TOMBSTONE TUESDAY ~ Lyman Constantine Hart, my 2nd great granduncle–1835-1888

Lyman Constantine Hart is my 2nd great granduncle on my paternal side.  He was the son of Henry Hart and Olive Glasier Doten.  He was the 2nd child of 9 born to this couple.

Lyman remains a bit of a mystery to me.  He is enumerated with his family in the 1850 census in Armada, Macomb, Michigan.  I have a Civil War Draft Registration for him from Jun 1863 and he appears in the 1870 census living with his parents, one brother and a sister.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

Civil War Draft Registration record

1870 census

I tried again today to find Lyman enumerated any time between the 1870 census and his death in 1888.  I looked for U.S. census records, agriculture records, state census records and city directories. I had no luck at all. I’ve never located a marriage record for Lyman either.
I do know when he died and where he is buried.
His death record lists his name as L. C., his age as 52, born in Canada – all of those being consistent with my records.  His case of death was “cancer of face” and his occupation listed as a Painter.  The date of death on the register is a match to what is on his headstone, so I’m certain this death record is his. 
NOTE:  In looking at this record today, for the first time in a while I notice there is a handwritten note under the place where parent’s names should be, which says “Wayne County Poor House, Further Particulars Unknown.”

Here’s the full death register.



Here is page two turned sideways and enhanced.  You can see that note written where the parent’s names should be.



The Michigan Deaths & Burials, 1800-1995 list the death place as Nankin, Wayne, Michigan.  This leads me to believe he died at Eloise Asylum/Hospital.

Michigan Deaths & Burials, 1800-1995
Name: L. C. Hart
Gender: Male
Burial Date: 
Burial Place: 
Death Date: 15 Feb 1888
Death Place: Nankin, Wayne, Michigan
Age: 52
Birth Date: 1836
Birthplace: Canadian
Occupation: Painter
Race: White
Marital Status: Single
Spouse's Name: 
Father's Name: 
Father's Birthplace: 
Mother's Name: 
Mother's Birthplace: 
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: B59947-1
System Origin: Michigan-EASy
Source Film Number: 1377688
Reference Number: yr 1888
  
Lyman’s father, Henry Hart, had died in 1879.  That left his mother, Olive, a widow, aged 74.  I am unable to locate her in the 1880 census either.  I wonder why Lyman would have ended up in the Poor House?  He had many sisters, brothers and half siblings living in Armada.  Is it possible his mother was also at the Poor House?  She died a year before Lyman.  Her death record does not indicate she was in the Poor House and does give her parent’s names.  So, I’m uncertain where she was living between Henry’s death in 1879 and her own death in 1887.

Lyman and his parent’s are buried in Rose Hill Cemtery in Armada, Macomb, Michigan.  I have been there twice and photographed their headstone.  They are all on the same stone, on different sides of it.

You can visit the FindAGrave memorial for Lyman here #31946730.

I would welcome input from anyone who has more information about Lyman.  If you’re a cousin, please get in touch with me and let’s share information.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

CENSUS SUNDAY–WHO WAS LIVING NEXT TO WHOM? AND WHAT DOES THIS RECORD TELL ME?

THOSE PLACES THURSDAY - Armada, Macomb, Michigan

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   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

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

MY GOAL:  CAN I PROVE A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MY 2ND GREAT GRANDFATHER, HENRY HART & A REPORTED FIRST WIFE?  

 

HE IS REPORTED TO HAVE MARRIED & HAD 4 CHILDREN WITH THIS WIFE, PRIOR TO MARRYING MY 2ND GREAT GRANDMOTHER.
 
I WILL SHARE WITH YOU, IN THIS POST AND UPCOMING POSTS, HOW I FOLLOW THE LEADS AND WHAT I FIND.
 
THIS IS AN ONGOING SERIES.  PLEASE REFER TO PREVIOUS POSTS, IF NECESSARY. 
Here is a link to the first post: HOW I FOLLOW A TRAIL OF RECORDS & ANALYZE WHAT I FIND - HENRY HART FAMILY - PART 1

I HAVE RESTATED MY GOAL ABOVE AND WILL RE-STATE THAT GOAL AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH POST FOR THIS SERIES. 
 
