Showing posts with label Chicago. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chicago. Show all posts

Friday, December 7, 2018

Family Friday: Some Distant Cousins (Through the Porter Line)

John Graves Shedd (1850-1926) married Mary Roenna Porter (1853-1942), a paternal third cousin, three times removed,* in New Hampshire in 1878. The couple had two daughters, Laura Abbie Shedd Schweppe (1879-1937) and Helen May Shedd Reed (1884-1978). This newspaper photo of their children was taken a year after their grandfather's death.

[27 Mar 1927, 151 - Chicago Tribune at Newspapers.com]


John Shedd's obituary explains why he's referred to here as "the late merchant prince of Chicago."

[22 Oct 1926, Page 1 - Battle Creek Enquirer at Newspapers.com]

He was a noted philanthropist, donating $2 million to the creation of Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. He also supported the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Shedd-Porter Memorial Library in New Hampshire.



*Here's how we're related:
[Ancestry.com]



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Working on Wednesday: Clinton Samuel Tomlinson (1860 - 1904) & Ann Eversole Tomlinson (1868 - 1949)

Clinton, my first cousin three times removed, attended Northwestern University, Class of 1886 and was undoubtedly the first of his family to graduate from college.*


[Commencement program for Northwestern University. 28th annual commencement, 1886.
Source: Internet Archive]


His first job after graduation was as the editor of the Boone (Iowa) Republican which remembered him respectfully years later:

[Boone News Republican, December 6, 1915, p. 43]

As stated in the above piece, after two years Clinton's next step was the editorship of the Daily Republican in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri, which is where he met and married 23-year-old teacher Ann Eversole in 1891.

By 1900 the couple were living in Chicago and Clinton was the editor of the Chicago Dry Goods Reporter, a trade publication of the garment industry.** No occupation is listed for Ann.

[Dry Goods Reporter. Chicago, January 1900. Source: Hathi Trust Digital Library]


However Ann Eversole Tomlinson's name appears in newspaper stories across America later that year.
[Chicago Daily News Thursday, Apr 19, 1900 Chicago, IL Page: 5.
Source: Genealogy Bank.]


Clinton's view of his wife's possible inheritance appeared on the same day as the above article:

[19 Apr 1900, 2 - Chicago Tribune at Newspapers.com]


The next information I found about the couple is Clinton's 1904 obituary

[30 Oct 1904, 5 - Chicago Tribune at Newspapers.com]


While I haven't found any further newspaper reports confirming the amount Ann received from her ancestor's estate, her lifestyle as a widow seems to indicate that she was a wealthy woman. Next week we'll look at her career after Clinton's death.



*With honors too.
**Many editions of the Dry Goods Reporter are available digitally through the Hathi Trust and Google Books. They offer a fascinating insight into the fashions of the times.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday, July 16, 2018

Edith F. Bornhoeft Dies

Edith Fister (1910-1985), a sister of my grandmother Margaret (Fister) HartleyImage courtesy of Tom Cairns.
I didn't know Aunt Edith as well as I knew Aunt Fern, but I do have a memory of her as a health nut.  A search in Chicago newspapers in the late 1950s/early 1960s shows she was a regular participant with various week-end hikes associated with the volunteer organization Prairie Club of Chicago.

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)
July 18, 1985
page 11 (Sports Final edition)
from GenealogyBank 
Services for Edith F. Bornhoeft, 75, a retired Atomic Energy Commission employee, will be held Friday in San Diego. 
Mrs. Bornhoeft, a former Western Springs resident, died Tuesday in a San Diego nursing home. 
She had been a technical employee of the commission at the University of Chicago and at Argonne National Laboratory near Batavia. 
She was active in the Prairie Club of Chicago and was a member of the San Diego Chapter of the Sons of Norway. Survivors include four sisters and a brother.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.