Leaves & Branches

Over the past couple of days I have been doing a lot of newspaper research.  I love reading old newspaper articles.  The minute detail of every aspect of small town life can be entertaining.  Can you imagine supper at your parents’ house making the local news?   How would you like the neighbors talking about the reason for your recent hospitalization over a game of cards?  Few details of small town life were off limits in the local newspapers. I will focus this post on the tidbits I found on my maternal grandmother Mary Jane Dudley Donaldson’s family.  Her uncle L.J. Dudley was an attorney and his travels throughout Highland and Clinton Counties were well documented in the local papers.  The News Herald of Hillsboro had a tantalizing tidbit about one of L.J.’s trips in its May 6, 1897 edition:  “There must be something attractive in Wilmington for L.J. Dudley, as he has been there twice in one week.” I’m intrigued, as I am sure were ...

A few years ago I was looking through a collection of family photographs and mementos.   I was struck by the number of photos of my grand-uncle, Charles Henry Dudley and his family.   Uncle Charlie was the eldest son of Jesse and Mary Shaper Dudley and brother of my grandmother Mary Dudley Donaldson.   He was born October 18, 1878 in Clark Township, Clinton County, Ohio.    Below is the earliest photo I have of Charlie.      Charlie grew up in Clark Township with his brothers Lew, Frank, Ab, Tom, and Clarence.   By the time my grandma was born in 1898, Charlie was already a young man.   Just a little over a year later, Charlie married the pretty Anna Dora Meyer and they made their home in Clark Township near his aunt Marietta Dudley Himes and her family.   Charlie worked as a day laborer. Charles & Anna Dudley   On August 14, 1900, Anna gave birth to the couple’s first child, Walte...

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 hi...

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 l...

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...