Saturday, January 29, 2011

Finding St. John in Brooklyn, NY


I had thought I found enough information on the family of Alfred Adelard & Rosabel (Cassingham) St.John to firmly establish that they resided in Taftville, Connecticut then later, permanently in nearby New Bedford, Massachusetts.  So imagine my surprise when I came across his WWI draft registration card and found a NY city address.
 Apparently they were there for a very short time, as I have them in New Bedford in 1917 (city directory) and again in the 1920 census.  Although, at this point husband and wife are separated... maybe NY didn't go so well.
But, as shown below in his WWI draft registration card, in Sept 1918, they resided at 265 Clarkson Ave in Kings, NY, and Alfred A. St. John worked for the Atlantic, Gulf & Pacific Co. as a machinist.

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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Where They Worked: Whitman Mills, New Bedford, Massachusetts

   
Listed as the place of employment for Arthur Robillard on his 1917 WW1 Draft Registration Card (seen below),  


Whitman Mills is a historic mill complex located  in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

The mill was built in 1896 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.


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Monday, January 24, 2011

Passenger George (Wojcieck) Kolbush


With the partial indexing of the Hamburg Passenger Lists now available on Ancestry.com I have finally been able to locate an immigration record of our ancestor George Ignatz Kolbush (Wojcieck Kolbusz) of Losnica/Loznica, Poland. I had known from the 1900 census record that he arrived in 1888.  A revisiting of Ancestry's immigration database has finally yielded results.  He is listed at the top of the page of this passenger list dated 1 May 1888.

(click image to enlarge)
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Sunday, January 23, 2011

Sentimental Sunday: Her Little Girl

  
 
Lorraine St. John 
Daughter of Albert E. & Evelyn Louise (Lefebvre) St.John 
~~~

Saturday, January 22, 2011

The Dean Family of Kent, England


Harriet Dean, our 3rd G-Grandmother, 
married Odian Cassingham 
on 25 April 1839, in Tenterden, Kent, England

A Cassingham cousin provided me with bible records that had details of Harriet's parents and siblings.  From there I was able to use http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ to compile her ancestry shown here:

 (Click image to enlarge)
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Friday, January 21, 2011

Popular Science & Genealogy - Who'd have thought?

  
On this Follow Friday I want to share an article that I just read in my son's Popular Science Magazine that is also posted on PopSci.com titled: 
Why scan when you can snap?
The Lexmark Genesis is a scanner that behaves more like a digital camera making the whole process much quicker by replacing the bar with a retooled camera sensor.  This scanner can capture an image in three seconds while traditional scanners take upward of 10 seconds.  Read the whole article here on PopSci: 
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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Casteel / Hensley 1808 Marriage Bond

          
Again, not much is there but it is still pretty cool seeing it in writing:


Abednego Casteel 
(son of Abednego & Sarah Casteel)
married 26 April 1808 in Knox Co., Tennessee
Agnes Hensley
(daughter of Larkin & Sarah Hensley)
Daniel Casteel was bondsman
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Sunday, January 16, 2011

Truman Casteel of Sullivan, Illinois


The Decatur Review
Monday, May 16, 1910

 

Truman Casteel - b. Sept. 1889
was the son of Robert E. & Irena (Dundon) Casteel
Died 4 May 1910 at the age of 20 of tuberculosis.
He is buried in Charity Cemetery, Macoupin Co., Illinois 

(newspaperarchive.com)
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Saturday, January 15, 2011

Solving the Robillard Puzzle

   
I am getting closer to solving the question of:
"Who were Pierre Robillard and Philomene Ducharme?"
(see  two previous posts).
With the help of ACS researcher, Muriel, a probable 1860 census record has been located:


 We find this family residing in Alexandria, Jefferson, New York - on the border with Ontario and within easy river or possibly train travel from Quebec.

Looking at this record we can easily match the First names Peter and his two oldest children Mary Jean and Charles.  The wife's name is different from what we know. Two possible reasons: Philanese/ Philomene is not her baptismal name or the census taker had some communication problems.  It is noted in Peter's column that he could not read or write.  They were from Quebec and spoke French which might have also posed a problem with this census taker.

Peter's occupation as is correct as I found him in later census records with an occupation of Carriage maker.

The ages of the 2 children match known birth dates for Mary Jane and Charles, and later census and other records indicate that the three oldest children were born in New York.  This lines up - especially since we see Charles listed as 1 month old (even though NY was not noted by the census taker).

The next step is to try to locate the baptism records for these two children to validate the names and surname spelling and ensure we have the correct family. To do so we have ordered a microfilm of St.Patricks church records. I am hopeful that this same microfilm might also contain the elusive marriage record of Peter Robillard and Philanese.
Now, in two or three weeks I may finally have some answers to so long running questions (fingers crossed).
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Friday, January 14, 2011

Acts of Genealogical Kindness:Transcription of Baptism Record

  
Below is a transcription of the baptism record from the parish of Lavaltrie, Quebec, of Pierre Robillard seen in the previous post.

Bonjour Theresa,

Yes, the act is about twins. Here is the translation :
Margin: B(aptims) Pierre and Marie Robillard.

Act : On January 30th one thousand eight hundreds and thirty, by we priest "curé" undersigned have been baptized Pierre and Marie born today from the legitimate marriage of Jacques Robillard, farmer in this parish (in this parish is written in the margin), and Marie Payet. Godfather of Pierre was Pierre Harnois and the godmother Charlotte Robillard. Godfather for Marie was Laurent Robillard and the godmother was Thérèse Hénault, whom with the father could not sign.
(signed: H. Gagnon ?)

A very special "Thank You" to Pierre - my 'go to' person for French translations!
It is so kind of you to take time out of your day to assist in my genealogy related queries. It is very much appreciated.
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Monday, January 10, 2011

Seeking French Canadian Research assistance


Identifying Pierre Robillard

For a while now I have been trying to determine the parentage of Pierre Robillard.  We have a birth date from his death certificate (son, Charles, was informant) of 27 Jan 1830 - place of birth: Canada; parents: Unknown
We also have from census records that he was born March 1831, Canada.
A daughter has in her 1891 census record that her father was born in Quebec.

Pierre (aka Peter/Petre) married Philanese/Philomene Ducharme (b. Nov 1836)- c.1856 place unknown.
I have not been able to locate a marriage record...yet.
To date, finding more information on these two ancestors has been frustrating.
Today, though, I located a baptism record that might be a match for our Pierre. 


The baptistm record is dated 30 January 1830 which would fall in line for a 27 January birth.  I am excited...this could be the break I have been searching for, but again, I think more information is needed to confirm it as belonging to our Pierre.   
Any thoughts, hints, or suggestions?

Below are the known children of Pierre (Peter) and Philomene (Ducharme) Robillard:
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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The Welcheck Children c.1900


Pictured below are the children of Stephen & Margaret (Busch) Welchek (Welcheck) taken c.1900 in Barberton, Ohio.




John J.  b: 21 MAR 1890 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio

 Mary Ann  b: 22 SEP 1892 in Cleveland, Ohio

Robert J.  b: 21 MAR 1895 in Cleveland, Ohio

 Rose Treasa  b: 18 JUL 1897 in Barberton, Summit Co, Ohio

 Catherine  b: 17 JUL 1900 in Ohio

 Not yet born:
Joseph F.  b: 09 AUG 1904
Christopher L.  b: 07 MAR 1907
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Sunday, January 2, 2011

Inspiration for Rosie the Riveter - Geraldine Doyle

   

Geraldine Doyle, 86, who as a 17-year-old factory worker was the inspiration for a popular World War II recruitment poster  "We Can Do It!," died Dec. 26 in Lansing, Michigan.


Read her complete story here: 
Geraldine Doyle, 86, dies; one-time factory worker inspired Rosie the Riveter and 'We Can Do It!' poster  by T. Rees Shapiro Washington Post Staff Writer  





Saturday, January 1, 2011

Wishing You A Happy New Year



Let this New Year of 2011 begin with blessings and best wishes to all!

Happy New Year! 

from Tangled Trees.
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