Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

Monday, March 3, 2014

52 Ancestors: #9 ~ Mary Albertina Engle - An Adorable Twin

This is part of the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" Challenge begun by Amy Johnson Crow, author of the blog No Story Too Small.

Mary Albertina Engle and Charles Albert Engle

This is a photo of Mary Albertina Engle and her twin brother, Charles Albert Engle. It was included in Cynthia Maria (Waterman) Webster's photo album. That's the amazing photo album I shared recently here on my blog. To see this album, click HERE and HERE.

Cynthia was my 2nd great-grandmother, and the wife of my 2nd great-grandfather, Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster, who was a Civil War veteran.

This is the page from Cynthia's album where this sweet photo was found. As you can see, Chas & Mamie Engle is written at the bottom of the page. Mary also went by the name of Mamie.

Photo album of Cynthia Maria Waterman - Charles and Mamie Engle Page

Mary and Charles were born on 20 June 1864 in Chesterhill, Morgan, Ohio to their parents, Richard Engle and Sarah Amanda Waterman. Richard Engle served in the Civil War.

Today' I'd like to focus on Mary's life. I'll write about her twin brother, Charles, in the future.

As I already mentioned, Mary was born on 20 June 1864. This was two days after her father, Richard Engle, was discharged from Company G, 63rd Ohio Infantry. On the same day he was discharged, he re-enlisted with the 7th Regiment Veteran Reserve Corps.¹ Did Richard make it home in time for the birth of Mary and her twin brother, Charles?

Sometime before 1880, the Engle family moved from Ohio to Barclay, Black Hawk, Iowa.²

On 1 November 1882, at 18 years of age, Mary Albertina Engle married William G. Ellis in Black Hawk County, Iowa.

Mary and William were the parents of one child, a daughter named Mary Luella Ellis, who was born on 21 December 1884 in Black Hawk County, Iowa.

Sadly, Mary Albertina (Engle) Ellis passed away on 13 January 1885, in Poyner, Black Hawk, Iowa, just 3 weeks and 2 days after she gave birth to little Mary Luella. Mary Albertina was 20 years old at the time of her death.

William was then left a widower with a very young baby. I don't know who took care of little Mary Luella following the death of her mother.

William was to suffer another tragedy not too long after the death of his wife Mary. His young daughter, Mary Luella Ellis, passed away on 28 August 1885 at 8 months of age.

Mary Albertina and her daughter Mary Luella are both buried at the Poyner Township Cemetery in Poyner, Black Hawk, Iowa. They are both buried in the same lot.

If you'd like to see Mary Albertina's memorial page on Find A Grave, click HERE. And if you'd like to see Mary Luella's memorial page on Find A Grave, click HERE. Both of these memorials have a photo of their beautiful grave marker, with close-up views of the grave marker inscriptions for both Mary Albertina and Mary Luella.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

1 Richard Engle's Civil War Pension File^↩

2 Year: 1880; Census Place: Barclay, Black Hawk, Iowa; Roll: 327; Family History Film: 1254327; Page: 358A; Enumeration District: 041; Image: 0338.^↩

Friday, February 28, 2014

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for February 28, 2014

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)

