Monday Is for Mothers: Myrtle Ruby Worden (1882 - 1962)

Myrtle is one of my maternal first cousins, three times removed--her father Schuyler Colfax Worden was one of my great great grandfather Dick Worden's brothers.* She was born in Iowa, was taken to Nebraska as an infant by her parents and at the age of 21 married John Davison (1873-1949) there.

By 1919 the Davison family had relocated to Siskiyou County, California, but by the 1930 U.S. Census they had finally settled in Oregon.

This photo of Myrtle, her grandson Cecil Vernon Davison (1944-1992) and his mother Lorine Marjorie (Wells) Davison was probably taken in 1945/46.

[Originally shared by Ardis Patton to her Ancestry.com family tree]

Here's her obituary that Christine found in the Albany, Oregon, newspaper:

[Newspapers.com - Albany Democrat-Herald - 4 Dec 1962 - Page 2]

*Another child of Porter and Hannah (Leonard) Worden.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Mercy Ann Darling Webb Walsh's Obituary - 1915

We have my great great grandmother's 1915 obituary thanks to research done by Findagrave's member Gayle Neuhaus, a resident of Winnetoon, Nebraska. Gayle added a transcription of it to Mercy's memorial, adding her source so I was able to locate a scan of the original* from The Creighton Liberal:

[Source: Digital Archives of the Creighton Public Library]

                  Obituary**
   Mrs. Mercy Ann Walsh was born on
the eleventh day of May 1835 at
Harvard, Courtland County, N y
and died Oct. 29, 1915 at Creighton
Nebr being 80 year 5 months and 18
days old
   In 1858 she was married to Abner
Webb of Jones county, Ia. Soon after
their marriage they moved 
to Collen County Texas
where was born to them a son
J.D. Webb who resides in Winnetoon.
When the country was in the throes of
war in the sixties her husband re-
sponded to the call of the South and
laid down his life upon the altar of 
his country.
   In 1864 Miss Webb married Joshua
B Walsh in McKenny Collen county
Texas from which place they moved
to Iowa in 1866. To this union four
children were born all of whom are
still living. Two sons F B. and J
S Walsh reside at Boulder, Colo.
Mrs Kitty May Pierce of Idaho and
Mrs Dr. Hazen of Creighton, Nebr.
During her entire life she has been
very healthy; and knowing she had
lived beyond her allotted time here
on earth she came to Creighton to
spend her last days with her daugh-
ter and also that she might at her
death be buried in the Millerboro
churchyard by the side of her hus
band  Mr Walsh served thorought
the Mexican was for which a pension
was received by his wife. He also 
fought under Gen. Jackson against
the Indians of Florida.
   For forty years Mrs. Walsh was a
member of the Church of God and
was very faithful in and to her reli-
gious beliefs. The funeral services
were held Sunday Oct. 31st at the 
home of Mrs. Hazen, Rev. Joseph
Stanford pastor Methodist Church
officiating  Internment was at Miller-
boro  Six of her grand sons, Claude,
Elmer, and Waymond Hazen;
Herbert Fred and John Webb, acted 
as pall bearers  Thus laid at rest 
a soul that feared God
                --------------
       CARD OF THANKS
   We sincerely desire to thank all our
friends and neighbors for their help
and expressions of sympathy. In the
sorror that has come to us in the
loss of our mother and grandmother.
   Dr. and Mrs. Hazen and family.
   Jess and Nora Webb and family.

This is very exciting because, although bits and pieces of Mercy's life with her first husband have come down to us, this is the closest we've gotten to the story she would have told about herself and her son (and my great grandfather) Jess Webb was one of the sources of the information printed here. Here's a portrait of Mercy that belonged to him:

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy. The handwriting is probably that of my grandmother Anna Delilah Webb Slater.]

Especially interesting is the statement that Mercy and Abner Webb moved to Texas shortly after their 1858 marriage.*** Abner's maternal grandfather Jesse Sill died in November of the previous year, leaving him a bequest of $300; could it have been the expectation of this money that encouraged the couple to relocate? If so, I'm afraid they were to be disappointed because at the time of Jesse Sill's death the country was experiencing a severe economic "panic" and his diminished estate wasn't settled for a very long time.

We've never been able to locate Mercy in the 1860 U.S. Census although we know that Abner was employed as a carpenter by attorney Fred L. Gates**** in Collin County on June 7, 1860 (less than six weeks before his son was born). Several sources has claimed that son Jesse David Webb was born in Galveston but not this obituary.

Although there's no record of Abner's military service (on either side*****) here it's stated clearly that his sympathies were with the Confederacy.

Thanks again Gayle, for finding this and posting it where I could find it.


*Looking at the obituary as printed, it's clear that whoever set the type wasn't particularly skilled and/or didn't proofread it carefully.
**Several corrections are in order: Mercy Darling was born in Harford in Cortland County, NY; McKinney is in Collin County, Texas.
***There's a transcription of a Jones County Marriage Book which lists the date of their marriage as November 6, 1856. Because it's not the original, that date could be an error.
****Gates later rose to the rank of a Captain in the 16th Regiment, Texas Cavalry (Fitzhugh's). Two other regiments included men from McKinney: 6th/15th (Consolidated) Regiment, Texas Volunteers; and 6th Regiment, Texas Cavalry (Wharton, Stone's).
*****I've even seen some claims that Abner served with Sherman on his march through Georgia.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Princess Niobrara McLain (1884 - 1975)

The woman with this splendid name is related to me through her 1908 marriage to Roscoe Conklin McCulley, one of my maternal second cousins, three times removed.* Her descendants have shared quite a few pictures of Princess taken throughout her life, and yes, that really was her name.

[Picture attached to an Ancestry.com family tree by nancyphipps180]

When I first started writing this post I thought that her romantic name was taken from a contemporary novel or poem but a search turned up the fact that the local river of her Oklahoma birth county, Keya Paha, is called Niobrara.**

[Princess McLain, School Teacher taught in a one room sod schoolhouse, about 1904.

Photo attached to Ancestry.com family tree by bower1939.]

Princess married Roscoe McCulley in 1908 and the couple had three children: a son Darwin and daughters Margery and Orrien Jane.

[Princess McCulley & children; Darwin, Margery & Jane about 1917.

Photo attached to Ancestry.com family tree by bower1939. ]

[Princess & Daughters, Margery & Jane--August 1956.

Photo attached to Ancestry.com family tree by bower1939.]

[Princess McLain McCulley--1950's, Ainsworth, NE.

Photo attached to Ancestry.com family tree by bower1939.]

After a long life together Roscoe and Princess N. died within a year of each other and are buried in Ainsworth Cemetery in Brown County, Nebraska.

[Findagrave 18242877, Photo by Harv 47030477]

*Roscoe was the son of Celina Worden and our common ancestors are Lyman Worden and Elizabeth Brown.
**Seventy-six miles of the Niobrara have been designated a National Scenic River.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

School Days: Anna Webb Graduates from School in Winnetoon - 1910

These two photographs are to be found on the website of the Winnetoon HIstorical Society in Knox County, Nebraska. My maternal grandmother Anna Webb is the young woman standing on the left.

[Winnetoon Historical Society: Days Gone By]

The text in this picture of the schoolhouse that my grandmother attended explains why the above portrait is captioned 1910 Winnetoon's First 10th Grade since the school only had ten grades.

[Winnetoon Historical Society: School]

And here's what the local Norfolk Weekly News-Journal had to say about the commencement exercises.

[10 Jun 1910, Page 2 - The Norfolk Weekly News-Journal at Newspapers.com]

The historical society has a lot of information about Winnetoon's past here.


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Anna Delilah Webb (1891 - 1973)

There's never been any doubt that my maternal grandmother married Harry Allen Slater on September 15, 1916, in Boulder Colorado. After all we had their marriage certificate and a newspaper clipping about the event from her local Knox County, Nebraska, newspaper.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

So this morning when I opened our Ancestry.com tree and saw this hint for Harry A. Slater I decided to check it out.

This database links to a FamilySearch image which we'd already added to my grandparents' profiles but hadn't put in a post yet.

[Ancestry.com]

We haven't found a wedding photograph of the couple although there may be one lurking in the Slater family archive.

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Porter Worden (1811 - 1891) Cooper & Farmer

If we had to rely only on the census records to follow this 3X great grandfather and his family we wouldn't know about several of the places he and his wife Hannah lived after they left their home state of New York. Fortunately his 1891 obituary in the Anamosa Eureka has come to light.

[Detail of a joint portrait of Porter and Hannah Leonard, c1860, Anamosa, Iowa.

Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

[Iowa  Anamosa  The Anamosa Eureka   Thursday , February 26th , 1891.

Source: Digital Archives of the Jones County Genealogical Society.]

                  PORTER WORDEN
   Died, at the residence of Thurston Joslin, his
son-in-law, Feb 15, 1891 Porter Worden. He was
born in Oswego county New York, May 12, 1811,
was married to Hannah M. Leonard in the year
1838, ten children being the fruit of this union.
He came to Iowa in 1853. In the course of time he
moved to Missouri, lived in Nebraska for a time
and later returned to Iowa. In early life he
united with the Methodist church but in after
years united with the Baptist church at Fairview,
of which he was a consistent member at the time
of his death. The companion of his youth died in
Nebraska in January, 1887, at the age of 74 years.
They leave a family of eight children living. Six
of them were present to assist in caring for him.
He was a great sufferer in the last days but mur
mured not. He looked forward to the time when
he would soon be free from trouble. He fell asleep
in Jesus. His remains were followed to the church
by many relatives and friends, where services were
held, and then they bore him to Wilcox ceme-
tery where he now rests to aait the summons to arise.
  Mr. and Mrs.Joslin wish to tender their thanks
to the friends for their kind assistance in this
time of trouble.
                                      D. GIVEN, Pastor.

The information in the obituary would have been supplied by his children including Polly Ann Joslin and it mostly agrees with the records we have except that Porter was actually born in Cayuga County, New York--his family moved to Oswego when he was about five years old.

Hannah's family lived in Jefferson County, New York, and that's where she and Porter were living at the time of the 1840 and 1850 federal censuses. They moved to Iowa* within a year of her father Isaac Leonard's second marriage to a much younger woman.

His occupation was listed as "Cooper" in the 1850 U.S. Census, but in all later enumerations he was a farmer.

*First to Linn County before moving on to Fairview in Jones County by 1870. Neither their move to Missouri, possibly in connection with their daughter Elizabeth Anna and her husband Steven Peregoy who moved their family to Missouri around 1870, nor their sojourn in Nebraska (and Hannah's death there) would be known except for the obituary. Since their granddaughter (and my great grandmother) Elnora Worden Webb and her family had moved to Know County in 1885 it's likely that influenced Porter and Hannah's move there.


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Johannes Magendanz (1878-1964), Musician

How did this German pianist, born in what is now Gniew, Poland, on January 22, 1878, and educated at Berlin University, find a place in my extended family tree?

An examination of his arrival in New York on board the S.S. Rhein in 1905 provides a substantial clue: he was bound for Tuskegee, Alabama, where some of my great great great grandmother Timney P. Watts Warren Phillips' descendants were still living.

[I found this image at The Linosaurus]

[Year: 1905; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 0619; Line: 1; Page Number: 62. Ship or Roll Number : Roll 0619. Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897.

Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls. NAI: 6256867. ]

[Detail of above page]

The above snippet gives us a further clue for his destination. Dr. John Massey was the President of the Alabama Conference Female College from 1876 to 1909.*

[Courtesy of Huntingdon College Archives and Special Collections]

The year after his arrival, Johannes married a student at the college, Velma De Bardeleben (1884-1967), Timney's great granddaughter and my second cousin, twice removed.** The couple's oldest child was born in Alabama in 1907.

By 1910 the family was living in Lincoln, Nebraska, where Johannes had been named Director of the Conservatory and Head of the Piano Department at the Nebraska Wesleyan University.

[Piano Recital, Johannes Magendanz. Source: Nebraska Memories]

However he doesn't appear to have remained in Oklahoma for long as the 1911 second semester catalogue for the college shows:

[Catalogue by Nebraska Wesleyan University, 1911-12. Source: Archives.org]

And in 1912 he had moved his family to New York State, where he and Alfred H. Jay were Directors of the Utica Conservatory of Music.

[The Ogdensburg journal. (Ogdensburg, N.Y.) 1868-1916, August 18, 1913, Page 2, Image 2.

Image provided by Northern NY Library Network]

Here's his listing in a Who's Who in music published in 1918.

[International Who's who in Music and Musical Gazetteer: A Contemporary Biographical Dictionary and a Record of the World's Musical Activity, Current literature publishing Company, 1918. Source: Google Books.]

Johannes and Velma remained in Utica for the rest of their lives and established a musical dynasty. Here's a photo of Johannes and son Felix taken the year before his death.

[Source: Old Fulton NY Post Cards By Tom Tryniski]

And an article from the same source about the family.

[Source: Old Fulton NY Post Cards By Tom Tryniski]

*Originally founded as the Tuskegee Female College in 1854, it's now called Huntingdon College and was moved to Montgomery in 1909.
**Here's her family tree back to Timney and her second husband John P. Phillips.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Dr. and Mrs Hazen

The couple in this 1915 photo are my 2nd great aunt Emma Ann Walsh (1868-1949) and her husband William Hazen, M.D. (1848-1928). She is the oldest daughter of my great great grandmother Mercy Darling and her second husband Joshua Butler Walsh.

They were married in 1887 in Niobrara, Knox County, Nebraska and lived in Creighton where William had established his medical practice two years earlier. The couple had  five children.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Joshua Butler Walsh (1810 - 1888), Blacksmith and Soldier, Mexican War

Born in South Carolina on May 30, 1810, Joshua had already survived two wives when he met and married my widowed great great grandmother Mercy Ann Darling Webb in Texas in 1864, thereby becoming the stepfather of my great grandfather Jesse Webb. 

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

He had enlisted as a army private in the Mexican War in May of 1847 in Alton, Illinois.*

Census records confirm that he was a blacksmith, although how much heavy work he was doing in the 1885 Nebraska census (below) is in question.

[Year: 1850; Census Place: District 11, Marion, Illinois; Roll: M432_119; Page: 41B; Image: 609. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

[Year: 1870; Census Place: Fairview, Jones, Iowa. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.]

[Nebraska State Census; Year: 1885; Series/Record Group: M352; County: Antelope; Township: Verdigris; Page: 8. Ancestry.com. Nebraska, State Census Collection, 1860-1885 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors in partnership with the following organizations: Nebraska State Genealogical Society Bismarck Mandan Historical and Genealogical Society Original data: Nebraska. Cass County. “County Census, 1876-1882.” Microfilm RG220, 9 rolls. Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln.Nebraska. Lancaster County. “County Census, 1860-1880.” Microfilm RG207, 4 rolls. Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln.Schedules of the Nebraska State Census of 1885.

NARA Microfilm Publication M352, 56 rolls.Washington, D.C.]

Joshua died in Antelope County, Nebraska, on July 5, 1888, and his widow is listed on the 1890 Special Schedule - Surviving Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, and Widows, etc.**

[Year: 1890; Census Place: Verdigris, Antelope, Nebraska; Roll: 37; Page: 2; Enumeration District: 2.

Ancestry.com. 1890 Veterans Schedules [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M123, 118 rolls); Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

*None of my direct ancestors fought in that war.
**One of the few records to escape the fire that destroyed almost all of the 1890 U.S. Population Census.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Diary of James Milo Nosler: Time in Nebraska and "Total Defeat"

James Milo Nosler (1843-1886), my 3rd great uncle who kept a diary for many years.  He was the youngest brother of my 2nd great grandfather, William "Will" Nosler (1840-1914).  The following is continued from my post "Diary of James Milo Nosler: Moving to Missouri".

These are a few bits from an obviously tumultuous time in James Milo's life, bouncing back and forth between older brothers and brothers-in-law:

When Docks ["Doctor Benjamin Franklin Hunt, 1832-1910, James's brother-in-law through sister Ellin] went back to town, Will went with.  I was fifteen years old when we lived on the Perkins farm [probably the Christopher Perkins in Ray and Clinton County, Missouri] and from that time have fended for myself.  During this winter I went to school awhile [presumably in Missouri] until Will [his brother William Nosler, 1840-1914, and my 2nd great grandfather] came back from Iowa when I quit and soon after went with Jerries to Nebraska [likely Nemaha County, Nebraska].  They soon returned but I staid and farmed with Bird [another brother-in-law, Bird Vowell, 1826-1902, who was in Nemaha in the 1860 Census].  I got five acres of corn for my summers work.  

