Throwback Thursday: The Oldest Wills Ever Found

This is almost as hard to read as some 17th century English parish register entries!  From Duhaime.org

My understanding is that the oldest known wills are by brothers Ankh-ren and Uah, from 1797 BC in Egypt.  Canadian lawyer Lloyd Duhaime has informative write-ups about it here and here.

If you are willing to give ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic translation the old college try you can see a clear transcription and alternative translation here.





© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: Willet Orlando "Richard" or "Dick" Worden (1843 - 1912), Soldier, U.S. - Part 5

In my last post about Dick Worden I focused on his participation in the bloody battle at Champion Hill on May 16, 1863, where his regiment, the 24th Iowa Volunteer Infantry

"proved the equal of any regiment engaged. At one time it advanced unsupported charged a battery of 5 guns that was creating havoc, fairly ran over the men at the guns, and drove the supporting infantry in wild confusion, but was compelled by over-whelming numbers to fall back. Forty-three were killed, 40 mortally wounded and nearly 30 maimed for life, the total loss in killed, wounded and captured being 195 out of 417 engaged."*

[Big Black River, Miss. Battlefield of May 17, 1863.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.]

The day after their loss at Champion Hill as the main force of the Confederate army retreated back toward Vicksburg, they halted to await the arrival of the remainder of their troops at Big Black River** where the Federal army attacked and defeated them a second time in as many days. But Dick Worden as part of the 24th Iowa did not take part in this battle as it had

"marched with its brigade from the battlefield of Champion's Hill to Black River Bridge, but did not arrive there in time to participate in the battle in which the Twenty-first and Twenty-third Iowa regiments won such distinguished honor. Remaining at Black River for a few days, the regiment continued its march to Vicksburg, where it arrived on the 24th of May and at once took its position on the line of investment in the center of General Hovey's division, where for the succeeding forty days it endured the hardships, dangers and privations incident to the siege of the rebel stronghold."***

The Civil War Trust has an excellent web page about Vicksburg, including an animated battle map.

[The siege of Vicksburg - Major General U.S. Grant, commanding / sketched by A.E. Mathews, 31st O.V.I. ; Middleton Strobridge, & Co. Lith. Cin. O. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.]

[Confederate fortifications in rear of Vicksburg, Miss

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.]

[Approaches to Vicksburg, Miss. & Rebel defences.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.]

*From The Union Army: States and regiments, Volume IV; Federal Publishing Company, 1908. Page 162 (available as a free ebook here)
**They waited in vain--those forces, commanded by General William Loring, were on their way east to join Johnston's army near Jackson, Mississippi.
***Quoted from the History of the Twenty-Fourth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Who Needs a Swimming Pool When You Have a Garden Hose?

Me in the backyard in Encanto, San Diego, probably about 1973.  From my personal collection.

This FamilySearch image of a child cooling off with the garden hose reminded me that I used to do the same thing.

From my personal collection.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers? Who Are These People?

It's a very nice studio portrait of a mother and (presumably) her son but unfortunately there is nothing to indicate who they are or how they might be connected to me and there's no clue where the photo was taken. The photos we scanned before and after this image are of Webbs and Walshes so it may well be that's where they belong.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Carousel Animals

During my 2009 visit to France we spent a week in the Loire Valley--seven days, eight châteaux and one royal abbey--the one at Fontevraud, where they were displaying a huge collection of 20th century French carousel animals in several of the rooms. The figures were all suspended from a mechanical device near the ceiling that caused them to move up and down when the guide rotated a handle.

[All photos from my personal collection]

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

My Parents Were Married Today, 50 Years Ago

My parents and grandparents.  From left: Harold Currey, Bernice (Grenfell) Currey, my mom Pat Currey (Slater), my dad George Hartley, Margaret (Fister) Hartley, and George Hartley, Jr.  I look like both of my parents, that's for sure.  From my personal collection.

50 years ago??  Wow.  I was born about 5 years later, and I'm almost 45, so I guess that is right.

