The Hein Brothers’ Baby Book

3 September 20163 September 2016 ~ ctw ~ 3 Comments

I found the baby book for the brothers Henry Leonard Hein (1919-2006) and Charles Leroy Hein (1921-2010) in an antique store in the Baltimore neighborhood of Hampden in early 2016. Here is the front cover:

Hein book cover

Their parents were Ernest Henry Hein (1898-1960) and Louise Irene Hamburger (1898-1993). They had a sister, Irene J. Hein (1924-2016) who married Alfred J. Lipin (1920-2012). All three children grew up to be very accomplished, civic-minded adults and important members of the Glen Bernie, MD community. You can read their obituaries here: Henry, Charles, and Irene.

Ernest’s parents were John Hein (1865-??) and Anna Catherine Grothy (1864-1926) who were born in Germany, married in 1887, and arrived to the USA in 1888. Online records create a confused mess of the family’s genealogy. John appeared in the 1900 Census. By the 1920 Census Anna, AKA Annie, had been married to Adolph Schohl (1873-1956) for five years. In the 1920 Census all seven of John’s children were enumerated with the surname Schohl. Adolph and Anna had two children together. One key to getting to the bottom of this is that Anna’s son John G. Hein (1890-1920) is buried near his mother in the Schohl plot at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Brooklyn Park, MD. According to contemporaneous accounts in The Baltimore Sun, in January 1926 Anna was beaten by someone who robbed her grocery store located on Annapolis Boulevard a mile north of Glen Bernie, MD and died of a fractured skull a few days later. The murderer was never caught.

The nurse on the below page, “Lizzie Hamburger”, was maternal grandmother to the boys, Elizabeth J. UNKN (1859-1930) who married Andrew Leonard Hamburger (1861-1918) in 1897. Both of them were born in Maryland

Hein book baby is born page

That Andrew Leonard Hamburger’s middle name is Leonard can be confirmed only by the following page and not by any online records I could find. Charles’ uncle for whom he was named was actually named Charles Lawrence/Laurence Hein (1899-1967) according to the one record I can find, his WWI draft registration in which the name is written as Lawrence but corrected by a recent researcher to Laurence. I found no one else named Leroy during my brief examination of the family’s genealogy.

Hein Book name page

Here is a photograph of Henry and his parents from June 1919.

Hein book photographs page

Here are two locks of Henry’s hair taken from this first and second haircuts. As frequently happens, the parents’ enthusiasm for this sort of detail waned after the first child.

Hein book hair page

The Mr. and Mrs. Summers referred to below were Ernest’s sister, Marie Hein (1893-1980) and her husband George Wilson Summers, Sr. (1888-1953).

Hein Book baby has an outing

The baby book used was illustrated by Meta Ann Morris Grimball (1878-1968). If you’re a Pinterest person you can see a large sample of her work here.

Baby

The following images are the remaining pages in the book and the back cover.

Hein book Baby's First Pair of Shoes Hein book Baby Learns to Creep Hein book Baby's First Words Hein book Baby's First Birthday Hein book weight page Hein book congratulations page

The Bushey Family

21 August 2016 ~ ctw ~ 4 Comments

Inscribed on the back of the above photograph are the names of those depicted, the location, and the date:

Father Bushey
Mother Bushey
Clay Bushey
David Bushey
taken at basement door at 134-5th ave
York PA
Dec-1914

I first thought the surname was Busby and it took some trial and error to figure out it was Bushey.

Clay Allen Bushey (1900-1980) and David Diliah Bushey (1902-1963) were two of the sons of Jacob Wesley Bushey (1859-1941) and Cora E. Myers (1872-1906). The other children were Russel Myers Bushey (1895-1970), Earl Wesley Bushey (1897-1987), and Lawrence Wayne Bushey (1906-1907). If the photograph was taken in December 1914 as the inscription says, Mother Bushey must be Jacob’s third wife, Sallie Amanda Straley (1872-1934). Jacob survived three wives, the other one being the first one, Sallie A Brown (1863-1894), with whom he had two other children.

I could not find evidence that the family ever lived at 134 5th Avenue in York, but they lived in the vicinity according to the Census of 1910 and 1920.

It is a confusing family and I have found that genealogists working on it disagree on pertinent facts. For that reason, and because I have to paint a bedroom tomorrow instead of spending more time figuring out the Bushey family, I’m going to post this without a lot of the other information I’ve accumulated. If you’re a Bushey and you want to know more of what I’ve found, give me a holler.

Jay Clark and Elva Ingersoll

13 August 2016 ~ ctw ~ 2 Comments

You may recall that in my last post, The Students, the subject photograph was inscribed to Jay and the identity of Jay remained a mystery. It turned out that a fellow named Jay Clark is the subject of two other photographs obtained from the same place on the same day.

Look at the following handwriting samples. First, from “The Students”:

Detail from OSC Students back

Now, the new photograph:

Detail from JAY CLARK 1

The two handwriting samples appear to match. They may have been written at the same time with the same pen.

JAY CLARK 1 FRONT

Alexander Jay Clark (1905-1985), who went by Jay, was the son of Clifford Campbell Clark (1879-1968) and Clara Little (1883-1969). Clifford was enumerated in the 1920 Census in Rainier, OR as a “store keeper” and his industry was listed as “Confectionary,” so that sort of dates the photograph. Jay and his brother Albert Campbell Clark (1907-1982) were born in Wisconsin. Their sister, Ruth Marie Clark, was born in 1910 in Whitman County, WA, but survived only two days. Jay married Jimmie Belle Neighbors (1909-1975) in 1932 and they had one daughter. Jay and Jimmie are buried in Mount Union Cemetery in Philomath, OR.

Clifford’s nickname was Jay. Clifford’s father was Adin Jay Clark (1855-1890). Jay had a grandson named Robert Jay.

Elva Marie Ingersoll (1905-1987) married William Douglas Mohney (1900-1981). Elva, William, and two of their three sons are buried in Lincoln Memorial Park in Portland, OR.

Below is another photograph of Jay. According to the inscription on the back it was given to him by the “Lo-Hi-Si Camp Fire Girls.” I could not find that specific camp but you can learn about the Camp Fire organization here.

JAY CLARK 2 FRONT

Following are the reverses of the two photographs. Each one is approximately 2.5 X 3.5 inches. They were bought at an antique store in Baltimore, MD in July 2016.

JAY CLARK 1 BACK

JAY CLARK 2 BACK

The Students

5 August 20165 August 2016 ~ ctw ~ 1 Comment

Japanese Students front

The inscription on the front of the above photograph reads, “To Jay, Harry T.” It was probably Jay who wrote the following on the back of the photograph:

Harry Tokito
Ruth Numeura
and two friends
Students on
O.S.C. Campus
1928

The photograph below is Harry A. Tokita as he appeared in the 1928 edition of The Beaver, the yearbook of Oregon State College. Harry was a senior in 1928, majored in commerce, and was a member of the Hesperian Club. My attempts to find out any further information about Harry were fruitless.

1928 Harry A Tokita

I was more successful with Ruth Tokuko Nomura (1907-2008). Below are two photographs of her from The Beaver, one from 1928 (l) and one from 1930 (r).

Ruth was the daughter of Frank Jiro Nomura (1874-1956) and Kiyo Takeda (1882-1980) who were born in Japan and immigrated to the USA in 1903. She married Earl Kazumi Tanbara (1806-1974) in 1935. Ruth and Earl are all over the Internet. Here you can see a triptych by HIRO which celebrates Ruth’s life. Here you can learn about The Earl K. and Ruth N. Tanbara Fund for Japanese American History in Minnesota. Here you can view a 1925 color photograph titled “Ruth Nomura in Japanese Costume” in which Ruth again displays her characteristic hand clasp. It would be worth your time to go here and read Ruth’s and Earl’s very interesting biographies.

Ruth and Earl are buried in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, memorials 123169220 and 123169184, as are her parents and two of her brothers.

I was unable to positively identify the other two students in the photograph, and Jay’s identity remains a mystery.

Below is the reverse of the photograph which measures 3.5 X 2 inches. I purchased it at an antique store in Baltimore, MD in July 2016.

Japanese Students back

Ophelia’s Son-in-Law’s Cousins

19 July 20165 November 2020 ~ ctw ~ 3 Comments

Ophelia’s daughter Dorothy Grace O’Neil was married to Edwin Gilchrist Sykes. Photographs of two of Edwin’s cousins are in the batch I bought at a “mega flea market” at the Maryland State Fairgrounds over the 4th of July weekend.

Above is Elizabeth B. Sykes (1898-1987), the daughter of Edwin’s paternal uncle, Richard Eddy Sykes (1861-1942). This photograph appears to have been taken on 27 July 1925, the day she married Ralph Harold Michaels (1893-1970) in Canton, NY. Elizabeth’s obituary informs that she “was an artist and made two illustrations for children’s books. In fact, she was the illustrator of two children’s books.

One was Patty Reed’s Doll: The Story of the Donner Party by Rachel K. Laurgaard, published in 1956 by The Caxton Printers, Inc., Caldwell, ID. A signed first edition goes for $125, plus shipping. Amazon.com will let you “look inside” of the 1989 paperback edition to see Elizabeth’s illustrations.

The other book was Lummi Indian How Stories by Ethel Fyles Beck, also published by The Caxton Printers, Inc., in 1955. You can see the cover and buy a used copy here for $28.

The Pittsburgh Press-Republican, Plattsburg, NY edition of 28 June 1945 published a photograph of Elizabeth after she was elected as an alumni trustee for her alma mater, Saint Lawrence University where her father had been president.

The following photograph was sent to me by Lenora Lynam, archivist of the Old Mill Museum in Lindsborg, KS, who spent her Covid-19 summer “trying to find new homes for things that don’t have a close connection to Lindsborg or McPherson County.” She found my family tree containing Elizabeth and sent me the photograph of her.

Elizabeth Sykes, gift of the Esther Tillman Miller Family to Old Mill Museum, Lindsborg, KS

The young lady in the following photograph is Margaret L. McKindley (1893-1953). She was the daughter of Edwin’s paternal aunt, Nellie G. Sykes (1859-1935) and her husband James N. McKindley. Margaret married Walter G. Amundson (1884-1967) who became a director of the Duluth Linen Company in 1930 and started his own company, The Amundson Company, which manufactured clothing. Margaret, her husband, and her parents are buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery in Duluth, MN.

As usual, the following are the reverses of the subject photographs in the order they appear above.

Ophelia’s Children

16 July 2016 ~ ctw ~ 1 Comment

O'Neil Sykes Group front

The ladies and gentleman in the above photograph are probably four of William Thomas O’Neil and Ophelia Young O’Neil‘s five children. I qualify that statement because one of the ladies is not named in the inscription on the back (below). Also unclear is which daughter is which.

We can positively identify Henry Edward O’Neil (1876-1923). In Census records and newspaper accounts of Ed’s death there is considerable confusion about his name. Was it Edwin or Edward, was this name first or was Henry first? In spite of good professional and financial fortunes (Saint Regis Falls National Bank president, Saint Regis Falls Light and Power Company president, considerable lumber holdings) his life ended early and tragically. According to press accounts, in April 1923 Ed drove from his home in Saint Regis Falls, NY to Brasher Falls, NY and checked into the Riverside Hotel. That night he went to a dance and returned to his room very late. When he didn’t show up for “dinner” at midday, the hotel owner investigated and found that Ed had hanged himself using bed sheets tied to a bedpost. In The Journal and Republican and Lowville Times of 26 April 1923 it was written that “No reason could be ascribed for his act other than belief he was a victim of despondency.”

Dorothy Grace O’Neil (1891-1969) married Edwin Gilchrist Sykes (1890-1959) in 1917. They operated a dairy and they had three sons.

Florence Louise O’Neil (1885-1976) married Chester Marion Austin (1885-1969) and they had two sons.

Edith O’Neil (1874-1934) married Canadian-born Donald Alexander MacDonald (1862-1935). In 1914 and 1915 Edith was the Assembly District Leader of the Franklin County Suffrage League, a position from which she resigned when she moved to Albany, NY with her husband who was an assemblyman and Conservation Commissioner. Read her “It Is The Indifferent That Oppose Suffrage” in the 15 September 1915 edition of The Norwood News. In 1917 Edith received a patent for “a process for extracting dye from autumn leaves.” According to Sustainable Fashion: Past, Present, and Future by Jennifer Farley Gordon and Colleen Hill, the development of the process, inspired by the stains leaves leave on sidewalks, was timely because WWI had disrupted synthetic dye imports from Germany. Her patent emphasized the fact that fallen leaves were a renewable resource which could be recycled as fertilizer after processing.

Not pictured is the youngest sibling, Arthur S. O’Neil (1893-1965), who married Katherine Russell Warner (1897-1972). They had one daughter. Arthur was president of the Ogdensburg Trust Company in Ogdensburg, NY when he died. His absence from this photograph could be explained by his service in WWI which took him overseas between 26 February 1918 and 6 July 1919. He served in the 41st Engineers and the 13th Battalion of the 20th Engineers.

O'neil Sykes Group back

Ophelia’s Parents

12 July 201612 July 2016 ~ ctw ~ Leave a comment

I said in my last post concerning William Thomas O’Neil and Ophelia Young that I was planning to move forward a generation, but I forgot I said that and went backwards instead.

Ophelia Young O’Neil’s parents were James H. Young (1820-1910) and Caroline Egbertson (1832-1900), subjects of the two photographs below. You can read Ophelia’s obituary here, mom’s obituary here, and dad’s obituary here.

James H Young front

Caroline Eghertson Young

If anyone can identify what mom is holding in her hand, please chime in. I enlarged the photograph and turned it upside down but I was unable to come up with anything. It looks like a magazine.

Aside from Ophelia there were two sons. First we see Charles H. Young (1857-1940). He married Orpha L. LNU (1860-1938). They had a daughter named Bernice D. Young (1887-1971) and, apparently, two other daughters who died in infancy. Charles moved to Texas to work in the lumber business and was living there at the time of his father’s death in 1910. I was unable to learn a lot else about him.

