52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS–WEEK #6–Am I related to Ida Elvira Smith Rattray? (1865-1942)

Ida Elvira Smith was born on 16 May 1865 in Almont, Lapeer, Michigan to parents Herkimer SMITH and Mary A. GOULD.  She had one known sibling, an older sister named Eva Smith (1860-1928) who married George B. BERK.

Ida married James Ferguson RATTRAY on 30 Sep 1886 in Almont, Lapeer, Michigan.  According to the 1900 census, Ida was the mother of 2 children, one of whom was still living.  I know the son who lived was named James Harvey Rattray.  I have not located a marriage record for James.  At the time of Ida’s death 31 Jul 1942, according to her obituary, she was widowed and living with her son.

Ida, her husband and their son are all buried in West Berlin Cemetery, Allenton, St. Clair, Michigan.  Their memorials can be found here, James #36750937 and Ida #36750936, son James #36750938.

Ida’s husband, James worked as a Farmer and they lived in Michigan their entire lives, according to the research I've conducted.

RATTRAY is not a common surname.  Certainly not like a Smith or Williams or many others.  I have had a couple of DNA matches that have the surname Rattray in their trees.  I’m still trying to figure out our most recent common ancestor and how we are related.
 
WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF FINDING OUT?

Because Ida Elvira Smith who married James Ferguson descends from one of the GOULD lines I’ve had on my radar for about 15 years.  Unfortunately, with Ida & James having only one son, and there being no known descendants of that son, I am going to turn my attention to Ida’s sister Eva Smith.  She and her husband George R. Berk had 8 children, six of them sons.
 
I’m hoping to either confirm or disprove any connection with this GOULD line by researching this family.

In the meantime, if any of you reading this, are connected to this line of Smith or Rattray’s or Gould’s, you know I’d love to hear from you.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

FINDING A LETTER FROM MY GRANDMOTHER–Florence Bowden Milne 1888-1986

As genealogists, there are many things that make us go WOW!  But, for sure one of the biggest ones for me is finding correspondence from one of my beloved grandparents.  In fact, the ONLY correspondence that I have in my possession happens to come from my maternal grandmother, Florence.  I do remember that she and I wrote back and forth quite often in the 1970’s and early 1980’s.  I sure wish I’d have saved every letter.

Here’s a screenshot from my Legacy tree.  You can see that I have a HUGE problem on my grandmother’s paternal side.  I used to ask her questions about her family.  Trouble is, I didn’t write everything down.  One of her responses to my question about her father, Robert Bowden’s parents was that she didn’t know their names.

 (CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

However, my grandmother, Florence, was our family historian and left me a LOT of ancestor information.

Anyway, while cleaning out boxes in our garage yesterday I did come across a letter from my grandmother to me.  The other letter I have from her is dated 1978, this one is 14 Sep 1980.  AND, it’s in an envelope!!  Future DNA testing may be possible from the envelope so I’m thrilled with that find.



NOTE:  Still having trouble inserting images as Open Live Writer is not working properly and using Blogger directly is less than satisfactory.  So forgive any misaligned images etc.


Here’s the letter itself.

Here’s my transcription of this treasured letter.  I explained a couple of things, which I’ve highlighted in red.

hands shaking and writing awful (my grandmother wrote this at the top of the page)
                                                                                Sept. 14, 80
Dear Diane: – You must think I am a very neglectful grandmother but it just seems like so many things come up and people coming in. So, if you can forgive me I will try to do bettr.  Joan (she is my Aunt, Florence’s daughter) is slowly recovering then just as we are having a breathing spell she over does and she gets the shaking inside again.  You know that the last bad time in hospital she stopped breathing and in their efforts to revive her they broke 3 ribs. So that complicated everything but it is all coming out well.  We have a very nice apt. in a big complex, quiet and beautiful grounds.
I don’t know if I shall ever get rested but the Lord provides the strength we need.  I used to knit bed socks for Red Cross in Houston but Red Cross (she means in Livonia or Detroit) has no such thing so when the most of the confusion etc. died down I didn’t have a project on hand but Joan’s church has a lady has 3 homes orphans and others she supplies with bed socks, but told church members she needed knitters.  She supplies the money for yarn!  So I am in business again.  I finally got toenails & eye glasses fixed but need to have lower plate repaired.  Joan can drive now so my gson does not have to do my needs.  I finally got a letter from Pat (Pat is my mother, Florence’s youngest daughter). I was worried about them and in the letter very little news but – Bless you my dear for writing.  Love for you and Norman
Grandma

I tried to leave the transcription exactly as the words on the page are written.

My Aunt Joan died 5 years later on 2 Dec 1985.  I don’t have her cause of death and need to ask my cousin if he has a copy of her death certificate.

The letter has a return address of 31189 Morlock Apt 519, Livonia, Michigan.  I looked on Google Earth and found that the apartment complex still exists, at least according to Google Earth’s view.
 

3119 Morlock, Livonia, MI - courtesy of Google Earth

The ancestor surnames associated with my grandmother Florence’s family are: BARROWCLIFF, BOGGS, BOWDEN, BOWEN, BURGESS, CRITCHFIELD, DEAVER, DENSLER, FRAMPTON, GAYDON, GILLEN, GILLESPIE, HUDSON, HUNTER, LUNSFORD, MARTIN, MILNE, RITCHIE, RUMMELSPACHER, WUNDERLICH

To see more items from my grandmother Florence, you can click on this tab on the top of my blog My Grandmother's Journal.

PLEASE CONTACT ME AGAIN IF YOU HAVE ANY CONNECTIONS TO THE SURNAMES I’VE MENTIONED.  
Let’s see if we’re cousins.

Happy hunting, 
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SUNDAY’S OBITUARY ~ My Grandaunt Helen C. Gould–1901-1945

Transcription of obituary - GOULD - Feb 17, 1945.  Helen C. suddenly at residence, 5639 Linwood, beloved daughter of May E and the late Wm. V., dear sister of Ford, Harry and Roy Gould, Mrs. Chas. E. Smith and Mrs. Myron A. Sine of Grants Pass, Oregon.  Funeral service from Floyd L. Hamilton Funeral Home, 12th near West Grand Blvd. Wednesday at 9:15.  St. Leo's Church 10 a.m.  Interment Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

Here is Helen pictured with some of her family.

Helen Gould with her parents Mae & William - circa 1920

Helen C. Gould

Helen Gould on the right and her older sister Mae Adele on the left - circa 1913-1915

Helen C. Gould was the youngest of my grandfather’s siblings.  The family had 3 boys; Ford, Harry (my grandfather) and Roy.  Then they had 3 girls; Gladys, May “Adele” and Helen.

Helen was born 12 Mar 1901 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan.  She was living at home with her parents, Wm. Val & Mae Gould in the 1910 and 1920 census.  In 1920 she was working as a Stenographer at a motor factory.  Working in the auto industry was a common thread for my ancestors in Detroit during this time when the auto business was booming.  By 1930 she was living with her married sister, Adele (now Mrs. James Conner) and working as a Stenographer at a trust company.

I have found no evidence that Helen ever married or had any children.  Her brother, Ford, also never married.  Of the 6 children born in this Gould family, only one of them had a child and that was my grandfather, Harry.  Talk about not having collateral family to research.  Helen seemed to be a good looking, well dressed woman.  I always wonder why someone doesn’t marry.  It was much less common back then than it is now.

Strangely, I cannot locate Helen in the 1940 census.  Her place of death, 5639 Linwood is the home where her mother lived from before 1930 until her death in 1946.  In the 1940 census, Helen’s mother, Mae Gould is living in the home on Linwood, with her son, Ford and sister Catherine Thorp.  So, where is Helen?

Helen was only 43 years old when she died.  I don’t have a copy of her death certificate.  I either need to order it and pay the fee or wait 3 more years for it to be released to the public.

 

However, thanks to my cousin, Marian, I do have the information contained on the certificate.  You see, Marian was doing some transcribing/indexing for familysearch.org when she came across Helen’s death certificate.  She didn’t grab a screenshot, but wrote down most of the important items as follows:

• Certificate #333216
• Address – 5639 Linwood Ave., Detroit, Michigan
• Date of birth - 12 Mar 1901
• Date of death – 17 Feb 1945 at 11;30 p.m.
• Occupation – Stenographer for Frisbee Insurance Co.
• Date of burial – 21 Feb 1945 at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan
• Cause of death – Cardiac failure following chronic myocarditis and acute dilatation pyogenic nephritis
• Informant – Gladys L. Smith (sister) of 3729 14th St., Detroit, Michigan
• Funeral director – Floyd L. Hamilton at 7334 Twelfth St., Detroit, Michigan

Until doing this review for Helen, I had forgotten that I don’t have a place of residence for her in 1940 or a copy of her death certificate.

 

Helen is buried with her parents at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.  I visited their gravesites when I was there in 2007 and took the following photos.

You may visit Helen’s FindAGrave memorial here #32439516.

If you have any further information to share about Helen, I’d love to hear from you.  I’m always looking to connect with anyone who has information about my Gould family.

 

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

Did My Grandparents Almost Win a Home in a Detroit suburb in 1956?

Sunday's Obituary - Harry Whipple Gould, my grandfather and Helen's brother (1886-1960)

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SUNDAY’S OBITUARY ~ Roy Jerome Hart (1883-1946) Perry, Shiawassee, Michigan

Published in the Lansing State Journal 16 Sep 1946, page 2

Roy Jerome Hart is a descendant of my 3rd great grandfather, Henry Hart and his first wife, Sarah Sumner.  This makes Roy my half 2nd cousin twice removed.

Transcription of Obituary:

 

PERRY, Sept. 16 - Funeral services for Roy J. Hart, 63, will be held Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock from the Church of the Nazarene, Rev. John Smith, pastor, officiating.  Burial will be in Oak Plains Cemetery, Shaftsburg.
The body is at Oakes funeral home where it will remain until one hour previous to the services at the church.
Mr. Hart died suddenly about noon Sunday while attending church.  He had just taken up the collection and sat down in his pew when he dropped over dead.  Death was caused from a heart attack.  He had been ill about three months.
He was born March 14, 1883, at Plainfield, the son of Seth and Nettie Hart.  He was married twice, the first wife being Olive Hart who died September 9, 1931, at Shaftsburg.  He was married the second time October 29, 1932, to Mrs. Rose Martin at Shaftsburg.
He had been the manager of the Laingsburg pickle station for 15 years and had resided in Shaftsburg until he came to Perry 11 years ago.
Surviving are the widow; three daughters, Mrs. Lizzie Woodbury of Pontiac, Mrs. Lucille Martin of Rochester and Mrs. Lenna Nanasy of Morrice; three sons, LeRoy Hart of Williamston, Leo Hart of Lansing and Lawrence Hart of Perry; five brothers, Ned Hart, Eugene Hart, Hartley Hart, all of Laingsburg, Robert Hart of Haslett and Harry Hart of Shaftsburg; two sisters, Mrs. Lizzie Southwell of Shaftsburg and Mrs. Mable Richard of Lake City; four stepchildren; 31 grandchildren; 1 great grandchild; 13 step grandchildren and 6 step-great grandchildren.

I imagine having someone die in the middle of a church service must have been a shock to all the members.

While I’ve always been interested in my Hart line, that interest was recently peaked when I connected with a 4th cousin via DNA.  She is directly connected to Roy Jerome Hart who is her 2nd great grandfather.

Roy married Olive Venina Hunter on 14 Mar 1901 in Carunna, Shiawassee, Michigan.  They had 7 children together: Lelah May, Vivian “Lizzie”, Leroy Andrew, Lawrence B., Leo George, Lucille V. and Lennah Louise.

Here's Roy & Olive with 5 of their children.  Photo courtesy of Peter Young.

After Olive died, according to Roy’s obituary, he married again to a Mrs. Rose Martin.  Until finding this obituary I had no record of a second wife.

NOTE:  This particular obituary is full of genealogical information, from marriage and death dates and places to names of a lot of family members.  We don’t always get this lucky when it comes to obituaries.  I’d like to thank whoever wrote this one. 

I have located Roy in census records with his parents, Seth Andrew Hart and Nettie Wright and with his wife Olive.  After his marriage to Olive in 1901 he worked as a Farmer, according to the 1910, 1920 and 1930 census records.  I see from the obituary that he managed a pickle station for 15 years. What in the world is a pickle station?

Since Google is our friend, let’s find out.  According to what I learned Shiawassee County, Michigan was a center for the growing and processing of cucumbers into pickles.  Who knew?  I have no evidence at this point that our Roy Jerome Hart was growing cucumbers in his farming endeavors.  However, he is listed in the Shiawassee Farm Journal (published in 1917)  on page 22.

I checked the front of the book to learn what all the abbreviations in the entries stood for and from that I can translate Roy’s entry as follows:

Hart, R. J. (Olive) 5 children, Owns 80 acres with 2 horses and 7 cattle, address of Rural Route No. 1, Shaftsburg Wdhl 48, Ind tel ( I suspect the tel stands for telephone).  I did not find a translation of Wdhl or Ind in the journal.

Roy was only 63 when he died.  He and Olive are buried at Oak Plain Cemetery in Shaftsburg, Michigan.  You can visit their memorials here; Roy #40017951 and Olive #40017952.  There are 39 Hart memorials in the Oak Plain Cemetery.

Update - After finishing this blog post I discovered another child born to Roy & Olive.  A little girl named Edith Pauline, born 29 Jul 1903 and died at age 4 on new year's day 1908.  Her death was a result of peritonitis from an intestinal obstruction.  How sad. I have not found her burial location.

If you are related to any of the people mentioned in this post and want to exchange information, I’d love to hear from you.  Leave me a comment or use the “contact me” tab on the blog.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

HOW I FOLLOW A TRAIL OF RECORDS & ANALYZE WHAT I FIND–HENRY HART FAMILY–PART 3 (from here you can read Part 1 & 2)

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY ~ George Steven Thorp–1876–1933, Detroit, Michigan–My Great Granduncle

Photo taken by Diane Gould Hall

George Steven Thorp is my great granduncle on my father’s side.  He is the son of Horace Henry Thorp and Catherine C. Dorsey. He was one of 10 children born to this couple.  He was their 9th child.  My great grandmother Mae Eve Thorp was his older sister.

George and his wife Mary (Mariett) Ainsworth are buried at Grand Lawn Cemetery in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan.  They are located in Section 8, Lot 108. He is in grave 3 and has a headstone, Mary is next to him, in grave 4, but has no headstone.

Photo taken by Fred and used with permission

George married Mary on 23 Nov 1904 in Detroit, Michigan. Here is their marriage record.

 

George worked as an Engineer at Troy Laundry Co. and as a Stationary Engineer at Valve Manufacturing Company.  His father, Horace was also a Stationary Engineer.  What exactly was a Stationary Engineer?

Definition of Stationary Engineer from Wikipedia 

Power engineers are trained in many areas, including mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrical, metallurgical, computer, and a wide range of safety skills. They typically work in factories, office buildings, hospitals, warehouses, power generation plants, industrial facilities, and residential and commercial buildings.
Power engineers are responsible for the safe operation and maintenance of a wide range of equipment including boilers, steam turbines, gas turbines, pumps, gas compressors, generators, motors, air conditioning systems, heat exchangers, refrigeration equipment, heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) that may be directly (duct burners) or indirectly fired (gas turbine exhaust heat collectors), hot water generators, and refrigeration machinery in addition to its associated auxiliary equipment (air compressors, natural gas compressors, electrical switchgear, pumps, etc.).

George and Mary had two children, a son, James H. Thorp and a daughter, Edith Agnes Thorp.  The son, James died in an accidental drowning at age 18 on 27 Jun 1926.  Edith married, had children and lived into her 80’s.

George died in his home town of Detroit, Michigan on 8 Sep 1933 at age 57 of lung cancer.  I wonder if he smoked, or did his occupation somehow contribute to the carcinoma of his lungs?  We know a lot more about those things today than they did back then.
 
If you are related to anyone mentioned here I’d love to hear from you. I need to connect with more of my Thorp cousins.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY - Who in my family is buried at Grand Lawn Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan?

MYSTERY MONDAY - WHO'S YOUR DADDY? Brick Walls Post #4 - Catherine Dorsey Thorp about 1842-1898 (This post is about George’s mother)

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

FOLLOW UP FRIDAY ~ WHAT HAPPENED TO THE YOUNG WIDOW OF GORDON FLOWER AFTER HIS SUICIDE?

On July 15, 2016 I wrote a blog post about the tragic suicide of Gordon Wallace Flower, just 3 days after his marriage to Lovina McNinch.  You can read the article here FRIDAY FINDS ~ Gordon W. Flower, dead, only 3 days after his marriage to Lovina McNinch–What was the cause of death?

At that time I had very little information about 16 year old Lovina.  However, I wanted to follow up and find out what became of this young lady who suffered such a traumatic event at a young age.

I found a birth record for Lovina.  The date and place match with other information I have located for her.

Michigan, Births and Christenings Index, 1867-1911
Name    Lovina McNinch
Gender    Female
Birth Place    Hope, Barry Co, Michigan
Birth Date    4 Dec 1880
Father's Name    Patrick McNinch
Mother's Name    Frances McNinch
FHL Film Number    1008314

It was in October 1896 that Lovina married Gordon Flower.  There are no known children born to the couple. The marriage only lasted 3 days prior to his death, however, I was thinking, perhaps they had gotten married because she was pregnant.  Gordon was 16 years older than Lovina.
 
Lovina didn’t wait long to marry again.  I located a marriage record for her to James K. Verrill on 10 Feb 1897 in Hastings, Barry, Michigan, only four months after Gordon’s death.

She is listed as being 18 years old and James as being 30.  Fortunately, I looked under his name and not hers, as the record is written Suveara Flower nee McNinch.  And that’s just how the indexer transcribed it.

(Click on any image to enlarge it)

Marriage record for James Verrill & Lovina Flower nee McNinch - 1897

James & Lovina had their first child Miles James, on 22 May 1899.  Miles died at age 17, while serving as an Apprentice Seaman in the U.S. Navy.  You may visit his memorial on FindAGrave here #11625361.

Other children born to this couple were: Frances M. in 1901, Martha A. in 1904, La Vera M. in 1906 and Leslie R. in 1908.
 
Lovina & her husband James can be found in the 1900 census in Prairieville, Barry, Michigan with their one year old son, Miles.  James is working as a Sawyer and they own their home.   Of note is that Lovina’s previous father-in-law David Flower and a few of his children are living nearby.  There is another Flower family on this page (Homer & Mary). I don’t yet know how or if they may be connected to David Flower.



The next record I find for Lovina is the 1910 census, she is 29 yrs. old.  She and James are still living in Prairieville, Barry, Michigan.  Only now they have added 3 daughters and a second son to their family. James is working as a house painter, and they still own their home.

Excerpt from 1910 census for Verrill family

Lovina is next found in the 1913 Kalamazoo City Directory listing with James.  He is working as a Watchman and they live on the east side of Douglas Ave 2 north of city limits.

As I continued searching for records for Lovina, I sadly, located her death certificate from 24 May 1913.  At the age of 32 Lovina died, during or after some sort of surgical procedure.  The informant on the death certificate is her husband, James and her parents names are correct.  Their is an error in the spelling of the last name as Berrill instead of Verrill.
 


From there I was able to locate her memorial on FindAGrave #165353953.  She and James are buried together.  James never remarried and died in 1956 at the age of 92, leaving a legacy of 11 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren and 1 great great grandchild.  On his death certificate it gives his wife’s name as Lovina.  He lived 43 years after her death without remarrying.  It was quite common for men to remarry after the death of a wife, especially with young children.  Their 5 children ranged in age from 5 to14 at the time of Lovina’s death.

I have not located an obituary for Lovina, but did find the following on her FindAGrave memorial.  This would appear to have come from an obituary.  I have checked both newspapers.com and genealogy bank with no success.

MRS. LUVENA VERRILL. Mrs. Luvena Verrill, aged 32 years, died this morning at the Borgess hospital following an operation for appendicitis. Previous to the operation Mrs. Verrlll had been confined to her home on Douglas avenue for a period of two weeks. She is survived by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Patrick McNinth of Plainwell, her husband, three daughters, Frances, Martha and Luvera, two sons, Miles and Leslie, one brother, William McNinth of Alamo, and two sisters, Mrs. Ella Mills of Battle Creek and Miss Minnie McNinth of Plainwell. The funeral will be held Monday morning at 10 o'clock from the Truesdale chapel and burial will take place at the Plainwell cemetery. Kalamazoo Telegraph-Press May 24, 1913
Married Gordon W. Flower 5 Oct 1896 Hastings, Barry, Michigan

I would be very interested in exchanging information with anyone related to Lovina and her family.  Does someone out there have a photo of Lovina or James or their children?  Please contact me if you are connected to this family.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SUNDAY’S OBITUARY ~ The final chapter of Harland B. Hart’s story - He was only 24 years old

Last week I shared with you the the story of Leonard Almanson Hart and his family.  That was followed by a post about his oldest son, Harland B. Hart.  I believed I had located Harland, living in Detroit, Michigan, based on the 1888 and 1890 city directories.  However, I couldn’t be positive it was him.

Thankfully, my cousin, Charles, in Michigan, has found the evidence we needed to finish Harland’s story.  This evidence does confirm that the Harland I located in those Detroit directories, was the correct one.

The following death notice, not only names Harland as the eldest son of L. Hart, but also names T. H. Roberts as his employer, as listed in the 1890 directory.

The following death notice was published in The State Republican, Lansing, Michigan on 18 Dec. 1890.

 

Here is a transcription of the death notice

A dispatch from Detroit this morning announces the sudden death of Harley B. Hart, formerly of Lansing, but for some time in the employ of T. H. Robert, undertaker. Deceased was twenty-four years of age and eldest son of L. Hart of Millets.

A full obituary was published in The State Republican on 20 Dec 1890.



Here is a transcription of the obituary for Harland.  We now have his cause of death.

A dispatch from Detroit, Thursday, December 18, announced the sudden death of Harland B. Hart, formerly of Lansing, but for the past few years residing in Detroit, and in the employ of T. H. Roberts, undertaker.  He died after a short illness of two days, of diphtheria and heart failure.  The deceased was twenty-four years of age and was born in Macomb county.  when fourteen years of age he moved with his parents to this city where he remained until he went to Detroit, where he made many friends.  The deceased’s father, L. A. Hart, left Thursday at 8:30 p.m. and returned home with the remains Friday, accompanied by T. H. Roberts, who kindly conducted the funeral.  Relatives and friends assembled at the D. L. & N. depot to meet the remains at 3:24 p.m. from where the body was taken to Mt. Hope for interment.  He was a bright and promising young man, highly respected by his employer and well fitted for his occupation.  He leaves a large circle of friends both in Detroit and Lansing to mourn their loss.  Rev. Mr. Fox officiated.

While I was happy to learn that I’d located the correct person in those Detroit directories, it is sad to learn of the passing of Harland at such a young age. R.I.P Harland.

NOTE:  Never give up looking for the evidence of proof needed for your conclusions.  The number of cousins that I’ve connected with, since beginning my research have provided me with untold amounts of information, photos and stories.  This is one such example.  Thanks Charles!

You may visit Harland’s memorial here #17839487.  His headstone photo was taken by my cousin, Charles, and is used with permission.



Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2017   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks ~ Week #8–Leonard Almanson Hart–My 2nd great granduncle

Leonard Almanson Hart, also known as Lenard and L.A. Hart, was my 2nd great granduncle on my paternal side.  Here’s how we connect.

Henry Hart & Olive G. Doten – my 3rd great grandparents

daughter, Sarah M. Hart & John C. Gould – my 2nd great grandparents

brother of Sarah, Leonard A. Hart – my 2nd great granduncle

Leonard was born 8 Aug 1846 in New York.  He was the last of 9 children born to Henry & Olive Hart.  Sometime before the 1850 census, Henry had moved his wife and 9 children to Armada, Macomb, Michigan.  Here are the names of Leonard’s siblings: Isaac D., Lyman C., Sarah M. (my ancestor), Noble A., Betsy R., Arminda A., Simeon H. and Olive P.  All of the siblings lived into adulthood.  To my knowledge the only two that didn’t marry were Lyman and Noble.  So, this family should have quite a few descendants, as all the married siblings did have children.

On 28 Jan 1866 in Macomb Co., Michigan, Leonard A. Hart married Frances Georgia Ann Wetherell.  She was the daughter of Benjamin Wetherell and Eliza Cole.  My first record of their marriage was in the Dibean Michigan Marriage Index.  I also found the marriage recorded in Michigan Marriages, 1822-1995.  No image is available, but here is the index of that record from familysearch.org

Name	Leonard A. Hart
Birth Date	1847
Age	19
Spouse's Name	Frances G. Witherell
Spouse's Birth Date	1847
Spouse's Age	19
Event Date	28 Jan 1866
Event Place	Macomb,Michigan

Indexing Project (Batch) Number	M51858-3
System Origin	Michigan-ODM
GS Film number	979571

Source: "Michigan Marriages, 1822-1995," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCTL-2QS : 4 December 2014), Leonard A. Hart and Frances G. Witherell, 28 Jan 1866; citing reference ; FHL microfilm 979,571.

I’m fortunate to be in contact with Leonard’s 2nd great grandson.  We have been communicating for several years now.  He connected with my via one of my blog posts about the Hart family.

He shared several photos of Leonard and his wife Frances who went by her middle name Georgia.  One of them is at the beginning of this post.  Pictures bring our ancestors to life.

Here are a couple of others.  Thank you cousin Charles.

Leonard & Georgia Hart - unknown year, but obviously portrait photos

Georgia in her later years

I find Leonard in the 1850 and 1860 census in Armada, Macomb, Michigan living with his parents.

 

He is first enumerated with his wife in the 1870 census where is is listed as a Farmer.  The value of his personal estate being $100.  In his household are his wife, Georgia A., son Harland B., age 4 and son, Charles A., age 1.  The family is split on 2 pages.  The second page contains a small snapshot of the farming community in Armada, Michigan at that time.  Six households of family members living adjacent to one another.

 

Here is page 1, with Leonard listed at the bottom of the page. And, his brother, Simeon, further up the page, working for the Shepardson family.

 

Now, here is page 2, with little Charles Hart at the top of the page and all of the other families listed below him.  I have indicated who they all are.  Finding a page like this in any census is a great find.

(PLEASE REMEMBER TO CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

In 1880 Leonard is farming in Armada and has one more son, Clayton.

In the 1900 census Leonard is still farming, but has moved to Lansing, Ingham Co., Michigan.  His oldest 3 sons are out of the house and only his son, Harry, age 17, is still at home.  The census also states that one of the 3 older sons has died as Georgia is the mother of 4 children with 3 still living.  From later research I learned that it is Harland, the oldest son, who died prior to 1900.  I’m still trying to locate his death record or obituary.

Next, in 1910,  I find Leonard & his wife, Georgia are no longer on a farm, but in a house at 601 Shannon Ave., in Lansing.  Information I have gathered has led me to believe that the road name for this home may changed from Shannon to Moores River to Sparrow.  The address of 601 remains in various records, but the name of the street changes.

Here is a picture of Georgia standing on the porch of the home at 601 Moores River Rd.



I cannot for the life of me, locate Leonard and Georgia in the 1920 census.

However, I was able to locate him in two city directories for Lansing, Michigan. 

• In 1916 he and Georgia are listed on page 360 of the directory.  He is working at J. H. Moores and living at 601 Sparrow Ave.
• In 1922, the year before his death, Leonard and Georgia are listed on page 476 as living at 601 Moores River Drive.  No place of work is given.

Leonard died 25 Sep 1923 in Lansing, Ingham, Michigan from some type of Uremic hypertrophy.

Here is his death certificate.

I also found a very nice obituary on newspapers.com.  Here is a screenshot of the article.

Leonard is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Lansing, Michigan, along with his wife, Georgia who died in 1927.  You may view their memorials at #23205259 and #23204976.  Other family members are also buried in the cemetery.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about Leonard and his family today.  If you find that you are connected with them, please contact me by leaving a comment on this post, or using the “contact me” tab.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
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Michigan Death Records Online - Where can you find them?

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

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