My parents married today on June 25, 1966, at the Mount Soledad Presbyterian Church in La Jolla.  The reception was at the La Valencia Hotel in downtown La Jolla.

At the La Valencia Hotel reception.  From my personal collection.

I think this is the same day my grandma Bernice gave my mom her birth certificate with Mom's birth parents names ("Tracy Stewart Warren" and "Altamae Slater"), although we didn't end up tracking down those two until the late 1990's.



© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Who Are These Men? Wordens? Groves?

I've referred to my great great grandmother Elnora May (Worden) Webb's photograph album and the treasures we found in it many times.

[Floral Album courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

And while there are still portraits of known relatives that we haven't shared here on this blog yet, today I'm going to post three unknowns.

["Grove?" courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

["A Worden?" courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

["A Worden?" courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: On the Mission Bay Badminton Team, 1987

Since I transferred to Mission Bay High School in the second semester of the 1986-87 school year, I didn't have a portrait done for that school, but I did manage to get in a picture for the badminton team.  I'm in the top row, middle, with the obviously bleached blonde hair.  From Ancestry's U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012 database.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Because It's Been One of Those Days...

Tomorrow will be better.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

September 1968

Gotta love a photo with the date on it!  My mom (Pat Slater), Dad looking unusually serious (George Hartley), Grandmother (Margaret Fister Hartley, mother of George and Bob), and my uncle Bob (Robert "Bob" Hartley).  I'm not sure where this was taken, although I am assuming somewhere in San Diego.  From my personal collection.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Summer in San Diego - 1927

These photos are from one of the Currey family albums. The only person I recognize for certain in the top picture is Harold (the father who raised me) squatting in the water with the inner tube over his shoulders.* Although no location is mentioned, from the context I think they were at Mission Beach.

The man on the left in the picture below is John V. "Bud" Wilson, Harold's sister Violet's first husband. (Obviously men wore bathing caps in those days.)

[All from my personal collection]

The surfboard ended up in the basement of our house in Encanto. It's possible that Christine remembers it.

*The little blonde boy on the left could be Junior.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Celebrations: Father's Day

Here I am in the arms of the father who raised me, Harold Delbert Currey (1902- 1981).

[From my personal collection]

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Celebrations: Father's Day

My biological father sent me this portrait of himself when we were in contact with him about 15 years ago.

[Courtesy of T.S. Warren]

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Quick Tip: Don't Forget to Look for Free Access To Journals from Historical Societies

The opium article was really interesting.  I've heard about opiate addiction being a problem lately in New England, but according to the article that problem has been an issue there for a few centuries!  From the Vermont History Journal.

I've started to notice a few historical societies and similar organizations offer free online access to their journals.  While this isn't too common, I have come across them.  What a great resource!  They can be used to get a good background history on people and places of interest to the society that publishes them.

San Diego researchers should be sure to check out "The San Diego History Journal," offered by the San Diego History Center, which  has an online archive that goes back to its first issue in 1955.

I stumbled across another journal yesterday when I was checking out the Vermont Historical Society's "Vermont History Journal."

I think I will start adding free journal links to my toolbox.  Part of my work this upcoming week will be checking out the main historical societies for the 50 states to see what other possible journals might be out there.




© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Slater

I love this picture of my Uncle Jim* taken in Niwot, Colorado, about 1921.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

And here he is some twenty years later.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

*James Robert Slater (1919-1984)

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: Me and Marc in the San Diego Backcountry

About 2003.  From my personal collection.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Setting the Record Straight: Iowa, Marriage Records, 1880-1937

I don't always pay much attention to those little green leaves which Ancestry uses to signify a hint but a recent one for my maternal great grandfather Jesse David Webb (1860-1935) caught my eye. When I checked it out, this is what came up:

[Ancestry.com hint for Jesse David Webb]

Since we know that Great Grandfather Jesse married Elnora May Worden not Swiden, it was clear that a mistake had been made. Was the error in the original record or did the person transcribing it mis-read what was there?

