LEAP YEAR CHUCKLE

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published.   

PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2012, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

I'm In--The 1940 Census

I have signed up to help index the 1940 census. I have been transcribing for Family Search for over a year primarily working on the World War I draft registrations from various states.  It's fun and easy.    I hope you will pitch in and help with this effort, too.

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published.   

PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2012, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Tombstone Tuesday--Matella A. Lepard Hull

     Matella A. Lepard Hull is my second cousin, twice removed.  She was the daughter of Isaac Lepard and Sarah Ann Woollett. Born on February 8, 1859 in Attica, Venice Township, Seneca County, Ohio, Matella lived her entire life within the small farming community. 

Matella A. Lepard Hull

     
On February 7, 1878, she married  Abraham W. Hull, son of Michael Hull and Barbara Free Hull.  Abraham was born on October 3, 1863 was also raised in Venice Township. 

     The Hulls raised three children on the Hull farm outside town; Arza B Hull, Ida Mary Hull Wilhelm and Mina B. Hull Songer.  

     Matella died at age eight-one on May 24, 1941 at her home in Attica.  She is buried beside her husband, Abraham W. Hull, in the Attica Venice Joint Cemetery.

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published.   

PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2012, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Destination: Carnegie Library of Sandusky, Ohio and a BIG SURPRISE

Over the weekend my brother and I planned a little Monday day trip to Sandusky, Ohio.  Ken has become very involved with a new church and I wanted to see it; however, when Ken mentioned that there was a Carnegie Library in town which once housed a concert hall complete with a beautiful organ, I was onboard.  Readers might remember past blogs of our searches for Carnegie's that provided more than a library for the lucky community where it was built. 

We were warmly welcomed at the church and given a full tour of the building and the various classrooms.  As a gift I was given a CD of the worship team's music.

Former Erie County Jail

After lunch, we made our way into Sandusky.  Ken already knew the location of the library.  Out came the camera....Miss Snap Happy was primed and ready!  Next to the library is the old Erie County jail.  Check out the photo....nice digs for the sheriff.  Today the library has been expanded and extends into the building that once housed the jail.  More on that later in another blog.....

Elegant front of
Sandusky Carnegie Library

It's always a good trip when Ken is part of the travel team.  He has such a warm way with complete strangers....that winning smile and hardy laugh.  He totally charmed the lovely lady librarian at the information desk.  Within minutes she was giving us the most informative guided tour of the building.  

As she was finishing up, she asked if we had been down to the Archives Room.   Archives...."So," says Linda,"Does that mean you have a large genealogy section in the library?"  Her reply was "yes".  Then somewhere.....in the back of my mind.....I remembered one of my favorite blogs, Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay......Carnegie Library of Sandusky located on Sandusky Bay..... Can you hear the light bulb clicking on in my head ;-) 

"Well I read a blog about cemeteries in Erie County and I bet the writer does her research here," says myself.  The librarian asked who the blogger was and my reply, "Dorene".  The librarians eyes danced with delight and she responded, "Dorene! Dorene works here and is probably downstairs right now!"

Flipside meets Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay

We followed the librarian down to the lower level and there was Dorene sitting in front of her computer.  I walked over and said, "Hi Dorene, Linda from Flipside."  What a grand meeting.  Hugs and smiles....Geneabloggers are such a warm and nurturing community.  For both of us, it was the first time we had met a fellow Geneablogger in person.

I have followed Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay for several years.  Dorene's blog is well reseached and she is such an engaging writer.  The reader can always count on photos and often newspaper articles on the folks belonging to the individual tombstones.  If you are not part of her following, I encourage you strongly to hop over and give her a look.

Serendipity ruled the day.

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published.   

PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2012, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Tombstone Tuesday--Peter Gemmell, Fenwick Covenanter

     Back in 2005, while my husband, brother and I were traveling around the lowlands of Scotland, we stayed a day or two in Fenwick, Scotland near the town of Kilmarnock.  A large portion of the trip was spent looking for anything Gemmell--not in my surname line, but belonging to a friend of my brother.

     The second day of our stay in a wonderful B & B in Fenwick (pronounced Fenick), I saw a pamphlet in the lounge area for the Fenwick Old Parish Kirk.  AND, a Gemmell was buried there.  Suddenly, we were all in the rental car and heading for Low Fenwick and the Kirk.  As I remember, it was a dark and dreary afternoon--the perfect setting for a wander in an old cemetery.

     What an exciting find this turned out to be.  Firstly, I had either forgotten or never knew about the history of the Scottish Covenanters and shame on me as a life long Presbyterian!  The kirkyard was full of them....8 to be exact, which is more than in any other Scottish burial ground. 

    I found a useful site called Scottish Covenanter Memorials Association, which defined covenanter, "Simply stated, the Covenanters were those people in Scotland who signed the National Covenant in 1638. They signed this Covenant to confirm their opposition to the interference by the Stuart kings in the affairs of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland."

     Second, I don't know what I was thinking....maybe my mind was washed out by the rain....but I only photographed the one tombstone we were in search of...again, shame on me! 

     Finally, had I been able to do a little research on the Old Parish Kirk, I would have known ahead of time that the church faces east/west and is an odd angle within its boundary.  The kirk was built in 1643 in the shape of a Greek cross.  The guard posts at the gates that were built so that families could protect their dead from the resurrectionists.

The Peter Gemmell tombstone reads:

"Here lyes the corpse of Peter Gemmell,

who was shot by Nisbet and his party, anno 1685, for bearing his faithful testimony to the cause of Christ. Aged 21 years.
‘This man, like holy anchorites of old,
For conscience sake was thrust from house and hold;
Bloodthirsty red-coats cut his prayers short,
And even his dying groans were made their sport.
Ah, Scotland! breach of solemn vow repent,
Or bloody crimes will bring thy punishment.’"

     Electric Scotland on line has Ramble Round Kilmarnock, by Archibald R. Adamson.  There are two excellent chapters on the Fenwick Old Parish Kirk, Chapter VII and Chapter VIII.

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published.   

PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2012, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Road Ruminations--Just call me ".............."

     Several days a week, I have a 40 minute drive to work crossing the southern portion of the city of Cleveland, Ohio on two interstates.   I have made this journey now for several years and since the car almost drives itself, except during in inclement weather, it gives me time to explore a variety of topics in my mind.  Usually they verge on the ridiculous....this being one of those ;-)

     My given name is Linda Lee Hughes.  I married a Hiser.  I have never been one of those folks who is married to a her name.  I know some who will be become furious if you call them by a name abbreviation or nickname.  All of my genealogy is done as Linda Hughes Hiser; however, I am a variety of variations of my name in numerous places; Linda L. Hiser and Linda H. Hiser being two.  I am finding as I get older and need to decide what my name will be...for instance on my social security, drivers license, bank statements, etc., so everything will be the same.

     While driving and thinking this over (see, I told you this was somewhat ridiculous!), my mind wandered over to all the names I have been called during my, now, 65 years.  I have deleted those that might be offensive ;-D.

 

1. Linda--the given name
2. Lindee--family nickname
3. Lindy--spelling from my Aunt Barb McGoey Hughes
4. Lin--current family nickname
5. Lynn--as spelled by my paternal grandmother, Grams
6. Deeow--Ken's variation when he was too young to pronounce Lindee
7. Pickle Puss--toddler nickname from parents since I screwed up my mouth like I was eating a sour pickle....lol
8. Jerse--another toddler nickname from parents.  For Jersey Joe Walcott a boxing champion.  I hope I wasn't running around punching people ;-)
9. Mrs. Linda--my preschool teacher name
10. Mrs. Hiser--the more formal preschool teacher name
11. Miss Linda--sometimes used by my current co-workers
12. Linda Carol--JoAnn at work kept forgetting my name was Linda and called me by the name of Carol.  Once she got it right, she decided to call me Linda Carol!
13. Hughes--swimming coaches
14. Hughesie--college nickname
15. Mr. Pickles--from my son, Aric
16. Mom--my boys
17. Aunt Linda--my nieces and nephews
18. Cousin Lin--obviously, my cousins
19. Linda Lou--co workers
20. Sis--my bros

      I'm sure there are others; however, I think twenty is a good number.

 

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published. 

 

PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

 

© 2012, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Wandering Down an Unknown Path--The Orr Family

     Sunday I had another full day off work and found myself....again....working with my Family Tree Maker--updating and looking for holes in my research.  Since I seem to have been focusing on my Frederick family, it was only a push of a key to wander over to the Orr Family of Columbiana County, Ohio. 

     My maternal great grandmother, Lucinda Frederick was an Orr.  Her brother, Matthew Thomas Orr, lived in Lisbon, Columbiana County, Ohio during the late 1800's and early 1900's until his death in 1909.  Matthew had two wives and children with both.  He had four daughters with his first wife, Mary Ellen Smith.  I have made next to no progress tracing those young gals.  Following Mary Ellen's death in 1879, Matthew married Elizabeth Keck and had three children.  To date I have not found any information on daughter Della M. Orr.  Son, William Monigan Orr, has a short history having lived only twenty eight years.  Feeling pretty frustrated, I plugged the final Orr into the FamilySearch search engine and up popped a marriage record....Hallelujah!!!!

     Julia B. Orr, nicknamed Jewel, born in Lisbon, Columbiana County, Ohio in July, 1883, daughter of Matthew Thomas Orr and Elizabeth Keck married John L. Moore on October 4, 1916.  John L. Moore was from the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area.  I wonder if she met her future husband while visiting her Aunt Lucinda Orr Frederick, who was a Pittsburgh resident?

     Julia and John have not been too easy to follow, even with John's birthplace listed as Austria.  I was only able to find one census report, that being the 1920 Pennsylvania Census.  The Moore's lived at 4303 Andover Terrace in Pittsburgh and John was employed by the railroad as a secretary.  There is a listing on Find-A-Grave for a Julia Orr Moore buried in Lisbon Cemetery along with her parents and brother.  Her husband is not buried there.

     End of story......nope!

     I just had to do a search on John's family.  His father's name was Dunlop Moore.  Interesting and should be an easy one to research.  And it was!  Rev Dunlop Moore was a very prestigious Presbyterian minister in Pittsburgh.  A prolific writer and staunch support of drinking (!) much to the surprise of the fellow members of the Presbytery.  Rev Dunlop and his wife, Rosetta Lewis, had six children.  I spent the afternoon successfully searching for information about the males and then decided to take a chance on John's sister, Rosetta A. Moore.

Captured from a Houston Genealogical Website

     With Rosetta I hit the mother load of interesting people.  Rosetta married John Duff Houston in Pittsburgh in 1909.  John's father, James W. Houston, was involved in a large grocery interest, the James W. Houston & Co. Wholesale Grocers, 21 Seventh Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  By the 1930's, John was the president and manager of his father's company. 

     So, I spent an entire afternoon wandering down this genealogical path, researching folks that aren't actually related to me.  I learned a little and was able to add several of them to Find-A-Grave.  And it all began with my first cousin twice removed, Julia B. Orr.

*****************

I updated this blog in 2021 with additional information that I did not have in 2012.  Matthew Thomas Orr.

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published. 

PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2012, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser