Thousands of Newspaper Clippings to Sort!

Continuing on with our large genealogy research collection, we are now on Stage 3. We've triaged all the boxes into various topics as mentioned in my last blog post.

Yesterday we had a good look at the newspaper clippings. It's overwhelming. The image on the left shows some, but not all of the binders and boxes of clippings! There is another large plastic tub full of loose clippings.

Many are in binders but a very large number are loose and in plastic sleeves in boxes.

I pulled out one of the binders and took a photo to illustrate how they were originally organized . It is obvious by looking through the binders that she organized the clippings by surname, then glued the clippings to blank paper, attempting to keep family groups together. This is a wonderful resource of births, marriages, deaths, obituaries, graduations and so on. However there are hundreds, if not thousands, of loose clippings that are not sorted so we will have to think about how best to treat those.

I have not gotten a good sense of the time span for the clippings as we aren't taking the time right now to delve into each collection. For now we are focusing on sorting and finding space in our home to house all the books and binders so we can begin a more serious in-depth assessment and inventory.

The newer clippings may be available online so we have to decide if it is worth house space to devote to them. I did note some clippings from the early 1900s and late 1800s, and those may be worth preserving. We have some tough decisions ahead.

 

We found room in the basement for the binders of newspaper clippings which were labelled A through to Z , although we are missing some of the alphabet! I suspect those are some of the loose clippings as we know that the Heritage Assocation began removing clippings from the binders in order to inventory them before realizing the collection was too large for them to handle. 

We have saved binders to replace the missing letters and hopefully in the future we will be able to at least organize the loose clippings to insert in binders. But we won't use glue! 

Of course the question still remains - what do we do with the clippings once organized? We're mulling on that question.

Rescued Ephemera William Kreis of New York 1929

In 1929, 24 year old William Kreis of Syracuse New York signed up for an Insurance Policy. The policy and an explanatory letter arrived at his door on October 4, 1929.

Sadly young William was killed in August 1931. I doubt his insurance policy paid any money to his heirs, as it was very restrictive.

 The Daily Messenger Canandaigua, New York Monday, August 24, 1931 - P 1 

 Syracuse Journal Monday, August 24, 1931  

  The Syracuse Journal article provides the sad story of how William refused to heed his doctor's advice to go to the hospital. As his condition slowly worsened, he relented but it was too late. He died in the hospital of The Good Shepherd 3 days after being admitted. He was survived by his wife Anna Kelly Kreis, his father Emil Kreis Sr and seven brothers: Albert, Emil Jr, George, Oscar, John, Frederick, and Ernest Kreis. His funeral service was in Split Rock and he was buried in Marcellus

Thanks goes to Annette P. for rescuing these treasures and sending to Olive Tree Genealogy for publication

1945 Rescued Photo & Ration Card Ralph A. Hamilton Jr.

Annette P. has kindly sent Olive Tree Genealogy more wonderful ephemera that she rescues.

This is a photo of Ralph A. Hamilton Jr. circa 1945.

Annette also sent his copy of a Male Officers' Uniform, Clothing and Accessory Ration Card  dated 14 August 1945

His rank in the U.S. Army is given as 1st Lt.




 

I did a search for Ralph in the online military records but there is more than one so I cannot be certain which is this Ralph. If anyone recognizes his photo please leave a comment on this blog post! 

Receiving a Large Collection of Genealogy Documents!

Genealogy Boxes Arrive

A few months back  Olive Tree Genealogy was offered some newspaper clippings from a donation a historical society had received. I was very excited to be asked and of course I agreed. A very large package soon arrived by mail consisting of hundreds of loose obituaries from newspapers.

As I was planning on how best to organize and inventory the clippings, another surprise came my way. I was told there were about a dozen large filing boxes full of miscellaneous genealogy items from the same donated materials.

This was too good an opportunity to save important historical records to pass up even though the thought of dealing with so many boxes was somewhat overwhelming.

My husband kindly offered to drive to the Society, some 3 hours distance from our home, to pick up the boxes. To my astonishment, there were over 15 large boxes full of genealogy binders, genealogy books, loose newspaper clippings, and more.  Here they are arriving at our home.

What To Do with So Many Boxes?

My husband and I are planners. We like to be organized. So we took a breath and decided we needed to sort the collection. First we needed a place to put the boxes where they would not be in the way but would be accessible. Then we could slowly and methodically "triage" the contents into organized groups of items.

Step One - Move & Triage!

So we moved to step one - moving the incoming boxes into our living room. Some had gotten wet in the journey in the rain to our home so removing the contents from wet boxes was our first priority.

