved from Pennsylvania, ultimately settling near Lebanon in Warren County, Ohio. Robert worked as a blacksmith.

Robert Hamilton

As I am writing this, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of a Civil War pension file from the National Archives on an ancestor on my maternal grandmother’s branch of the family. Military pension files are interesting not only because of the information they provide on an individual’s military record, but also because they can provide glimpses at an ancestor’s everyday life.

Robert first received a military pension in 1818. Below is an excerpt from his pension file, which not only summarizes his Revolutionary Way experience, but also provides a schedule of his property as of the date of the document, August 22, 1820. Pension files are often difficult to read, so hopefully my transcription is fairly accurate.

Robert Hamilton a resident of [Warren] County aged sixty one years next May, who being duly sworn according to law doth on his oath declare for the purpose of obtaining the provision made by the acts of Congress of the 18^th of March 1818 & the 1^st of May 1820. There the said Hamilton enlisted for during the war, on the day of December 1776 in the State of New Jersey at Trenton in company commanded by Capt. Matthew Henderson in the Reg. commanded by Colonel Richard Butler of the ninth Pennsylvania Regt. in the Pennsylvania line on Continental Establishment. He continued to serve in said corps to the close of the war when he was discharged from said service in Pennsylvania at Carlisle; he was in the battle of Brandywine & received a wound; - in the Battle of Germantown, Battle of Monmouth & at the taking of Stony Point & at the taking of Genl Cornwallis, also in a great number of skirmishes which I do not particularly now recalled. This declarant has no other evidence in his power of his services . . . .

. . . I have not nor has any person for me in trust any property or securities, contracts or debts due to me nor have I any income other than what is contained in the schedule hereto annexed & by me subscribed to wit.

80 Acres of land, 30 of which is cultivated, value $800.00
1 Horse creature     35.00
2 Cows     30.00
1 Steer 2 years old     10.00
2 Yearlings     8.00
2 Calves     4.00
3 Sheep     6.00
9 Hogs     15.00
1 Bible hymn book & a few religious tracts     10.00
House furniture     40.50
1 Mans Saddle     8.00
1 Womans ditto     23.00
1 Wheel & reel     3.00
1 Loom & Gears     12.00
1 Wooden Clock & Case     20.00
Farming Utensils     15.75
20 Geese     7.50
Robert Hamilton    $1047.25

Reading the inventory of Robert’s property, I can imagine the Hamilton homestead. The sights, sounds, and smells of the farmyard. Robert tending the animals and working in the fields. Ann seated at the loom or cooking or cleaning. The evening meal with the ticking of the wooden clock, which might have been their most cherished possession. Mostly, though, I envision years of hard work in the frigid winters and the heat and humidity of southwestern Ohio summers.

Robert Hamilton died February 24, 1841 near Lebanon, Ohio. After his death, Ann applied for and received a military pension. Ann died January 26, 1845.

Ralph Waldo Ogden

2011-07-10T06:00:00.002-04:00

My dad and his dad James Quincy Davis were storytellers. We used to kid my dad about the stories he told us over and over again. One sad story passed from Grandpa Davis to my dad and then to my sister, brother, and me was the story of the tragic death of Ralph Waldo Ogden.

Ralph Waldo Ogden was born December 17, 1907 in Pike Township, Brown County, Ohio to Santford Morton and Bessie Ralston Ogden. Santford was the son of my second great-grandparents Santford and Sarah Steward Ogden and brother of my great-grandmother Rosa Ogden Davis. On June 4, 1908, Bessie died and Waldo was sent to live with Rosa and her family. My grandpa was a little over a year older than Waldo. My dad said that grandpa referred to Waldo as his “little half-brother.” At the time of the 1910 census, Waldo was living with the Davis family, while his older siblings, Ivah, Paul, and Sarah were living with Santford and his second wife, Lucinda. By 1920, Waldo was living with his father again.

I have often wondered about Waldo’s name. It seems unlikely that the Methodist Ogdens were admirers of Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose religious views were a considered radical in his time. Perhaps they just liked the name.

I wish I knew more about Waldo than how he died. I know from his obituary (I only have a clipping, so I don’t know the source) that he was a member of the Mt. Nebo Methodist Episcopal Church and "active in church work." He was a junior at Clark Township High School in Brown County at the time of his death. The obituary described him as "thoughtful" and "earnest."

The story passed down in my family was that grandpa and Waldo were out hunting one night. They “treed a ‘coon,” Waldo climbed into the tree, and fell, causing his death.

A distant cousin told me she spoke to several people who related a similar story. A group of boys were out one night and “treed a ‘coon.” (It’s interesting that the same terminology was used by both sources.) The boys didn’t have guns and Waldo climbed the tree to try to catch the raccoon. The raccoon attacked Waldo and he fell out of the tree.

According to his obituary, Waldo died the morning after his fall, on November 23, 1924. The obituary doesn’t give details about how he died, except that “on the last evening of his life while engaged in boyish sport, he received a dangerous fall.” The obituary states that he was still conscious when his father reached his side, but died a few hours later.

Ralph Waldo Ogden was buried in Warner Cemetery in Brown County, Ohio on November 25, 1924.

I am intrigued by people in my family tree who had no descendants, like Waldo, my maternal grand-uncle Lewis Dudley, my great grand-uncle also named Lewis Dudley, and the many “maiden aunts” I have discovered. I hope that others are intrigued as well. I may not be directly descended from these people, but they were part of my ancestors’ lives and each person has a story that needs to be shared and preserved.

Mystery Photo No. 1

2011-07-03T06:00:00.001-04:00

I am titling this post "Mystery Photo No. 1" because I have many old photographs that are a mystery to me. I plan to share more of these pictures in the future and hope that readers will post comments to help answer some of my questions.

I will begin by admitting my ignorance of rural life. I have always lived in the suburbs and have spent over 20 years working in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. So, please forgive me if I am unable to identify some objects in this photo that are obvious to you. Just roll your eyes at my ignorance and post a comment to help me out! Enough about my shortcomings; here's the photo:

We are almost certain that this photo is from my maternal grandmother Mary Jane Dudley Donaldson's family. The photo is printed (not mounted) on cardboard and there is no photographer's mark. The photo as it appears above has been cropped, but there is a white border of approximately one-half inch above the picture. The picture is not a postcard. It is 6 3/8 by 4 1/4 inches in size, but the top and right side edges appear to have been trimmed by hand. "TAKEN-64-YEARS-AGO 1958" is written on the back of the photo. My mom doesn't recognize the handwriting, but does not believe it is her mother's.

An older man, two younger women, and a dog are pictured. The man is holding a violin or fiddle. There is a rake and a shovel leaning against the building. My guess is that the photo was taken in either Highland or Clinton County, Ohio because that is where the Dudley and Shaper families lived. That's about all I know.

Here are my questions about this photo:

Who are these people? If I had to guess, I would say they were my second great-grandfather John Shaper, his daughter Emma (on the left) and his second wife Lydia Williams Shaper (on the right). If this photo was, in fact, taken in 1894, John would have been 58, Emma 16, and Lydia 22. I have other photos of Emma and this could certainly be her, but I can't be sure.
Is the building a house? There is no chimney and no windows are visible. Granted, there could be a window in the rear, but I would expect to see one on the side as well. As I recall from a visit to a living history site several years ago, back in the old days, windows were usually placed opposite other windows or doors to create cross-ventilation and cool the house. If it is a house, how was it heated and how did they cook without a fireplace?
What is the object that appears to be a box made of wood slats on the left side of the building?
What's up with that piece of wood sloped against the front left side of the building? I thought perhaps it was used to collect rainwater coming off the roof, but there is no receptacle in which to capture it. Also, would you divert the rainwater to accumulate right next to the door?
Why are there big hoops hanging on the building and for what were the hoops used?
To the right of the house, in front of the man and the dog, is a log propped atop V-shaped wood legs. I kind of looks like a sawhorse missing a couple of legs. Is this a sawhorse or something else?
I am completely perplexed by the thingamabob in the lower right side of the photo. It appears to be something store-bought rather than homemade. It looks like a little horizontal ladder-shaped object with wooden dowels running through it vertically. What in the world is it?

I would love to solve the mystery of this photo. I can't tell you how much time I have spent puzzling over it. Can you help?

The Autobiography or Diary of Mary Jane Dudley Donaldson

2011-06-25T18:23:00.000-04:00

In honor of my maternal grandmother's birthday, the story of her early life in her own words:

I was born June 26, 1898 in a big one room log house. I was the youngest of seven, six boys all born in this house. It was in Clinton County, Ohio on a mud road called Mud Switch. It was a big event when I came along with six brothers and I stood a rough time. We built two other rooms later.

We had three acres of ground my father gardened for food. My mother canned a lot of vegetables and dried beans and corn. We all picked blackberries and grapes to can and make jam and jelly.

My father cut wood and cross ties for the B & O Railroad also fence rails. There was a woods across the road from where we lived where my father worked. It was owned by S. S. Puckett who had a [illegible].

I would go with my father in the woods to play. I would gather hickory nuts, hazel nuts, and acorns. My father would trim a big tree when he cut it. I would help him pile brush and he would cut a big limb for me to ride as a horse. I would watch the birds and squirrels.

My mother would drive a horse and buggy about two miles into Lynchburg and wash and iron all day for 50 cents to a dollar to help make a living for us all. It was hard to get along there.

My mother would bring home what we call whole wheat flour (25 pounds would be 25 cents a sack) to make our bread. My father would buy white corn and shell to take to the mill to grind for corn meal to make corn bread. We would all shell corn at night, also shell beans.

We would gather maple sap in the spring to make maple syrup. It would take a lot to make a pint. I helped to gather it from sugar maple trees and boil it down in a big iron kettle which we also used to make lye hominy and boil white corn to get the shells off in the lye. It had to be washed a lot before use.

We also made our lye soap in the big kettle to wash with. We used fat [illegible] and grease and dripped our lye. We had a big barrel out by our back door with a big old tub with ashes in it which we put on top of the barrel under the roof. My father would save the hickory ash when he cut a tree to put in the tub and when it would rain it would run into the tub in the ash making the lye. We also made apple butter in the kettle and we made dried apples.

We lived by a big ditch which we called the township ditch. I would play in it in the summer and skate in the winter. There was a big pond below our place where my brothers and other neighbor children played in the ice a game called shinney by hitting a can with a club to see who made the goal post first. I would get hit on the head but I was not the goal. My brothers would try to make me stay home but I would slip off and follow.

I and my two youngest brothers went to a one room brick school and walked about two mile. We got there before it started, 8:30 a.m., and would not get home till around 5:00 p.m. We wore heavy clothing and gingham dresses and wool stockings my mother knit, and high top shoes. We had heavy snows then and it would drift over a rail fence where I and my brother would slide over the top.