Closer inspection leads me to conclude that this is a case of hard-to-read handwriting coupled with careless transcription. What do you think?

Also Richard Worden's wife's maiden name was Groves, not Graves.

Lastly, Jesse's mother's maiden name was Darling (or Darlin) so the original record is wrong.

Great Grandmother Elnora's first cousin Josie (Josephine J.) Alspaugh married traveling salesman Henry Hodges* six days earlier so only two other marriage records separate the cousins. Josie's mother, Caroline Groves, was Elnora's mother Delilah's older sister. Note that in this record, Caroline's maiden name is spelled Graves.

[All images above taken from Iowa State Archives; Des Moines, Iowa; Volume: 328 (Hamilton - Kossuth) Volume : 328 (Hamilton - Kossuth)

Ancestry.com. Iowa, Marriage Records, 1880-1937 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Original data: Iowa Department of Public Health. Iowa Marriage Records, 1880–1922. Textual Records. State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa Department of Public Health. Iowa Marriage Records, 1923–37. Microfilm. Record Group 048.

State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa.]

Naturally I added the correct names in Ancestry's index.



© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Mary Esther Hartley in the 1928 San Diego High School Yearbook

My grand aunt, Mary Esther Hartley (1911-2007), sister to my grandfather George Hartley, Jr. who also attended SDHS, and daughter of Minnie Nosler and George Henry Hartley,  in the 1928 yearbook.  She was on the Glee club!

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Slater/Hartley/Manczuk

Here's a photo of Christine at her grandmother's grave during our first visit in 2001 which she referred to in a recent post. *

[From my personal collection]

*You can see a recent view of the cemetery here.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Slater

When she handed this uncaptioned photo over to me to scan back in 2011, Cousin Sue said to me, "If you can figure out what this one is, you're a genius."

Alas, if that's the test of genius, I fail miserably. But there are some things I've been able to discover.

First, since the car parked closest to the viewer appears to be a 1940 Chevrolet which doesn't look particularly new, the photo must have been taken after that model's release.* 

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

The next snapshot seems to have been taken at the same time and shows a group of little girls posed in front of their school.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

City directories for 1940 and 1943 Boulder area list Alta as a resident of Niwot though no occupation is given.** And her brother Jack's obituary published in January of 1944 includes the information that she was teaching in Arizona at that time.***

So I'm guessing that these two photos were taken while she was teaching in the Boulder area before Alta left for Arizona, probably in time for the start of school in September, 1943.

Maybe someone will recognize the school.


*The vehicle parked next to it is a 1939 Chevy. The last car is at least a decade older and there's not enough of it showing for me to identify its make. The angle of the cars makes it very difficult to recognize the license plates.
**From her 1983 interview in Casa Grande we learned that Alta  "When I got out of school there wasn't anything I could do," Alta laughed, "so I had to go back and get teaching credentials." Records show that Alta was gaining experience as a teacher as early as October 1938.
***Only the state is mentioned.



© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

George Hartley Jr (1907-1977) On the Baseball Team at San Diego High School in 1925

I think I have the actual copy of this yearbook (San Diego High School's "Gray Castle Yearbook" for 1925) somewhere, but I don't have to dig it out because it is also available online at Ancestry's U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012 collection. Shortest guy on the page (I see where I get my stature lol).

My grandfather George Hartley Jr, about 17 years old.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Castle

Who are these two young women and how are they related to my great grandmother?

These pictures were taken from Elnora May Worden Webb's photo album which is filled with portraits of relatives, most of whom are identified.* The captions to these photos are the sum total of all I know about these cousins and, although I've spent many hours searching for them, I haven't been able to figure out how Ida and Eva Castle are connected in my family tree.

[Ida Castle - Cousin of Nora Warden Webb. Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

[Worden relative Eva Castle. Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

[Ida and Eva Castle - Cousin of Ell Nora Webb. Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

I've not given up hope of identifying them someday.


*But sadly not all.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.