According to the information from cousin Judy, Hiram Harper Hart was born on 11 Sep 1818. No place of birth is listed nor is there a death date or place.
 

There is some handwritten information on the sheet from cousin Judy (see above photo of same) that seems to contain specific information related to Hiram. I can read most of it, but what does it mean? 
 
Here is what I think it says, I am trying to interpret the printing to the best of my ability.
 
“1850 census list Hiram 32, Clorasis-younger, Curtiss
1859 – son Seth, d-Nancy, s-Elijah, d-Clarassia, son-Arthur
Believe there were 6 children (must be 3rd wifes 6 children)”
 
The first place I will look will be on the census reports. 
 
NOTE:  Before 1850, only the heads of household were listed on the U.S. population census reports.  This means that we can look at the census records from 1790-1840 and try to ascertain from the ages of those enumerated, who they might be.  However, since this family was living in Canada prior to about 1838, as far as I can tell, this makes finding them a little more challenging.  Here is the chronology report with the information I currently have on Henry HART & his first wife, Sarah SUMNER:
 


Your looking at this for the first time and so am I.  What does that “verified” word at the top mean?  I haven’t verified any of this information yet.  I am using Legacy version 8, which just came out last week.  Is this an anomaly in the report?  For now we will ignore that word.
 
What I have found online on Ancestry.com as far as early census records, is NOTHING.  

There is a family tree on Ancestry that states that Henry was living in Cambria, Niagara Co., New York in 1840.  Would Hiram have been living with him then?  How about the other children?  I cannot locate that census record.
 
Let’s move on then.  Our focus is Hiram Harper HART.  It is very easy to get sidetracked when we are researching.  I can tell you that I am a HUGE offender.  FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS!  Those are words I repeat to myself often.
 
I’m going to go to familysearch.org and put in Hiram Harper Hart, with a wife named Clara (instead of Clarissa, I will enter Clara or even Clar* as it gives me a broader search).  Parents names Henry & Sally Sarah.  
 
NOTE:  I tend to put in minimal amounts of information to broaden the net of my search.  If you enter too much you will restrain the search and I’d rather scroll through some data and pick what is relevant, than have too little.
 
Here is what I entered for my search:
 
 

Notice I have not entered a last name or even a complete name for Clarissa, his wife.  Nor have I entered a last name for his father or mother, only first names.
 
Here are some of the results of this search:

As you can see we have plenty of results.  And what excites me is that the names are a match to what is on that family list from cousin Judy (see above).
 
Now to examine each and every one of these records.  Since several of them have images (as indicated by the camera next to the record source) we will be able to actually look at the record, rather than just an index/transcription of the record.  However, any record is better than no record.
 

NOTE: It is extremely easy to get sidetracked when doing any research.  I am a perfect example of that.  I had to stop writing the draft of this post due to other priorities (you know…regular life things, especially during the holidays).  

 

Before being able to examine the records I have posted above about Hiram Harper Hart, I found one of those “oh so tempting” shaky leaves on my Ancestry tree for Clarissa Curtis, Hiram’s wife.  I took the bait and clicked on the hints and have now gone down the road with Hiram’s wife, Clarissa.  This isn’t a bad thing to do because, after all, it’s still the same family and you don’t know what records you will find.
 
Here is what happened.
 
I followed one lead, which led to another and don’t you know I have FINALLY located her death certificate!  That’s a big find!!!  Up until now I had not located her death date or record.  WHY?  Because I would have been searching under the surname Hart.  
 
She must have remarried to someone named PARKS.  She was living with her son Arthur in the 1900 census listed as Clarise Parks, widowed mother of the head of household, her son, Arthur Hart.  Does this help me with Hiram.  YES.  Because if Clarissa remarried and I can locate the marriage record, then I may be able to determine if Hiram died or they divorced.  At least I will have a time frame.
 
The steps I followed to locate her death record were as follows:

• Click on her name in the 1900 census and this is what comes up.

Notice it states she is widowed.  Also over on the right hand side you will “other records that may be relevant to Clarrisa Parks.”  There is a listing for a Michigan death record.
 
I clicked on the link for the Michigan death record and found this:
 


You can see that it gives the name of her father, Asa Curtis.  Based on the information from cousin Judy, I believe her maiden name to be Curtis.  And from a couple of Ancestry trees I have found her father listed as Asa Curtis.  Along with that is a year of birth 1829, which is in keeping with other records for her.
 
Notice over on the right hand side of this record there is listed an 1891 Canadian census.  

Let’s see what that contains.
 


I reviewed this record and some of the other records listed on the right side of the page above. In evaluating those records I have concluded that there may be two Clarissa Parks. 
I won’t go into detail here as this post is already too long.  

However, let me share the marriage record I did find for Clarissa Curtis Hart to Edward Parks.
 


The entry for Clarissa Curtis Hart & Edward Parks is the second one from the bottom and here is a close up.  (Remember you can click on any of these image to make them larger)
 


As you can see this marriage record not only lists Clarissa’s last name as Hart at the time of the marriage, but it also gives her maiden name as Curtis.  Her place of birth is New York, which matches other records.  As far as her age, it’s within a year or two of other records. 
 
TIP: Always pay attention to the ages & year of birth, but be sure you don’t disregard a record because those figures don’t match exactly.  People didn’t always know their exact dates of birth, like we do now.  And, remember, those ladies and even the men, weren’t always truthful about their ages.
 
Now I am convinced that the Clarissa Parks listed in the Michigan Death record is our Clarissa.  I know that there are online images of Michigan Death Certificates from 1897-1920 at a site called seekingmichigan.org.  I have used this site MANY times.  I went to that site and that's where I located Clarissa's death certificate.
 
Here is Clarissa’s death certificate:


You can see that her year & place of birth match other records we have for her.  That her father’s name is given as Asa Curtis and that the informant is her son, Elijah.  I am further convinced that this is the correct Clarissa Curtis, wife of Hiram Harper Hart.
 
I am going to close this post for now as it’s already too long.  This is a good research day as I have discovered that Hiram Harper Hart’s wife, Clarissa, married a second time and I’ve found her death certificate.
 
Next time, we will continue our search and see what we find.
 
REMEMBER:  When we have a plan for what we “think” we want to do, sometimes we need to be ready to go in another direction, at least temporarily.  
 
We are still trying to find proof of the marriage of Henry Hart to his “said to be” first wife, Sally Sumner.  It just may take us a while to get there. But, aren't we having fun in the meantime.  I know I am :)
 
I will continue with this search and share it with you. Stay tuned.
 
Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl
 

Copyright © 2013   Diane Gould Hall 

FAMILY RECIPE FRIDAY - CHOCOLATE FUDGE

FAMILY RECIPE FRIDAY

My grandmother, Florence Bowden Milne left us a spiral bound notebook, which I refer to has her journal. In it she left a treasure chest of family information and wonderful clues to life back in the early 1900's. 

A recipe doesn't necessarily have to be something that is for cooking. With that in mind I will be sharing various types of recipes, both for cooking and for other things from my grandmother's journal. These items range from recipes for complexion cream (featured in a previous post), to curling fluids for your hair to cures for blackheads or acne. You'll see them all here as the weeks continue. So come back often.

TODAY'S FEATURED RECIPE

CHOCOLATE FUDGE

Recipe for Chocolate Fudge & Chocolate Fudge with nuts

You can click on the image above and enlarge it.  I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but plan to do so, now that I am looking them over again.  

Because this journal/notebook is well over 100 years old it is very fragile.  I have it tucked away in an archival envelope.  I photographed every page a couple of years ago.  

TIP:  If you have any kind of letters, notebooks, journals or other items that are falling apart or very fragile you can preserve them by taking photos of the pages.  Why is this a better way than scanning?  Well, because you aren't handling the item as much and turning it over on top of the scanner and trying to lay it flat. 

 Once you have taken the digital image you can then crop it, enhance it, enlarge it, straighten it, save it, email it etc.  

That's all for this Family Recipe Friday.

Happy Hunting or cooking,

Michigan Girl

Copyright © 2013 Michigan Girl