52 Ancestors: #14 ~ Lura Elizabeth Webster - Daughter of a Civil War Veteran

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

Lura Elizabeth Webster

This is Lura Elizabeth Webster.  She was one of the sisters of my great-grandfather, Watson (Frederick) Emory Webster, a.k.a. "The Traveling Dentist" here on my blog. Lura is also a direct ancestor of my sweet 3rd cousin Norma. Norma inherited the photo albums of our common direct ancestors, Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster and Cynthia Maria Waterman. I've shared pictures of these photo albums here on my blog. If you'd like to see them, click HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Lura Elizabeth Webster was born on October 4, 1862 in Winnebago, Winnebago, Illinois.  She was the second of six children born to Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster, who was a Civil War veteran, and his wife Cynthia Maria Waterman.

Lura married Paul Anderson Hammett on September 15, 1880 in Marysville, Marshall, Kansas.¹ This is a picture of Paul.

Paul Anderson Hammett

Lura and Paul were the parents of seven children:

1. Mabel Hammett (1881-1881)
2. Claude Elmer Hammett (1882-1885)
3. Edgar Allen Hammett (1884-1982)
4. Olive Dell Hammett (1889-1962)
5. Merlin Joy Hammett (1891-1965)
6. Hazel Marie Hammett (1893-1941)
7. Sidney Raymond Hammett (1900-1974)

Sadly, the two oldest children didn't survive to adulthood. Lura and Paul and their surviving children lived in Kansas for many years. They were living in Elm Creek, Marshall, Kansas in 1900.²

By 1910, Lura and Paul and their children had moved from Kansas to California. They are listed in the 1910 U.S. Federal Census living in Long Beach, California.³

Lura's husband, Paul, passed away on March 14, 1918 in Long Beach, Los Angeles, California at 62 years of age. Lura and Paul had been married for 37 years at the time of his death. It appears that Lura, along with some of her children, then moved back to Kansas after Paul's death.

On February 1, 1919, Lura married James Perry Burket in Marysville, Marshall, Kansas.⁴  James happened to be the widower of Lura's sister, Lillian Dell Webster, who had passed away on August 28, 1914.  James Perry Burket passed away on March 28, 1919, only one month after he and Lura were married.

Lura was listed in the 1920 U.S. Federal Census living in Manhattan, Riley, Kansas.⁵ She moved back to California sometime after the 1920 census was taken.

On July 8, 1922 Lura married a widower named Jonathan James Serry in Los Angeles, California.⁶  I found them in the 1930 U.S. Federal Census living in Alhambra, Los Angeles, California.⁷ After twelve years of marriage, Jonathan passed away. He died on July 11, 1934 in Los Angeles, California.

Lura married again after the death of her husband, Jonathan Serry. Lura's fourth husband was William D. Colborn. Unfortunately, I don't have William and Lura's marriage date. By the time the 1940 U.S. Federal Census was taken, Lura was listed as a widow.⁸

Lura passed away on January 12, 1946 at 83 years of age in Alhambra, Los Angeles, California. She is buried next to her first husband, Paul Hammett, at the Marysville Cemetery in Marysville, Marshall County, Kansas.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 Marriage Record for Lura and Paul ^↩
2 "United States Census, 1900," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-12118-39871-26?cc=1325221 : accessed 07 Apr 2014), Kansas > Marshall > ED 60 Elm Creek & Walnut Townships > image 12 of 27; citing NARA microfilm publication T623. Line 51.↩
3 "United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11711-149601-19?cc=1727033 : accessed 06 Apr 2014), California > Los Angeles > Long Beach Ward 1 > 0037 > image 39 of 58; citing NARA microfilm publication T624. Line 5.^↩
4 Marriage Record for Lura and James ^↩
5 "United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-12869-8389-52?cc=1488411 : accessed 06 Apr 2014), Kansas > Riley > Manhattan Ward 3 > 0127 > image 5 of 52; citing NARA microfilm publication T625. Line 43.^↩
6 Marriage Record for Lura and Jonathan. "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K8NM-XPW : accessed 08 May 2013), John J Serry and Lura E Burket, 1922.^↩
7 "United States Census, 1930," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-159393-347881-80?cc=1810731 : accessed 06 Apr 2014), California > Los Angeles > Alhambra > 1399 > image 3 of 23; citing NARA microfilm publication T626. Line 41.^↩
8 "United States Census, 1940," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-27794-6530-92?cc=2000219 : accessed 06 Apr 2014), California > Los Angeles > San Gabriel Judicial Township, Alhambra, Tract 476 > 19-664 San Gabriel Judicial Township, Alhambra City (Tract 476 - part) bounded by (N) Alhambra Rd; (E) Hidalgo Av; (S) Main; (W) Garfield Av > image 12 of 36; citing NARA digital publication of T627. Line 71.^↩

