Bill worked late for Sharkey

Just that small sentence shouldn’t mean much to anyone other than a genealogist. To a genealogist it’s a clue into the life of an ancestor. For me, it wouldn’t have meant much without the document I am about to share with you. Before this document, I would have noted that my great-grandpa William L Moore once worked for a Mr. Sharkey but that would have been it. With the document I have though, I know that Mr. Sharkey must have been more than an employer. He was most likely a very supportive mentor and friend.

I first shared this resume in 2010, but now that I’ve spent this long transcribing Llewellyn’s diary, this document has a much richer meaning. It might be hard to see in the gallery format, so feel free to click over to the original shared images here.

Continue reading “Bill worked late for Sharkey”

It’s So Hard to Let Go Sometimes

Even though I’m coming up on the end of my family file cleanup, (which I started sometime in 2010), sometimes I just love to dig into my Original file and clean that up a little too. I just can’t seem to let it go. Am I going to always have two working files? Or will I eventually scrap the original? I just can’t decide. I don’t think I’ll ever fully delete the original file.

With all the new databases that come out on a regular basis, sometimes I want to just dig into that old file, and just test the waters out a bit. Sometimes it’s really just to see if the database is going to be a very prolific resource for my family tree. I’m never really sure if the more rural areas of my family recorded the vital records or not. I know it wasn’t mandated until the 1900s in those states, so I know it’s a toss up.

Two of the databases I’ve really been digging into is the Ohio, County Births and Ohio, County Marriages databases over at FamilySearch. I’m digging up my Ohio roots right now on my file cleanup, so I’m really able to progress. I’ve already had some of these records recorded, but only from an index at FamilySearch, so I didn’t have all the information from the original record.

Ohio Birth Report, 1856-1909
Ohio Birth Report, 1856-1909

Yesterday though, I wanted a little break from the cleanup. So instead of just sitting in front of the TV watching the Housewives on Bravo, I opened up my Original file and I printed out the above report. The great thing is that I used the instructions discussed by Russ Worthington on his blog about preparing for the 1940 U.S. Census. Only I didn’t prepare for the 1940 U.S. Census.

I prepared for the Ohio, County Births database. I filtered in individuals with a Birthplace containing Ohio. Then I filtered out anyone born before 1856 and after 1909. Voila. I had an Ohio Birth Report to work from. It turned out to be 18 pages long, but my printer prints on both sides of the paper, so I went ahead and printed it out for ease of use.

After all that preparation was done, the dryer buzzed and my full day took over. Hey, I have the list though, which means now when I have some extra time, I can just bring up the Original file, take out the list and work from that. The great thing is even if I input information into my old database, I always have that up when I’m working from my new database. So I can easily find my sources and information in my old program once I get to that person in the new database.

Sure it might not make much sense to work in such a haphazard way, but then again if it wasn’t that way, it wouldn’t be me researching. It’s how I roll. That’s right, I roll back and forth over and over again.

Clifford and Jane Redford’s Wedding

This scan was sent to me from my Aunt a few years back. It was one of my first and only clues about the Parkin family. Their name has constantly changed through all my years of researching them.

Family Record of Clifford and Jane Redford's marriage

Having this allowed me to send away to New Jersey for an official record of Clifford and Jane‘s marriage.

Official Record of Clifford and Jane Redford's marriage

This record had much more information for me to digest. I already knew Clifford and Jane‘s estimated birth years and residences. I had known from the 1930 census that Clifford was a plumber by trade. I also knew that his father’s name was Herbert and his mother’s was Sadie. However I did not know that his mother’s maiden name was Putcliff or is that Sutcliff? To this day I’m still not sure!

On Jane‘s side it was all knew information. This record actually broke down my Parkin/Parker/Perkins brick wall. It most definitely is Parkin now and I learned that her parents names were John Walter Parkin and Jennie Featherson. I have a lot more information on John Walter Parkin now, but before her marriage Jennie is still a mystery to me.

I’ve had this record for a number of years and still I come back to it for clues every once and awhile. It’s always good to look over things you’ve had awhile. You never know what you might have missed in the excitement.

Grandpa’s Stuff, Part 2

With Grandpa moving to Maryland, I’m starting to get another look at some of the more interesting things in his collection. The funny thing is, my treasure is his self-professed junk. What I’m about to show almost got sold for scrap metal. Luckily my Dad saved it because he knows I’m hungry for these kinds of cool things.

North Caldwell Public Safety Center Plaque

The police chief that took over after Grandpa retired thought Grandpa might like this. I think it’s pretty cool, but boy does it weigh a lot. I have no idea how to hang something like this on the wall without it breaking whatever mount you put it on.

Here’s a note for you guys, if you have an antique seller in the family, make them aware of your interest in these things! Next time I show you some of his stuff, I’ll show you his baby blanket that his grandmother (Jennie Love-Thorward) made for him when he was born!

A Day at the Beach

What’s a girl got to do to get an invitation to Beach Day?

I recognize Jennie Love and her husband Lewis Thorward, but the others, well your guess is as good as mine! I’m pretty sure one of Jennie’s sisters is sitting next to her. They look like they could be related.

What fun they must have had. I think I have a whole months worth of beach pictures alone I could post about.

Menzies Cemetery Fun?

I know, I have a very strange sense of humor. Most genealogists I come across get the cemetery fun thing though. I mean I don’t see them as horrible, scary places. I see them as peaceful places to visit our ancestors.

So, onto the fun. Once I got the death certificate of John Menzies, it was time to dissect the information. Which I’ve done on the blog. After the dissection is time to follow leads. The lead I’m exploring today is the cemetery where John was buried, Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

My first stop was Find a Grave to see exactly where the cemetery was and if there was already a listing for John.

There wasn’t. Only one Menzies and it wasn’t John or his son Alexander (though I am curious… brother? maybe?). There are always more questions it seems. Then I decided since the Evergreen Cemetery in Brooklyn had a website, why not see if Greenwood did.

Not only did it have a website, it has an AMAZING website. I’m not apologizing for the caps, because caps are sometimes needed. The Evergreen Cemetery also has a burial database but I never found my family in it! This time I did. What I love about this database, is that it gives the lot and section number. There are 12 Menzies currently in the database. (Note that the database is not complete.)

My John Menzies is ninth down on the list! From just this search, I can also see the other people buried in the lot! This doesn’t mean it is everyone, just the ones by the last name Menzies. So who else is buried with John?

  1. Alexander Menzies – John’s third child, second son.
  2. George Menzies – John’s ninth child, fifth son.
  3. Jean Menzies – Alexander’s first wife I believe.
  4. John D Menzies – John’s fifth child, third son.
  5. Margaret J Menzies aka Poor Margaret from William’s Letter.

I can’t be sure of these relationships of course, until I confirm death dates/years. I actually had no idea of them except a general idea from census and marriage information. Except for Margaret, whose death is referred to in the letter between William and his sister Jane.

I also have to tell you that the cemetery does take genealogy requests! For $19.75 you can get an individual burial transcript, but if you pay $28.00 they’ll send you a whole plot of names and dates of internment! That’s pretty exciting for me, since I don’t get the opportunity to travel much.

Now all I have to do is overlay the cemetery map in Google Earth like I did for the Evergreen Cemetery. Then I’m set for a trip to Brooklyn this summer!

Note: I could say I have no affiliation with the cemetery but I’d be lying. My ancestors are buried there, so technically I do. However, I am receiving no encouragement or compensation for having a teenage fangirl moment over their website. I’m an amateur website designer, I can’t help it.

John Menzies

I made some progress in the Menzies line of my family tree!

Things that match up:

  • Age: This puts his birthdate at around 1805, which is what I’ve seen across all records so far.
  • Occupation: Sawyer. John was listed as a Sawyer when they lived in Liverpool.
  • Birthplace: John was indeed born in Scotland.
  • Year of Immigration: This lines of perfectly with what I found in the ship manifest.
  • Place of Death: Fits in with the area where John was living with his son, Alexander.

New facts:

  • Place of Burial: This cemetery is close to the cemetery I have to visit in Brooklyn. After looking on the website, I was even able to get a plot number!

I do wish that it had his parents names on here, but beggars can’t be choosers! I have a tentative set of Menzies in the Scotland parish records on FamilySearch that I’ve found and think is John’s parents and siblings. It would have nice to have known, but I’ll just keep digging!

Newark Evening News- September 27, 1890

Note: I did not transcribe these articles from the original. They were initially transcribed by Grace Leonard who has been working on the Love genealogy off and on for many years.

Newark Evening News; Saturday, September 27, 1890; Page 4;

HOW MRS. LOVE DIED

The Husband Held to Answer for Her Mysterious Death.

The jury empanelled by Coroner Roden to sit at the inquest in the case of Mrs. William W. W. Love returned a verdict yesterday afternoon setting forth that the woman came to her death September 22 from injuries received in falling down the cellar stairs of her residence in Roseland and that her husband was responsible for the fall.

The first witness examined yesterday was George DeCamp, who helped carry Mrs. Love upstairs. Her two children told him their parents had quarreled and their father pushed their mother down the cellar. Love said to witness and Constable Teed that his wife was only drunk and he did not desire any of their interference in his family affairs.

Constable Teed swore Love said he wished his wife would die, and several other witnesses also testified to his making the assertion. Love is out on bail at present, but he will probably be arrested and sent to jail to stand trial for manslaughter.

Love Family from my Family File, click for bigger

Newark Evening News; Monday, September 29, 1890; Page 1;

Love Not to be Rearrested

William W. W. Love, of Roseland, whom a coroner’s jury last week found responsible for causing the death of his wife, whom he threw down the cellar stairs at their home, is not to be rearrested. Constable Teed, who took Love into custody soon after the woman received her injuries, consulted with Prosecutor Crane about the matter, but as the latter decided that as Love was already under $1,000 bail for his appearance when wanted, he need not be rearrested.

Grace attempted to find further articles but was unsuccessful at the time. Leaving the outcome a mystery for us at the current time, thought we’re both pretty sure he didn’t have jail time.

Newark Evening News- September 25, 1890

Note: I did not transcribe these articles from the original. They were initially transcribed by Grace Leonard who has been working on the Love genealogy off and on for many years. It was this article that I was mostly hesitant account. There is a very emotional account given by my great-great grandmother Jennie Love-Thorward.

Newark Evening News; Thursday, September 25, 1890; Page 1

IS LOVE RESPONSIBLE?

HIS WIFE’S MYSTERIOUS DEATH

The case of Mrs. Love, Who Died at Livingston from Injuries, Inquired Into — Testimony Showing That the Couple Frequently Quarrelled

Coroner Roden began an investigation at the Courthouse yesterday afternoon in the circumstances attending the death of Mrs. William W. W. Love, of Roseland, who died from injuries received by a fall down the cellar stairs at her home on September 13. There were rumors that Love had pushed or thrown the woman down the stairs, and color was given to the statement by the fact that the couple were frequently quarrelling. Constable Teed arrested Love, and he gave bail in $1,000 to appear when wanted. The jury empanelled by the Coroner was composed of Z. H. DeCamp, James Harrison, Frank E. Williams, Walter D. Bush, C.R. Conklin, W.W. DeCamp and William Griffith, all of Roseland.

The first witness called was Alfred Love, the twelve-year-old son of the couple. The boy was in no wise embarrassed and gave his testimony in a straightforward manner. He swore that when he returned on the night of the tragedy, he found his mother absent but she soon returned. “She got supper ready and called father,” said the boy witness, “and then passed into the pantry while father was eating his supper. There was a quarrel and she tore father’s shirt. She slipped and fell down stairs.”

Upon cross-examination by Prosecutor Crane, witness said that he had been to Paterson with his father that day and the latter was angry at not finding his wife at home when he returned. She was at the house of one of her daughters nearby and she did not return for an hour. Love laid down on a lounge and went to sleep.

“Can you tell when a man is drunk?” asked Mr. Crane.

“No, I can’t,” said the witness.

QUARRELED AT THE SUPPER TABLE

“There was a quarrel at the supper table,” continued the boy, “but I don’t know what they said.” Mr. Crane’s questions had the effect of making the witness relapse into silence, he evidently becoming afraid to speak. He finally said he was sent to bed without his supper and that his sister knew about the rest of it. “Mother and Father were fighting,” added the boy, “and were pushing each other around the room. I went upstairs and heard Mother and my sister howling. Then I called for help for Mother who was lying on the cellar floor.”

The next witness was Jennie, the fourteen-year-old daughter of the dead woman.

Upon taking the stand she began weeping, and it was with difficulty that she could be sufficiently composed to give her testimony. She thought her father had been drinking when he came in and laid down on a lounge in the parlor. He and witness’s mother had a few words and afterward the latter went to the pantry for a bottle of beer. They had words over it and she caught him by the throat. There was a struggle and her mother fell down the cellar stairs. Her father made no attempt to go after her, and she laid at the bottom of the stairs until Constable Teed came in and removed her.

OFTEN FOUGHT BEFORE

“They have often fought before and hurt each other,” said the girl, “and I did not want them to do it again. Mother had about ten bottles of beer in the pantry that day and sent out for six more.”

At this point Lawyer Charles Graves, representing Love, asked the girl whether her mother had been drinking and was in the habit of drinking. She replied that she had.

“You can’t ask any more questions, Mr. Graves,” interposed the Coroner.

“I’d like to know why?” queried the lawyer.

“Because you haven’t the right to,” replied the Coroner.

“I have a right and purpose exercising it, too,” said the lawyer.

“If you do I’ll have you ejected; I am holding this inquest,” concluded Doctor Roden.

Dr. Peck testified that Mrs. Love was in a semi-conscious condition from the time she received her injuries until death. There was a discoloration on her neck. County Physician Wrightson swore that the woman was injured on both sides of the head and her skull was fractured, producing an effusion of blood and causing death. Dr. Wrightson said he did not think all the wounds could have been caused by falling downstairs. The inquest will be continued tomorrow afternoon.