We had a one room white frame church beside the school where we would go on Sunday. We would all go and if anyone got sick, folks would go and cut wood for the stoves. The ladies would cook the meal for the help.

We would have box suppers to get money for our church. We would fix a box with food and put our name inside and sell it to the highest bidder and we were to eat with the fellow who bought it. Sometimes we were not pleased with the fellow.

We also went on hay rides with a big wagon and a team of horses hitched to it filled with straw and blankets over it. We would sing and ask riddles and in winter there was bobsleds which some had and would hitch to with sideboards on and hay to go sled riding for miles, and sometimes to spelling bees and ciphering matches to other schools.

How would you folks like these times today?

My Dad

2011-06-19T06:00:00.001-04:00

In addition to being Father's Day, today would have been my dad's 79th birthday. Russell Lee Davis was born June 19, 1932 and died August 18, 2003. This is an abridged version of the eulogy I delivered at my dad's funeral on August 20, 2003:

Many of you who knew my dad probably remember him as a quiet, shy man. That was only his public persona. I would like to share some of my family's memories of the real Lee Davis.

When we started talking about our memories of my dad, we discovered a common theme - fishing. My dad loved to fish. He would always get his fishing equipment together the night before a fishing trip. He told us kids to keep our distance from him for fear that we would tangle his line or be stabbed by a fish hook. How many times did we hear him say, "Don't step on any fish hooks!"

He also had his bait routines. To make doughballs, he would spread newspaper on the kitchen floor and sit down with some Velveeta cheese and a box of Wheaties, knead them together, and form them into small balls. He also caught his own night crawlers. After dark he would grab a flashlight, a tin can, and the closest kid and head for the backyard. He would hold the flashlight, the chosen child would hold the can, and we would creep around the yard capturing night crawlers.

My dad at East Fork Lake, near
Williamsburg, Ohio in 1998

My dad wanted all three of his kids to be good fishermen. Russ still fishes, but dad wasn't as successful with Cheryl and me. Cheryl's first fishing trip was almost her last. The first time she tried to cast her line out she hooked her sweater instead. Dad told her he would never take her fishing again, but later relented. I recall one of the last times I went fishing. I was around 10 or 11 years old and hooked a real fish - a trout - for the first time. I started to reel it in and thought I had caught something the size of a small whale. It was hard work, but dad wouldn't help me reel it in. I suppose this was one of those parenting moments to build my character and teach me self-sufficiency, but the only thing I learned was that fishing wasn't much fun.

My dad also enjoyed hunting. Cheryl and I never went hunting with him, but, as adults, we did go with him to check out his favorite hunting spot before squirrel season began. Russ and my mom did go hunting with him, serving primarily as hunting dogs. Mom was the more successful in the role. While hunting in some high grass, dad instructed mom to walk in front of him and scare out rabbits. She agreed to do so, as long as he didn't shoot her. Sure enough, she scared out a rabbit and he shot it. Mom told him that she was the best hound dog he ever had.

As a child, dad also did some trapping. One day, he and a friend set out some traps. On their way to school the following day, he and his friend checked the traps. The good news was that they trapped something. The bad news was that it was a skunk and, as dad put it, they "got skunked." They then proceeded to school. Upon catching their scent, the teacher told them that if they would just leave and go home, she wouldn't even mark them absent.

Having heard our fishing and hunting stories, you might think that my dad was the stereotypical slovenly male. This wasn't the case. He was very particular about his appearance and even dispensed fashion advice to us. On days when he went to church or some place where he would need to dress up, he was obsessed. He would ask if his tie was too long, if it was too short, if the knot was straight. His hair had to be perfect, his shoes shined, and his socks absolutely had to coordinate with the rest of his ensemble.

Dad rarely shopped for his own clothing, but when he did, the experience was nearly unbearable for anyone accompanying him. He wore exactly the same type of pants to work every day, but Russ remembers spending an hour with him, shopping only for one pair of work pants.

His obsession with finding the perfect clothing also surfaced when he shopped for my mom's Christmas presents. Each year he recruited me to go Christmas shopping with him. I remember one excriciating evening when dad and I spent what seemed to be hours at McAlpin's trying to decide between two outfits he had selected. After weighing the pros and cons of each outfit, he finally decided on one. Incidentally, I was back at McAlpin's a few weeks later when my mom exchanged the outfit he had taken so long choosing.

My dad could be very stern, but he also had a playful side. Since he worked early hours on the railroad, he was usually home when we got out of school. Cheryl remembers watching the Flintstones and Tom and Jerry cartoons after school with dad. Russ remembers how tired dad would be after work, but that he would still play with him. He would tell Russ to get his marbles and plastic army men and they would shoot marbles at the army men. Dad enjoyed sports and often took us bowling and to play putt-putt golf on his off days.

My dad and his granddaughter, Alyssa

However, his playful side really kicked in when he became a grandfather. Although he occasionally disciplined Alyssa, he was more often her partner in crime. For instance, one day he took a plastic newspaper wrapper, formed it into a ball, and threw it at her. Alyssa pretended to hold a baseball bat and took a swing. This continued until Cheryl walked into the room and reminded them that they shouldn't throw things in the house, to which dad replied. "She started it!"

Dad also enjoyed his time with Quincy and looked forward to playing baseball with him. Each time he saw Quincy he said, "Boy, he's really going to be something."

I hope you have enjoyed hearing a few of our memories of my dad. He had a great sense of humor and would rather be remembered with laughter than with tears.

Haven't I Heard This Story Before?

2011-06-12T07:48:00.000-04:00

Chancey Shaw was not a model citizen in his hometown of Ripley, Ohio. He liked his drink and had been arrested a couple of times for assault. Although he lived in a hotbed of Underground Railroad activity, his goal wasn’t to help escaped slaves on the road to freedom, but prevent them from doing so while padding his pockets a bit in the process. Chancey was a nephew of my fifth great-grandfather, Russell Shaw. Peter Shaw, Russell’s brother, was Chancey’s father.

The Ohio River was the dividing line between slave state of Kentucky and possible freedom in Ohio. In Ripley, on the bluff overlooking the river, was the home of Reverend John Rankin, a Presbyterian minister and outspoken abolitionist. His home was a landmark for escaping slaves, who looked for the lighted lantern the family left in a window. The Rankin family and some other Ripley residents would hide slaves in their homes, then transport them north to another stop on the Underground Railroad. The residents of Ripley were well-aware of the Rankin family’s abolitionist activities.

John Rankin House, Ripley Ohio
NHL-NPS Photo
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/oh3.htm

The Ohio River had frozen over in February 1838, creating what could be an easier escape for slaves than rowing across the river in a skiff. Later in the month, though, the ice had started to thaw. On a frigid late February night, Chancey Shaw positioned himself on the banks of the Ohio River hoping to nab an escaping slave and collect a reward from a grateful slave owner. When he heard the splashing of water and the cracking of ice, he must have thought that this would be his lucky night.

A slave woman and her two year old child struggled to cross the river on the thawing ice. In her desperate escape, the woman fell through the ice three times. Chancey heard her coming and met her on the Ohio shore. He grabbed her arm and, surprisingly, said, “Any woman who crossed that river carrying her baby has won her freedom.” Then Chancey Shaw directed the woman to the Rankin home, where he told her she would find help. I would love to know what made the slave catcher give up a reward of possibly hundreds of dollars and have mercy on this woman and her child.

Does this story sound vaguely familiar?

A few years later after this incident, Reverend Rankin was visiting one of his sons at Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati. There, he related the story of the woman’s incredible escape to a professor at the seminary, Calvin Stowe, and his wife, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Years later in her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, Mrs. Stowe based the character of Eliza, a slave woman who jumped with her child from ice floe to ice floe to cross the Ohio River to freedom, on the courageous woman who risked her life and the life of her child to flee the bondage of slavery.

If you are interested in the rich history of the Underground Railroad in Brown County, Ohio, I highly recommend Beyond the River: The Untold Story of the Heroes of the Underground Railroad by Ann Hagedorn.

A Portrait of Jennie

2011-06-05T07:20:00.000-04:00

I was searching through my ancestors’ names to get ideas for my blog and Jennie Ballein caught my eye. Now, Jennie Esther Ballein was my paternal grandmother, but the Jennie who captured my attention was her aunt. I haven’t done much research on Jennie Ballein, but I do know that she has a unique distinction in my family tree.

Jennie Ballein was born October 12, 1864 in Brown County, Ohio to Peter and Margaret Kincaid Ballein. At the time of her birth, Jennie’s father had just completed four months service in Company B of the 172nd Ohio Infantry during the Civil War.

Jennie grew up near Sardinia in Brown County, Ohio with her eight brothers and sisters. On September 7, 1887, she married John Rush Srofe of Green Township in Brown County. They had two children, a son, Clyde Leroy and a daughter, Berdetta. Jennie and John divorced sometime between 1910 and 1920 (obviously I need to do a little more research). John had remarried by 1921 and died in 1944.

Jennie, however, still had some living to do. At the age of 65 in 1930, she was living in Georgetown, Ohio with Berdetta and her husband, Harry Galliher. I’m really not sure what she was up to in the next 34 years. Yes, 34 years! I first became aware of Jennie when I found the newspaper clipping at the right in my grandmother’s Bible.

The caption below the photo reads, “CENTENARIAN – Mrs. Jennie Ballein Srofe, a native of the Sardinia community, who makes her home with her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Galliher, of 431 Kenwood Ave., Georgetown, will observe her 100th birthday on Monday, Oct. 12. Members of the Georgetown Presbyterian Church will honor Mrs. Srofe Sunday with a cottage prayer meeting followed by a visitation by members of the church and public from 3 to 4 p.m. Mrs. Srofe was born in 1864 and was married in 1888 to John R. Srofe . A son, Clyde L., died on August 18.”

Jennie died on May 7, 1969 at the age of 104, the longest-lived person in my family tree. Consider the history she lived through – from the Civil War to Vietnam War protests. Presidential assassinations, two world wars, the Great Depression. Automobiles, air travel, space travel. Imagine the stories she must have told!

Memorial Day History

2011-05-28T13:31:00.001-04:00

In honor of the members of my family who have died while serving in the United States military:

William Wardlaw, born 1771, died August 4, 1812, either of disease or at the Battle of Brownstown, Michigan. William was my fourth great grand uncle in my paternal grandmother's family.
Samuel Kincaid, my fourth great grandfather in my paternal grandmother's family, died May 5, 1813 at the siege of Ft. Meigs, Ohio.
Campbell Dudley, born 1837, died July 29, 1864 while serving with the 48th Ohio Infantry when he drowned in the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was my great grand uncle in my maternal grandmother's family.

The following information is excerpted from The United States Department of Veterans Affairs website, which can be found at http://www1.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/history.asp:

Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.

Clarence Dudley decorating the Lynchburg, Ohio
war memorial which honored Civil War dead,
including his uncle, Campbell Dudley.

The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

The ceremonies centered around the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Various Washington officials, including Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, presided over the ceremonies. After speeches, children from the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns.

Local springtime tributes to the Civil War dead already had been held in various places. One of the first occurred in Columbus, Miss., April 25, 1866, when a group of women visited a cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen in battle at Shiloh. Nearby were the graves of Union soldiers, neglected because they were the enemy. Disturbed at the sight of the bare graves, the women placed some of their flowers on those graves, as well.

By the end of the 19th century, Memorial Day ceremonies were being held on May 30 throughout the nation. State legislatures passed proclamations designating the day, and the Army and Navy adopted regulations for proper observance at their facilities.

It was not until after World War I, however, that the day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress, though it is still often called Decoration Day. It was then also placed on the last Monday in May, as were some other federal holidays.

Gen. Logan’s order for his posts to decorate graves in 1868 “with the choicest flowers of springtime” urged: “We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. ... Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.”

Reconnecting with the Donaldson Family

2011-05-27T14:54:00.000-04:00

My mom never knew her Donaldson aunts and uncles. Her dad, Eddie Earl Donaldson, the son of David Scott Donaldson and Mary Cordelia Lamb, moved from Oklahoma to the Cincinnati, Ohio area as a teenager in around 1915. My mom, who was seven when her dad died, never had the opportunity to know or visit her dad's brothers and sisters. So, it is always exciting to meet (at least online) our distant Donaldson cousins.

Charles Lamoine Donaldson

It seems that there is at least one person in every Donaldson aunt's or uncle's family who is interested in the family history. To date, I have made contact with descendants of Arthur Ray Donaldson (1888 - 1951), Harry Alva Donaldson (1891 - 1961), Lelah Donaldson Hensley Bowen (1893 - 1957), Violet Pearl Donaldson Hensley, and William Everett Donaldson (1903 - 1975). Thus far, I haven't made contact with descendants of Charles Lamoine Donaldson (1886 - 1948), James Donaldson (about 1899 - unknown), or Katie Donaldson Willie (1906 - 1983).

Most recently, I have been trying to compile information on Charles Lamoine Donaldson and his son, Paul Fain Donaldson. I have a letter that Paul Fain Donaldson's grandson wrote to one of my cousins several years ago. The grandson's name is David, but this is all I know about him.

So, consider this my plea for information on the children of David and Mary Donaldson of Indiana, then Missouri, then Oklahoma. I want to share information with you, hear your stories, and see your photographs!

Our Brush With Fame

2011-05-21T17:50:00.000-04:00

Although it really doesn’t matter to me that I haven’t found any famous ancestors, I confess that it was kind of excited to learn that George Washington mentioned one of my ancestors in his diary. Of course, he didn’t write about him in a flattering context, but he mentioned him just the same.

Matthew Hills is one of my fifth great-grandfathers on the Donaldson side of the family. Admittedly, I haven’t done a great deal of research on Matthew. He was the father of Rebecca Hillis, who married Ebenezer Donaldson. From the little research I have done to date, Matthew was born around 1742, possibly in Washington County, Pennsylvania. It appears that Matthew lived most, if not all, of his life in Washington County.

In September 1784, George Washington journeyed from his Virigina estate, Mount Vernon, to Washington County to dissolve an ill-advised partnership, consider the potential for water transportation between the Ohio River and the Potomac River, and visit some of his unoccupied bounty land.

In 1784, Matthew lived in a community of Seceders, a group of Scots-Irish Presbyterians in Washington County. When the Seceders arrived in this area over a decade earlier, they cleared the heavy forest and built their homes. Unfortunately for Matthew and many other members of this community, they had settled on the bounty land George Washington was setting out to visit.

To make a long story short, General Washington, despite having thousands and thousands of acres of bounty land, didn’t take kindly to having squatters on what he claimed was his land. For their part, the Seceders didn’t take kindly to General Washington. They disputed his ownership of the land.

Washington wanted to inspect the disputed land. On Sunday September 19, 1784, he recorded in his diary, “Being Sunday, and the People living on my Land, apparently very religious, it was thought best to postpone going among them till tomorrow.” Well, I must say that my admiration for the Father of Our Country evaporated the minute I read that! Incidentally, George wrote “apparently” in italics – I didn’t add them.

On September 20, George Washington was able to inspect the land, recording a description of the land and the improvements the squatters made. Regarding my ancestor’s land, Washington wrote, “Matthew Hillast [Hillis]. Has within my line—abt. 7 Acres of Meadow. 3 besides, Arable—also a small double Barn.”

Despite contesting Washington’s ownership of the land, the settlers tried to negotiate a purchase of the land, but they couldn’t reach an agreement. The squatters refused to budge and Washington sued the squatters to force them to leave his land. Matthew Hillis was not among the squatters that Washington sued. The case went to trial two years later and the verdict was in Washington’s favor.

So, there it is – my family’s brush with fame.

To read more about this little-known incident in American history, check out The Papers of George Washington at http://gwpapers.virginia.edu and “George Washington's Western Adventure” by Joel Achenbach at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10634-2004Jun2_2.html.

Agricultural Schedules

2010-10-03T17:05:00.000-04:00

During my recent trip to the Family History library in Salt Lake City, I had the opportunity to look for my ancestors in the 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 census agricultural schedules. The agricultural schedules were among the non-population schedules taken in conjunction with the population schedules.

Before reviewing the agricultural schedules, I was well aware that most of my ancestors were farmers. However, being a city person, I had no idea exactly what these farmers actually raised.

Very small farms weren't included in the agricultural schedules, which may be why I was unable to find some of my ancestors, such as the Dudley family. On my maternal side, I was able to locate my 3rd great-grandmother, Mary E. Shaper, in Hamer Township, Highland County, Ohio on the 1850 schedule. She owned 75 acres, 20 of which were improved. She had two horses, two cows, eight sheep, and eight pigs and grew crorn.

I had more success on my paternal side. The largest farm among my ancestors belonged to my 3rd great-grandfather Alfred Ogden, who owned 850 acres in Clark Township, Brown County Ohio. Alfred owned horses, cattle, sheep, and 100 pigs. He grew wheat, rye, corn, oats, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. He also kept bees, producing 50 pounds of honey and/or beeswax in 1850. He had apparently given that up by 1860, since no bee products are listed for him in the 1860 agricultural schedule. I don't blame him!

Clarkson Dunn

The data on the more modest farms are what really made me think about the hard work involved. Alfred could probably afford to hire regular help with his farm, but the smaller farms probably couldn't. The names of my other ancestors who appeared on the agricultural schedules are Levi Wardlaw, Clarkson Dunn, William Coulter, Robert Dunn, Isaac Davis, Sylvester Shaw, Francis Steward, Santford Ogden, and Peter Ballein. In addition to the products listed above, they also produced apples, peas, beans, hay, maple sugar, and molasses.

Robert Dunn

I guess my idea of farm life was formed by watching Little House on the Prairie when I was growing up. I believe the Ingalls family had horses and cows, but I don't recall sheep and pigs. Ignorant city dweller that I am, I never considered that my ancestors raised sheep and pigs. The beekeeping was a surprise also, as were the apple orchards. I can only imagine my ancestors' hard work, not to mention the extreme heat, freezing cold, insect bites, and physical exhaustion they must have endured day after day. I struggled this summer with only two tomato plants!

Reviewing the agricultural schedules helped me recall the day several years ago when it dawned on me that much of the farm land we pass when we ride through the country was cleared not by farm machinery and power tools, but by human hands and real horsepower. I believe that few of us today have any idea of what hard work really is. I believe my most of my ancestors were hard workers, regardless of the size of their property, and that's why it doesn't matter to me whether or not I'm descended from royalty or someone famous. I'm proud to be descended from these hard-working farmers.

Getting Sidetracked

2010-08-24T21:15:00.000-04:00

I have been pouring all of my genealogical efforts into preparing for my upcoming trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, and I am getting sick of it! I am going to force myself to have a totally genealogy-free week before my trip to refresh myself. I had a nice break on Sunday, though, when I spent a little while researching another family.

It started when I heard my mom and sister discussing "Frieda's cookies." Frieda and Joe Greenstein were my babysitters and Frieda made the most delicious butter cookies known to humankind. Rectangular shaped with a fork mark across the top, crisp, sweet, and buttery, these cookies are the stuff of legend. We have tried a number of butter cookie recipes, but have never found the right one.

Frieda was much more than a wonderful baker. She and Joe were wonderful people. I never remember them raising their voices to me. I remember one time that I did something I shouldn't have and hid under their big bed. I heard Joe telling Frieda that he couldn't find me. He finally did, of course, and got down on his hands and knees, telling me that everything was all right and convincing me that I should come out.   I have so many memories - the cherry tree and wishing well in their backyard, the scent of bleach from the wringer washing machine, the way Joe slurped coffee from his cup, watching the Paul Dixon Show and "stories" with Frieda. I remember them buying Necco candy for me from the Jewel Tea truck.   I also recall walking home from Frieda and Joe's house one time and Joe waving as we walked away. Each time I turned around to look at him, Joe was still standing there waving.

Joe died nearly 40 years ago, in September 1970. I remember the night my parents went to the visitation.  I sat alone in the front yard at another babysitter's house and heard her comment that I didn't even know why I was crying. That wasn't true, though. I knew Joe was gone and that I would never see him again. I remember going to visit Frieda after church one Sunday and how devastated she was.

Years later, we sent Frieda my high school graduation announcement. I was understandably nervous on the morning of my graduation day. Even though it was a Sunday and there was no mail delivery, in my anxious state I walked outside and looked in the mailbox. Much to my surprise, I found a card addressed to me. I opened it and it was a graduation card from Frieda. In a weak hand she had written "God bless you. Love, Frieda." She had enclosed a pretty handkerchief. Frieda died in 1986.

On Sunday, I learned that Frieda Stockman was from the west side of Cincinnati and, like many west siders, was a Catholic of German heritage. Her mother, Anna, was born in Germany. Both of her parent died when she was young and she lived with a sister and her family.   Joe was the son of Moses and Tillie Greenstein. Moses was from Russia. In 1920, Joe and his mother were boarders in someone else's home.

Several months ago, I was looking for my Ballein family in the 1930 census. I hadn't had any luck (still haven't) and was trying to be creative. So, I tried to find my great-aunt Freda Ballein. Instead, I found Frieda and Joe and their daughter, Jeanette. We knew that Frieda and Joe had a daughter who died, but didn't know anything about her.   On Sunday, I located her death certificate and learned that Jeanette Marie Greenstein died in 1930 from acute gastroenteritis. Frieda and Joe had no more children.

Over thirty years over Jeanette's death, Joe cleaned up Jeanette's little chair and allowed a certain little girl to use it. The more I think about the fine people the Greensteins were, the more honored I am to have been that little girl.

