TOMBSTONE TUESDAY ~ My maternal 2nd great grandparents–Joseph Gillespie (1837-1908) and Susan Burgess (1841-1933)

Far left is Susan Gillespie, next to her Joseph Gillespie - the larger stone is their daughter, Louise Forsyth & her husband James F. Forsyth - the lone stone on the right is Susan Gillespie's mother, Elizabeth Gaydon Burgess (1813-1884) 

My maternal 2nd great grandparents were both born in Devonshire, England.  Joseph in Tiverton and Susan in Barnstaple. 

They immigrated to the United States in 1862 with their 2 infants, Susan (my great grandmother) and little William.

Joseph died at age 71 on 26 May 1908 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan.  His death certificate states the cause of death as Dilation of the Heart.

Susan outlived him by 25 years.  She died of Myocarditis, on 8 Mar 1933 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan at age 91.

They are buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit.  I’ve been to this cemetery a couple of times during my visits from California.  There are 32 members of my family at rest in this cemetery.

Here are the photos of their headstones

They are in Section O, Lot 53, Graves 14 & 15. 

You may visit their memorials here Joseph #21177918 and Susan #21177747.

If you are connected to this couple I’d love to hear from you.  Joseph had 9 brothers and a sister so there must be many descendants out there.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

I wrote about Susan’s mother here - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks–Week #4–Elizabeth Gaydon Burgess–1813-1884–My 3rd great grandmother

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2020   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

DISCOVERIES ~ Biographical sketch of Henry Gaylord Hart (1874-1919) in The Book of Detroiters

Today’s discovery is from The Compilation of Published Sources on the My Heritage website.  I have 365 references in this one source alone.  I began with the first one.

Henry Gaylord Hart is my 1st cousin 3 times removed. This means that our common ancestors are my 3rd great grandparents, Henry Hart and Olive Doten.

Genealogy blogger extraordinaire, Randy Seaver, recently wrote about this particular record set in his blog Genea-Musings.  It’s from him that I got the idea to check these records and see what I could find.

Here is the source information from MyHeritage:
About this source
Title: Biographical Dictionary of Leading People of Detroit, MI., 1914
Publication date:    1914
Publisher:    Chicago, A. N. Marquis company
Author:    Marquis, Albert Nelson. [from old catalog]
Sponsor:    Sloan Foundation
Tags:    library_of_congress, americana
Notes: some of the pages in this book were stuck together which caused some of the text to be missing page 304 305 318 319 334 335 362 363 380 381 414 415
Contributor: The Library of Congress

Here is the book excerpt

Here is my transcription:

HART, Henry Gaylord; born, Detroit, Oct. 20, 1874; son of Simeon Henry and Emma (Gaylord) Hart; educated in grammar and high schools, Detroit; married, Detroit, Aug. 6, 1907, Emma Bezner; 1 son, Frederick Henry.  Began with the Michigan Central Ry. at Detroit, in purchasing department, remaining for 12 years; then with Gregory, Mayer & Thom Co. for 12 years; treasurer and general manager since Apr., 1910 of Hilton, Hart & Koehn Co., stationers, etc. Republican. Baptist. Club: Detroit Boat. Office: 193-195 Jefferson Ave. Residence: Grosse Pointe Shores.

I’ve done quite a bit of research on my Hart line.  I’ve even been to Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit, where Henry and many other family members are buried.

However, finding this piece of biographical information fills in some of his story that I was not aware of.  I think I will go and do a bit more searching in this particular book, for other family members.  After all, I am Michigan Girl and all trails lead back to Detroit for a lot of my family.

If you are connected to anyone mentioned in this blog post, I’d love to hear from you.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

HOW I FOLLOW A TRAIL OF RECORDS & ANALYZE WHAT I FIND–HENRY HART FAMILY - PART 1  

HOW I FOLLOW A TRAIL OF RECORDS & ANALYZE WHAT I FIND–HENRY HART FAMILY–PART 2 

HOW I FOLLOW A TRAIL OF RECORDS & ANALYZE WHAT I FIND–HENRY HART FAMILY–PART 3 

Happy Hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks–Week #9–Bachelor Uncle, Ford V. Gould (1884-1947) Detroit, Michigan

This week’s subject for 52 Ancestors is “Bachelor Uncle.”  Since my only Uncle, Robert Milne married twice, I couldn’t write about him.  However, my Dad had 2 uncles, Roy and Ford Gould.  So I’ll write about my bachelor great-uncle, Ford V. Gould.