The general area where James would be about 1860 (Nemaha).
From the "1856 Nebraska And Kanzas Atlas Map". Published by J. H. Colton & Co.

I went to church one night with Francis Cook [not sure which church, presumably in Nemaha County or Johnson county,  Nebraska there appeared to be an English Cook family, maybe this Francis was a member?  I don't know if this Francis was a boy or girl].  This was my first adventure on that time.  I was soon after "outwitted (or outmitted)" by Rachel Bents [probably the Rachel Bentz (1843-1924), daughter of John and Rachel Bentz, who lived in the next county over, in Johnson County, Nebraska by the 1860 Census, and later married Robert Shelly Brown.]], and that was my only total defeat in that time.  It dampened my powder completely and I made no more advances in Neb.  

Did he have a crush on Rachel, or did she beat him up?  Or both?  Not sure what is going on in that passage.









© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Webb/Siemsen

One of my maternal grandmother's five sisters, Mildred was born in Knox County, Nebraska,* just before Christmas, 1900.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

According to Webb family records, Mildred married Louis Otto Siemsen (1897-1975) on September 21, 1921, in the village of Center, Nebraska.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

Through census records and their five children's birthplaces we can follow the family's moves from Nebraska to Wyoming, back to Nebraska, then on to Kansas City, Kansas, before finally settling in Texas by 1934 where Mildred and Louis resided for the rest of their lives.

[Mildred and Louis (on left) in family photo, 1955. Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

*As were all of her siblings except for the oldest brother Herbert who was born in Jones County, Iowa.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: Frederick Benjamin Webb (1890 - 1941), and Johnathan Wayne Webb (1894 - 1955)

Besides her brother-in-law Pete Slater, two of my maternal grandmother's brothers served in the military during World War I, perhaps inspired by a poster like this.

[Uphold our honor--Fight for us Join Army-Navy-Marines. New York : Hegeman Print[ing Company], [1917].

Forms part of: Willard and Dorothy Straight Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA]

According to his World War I Draft Registration Card, Frederick 27-year-old Benjamin Webb was still unmarried and working as a self-employed well-driller in Knox County, Nebraska, when he enlisted in Company D of the 109th Engineers* on September 22, 1917.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

The 109th was part of the 34th Army Division, nicknamed the Sandstone or Red Bull Division, and trained at Gila Forest Camp in New Mexico. The panoramic photography below shows how the camp looked in June of 1918 (horses and all). Since the division didn't arrive in France until October of 1918 it's possible that Fred is one of the soldiers pictured.

[Gila Forest Camp, N. Mex., 109th Engr's., 34th Div., June 1918, Col. F. E. Downing, C.O. Photographer: Almeron Newman.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA]

From the headstone application filed with the War Department after Fred's death in 1941 we learn that he made corporal during his time in the army.

[Ancestry.com. U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941. Microfilm publication M1916, 134 rolls. ARC ID: 596118. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92. National Archives at Washington, D.C.Applications for Headstones, compiled 01/01/1925 - 06/30/1970, documenting the period ca. 1776 - 1970 ARC: 596118. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985, Record Group 92. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.]

I haven't been able to find the military record for Johnathan Wayne Webb in the usual places, however we have photos of him in uniform and know what John's role was from the August 6, 1918, army casualty list as printed in that day's Wichita Beacon.**

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

[The Wichita Beacon » 1918 » August » 6 Aug 1918, Tue. Newspapers.com]

John's registration card for the "old man's draft" in 1942 lists his injuries.

[Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: United States, Selective Service System. Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, Record Group Number 147. National Archives and Records Administration. Full Source Citation.]

*Composed of men from the Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota National Guards.
**Someone (perhaps my grandmother?) has written on the back of the first photo: "From Uncle John. Taken [during the] war of 1918. Was wounded July 14, 1918." Another note accompanying the photograph adds: "Killed car hit 1955 New York City."

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Slater

This snapshot of my maternal uncle John "Jack" William Slater (1923-1944) was taken on a snowy day in Omaha, Nebraska, probably about 1940.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

I've already posted a photo of my great uncle Lewis Cecil Slater (1893-1966) and Clara Eloise Ethridge (1895-1968) taken on a warmer day at the same location.*

*Although the photo of Jack doesn't say where it was taken, Cecil and Clara's does.


© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.