A River View

2010-08-15T16:17:00.001-04:00

My blog posts have been few and far between recently because I have been preparing for my trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City in a few weeks. However, each week as I travel on the bridge over the Little Miami River in Milford, Ohio, I get to view my favorite genealogical scene and feel like waxing poetic about it.

As I look north as we cross the bridge I see the river surrounded by thick shrubbery and trees. If I can block out the cell tower, utility poles, cars, and modern buildings, I can envision how the area might have looked 200 years ago. I especially like this view in the winter when steam or smoke is rising from distant houses. I can almost smell the 19th century wood smoke coming from the homes of my ancestors, the Price family, and their neighbors. My fourth great-grandfather, Jeremiah Price, lived on the Milford side of the river and his brother, Nimrod, lived on the Camp Dennison side of the river. Their father, Daniel, supposedly said something to the effect that the boys needed to be kept on opposite sides of the river because Nimrod was a Universalist and Jeremiah a Methodist.

That's it. I just enjoy the view and like to imagine what it might have been like way back when. Hopefully I will return from Salt Lake City with lots of new information and ideas for this blog.

The Graveyard Getaway

2010-06-07T19:28:00.000-04:00

Last week my mom, sister, niece, and I went on a two day trip we called the Graveyard Getaway or Cemetery Crawl or Dead Drive, depending on whom you ask.

Our trip began at the Waldschmidt Cemetery in Camp Dennison, Ohio, the final resting place of my fifth great-grandparents Daniel and Catherine Selllers Price and fourth great-grandparents Jeremiah and Elizabeth Wiggins Price. Germany, as the settlement was originally called, was founded by German immigrant Christian Waldschmidt. The Price (or Preisch) family were among the second wave of settlers in Germany. Camp Dennison was built during the Civil War on the land of Nimrod Price, Daniel and Catherine's other son.

Our next stop was Troutwine Cemetery in Lynchburg, Ohio. My great-grandparents, Jesse and Mary Shaper Dudley, great-uncles Lewis and Thomas Dudley, and uncles Everett and Mitchell Donaldson are buried there. Jesse's sister, Jane Dudley Setty, is also buried nearby. My second great-grandfather, John Shaper, is supposedly buried there as well, but his grave must be unmarked, since I have never been able to find it.

From Troutwine, we headed to Lynchburg to try to locate the former home of Mary Shaper Dudley. We checked out the address on Broadway where she lived at the time of the 1930 census. My mom didn't think it was the right house, but then she hadn't yet been born in 1930.

Our next destination was the Masonic Cemetery in Lynchburg, where my great-uncle Absalom Dudley and his wife Christena Tomaske Dudley are buried.

After a restroom break at the Lynchburg Public Library, we headed south to the Sardinia, Ohio Cemetery. My second great-grandparents, Peter and Margaret Kincaid Ballein are buried here. I took a closer look at their gravestone and noticed that there is a GAR symbol and an emblem of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. I'm ashamed I hadn't noticed this before!

I was excited to visit the old section of the cemetery, where I recognized the names of the brave people who operated the Underground Railroad in Sardinia, including Matthew and Paul Reed Kincaid, brothers of my third great-grandfather, Samuel Kincaid.

Next, we headed west toward Mt. Orab and then a little south. Following directions provided by a distant cousin, we located a church which had once been the Shiloh Methodist Church, where my second great-grandmother, Sarah Steward Ogden, was a charter member.

We then travelled a little further to the Warner Cemetery. Of course, my family doesn't recognize it by that name. We call it "that cemetery where the car got stuck in the ditch when we were kids." This old cemetery doesn't have a lane through it, so you park just off the road and keep your fingers crossed. My second great-grandparents Santford and Sarah Steward Ogden, great-grandparents James and Rosa Ogden Davis and uncle Nelson Davis are buried there.

After lunch, we headed southeast toward the Wardlow Cemetery. Buried here are my fourth great-grandfather Samuel Wardlaw, my third great-grandparents Levi and Abby Hall Wardlow, my second great-grandparents John R. and Lulu Dunn Wardlow, my great-grandparents Hite and Elma Wardlow Ballein, and my grandparents James Quincy and Esther Ballein Davis. I took pictures of all of the stones in this cemetery. When my mom came up with the title of this blog, Leaves and Branches, I immediately thought of the big, old tree in this cemetery. I took several pictures of it and will replace the picture of some random tree I have been using on the blog with our Wardlow "family tree."

After a sleepless night in a hotel bed, we continued our journey by heading to the Arnheim Cemetery. According to some family trees on Ancestry.com, my third great-grandfather, Robert Dunn is buried there. Correction . . . according to some inaccurate family trees on Ancestry.com, Robert Dunn is buried in Arnheim Cemetery. No gravestone for Robert there, but we found the grave of John and Lulu Wardlow's daughter, Emma Wardlow Weis.

And on to Russellville, the town founded by my fifth great-grandfather, Russell Shaw. We first stopped at the Shaw Cemetery and guess what we found? The gravesites of Robert and Elmina Shaw Dunn! So, if your records indicate that Robert and Elmina are buried in Arnheim, please be advised that they are actually buried in the Shaw Cemetery. Of course, Russell Shaw and his wife, Johanna Reynolds Shaw, are also buried in the Shaw Cemetery.

Our last stop was the Russellville town square, where there is a monument to Russell Shaw. This was a deeply emotional and moving experience for my delightful niece, who is pictured below.

The Kincaid Family

2010-05-10T21:12:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted recently because I have been hard at work filling in the many gaps in my family tree. When I first started my research many years ago, I didn't understand why anyone other than the people from whom I was directly descended should be important to me. By the time I realized that I had been, well, stupid, I had passed over a lot of important information. I just finished filling in some gaps in the Kincaid family.

The Kincaids are on my paternal grandmother's side. Margaret Kincaid was my great-great grandmother and the second wife of Peter Ballein. Margaret was born in 1836, the daughter of Samuel and Jemima Coulter Kincaid. Samuel was born in 1804 to Samuel and Sarah Reed Kincaid. The first Samuel Kincaid died May 5, 1813 during the seize of Fort Meigs in the War 1812. After the elder Samuel's death, the Kincaids settled in the area around Sardinia in Brown County, Ohio.

Had I only focused on Samuel Kincaid, son of Samuel and Sarah Kincaid, I would have missed an interesting story and one, unfortunately, I may never be able to totally piece together. Historical Collections of Brown County, Ohio by Carl N. Thompson indicates that Matthew Kincaid, Samuel's and Sarah's eldest son, "was active as a participating agent in the 'Underground Railroad' movement." Kincaid Genealogy by G. L. Kincaid states that Matthew was an agent on the Underground Railroad and also that the second son, Robert, was a "strong anti-slaveryman."

A 1932 PhD dissertation entitled "The Underground Railroad from Southwestern Ohio to Lake Erie" by Edward O'Conner Purtee used an 1892 letter from Dr. Isaac Beck as a reference. Dr. Beck was a known Underground Railroad conductor in Sardinia and stated that "four Kincaids" were very active in the Underground Railroad. There were four Kincaid brothers. The 1860 census listed Samuel Kincaid and Isaac Beck as neighbors. Other sources also indicate that the Kincaid brothers were participants in the Underground Railroad.

For the protection of the operatives, records of the Underground Railroad are scarce. Everything points to my ancestor, Samuel Kincaid, being involved in the Underground Railroad. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someday, somewhere, I will find documentation that flat out states that Samuel was involved in the Underground Railroad. And then I will be so excited I'll eat a pint of ice cream or something.

His Irish Eyes Weren't Smiling

2010-03-16T21:50:00.000-04:00

It's the time of the year when we celebrate our Irish heritage and I have plenty of it.

My mom claimed Irish heritage through the Donaldsons. My dad always made fun of her. I think he bought into the stereotype that the Irish are drunks. The rest of us didn't care, though. We were proud to have Irish heritage. My dad said that his father, James Quincy Davis, always told him the Davises were Welsh.

Very early in my research, I learned of Robert Hamilton, my fifth great-grandfather through my paternal grandmother, Jennie Esther Ballein. Robert Hamilton was born in Ireland in 1760. He came to America shortly before the Revolutionary War and served in that war. I told my dad he had Irish blood and he promptly told me that only the male line (i.e., the Davises) counted when determining one's cultural heritage.

I will always remember the day that changed my dad's life. I was sitting at a microfilm viewer looking for my great-great grandfather Isaac Davis in the 1880 census. The entry under his father's birthplace was illegible, but it sure didn't look like Wales. I examined it closely. It appeared to begin with an I. Could it be? I printed the census record so I could present my dad with evidence that his great-great grandfather, Samuel Davis, was born in Ireland. The 1850 census also indicates that Samuel was born in Ireland.

My dad still wasn't convinced. My grandpa was still alive at that time and I overheard my dad on the phone telling him in a rather condescending manner that I told him the Davises were Irish. This was followed by a long pause. The next thing my dad said was "But you always said we were Welsh!" So, grandpa verified my dad's Irish heritage. I took every opportunity to bring up his previous comment that only the male line counted when determining one's heritage.

It took my dad a little time to accept his Irish roots. It became a little more difficult when I told my mom that even though she has Irish roots, they weren't though the Scottish Donaldsons. There's an irony! She didn't make fun of him, though. She was sort of bummed.

We were always sure to help him celebrate his Irish heritage. We bought him buttons proclaiming his Irishness, Irish cupcakes, and a shamrock plant. He resisted at first, but finally came to appreciate his Irish heritage.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My dad embracing his Irish heritage

The Name Game

2010-03-07T16:53:00.001-05:00

Why did our ancestors have so many different variations on their names? Since a very young age, I have known my full name and the correct spelling. You probably have also. But I see so many different names for the same people and families and, well, it's frustrating.

First, there is my great-great-grandmother, Lulu Dunn Wardlow. I refer her to as Lulu, because that is the name on her gravestone. However, I have seen her name spelled Eulala, Eulali, Ulalia, and Lula. Someone told me I was wrong about her name but who's to say?

My great-grandmother, Rosa Ogden Davis, has been referred to as Thankful Rosa, Rozella, and Rosie. Again, she is referred to Rosa on her gravestone, so that is typically how I refer to her.

Ballein is problem name. I have seen it written as Bowline and Bauline. I can almost excuse this, though, since it is a somewhat unusual name.

Shaper is a problem for another reason. It is pronounced the way it is written but, unfortunately, is similar to the more familiar name Shafer and the numerous variants of the same name (Schafer, Schaeffer, etc.) and, therefore, is easily misunderstood. Same problem with Steward, which could be misinterpreted as Stewart.

When I was a kid and mispronounced my mom's maiden name, she always corrected me and told me the name was Donaldson, not Donalson. Tell that to the census enumerators, who wrote it as Donaldson, Donalson, and Donelson!

Even common, simple names like Dudley (Dudly) and Davis (Davies) can be recorded incorrectly.

Then there are the name changes. One family arrived in Ohio known as the Wardlaws and sometime in the early 19th century became known as the Wardlows. Another family arrived in Camp Dennison, Ohio with the surname Preisch (sometimes written as Prisch to confuse matters), which was soon Anglicized to Price.

Don't even get me started on the issues with Ebenezer and Ulysses! And I doubt I will ever know if my great-great grandmother's name was Lavinna or Lavina or Lavinia Patton (I call her Lavinna).

I suspect that this problem had a lot to do with illiteracy and semi-literacy among some of my ancestors. On top of that, a lot of the census enumerators and recordkeepers of earlier eras were a little lacking when it came to spelling and penmanship. Perhaps folks in the olden days just wanted to create a greater challenge for their descendants.

My Family Medical History

2010-02-18T18:44:00.000-05:00

I have recently been printing copies of Ohio death certificates from FamilySearch.org.   I already have many death certificates, but this time I am focusing on relatives from whom I am not directly descended (and, quite honestly, for whose death certificates I wouldn't pay). My primary medical concern has been stroke, since there is a strong family history on my dad's side of the family. As I read the death certificates, though, I noticed another pattern - death by train.

I have known for some time that my great-uncle, Lewis Jefferson Dudley, died after being hit by a train. Uncle Lew was the second child of Jesse and Mary Shaper Dudley and the brother of my grandmother, Mary Dudley Donaldson. Other than the cause of his death, we don't know much about Lew. From the newspaper account, he must have been walking along the railroad tracks on the night of November 11, 1906 when he was hit by a train. He sustained a deep wound in the back of his head and a leg was amputated below the knee.  His death has puzzled me for years. This was a 25-year-old man walking along railroad tracks he had probably walked along many times. Had he been drinking? Was he sick? Did he have an enemy? Was he depressed? We may never know.

William Henry Ballein, the eldest son of my great-great grandfather Peter Ballein and his first wife, Margaret Yochum, was born January 7, 1858. He was was killed on January 15, 1926 when he was struck by a train in Winchester, Adams County, Ohio. His skull had been fractured. I'll have to do a little more research on this some day.

And then there is Dwight Wardlow. Dwight was the son of my great-great grandparents, John and Lulu Dunn Wardlow. Dwight was born November 15, 1888 and died at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday July 29, 1945 when he was struck by a train in Washington Township, Brown County, Ohio. He sustained multiple injuries and, according to his death certificate, his "body showed effect of having been drinking liquor."

The irony, of course, is that my dad, Russell Lee Davis, was a brakeman on the railroad for 35 years. He sustained injuries and had a lot of close calls, but survived it in one piece (after his finger tip was reattached). I wonder if my grandmother, Esther Ballein Davis, who had two uncles killed by trains, was uneasy when the B & O Railroad hired him. All I know is that when I take my brisk walks to try to ward off the threat of stroke, I won't be walking around any railroad tracks.

The Two Cent Piece

2010-02-07T18:35:00.000-05:00

This afternoon I was looking through a notebook with some of my research notes and stopped on the page containing information on my great-grandfather, James Ulysses Davis. A note from my conversations years ago with my dad, Russell Lee Davis, caught my eye. My dad told me that his grandfather gave him an 1868 two cent piece.

My dad always kept a little maroon velvet drawstring bag with his coin collection. He was mostly interested in silver dollars, but also had other assorted U S coins and a few foreign coins saved from his Air Force days in Europe. He would occasionally take the bag out and show us his coins. I hadn't seen the little drawstring bag in years and asked my family where the coins were. We searched and located the coins and found the 1868 two cent piece. As I compose this post, that two cent piece is on the desk in front of me. It isn't in mint condition. It isn't worth a fortune. But it's quite meaningful to have this memento which was passed from a grandfather to his grandson.

James Ulysses Davis was born March 15, 1858 in Clark Township, Brown County, Ohio to Isaac and Lavinna Patton Davis. He married Rosa Ogden on May 14, 1892. They had five children, Lucy, Lawrence, Elsie, James Quincy (my grandfather), and Nelson. He worked as a farmer and lived most of his life in or near Mt. Orab, Ohio.

My dad remembered his grandfather as a small man with a full mustache. He chewed tobacco and had a spitoon by his rocking chair. He used a cane and kept it nearby in case he needed to tap the floor to get attention. My dad remembered one visit to his grandparents especially well. My grandma was speaking to Rosa, who tended to speak loudly and laugh a lot. James Ulysses was trying to speak to my grandpa, but grandpa couldn't hear him because Rosa was so loud. James yelled to Rosa, "Woman! Keep the noise down, would you?" Perhaps this was why he needed to keep the cane nearby for tapping the floor. James and Rosa Davis at pictured at right.

James Ulysses Davis died October 18, 1942 in Mt. Orab from "mitral insufficiency." He is buried in the Warner Cemetery in Clark Township, Brown County, Ohio. My dad remembered walking to the cemetery with his grandmother, Rosa, accompanying her on her visits.

I'll sign off for now. I need to find a nice box for this two cent piece.

The Maya Mystery

2010-01-24T18:23:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have obtained an album of Dudley family history. The first section of the album appears to have been compiled by a woman named Maya Dudley-Adams de los Reyes and the second section by my great-uncle, Charles Dudley. Although I am thrilled with the family information and photographs contained in the album, I can't help but wonder who Maya was.

Much of Maya's story is documented on three handwritten pages of legal pad paper. She wrote that she was born May 17, 1914 in Hoboken, New Jersey. My great-uncle John Franklin (Frank) Dudley, lived in Hoboken around that time. Included in her contribution to the album is a picture of a young man, which she labelled "My brother John Dudley." John Dudley resembles Frank Dudley. In the late 1950s, a woman claiming to be Frank Dudley's daughter visited my grandmother, Mary Dudley Donaldson, unannounced and said she was Frank Dudley's daughter. My mom remembers that she had information on Dudley Castle in England. Maya's documents in the album includes information on Dudley Castle. All of this information points to Maya being a daughter of John Franklin Dudley.

If Maya's information is accurate, she lived quite an amazing life. Maya indicated that she did not have a mother, but didn't say what happened to her. Christena Tomaske Dudley, my great-uncle Absalom's wife, must have offered at some point to raise Maya. Maya wrote that Adams was her adopted name. Maya was married the first time at the age of 16, to get away from her father, she said. Whether she was referring to Frank or an adoptive father is not stated. This marriage was annulled four months later.

She then married Eugene del los Reyes, with whom she had a total of 11 children, including a set of twins and a set of triplets. One of the twins died. Maya and Eugene divorced at one point, Maya returned to New York and married another man for seven weeks, and then returned to the Phillipines to visit her two eldest children. She and Eugene then remarried. Newspaper clippings indicate that her home was burned and her two eldest childen killed by the Japanese. She escaped with others and survived by eating grass and weeds. She spent nine months in the Santo Tomas internment camp in the Phillipines, where she gave birth to the triplets. All three died of cholera four months later.

The newspaper clipping are all announcements of her appearances at churches to tell about her experience. The clippings aren't dated. I'm not certain, but I believe the churches were in California. The newspaper clippings indicate Maya was a graduate of the University of the Phillipines, a nurse, "an artist of world-wide reputation," and "a well-known lecturer." The clippings also state that "besides living in the Phillipines and the United States," she lived in "England, Italy, France, Africa, China, and Japan."

So, the woman who lived this life was the daughter of a man from a small southwestern Ohio town who was born and raised in a one-room cabin? Who was her mother and what happened to her? Who were the Adams who adopted her? What brought her to the Phillipines? Why haven't I been able to find any information on this artist of worldwide reputation and well-known lecturer or her children (at least not yet!)? I wonder if the History Detectives would be interested in taking this on. (History Detectives is a show on PBS, if you're not a huge fan like I am.)

Dudley Family Records

2010-01-10T21:02:00.001-05:00

This week I had the honor to receive an album of information, newspaper clippings, letters, and photographs related to the Dudley family. This family documentation was apparently compiled by my great-grandfather, Jesse Dudley with the assistance of his eldest child, Charles. After Charles' death, the information must have been passed on to his brother, Clarence. One of Clarence's step-grandsons was kind enough to send the information to me. One of the pages in the album reads as follows:

These records was set forth by the hand of Jessey Dudley in the year of our Lord Dec-9-1922 and to him goes the credit for their keeping to the best of his knowledge, his records were handed down to his first born son Charles Henry Dudley who has faithfully kept them to the best of his knowledge. And they will be kept and handed down to all the Dudley progenitors to come. In God we trust. Amen.

This family record answers a lot of questions, but also raises a lot of new ones. Some of the information probably doesn't pertain to my Dudleys at all. Still, I have plenty of new clues to pursue.

This is truly a family treasure and I am honored to be the keeper of it, at least for my generation. It really makes me feel a connection to the past. It is clear that Jesse and Charlie intended for this information to be shared with their ancestors and I will be scanning the information to share with others. I will also make sure that the information is properly preserved.

Front Row (L-R): Lewis Dudley, Mary E. Dudley, Mary J. Dudley, Jesse Dudley, Charles Dudley.

Back Row: Absalom Dudley, John F. Dudley, Thomas Dudley, Clarence Dudley

My Genealogy Year in Review

2009-12-31T14:40:00.000-05:00

After a few years of limited interest in what I consider my primary hobby, I became active and interested in genealogy again in 2009. My accomplishments:

I started putting my family tree on Ancestry.com
I have made a lot of progress in organizing the family photographs and documents I have obtained over the years.
I have met some distant and not-so-distant relatives with whom I have been able to exchange information.

Sharing information with my heretofore unknown relatives has been rewarding. I had shied away from sharing my research with others because of a bad experience in the past when I shared a great deal of information with a distant cousin who didn't as much as acknowledge receiving it.

However, I had reached the point in my research where having only a few facts and maybe a photo or two wasn't enough. I wanted to know more about the personalities of the people I have been researching for years. To do this, I needed to network with people who had the type of information I was seeking, like family stories and photographs.

I began with the Donaldson branch. My mom had only met a couple of her Donaldson cousins, since she was only seven when her father died and none of her cousins lived in this area. I did some research and found the name and address of a gentleman whom I believed to one of my mom's cousins. In return, a received a photocopy of a picture of my Donaldson great-grandparents and addresses of two other relatives. I contacted these two individuals and heard back from another of my mom's cousins. I have received a lot of information from this very kind and helpful lady. She provided an address of another Donaldson family researcher who is (I think) my second cousin, once removed. This lady has also been quite helpful. It has been a pleasure getting to know some of my Donaldson relatives.

I have also gotten to know some of my Dudley relatives. First, I met a third cousin, connecting through Ancestry.com. We have exchanged information and he also put me in touch with a lady who is my second cousin, once removed. I have also been able to exchange information with her and have been able to provide several photos of her great-grandfather, Charles Dudley, who must have loved to have his picture taken! I am also hoping to receive information from another Dudley connection in the near future. I am grateful for the opportunity to have met my Dudley relatives.