C H Young front

The other son was Frank Stanley Young (1869-1945) who was a businessman and banker. He married Jane C. Donaghy in 1920 and they had two children, James Stanley Young (1922-2007) who died in Utah, and Nelda Jane Young (1924-1969).

Frank Young

These photographs were among 12 I purchased at a “mega flea market” at the Maryland State Fairgrounds over the July 4th weekend.

The following are the reverses of the above photographs, in the same order they appear above.

James H Young back Caroline Eghertson Young back C H Young back Frank Young back

Senator and Mrs. William T. O’Neil

6 July 2016 ~ ctw ~ 2 Comments

William T O'Neil front

William Thomas O’Neil (1850-1909) was a businessman and farmer who was serving his second term in the New York State Senate when he died at age 59. His obituary in the 6 May 1909 edition of the The New York Times observed that “Senator O’Neil earned distinction in the Legislature as the man who safely guided Theodore Roosevelt past the legislative pitfalls when both were new to political life. This was in 1882. Theodore Roosevelt had been elected to the Assembly for the first time from the old Twenty-first (New York) District. Senator O’Neil was an Assemblyman from Clinton County. The two occupied adjoining seats in the Assembly Chamber and soon became firm friends.” The 12 May 1909 edition of The Malone Farmer contains a glowing obituary and description of his funeral service which is accompanied by a poor copy of the above photograph.

He married Ophelia Young (1853-1932) in 1873. She appears in the two following photographs. Her obituary appeared in the 23 November 1932 issue of The Malone Farmer and is partly included on her findagrave.com memorial page.

Ophelia Young O'Neil front

Ophelia Young O'Neil 2 front

The O’Neil’s had five children who will be the subjects of my next post.

These three photographs were among 12 I purchased at a “mega flea market” at the Maryland State Fairgrounds over the July 4th weekend.

The following are the reverses of the above photographs, in the same order they appear above.

William T O'Neil back

Ophelia Young O'Neil back

Ophelia Young O'Neil 2

The Crawford Brothers, Circa 1915

23 June 2016 ~ ctw ~ Leave a comment

Clemson and Edmond Crawford front

The gentlemen in the above photograph are Edmund Miley Crawford (1875-1951), on the left, and Clemson Sheffield Crawford (1871-1961). They were born in Jasper County, MO, the only children of John Clemson Crawford (1843-1913) and Eliza Sheffield (1844-1915).

Clemson married Lucy Gray (1872-1948) in Carthage, MO in 1892, and they had two children, Graydon Clemson Crawford and Jasmine Crawford (1898-1949).

Edmund married Charlotte W. Perrett (1878-1947) and they had two children, John Edmund Crawford (1905-1971) and Alice Anna Crawford (1912-1989).

On the back of the photograph it is written that it was taken in “about 1915”. Their mother died in May, 1915, probably while living with Edmund in Schenectady, NY. Clemson was living in Boise, ID at the time. Perhaps her funeral was the occasion for this photograph.

Clemson and Edmond Crawford back

Sprague/Minor

13 June 201613 June 2016 ~ ctw ~ Leave a comment

I’ve blogged about Doris Cecil Dinwiddie Crawford and Graydon Clemson Crawford because their family is at the center of a batch of about 100 photographs I bought at a Baltimore antique shop. In any batch of more than a 100 family photographs there are always a few that don’t connect directly to the family in any obvious way. These two photographs are examples.

The first depicts Winifred “Winnie” Myra Minor (1881-1958) and husband Floyd Rozelle Sprague (1883-1941). In the 1920 Census the Crawford and Sprague families were were both enumerated in McDermitt, an unincorporated town staddling the Nevada-Oregon border. I did not discover a familial connection so perhaps the only connection is that they were friends and riding buddies.

It looks like they are camping. Floyd appears to be photographing the photographer. I was unable to identify the camera type.

The second photograph depicts, from left to right, Winnie’s brother James Dallas Minor (1864-1946), his son Lyle Raymond Minor (1901-1955), his wife Alberta Gillilan (1870-1943) and Lyle’s wife, Margaret Bell Weber (1903-1999).

Winnie and Jim D. were children of William Henry Minor (1840-1918) and Philoma Malissa Falor (1842-1915). Jim D. was the oldest and born in Steubenville, OH. Winnie and her twin, Ira William (1881-1971), were the youngest of the nine children and born in Paradise Valley, NV. The family moved from OH to NV around 1879. William Henry’s brother, James Drummond Minor, was already in NV and serving as NV’s 2nd Secretary of State. The family remained active in NV politics for a number of years.

Margaret Bell Weber Minor Kofoed, who would become known to her family as “Ommie,” lived a long life of service in the Eastern Star and Rainbow Girls. She was installed as “Supreme Worthy Advisor, worldwide” of the Rainbow Girls in 1992.

Floyd, who was born in Swartz Creek, MI, was the son of William Albert Sprague (1859-1942).