Enjoyed Presenting at Downstate Delaware Genealogical Society

This past Saturday I was the guest speaker at the Downstate Delaware Genealogical Society in Dover. I presented on “Searching Newspapers” pointing out some of the wonderful nuggets of information that can be found when including newspapers in your research. The turnout was great as were the questions and the presentation was well received. I don’t know about most of you but I love including newspapers in my research you never know what you might find relating to those you’re researching. Plus the pages offer you a glimpse into their lives, helping to paint a larger picture of them and what was happening in the world at that time.  

Bad Boy's Ghost

This is such a perfect article for so many reasons. First of course the obvious would be the Halloween season with the ghost, witches and bats coming out.  The second would be it’s so funny and typical of many kids. Finding a way to scare each other is a blast but finding a way to scare your parents that’s classic. I’m sure we have all done it or at least thought about the best way to see our mom jump and our dad run. I would have to say I never made my dad run but oh yeah I made my mom jump with the help of my brothers. I’ll save that story for later.

January 8, 1884

Trenton Evening Times from out of Trenton, New Jersey 

THE BAD BOY’S GHOST 

How He Made His Esteemed Pa Think the House Haunted.

From Peck’s Son.

“Well, you see, last night we got to talking about haunted houses, and pa said there was no such thing as a haunted house. He said whenever any unusual noise was heard in a house, instead of investigating it, people got scared and went around talking about the house being haunted, and before long everybody believed it, and everybody was nervous. Pa said that haunted houses was on a par with spiritualism, and people of sense never took any stock in either. He said if I ever heard of a haunted house to let him know, and he would go through it and investigate in in the dark. That evening my chum’s cat came over to visit our cat, and when it was time to go to bed the two cats were sleeping by the stove, and pa told me I better put the cats out doors and go to bed. So I took the cats up carefully and raised up the cover to the piano and laid the cats down in the back side of the instrument, among the strings, and petted them, and they went to sleep, and shut down the cover, and we all went to bed. Pa and ma sleep right over the parlor and I sleep at the back of the house. Along about 2 o’clock in the morning, about the time cats usually get wok up and begin to prowl around, there was a faint scratching of toe-nails on the strings, and a yowl that sounded as though it came from the sewer. It was evidently music, such as you get at boarding houses where a boarder practices on the piano for her board. I got up and went to pa’s room, and ma was sitting up in bed with her nightcap off, her hair standing right up straight, and she was trying to get pa to raise up and listen, but it wasn’t pa’s night to listen, and he put his head under the bedclothes and tried to snore. I told pa that I wasn’t afraid, but I wished he would let me sleep on the lounge in his room, and pa raised up and wanted to know what the row was and just then the cats in the piano seemed to have come together for their regular evening fight, and of all the music you over heard that beat everything. Pa listened and said it was somebody next door trying to play opera, but ma said something was in the house, and I told pa the house was haunted, and for him to get up and investigate. Pa was kind of ‘shamed to be afraid, so he got up and went out in the hall, and just then the cats go to fighting another round, and pa rushed into the bath-room and closed the door, and yelled for me to open the window and holler for the police. I got up and asked pa, through the door, if he was afraid, and he said no, he wasn’t afraid, but he thought, seeing he was in the bath-room, he would take a bath, and I told him if he was afraid I would go down and investigate, because there was no haunted house that had any terror for Hennery, and I went down and let the cats out, and they got on the back fence and had a real sociable time, and after it was all still pa came out with a towel in his hand and tried to make us believe he had taken a bath at 2 o’clock in the morning with cold water.  

Hide and Seek

     

     I've been so involved in this baby book of Diana Lewis and wondering what her childhood must have been like. Then as time went on realizing that I was not only holding some of her childhood memories but also information that stretched into her adulthood, and even had the opportunity to see who she married. There were numerous reasons that I chose to share this particular piece that I purchased off of eBay. One of those, which I believe is obvious to many of you, was to bring awareness of the additional places to locate information about our ancestors. I received mixed comments from some of you; for the most part there was shock as to who would sell such a piece of family history. I’m sure there are many different reasons these items end up on sites like eBay, cleaning of the estate, families don’t know what to do with it, they might be the last surviving member of the family or simply the saddest possibility is that they have passed away and the family just doesn't want it.  

     The other reason I wanted to share this was because of all the hidden information within the book. I touched on this in some of the postings. We know when we are conducting our research we look closely at the “official documents”, birth and death certificates, census records, marriage license. But let’s not forget about the photographs, they can offer not only hand noted information on the back, but also information within the photograph. You can look at the style of clothing, background, were they in a city or country side, the weather, neighborhood or even the make and model of a car and of course the obvious others in the photograph. Sometimes you might only see a stamp on the back showing where the photograph was developed.   You might be surprised how that can also be helpful in viewing your photographs; you might have the name of the store, the date it was developed and even state and city.

     Of course I can’t forget to bring some focus to the information that can be found in some newspaper clippings. I strongly believe the clippings included in this book are a perfect example of information. Not only did I have clippings of the birth announcements but her years through school. I was able to find out about the clubs she belonged to, what the purpose was of those clubs, the difference she helped to make in the community. The information offered on her school achievements showed not only those achievements but also listed some of her classmates and even their parents and their addresses. Of course you can’t forget there is always a chance you might be lucky enough to see a photograph of your ancestor included in the article.

     I must also mention one not so common find are the play flyers or event brochures. The ones that I found in the baby book of Diana Lewis are fun and informative. You had the opportunity to see a role she had in a 3^rd grade play and see who her classmates were and the role they played. Of course the Eastern Slope Chapter that listed those who were soon to be installed along with those who were already installed. It was a small peek into an organization that many aren't aware of. Again I had a list of those she knew and even a couple dates to show when she became part of the organization or club.

     I have other pieces of family history that I’ve collected over the years and over time I will continue to share what I have. Now I must point out I’m not related to Diana Lewis or anyone named in any of the documents that I found. I just thought this was interesting and maybe someone who enjoys my blog might recognize one of the surnames listed and possibly aid them in their research. I look forward as always to hearing your comments and feedback and thank you for the visit. 

eBay and Genealogy

    Some of us know you don’t have to leave home to shop or even do our genealogy research. But do we all know about the treasure chest of genealogy wealth you can find on eBay. To be honest I didn't really know what I had until a close and dear friend pointed that out to me.

     Years ago, during one of my husband’s deployments I found this wonderful site on the internet, eBay. Little did I know when I started shopping for story ideas for children’s books that I would find such a treasure.  I would go on in search of antique diaries, letters, journals even baby books. I was so surprised to see how much was there.  I didn't know where to start, from autograph books dating back to 1864, baby book full of memories from a baby girl born in Natick, Massachusetts later moving to Canada . Even letters between father and son during his military enlistment followed the years he served during war.

     For the past few months I've been working tirelessly trying to get all of the photos, letters, documents, diaries, journals and baby books scanned. Along with now working to transcribe all of them, this is an ongoing adventure that has many twists and turns with every page I turn and letter I open.  But an idea that I encourage all of you to at least visit.  If you don’t have the interest in searching other surnames, families, than search for your surnames or one that you’re currently working on. You might even find that one piece of information that completes a chain of events in the lives of your ancestors. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

     I've decided that over the next few weeks I will be posting some pages, photos, cards and newspaper clippings from the baby book I mentioned earlier. "My Life Journal" will share the life of Diana Lewis born 17 July 1944 in Natick, Massachusetts. So I invite you to check in and see what some of her life was like and find out about the family and all included in this book.

     

Divorce over Bed-Bugs in 1895

Bed bugs have obviously been around for a very long time biting and infesting our homes but little did we know that they could contribute to a divorce. I guess you could say the Bowen home didn't follow the saying "a clean home is a happy home". 

BED-BUGS IN LAW

DOMESTIC INSECTS ARE IN COURT 

IN LEAVENWORTH

Old Farmer Sues His Wife for Divorce, His

Plea Being that His Wife Didn't Keep 

the Beds In Order and Allowed the

Creatures with Incisors to Take Posses-

sion of the Home and Drive the Chil-

dren to the Barn to Sleep-Number of

Convicts Now Lodged in the State Peni-

tentiary.

Leavenworth, Kan., Sept. 5 -Joseph 

Bowen, a farmer of Sherman township,

began suit in the district court yester-

day for a divorce from his wife, Jennie

Bowen. His petition is a long one and

makes some rather sensational charges.

  He says he was a widower with eight 

children when he married the defend-

ant, who was an "old maid" and had

nothing but a tunk and a few old 

dresses. That he gave her $25 to pur-

chase a wedding trousseau. He says

she married him for his money and has

told neighbors since that she would not

have done so, if she had known he did

not have more that he has. 

  He says that during the first four 

months of their married life she con-

ducted herself very decently, and seem-

ed to think a great deal of the children

and a great deal more of the plaintiff,

but she soon became jealous of his at-

tentions to the children and turned 

against him and made his home a per-

fect hell.

  One of the first things she did was to 

neglect her household duties; to keep

the beds of the children by his former

wife in such a shape that they became in-

fested with "bed bugs;" that the chil-

dren had to leave the house and sleep

in the barn and other houses on the 

place.

  For a further cause for divorce the 

defendant has been guilty of extreme

cruelity, as she has often cursed and

abused the plaintiff by the calling him a

liar, son --------- and other vile epit-

hets, and saying that he was no bet-

ter than the chickens and dogs run-

ning in the yard.

  He says the defendant would fre-

quently get mad and sulky and leave 

his home for days and weeks at a time:

that she usually did so during harvest

and threshing times or in the busy sea-

son: that she left his home on the 10th

of August and is now away.

  He said that he had to lose 160 acres 

of land owing to her actions and that 

he still has 80 acres with a mortgage

on. The he earned and asks to be award

ed to him absolutely. 

Clipping from The Wichita Daily Eagle, Wichita, KS September 1895

Saturday Spotting - Newspaper Abstracts

     It’s time for another “Saturday Spotting’s” and these once again come from the Bollinger County, Missouri Newspaper Abstracts.  There are so many wonderful and strange things that I’ve found during some of my research, I could post page after page in just one post.  But instead I think I’ll save some for the up and coming weeks. 

October 29, 1891

Mrs. Mary Seabough of near Sedgewickville celebrated her 100th birthday on the 15th day of this month. Mrs. Seabough is probably the oldest person in Bollinger County.

**found on page 5 of Volume II Bollinger County, Missouri Newspaper Abstracts from The Marble Hill 

Press

March 17, 1892

Born, to Mr. and Mrs. G.W. Wood of Gravel Hill, March 7th, a fine looking gentleman of the voting persuasion. Local and General

**found on page 10 of Volume II Bollinger County, Missouri Newspaper Abstracts from The Marble Hill Press

September 22, 1892

James Couch died Monday of typhoid fever. Soon after he left the Teacher’ Institute this disease fastened itself upon him and he has been gradually sinking every since. This is the second death among the teachers who were at the Institute at this place, Moses Hartle having succumbed to the same disease some time since. Local and General (Marble Hill)

**found on page 11 of Volume II Bollinger County, Missouri Newspaper Abstracts from The Marble Hill Press

Tuesdays Time to Laugh

     Recently while doing some research on an ancestor of mine, Cornelia Josephine Gray, I wasn't having a lot of luck. So I decided it was time to search some of the archived newspapers.  While doing so I began reading some of the strangest stories. While looking through the Chicago Tribune I came across this article written around, 2 July 1876. I couldn't help but laugh as I was reading this article below. Just trying to picture Mr. French and all of the neighboring lodgers as they were explaining the events that took place. Not to mention the expression of the individual who wrote this article.  I know Tuesdays are sometimes a difficult day for some of us, so I thought I would give you all a little something to read and laugh at.

    

  We have all read something in our local newspaper that shocks us, makes us laugh or even makes us wonder if it’s really news.  But have we really taken the time to read some of these older newspapers. They just don’t write articles like they use to.