My dogs helping me start the process

We took a break at this point but we plan to triage the contents ASAP. We saw at a glance that there are various items - hardcover genealogy books, genealogy booklets, binders of newspaper clippings, binders of research notes, family genealogies, and more. This next step will be a fun sort to organize into groups that we can either move to our basement until we have time to work on the contents, or keep in my office for starting an inventory.

The Journey Begins

Please follow along on our journey to inventory and preserve these documents. We aren't archivists but we plan to do our best. We also hope to figure out a way to make the documents accessible to genealogists and historians. If you have ideas or suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments on this blog post.

Rescued Letter to Donald Morgan of New York 1943

This is another rescued document from Davis Kennels in Joliet Illinois to Donald E. Morgan of Clay New York dated August 30, 1943.

Davis Kennels (Wm. A. Davis) is informing Mr. Morgan about their black, white, and tan Bassett pups.

Thanks to Annette P. for sending this document to Olive Tree Genealogy for publication

Rescued Dairy Farmers' Union Card 1938

Feb. 5, 1938
No. of Milch Cows: 10
The Dairy Farmers Union of the State of New York
No. 34494

This card, together with a receipt covering current dues, certifies that

HENRY MICHEL

is a member in good standing in this Union and as such is entitled to all rights and courtesies of membership.

General Organization Committee
By Delegate No. 554

With thanks to Annette P. for saving these documents and sending them to Olive Tree Genealogy for publication

Who Doesn't Love Gone With the Wind Style Dresses?

Here is one of my favorite photos from my collection of Civil War era CDVs (Cartes de Visite)

Mrs. Joseph Curtis taken 1862

Mrs. Joseph Curtis is wearing a typical gown of the early 1860s. Full Pagoda sleeves dropped from the shoulder, with an undersleeve, create the illusion of the sought after tiny waist. Her bodice has a natural waistline and removable collar. Her hair follows the typical hair fashion of this early period. It covers her ears and is parted in the middle and pulled back to a roll at the nape of her neck. The extreme fullness of her skirt is very apparent in this photo.

This beautiful album is one of my rescued treasures. You can view the thumbnails of other photos from the album in my Lost Faces section of my Olive Tree Genealogy website.

Surnames in the album are Fobes, Tucker, Curtis, Gilbert, Peabody, Spear, Blake, Mansfield, Bassett, Botton, Williston, Nilliston, Kimbal, Daniels, Sutherland, Schaffner, Keith, Towne, Low, Wilder, Holden, Whitemore

Locations of photographers: Massachusetts, New York, Illinois

Bridgeport Connecticut Photos Rescued

Recently I purchased 35 loose Cabinet Cards and CDVs (Cartes de Visite) that had been removed from an old photo album and were up for sale. Every photo except one was clearly identified and I had a bit of fun yesterday scanning the photos and researching the family.

 This is one of the photos. It's a really lovely photograph of two children, almost certainly brother and sister. They are labelled in period handwriting "Edmon & Fannie". This is the only identified photo that does not include a surname.

Because little Edmon is wearing a dress, we know he is a toddler and not toilet-trained, so probably around 2 years of age. 

The photo is a CDV with rounded corners and this can help date it. Rounded corners on CDVs did not begin until 1872.

Studying the photographer's mark on the verso of this CDV and finding out when M. Smith was in business, as well as studying the clothing styles, children's hair and other clues would allow this photo to be dated with some precision.

From my research yesterday it appears the photos may all connected through family relationships. For example there are 5 photos of brothers and sisters of the Williams family of Bridgeport Connecticut. This became evident as I searched census records on Ancestry.com . I believe, but have not yet proven. that 2 other Williams photos are of wives of two of the brothers.

The Williams family consisted of Benjamin Williams and his wife Elizabeth Goss. Benjamin was born in Maine and Elizabeth in New Brunswick Canada. All the children were born in New Brunswick. The photos I have are of the siblings Simeon, Orlo, Hartley, Eva and Samuel. 

There are photos of the Deniger family, also of Bridgeport. Joseph Henry Deniger and his sister Gertrude are two that I have found so far. Interestingly, their father Joseph Deniger Sr. was born in Canada and their mother Harriet was a Chatfield before her marriage. In the group of photos is one labelled "Uncle Lew Chatfield" and I found 21 year old Lewis Chatfield living with Joseph Deniger Sr in 1860 in Bridgeport.

I hope to have these lovely photos scanned, researched and online on Lost Faces soon. Meantime here is a list of the surnames written on the photos:

Williams, Jackson, Henderson, Morgan, Wells, Deniger, Night, Curtis, Dumbull, Marley, Carpenter, Ferry, Chatfield, Rider, Bowen, Smith, Diott, Polk

Locations of photographic studios were: New York, Bridgeport Conneticut, Danbury Connecticut, Boston Massachusetts, Norwalk Connecticut, Kingston Ontario, Gananoque Ontario, Davis New York, Poughkeepsie New York, Chicago Illinois, Detroit Michigan, and Lynn (Massachusetts?)

Sixteen of the photos were taken in Bridgeport Connecticut.

More Rescued Postcards 1900-1918 Added to Lost Faces

Recently I rescued 28 vintage orphaned postcards from antique shops. They range in date from 1900 to 1918. 27 are from United States and 1 is from Ontario Canada. 

I have scanned and added more of these postcards to Lost Faces and will be adding the rest of these wonderful cards over the next month. I hope descendants will see these postcards and recognize an ancestor.  

• Bowman To "Dear Friend" Mr. Oland Bowman, Hammond New York from Cassie W. 1912
• Bennet Pte A. Bennet, Port Sanitary Hospital, New Ferry, Cheshire from B.R. 13 Sept. 1918
• Dunmire To Mr. Claire Dunmire, Punxsutawey, from Charlotte A. 1913

Rescued Postcards 1900-1918

Recently I rescued 28 vintage orphaned postcards from antique shops. They range in date from 1900 to 1918. 27 are from United States and 1 is from Ontario Canada. I have scanned and added 6 of these postcards to Lost Faces and will be adding the rest of these wonderful cards over the next month. I hope descendants will see these postcards and recognize an ancestor. 

Index to Family Postcards

• Larson Mrs. Amanda Engell Larson, 210 Eagle st., Dunkirk NY from "your cousin Mildred Wallin. 1914 (found in 1940 census Dunkirk,Chautauqua, New York . She was born ca 1871 in Sweden and is a widow, living with her married daughter Ellen Pruss)
• Duttweiler Miss Dorothea Duttweiler, Alden, Erie Co. New York, Genesee Road, from Ella? 1913 (1900 census Alden, New York age 1, daughter of Fred & Ella)
• Duttweiler Miss Dorothea Duttweiler, Alden, Erie Co. New York. from "your friend Minnie F." 1914
• Roth Mrs. Jacob Roth, North East, Pennsylvania.To "my dear Audie, with love to all and a kiss to you, Jake July 8, 1918
• Roth Master John Roth, North East, Pennsylvania. For his first birthday. From Aunt Pena? and Uncle John. Can't read date
• Roth Master John Oldach Roth, North East, Pennsylvania c/o Mrs. Johanna Oldach. to "Dear Hans" Birthday greetings from "Aunt Bessie and Uncle Herman. 1912

Another Rescued Victorian Photo Album

Cover of Album

Recently a gentleman from Kent England wrote to Olive Tree Genealogy about a Victorian Photo Album he found and wanted to make available to others.

After a few emails he decided to send the album to me, free of charge, so I could scan and put the photos online on Lost Faces. I offered to pay for shipping from England to Canada but he refused! Such generousity is very much appreciated and I hope to the album justice on my blog and website.

The album arrived yesterday and I'm very excited to begin archiving and researching it! It's an unusual photo album from Victorian times full of beautiful coloured military prints with an opening on each for one photo the size of a Cabinet Card.
 
The album cover displays the words The Army and Navy Album. It was made in Germany with illustrations by R. Caton Woodville

My first step when I receive these rescued photo albums is to take photographs of each page. That is what I did this morning so I'm going to share the first inside page here today.

This is the first inside page. It consists of a military scene by R. Caton Woodville and a small photograph.  The title of the illustration is Royal Horse Artillery

This page is in rough shape due to being exposed to the elements. The Englishman who sent it to me found it in an old garden shed and thinks his mother may have rescued it from (as he called it) "a rubbish tip" aka a garbage dump in the 1970s.

The facing photo is a carte de visite of a man. There is no identifying information on the front or verso of the photograph.

The back of this page contains another photo of a woman. It too is a carte de visite with the photographer's name J. G. Charlton and address 14 Mercery Lane, Canterbury on the front.

The verso of the carte de visite reads "J. G. Charlton (Late J. Bateman), Cathedral Studios, 14 Mercery Lane, Canterbury. Portraits enlaged & finished in Oil, Water Colour etc."

Tucked into the album is a hand-written note from the man who found it.

 Neither photo is identified as to the subject. I'm hoping that other photographs will have a name attached!

To view all pages of this beautiful album as they are put online, please click on R. Caton Woodville



For photos of an empty R. Caton Woodville album see Victorian Albums