Family Friday: Emma Maria (Worden) & Madison Kuder

Emma is one of my maternal third great aunts--she's the sister of my great great grandfather Dick Worden. I've already shared a family portrait of Emma, Madison and four of  their seven children.

[Madison & Emma Kuder-=Waterville, Douglas, Washington.

Originally posted to her public Ancestry.com family tree by FrancesGilmore45]

After Emma's marriage to Madison Monroe Kuder in Iowa in 1884, the couple moved to the Dakota Territory briefly before returning to Iowa where they remained until about 1898 when they re-located to Waterville, Washington.




© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Barbara Hoadley Porter (1916 - 1978) Historian

Barbara Porter and her twin sister Betty were born in Seattle, Washington, in 1916. Here are their senior pictures from Garfield High School, Class of 1934. (Barbara is on the left)

[Ancestry.com - U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1990]

According to U.S. Census records Barbara was still living with her parents in 1940. By 1953 she was married to Ernest V. Elkins, which seems to have been a second marriage for both of them. 

Barbara is one of my paternal first cousins, twice removed; the ancestors we share are B.R. Biddle and his wife Maria Evans.

[Ancestry.com]

I just learned about Barbara from these index cards in the State of Oregon's Biographical and Other Index Card File. So far I haven't been able to find out much more about my cousin's life, but it's clear she was very proud of her descent from Oregon Pioneers. (Note that the reference to scrapbooks--I wonder what's in them?)

[Ancestry.com. Oregon, Biographical and Other Index Card File, 1700s-1900s [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors. Original data: Oregon, Biographical and Other Cards. Oregon Historical Society, Portland, Oregon.]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: George W. Abbott or Francis M. Coker (1844 - 1908), Soldier

Recently an old friend called with a question about someone in the family tree I've done for him and while I was rooting around for the answer I was reminded of one of his maternal great great grandfathers who used at least two different names, as shown on his Civil War Pension Index card.

[National Archives and Records Administration. U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000. Original data: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. T288, 546 rolls.]

Here, from the Tacoma Daily News of September 26, 1893, was what the man had to say about the situation to an obviously sympathetic reporter: his true name was George W. Abbott--he had only called himself Francis Coker to keep his wealthy relatives learn that he was serving in the army as a private.

[Date: Tuesday, September 26, 1893 Paper: Tacoma Daily News (Tacoma, Washington) Page: 1 

This entire product and/or portions thereof are copyrighted by NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004.

Source: GenealogyBank.com]

The next day's newspaper informed its readers that George W. Abbot had been arrested in default of bail; however he was released two days later.

[Date: Wednesday, September 27, 1893   Paper: Tacoma Daily News (Tacoma, Washington)   Page: 3  This entire service and/or content portions thereof are copyrighted by NewsBank and/or its content providers.

Source: GenealogyBank.com]

[Date: Friday, September 29, 1893   Paper: Tacoma Daily News (Tacoma, Washington)   Page: 3  

This entire service and/or content portions thereof are copyrighted by NewsBank and/or its content providers.

Source: GenealogyBank.com]

Had he actually earned a pension? As a soldier, there isn't much in the way of records--an 1872 enlistment record for a 25-year-old Francis M. Coker (born in Missouri) who deserted six months after he joined.

[Ancestry.com. U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Register of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M233, 81 rolls); Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

["United States Index to General Correspondence of the Pension Office, 1889-1904," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-13030-34759-79?cc=1834308 : accessed 5 January 2016), Cod-Cold > image 1379 of 1853; citing NARA microfilm publication M686 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).]

I haven't been able to figure out what the outcome of Mr. Abbott's disagreement with the United States government over that pension but that's not the end of this story because Mr. Abbott continued to use his Coker identity in an 1897 Tacoma city directory, the 1900 U.S. Census and his obituary. In fact, according to cemetery records he was buried as Francis M. Coker.

[Title : Tacoma, Washington, City Directory, 1897. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Original sources vary according to directory. ]

[Year: 1900; Census Place: Tacoma Ward 6, Pierce, Washington; Roll: 1749; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 0187; FHL microfilm: 1241749. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.]

[Date: Wednesday, October 14, 1908   Paper: Tacoma Daily News (Tacoma, Washington)   Page: 3.  

This entire service and/or content portions thereof are copyrighted by NewsBank and/or its content providers.

Source: GenealogyBank.com]

And since I haven't been able to locate any records for a likely George W. Abbott before the 1880 U.S. Census when he, his wife and their baby daughter were living in St. Louis, Missouri, it wouldn't surprise me if his true name wasn't either of the names we know he used.







© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Long Beach, Washington - 1950

As I promised last week, I'm returning to some color slides that include members of the Middleton family, It looks like the Curreys and Middletons took a little trip to Washington's Long Beach Peninsula.

[Left to right: Joeleta Middleton, me, Bernice (Grenfell) Currey, Lloyd Middleton and his wife Florence; from my personal collection]

Lloyd is blocking our view of the side of his shiny new 1950 Ford so I can't tell which model it is but that's probably Joeleta sitting in the back seat. Over Lloyd's shoulder you can catch a glimpse of the Currey's trailer parked farther up the beach.

[From my personal collection]

Sadly at this point Lloyd had only a few more months to live:

[Date: Thursday, December 7, 1950   Paper: Oregonian (Portland, Oregon)   Page: 20  

This entire product and/or portions thereof are copyrighted by NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004.

Source: GenealogyBank.com]

And I still don't know how the Curreys came to know the MIddletons.


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Shipwreck, 1954 - Long Beach Peninsula, Washington

Although this wreck on Washington State's Long Beach looks like it could have been there for decades when we visited it in July of 1954, the 185-foot barge (formerly the Navy sailing ship "Intrepid") actually went aground during a storm the previous February.

Unfortunately Mother's 1954 trip diary falls silent about the time we spent while we were in Oregon and Washington but I had just turned 7 so I have some memory of this occasion. It was cold, the wind was blowing and I didn't want to be on that deck--you could feel it every time a wave hit the stern. No doubt that's why I was clinging tightly to that stanchion. (I also remember my red rubber boots.)

[All from my personal collection]

Of course I didn't know the name of the vessel but the internet has provided me with more information about the wreck.

[Date: Thursday, February 25, 1954   Paper: Seattle Daily Times (Seattle, Washington)   Page: 47  

This entire product and/or portions thereof are copyrighted by NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004.

Source: GenealogyBank.com]

[INTREPID - Square-Rigger and then a barge on the beach.

Postcards from the archives of the S. P. H. S.©]

And from this undated postcard it's clear my unease wasn't completely misplaced.

[Shipwreck Intrepid Long Beach, Washington Original Vintage Postcard

by CardCow Vintage Postcards]

If you're interested in learning more about this perilous coast, here are several excellent websites: Graveyard of the Pacific; Shipwrecks: Graveyards of the Pacific; and Log of the Saltwater People Historical Society. In case you missed it here's a link to an earlier post about the perils of the Southern Oregon coastline here.



© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.