My Dad was an only child.  He was also the only grandchild of his paternal grandparents, William Val Gould and Mae Thorp Gould.
While I was growing up my Dad loved to talk about his uncles & aunts.  I knew all their names; Ford, Roy, Harry (my Dad’s father), Gladys, May “Adele” and Helen.  Wishing to this day I’d written down every word or recorded the stories.  Happily I do have family photos.

This is a photo of my great grandparents, William & Mae Gould & all 6 of their children along with my grandmother, Marie Lindsay Gould and my Dad, Harry Norman Gould

Of those 6 children, 2 never married (Ford & Helen).  Let’s talk about bachelor Ford.

Ford was the oldest of the six children.  He was born 31 Aug 1884 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan¹.  That birth date is listed on his birth record and his death certificate.  However, his WWI and WWII draft registrations give a birth date of 30 Aug 1883.  From all records I have located for him, Ford always lived in Detroit and it seems, he stayed in the same home as his parents until his death at age 62. 

Let’s look at a timeline for granduncle Ford:

1900 - The first census I find Ford enumerated in, is the 1900 (still wishing we had that 1890 lost census).  He was living with his parents and siblings and going to school.  The family was living at 1034 13th St. in Detroit.  The census tells us that Ford’s father, William owned this home.
1901 – Detroit City Directory² – Helper – living at 899 16th St.
1903- 1907  – Detroit City Directory – Machinist – living at 905 16th St. 
1910 - By the time of the 1910 census, Ford was 26 years old, single and working as a Teamster for a steel construction company.  He was still living in the same home as his parents and four siblings.  They were living at 828 14th Ave. in Detroit. 
1911-1919 – Shown in the Detroit city directory as boarding at 125 Linwood.  This directory gives his occupation as a Machinist.  Living at this same address are his father, William. Off and on at the same address you find Ford’s brother, Harry and his sisters Gladys & Adele.
1918 – Ford registers for the draft for World War I – he lists his address as 125 Linwood, his occupation as a Machinist and his next of kin as his father, William.
1920 – Enumerated as a Machinist at an adding machine factory, living at 818 Hudson Ave., along with his father and mother.
In 1924 Ford’s father, William dies at age 64 of peritonitis due to a ruptured bladder.  This left his mother, Mae a widow and Ford continued to live with her until her death in Nov 1946.  Ford died 7 months later, 17 Jun 1947 of hypertensive heart disease.
1942 – Ford registers for the draft for World War II – he is living at 5639 Linwood and his mother, Mrs. Mary Gould, is listed as his contact info.  He is working at Cyclops Steel Co in Detroit.  His physical characteristics are given as 5’1”, blue eyes, gray/bald hair, ruddy complexion and 148 pounds.  This coincides with the less descriptive physical characteristics from the WW I draft.

Ford spent his life working mostly as a Machinist and at one time a Teamster.  Here are the definitions I've located online for those two professions.

A machinist is a person who machines using hand tools and machine tools to create or modify a part that is made of metal, plastics, or wood.  Courtesy of wikipedia

A teamster, in modern American English, is a truck driver, or a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a labor union in the United States and Canada. ... Originally, the term "teamster" referred to a person who drove a team of draft animals, usually a wagon drawn by oxen, horses, or mules. Courtesy of wikipedia

I cannot speculate as to why my granduncle Ford never married. I don’t have any details of his personal life.  Wouldn’t we love to go back & ask our ancestors what their interests were, did they have any hobbies, did they travel and if so, where to and so many other questions? I hope granduncle Ford lived a happy life.

The following cut out of a picture of Ford was located among the family photos left to me by my father.  The back of the picture says “Mr. Ford Gould year of 1915 December 25th.”  I do not recognize the writing as that of either my Dad or my grandmother. 

Ford’s obituary was published in the Detroit Free Press³ on 19 Jun 1947, page 24 and reads as follows:

GOULD-June 17, Fred [Ford] Val, beloved son of the late William Val and Mary Eve; brother of Harry, Roy, Mrs. Gladys Smith, Mrs. Adele Sine and the late Helen.  Funeral from Harvey A. Neely Funeral Home, 5683 Maybury Grand, Friday at 10 a.m.
[His first name is mispelled in this obituary and should be Ford]

Ford is buried at Grand Lawn Cemetery in Detroit.  I have been there several times.  His memorial can be found here #61960668.

Sources: 1. Michigan, Births and Christenings Index, 1867-1911(Ancestry.com) 2. U.S. City Directories 3. Detroit Free Press on newspapers.com

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

FAMILY SEARCH - Going Back & Getting Those Other Pages - this involved Ford's birth record & others



ANCESTORS IN THE NEWS - Ford Gould car was stolen

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SUNDAY’S OBITUARY ~ Elizabeth Gillespie Verney–my great grandaunt (1865-1948)

Transcription:

VERNEY – March 19, Elizabeth, at residence 4843 Seminole Ave., beloved mother of Mrs. Charles Lindow of Detroit; Mrs. D. H. Cockburn, Mrs. James Shields, James G., George C. and Norman J. Verney of Toronto, Ont.: sister of Mrs. James Forsyth.  Services from Fred G. Marshall Sons Parlors, 3462 E. Jefferson Ave., Saturday evening at 8 o’clock.  Burial at Toronto, Ont.

Elizabeth Gillespie was born to Joseph Gillespie and Susan Burgess on 9 Feb 1865.  She was one of 3 daughters and 1 son born to this couple.  Her older sister, Susan Gillespie is my great grandmother, who pre-deceased her by a year.

Elizabeth married James Burgess Verney on 25 Sep 1884 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan.  They celebrated 50 years of marriage just a few days prior to his death on 7 Oct 1934.  James served on the Toronto Police force starting as a Constable and reaching the position of Chief of Police.

The couple raised 8 children: Florence “Nettie” (1885-1968), Louise “Lulu” (1887-1974), William Harry (1889-1944), Margaretta “Etta” May (1892-abt 1961), James G. (1894-1957), George Clarke (1896-1971), Norman Joseph (1898-?) and Minnie E. (died at 7 days old).

Could this couple have been cousins on some level?  Elizabeth’s mother was Susan Burgess (1841-1933) and James’ mother was Elizabeth Burgess (1823-1909).  Both mothers were born in Devon, England.  However, at this time, I have not found a connection.  Do I think there may be one?  Absolutely!  I have more work to do on this family.

I have not been able to locate James & Elizabeth in any census record in 1930.  I did locate an Elizabeth Gillespie in the 1940 census, listed as an inmate at Eloise Hospital in Nankin Township, Wayne, Michigan.  This record gives her place of residence in 1935 as Highland Park, Michigan.  Her age in this 1940 census, is listed as 76 yrs and a birthplace of Canada (which is a place she lived, however my records show her born in Michigan).  These are all close to what I have for Elizabeth.  Her maiden name was Gillespie, so she could have been admitted under that name instead of Verney.  Records no longer exist for this hospital but you can read about this institution here.  It has a long history.  She is one of several of my ancestors who ended up at Eloise Hospital toward the end of their lives.
 
Elizabeth was living in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan at the time of her death in 1948.  I have the death index, but no death certificate.
 
Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950
Name:    Elisabeth Verney
[Elisabeth Gillespie]
Gender:    Female
Marital Status:    Widowed
Birth Date:    Feb, 1864
Birth Place:    Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan
Death Date:    19 Mar 1948
Death Place:    Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, USA
Death Age:    84
File Number:    377839
Father:    Joseph Gillespie

She is buried in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at Prospect Cemetery, along with her husband James and other family members.  You may visit her findagrave memorial here #127128510.



Edwin and his wife Alison Verney were Elizabeth’s brother-in-law and his wife.  Charles Verney and Shirley Ford are Elizabeth’s nephew and his wife.

The Verney family was quite large and there are a great many descendants.  If you are related to them, I’d love to hear from you.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

MATRILINEAL MONDAY ~ Richard Gillespie & Eliza Jane Patterson–My maternal 2nd great granduncle & aunt–England

WHAT CAN YOU LEARN FROM A PROBATE RECORD? HERE'S ONE FROM 1884 FOR MY 3RD GREAT GRANDMOTHER

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

THOSE PLACES THURSDAY ~ Towns or roads in Michigan using the name GOULD

GOULD Rd. sign in Bruce Township, Macomb Co., Michigan

Ever curious about my maiden name, I thought I would find out how many places in Michigan have Gould in their name.