It's My 2nd Blogiversary!

Wow! Is it really my 2nd blogiversary already? Time has flown since I started this blog two years ago.

First of all, I want to thank all of you, my wonderful readers, for taking the time to read my blog posts.

Writing a blog isn't always easy and it does take time and effort. But the benefits far outweigh the costs.

BENEFITS AND BLESSINGS OF BLOGGING

The thought that someday my future grandchildren may read about their ancestors on my blog is exciting. It makes all of the time and effort I put into writing my blog worth it. I hope that my blog will bless the lives of my descendants.

One of the benefits of writing my blog is that I've come to learn about my ancestors as I write about them. They were real people with real lives. They were much like you and me. They had their likes and dislikes. They loved and were loved. They endured hardships and had trials of their own. It's an honor, a blessing, and a privilege to write about them. Each of our ancestors deserves to be remembered.

Cousin Connections and Vintage Postcards

Another blessing of writing my blog and having my family tree online is that I've made cousin connections.

A 2nd cousin on my dad's side recently found me on WikiTree.com and contacted me by leaving a message on my blog's Facebook page. I'm now part of his family history group on Facebook, which is awesome!

Another cousin, this time on my mom's side, found my blog and then left a message on my blog's Facebook page.

Another possible cousin contacted me by leaving a message on my blog's Facebook page. We've sent messages to each other several times. It looks promising that she is a descendant of my 2nd great-grandfather's brother, Ole Iverson, who was from Norway.

And just last night I had a new cousin connection. I received an email message through WikiTree's private message system. This new cousin found her grandmother's memorial page on Find A Grave, which I am maintaining. I sent her an email and am now awaiting her response.

And, of course, I can't forget the exciting Engle Family Postcard Adventure that started on November 11, 2013. A very kind woman named Ann, who lives in Ireland, came across some vintage postcards that were sent to my 2nd great-grandaunt, Sarah Amanda (Waterman) Engle. Ann purchased the postcards, found me connected to this family by doing an online search, and left a private message via WikiTree's message system. Because of Ann, I'm now in possession of over 50 of these amazing vintage postcards from the Engle family. And I'm in the process of sharing them here on my blog. If you would like to read more of this story, click HERE.

In addition to cousins finding me through WikiTree, my blog, and Find A Grave, I've also had cousins contact me because my family tree is on Ancestry.com. I have found that it's been very beneficial to have my family tree online.

STATISTICS

Statistics can be quite interesting. Last year on my 1st blogiversary I shared some of my blog stats. I thought I'd do so again today.

Referring Sites

These are the top ten referring sites to my blog according to Google Analytics.



These stats are from April 5, 2013 until April 4, 2014. Of special interest to me is number four – Pinterest. That really has been a surprisingly big referrer to my blog. Also, thank you Randy Seaver, author of Genea-Musings, John D. Tew, author of Filiopietismprism, and Cyndi's List for referring traffic to my blog as well!

These are the top ten referring sites according to Blogger.




Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't have the capability to limit these statistics within certain dates like Google Analytics does. So, these stats refer to the entire time I've had my blog. Pinterest is at number ten in this list.

Most Popular Posts

And now for my most popular blog posts.

According to Blogger's statistics, these are my top ten blog posts of all time -

1. Tech Tuesday: Rootsmapper.com ~ Ya, this is pretty cool!
2. Tech Tuesday - OneNote For Genealogy ~ Research Bookmarks
3. My Family Finder DNA Results Are In ~ Grandma Was Right!
4. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for September 13, 2013
5. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for September 20, 2013
6. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for September 6, 2013
7. Follow Friday–Fab Finds for December 28, 2012
8. 52 Ancestors: #4 ~ The Photo Album of a Civil War Veteran – Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster
9. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for August 2, 2013
10. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for November 1, 2013

My top ten list of all time is quite different according to Google Feedburner.

1. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for June 7, 2013
2. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for May 31, 2013
3. Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for June 21, 2013
4. "Left Forefinger Off"
5. The Other Watson E. Webster
6. Carl Albert Gillberg's Two Declarations of Intention
7. Follow Friday–Fab Finds for March 22, 2013
8. Happy Father's Day
9. Thanks for Traveling Frederick! – A September 1913 Passenger List
10. Will You Be Watching?

Again, thank you to my family members, friends, fellow geneabloggers and everyone else who has taken the time to read my blog posts. And thank you for leaving comments, sharing my blog posts on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Pinterest, RebelMouse, and on any other social media platform. I appreciate it very much!

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for April 4, 2014

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

1. Civil War Quick Tip For You! by Cindy Freed, author of Cindy Freed's Genealogy Circle
2. Nice to meet you, Mr. President by Debi Austen, author of Who Knew?
3. The Importance of Sharing the Slave History from your Family Trees. by Valerie Hughes, author of Genealogy With Valerie
4. Courtesy, ethics and law AND The not-yet widow by Judy G. Russell, author of The Legal Genealogist
5. The Two Most Important Things Genealogists Can Do Now by Shelley Bishop, author of A Sense of Family
6. Dead Poets Society by Schalene Dagutis, author of Tangled Roots and Trees
7. No Better Time but the Right Now Time - Family Stories by Yvette Porter Moore, author of The Ancestors Have Spoken
8. Two New Updates to Family Tree—March, 2014 by Jeff Hawkins for FamilySearch Blog
9. Using Evernote to Make Virtual Binders for Genealogy Organization by Lorine McGinnis Schulze, author of The Olive Tree Genealogy
10. The "Genealogical Artifact Review Process" or The Whirl According to G.A.R.P. -- No Foolin' (April 1, 2014) by John D. Tew, author of Filiopietism Prism
11. CreateFan.com Offers New Charts, Features by Ancestry Insider, author of The Ancestry Insider
12. A to Z April Challenge: B is for Buss by Wendy, author of Jollett Etc.
13. How to Research Your Ancestor’s Part in Major Historical Events by Gena Philibert-Ortega for GenealogyBank.com Blog
14. B is for Bait (Cousin, that is) by Ann Hinds, author of Yeakley/Jones Family History
15. Dreaming of Peaches by Vera Marie Badertscher, author of Ancestors in Aprons
16. MyHeritage.com Project for BillionGraves.com by James Tanner, author of Genealogy's Star
17. Blogging our history by Kelly Martin, author of Wickliffe family history blog
18. Military Monday: The Telegram by Susan W. Mosey, author of Pages from the Ancestry Binders
19. Why do I blog? by Kathleen Scarlett O'Hara Naylor, author of You Are Where You Came From
20. Do Ancestor Landing Pages Work? by Marian Burk Wood, author of Climbing My Family Tree
21. FACEBOOK – HOW IT CAN BE VERY USEFUL IN YOUR RESEARCH by Diane Gould Hall, author of MICHIGAN FAMILY TRAILS
22. Success: Using Facebook Groups for Genealogy by Heather Collins for Young & Savvy Genealogists

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

• 52 Ancestors Challenge: Week 13 Recap

New Blog Discoveries

• My Genealogical Adventures
• Budding Genealogists
• Orlandel Creations
• Passage to the Past's Blog
• Empty Branches on the Family Tree

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

• 52 Ancestors: #13 ~ Ella Eliza Engle
• Engle Family Postcards ~ Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, Cal. – 1905

Grandpa's Postcards

• I Should Be Home Soon

Jana's Photo Journal

• A Yellow Canna Lily

Thanks for reading!


© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Engle Family Postcards ~ Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, Cal. – 1905

It's time to share another postcard from the Engle family vintage postcard collection.

This postcard was addressed to Mrs. R. Engle, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Mrs. R. Engle was Sarah Amanda (Waterman) Engle. Her husband was Richard Engle. Sarah was my maternal 2nd great-grandaunt.

The writing on the front of the postcard says 6-30-05 and Chas. A. Engle.

Chas. A. Engle is short for Charles A. Engle. And Charles A. is short for Charles Albert.  You may remember Charles from a previous 52 Ancestors post I shared here on my blog. Charles was one of Sarah and Richard Engle's sons.

On June 30, 1905, Charles sent this postcard to his mother, Sarah.

Richard and Sarah Engle lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for many years. In 1909, Sarah moved to California. Richard joined her in California a few years later. Richard, who was a Civil War veteran, was living in a U.S. National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Sioux Falls from 1908-1909. I found Richard in the 1910 U.S. Federal Census living in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.¹ He was 78 years old at the time and was listed as one of the many lodgers living in a home on Main Street. Perhaps he was recuperating before he moved to California to join his wife.

I'm not sure when Charles A. Engle moved to California. I know he was still living in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1900, because that's where he is listed in the 1900 U.S. Federal Census.² I found him living in South Pasadena, California in the 1920 U.S. Federal Census.³ But, I haven't found him in the 1910 census yet. Perhaps he came to California ahead of his parents and sent this postcard to his mother.

This beautiful postcard is a 1903 postcard by the Detroit Photographic Co. It shows Avalon, which is a city on Santa Catalina Island. Santa Catalina Island is off the coast of California near Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, Charles didn't write any message to his mom that would give us a clue about why he was in California in June of 1905. But the postcard he sent to his mom is interesting and gives us a special glimpse into what Avalon looked like in the early 1900s.

This photo of Avalon was taken in 2004, about 100 years after the image of Avalon in the postcard above was published.

Avalon Bay in Santa Catalina California
Photo by Aaron Logan - Wikimedia Commons

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 Year: 1910; Census Place: Sioux Falls Ward 2, Minnehaha, South Dakota; Roll: T624_1485; Page: 8B. Line 58; Enumeration District: 0334; FHL microfilm: 1375498.^↩

2 Year: 1900; Census Place: Sioux Falls Ward 6, Minnehaha, South Dakota; Roll: 1553; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0265; FHL microfilm: 1241553. Line 15.^↩

3 Year: 1920; Census Place: South Pasadena, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T625_119; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 614; Image: 975. Line 47.^↩

52 Ancestors: #13 ~ Ella Eliza Engle

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



This is Ella Eliza Engle as a child. She was one of the daughters of Sarah Amanda (Waterman) Engle and Richard Engle. Ella's father, Richard, was a Civil War veteran. Ella is my 1st cousin 3 times removed.

I've written about three of Ella's siblings, Mary Albertina, Charles Albert, and William Barker in recent 52 Ancestors posts. I've also written about Ella in a previous post in November 2012.

I haven't shared this photo of Ella as a child before, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to do so in today's 52 Ancestors post.

Ella was the oldest child of Sarah and Richard Engle. She was born on 16 June 1858 in Plymouth, Ohio. Ella married John O. Gray on 7 April 1880 in Black Hawk, Iowa. They were the parents of five children.

Ella's death certificate states that she was a retired school teacher. And according to her mom's obituary, Ella was the principal of Marengo Elementary School in South Pasadena, California.

I've shared this lovely photo of Ella in my previous post about her, but thought I'd share it again.



These beautiful photos of Ella were found in one or both of the photo albums of Ella's aunt and uncle, Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster and Cynthia Maria (Waterman) Webster. Ella's mother, Sarah, was Cynthia's sister. I'm not sure which album they were from because both of these albums contain pages that have "Ella Engle" written on them.

These first two album pages are from Cynthia's album. Ella's name is on the left side in the first photo and on the right side of the page in the second photo.





And this is a page from Ebenezer's album. Ella's name is at the bottom of the page on the right.



I've shared photos of these amazing albums before on my blog. If you haven't seen them yet and would like to, click HERE, HERE, and HERE. My 3rd cousin inherited these priceless albums. Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster was a Civil War veteran.

So, now I'm wondering why there are three spaces for photos of Ella. I've only seen these two photos of her that I'm sharing with you today. Is there another photo of her somewhere that was lost? Or perhaps both albums contained a copy of the same photo of Ella. In any case, I'm very thankful to have copies of these and other photos of my ancestors and family members. They are priceless family history treasures!

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved