Have you ever looked at other family trees online? I have, and they are pretty interesting. You can certainly tell the beginners from someone who has been doing it a long time. I am not judging, not harshly, anyway, because I was a beginner, too.
If people use the trees only for aesthetic value, they can insert their ancestors’ names in the way they like. However, if you are using an online service and expecting hints or assistance from DNA matches, it’s essential to input names and dates correctly.
Here are the rules for correctly recording names in genealogy.
USE WOMEN’S MAIDEN NAMES. Always enter a woman’s maiden name if you have it (her surname at birth) in parentheses on a written/typed chart or a database’s last name field. When you do not know a female’s maiden name, insert her first and middle name on the chart, followed by empty parentheses (). For example, to record Sara Elizabeth, whose maiden name is unknown and who is married to John ROWAN, write “Sara Elizabeth ()” or “Sara Elizabeth () ROWAN.” When using a database such as Ancestry, MyHeritage, or Family Search, use the maiden name in the last name field. If you do not know the maiden name, leave it blank.
UNKNOWN NAMES. Do not put “LNU,” (Last Name Unknown), “UNK,” (Unknown), “MNU,” (Middle or Maiden Name Unknown) as these databases do not pick those up as you mean them. UNK is an absolute last name in Dutch. LNU is Vietnamese (Lưu) from the Chinese surname 劉 in central and southern Vietnam. It is the Chinese variant of Lu or Liu. When it comes to names you do not know, you accept that you do not know it and leave the field blank or use () on a typed or written chart.
NAMES IN SEARCH ENGINES.
Ancestry: For better search results, provide more information for the search engine to match against. For example, specifying a middle name like “Lemuel” can help narrow down results when searching for someone with a common name like “John Smith.” There are fewer John Lemuel Smiths globally than John Smiths. Ancestry automatically considers common nicknames, abbreviations, and alternate spellings. An example of their tips is that a search for “Bill Smith” could also return results for “William Smith,” “Wm Smith,” “Bill Smyth,” or “B. Smith.” An exact name match is the most relevant, followed by common misspellings, nicknames, and other variations. Remember that names can be misspelled or mistranscribed in original records or indexes, so looking for alternate spellings may lead to the right match despite the name appearing incorrect.
Family Search: They state, “The more of a surname you type as a search term, the smaller the results list will be. Since many surnames have spelling variations, you may want to broaden your search. To do this, you can type only part of the surname. (Or truncating your search.) For example, if you type “Newcombe” as your search term, the computer will find only that spelling of the name. However, if you type “Newcom” as your search term, the computer will find any surname that begins with those letters, including Newcom, Newcomb, Newcome, Newcombe, and so forth.”
My Heritage: When typing in the name in their fields, advanced options appear and allows you to specify whether you want an exact match, whether to include spelling variations, matching initials, and so on.
The critical takeaway is to take a few minutes at the beginning of your search and learn how the particular database search functions. Most sites have a tips section.
RECORD NAMES IN THEIR NATURAL ORDER.—first, middle, last (surname/maiden name). Using full names whenever possible makes lineage easier to trace. If a middle name is unknown, you may use an initial if you have one. Write names just as they appear on a birth certificate or spoken aloud upon introduction; no commas are necessary.
LAST NAMES. In the computer world, typing in all capital letters is considered yelling. Most genealogists choose to print surnames in all capital letters. Capitalizing the last name is a matter of preference rather than correctness. However, capitalized last names make it easier to read and distinguish surnames from first and middle names on family trees and in publications.
NICKNAMES AND ALTERNATE NAMES. Most databases have a separate field for nicknames or “also known as” names. You should not put them in the main name fields. If using written or typed charts, include them in quotes after the first given name. If the nickname is customary (i.e., Dan for Daniel), it is unnecessary to record it because only more unique nicknames need to be written (i.e., Esther “Hettie” HAWK.) If a person is known by multiple names, perhaps due to adoption or a non-marital name change, include all alternate names in parentheses after the surname on charts or a written tree. Clarify this with an “a.k.a.”, also known as, before the full alternate name, so that anyone reading your chart understands that the following is an alternate name. An example is Johann Leopold SCHWITTKOWSKI (a.k.a. John Paul HENNIG). Record it even when parts of the name are the same.
ALTERNATE SPELLINGS. When researching your ancestor’s surname, consider alternate spellings, particularly if the spelling has changed throughout time. There are several reasons why a last name might have been altered, such as illiteracy. It was common for ancestors who could not read or write to spell their last name phonetically, based on how it sounds, and this often led to slight variations between generations. When documenting surname usage, start with the earliest known usage, followed by all later known variations. For example, as in my family tree, you would write John LOGEN/LOGGAN/LOGAN or Johann SCHWITTKOWSKI/ HENNIG.
MAKE NOTES. Most databases have a place where you can insert notes. When recording names in your family tree, write notes or use the notes field. Specify unusual or confusing details for clarity. For instance, if a female ancestor’s maiden name is the same as her husband’s surname, briefly note why you have entered the same last name twice for her. Explaining prevents others from assuming it’s a mistake and helps them understand its reasoning.
Adhering to these straightforward guidelines ensures that your genealogical data is sufficiently clear for others to comprehend.
💁♀️EXTRA TIP: Are you finding the best search results for locating your ancestors? Did you know that misspellings and transcription errors limit your search? Unsure about the spelling of your ancestor’s names in records?
It’s time to try a wildcard search!
One of the best search secrets is using wildcard characters like “*” or “?” to substitute for letters you don’t know or are unsure of. When you use these characters in a search, it instructs the search engine (such as Google or Ancestry) to consider any letter in that position as a match.
Before using the genealogy wildcard search, remember that “*” replaces zero to multiple characters, while “?” replaces just one character. Read the search tips section for the database you use for their wildcard characters.
Google is a valuable tool for genealogy research, providing access to various resources and information. Here are some tips for using Google for genealogy:
Specify Your Search
Identify what you want to find. Formulate your question to Google just as you would to a research librarian or archivist.
Use Search Operators
Use quotation marks to find exact matches. (You don’t need to put around the whole sentence. For instance, Where is the “National Dairy” in “Butte”)
The word “AND” includes multiple words or phrases. How do you tell the search engine that you want to find Web sites that contain references to Keyword A and Keyword B? (Coal and Mines)
The word “OR” combines searches. It is beneficial for finding synonyms or related concepts. Using “OR” allows you to conduct multiple similar searches simultaneously, saving time.