I’ve always known about Gould Rd. in Macomb County, Michigan.  I’ve been on the road during a genealogy road trip and I photographed the street sign.  I’ve even contacted the County of Macomb and tried to find out who the road was named after.  So far, no luck with that.

Since my Gould family lived in Armada, Macomb, Michigan it’s a curiosity as to whether this road could have been named for them.  The burial location of immediate family related to these Goulds is at Rose Hill Cemetery (a place I’ve also been), and is 1.6 miles from Gould Rd.

(All screenshots shown here are courtesy of Google Maps)

Gould Rd. near Rose Hill Cemetery where many of my ancestors are buried

This past week I discovered there is a GOULD City in Upper Michigan.  I never knew that.  It looks very rural.  I would love to visit.  I’ve never been to Upper Michigan and it’s high on my list of places to go.

Here’s the location of Gould City and also an aerial view.
There’s even a road in Gould City named S. Gould City Road.



And to my surprise, when I conducted a Google search of Detroit, Michigan, looking for the Gould name, I located a Gould Street.  It’s down along the Detroit River, not too far from Ambassador Bridge.  And, it’s only 12.9 miles, a 20 minute drive from where my grandparents, Harry & Marie Gould lived, at 14520 Asbury Park.

This has been a fun exercise.  I learned things I didn’t know before, and that’s always a good thing.
 
Now to find out, if possible, who these streets and roads and cities are named after.  Are they related to me?  I know here in my small town of Ramona, CA., we have many roads named after people who once settled here and had an impact on our town.
 
Have you ever looked for places named after your family?  I’d love to hear about it.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

THOSE PLACES THURSDAY - Armada, Macomb, Michigan

THOSE PLACES THURSDAY - Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, California

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

ANCESTORS IN THE NEWS ~ My Grandaunt May Adele Gould, age 9, plays piano in “remarkable” concert - 1909

I have to admit, newspapers are a complete source of fascination to me and always have been.

I never cease to be surprised what I can find when I start putting ancestor’s names in the search box.  Today was no exception.  I had already located several obituaries and other articles of interest.  I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about, and then I came upon this gem.

My Aunt Adele (full name May Adele Gould), mentioned with another young girl when they played in a concert together at ages 9 & 10. And what?  There’s even pictures of the girls!

Transcription – Miss Mae Adela Gould, Miss Dora Easterbrook – Two child pianists, Miss Dora Easterbrook, 10 years old, 141 Lincoln Avenue, and Miss May Adela Gould, 9 years old, 828 Fourteenth Avenue, both pupils of Mrs. Marie Wolverton, gave rather a remarkable concert in Grinnell Hall Thursday evening.

They played from memory selections of Beethoven, Grieg, Haydn and MacDowell in most artistic manner, displaying wonderful technique and interpretation for their age; Miss Vila Hoffman assisted with songs.

At first I wasn’t 100% positive this was “my” May Adele Gould.  The age was off by a year or so, her having been born (according to my sources) 25 Feb 1898.  And, her middle name being given as “Adela” and not Adele.  This concert took place in 1909.  The article gives her address as 828 Fourteenth Ave. and don’t you know, that’s the exact address she and her family were living in the 1909 Detroit City Directory and the 1910 census.  That put to rest any doubts I had.

I was curious as to where Grinnell Hall, the location of the concert, was located in Detroit.  I conducted a Google search and found out that Grinnell Brothers Music was a prominent company.  They built a music house on Woodward Avenue in 1908.  Was that what was called Grinnell Hall?  You can read about the Grinnell Brothers here Grinnell Brothers Music House.

Oh to be able to have a copy of that picture of Adele with the big bow in her hair. Adele is one my grandfather’s three sisters.  I have absolutely no photos of he or his siblings when they were young.  I’m sure that at some point in someone’s items they probably existed. 

My Aunt Adele moved to California (where I have lived since 1965).  She didn’t pass away until I was in my mid 30’s, but I never went to see her.  One of her other brothers, Roy Gould, lived with her after the death of her husband.  So, there were two of my grandfather’s siblings within about a 3 hour drive of where I lived.  What family heirlooms, photos and memories were disposed of when they died?  It makes me shudder to think.

