52 Ancestors, Week 1: I'd Like to Meet...

For the past few years, my friend Amy Johnson Crow has featured a writing prompt called "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks." I've been bad about writing and blogging regularly (all you have to do is look at the dates of my previous posts, LOL!). This is the year I actually stick to it. I'm not getting off to a promising start, though - Amy's already posted prompts for Week 3, and here I am, blogging for Week 1. Oh well!

Week 1's prompt is "I'd like to meet..."  I’d like to have met my great-grandmother, Margaret Donley Herrick McCabe. Born in England, she and her family came to the US in the early 1880s.  She died in 1950, six years before I was born. So, I think I'll ask Maggie as if she were still here.

Margaret Donley
Herrick McCabe

• Did your family all immigrate to the U.S. together? Or did some of you arrive first, and the others followed? When and from where did you arrive in the U.S.?
• It appears that your family lived in Iowa in 1885. How did you wind up in PA in 1893? Where did the other family members go?
• How did you meet Harry Herrick? He had been in Texas, and returned to Washington, Pennsylvania sometime around the death of his grandmother Jane. Was it a love match? A one-night stand? 
• When and why did you and Harry split? Did you formally divorce? (I hope so, because you later married Robert McCabe, so...) When and where did you and Harry divorce? Did you ever have contact with him again? When did you divorce McCabe (or did you)?
• Was Julia Donley a sister of yours? If so, why do I not find any connection between her and her siblings?
• Most importantly, who were your parents — John Donley and Katherine Kelley? Or Patrick Donley and Margaret Kelley?

So many questions; so few answers. Maggie, why did you use Donley, but your eldest brother Robert used Donlon? Speaking of Robert, why did my dad hear from his dad — your son — about various family members, but not a peep did Dad mention a Robert? Heck, Maggie, Robert even lived in East Palestine, Ohio, the town in which Dad was born. 

I'd love to know the answers to the most mundane questions. Did you speak with a British accent? What were your favorite foods? What kind of mother were you: the soft, nurturing kind? A hard-as-nails badass? What made you decide to leave Iowa behind and come to Chicago? What (or who) was here for you?

DNA and genealogical research will help answer some questions, but there will be others that go unanswered forever, and that's a shame.

New Beginnings

One of the empty spaces in my family tree was great-grandpa Harry Herrick. The son of Henry Herrick and Rebecca Molden/Moulden, he was their eldest child, and for some reason lived with his paternal grandmother, Jane (nee Wood) Herrick. Was it because Jane was widowed and needed help with chores? Was there a situation at home that caused Harry or his parents some grief? We'll never know.

I knew he grew up in Washington PA and married Maggie Donley there 26 October 1893; their son Charles (my paternal grandfather) was born the following April. I don't know much about Harry before he married, nor after, because Maggie and Charles moved to Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa sometime between Charles's birth and 1900. Harry does not appear in the 1897 Washington, Pa. City Directory. What do I know about Harry? 

1. He is listed among more than 100 students who were absent one day or less, for the period of December 1873. He is shown as attending School No. 2. His sister Daisy is listed as a pupil at School No. 1.

2. "Master Harry Herrick, while digging in his father's yard, Washington borough, on Tuesday, unearthed a Spanish "levy," 12½ cents, dated 1780. It was in a good state of preservation."

3. 24 Dec 1884: Harry Herrick, a lad of 16 or 17 years, acting as a trainman, had his feet badly frozen, while flagging, near Finleyville, during the recent cold snap. He is now at his grandmother's, in this borough.

4. He was employed by the B & O and had a bad fall from an engine in November 1886. He seemed to be off for about 1 month.

5. He was one of those who took advantage of the B & O's low rates to go to Chicago in June 1888.

6. In 1889, Sarah Wood (his probable great-grandmother) died at his home. She was in her 91st year.

7. In March 1893, he was "now of Texas" but visiting relatives in Washington, PA. Perhaps he was called back due to the illness of his grandmother, Jane, with whom he lived while growing up. Jane died in May 1893. Harry and Maggie knew each other by at least mid-July of 1893 (determined by working backward from Charles's date of birth).

• How long did Harry live in Texas?
• How long did Maggie live in PA?
• Might he and Maggie have met before he left for Texas?
• How long did they know each other before (ahem) *knowing* each other?

8. He was a "railroader" according to Charles's delayed birth certificate. His father Henry also worked on the railroad, among several other jobs. A Dec. 1893 news article mentions a Harry Herrick, engineer on the Lehigh Valley railroad. He was reported to have caused a wreck, but says that his engine was run into by the train at the crossing. The article mentioned several engineers who blamed strikers for causing accidents. There is no proof that the Harry who worked for Lehigh Valley was "my" Harry.

An article in the Wellsboro Gazette, dated 13 Sept. 1911, mentions a wreck of Pennsylvania passenger train No. 277, on the Buffalo and Allegheny division. The engineer died, and fireman Harry Herrick was seriously hurt. Again, there is no proof that this was "my" Harry.

9. There are strong hints that he may have died 10 May 1908 in Brooklyn, New York, where he had been living for several years:

• A death certificate for Harry Herrick states that he was born in 1865. The FamilySearch transcription states that his father's name was Harry; a closer look at the image of the document appears to say Henry. As those in itself are not enough proof that the certificate definitively refers to Harry, further proof would be required.
• A news item in the Brooklyn Standard Union of 11 May 1908 indicates that the deceased formerly lived at "Little Washington, Pa" and had arrived in Brooklyn approximately nine years ago. The location fits, as does the time period (Maggie and Charles are in Iowa by 1900). 

He was a watchman at a warehouse owned by the Bush Company. Newspaper articles describe the Bush Terminal Company as one of the "big three" companies owning several warehouses on the Brooklyn waterfront. 

His death certificate states that he was married. Did he and Maggie legally divorce? Did he marry again?

He is listed as having been buried at Cypres Hill [sic].

So apparently I've missed two years already. Oh well, life happens, and thus the reason for the blog title Round Tuit Genealogy! I expect to do better this year, because I plan to participate in my friend Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" challenge. There won't be a post every week, I can tell you that right now. But as Amy said, anything we do is more than what we did before. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

There have been some significant strides in the family history research, so it will be nice to be able to include the new information.

So, happy 2019!

There's a reason for the name of this blog. I know myself very, very well. 
Waiting until you get a Round Tuit isn't a good thing. Don't do it.

More than a year ago, I was contacted by a woman who was quite surprised to find my blog mentioning Grandpa's first cousin, Grant Morgan. Turns out that Grant was her grandfather, and this woman, Vicki, was my third cousin. 

I, in turn, was quite surprised to find that Vicki's mother — Grant's daughter, Vivian — was still alive and in her 90s. 

Grant and his wife were buried in a cemetery in East Palestine, where Dad was born. Grandpa was an only child, and I was only 5 years old when he died. I'd never met ANYONE from his side of the family. What an opportunity to speak to someone who might have some answers!

Did they have information on our Donley ancestors? 
Were there any photos or stories or heirlooms?
 
(You can see where this is going.)

And what did I do?
Nothing.
Nada.
Not one damn thing. 
Not a letter, not a phone call.

Since I was going to Ohio in April, I figured I'd see Vivian then. So I waited. 
Too long, as it turned out, and I was crushed to see that Vivian passed away in January.

My father's mantra was, "If there's anything you want to do in this life, don't wait — do it now."
 
Sorry, Dad.
Sorry, Vivian.
I blew it.

Wow... my last post was April 2014, huh? Well, that's why this blog is named as it is.
That's not to say I hadn't done any genealogy in 2015; just that I didn't blog about it.

My genealogy is a hot mess: I bought RootsMagic, but had never used it; bought photo albums for a ton of photos that have yet to be scanned; dug out my notebooks from the 1980s just to see what was in them. 

So this year, I plan to join with more than 10,000 others in the Genealogy DoOver, a Facebook group created by Thomas MacEntee. He encourages us to set aside our work and start anew, taking a fresh look at our research and properly citing sources and developing good habits. 

I didn't really start the DoOver last year (uh- Round Tuit, remember?), but I did rename almost all my digital files in a consistent pattern so they can be easily found. I plan to watch the RootsWeb webinars to learn how to properly use my software. I'm keeping the GDO schedule at hand (it's now a monthly format, which should make things easier for me). Setting aside all the handwritten notes won't be that hard, since they've been sitting in their boxes for decades, containing information I even forgot that I had. Now I'll be able to see what documents I'm missing, and can plan to order copies.

I joined The Organized Genealogist Facebook group, and will be checking out Dear Myrtle's FINALLY Get Organized! 2016 Weekly Checklists. Between Thomas and ol' Myrt, I can't HELP but improve, since right now I'm not doing anything.

Who knows - maybe this will carry over into organizing other areas.