Placing a tilde character (~) immediately in front of the keyword. asks Google to find pages with the word or words similar to it. The resulting pages for ~genealogy may include genealogy, family tree, roots, ancestry, heritage, vital records, or other words.
Use the minus sign (-) to eliminate keywords. The minus sign is just a hyphen in front of a term you want to have excluded from the search results. For example, if you were looking for a salsa recipe, you might search for salsa and discover multiple definitions. There’s the dance. There’s the music. Don’t forget the food. By using -dancing or -music, we can focus solely on salsa recipes: salsa -dance -music. Or, if you do not want onions, add -onions.
Don’t use “stop words.” Google often ignores small, commonly occurring words, such as ‘the,’ ‘at,’ and ‘of,’ and refers to them as stop words. When we search The Great Wall of China, we get about 471,000,000 results. By searching Great Wall China, we get about 815,000,000 results. And if we use the parenthesis around “The Great Wall of China,” we only get about 5,570,000 results.
Use 3-5 keywords for the most relevant results in a search query. Using too many keywords will limit your results.
Google Alerts
Google Alerts enables you to set up multiple keyword searches to track specific information for free. It allows you to monitor any keyword or phrase you like without manually entering it.
Use Google Maps
Select a location and then use the “find businesses” tab to identify points of interest like churches, cemeteries, and historical societies. You can also see the surrounding areas.
Use Google Earth
Discover your ancestors’ hometowns, see how they look today, and locate nearby buildings, schools, and churches. You can also utilize Google Earth Pro to generate personalized maps of your ancestors’ surroundings. Click and drag the image to take a virtual walk down the street where your ancestors once lived.
Use Google Images
Google Image Search will display photos with a brief title and website address when searching for ancestors’ names, surnames, or places they lived, including nicknames or abbreviations. It provides exact matches and visually similar images based on your uploads and critical phrases. Clicking on a result will bring up a pop-up with more details about the image, potential copyright status, and a gallery of related photos.
You may also want to try Google’s Reverse Image search. This technique uses a photo rather than text to search Google.
To perform a reverse image search on Google, follow these steps:
1. Go to Google.com and click the “Images” link in the upper right corner.
2. Click on the camera icon in the search box.
3. You can drag and drop a photo from your computer onto the Google Search page or click “Upload” to select an image from your computer or mobile device.
4. Review the search results page for the related images and information.
Use Google Photos
You can create, edit, and add maps and text to your photo albums, containing up to 20,000 photos or videos. You can organize your albums by family, surname, individual, or event and label them with relevant information.
Google Books (One of my favorites!)
You may already know that Google Books will keyword search within billions of pages of text in published books worldwide. Some of these books are even available to read on the site. Searching Google Books can lead you to facts, stories, new sources for your research, and even images. I’ve found many ancestors this way.
Google News Archive
Google News Archive is no longer actively digitizing and indexing newspapers. However, it can still help you find online content for specific newspapers. You can access an alphabetical listing of newspapers and enter keyword searches in the search box on the webpage for all the newspapers listed there.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar is the go-to resource for accessing scholarly articles, theses, dissertations, and other academic sources. It specializes in searching for high-level academic content. You can find specialized content on Google Scholar, such as biographies of little-known ministers or histories of small towns.
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Have you heard of rabbit holes in genealogy? They are more common than anything else in genealogy. Imagine you’re researching Aunt Betty and discover that her famous strawberry pie recipe is now made in several bakeries nationwide. To understand how Betty achieved this success, you delve deeper into her family history.
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Made with Microsoft Designer AI
You find that her uncle was a chef at a popular restaurant in New York, so you start exploring his family background. It turns out that their family owned a farm and grew all their food. Betty’s uncle’s mother taught all the boys how to cook using the produce from their garden.
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That’s a rabbit hole. We neglected poor Aunt Betty while we went on our adventure, similar to Alice in Wonderland.
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Stop getting distracted by unexpected genealogical discoveries. Have a plan.
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Before beginning your research, write out your research question or statement. Writing it out will help guide you and keep you on task.
Break your primary research question down into more minor, individual research questions. Be specific in the question.
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Analyze what you already have. Start with what you know: Work from the known to the unknown.
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Remember to take notes: Write down key findings and questions as you go or after you have finished. You might forget what you’ve learned if you haven’t anything down.
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Use a separate notebook: Keep a notebook for your research facts, and always record the source. Recording the source will make it easier to add more details later. If you are going astray, write down what you found and then return to your main question.
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Set a timer: Keep track of how much time you’re spending on your research.
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I don’t avoid rabbit holes, but it is much easier for me to get back on track when I do if I have a plan in writing to fall back on.
In 2017, I experienced a significant breakthrough in my genealogical research. For years, my cousins and I struggled to find information about my great-grandmother’s family, the Hennigs. It wasn’t until I found a record in FamilySearch that everything started to fall into place.
Sometime between 1910 and 1911, the entire family changed their surname to Hennig, which was my great-great grandfather’s mother’s maiden name. The reason for this change is listed in his son’s naturalization papers, and an excerpt is provided below.
“While said name would indicate that the undersigned is Polish, that, in fact, he is German; that by reason of the name, those with whom the undersigned associates are given to understand that he is of Polish extraction, when in fact he is a German …”
Johann Leopold Schwittkowski became John Paul Hennig.
Johann insisted that he was German because he was born in Danzig (Gdansk), which was under German rule at the time. However, his parents were Polish, and Schwitkowski, his last name, is Polish. The “owski” in his last name felt too Polish for him.
After discovering the Schwittkowski name, I uncovered a flood of new ancestors. Don’t give up! The answer is out there. Contact me if you need assistance.
You can read more about this in-depth at Schwittkowski.
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In April, a client contacted me seeking assistance with his family history, particularly regarding his father. This gentleman, in his 80s, had limited information about his father, who passed away when the client was just a teenager.
The client was aware of his father’s life from the time of his marriage to his mother onwards but had no details about his father’s earlier life. He only knew that his father hailed from Michigan and had briefly stayed in Canada to visit his brother, with little additional information.
I had been stuck for a while but then stumbled upon newspaper articles detailing minor run-ins with the police. Initially, I thought it was a case of mistaken identity with someone else sharing the same name.
Then, I found his birth record.
It turned out that he was actually born in Canada, not Michigan, which enabled me to locate him in the Canadian census records for 1891, 1902, and 1911. Although he visited his brother in Michigan in 1919, he returned to Canada in 1921.
Port Huron, Michigan, and the border town where he lived in Canada
Further research helped me discover a previous marriage. This was in 1924. Another surprise for my client. The Canadian marriage records from that period were remarkably detailed, even including their street address. This small town immediately caught my attention, as it matched the address in the census records and was the same neighborhood mentioned in the newspaper article I previously referenced.
In 1921, he was charged in a pedestrian accident, followed by a car theft less than a year later. Subsequently, I lost track of him. My next step was to investigate the first wife, but I hit a dead end, as they both mysteriously disappeared.
Around four weeks later, I stumbled upon a 1926 newspaper article from a Canadian newspaper that revealed this client’s father’s full name. The article mentioned his arrest in Tampa, Florida, on suspicion of fraud, and mentioned that he had a wife and child residing in Chicago, Illinois.
Not his actual records.
While processing this information, I wanted to ensure I was completely certain before approaching my client. I also needed more details. Upon revisiting research on the wife, I discovered her mother was from Chicago and her father from England.
Interestingly, the 1931 Canadian census indicated her father was widowed. Turning back to the US Census records, I found the wife living in Chicago with her mother and stepfather, which raised some questions.
Further investigation revealed that both Canadian and US census records indicated the wife’s mother was from New Jersey, hinting at a connection. Digging deeper into the wife’s mother’s background, I stumbled upon her parents’ 1921 Canadian census, where they were listed with two boarders.
Funnily enough, one of the boarders’ names caught my attention – the man her mother was married to in Chicago!
Are you following along so far? But wait, there’s more.
The census records indicated that the wife had two children living with her. It appeared that when he married in 1924, he had a daughter nine months later.
His son was born in Tampa in 1927, fifteen months after their daughter. I surmised from the dates that his wife was about three months pregnant when her husband was arrested in Tampa for the fraud.
In April 1930, his first wife resided in Chicago with her mother and stepfather. Although her marital status is listed as married, her husband is not recorded in the census.
Five years later, in 1935, his first wife and their children had remained in Chicago, residing with her “partner” and his mother. Her marital status is still listed as married. At the same time, her husband was serving a new prison term in Florida, this time on the opposite coast, for a period of ten months due to breaking and entering.
He married my client’s mother in 1937, and they had two sons together, staying in the area of his last arrest. Interestingly, in the 1940 US census, his first wife is still listed as married. Sometime following that, but before 1950, she tied the knot with her new partner.
Sadly, by the time I made my discoveries, all three of my client’s siblings had died. His mother died seventeen years before him hiring me.
This wasn’t the result we anticipated while uncovering the lost years of his father. Family isn’t just about the intriguing tales; it encompasses their complete narrative with all its highs, lows, and imperfections.
I hope reading this encourages you to explore beyond the obvious. Look into all those related families, friends, in-laws, etc.–cluster and collateral research.
Cluster research examines the “clusters” of individuals who lived in your ancestor’s community. This strategy places special emphasis on the friends, peers, neighbors, coworkers, and other community members who were part of your ancestor’s everyday life.
Collateral research investigates your non-direct-line ancestors. Though you may not share much DNA with your great-great-grand-uncle, records of him can lead you to records of your ancestor.
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There is much information on the World Wide Web regarding my ancestor, William Bean. His is a fascinating story of pioneering strength. He was the husband of Lydia Russell; I mentioned her in my blog, Native American Heritage. You can read of her capture by the Cherokee and her freedom by Nanyehi (Cherokee: “One who goes about”), known in English as Nancy Ward. It is rumored that Lydia’s nephew, Lewis (Louis) Russell, son of George, married (or had relations with) a Cherokee, which produced descendants. But I digress…
William was born on 09 Dec 1721 in St. Stephens Parish, Northumberland, Virginia, and was baptized there.
He married Lydia Russell in 1744. Before leaving Virginia, William was a captain in the Virginia Militia and a Revolutionary War Veteran. Before settling in Tennessee, he settled in Pittsylvania (Danville) County, Virginia.
They were the first “white” settlers in Tennessee. Some say the first “European-American settlers.” William was of Scottish descent, and Lydia was of English descent.
William was a longhunter. He was also friends with fellow longhunter Daniel Boone.
Daniel Boone
Longhunter with dead deer
Daniel Boone Longhunter with a dead deer
Longhunters were explorers and hunters in the 1760s who went on expeditions for about six months into the wilderness of the American frontier. As was William Bean and his friend, Daniel Boone. They may have met by being agents for Richard Henderson, a land speculator who later played an essential role in the early settlement of Tennessee.
1769, Bean moved his family (5 to 8 children) from Virginia to Tennessee. There, they cleared land and built a cabin close to the junction of Boone’s Creek (just above the mouth of the creek) and the Watauga River, near what is today Johnson City, Tennessee. Bean camped here with Boone and was familiar with the country. He liked the secluded part of the land where he built his cabin. It was hidden from the river by high rock formations and thick overgrowth. The creek provided plenty of water from the springs. The cabin was concealed from Indians who might pass by on the river, and the mouth of the creek was marked by a large waterfall, which kept boats from entering the creek. The spot around Bean’s cabin became known as the Watauga settlement.
William and Lydia were now the first permanent white settlers in Tennessee. Their son, Russell, was the first white child born in Tennessee. Most of William’s siblings, as did Lydia’s brothers, George and John Russell, joined him. You can read more about this area, the Beans, the Russells, and the settlement at The Overmountain Men by Pat Aldermen.
William is said to have been “a man of parts,” a substantial landowner in Pittsylvania County. Members of the Bean family were prominent in civil and military affairs in the Watauga Valley for many years. The colony was outside of any governmental control, so they founded the Watauga Association. William served in the Revolutionary War from 1776 to 1780 as a Captain in the Watauga Riflemen. At the Battle of Kings Mountain, it is rumored that Captain Bean and his men scattered a band of Tories and hanged nine.
Source: Notable Southern Families, Volume 2
William Bean was one of the first patentees of the land leased from the Indians by Charles Robertson as trustee for the settlers and later secured by treaty. His name is found to the petition for annexation to North Carolina, which is in the archives at Raleigh, and was received by messenger August 22, 1776.
At the end of the Revolutionary War, William Bean was granted 3000 acres of land for his outstanding service. He decided on a piece of land in what is now Grainger County Tennessee.
William Bean was also a businessman; he built Bean Station at a significant crossroads. William built the Bean Tavern, outside of the fort, the largest tavern between Washington D. C. and New Orleans. Travelers coming from all over stopped there on their excursions. It was a bustling crossroads for the surrounding settlements in East Tennessee.
Interesting Note: Abraham Lincoln’s mother was a waitress at the Bean Station Tavern. And Davey Crockett traveled there as well.
This is a beautiful video of the history of Bean Station. It is only 7:49 minutes long but packed with information! I highly recommend viewing it.
Like Daniel Boone, his old friend and companion, Captain Bean “did not like to be crowded”. He had helped blaze the Boone trail and watched emigrants settle upon the Watauga and Holston until they numbered perhaps a thousand people, then he began to look around for a home with more latitude, and where game was more plentiful. It is a family tradition that he selected the site of Bean station because of the gap in the mountain, and because of the sulphur springs, and salt licks, which latter attracted deer and other game.
Captain Bean erected Bean Station about the year 1778. Since he had grandchildren at this date, he could no longer be considered a young man, but as this is the year of his activities against the Tories it will be seen that he was still very active in frontier military affairs. The fort is said to have been strongly built and well defended, when occasion necessitated, by the few families who settled in its proximity.
The number of years that pioneer families lived in fear and suffered the atrocities from the Indians is shown by the massacre of Jane Bean, a daughter of Captain William Bean, twenty-one years after the family had moved to Bean Station.
Jane Bean had gone to a nearby spring for the purpose of doing a washing when Indians hidden in a cedar thicket jumped out, killed and scalped her. The grave may yet be seen in the rear of a barn near the public road, and is marked with a rough stone bearing the inscription, “Jane Bean, Nov. 12, 1799,” now on the place of Mr. Ethelbert Williams, once part of the estate of the Cobbs at Tate.
The only remaining daughter of Captain Bean of whom we have record is Sarah, who became the wife of John Bowen, brother of the brave Lieutenant Reece Bowen, whose death is so graphically described by Mr. Draper in “Kings Mountain and It’s Heroes”.
There are many interesting traditions extant in this branch of the family of the early days at Bean Station.
The story goes that “on the day preceding the marriage of Sarah Bean, when all plans had been made for the celebration, John Bowen was called away to assist in quelling an Indian uprising, and the wedding had to be postponed”. Two weeks later, however, the wedding took place and after the culmination of the ceremony the groom took his bride to his cabin five miles distant from the station.
The honeymoon was spent in continuous trepidation and fear of the Indians, who at this particular time either through real or imaginary grievances against encroachments and broken faith of the settlers, were stealing into every settlement, massacring and plundering.
In the early morning Sarah Bowen would take her pail, and while her husband stood guard in the doorway with his gun, hasten to the spring for water.
One night Sarah and John Bowen were awakened by a stealthy and suggestive tapping outside the door. They arose, armed themselves with hatchet and gun and awaited the moment of attack.
Moments and hours passed and nothing more alarming transpired than the same suggestive Tap! Tap! Tap!
With dawn, the mystery of the delayed attack was solved. While dipping candles on the doorstep, Mrs. Bowen had spilled some of the tallow, which had attracted a gander one of several that Mrs. William Bean had brought her daughter the same day that she might collect feathers for a new feather tick!
When Indian danger threatened and Mr. Bowen was off on duty, one of Sarah Bean’s brothers would hasten for her, forcing her to jump astride the horse behind him, a feat shocking to the modesty, but necessary in the emergency, and dash away with her to the protection of the fort.
From David Crockett: The Lion of the West By Michael Wallis
One of Crockett’s good friends was old Major Russell’s son, George, the namesake of his uncle Captain George Russell, who followed his brother-in-law, William Bean, to Tennessee in 1770 and was promptly killed by Indians while on a hunting trip near his home at German Creek.
Lydia (Ancestor #: A132561), William (Ancestor #: A008045), and Bean Station are listed in the DAR Genealogical Research Database.
William died four months after he made his will on 06 Jan 1782.
His descendants are many and all over the country. Descendants lived in Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Louisiana, and elsewhere.
As always, please do let me know if you see any discrepancies or errors. Thanks for reading!
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Gone too soon. This is a video of my grandaunt, my grandfather’s sister, Jeanne Wescott, 1923-1965.
There are so few pictures matching such a short life. (I’ve done my best to date the baby pictures as some were not labeled. Some of the baby ones may be of her brother. They were both born in the same place. Their eyes and cheeks were different, so I used that area to differentiate.)
She was born in Norfolk, VA. She married and divorced. She did not have children.
At the end of the year 2020, my sister and brother were sent the personal history that our grandpa wrote shortly after our grandma’s death in 1972. My sister told my brother it was almost unreadable, but with my brother scanning and enlarging and playing with the contrast, my sister managed to transcribe it.
My sister left his language, missing or misspelled words, and doubled words as close as she could to provide the full flavor of his writing.
I included the pictures from my research on our family.
PERSONAL HISTORY YOU MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW
When I was born my brothers and sister were going to throw me down the outside toilet because I was not a girl.
At the age of 5 years I got up to the table (as the water was carried in a bucket) to get a drink of water from the bucket and thought I was drowned as I pulled the whole thing over on myself.
At 9 or 10 I was playing a drum for the children of the grade school to march out by.
My family moved to Detroit in 1912. I sold newspapers on the corner of Myrtle Troumble and Grand River Avenues.
His father, James Lemuel Logan abt. 1886
At 17 we lived in Highland Park, Mich. My mother died during that year. She had fallen during the winter and bumped her head. She was in a coma when I left for the school. When I got a call to come home I knew there was something terrible wrong. I rushed home by running the mile and a half. The ambulance was on its way to take her to the hospital but she died before they arrived. That was in March.
His mother, Caroline Stitt Logan abt. 1885
In the summer of 1917 I went to work making reamers at the National Twist Drill and Tool Co. in Detroit working with my brother Orville who was the foreman of the department.
At the age of 18 I quit school to enlist in the army. Feb 1918 I passed the test and was sent Columbus O. I was rejected because of my teeth being bad. I went back to Detroit, got my teeth fixed up then returned to the recruiting office and passed again. I was put in charge of the gang of boys going to Columbus O. again. In June 25 I was accepted then went to Fort Monroe Va. While at Columbus getting the shots I went over and leaned on the window. The next thing I knew someone had me by the heels holding me up trying to get me out of my faint.
U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939
In Fort Monroe we were trained on the disappearing guns and working on the railroad cars as we were to be operating guns mounted on railroad cars. In Sept. the 25th we were sent Hoboken N.Y. for boarding transport for overseas. We were on sealed orders I understand so we sailed south picking up the rest of the other ships in the convoy which was 9 more plus two cruisers. On the way over we had an average of 30 men die with the flu per day. In the whole trip 600 had died being buried at sea. I was put on a detail to attend the sick. We were wearing masks and was sprayed every little while with something to prevent us from getting the flu. Over 1000 men had died in the whole convoy. On arriving at St. Nazaire France I was on the detail to carry the remainder of dead off ship. On the way over the convoy zig zagged to avoid the subs. Traveling near the Azore Islands then up to St. Nazaire France.
It took 2 weeks to weeks to make the voyage. We had several scares but turned out to be floating wreckage. There were nothing but high clifts in the harbor which made the transporting cargo a much harder job.
While at camp the boys played football. We tore so many clothes the Colonel stopped our playing. On our last day at camp I was put on guard at 4:00 p.m. but at midnight we were taken off to board the train to be taken to the regular Arty (Army?) railroad camp. At Camp Hausemont which was a near Mailly we were put in quarantine as one boy in my got the measles and one in the car of Battery E car. It was on a hill with two building side by side. We had games and boxing in our quarters. One night two of non-coms. went out on the town and brought back two bottles. In their admiring the booze they had brought back one of them was rolling them too and fro on the bed when one bottle exploded cutting him across the nose. The other man keep running around repeaping he bleeding like a stuck pig’. In this camp I was put on the machine gun which we used for anti-aircraft. My other job was carring shells to the guns. I was trained to take the gun apart blind folded so in the dark we could take do the same. Our trips to the front were moving up and back half mile at each shot so the enemy couldn’t find the range.
Imperial War Museum image Q78964, with thanks. “Damaged houses in Mailly-Maillet, 23 August 1918”.
Page 2
I played a drum in the drum and bugle by ear. After the armistice was signed I was carrying wood for the kitchen as I was on K.P. Some of the boys went to Mailly to celebrate but I didn’t have any money and drinking didn’t interest me anyway. In December 1st or 2nd we left for Brest where we had to sleep in barracks without windowsglass and only corrugated iron sheets. To get a ship unloaded so we could go home they asked for volunteers to help unload the ships. Norm. Mable and I were among the group. While unloading the boxes they were accidently kicked open on purpose so there were Hershey bars, dried fruit and etc. Norm. put some of the dried fruit in his pant legs as we had putties on our so that kept them from dropping out. I got the Hershey bars. Norm. ate the dried fruit it absorbed the water, swelling his stomach.
On Dec 13th we boarded the ship from Brest to come home which was a wonderful sound to us. Woodrow Wilson landed that day to begin negotiations for the League of Nations. We landed in N.Y. Dec 23rd and was sent to Fort Totton where our clothes were put through the cootie treatment in steam boilers. When the clothes came out they were all wrinkled. Some of the boys used knives to cut holes in their suits so they could get other. I was afraid to take a chance for home was just ahead and I wasn’t taking any chances of being court marshalled. But the boys got by without any trouble. We had a big Christmas dinner (near a million dollar) but I had a cold and couldn’t eat much and besides our stomach had shrunk from the small meals we had overseas.
On Jan. 3rd 1919 I was discharged from Camp Custer. I went back to Detroit an got my job back at the National Twist Drill but I wasn’t satisfied so I put my application in the Ford Motor. I was put on a lathe turning starter covers but again I was not pleased so I went so often to see a man who had charge of the Tool And Die depts. I think he got so tired of seeing me he put me in the tool and die room. I was there 6 to 8 months when the depression came along so like so many others was on the loafing list. I paid my room and board for a month in advance to be sure of eating. At the end of the month I left for Penn. My Uncle Sam Wilson was [engineer?] of the Protestant Home for the Friendless where I stayed. Another cousin (by marriage) (a patternmaker) and I went around trying to sell magazines but no sale. We then bought gas mantles 2 for 25 cts. and sold them for 25 cts. We averaged 2 to 3 dollars a day. In Pgh. they nearly all used gas at that time.
Wilson’s 1916- standing with arm on post to left, Sam; girl from Home for the Friendless to his right; below left, Alice; rt. Belle; below, Ida; below, May and LaVerne, Lauretta, Sarah Stiit Wilson, Samuel Hunter Wilson; standing left, Ray, Eliza, Bud; front Richard Wilson with Belle’s children.
At the end of 1919 I went to visit my cousin Bess Stitt in Indiana Pa. and I met the girl of my dreams. WE done a lot of corresponding and I saw her every other week. One week end we arranged to visit my brother Bill in Appollo and her Aunt in Leechburg We were walking home in the rain under an umbrella when I proposed to her. To my surprise she accepted me.
I was working at the home of the Protestant Home for Incurable such as Arthritis, stookes and etc. I was making 30:00 dollars per month Hilda was teaching school making $100 per month. You can see love is much stronger than money. We got married and managed getting along well as her parents had a two family house and let us go to house-keeping next door to them. I filed an application with the A and P stores and was given a store in Indiana Pa. It was rough trying to make those stores pay off so I went to work as ass’t shipping clerk at McCreary Tire and Rubber Co. I got transferred to building tires. It took me 30 days to make $5.20 a day. The first day I made @1.29. The changed the way of making and asked for suggestion of names. I turned in several names. Success was the name they chose and I was given $5.00 as my prize.
Elva was born in 1922. Hilda had a good laugh when we took Elva out in the baby carriage as I would look in at nearly every little while. Arthur was born in Nov. 1924. We were so happy to have a girl and a boy. Shortly after we moved to Leechburg where I worked vulcanizing tires while the owner took a vacation. I then went to work at Leechburg Steel on shearing fender steel for auto makers in Detroit. In that work I made from $1:50 to $14:00 per day.
My brother Orville in Detroit fell from a scaffle injuring his leg bone. I went three times to visit him but on the third trip I wasnt going to take as our money was low but Hilda the wise of the two of us insisted I go to the funeral. She said I would always regret it if I didn’t. (according to his death certificate, Orville’s doctor first saw him for this in April of 1926 and last saw him alive on 14 June 1926.)
In 1926 when I took this trip to the funeral not having money to go back I took a lathe operator job at Wilson Foundry in Pontiac. The hour wage was 80 cents an hour. The work was interesting and lasted until the depression in 1929.
In 1926 I got a chance to buy a house in July and My father paid for the moving of our furniture out from Penna. in Aug. Hilda came in Oct. during a cold spell and snow piled so high along the side walks you could hardly see over. She was very well pleased I had the furnature all arranged so well.
In 1929 the depression came just when I had put an addition on the house where we were making around $165 a month but all the roomers left for their various homes. The first six months we managed to struggle along. But in the following June I got a job in Detroit on experimental, on a six sleve valve motor. This lasted one year. During the next six months we, Hilda and I went to the woods with a crosscut saw getting all the wood we could to keep warm. The help from the Welfare and the garden we had provided us with our living to a certain extent but there were times when with the great planning of the wonderful cook, Hilda, make it possible to survive.
In 1930 baby Earl was born. At the same time Elva had Scarlet Fever so I had three of them in the hospital at the same time. I drove the 25 miles to Detroit which made 50 miles then would go to visit them. After Hilda was able to travel I took a stool in the car and Hilda wanted to know what it was for. I told wait and see. After visiving baby Earl I drove to the Contagious Hospital, carried the stool up the outside stairs, then carr- Hilda up to the window where Elva’s room was. In Sept. Earl died. When the job finished in Detroit, and after the six months off I got into the General Motors Truck plant at 44 cts. per hour.
In Aug 1935 Glenn Jr. was born. Hilda and looked around to find a baby to fill the empty spot she had in her heart but didn’t find one to some up her expectations. The doctor had said ‘ with carring such a large baby of 10 lbs. it had left her in disorder with Earl, and suggested another child would probably correct it, which resulted as he said.
In Sept. of that year Hilda, Glenn Jr. (just a month or so old) and I went to Ypsilanta to drum corp (on a bus)competition. The ladies and men were so afraid their day was going to be spoilt but Glenn was so quiet and pleasant they all wanted to hold him and take care of him. In the same month we were going to another competition in our car and had an accident just out of Pontiac, we had Elva with a few cracked ribs, Art. with a gash on his head, Hilda was banged up tat I had to help her out of bed so she could get started in the mornings, a cousin had a fracted hip and Art. had a fracted hip also. The men came to talk to Hilda about me going to Cleveland to competition. It was a lot to expect as Hilda would have all the work taking care of the patients who were on Bradford frames. The men persuaded Hilda and she consented very reluctantly. The corp. went by boat across to Cleveland and returned the same way. In 1936 the drum corp. went to Milwaukee for competition. In 1938 we went to cal. In 1937 was a trip to N.Y. Hilda was able to on that trip as with the money I received for the trip I pooled with Art. Swartz and his wife enabling Hilda and Glenn Jr. to go along.. We four had a good time on the trip. We stayed in the Greystone Hotel in N. Y.
While in the Polo Grounds Hilda met an old friend she knew in Leechburg. Glenn had a good time eating hot dogs and receiving from different ones for all the friends liked him. On the elevated train he blurted out when the train stoped “When do we eat?” Every one on the coach laughed for he could be heard as it was very quiet. We got home safe and sound. The drum corp won champship fo seven years then broke up.
In one of the years I worked at G.M.C. I won two chicken dinners, a movie camera, a book of chances which was a raffled off at the picknic one summer. By taking a chance on a punch boar Hilda’s name won a radio. One Thanksgiving I took a chance on a turkey punch board and won it, the shop gave me another and we bought one so we had plenty that year.
Every summer G.M.C took two weeks off for vacations. I th 1937 lay off I went to the Bub Wheel in Detroit. They gave me a lathe job making the die for moulding the nose of the shells for the Gov’t. After two weeks G.M.C started again. I held on to the place there and also went to the G.M.C as usual. Working the two places I would leave one hour early from G.M.C. so as to get to Bud Wheel on time. The next day I worked all day at G.M.C. getting one hour late at Bud Wheel. By alternating this way for two weeks I was able to earn enough money to take the whole family to Boston to the Legion Convention. During these two weeks don’ forget Hilda played a big part in helping me as she would go along to drive me home at mid-night so I could sleep on the back enabling to report for work the next morning at G.M.C.
In 1940 when G.M.C closed for the vacation I went to Packard. They gave me a job in experiment on the Rolls Royce engine which was to be sent to England.
Page Four
The U.S. had decided to help fight the war by making parts for the allies.
When it went on production I was made Ass’t Foreman over 40 men on mashing connecting rods for the engines. From the time we machined them from the foundry to the time we got them machined they were ready to be polished. Each set had to weigh the same.
In 1942 I got tired of being between men and management and asked to be transferred to the tool room. When I got transferred I was put on setting up the crank rods for the grinding and drilling. During the time the machines were marking O. K. we had time to go behind the machines and rest as long as a watchman didn’t see us.
Hilda suggested in 1944 that I get work closer home which I did. I went to a shop on the eight mile road building fixtures for holding parts while being machined. My leader told us I should be a leader and told me to see the Supt. That next Friday I did. He said he had one night leader job on nights. I told him I didn’t want nights and that if I did not get on days I would quit. He said you can quit now. I said “O.K. The next Friday I went for my pay and he told me that place was still open on nights I said ‘No thank you.’
I took Hilda with me when going to look for a job every time it was possible. We went to the Stainless Ware of America and I met Mr. Lewis owner. He offered me a foreman job on nights. He tried to talk Hilda into persuading to take it bus she couldn’t be talked into it either. I was given a lathe to work on. Turning crank covers for the 40 ton tanks was a very good job as there could be only two made per day.
It wasn’t long before I had a call from the man who was my leader at the previous place wanting me as a leader on gun sights as the same firm had made him Supt. Of the new plant. It would be at least 15 cents more an hour. I told I would try.
The next day Lewis came by as usual. He said ‘How are they going old timer?’ I replied ‘Not so good.’ He ‘asked me what was the matter?’ I told him I wanted a release to take this other job and I couldn’t get released because of being frozen to the job. He said ‘you stick with me and I’ll give me a 10 cent raise.’ I couldn’t make the drive to Detroit fo a 5 c raise.
Elva and three or four other girls worked there and rode to and from the factory with me. Some of the girls stayed at our house.
My stay ended when I went to the hospital for an operation for appendicitis. Through Hilda’s father Charles Kunkle, I took over a parking lot beside the [Consumers Power Co] in 1946 and run it until 1954.
When Art. got out of service in about 1951 I let it over to him to run and I took a job operating a gas station on Telegraph Road. I would open the gas station at 8:00 A.M. an at 3:00 P.M. glenn came from school to operate it until 10:00 P. M. as I went to work in a shop on Keego Harbor Road turning out axels for air planes. I also went to work at a little place from there for four hours making Christmas ornaments by dies and punches. I carried on both jobs for several weeks. Art. had a gas station out from Pontiac too.
I don’t know why I went to Lake Orion after I got rid of the parking lot in 1954 but in Areo Tool Iran a milling machine, lathe and all other machines for building the fixtures which would hold the body and fenders in place on the Plymouth that was going on the market at Chrysler Motors. while they were being welded in place. Charles and Roy Kunkle Jr. came to work there before I left for Fla. In 1956.
Art. went to Fla. Some months before Hilda and I decided to go. We had Bill and Sharon living with us. In Jan. 56 we started out with snow and ice on the road but we finally got below the snow line. Hilda drove the new Chevie. and a rented trailer because she thought it would be more safer but she had a flat tire. She was following me and had a flat tire. I was away down the road when I looked back there was no sign of Hilda and Sharon. Bill and I were in the Plymouth with the trailer I had make for the trip turned around and went back. The jack for a car wasn’t strong enough to raise the trailer so I had to drive to a gas station for help. When it we started on out trip again. Hilda had fallen at one of the places we stopped to eat, so she was driving with a head ache nearly all the way.
Art. had made a contact with an owner of a house for us which we bought. The work was hard to find in Defuniak Springs. Art. and I went to Jacksonville stopping at all towns along the way to get work. Three or four days in Jax. We both got work but it wasn’t as permanent as we had thought for it was nip and tuck for two years. So in 1959 Elva said ‘come out to Cal. And you can get work. I flew out in March and in a few days I had a place in the Navy Exchange in San Diego, as a gas attendant.
In six months Hilda flew out, her plane caught on fire just outside St. Louis. It returned to the city. She called me from there. I asked ‘Are you afraid? She said ‘No she wasn’t.
Page Five
Art. came to Cal. In 1963 and had a desire to get a ranch so made a trip to Wash. In Nov 22, the day Pres. Kennedy was killed.
Not to get ahead of the story I had tell this which happened previous.
One morning Hilda woke up with one ball out on her cheek in Sept. of 1960. We went to nine doctors before we found one who would tackle the operation. The doctor put her in La Holla Hospital. About two weeks she was out, her eye sight was just as good as before but in two weeks her eye became red and she had to have have almost the same operation but this time they put a patch over the hole where the [sinus sack] had broken through the cavity over the eye.
I bought a 1958 Chev. while she was in the hospital and she was pleased. It stayed with me until 1972 when Ray got a new car trading the Chev in on his giving us his 1965
In 1963 Dec. I had an operation on a rupture.
In Mar. of 1964 Art. and I came to Wash. We stayed in an old house on the ranch as the people didn’t get out because they said the snow was too deep but got out about a month later. We had one scare one Sunday after we returned from church. Both the horse and the calf were Missing from the pasture. We went looking for them but they were no where to be found. We went up to a place above the house where we found a post pulled out and it looked like truck tracks so we thought someone had hauled them away. We called the Sherriff Dept. and they asked to check with the neighbors which we did. A few hours later Art. took the car to check around for them. When he drove up to the lookout on the hill he found the horse (Rani) eating grass there. He tied her to a tree then drove back picked up the saddle and bridle and I drove him back there. Then we were told by a farmer above Pleasant Valley that he had a strange calf in his herd which we found to be ours. We went over to get it and found it to be hard get. They were put in separate fields from them on as the calf spooked the horse.
Art and “Rani”- Art told my sister that it means ‘queen’ in East Indian (Hindu) languages.
In Sept. Hilda, Elva, Sharon and Cathy came to the ranch from Cal. Hilda remarked ‘I wish we could have a horse when we get up there.’ Boy but she was surprised when she found we had already.
We all enjoyed the ranch but the altitude was to high for Elva so she got a house in Kettle Falls.
The payments on the ranch were so high so when Pete Beck offered Art. work on his I talked Art. into taking it for it gave us a house to live in as well. This was in 1965. Beck didn’t keep him busy so Art. wen to other places work was available but would work for Beck when possible.
In the fall at Christmas time Glenn Jr. wanted Mother and I to come to Jax. For the next few months. We left on Wed. mid-night on the Great Northern R. R. going through twelve different states. Mother and I enjoyed every minute of the trip. We stayed three months.
At the end of 1966 Mother went Spokane for a very serious operation on an artery which was ballooned ready to break. After being in the Hospital three weeks we brought her home to Elva’s where she was take care of for three months. During that time she had a slight stroke. We called Dr. Herman who said to bring in to his office the next morning which we did. He put her in Mt. Carmel and she had a light heart attack that after noon just 15 minutes after Elva and I left. The Dr. thinned her blood as a blood clot had damaged one of the valves in her heart. The Dr. said it was one in a 1000 to get over such an operation at her age.
Art. and Gayle were married in May or June of 67. Mother and I moved to Colville as we had always said we would never stay to interfere in any of our childrens happiness so we have always wanted to help them as well.
Art and Gayle 1967
We made arrangement to buy the house in Kettle Falls we have lived in for the last five years.
During those years Elva and Ray moved to Oak Harbor and Art. and Gayle went to Fla.
Our 50th Wedding Anniversary on the 19th of Feb. was a very happy occasion. So many people were at the Senior Center to celebrate with us. They gave us so many gifts and cards and well wishes. Hilda looked at the pictures and cards quite often and talked of so often.
In July 1972 we went over to Oak Harbor for we had promised Ray we would come over. They had given us the 65 Chev. And mother and I were anxious to try the car out besides.
We promised to return later so in Oct. we were going back but Mother was due back for a blood test again but she didn’t want to have the test as he would not…..[runs off the page]
Page Six
Her desire was to visit Elva one more time do we went over the new road #20. We stopped several times as she got tired sitting. She was one who never complained except her back got tired so I would rub her back every and sometimes during the day.
Oct. 16th or 17th we returned home from the coast and on Fri. I took her to Dr. Herman who gave her some tests and x-rays. He called me into the office to tell me that I should take in to Holy Family the following afternoon. I called Elva and she came on Sat. Monday being Vet. Day there were no tests but Tues, Wed. and Thur. the results didn’t look favorable. The Dr. asked if she wanted to know the truth. We assured him she wanted to know. It was a blow to all of us but Hilda the strong woman she was neve shed a tear. Fri. we brought her. The Dr. said it could be a few weeks or 10 years she could live.
After we got her we managed to get a hospital bed to make more comfortable. Elva stayed with us to attend to her as she knew more of how to give the right care. Marie and the children came from Mich. For they loved her too.
On the 11th day she was loosing the strength in her legs. We were afraid she might all over if we helped. She knew her time was short for she asked me several times what I was going to do, I hated to think of loosing her and being alone. But all I could say was I don’t know.
The morning of the 13th day she passed blood and Elva called the Dr. about it about the pain. Her pain was worse and she just a pill a half hour or so before but couldn’t get them only at two hour intervals. The Dr. said to come in, he would give a prescription of something stronger. She passed more blood and bled at the mouth and lost consciousness. Peggy was here helping Elva and they finished cleaning up her bed for she had passed on to her savior. If any one gets to heaven she will for there was never a woman as so understanding and so wise.
Hilda joined church when 10 years old.
Sorry I didn’t know of her early life but it must have been a pleasant and enjoyable one.
These things wasn’t accomplished by ourselves but by the help of the Savor of whom we trusted for Hilda and I started out by extoling [?] Him from the Him from the beginning in our married life.
God was the strength and provider of our life for we had trying times but Hilda and I talked things over in times and talked over with God. O that more people would take Him the Master and Ruler of this wonderful Universe.
Hilda’ Mother said or asked me to take good care of Hilda. I tried to take as good as I knew how. I have a vacant spot now that could never be filled by an-else. To take care of someone tentively for 5[0] years is hard to forget.
My earnest prayer was to live long enough to take care of and my prayers were answered.
Behind every man there is a woman. It was my Mother, Hilda who helped mold my life and I wouldn’t be the man I am today so I owe my all to them and to God so merciful
His memoirs filled in blanks for me that records never could, such as how Art ended up in California and why Glenn was in Pontiac without Hilda and his children.
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Spring has sprung, and soon the yard will start bursting with new growth and the flowers with new buds. My other passion is gardening, or ‘yardening’ as I call it. I love getting out in the fresh air and enjoying what nature offers. It is excellent for my mental health, tending to plants, bees, pollinators, and birds.
But I love researching my ancestry too. Lately, I’ve been dabbling and making headway into some ancestors who have been sitting on my branches waiting to be explored. I proved a so-called family myth: “Wild Bill” Hickox William Hickox- 1608-1645 (Logan Family) was related to my Hickok line. I also connected him to his 4th great-grandmother, who was accused of being one of the Salem witches. Warrant for Arrest of Susannah Roots (Logan Family).
FamilySearch has this “Are We Related?” feature where you can see if you are related to famous people or others you follow in social media groups, etc. One thing they don’t really explain to the novices of the genealogy world is that the accuracy is only as good as the tree it is based on. When you place your tree on FamilySearch, anyone can change it anytime. This is because the premise behind FamilySearch’s trees is to have one shared tree.
This is not meant to be your private working tree. It is one public tree where anyone can provide input and collaborate. But, because not everyone understands this, things get changed and deleted without information. In other words, when you click on the “Are We Related?” feature, beware! You may not be related at all. I spent several weekends digging into several of these so-called relations. Most were untrue because of the wrong information in the tree, but a couple of them were correct, which was pretty exciting.
Do not get me wrong, I love FamilySearch for its immense repository of free information compiled and maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Their records are second to none! I highly recommend using their records for your genealogy research.
Several years ago, I wrote about my 9th great grandfather, a Scottish POW, John MacBean – Scottish POW (Logan Family). A few weeks ago, as I was dabbling in my tree, I discovered that his daughter married his POW friend, John Sinclair, making them my 8th great-grandparents. Sinclair evidently comes from the noble St. Clair family of Roslin, Scotland. And, as intermarriage goes, John MacBean’s grandson married John Sinclair’s granddaughter.
I also researched my Coffyn/Steven’s line, which stems from my Convicted of High Treason! Oh No, 9th Great Grandfather! (Logan Family) Gove family. Dionis Stevens was part of the Great Migration to New England and arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1642. She was quite the businesswoman. More on her after some more research.
Things have also been changing in my personal life, giving me more time for gardening and family history. In a couple of months, I will be going part-time. I’ve been working towards this goal for a while now. It is exciting and scary at the same time. This means you’ll be hearing more from me, I hope.
Until then, keep researching your own family tree. As always, let me know if I can help.
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Ancestry: For better search results, provide more information for the search engine to match against. For example, specifying a middle name like “Lemuel” can help narrow down results when searching for someone with a common name like “John Smith.” There are fewer John Lemuel Smiths globally than John Smiths. Ancestry automatically considers common nicknames, abbreviations, and alternate spellings. An example of their tips is that a search for “Bill Smith” could also return results for “William Smith,” “Wm Smith,” “Bill Smyth,” or “B. Smith.” An exact name match is the most relevant, followed by common misspellings, nicknames, and other variations. Remember that names can be misspelled or mistranscribed in original records or indexes, so looking for alternate spellings may lead to the right match despite the name appearing incorrect.
Family Search: They state, “The more of a surname you type as a search term, the smaller the results list will be. Since many surnames have spelling variations, you may want to broaden your search. To do this, you can type only part of the surname. (Or truncating your search.) For example, if you type “Newcombe” as your search term, the computer will find only that spelling of the name. However, if you type “Newcom” as your search term, the computer will find any surname that begins with those letters, including Newcom, Newcomb, Newcome, Newcombe, and so forth.”
My Heritage: When typing in the name in their fields, advanced options appear and allows you to specify whether you want an exact match, whether to include spelling variations, matching initials, and so on.
The critical takeaway is to take a few minutes at the beginning of your search and learn how the particular database search functions. Most sites have a tips section.
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