I haven't had quite as much success with my paternal lines. I attempted to contact one of my dad's Ballein cousins with no response. I heard from a very distant Ballein relative, but at this point we don't have anything to share with each other. If any Balleins, specifically those with a Brown County, Ohio connection, happen to read this, please contact me by posting a comment to this blog.

My goal this year is to try to find some distant Davis cousins. I made a connection in the Ogden branch, though. Unexpectedly, I received a letter from a lady researching the Ogden family and asking if I had any photographs I could share. She found my name and address on a pedigree chart I sent to the Brown County, Ohio Genealogy Society in the early 1990s! I was able to exchange information with her. She was kind enough to send me school pictures of my grandfather, James Quincy Davis.

Thanks to everyone who has been willing to share family information with me.

St. Mary's Church in Arnheim, Ohio

2009-12-01T18:17:00.007-05:00

Let me begin by saying that this blog post is not about St. Mary's church in Arnheim, Ohio. I was hoping that this title would catch the eye of someone who attends St. Mary's and might be able to offer assistance because of the strange thing that happened to me today.

At work, I spoke to a woman in another department about a couple of business matters. She then said that her next question had nothing to do with work. Although I have known this woman for a number of years, she and I have never had a personal conversation and I have never told her about my family or interest in genealogy.

She asked if I had any relatives in the Sardinia, Ohio area. I told her I might, because my grandmother was from the Sardinia area. She explained that she has a vacation home in the Sardinia area and visited over the weekend. When she visits, she attends services at St. Mary's church and she said there is a woman who attends St. Mary's and looks exactly like me.

Now, if she had mentioned that she had seen someone who looked like me at any other spot on earth, including my other grandparents' hometowns, I would have probably been briefly interested and then have forgotten about it. But what are the chances that she would see someone who looked like me in the hometown of the family member I resemble most?

My paternal grandmother, Jennie Esther Ballein, was born July 17, 1901 near Sardinia Ohio. Her father was Noah Hite Ballein and her mother was Dora Elma Wardlow. Hite Ballein's father was Peter Ballein and his mother was Margaret Kincaid. Elma's father was John Reese Wardlow and Lulu Dunn.

Perhaps this mystery lady has Ballein, Wardlow, Kincaid, or Dunn blood coursing through her veins. I would love to know. Grandma is pictured below. If this resembles someone you know, please post a comment on this blog.

School Pictures

2009-11-22T14:59:00.005-05:00

A couple of months ago, I received a letter from a distant relative, who found a family tree chart I sent to the Brown County, Ohio Genealogical Society over 15 years ago. We are both researching the Ogden family of Brown County. My paternal grandfather, James Quincy Davis, was the son of James Ulysses Davis and his wife, Rosa Ogden.

A few weeks ago, my distant relative was kind enough to send me copies of grandpa's school pictures from 1916-17 and 1917-18. He attended the Shiloh School, a one-room schoolhouse in Brown County. He would have been 10 to 12 years of age in these pictures. Even though one of the pictures contains a caption indicating which child he is, I didn't think it was him. I have a picture of him when he was around 14 and I know what he looked like. Also, my mom looked at him and was doubtful because he didn't have the "Davis ears" (large and protruding). I was disappointed.

Then, last week a friend allowed me to borrow his copy of the group photo from our fifth grade class trip to Washington, DC. At first glance, I didn't recognize anyone. As I looked more closely, trying to find myself in the photo, I was able to identify a few more people, but not myself. I scanned the photo and zoomed in. I identified some more kids, but still not me. I still don't recognize most of the kids and have not found myself in the picture. I saw most of these kids every school day for at least seven years, not to mention that I have been looking at myself for a long time now.

So, what lessons have I learned? Don't make assumptions and label photographs! I'm still not sure that's grandpa in the school picture, but I'm also sure I'm not quite as observant as I thought.

The Lost Children

2009-11-08T19:22:00.008-05:00

One family heirloom in my possession is "Detsie's cup." I don't know anything about this cup, except that it supposedly belonged to Detsie Ballein (pictured at right), the eldest child of Elma and Hite Ballein and the sister of my paternal grandmother, Jennie Esther Ballein. It's just a small metal cup with a little handle and some engraving on it. Perhaps it was a gift from first time parents to their little girl. Detsie was born January 10, 1897 and died on August 27, 1899. It occurs to me for the first time that I don't even know where Detsie is buried. A little lost life; one of many in the days before advances in medicine. And, sadly, a life often forgotten in the course of genealogical research.

My maternal grandparents, Mary and Edd Donaldson, also lost two children. Ernest Mitchell Donaldson, known as Mitchell, was born in 1922 and died as an infant on January 8, 1923 from pneumonia. I don't believe I have ever seen a picture of Mitchell. Everett Dudley Donaldson was their second child, born in 1918. The story goes that at the age of five, Everett stepped on barbed wire and contracted tetanus, which took his life. It had to have been an emotional and time in my grandparents' lives. In 1922, Mitchell was born. In January 1923, Mitchell died. In January 1924, Rosemary was born. In March 1924, Everett died. Not only did they need to cope with the loss of their sons, but explain it to their other sons, Clarence and Edward. This picture shows Everett and big brother Clarence and little brother Edward on the pony. Mitchell and Everett are buried in Troutwine Cemetery in Lynchburg, Ohio.

Family trees are full of these little lost lives. We know little about them, except perhaps their birth and death dates. However, we need to honor the memory of these children and the families who loved them by remembering them as more than birth and death dates in the family tree.

An Impassioned Plea!

2009-11-01T16:22:00.004-05:00

I'm frustrated and I need help. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I have been searching for the parents of my great-great grandparents, Thomas Dudley and Iva Lettitia Tankersley Dudley for several years. I have chosen to pursue Lettitia's parents, guessing that researching a less common surname might make my odds better. And, if I can find Lettitia's parents' names, maybe it will make it easier to find Thomas' parents. Although I continue my own research, I am also hoping that someone out there will someday read this blog post and contact me!

Iva Lettitia Tankersley was born around 1811 in Virginia. She married Thomas Dudley on 11/17/1830 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Marriages of Pittsylvania County, Virginia 1806 - 1830 by K. B. Williams lists her name as "Malitia Tankersly." The marriage bond was posted by Nicholas Dillard, a teacher in Pittsylvania County. Soon after their marriage, Lettitia and Thomas moved to Ohio, settling in Clark Township, Clinton County, Ohio.

She and Thomas had 11 children, Absalom (born 1833), Robert (1835), Campbell (1838), William (1841), John (1844), Jane (1846), twins Jesse and Berryman (1848), Mary Ann (1850), Lewis (1853), and one whose name I can't find. Thomas had died by 1870. In 1880, Lettitia was living with her daughter Mary Ann and her husband, Jeremiah Himes. I found a family tree online which indicates that Lettitia died in 1891, but didn't provide a source or contact information for the compiler.

So, if you know the names of Lettitia's or Thomas' parents (or any other information about them), please leave a comment. I'm desperate!

Lulu

2009-10-25T16:02:00.008-04:00

"We have a relative named Lulu? Sweet!" These were the words of my niece when I mentioned that my blog post would be on my great-great-grandmother, Lulu Dunn Wardlow.

I first learned of Lulu when I found her obituary in my grandmother's Bible. I asked my dad if he knew her. He said he did and that "she was a nice old lady." He couldn't tell me much more, except that he remembered his grandmother's family discussing Lulu's walking a half mile across a field to her daughter's home . . . at the age of 90.

Lulu Dunn was born to Robert and Elmina Shaw Dunn on August 20, 1854 in Sardinia, Ohio. She married John Reese Wardlow on August 3, 1873. They had nine children, the second of whom was my great-grandmother, Dora Elma Wardlow. John Wardlow was a farmer.

The first picture I saw of Lulu was the one below, of a family gathering, probably in the early to mid-1930s. Lulu is second from the left in the back row. I had a hard time picturing this unassuming elderly lady hiking a half mile to visit her daughter.

Then a distant relative was kind enough to share a picture of a younger Lulu. Now, this lady could walk half a mile across a field and harvest a crop and wrestle a bear on her way. She is neat as a pin and has a look of quiet determination. She looks kind and reliable. And I bet her children didn't have to wait until their father came in from the fields to be disciplined.

The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words. Perhaps I'm reading too much into this picture of Lulu. However, I'm sure the same words could be used to describe any number of other women of her generation. They weren't famous and aren't mentioned in history books. All they did was raise children and work until their hands were raw and nurse sick children (who sometimes didn't survive) and send their sons off to war. As my niece would say, "Sweet!"

A Cemetery Scare

2009-10-18T14:18:00.003-04:00

In honor of Halloween, in this post I will share a frightening experience I had at Troutwine Cemetery in Lynchburg, Ohio.

Several of my Dudley family members are buried at Troutwine. My great-grandparents, Jesse (1847-1925) and Mary Shaper Dudley (1861-1947) are buried there. Jesse's sister, Jane Dudley Setty (1845-1901) is buried at Troutwine. Two of Jesse's and Mary's sons, Lewis (1880-1906) and Thomas (1890-1940), are buried there was well. My uncles Everett (1918-1924) and Mitchell Donaldson (1922-1923) are also buried at Troutwine Cemetery.

The day we visited, the cemetery was sun-drenched. It was a bright day and there weren't any trees in the cemetery to obstruct the sunlight. There were some wooded areas surrounding the cemetery. The grounds were well-maintained, not overgrown and neglected. As cemeteries go, this was a pleasant place.

Or so I thought. I was exploring the cemetery and walked toward a section that bordered a slightly wooded area. I was reading the headstones when I heard it. "Ooooooooh . . . oooooooh." I gasped! My heart was pounding! A ghost! As I began to come to my senses I heard it again. "Oooooooh . . . ." I carefully turned toward the sound. And there in the wooded area bordering the cemetery I saw it . . . a cow.

The Quaker Lambs

2009-10-11T16:41:00.004-04:00

A couple of years after beginning my family history research, I decided it was time to compile my findings. At that point, I was somewhat perplexed over the Lamb family. Other than the basic information I found on censuses, I didn't know much about them.

My grandfather, Eddie Earl Donaldson, was the son of Mary Cordelia (Molly) Lamb. Molly was the daughter of Nathan and Anna Lamb. When I first compiled my research, I didn't know Nathan and Anna's parents' names, Anna's maiden name, or when they died.

One day I was perusing Wabash County, Indiana cemetery records when I found an entry for a Nathan Lamb at the Friends Cemetery. Initially, I thought it might have been a different Nathan Lamb or that he might have been buried in a Quaker cemetery even though he hadn't been Quaker. After all, my mom had never heard anything about Quakers in the family.

