Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Talented Tuesday - Celina Band


This photo appeared on an old post card from Celina, Ohio. The Celina Band posed in what is now Mercelina Park. They look so serious in the photo! If anyone has any ideas on their identities or the date, let me know. The seller of the post card thought it was the 1890s.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Sunday's Obituary - James E. Creeden


This is from an obit card at the Mercer County Library in Ohio. Thanks again to Marj for sending them to me!

CREEDEN, JAS. E.
   b. Clinton Co., OH.  age, 17 yrs., 11 mo., 2 d.
   d. 13-October-1889  Hopewell Twp.
   status - single
   cause of death - typhoid

James was the son of Timothy Creeden and Mary Ann Matson. He is buried in the Old Buck Cemetery in Mercer County, OH next to Mary's brother John Matson.

Picture courtesy of Cousin Becky on FindAGrave


His gravestone says that he died on October 3, 1889 and was 17 yrs., 11 mo., and 3 days old. If that is accurate, James was born around November 11, 1871.



The only census record that James appears in is the 1880 census. He was 8 years old when the census was taken in June 1880 and was living with his family in Clinton County, Ohio.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Sibling Saturday - Pulskamp Twins

These pictures are of my grandmother Anna Lee Pulskamp and her twin sister, Emma Lee. They were born on June 11, 1910. I love their outfits with the little boots!




Sibling Saturday is a daily blogging prompt suggested by Susan Mosey of Ancestry Binders.

Shopping Saturday - Dry Goods, Notions and More

My 2x great-grandfather, Timothy Creeden was the guardian of his half-sister, Roseanne Creeden in Clinton and Mercer counties in Ohio. Timothy had to keep records of any purchases made on Roseanne's behalf and there were several purchases for clothing materials in Roseanne's probate file.


This purchase was made in Celina, Ohio in December of 1888 for 10 yards of calico, 1 card of buttons, shirting?, and a pair of shoes. There is an entry called O.N.T. on most of the receipts for 5 cents. I'm not sure if that was a tax or if that stood for something else.


The logo shown above says "Bought of C. D. Hierholzer & Co. Wholesale and Retail". It looks like C.D. Hierholzer & Co. sold a bit of everything with "Dry Goods, Notions, Carpets, Boots and Shoes" stated on its receipts. That's quite a combination and long before the days of Walmart! It's hard to imagine the norm being to shop for the materials to make clothes instead of the clothes themselves.

In the upper left corner of the receipt, there are three names: C. D. Hierholzer, P. H. Schunck, and J. H. Pulskamp.


I would guess these are partners in the ownership of the store. I was surprised to see my Pulskamp name again. This may be my great-grandfather George Pulskamp's brother J. Henry Pulskamp.


This receipt shows another purchase for several yards of muslin in October of 1888.

Shopping Saturday is a prompt suggested by Audrey Collins of The Family Recorder.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Wedding Wednesday - George Pulskamp and Mary Gast


My great-grandparents George F. Pulskamp and Mary Catherine Gast were married on August 19, 1899 in Celina, Ohio. They were certainly a handsome pair. I love the detailing on her dress! Thanks so much to one of my Pulskamp cousins for sending this to me and giving me permission to repost it. The photo is also posted on FindAGrave along with other information about the family.

George was the son of H. H. Pulskamp and Anna Marie Schaefer. George graduated from Notre Dame University in 1896 with a B. L. degree. He published a German newspaper, Der Mercer County Bote and ran a print shop. Mary was the daughter of John Gast and Catherine Desch and operated a small store in Edgewater Park.

George and Mary's Marriage License

George and Mary celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on August 21, 1949 in Celina, Ohio with many of their family and friends.


Monday, February 18, 2013

Mappy Monday - Maryland Historical Properties

The Inventory of Historic Properties site by the Maryland Historical Trust contains detailed descriptions of historic properties in Maryland, including maps, family histories connected to the properties, and even ancestral photos in some cases.

My Maryland Sparks family owned a section of the land in Queen Anne's County known as Spaniard's Neck. I've seen references to the Sparks properties called Sparks Lot and Heath's Gift, so I was curious if I could find out more about them. In my first attempt, I typed "Spaniards Neck" into the search bar and got a hit! The only thing is that the search took me off of the site and the hit was in a Community Plan for 2009. Still, it was interesting to see that the Spaniard Neck name was still in use.

Map from Centreville, Maryland Community Plan 2009

I returned to the historic properties site and selected Queen Anne's from the "Search by County" page. I knew that the Sparks property was in or near Centreville, so I concentrated on ones in that area. There were several properties in the Spaniard Neck area, but the closest match to the names I was looking for was one called "Upper Heathworth". The document contained a map of the Spaniard Neck area with the location of the Upper Heathworth property and several photos of the property.

Upper Heathworth

There were several other properties in the Spaniard Neck area and also a mention of Sparks Mill Road in Centreville. I'll have to revisit this site when I have a bit more time to read some of the other histories. The documents I found on the site were pdf files that were made up of pages and photos that had been scanned in. There is a text search on the site, but it wasn't returning anything for me, maybe since the scanned pages aren't searchable. Despite the search limitations, the site is definitely worth a look if you have Maryland ancestors.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Sunday's Obituary - Godwin and Sparks

These death notices were published next to each other in the Easton Star on May 25, 1852.

  
In Spaniard's Neck, Q A co., on Wednesday last, Mrs. Elizabeth, wife of Rob't Sparks.

Near Centreville, on Thursday last, Miss Arianna Godwin, daughter of Capt. Godwin, aged 17 years.

I posted yesterday about how intertwined some of my Queen Anne's County families were. Spaniard's Neck was a section of land in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. A section of Spaniard's Neck was owned by Daniel Sparks. Upon his death, the land passed to his children, Robert Sparks,  Martha Sparks (wife of George W. Meredith), Daniel B. Sparks, Samuel A. Sparks, and James H. Sparks. The land was sold in 1878.

Samuel A. Sparks was married to Susan Godwin and their daughter Ariana was my great-grandmother. I've seen the name Ariana (or Arianna) several times now in the Sparks and Godwin families.

I believe the Elizabeth Sparks named in the death notice may have been the sister-in-law of my Samuel Sparks. I'm not sure yet how Arianna Godwin fits into my family.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Surname Saturday - Godwin, Davis, Sparks, and Meredith

My Godwin, Davis, and Sparks families are from Queen Anne's County, Maryland.

The earliest record I have for these families is from the Index to Queen Anne's County, MD Marriage Records. The index shows that my GGG-Grandparents Samuel Godwin and Ann Davis were married on March 23, 1824 by Rev. Crouch in Queen Anne's County.

Their daughter Susan Godwin was married to Samuel Sparks on July 16, 1849 by Rev. Sumption.

This record from the 1850 census for Queen Anne's County shows an interesting group of families living together. Susan and Samuel Sparks are living with Susan's parents and have a baby daughter, Martha Ann. A couple of young girls from the Meredith family and Rebecca Davis are also living with the Godwins. Rebecca Davis is close in age to Ann Davis Godwin, so they might be sisters. Also of note is that Samuel Godwin's occupation is a sailor.

Godwin family in 1850 census for Queen Anne's County, MD

I am not sure where these Merediths fit into my family, but my GG-Grandparents Francis Councill and Mary Meredith were married on July 8, 1840 in Queen Anne's County. Both the Merediths and the Sparks had daughters named Ariana. Francis and Mary's son John Wesley Councill married Samuel and Susan Sparks' daughter Ariana, so it would appear that all of these families were close.

The previous page in the 1850 census has a Meredith and two other Sparks families, so those might provide some clues.

Sparks family on page before Godwins in 1850 Queen Anne's census
The Sparks family above also has a daughter named Martha Ann. Robert Sparks and his family are living nearby.

Another Sparks family on the same page of the 1850 census

I have a long way to go on sorting out these families. I'd love to hear from anyone else researching any of these surnames in Queen Anne's!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Wordless Wednesday - Spot the Anachronisms!


I took this photo while The Tudors series was filming at the Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland in 2009.


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Tombstone Tuesday - Susan Godwin Sparks

According to her tombstone, Susan A. Sparks was born on Nov. 6, 1832 and died on Nov. 2, 1902. She was the daughter of Samuel Godwin and Ann Davis of Queen Anne's County, Maryland. She married Samuel A. Sparks on July 16, 1849. Susan and Samuel are buried in the Chesterfield Cemetery in Centerville, Queen Anne's County, Maryland. The grave behind hers is for Bulah Sparks, 1883-1916. Thanks to George Sparks for posting the picture on FindAGrave!

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Sunday's Obituary - John Creedan


This is from an obit card in the Mercer County Library. Thanks to Marj for sending them to me!

CREEDAN, JOHN
b. 13-November-1853 OH
d. 13-December-1923
bd. I.C.C.
fa. Patrick Creeden  mo. Hannah Horner

There are a couple of errors on the card. John was the son of Patrick Creedan and Hannah Hoover (not Horner) of Clinton County, OH. From the Mercer County, Ohio Cemetery Inscriptions, he is buried in Row 10 of the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Gibson Township of Mercer County.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Surname Saturday - Adams and Willis

I haven't done a lot of research on these families yet, so this post is to document what I have so far. My great-great-grandmother Ruth Edna Adams was born in May 1840 in Delaware and married William Martin Willis in 1859. William was born in Maryland in January 1828 and was the son of Senah B. Willis and Elizabeth Todd. I have seen quite a bit of research on the Todds, but not as much on the Willis or Adams families. Ruth's middle name caught my eye since my Willis grandmother was named Edna.

A marriage bond for William and Ruth is signed by William M. Willis and William I. Adams, so William I. Adams may be Ruth's father.


In the 1850 census, there is a Ruth E. Adams born about 1836 living with another family in Milford or Mispillion Hundred, Kent, Delaware, but I don't know if this is my Ruth.


In the 1860 census, the Willis family is in Dover Hundred, Kent County, Delaware and there is a Mary Adams, age 55 living with Ruth and William. I've wondered if Mary was Ruth's mother, but haven't been able to find any proof so far.

1860 Dover Hundred, Delaware census

In the 1870 census, the family is living in Mispillion Hundred, Kent, Delaware, the same place as the Ruth E. Adams in the 1850 census.


There are several children: James, Esther, Henry, Georganna, and Francis. Mary Adams and Sarah Adams are living with them. Georganna was a colorful character that I've posted about before.

In the 1880 census, they are still in Mispillion Hundred, Kent, Delaware and my great-grandfather Eugene Willis is 1 year old. Other children are James, Henry, Georganna, Frank, William, John, and Thomas. John's middle name is Van Berkalow which I would think is another surname in the family, but I haven't found any connections so far.


By 1900, the family had moved to Centerville, Queen Anne's County, Maryland.


From another researcher's note, Ruth and William are buried in the Chesterfield Cemetery, Centerville, MD.

I was curious about what the "hundred" meant in the place names in Delaware. From Wikipedia, "Hundreds are unincorporated subdivisions of counties, equivalent to townships, and were once used as a basis for representation in the Delaware General Assembly. While their names still appear on all real estate transactions, they currently have no meaningful use or purpose except as a geographical point of reference. The divisions, or "hundreds" as they are called, comes from the times when Delaware and Maryland were colonial holdings of Great Britain. While Delaware alone retains the use of "hundreds", the origin of most place names in both states can be traced back to the times of British rule."

Here are a few items for my "to do" lists on these families:
  • See if I can find any info on Ruth and William after 1900.
  • Look into the Van Berkalow surname
  • Look for info on Ruth's parents
  • Review research done on the Todd family
I would love to hear from anyone else researching these families!

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Sunday's Obituary - Ida Belle Creeden


This is from an obit card from the Mercer County Library in Ohio:

age 11 yrs., 8 mo., 3 days

CREEDEN, IDA BELLE
b. 8-December-1904   OH
d. 11-August-1916      Celina
bd. North Grove
fa. Daniel Creeden, OH  mo. Lena Glall?, OH

Daniel Creeden was the son of Timothy Creeden and Mary Ann Matson. Daniel was married to Lena Gleagall in 1902 and they had two children, Ned and Ida Belle. Their son Ned died in 1915, so this must have been a very tragic time for the family.