How to Set up a Facebook Page for an Ancestor by James Tanner, author of Genealogy's Star
Happy 100th Birthday, Henriette (Rita) Rosenbaum Jarolim by Edi Jarolim, author of Freud's Butcher
A Chautauqua Serenade to Some Early 20th Century Ancestors by Patricia Desmond Biallas, author of GeneaJourneys
Metadata by Michele Simmons Lewis, author of Ancestoring
The Play Doh Pedigree Chart by Emily Kowalski Schroeder, author of Growing Little Leaves
WILL THE REAL ANTON HEERDINK PLEASE STAND UP? by Jenny Lanctot, author of Are My Roots Showing?
RootsTech 2014 Wrap-up by Glen N. Greener for FamilySearch Blog
Sepia Saturday: The One That ALMOST Got Away by Wendy, author of Jollett Etc.
I've recovered from RootsTech--finally. AND Of Being Important by Janet Hovorka, author of The Chart Chick
FamilySearch Partnerships: Some Questions and Answers by Dennis Brimhall for FamilySearch Blog
Passing the Torch. by Janet Hovorka, author of Zap the Grandma Gap
Do “Top 40″ Lists Help or Harm the Genealogy Community? Open Thread Thursday by Thomas MacEntee, author of GeneaBloggers
What Happened During Grandpa’s Lifetime? | Free Online Tool by Beth Foulk, author of Genealogy Decoded – Ah Ha Moments for Genealogists
Thank you Crista Cowen! by Cheri Hudson Passey, author of Carolina Girl Genealogy
"A Conference Manifesto" for the Genealogy World by Amy Coffin, author of The We Tree Genealogy Blog
Using The FamilySearch Wiki to Find Ancestral Records by Lee Drew, author of Family History With The Lineagekeeper
My love affair with DNA by Deborah Sweeney, author of Genealogy Lady
Roots Tech - Three Things I Learned on Saturday by Michelle Goodrum, author of The Turning of Generations
Should You Publish A Blog? AND Evernote Baby - For Cragun reserearch, actually for everything in your life that is important by Larry Cragun, author of Larry Cragun Family and Genealogy Blog
FamilySearch Wants to Digitize Your Obituary Collection by Dick Eastman, author of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small -

52 Ancestors Challenge: Week 8 Recap

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed Them....My Contributions to the Genealogy, Photo Blog, and Vintage Postcard Blogosphere This Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

Grandpa's Postcards

Indian Priest, Trinidad, B.W.I.

Jana's Photo Journal

A Lovely Yellow Daffodil

Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The Photo Album of a Civil War Veteran's Wife – Cynthia Maria Waterman – Part 2

Cynthia Maria Waterman was my maternal 2nd great-grandmother. Her husband, and my 2nd great-grandfather, was Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster. He was a Civil War veteran.

Not too long ago, I shared pictures of Cynthia's photo album. In that post, I shared photos of the first half of her album, which included the album's front cover. I also shared a photo of Cynthia as well. If you'd like to see these photos, click HERE.

Today, I'm sharing the second half of Cynthia's album. At the bottom of this post you will find a photo of the back cover of her album. It's a pretty album and the front cover is quite ornate.

As I mentioned in Part 1, I'm not too sure who wrote the names at the bottom of these pages.

But, I wouldn't be surprised if this is Lura Webster's handwriting. I gave my reasoning in Part 1. Lura was married to Paul A. Hammett. Her sister, Lillie Dell Webster, was married to James Perry Burket.

It looks like the page on the left in the photo below, held a photo of James and Dell (Lillie Dell Webster) Burket.

The page on the left in the photo below says "Lura Webster" and "Ella Engle." Ella was the daughter of Sarah Amanda (Waterman) Engle and Richard Engle. The page on the right says "Myra Chamber" and "Lura Webster." I don't know who Myra Chamber was.

The two pages in the photo below held pictures of Mary Boggess and Ella Engle. Mary (Crary) Boggess was a niece of Cynthia Maria Waterman.

It's amazing that there was a picture of "Grandpa Webster" in Cynthia's photo album. Grandpa Webster was Moses Augustine Webster, who was born in 1811. He was the father of Cynthia's husband, Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster.

The fact that "Grandpa Webster" was written underneath this photo provides further proof that Cynthia Maria Waterman didn't write these names in her album. She would not have written Grandpa Webster. She didn't have a Grandpa Webster. But Lura Webster, Cynthia's daughter, did.

Homer Waterman was Cynthia's brother. He was a Civil War veteran.

Hmm. Nothing is written underneath the photo on the left page in the photo below. Either there wasn't a photo there, or the person who wrote these names in the album didn't know who this person was. Jessie Reno is written underneath the right page. I don't know who Jessie Reno was.

These last pages of Cynthia's album have Watson Webster and Malinda Webster written at the bottom of the pages. Watson Webster was Cynthia's brother-in-law. He was Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster's brother. Malinda was Watson's wife. Her maiden name was Eavey.

Here is the back of Cynthia's photo album.

It's amazing to me that Cynthia's photo album has been kept all of these years. I'm so grateful that it is still here for her descendants to enjoy.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Monday, February 24, 2014

52 Ancestors: #8 ~ Anna Christopherson's Unexpected Cause of Death

This is part of the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" Challenge begun by Amy Johnson Crow, author of the blog No Story Too Small.

On November 2, 2013, I shared my Death Causes Pedigree Chart here on my blog. It shows the causes of death for several of my ancestors. Unfortunately, at the time I shared this chart, I couldn't fill out each ancestor's cause of death. Instead I had to put the word "Unknown" in place of a cause of death for five ancestors on the chart. Since sharing the chart, I've received death certificates for three of these five ancestors.

One of these ancestors with an "Unknown" on the chart was my paternal great-grandmother, Anna Christopherson. Here is a photo of Anna.

I ordered and received her death certificate not too long ago. I'm going to share Anna's death certificate with you today. But, before I do that, let me tell you a little bit about her. She was one of the children born to Ole Anthon Christopherson and Aslaug Nilsdatter. Ole's name may sound familiar to my regular readers. I recently shared a blog post about him in which I wondered if he was a Sea Captain in Norway.

The photo of Anna (above) was found in one of my Grandma Ingrid Gillberg's Books of Remembrance. It's a group picture with lots of other people in it.

Anna was born on 10 October 1875 in Swift county in Minnesota. She married my paternal great-grandfather, Christopher Iverson, sometime before 1892. They were the parents of seven children.

Christopher and Anna's Children -

Christian Julius Iverson (1892-1948)
Hannah Mabel Iverson (1894-1994)
Lillian Emelia Iverson (1898-?)
Lawrence Nicholas Iverson (1900-1964)
Susan Wilma Iverson (1902-1963)
Arthur Harry Iverson (1910-1942) [my grandfather]
Adellard Wallace Iverson (1913-1988)

As you can see from this list of children, the seventh child was born the same year that Anna passed away. In fact, Anna passed away when Adellard was only eleven days old. Before I received Anna's death certificate, I wondered if she had passed away due to complications of childbirth. I was surprised at Anna's actual cause of death. It wasn't what I was expecting.

So, just what did cause Anna's death? Here is her death certificate.

The stated cause of Anna's death was an "Embolus of heart." The duration was "quick." And the contributory (secondary) cause was "*eperal state." So, she died due to a blood clot in her heart. I can't make out the first word for the contributory cause. Here's a close-up view of the contributory cause. If you have any ideas about what that first word is, I'd sure love to hear them.

Anna passed away on 4 June 1913 in Torning, Swift, Minnesota. She was only 37 years old. How devastating Anna's death must have been for my great-grandfather, Christopher, and their children. Their two oldest children were adults at the time of Anna's death. But the five youngest children were about 15 years old on down. And the youngest child was not even two weeks old yet. My own grandfather, Arthur Harry Iverson, who was the second youngest child in the family, had just turned three years old when his mother, Anna, passed away.

Christopher must have had to be so strong to carry on after Anna's death. He somehow had to work for a living and still care for his children. Perhaps the two oldest children helped as much as they could. The oldest daughter, Hannah, was already married and had her first child one month after her mother's death.

As far as I know, Anna's husband, Christopher, never remarried. He passed away in 1925, twelve years after Anna's death.

UPDATE: Thanks to Judy G. Russell, author of The Legal Genealogist blog, the mystery of Anna's contributory cause of death has been solved. According to Judy, the word I was having a difficult time deciphering is "puerperal." The Merriam-Webster online dictionary has the following definition for puerperal.

: of, relating to, or occurring during childbirth or the period immediately following¹

It looks like Anna's death was due to complications of childbirth after all. Thank you Judy for solving this mystery for me.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

1 "Puerperal." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .^↩

Friday, February 21, 2014

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for February 21, 2014