I decided to pursue the possibility that the Lambs were Quakers, first looking in William Wade Hinshaw's Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. The floodgates opened. I was able to find information which confirmed that the Lambs were Friends. I was able to find information on generations of Lambs and other ancestors of whom I had previously been unaware.

One of my favorite characters in the Lamb family is my 3X great-grandfather, Jonathan Lamb. The peace-loving Quakers disciplined him on more than one occasion for his temper. In 1834, he was reported for "getting angry with one of his fellow creatures and using profane language." I like to think that Jonathan's anger was righteous - he was trying to right a wrong or taking a stand for an unpopular, but morally correct, position. On the other hand, he might have just been the black sheep (or in this case, the black Lamb) of the family.

Wardlow Cemetery

2009-10-07T18:31:00.007-04:00

On Memorial Day weekend 2003, my family travelled to Washington Township, Brown County, Ohio to visit the Wardlow Cemetery. My dad was quite weak by that time, due to the disease that would take his life less than three months later. We brought a lawn chair for him to sit in because he was so weak and standing was painful for him. However, he struggled to his feet and managed to walk around the cemetery with my eight-year-old niece and me to visit the grave sites of five generations of our family.

We walked to the rear of the cemetery to the oldest gravestone, which belongs to Samuel Wardlaw. Samuel and his wife, Elizabeth Nesbitt Wardlaw, moved from Virginia to Ohio with his parents Robert and Janet Wardlaw, and his brothers and sisters and their spouses. They were among the first settlers in this area and once owned the land where the cemetery is located. Samuel died in 1848. A foot stone marked EW was the only marker of Elizabeth's grave.

Samuel and Elizabeth's son, Levi, and his wife Abby Hall Wardlow are also buried in the cemetery. Some time in Samuel's and Levi's lifetime, the spelling of the family name changed from "Wardlaw" to "Wardlow." Unlike his parents and grandparents who travelled from Virginia to Kentucky and on to Ohio, Levi reportedly never strayed far from the homestead. He is quoted as saying that he had never seen the Ohio River, which was only around 25 miles away. Levi died in 1890 and Abby in 1891.

John Reese Wardlow was Levi and Abby's son. He and his wife, Lulu Dunn Wardlow, are buried near their daughter, Dora Elma Wardlow Ballein and her husband, Noah Hite Ballein. The Wardlow branch of my family were farmers through Elma and Hite's generation. Elma and Hite are buried next to their daughter, Jennie Esther Ballein Davis and her husband, James Quincy Davis. Esther and Quincy Davis were my dad's parents.

Under the canopy of trees covering the cemetery, we visited the graves of aunts, uncles, and cousins, some my dad had known and others he had not. We stood beneath the ancient oak tree that met our ancestors when they came to this burying ground to mourn and honor their loved ones. This was my dad's last visit to the Wardlow Cemetery and I will always remember the effort he made to honor his past.

Russell Shaw

2009-09-30T17:51:00.003-04:00

I was reminded on Monday's news that the Brown County fair is this week. This, of course, made me think of my 5X great-grandfather, Russell Shaw. The first Brown County fair was held in Russellville, the town he founded, and reportedly his onions were prize winners at that first fair in 1850.

Russell Shaw was born April 19, 1781 in Rensselaer County, New York to Susannah and Anthony Shaw IV. Russell married Johanna Reynolds on February 16, 1800. Russell and Johanna and their children, Sylvester and Susan, arrived in what is now Brown County, Ohio in 1802. After their arrival in Brown County, Russell and Johanna added to their family.

In 1816, Russell Shaw purchased 200 acres of land at what is now State Routes 62 and 125 in Jackson Township, Brown County, Ohio. He established the town of Russellville and sold 36 lots of land. He donated the land for the public square and cemetery. At the first meeting of an elected Russellville town council in 1854, Russell Shaw was chosen to serve as town treasurer, a position he held until his death.

Russell first made his living as a blacksmith. He also worked as a farmer and owned a general store. He and his brothers, Asa and Peter, built steamboats in Ripley, Ohio. Russell was a member of the Christian Church in Russellville and a member of Mason Lodge No. 71 in Ripley.

Johanna Reynolds Shaw died April 30, 1864. Russell Shaw died July 21, 1864. They are both buried in the Russellville cemetery.

On August 31, 1930, a monument to Russell Shaw, donated by Russellville and Ripley businesses and Russell's heirs, was dedicated. The monument is located in a park in the Russellville town square. The inscription reads,

RUSSELL SHAW

PIONEER AND PATRIOT

FOUNDED RUSSELLVILLE IN 1816

SOLDIER IN THE WAR OF 1812

HONORED CITIZEN - CHRISTIAN GENTLEMAN

One Woman's Junk Is Another Woman's Treasure

2009-09-27T16:56:00.007-04:00

I am in the process of organizing the notes, pictures, and memorabilia I have compiled from years of researching my family tree. This afternoon, I looked through one of my Grandma Donaldson's scrapbooks, which contains greeting cards she received from the late 1960s to her death in September 1976. Like her mother, Mary Shaper Dudley, she saved things that, to some people, might seem meaningless and needed to be disposed of. However, these "meaningless" remnants give us an important glimpse at their lives and what was important to them.

My great-grandmother kept hundreds of mementos of her children. She had dozens of pictures of her eldest son, Charlie, including one in front of the Packard factory in Detroit, where he was employed. She kept the funeral card and newspaper clippings from Lew's death in 1906, when he was struck by a train. She saved postcards from her son Frank telling about his travels around the country, a photo of Ab in his army uniform with his wife Christena, a picture of Tom and his navy buddies taken at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and an army photo of Clarence before he was shipped overseas to fight in World War I. The postcard shown at the left is from her daughter Mary and reads "To Mamma from Mary. Birthday Grettings."

My grandma's mementos include letters from a friend she met on a bus when she travelled to Florida, Mamie Duncan. Grandma and Mamie corresponded for many years. From reading these letters, I can tell that Mamie was a kind and considerate friend, which leads me to believe that grandma was a good friend to Mamie as well. Grandma also corresponded with Helen Klanke, her brother Charlie's step-daughter.

Through her illnesses, she received cards from her children, her brother Clarence and sister-in-law Dot, and her church friends. She kept birthday and Christmas cards and Valentines. She saved handmade cards and artwork from her grandchildren. She kept a postcard of a ship her grandson served on during the Vietnam war. She saved letters she wrote to my grandfather. She kept the remnants of my mom's World War II rationing book and, much to her embarassment, some of her report cards. She kept newspaper clippings about the happenings in the lives of friends and neighbors.

At some point in her life, grandma began writing her autobiography. She didn't get very far, but wrote enough to give us an idea of what her childhood was like. She told what it was like to grow up in the country as the youngest in her family with six older brothers. She explained how the family worked together to make a living. She told how the neighbors would all pitch in to help neighbors in need. Thankfully, grandma didn't throw away the beginning of her autobiography when she didn't get back to it (as I probably would have), since I consider it one of the most valuable items I possess.

The Travelling Man

2009-09-23T17:52:00.006-04:00

My maternal grandfather, Eddie Earl Donaldson, was born to David Scott and Mary Cordelia Lamb Donaldson in Elwood, Indiana on May 30, 1897.

My grandmother, Mary Jane Dudley Donaldson, said that while she was married to him, she never lived in one place for too long. By 1910, his family had moved to Missouri and they then moved on to Oklahoma. We don't know if he actually moved to Oklahoma with them. By 1915, he was living and working in Cincinnati, Ohio. We aren't sure why he chose to move to Ohio. One of my grandmother's brothers, Charlie, worked with my grandfather. Charlie brought him home for a visit and introduced him to my grandmother. They were married December 7, 1915.

Throughout their marriage, my grandparents lived in numerous locations in the Cincinnati area and Clinton and Highland Counties, Ohio. They also lived briefly in Oklahoma, where his World War I draft registration was completed.

Throughout their marriage, my grandparents often lived apart, my grandmother in the country with the children and my grandfather in the city to work. My mom remembers when she was four or five years old and the family visited her dad who was living and working in Oakley (a Cincinnati neighborhood). He gave my mom a gift of three new dresses, the same style in three different colors.

My grandfather was raised in a Pilgrim of Holiness church, his best friend was a minister, and he was married to a Christian woman. However, grandpa was far from a saint. His lifestyle choices likely resulted in his early death at the age of 46 on October 25, 1943.

The Many Loves of James Quincy Davis

2009-09-19T11:46:00.008-04:00

My paternal grandfather, James Quincy Davis, was born July 11, 1906 in Brown County, Ohio to James Ulysses and Rosa Ogden Davis.

Grandpa was married more than anyone else I have personally known - five times. He was first married at 20 years of age. The family story is that he divorced his first wife because she liked to play cards too much. I later learned that the young lady was only a teenager when they were married. So, I guess grandpa was married to a teenage card sharp.

Grandpa next married my grandmother, Jennie Esther Ballein. The story goes that they met at a store in Eastwood in Brown County, Ohio. There was a story in the Cincinnati Post several years ago about Freeman's store in Eastwood which, back in the day, was a popular spot for socializing. It is possible they met at Freeman's. My grandmother was visiting the store with her sister Freda and brother Oscar. My grandparents were married on grandpa's 25th birthday, July 11, 1931. They had two children, my dad Russell Lee Davis and my aunt. Whereas my grandmother was quiet and humble, grandpa was colorful and outgoing. Grandpa was active in church, teaching Sunday School for many years and later preaching.

After my grandmother died, grandpa married Mabel Hawthorne Love on November 24, 1965. Mabel would nurse injured birds back to health and allowed them to fly around her house. Her house always seemed immaculate, though I'm not sure how she carried this off with birds in the house. I also remember the vegetable garden grandpa had when he was married to Mabel. Mabel died December 22, 1976.

After Mabel's death, grandpa married Lissie Howell. She was ill most of the time they were married. Eventually, Lissie's daughter and son-in-law took both of them into their home in Batavia, Ohio. I only met her a couple of times, but she was a sweet woman. Lissie died in 1982 and grandpa continued to live with his daughter- and son-in law until . . .

Grandpa married for the fifth and final time in 1986. He met his fifth wife (who is living, so I won't publish her name) at the Williamsburg Church of the Nazarene, where he served as an usher and she taught Sunday School. She cared for him through his final illnesses and his battle with dementia. Grandpa died on November 29, 1996.

One final note. Although grandpa never seemed to have trouble finding himself a wife, his son (my dad) was in his mid-20s and had never been married. So, grandpa introduced him to my mom one Sunday at the Fairfax Church of the Nazarene. Dad didn't move quite as fast as grandpa, but he and my mom were finally married at the Fairfax Church of the Nazarene in 1962.

Today's Special Guest Blogger . . . My Mom

2009-09-16T18:01:00.006-04:00

My mom wrote the following memories of her mother, Mary Jane Dudley Donaldson:

My Mom was a strong woman; she had to be. Although she was only about 5’4” and weighed around 115 pounds, she was wiry and energetic. When I was seven years old, my Dad, Eddie Earl Donaldson, died, leaving my mother with a year-old baby and three other children aged fifteen and under. This was during and shortly after World War II.

When I was nine, Mom sold the Dodge car Dad had left (he had no insurance, only the car) and put the $50 she got from the sale on a house in Afton, Ohio. There was a house, a dilapidated garage/shed, an outhouse and a chicken coop. Mom planted a half-acre garden (by hand and a hand-pushed plow) and bought a few chickens and a couple of roosters. She canned the vegetables she grew, as well as blackberries we would pick in the summer. Dandelions were Mom’s friends. She would pick the greens and either cook them or wilt them with hot vinegar, sugar and bacon grease and chopped up hard-boiled eggs.

We had a barrel by our backdoor to catch rainwater, with which we would wash our hair. We bathed in a galvanized tub, since we had no indoor plumbing. Water was carried from the well for drinking, cooking and laundry. Mom cooked on an old-fashioned wood stove, which had a water reservoir and a warmer oven. We would often walk along the railroad tracks which ran behind our house to pick up coal that fell from the cars. Since the house was heated by a pot-bellied stove, we used this and whatever wood we could find, along with the coal Mom bought, for heat. While we lived in Afton, we were given a long-haired Chihuahua puppy who we named “Penny.” Penny became not only our pet, but also a beloved member of our family.

When I was 12 years old, we moved to Florida to be close to my Aunt Dot and Uncle Clarence Dudley. The only time I ever saw Mom wear slacks was once on the beach while picking up shells. As usual, money was “as scarce as hen’s teeth” (as Mom would say). Once we dug up periwinkles at the beach. Mom took them home, rinsed and boiled them and made chowder. It wasn’t bad and tasted a lot like oyster soup.

At the age of 13, we moved to Newtown, Ohio and lived in a converted barn. The house was a duplex with five rooms on each side. My oldest brother, Clarence Donaldson, and his family lived on one side and we lived on the other.

Throughout the years Mom worked at numerous jobs to keep her family together. She baby sat, took in laundry, cleaned houses and even helped in the butchering of pigs. While we lived in Newtown, Mom did house cleaning at The Children’s Home of Cincinnati. She had to walk about a mile to catch a bus then transfer to another in order to get there.

Many times, she and I would carry our fishing poles and bait and walk about a half mile or so to Clear Creek and fish. I truly believe that she would have rather fished than eat.

When I was 19, we moved back to Fairfax, Ohio. Mom loved Fairfax and especially the Church of the Nazarene. She was at every service unless physically unable. The wonderful friends we had there were like another family to all of us. Mom loved flowers and had many rose bushes. She was the happiest while she lived in Fairfax.

Wherever we lived, when one of her neighbors was ill she would be there to offer her help. She would make tummy bands for newborn babies. (These were used in the “old days” until the umbilical cord fell off.) She would also make baby quilts.

Mom never missed decorating the graves on Memorial Day. If she didn’t have the money to purchase decorations, she would pick flowers from her garden and wrap them in damp paper towels or newspaper.

Mom was not an affectionate woman, but there was never a doubt about how much she loved each of us. She sacrificed for us more times that I can count.

My Mom was the dearest, most special, wonderful mother God ever created. When she passed away, Heaven rejoiced and I wept. I believe Mom is walking down those streets of gold, carrying her fishing pole to the crystal flowing river, listening to the angel choir and Jesus is saying to her, “Well done, thy good and faithful servant. Enter in to your rest.”

Jennie Esther Ballein Davis

2009-09-13T14:21:00.008-04:00

Jennie Esther Ballein Davis was my paternal grandmother. She died when I was a baby, so I don't remember her. Her friend, Reverend Ruby Blanchard performed her funeral and was kind enough to provide a copy of her funeral service to my family several years ago:

Esther Ballein was born July 17, 1901, the second child in a family of five, to Elma Wardlow Ballein and Noah Hite Ballein at Sardinia, Ohio and departed this life February 9, 1965 at Cincinnati, Ohio. She was always a dutiful, reliable, respectful child - the joy of her parents' heart.

She was united in marriage with James Quincy Davis on July 11, 1931. To this union were born two children.

Esther and her husband were converted in the same service at the Fairfax Church of the Nazarene. They joined the church and were faithful members until September of 1957. However, at this time she and her good husband felt led by God to begin a new work in the Milford area which in a short time led to the organizing of a church. This church was incorporated as the Milford Church of the Nazarene and she was the first person to become a charter member. Here she served in various capacities, bearing the numerous burdens of this new work as a noble Christian soldier. Her body was frail, but her faith and zeal were unlimited. Regardless of the cost, she faithfully labored in the service for the Master she loved so well . . . .

During this last illness of several months, she bore testimony to her strong faith in God many, many times, and asked friends who visited her to join in songs and prayers and praise. Those who went to cheer her came away greatly strengthened in their spiritual lives. She never said an unkind word to anyone, nor about anyone. Her speech always exalted her precious Savior. The talent she had for writing poetry and music was dedicated to God.

She is survived by her husband, James Quincy Davis, two children . . . and three grandchildren . . . . Also, by three brothers - Howard, Harold and Oscar - one sister - Mrs. Freda Huggins and a host of other relatives and friends . . . .

In her unique humble manner she urged others to live Christian lives and meet her in heaven. Thus, earth's loss is heaven's gain and she eagerly awaits the reuniting of all her loved ones and friends in that better and brighter country where partings never come.

Freda Ballein Huggins, Esther Ballein Davis, Russell Lee Davis

The Davis Curse

2009-09-10T19:17:00.007-04:00

Researching my Davis ancestry has been full of brick walls. The Davis surname is quite common, which can always make research difficult. The Davises haven't, to my knowledge, been rich, powerful, criminals, or officeholders, so no books have been written about them. If there are family pictures, documents, or bibles, I don't have them and don't know who does.

Samuel Davis, my 3X great-grandfather, is the first Davis ancestor in my family tree. According to census records, he was born around 1782 in Ireland. I don't know who his parents were. I don't know how or when he arrived in the United States. He settled in Brown County, Ohio, but not early enough to be mentioned in any of the Brown County histories. He and his wife (I'm not 100% sure who she was) had a family. I know their names, but not much more. I'm not even sure when Samuel died.

Isaac Davis, my 2X great-grandfather, was born around 1827 in Ohio, possibly in South Lebanon in Warren County, but I have no documentation of this. He married Lavinna Patton in Brown County on 10/24/1849. Lavinna was born in January 1823 in Ohio. I'm not sure when either Isaac or Lavinna died either.

Things pick up in the next generation, though, despite the fact that my great-grandfather's name was James (how many James Davises have trod the earth?). I have a couple of pictures (James and Rosa Ogden Davis' picture is below), more detailed census records, a death certificate, and some of my dad's memories.

I have neglected my Davis research for the last few years. It is always easier to research branches when you are actually finding information. I will have to use my creativity and best research and investigative skills to track down my Davis ancestors.

James Ulysses Davis and Rosa Ogden Davis

Who Is Lucy Herr and Why Is She Living with My Great-Grandfather?

2009-09-05T20:35:00.005-04:00

Years ago when I began researching my family history, I asked my Uncle Edward about my great-grandparents, David Scott Donaldson and Mary Cordelia Lamb. Among other things, he told me they didn't always get along and at one point lived miles away from each other.

According to the 1920 census, Mary was married and living in Chelsea, Oklahoma with some of her children, but not her husband. David was widowed and living in Oklahoma City with his "half-sister," Lucy D. Herr. Unless there is a long-lost family secret, David didn't have a half-sister.

From what I have been able to gather to date from censuses and her obituary, Lucy Deere was born in 1865 in Oregon to Mary and William Yates Deere. Her parents died when she was a child. She was a great-niece of John Deere of farm equipment fame. She was an artist, but also worked as a servant and a courthouse records researcher. She first married Don Alexander in Oregon and, after his death, Benjamin Herr in Oklahoma City. According to her obituary, "Sixty years ago she was in the headlines when John Mulvaney (sic), painter of Custer's Last Rally, committed suicide in New York, purportedly over his failure to win her love."

David and Mary Donaldson were again living together at the time of the 1930 census and Lucy Herr was back in Oregon. She later moved to Sacramento, where she died in 1946.

So, what was the nature of their relationship (I know what you're thinking, but I'm trying not to make assumptions), what brought them together, how long were they together, and why did they part ways?

Proceed with Caution!

2009-09-01T17:25:00.005-04:00

When researching family history, I have learned the importance of finding primary sources for information. Although family trees prepared by others can be helpful in research, it is vital to verify the information through a primary source. Some examples from my own experience:

My great-great grandfather, John Shaper was born around 1836 and lived in Highland County, Ohio. I had been unable to determine when he had died, so I was quite excited to find that other researchers had discovered that he had died on 10/31/1917 in Highland County. At least one researcher had even provided the death certificate number. I ordered the death certificate and found that it was not my John Shaper, but a much younger person person by the same name.
I have been trying to find the names of the parents of my great-great grandmother, Iva Lettitia Tankersley Dudley (known as Lettitia) for several years. She was born in 1811 in Virginia. Some online family trees show that she was the daughter of William and Elizabeth Tankersley of Virginia. One family tree, though, indicated that this Lettitia Tankersley died in Indiana and had never married or had children. I contacted the owner of this family tree, who indicated that she obtained her information from a family bible in the possession of a cousin. It is, therefore, unlikely that this is my Lettitia.

The Beginning

2009-08-29T12:24:00.005-04:00

For several years I had wanted to begin researching my family history, but just never got around to it. One Sunday evening in the early 1990s, I pulled out my Grandma Davis' Bible. Although family births, marriages and deaths weren't recorded in this Bible, it contained notations of scriptures, poems that she wrote and likely intended to set to music she wrote, pictures, report cards, obituaries, and assorted other items that reflected her life.

My grandmother was born Jennie Esther Ballein on July 17, 1901 near Sardinia in Brown County, Ohio. There is a little booklet in the Bible with a handwritten notation, "In case I should die I want this Bible to go to Jennie Esther Ballein, White Oak, Brown Co., Ohio, and no one else." The Bible was originally owned by one of her aunts.

Included in the Bible was an obituary for Lulu Dunn Wardlow, my grandmother's grandmother and my dad's great-grandmother. I noticed that Lulu had died in 1945 and asked my dad if he knew her. He told me he did . I held in my hand my great-great-grandmother's obituary and my dad could tell me a little about her. The next day, I made my first trip to main branch of The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. One of the first books I found was Historical Collections of Brown County, Ohio by Carl N. Thompson. By the time I got home that evening, I had been able to trace back to my fifth great-grandfather in one branch of my grandmother's family. So, the journey began.