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.

L.L. Slater & Hamlin's Wizard Oil - 1890

When I found the following paragraph which included a reference to my great great grandfather Lewis Logan Slater the lucky winner of " the silver cake basket" at a free concert on the streets of Severy, Kansas, I just had to find out what was going on. 

[24 Oct 1890, Page 2 - Democratic Messenger at Newspapers.com]

Hamlin's Wizard Oil claimed to be able to cure just about any ailment* and spread the good news around the continent not just through print advertising but alto through its traveling concert tours. Here's a description of a Canadian troupe I found on Linda Knight Seccaspina's blog

Drawn by four white stallions, it served as a mobile performance stage, with a built-in parlour organ and lockers crammed with Hamlin’s medicines. Wizard Oil was emblazoned in gigantic letters across the sides. The troupe consisted of a driver, a lecturer and a male quartet. Hamlin enforced a rigid dress code. Some competitors posed as Indians, Quakers or mysterious healers from distant lands, but Wizard Oil president John Hamlin wanted his wagons and employees to project an image of professionalism. All employees were contractually bound to dress identically in high silk hats, frock coats, gray vests, striped trousers, spats and glossy patent-leather shoes.

[Source: lindaseccaspina.wordpress.com]

Through Google Books and HathiTrust I located a promotional song book printed by the company featuring "humorous and Sentimental Songs as sung throughout the United States by Hamlin's Wizard Oil Concert Troupes." Here's the cover and a couple of pages.

It all must have been as exciting for the residents of small towns throughout North America as the circus coming to town.


*Link to Wizard Oil and cancer cure claims


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.