PA Death Certificates 1906-24 go online

Folks on the Ancestry.com Facebook page were awaiting the availability of Pennsylvania death certificates. They're now at Ancestry.com for 1906-1924. I have g-g-gf Henry A. Herrick's DC. It's been so long since I checked — I think I already had it in my files for many years now. Oh well; more impetus for entering all this stuff into a software program.

A search was not in vain, however. Much of what I've been finding lately have been on collaterals. This is good, because my direct line hasn't exactly left a trail of breadcrumbs — at least, not online.

I was disturbed to find two death certificates connected to Jennie Herrick Mitchel(l) and her husband, James Osburn Mitchell. Jennie was the sister of my great-grandfather, Harry Herrick. According to their marriage license, James, age 24, was born in Greene Co., PA and living in Cleveland, OH. Jennie, age 23, was born in, and was living in, Washington, PA, where they married on 5 June 1902. The officiant was M. [Marshall] Blaine Lytle, husband of Katherine S. Herrick, who was Jennie and Harry's sister. M. Blaine Lytle also officiated at the marriage of their youngest Herrick sibling, William Wiley/Wylie Herrick, to LaVeda Ullom.

The 1910 census shows James and Jennie MITCHELL in Washington, Washington Co., PA. They have been married for 8 years. They have two children: Walter O., age 1, and Jean M., age 7 (enumerated in that order).

The death certificates were for twin sons of Jennie and J. O. Mitchell. Both certificates spell the surname with only one "L". According to the certificates, James Alexander Mitchel and William Herrick Mitchel were born 18 Feb 1911. Dr. M. H. Alexander of Canonsburg, PA, certified that he attended William from 16 July 1911 to 19 July, when William died. William was buried on 21 July at "Oak Spg Cem" (Oak Spring Cemetery*) in Canonsburg. Sadly, Dr. Alexander attended James from 17 July until his death on 23 July. Little James was buried on 24 July. *Find-A-Grave does not list any Mitchel/Mitchells in this cemetery.

The 1920 census shows Jennie and James MITCHELL (2 "L"s) in Chartiers Township, Washington Co., with two children, Jean M., now age 16, and Walter O., age 10. In 1930, Jennie and James MITCHEL (one "L") are in Fairview Township, Mercer Co., PA; Walter O. is listed as 27, and Jean M. as 21. In 1940, James O. and Jennie Mitchell are in Fairview, Mercer Co., PA, with daughter Jeanne M. Mitchell, age 36. Walter O. and wife, Eva, are in Fredonia, Mercer Co., PA, with sons James A., age 3, and Paul O., 1 month.

The Greenville, PA Record-Argus of 7 June 1952 describes James's and Jennie's 50th anniversary fete, which was a "quiet family gathering" due to Jennie's ill health. It states that the couple were married in the home of Mrs. Mitchell's brother, the late Frank Herrick, in Washington, PA. Guests at the gathering included Mr. & Mrs. Walter O. Mitchell and two sons, Jimmy Alan and Paul, of Fredonia; Jeanne Mitchell of Greenville; and Mr. and Mrs. William G. Mitchell of Washington, PA, Mr. Mitchell being the only brother of the honoree. The couple came to Mercer Co. in 1931.

2014, so far

Let's see, what's been happening lately?

1. Got my FamilyTree DNA kit, at the request of "cousin" Michelle Roos-Goodrum, but am following my tendency to procrastinate and haven't done the test yet. (There's a reason this blog is called "Round Tuit.") She and I seem to share a many-times great-grandfather.
2. Received the latest version of RootsMagic. This is the year I start entering it all.
3. Found "Bob" in California, who has photos of a collateral line. He has photos of some people who also appear in the family photo album, but who were unnamed. In fact, some of Bob's family photos were taken during the same occasion as ones in my family's album. Now I can identify them!
4. Investigating some Herrick females: Belle Herrick Miller (wife of Jacob); Katherine Herrick Lytle (wife of Marshall Blaine Lytle); and Jennie Herrick Mitchell (wife of James O. Mitchell).
5. Found the cause of death of Charles Herrick, son of Henry and Rebecca (Moulden) Herrick, who died in 1892 at age 16 of a gun shot wound. The Pittsburgh Dispatch notes that he and a friend were hunting blackbirds near a river, when marsh grasses tangled in Charles's rifle trigger and the gun went off. Doctors were unable to locate the bullet before he died. It had lodged in his right lung.
6. Mostly, though, I've spent the winter keeping warm and shoveling snow. I'm ready for warmer weather, and looking forward to going to some area conferences this year.