We had moved away from our family when I was pretty young and staying in contact with them was just never a priority.  Makes me pretty sad now.

I understand from cousins I’ve talked to, that Adele continued to play piano and organ throughout her life.  Here is a picture of her in her later years (generously shared with me by a cousin).  And, there she sits, right in front of her organ.

Thoughts that came to mind as I was writing this blog post. 

• Did any of the other five children in the family take music lessons?
• Adele’s father, William, worked as a supervisor at a paint store in some census and city directory listings.  In the 1900 census he is said to own the home they were living in.  By 1910 they were renting in another location.  It’s wonderful that they were able to afford music lessons.
• I have had an affinity to the piano since I was a young girl.  I’ve taken lessons at many times during my life, but don’t consider myself really able to play. No one else I know, in our family, played.
• I wish I would have taken the time to go and visit Adele when I was in my late teens and twenties.  My Dad (her only nephew) certainly spoke of his Aunt Adele often.
• I also remember when we moved from Florida to California in 1965, we stayed at Adele’s home in San Bernardino, for a couple of days.  As a teenager it certainly never occurred to me to ask her about our family, or to show me photos.

What other stories will I find in my newspaper searches?  What interesting items have you found? I’d love to hear about them.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST 

CITY DIRECTORIES–A TREASURE TROVE OF GENEALOGICAL INFORMATION

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY–William & May Thorp Gould–My great grandparents

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY ~ William Wallace Lindsay–My great grandfather–Scotland to the U.S. 1859-1931

William Wallace Lindsay was born 18 Oct 1859 in Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland.  He was the son of William Lindsay and Mary Wallace.  He had 3 brothers; Robert, John and Richard and 2 sisters; Mary Ann and Elizabeth “Betsy.”

When I visited Woodmere Cemetery in Detroit, several years ago, this headstone was not visible.  There is a section devoted to the Lindsay family with a lovely surname marker.  But, this stone must have been buried.  Thanks to a cousin who uncovered it, I now have it. 

Here’s the Lindsay surname marker at Woodmere Cemetery.

William emigrated to the United States in 1886 on the ship State of Indiana.  Also on that same sailing was his future wife, Elizabeth “Bessie” Fitzcharles.  They married the following month on 21 May 1886 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan.  They likely met over in Scotland, as they are both enumerated in the 1881 Scottish census, living in Dundee.  I always wonder how couples met.  Did friends introduce them?  Did they meet at a dance or some other function?  Were they neighbors?  Maybe their families knew each other?  Do you ever wonder how your ancestors met?

William and “Bessie” had 4 known children; Ellen W., Marie (my grandmother), Bessie and William “Bill.”  You have to love all the similar names passed down with the generations.  Makes our work so much more interesting, doesn’t it?

Sadly, this couple divorced on 18 May 1912 after 26 years of marriage.  Bessie died of carcinoma of the jaw, just 2 years later.  She is not buried in the same cemetery, but is buried with other family members.

What happens in the life of my great grandfather after the divorce is subject to a lot of speculation.  He is found in the Detroit city directory listings in 1914, 1916, 1918, 1919 and 1920.  He is last seen in the 1930 census in Detroit, in the household of his daughter Bessie and husband Stewart Hockster.  Where was he during the 10 year gap of 1920 to 1930?  There may have been another marriage, but myself and my cousins have never been able to prove it to our satisfaction.  He appears in none of the very numerous family pictures that were passed down to my cousins and myself.

I’ve written a couple of posts about this William Lindsay and also about his son, Wm. “Bill” Lindsay.  Quite the interesting pair.  If you’d like to read more about them please select the links below.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS ~ Week #3–My great grandfather–William Wallace Lindsay 1859-1931 (a bit of a mystery)

WEDDING WEDNESDAY ~ William “Bill” Lindsay & his many wives–the story of my Granduncle Bill

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

FRIDAY FINDS of a Different Kind

Normally, when I write about Friday Finds, they include various documents I have located, or perhaps even a photo of a particular ancestor.
 
This week my find was located on the Detroit Historical Society’s Facebook page. I happened to be scrolling through my FB news feed and came across an item that related to my birthday.

What I saw was a photo taken on my birthday, March 13th, in the year 1903 in Detroit, where I was born.  I remember Gratiot Ave. as a place my parents and grandparents talked about, along with Woodward Ave., Grand River and all the Mile roads in Detroit.
  
Here’s the image, used with the gracious permission of the Detroit Historical Society.  I’ve darkened it just a little so it would show up better.



The caption for the image reads as follows:

On March 13, 1903, this scene was captured on McDougall Avenue, just north of Gratiot Avenue and looking north. St. Philip's Mission Church is visible adjacent to a plank sidewalk along with many residences.

Have you found items like this from your place of birth or where you grew up?

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SEPIA SATURDAY ~ My maternal grandparents, Joseph & Florence Milne and my Uncle Robert Milne–circa 1950

Joseph A. Milne (1883-1957), Robert A. Milne (1909-1969) and Florence Bowden Milne (1888-1986)

This is a picture of my grandparents and their son (my Uncle Bob).  The photo was taken in the basement of their home in Detroit, Michigan.

I haven’t enhanced or made changes to the photo, because sometimes I like to see them in their original condition.  A little yellowed and a bit frayed at the corners.

I don’t have any information about what the occasion for this dinner was.  I do know that I’ve seen other pictures of parties (such as their 50th anniversary in 1956) that were thrown in their basement.

Everyone is dressed up.  Of course, back then it was quite common for all the men to wear ties and the women to wear nice dresses and pearls even if they were just having someone over for a casual dinner.  It’s how it was back then.  We certainly don’t dress that way now.  I kind of wish we still did.

I’m not sure of the exact address my grandparents were living at this time.  I have their address in 1940, from the census, but I believe they moved to another home after that.

GOOD FIND - While I was writing this post and reviewing family photos I’ve scanned, I located another picture that would appear to be taken at the same time. My grandmother is wearing the same dress and her hair looks like it’s done the same way as the picture above.  My grandfather’s tie is tilted the same way as the photo above and he’s wearing a suit.

It looks like my grandmother is opening a card in this second photo.  Was it her birthday or perhaps their anniversary?

Here’s a question.  Why is there a Jewish Menorah on the mantle?  How interesting.  According to family lore and DNA, we don’t have any Jewish ancestry.  Mmmmm…could this be someone else’s home they were having dinner at?  Something to look further into.  Intriguing.

I’d welcome input from family members or others who may recognize this home.

To see other Sepia Saturday posts from my blog please click here.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2017 Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY ~ Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan

Woodlawn Cemetery, 19975 Woodward Ave.

Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan is just one of many cemeteries in Detroit, that are final resting places for my family.
 
I’ve been to the cemetery several times in recent years.  Using the “search” function in Legacy 8, I determined which of my ancestors are buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.  Please click here to see instructions on how to use the Legacy 8 search function.

This is the list created by Legacy 8.  There are 9 names on the list.



Here are the headstone pictures I have for this group.  Fortunately, I have pictures for all but two.  I have recently, via FindAGrave.com, requested headstone photos for Ralph Gillespie Forsythe and his wife, Katherine Martz.

All photos shown here were taken by me.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

Robert A. Milne 1909-1969	Dorothy T. Milne nee Delahoyde 1913-1965	Joseph A. Milne 1883-1957
Merritt J. Quackenbush 1885-1955	Sarah C. Quackenbush nee Roe 1884-1952	Everett P. Roe 1893-1958 and Irene M. Roe nee Milne 1893-1989

How I am related to the ancestors buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.

DELAHOYDE, Dorothy – my Aunt (she married Robert Andrew Milne)
FORSYTH, Ralph G. – my 1st cousin twice removed
MARTZ, Katherine – the wife of Ralph G. Forsyth
MILNE, Irene “Peggy” – my maternal grand aunt
MILNE, Joseph Albert – my maternal grandfather
MILNE, Robert Andrew – my maternal uncle
QUACKENBUSH, James M. – my grandaunt’s husband’s sister’s husband
ROE, Everett P. – the husband of my grandaunt, Irene Milne
ROE, Sarah “Sally” – wife of the above James Quackenbush.

If you think you might be related to anyone mentioned in this blog post, please contact me.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2016   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

DETROIT ~ Street Addresses Renumbered in 1921–Here’s a list with the old and new numbers

Here’s a quick tip for those of you with ancestors who lived in Detroit, Michigan.

On January 1, 1921 new address numbers were assigned to many streets in Detroit.  There is an explanation at the beginning of this book as to why this was done.

So, if your ancestor was living at 107 Clarendon Avenue N. prior to the renumbering in 1921, the new address would be 8868 Clarendon Avenue N.  That’s quite a change.
 
This kind of change would have to be recorded in our family history in order to properly represent the location.  Sort of similar to when all the county lines changed over the decades.

NOTE:  Any location we list for our ancestors should always be recorded as it was at the time.  Not, as it was later on.  This is true of cities, counties, states, countries or street addresses.

This list for Detroit is published by Steve Morse on his website stevemorse.org.  We are all familiar with Steve Morse for his publication of immigration information from Ellis Island and Castle Garden.  But, his website contains much more than that now.

Here is a list of the resources on this site for Detroit, Michigan.



Here is the direct link to the PDF containing those old to new numbers.  Detroit Old and New House Numbers effective 1 Jan 1921.  It downloaded pretty quickly for me.  I immediately saved it to Evernote and tagged it for easy reference.

I didn’t know about this specific resource until it was posted on one of the many genealogy Facebook pages I belong to.  In this case it was the Detroit Genealogy group.  My thanks to Richard Nolan for sharing it.

I think I’ll go back to the Steve Morse site right now and see what other hidden resources he has that I didn’t know about.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

Detroit Free Press Newspaper Now Onine - 1837-2015

City Directories - A Treasure Trove of Genealogical Information

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2016   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TUESDAY’S TIP–More Detroit, Michigan Newspapers Online

What’s more fun than finding our ancestor’s names in a newspaper article?  Whether it’s a wedding announcement, a birth announcement or an obituary, these records can be tremendous genealogical gold mines.
 
Newspapers are all about what’s going on in a specific moment in time.  And, the good thing is, that newspapers have been being printed since before we were even a country separate from England.

There has always been difficulty in obtaining Detroit newspapers online.  The Detroit Free Press isn’t digitized or available on Genealogy Bank or Newspapers.com.

Currently on Genealogy Bank you have access to these newspapers for Detroit.

Detroit Gazette
Detroit Independent
Detroit Informer
Detroiter Abend-Post
Herold
Michigan Herald
Plaindealer
Weekly Detroit Free Press 1886-1887

Right now on Newspapers.com there are 36 newspapers for Michigan.  None of them for Detroit.

HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS!!
According to a newly released blog post by Dick Eastman on Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter the Gannett company is about to digitize more U.S. newspapers, INCLUDING THE DETROIT FREE PRESS.
 
“Through this collaboration, more than four million searchable pages of The Cincinnati Enquirer were made available online. Newspapers.com and Gannett will begin the rollout phase of all public archives of more than 80 daily newspapers, including Detroit Free Press, The Arizona Republic, The Indianapolis Star, The Tennessean and many others to follow. Each archive will ultimately include every available page from the first date of publication up to issues from 30 days ago.”

So, standby all my fellow Detroiters, there is hope on the horizon.  Since I live in California and my family goes back 3 generations in Detroit, this is fantastic news.  I was born in Detroit, as were all my siblings.  Could there have been birth announcements?  I’m so excited to find out what treasures I can find.

One more thing.  The Online Historical Newspaper Collection of the Day on The Ancestor Hunt blog is Michigan Digital Newspaper Portal.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

DETROIT TURNS 314 YEARS OLD TODAY

A quick shout out to my home city.  I still have many family members in and around Detroit.  Grandparents, cousins, uncles & aunts, nieces and nephews are buried in Detroit.  Many spent their whole lives there.

Detroit was first settled in 1701.  To read about it, please click on this link History of Detroit 
 
I ran a search in my Legacy program and there are 196 people in my database that are associated with Detroit by birth, death or event.

Here are those people, both living and dead.  No dates have been included in order to protect those that are still living.

MY DETROIT FAMILY MEMBERS

(Click on any image to enlarge it)

This isn’t a huge percentage of the 4665 people in my database, but many of these people are very closely related to me.

PLEASE contact me if you think you might be related, even remotely, to anyone mentioned in this blog.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST (All these posts have links to Detroit)

MYSTERY MONDAY-Who's Your Daddy? Brick Wall Post #1 - John C. Gould

AN EXACT DATE OF DEATH IN A DETROIT CITY DIRECTORY

BIRTH RECORDS WITH INCORRECT NAMES - What Would You Think?

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION