Dr. F. E. Webster, The Painless Dentist

Today I did a search for my maternal great-grandfather, Watson (Frederick) Emory Webster, on the Chronicling America website. My regular readers may remember that I refer to Watson as "The Traveling Dentist" here on my blog. At some point in his life Watson changed his name to Frederick Emory Webster.

One of the search results on the Chronicling America website was this article on the front page of The Brinkley Argus newspaper.¹

The article reads:

Coming this Month.

Dr. F. E. Webster, the painless Dentist, now in Mexico will return to Brinkley during the month of October. Patrons and friends requested to wait his coming.

Announcement of exact date of coming, will be made later.

Dr. F. E. Webster

The Painless Dentist.

This article was dated October 12, 1906 and said that Frederick would be arriving that month. I wonder when he arrived. I'd like to see if there are any newspaper articles stating that he did arrive. I could then add this to my timeline for his life.

The article states that Frederick was in Mexico during this time period. I know he was in Mexico as early as 1904 according to a record that I have yet to share here on my blog.

Frederick called himself "The Painless Dentist" in this article. What did dentists typically use in the early 1900s for pain control during dental procedures?

I love finding information about my ancestors in newspapers. Researching in newspapers can provide such interesting glimpses into their lives. And newspapers can provide clues for future research. For instance, is there a border crossing document associated with Frederick's return to the United States in October of 1906? How many times did Frederick travel back and forth between Mexico and the United States to do dental work? I found one border crossing document from Mexico to the United States for Frederick that was dated 2 August 1926. It states his occupation as a dentist but doesn't say why he was traveling to the United States.

What interesting information have you found about your ancestors in newspapers?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2020 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 The Brinkley Argus. (Brinkley, Ark.), 12 Oct. 1906. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. ^↩

My 6th Great-Grandfather's Signature

I recently added a new signature to the My Ancestors' Signatures page on this blog.

I was able to add this new signature because I found the probate packet of my maternal 6th great-grandfather, John Waterman.1

Within this probate packet were several documents including John's Last Will and Testament.2

Here's the last page of John's will. The red arrow is pointing to John's signature. 

Here's a close-up view of John's signature.

John Waterman signed his will on 3 January 1742/3. It's incredible to see the signature of one of my ancestors from so long ago. This was before the American Revolutionary War. John's grandson, Dr. Luther L. Waterman, served as a Surgeon in that war. Luther was my 3rd great-grandfather.

John Waterman was born March 1672 in Norwich, Connecticut and died in 1744 in Norwich, Connecticut. John was married three times. I am descended from his third wife, Elizabeth Bassett.

John and Elizabeth were the parents of three children:

1. Mary Waterman (1722-1736)
2. David Bassett Waterman (1725-1809) [my 5th great-grandfather]
3. Elizabeth Waterman (1730-1765)

Probate records are fascinating and valuable genealogical sources. My 6th great-grandfather's signature is an amazing genealogical discovery.

What genealogical discoveries have you found in probate records?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2020 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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[1] Connecticut. Hartford, City of. Wills and Probate Records. Connecticut State Library (Hartford, Connecticut); Probate Place: Hartford, Connecticut, Digital images. Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9049/images/007628900_00696 : accessed 12 July 2020) Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. John Waterman. Images 696-705 of 1417.

[2] Connecticut. Hartford, City of. Wills and Probate Records. Connecticut State Library (Hartford, Connecticut); Probate Place: Hartford, Connecticut, Digital images. Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9049/images/007628900_00703 : accessed 12 July 2020) Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. John Waterman. Image 703 of 1417.

Dr. Luther Waterman–Revolutionary War Surgeon ~ Borne From the Field of Battle

In a previous post I shared the fact that my 4th Great-Grandfather, Dr. Luther L. Waterman, was a surgeon in the Revolutionary War.  Many years ago, I learned of this fact while reading about Luther in The Waterman Family by Donald Lines Jacobus.1 In this book, Mr. Jacobus states the following regarding Luther's service, which he gleaned from Luther's Revolutionary War pension file (I added bold text to one sentence):

"…Phebe Waterman repeated her testimony, 5 Jan. 1839, and added that Luther entered service as a Surgeon under Dr. Spaulding, in Col. John Durkee's Regiment, in Cambridge, Mass., for nine months.  He then joined the Brigade of Horatio Gates, in Col. William Bond's Regiment, as Surgeon with Dr. Vinal, as his mate, for one year.  In 1776 he was at Lake Champlain, and was borne from the field, unable to perform his duty.  He was in the battles of White Plains, Stamford, Horseneck, and Rye.  This information was derived from Dr. Luther Waterman, himself."

In 1997 I ordered and received a copy of Luther Waterman's pension file. Unfortunately, this copy is quite difficult to read and only contains 12 of the 63 pages in the pension file.  I subscribed to Fold3.com, and happily I found Luther Waterman's full pension file containing all 63 pages on the website. Another bonus is that it is much easier to read on Fold3. The pension file copy I received in 1997 was inverted or reversed (black background with white writing). It also did not contain the page from the pension file that Mr. Jacobus used for his summary quoted in this post. With access to the full pension file, I was able to find the page from which Mr. Jacobus summarized Luther's war service, including the account of his being "borne from the field, unable to perform his duty."  This information was taken from the deposition of Mrs. Phebe Waterman, Luther's widow. Below is the pension file page containing Phebe's deposition:


The entire page above is probably difficult to read, so I cropped it into three parts as follows:

At the bottom of her deposition Phebe signed her name. What a treasure it is to see her signature. Phebe was 82 years old at the time of this deposition.

I wonder what happened to Luther Waterman at the Battle of Lake Champlain that caused him to be taken from the field of battle unable to perform his duties? Unfortunately, I don't know the answer.  And there doesn't seem to be any elaboration about this fact in Luther's pension file. It is and may remain a mystery. The fact that I learned about this from Luther's full pension file shows that it is important to obtain the full pension file of our ancestors if possible.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2020 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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^{1 Donald Lines Jacobus, The Waterman Family Vol. 1,1939, (Reprint by Higginson Book Company, Massachusetts), 294, 295}

Enhanced Photos Using the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer

MyHeritage recently announced a new feature called the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer. If you'd like to see the announcement about it on their blog, click HERE.

This new feature is pretty cool. I have tried it out on a few of my photos. One of the photos I tried it out on is this photo of my paternal great-grandmother, Hilda Maria Carlsson. This is the original photo. As you can see the photo is kind of grainy.

Here's the same photo enhanced with the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer.

What a difference, right? 

Here's another photo of my great-grandma Hilda when she was younger. She was nineteen years old when this photo was taken. As you can see, the photo is a bit blurry.

I tried the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer and here is the result. Isn't that amazing?

The MyHeritage Photo Enhancer may not work as well on every photo, but I'm impressed with how well it worked on these photos.

Have you given this new MyHeritage feature a try yet?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2020 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

Genealogy Treasures in Great-Grandpa Carl's WWI Draft Registration Card

My paternal great-grandpa, Carl Albert Gillberg, was from Sweden. He immigrated to the United States in 1909. According to his 1924 Declaration of Intention, he arrived on 18 September 1909.

Nine years after arriving in the United States, Carl filled out this WWI Draft Registration Card. 

This draft registration card contains some amazing genealogical information:

Name: Carl Albert Gilbert

Permanent Home Address: 367 So. 11 East, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah

Age in Years: 36

Date of Birth: January 8, 1882

Race: White

Alien: Non-declarant

Citizenship: Sweden

Present Occupation: Baker

Employer's Name: Vienna Bakery

Place of Employment or Business: 732 E. Fourth So., Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah

Name of Nearest Relative: Hilda Maria Gilbert

Address of Nearest Relative: 367 So. 11 East, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah

Signature: Carl Albert Gilbert

Height: Medium

Build: Medium

Color of Eyes: Gray

Color of Hair: Light

Has person lost arm, leg, hand, eye, or is he obviously physically disqualified? (Specify): First joint of 2 finger on left hand off.

Date of Registration: September 12, 1918

In this registration card, Carl signed his last name as Gilbert instead of Gillberg. In various documents, I have seen Carl's name as Gillberg, Gillbert, and Gilbert. On a passenger list during his immigration to the United States he was listed as Carl Gillberg. On Carl's 1924 Declaration of Intention he went by Carl Albert Gilbert. In his 1939 Declaration of Intention and Certificate of Naturalization he was back to Carl Albert Gillberg. I don't know why he switched back and forth between the different spellings of his name.

His occupation was listed as a Baker. It's really cool to have the name and address of the bakery where Carl worked at that time. Years ago I wrote a blog post about my grandmother's recollection that Carl would bring flour sacks home and his wife, Hilda, would make clothing out of them for their children. She also made quilts out of the flour sacks. If you'd like to read about that, here's the link to the post ~ Matrilineal Monday: Flour Sack Dresses–Ingrid Anna Gilberg

In this draft registration card it also states that part of Carl's finger is missing. His WWII Draft Registration Card and his 1924 Declaration of Intention also mention this fact, although they describe it as his left forefinger off or missing.

Carl's nearest relative listed in this document was his wife, Hilda.

I love these old documents. They are genealogy treasures full of interesting and valuable information.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2020 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved