Family Friday: Hartley

Actually only half the people in this family photograph were born with the Hartley surname--the two men Robert F. and George G. and my young daughter.* The rest of us acquired the Hartley name by marriage (from left to right: Margaret Fister, Claudia Rios and me, Patricia Slater/Currey).

[From my personal collection]

I'm not sure what the occasion was that brought us together at Bob and Claudia's condo on Eastgate Mall (in the University Town Center area) sometime in the late 1970s.


*Who is perhaps unconsciously channeling the young monkey boy in her grandmother's wedding picture. Or maybe it's an age-related syndrome.


© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Fantastic Find: Data Visualization: Journalism's Voyage West

Paul G. Nauta's blog "The Future of Technology and Genealogy" for FamilySearch Blog last week mentions a very cool map from Stanford University's Rural West Initiative Bill Lane Center for the American West, based on Library of Congress (LOC) Chronicling America newspaper project data***.

The site is Data Visualization: Journalism's Voyage West

The interface begins with the disclaimer that it is inevitable that some newspapers were omitted and some duplicated in count.  However, I think this site is a great way to visualize the populating of the United States.  It could be very useful discovering what newspapers may have existed for certain areas in certain times.

The red arrow shows Boston as the lone location for recorded newspapers in the 1690's.

Newspapers extant at the end of the French and Indian War, and the year of the Treaty of Paris.

Newspapers on the eve of the American Revolution.

The steamboat had begun its reign and Thomas Jefferson was President.

On the eve of the California Gold Rush.  BTW here is an interesting link on American antebellum newspapers.

On the eve of the American Civil War.  Notice how many more were published in the North compared to the South.

The modern newspaper landscape. 

*** The data comes from the Library of Congress' "Chronicling America" project, which maintains a regularly updated directory of newspapers.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: George Logan "Pete" Slater (1886 - 1957), Marine Corps

Perhaps inspired by recruiting posters like the one below, my maternal grand uncle Pete Slater* enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in Denver, Colorado, on December 1, 1915, at the age of 29 and underwent his basic training at Mare Island, in Vallejo, California.

[U.S. Marines - "Soldiers of the sea" Good pay - foreign travel - congenial employment, c1914;

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

[By Unknown or not provided (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons]

[Courtesy of Olive Kennedy]

By May of 1916, Private Slater was on his way to Pearl Harbor on the transport ship "Thomas" where he remained for a few months.** Then he got sick and was transferred back to Mare Island in November of that year via the USAT "Sherman." 

["USAT Thomas" Kentucky Historical Society Photo]

["USAT Sherman" Viola (Grilnberger) Connelly Collection; Presidio Army Museum, National Park System.]

By the end of 1916, Pete was in the U.S. Naval Hospital, at Fort Lyons,*** Las Animes, Colorado. But although Pete still wasn't well, he must not been diagnosed with T.B. because he was soon transferred to the several different posts on the East Coast before being sent back to Mare Island, where in October of 1917 he was promoted to Corporal.

[Ancestry.com. U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Muster Rolls of the U.S. Marine Corps, 1798-1892. Microfilm Publication T1118, 123 rolls. ARC ID: 922159. Records of the U.S. Marine Corps, Record Group 127; National Archives in Washington, D.C.]

After several more transfers around the U.S. (and almost certainly more training) Pete was sent to France as part of American Expeditionary Forces in France.

[Pete Slater, 1918; courtesy of Olive Kennedy]

Next time I will try to sort out what Pete did during his service in World War I.


*The oldest child of my great grandparents Lewis Logan Slater (1855-1905) and Rufina Ellen Tomlinson (1863-1943).
**From the U.S. Marine Corps Muster Records it doesn't appear that he ever made it to the Far East.
***Which operated as a tuberculosis treatment center from 1906 to 1922.


© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Slavery and Hendersons in Jasper County, Georgia

FamilySearch Blog's interesting post, "Slave Stories" by Thomas Jay Kemp, reminded me of a likely cousin, Benjamin Henderson (b. 1858 in Jasper County, Georgia), who I found in the slave narratives on Ancestry.com a while back (you can look at the interview for free at the Library of Congress starting here if you don't have an Ancestry account) .

Where is Jasper County, Georgia?

Jasper County, Location, from Jasper County, Georgia Map. Source: Wikimedia Commons (12 Feb 2006), Author: David Benbennick

From FamilySearch.org Jasper County wiki entry page.

Benjamin was a known son of Samuel Henderson (found in the 1840 census further down the article) with one of Samuel's slave, Mandy (or Amanda) Henderson (b. abt 1835). I am pretty sure Samuel Henderson is some sort of relation to my 4th great grandmother Mary Henderson, who married Richard Turner. ***

How I relate to Mary Henderson.

As you can see, I don't have much of a handle on who my 4th great grandmother Mary Henderson's parents were yet.  I do feel strongly that she IS related to the Hendersons in Jasper County, Georgia, where she lived from at least 1815 to 1830 (she is living near by an older Samuel Henderson):

Detail from 1830 U.S. census, Jasper County, Georgia, Regiment 38 and 30, p. 286 (penned), line 8 & line 11, Sam'l Henderson and Richard Turner; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 Aug 2015); citing National Archives microfilm publication M19, roll 18. 

and then in neighboring Newton County, Georgia by the 1840 Census (where she lives next to a younger Samuel Henderson):

Detail from 1840 U.S. census, Newton County, Georgia, District 477, p. 15 (penned), line 4 & line 17, Samuel Henderson and Richard Turner; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 Aug 2015); citing National Archives microfilm publication M704, roll 48.

***At least one other source seems to think it likely that Mary Henderson was related to the Hendersons in Jasper County:  "A brother of greatgrandmother Nancy Turner Crawford was named Richard Turner, and his wife was Mary Henderson, without a doubt a member of the Henderson family in Jasper County".  from ELISHA GILLIAM CRAWFORD FAMILY BIBLE (Revised to add Crawford History  June 2001)

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mother's Wedding: Alta Mae Slater (1917 - 1984) + Holmes Smith "Pete" Norville (1925 - 1989)

This Thursday, August 6th, marks the 67th anniversary of my birth mother's marriage to Holmes Smith Norville (better known as Pete) which was celebrated in her hometown of Niwot, Colorado.

[Courtesy of Olive Kennedy]

From left to right (skipping the monkey boy squatting on the ground in front) are the groom's mother Marguerite Irish Norville (1897-1989), the bride's parents Harry Allen Slater and Anna Delilah Webb, Pete and Alta, the bride's brother James Robert Slater (1919-1984) presumably the best man and an unidentified woman, probably the maid (or matron) or honor.

["Jim at Alta's Wedding" courtesy of Olive Kennedy]

My notes tell me that there were more photos taken of Alta's wedding including her wedding portrait. Unfortunately at this crucial point in our mammoth scanning session* at my aunt's house in 2011, a winter storm knocked out the power and we weren't able to complete our task. And although we've talked about going back to finish scanning the remaining photos it hasn't happened yet.

*Two days, two scanners and a crew that included my aunt Olive (Jim's widow who not only saved so much of Slater history but also is a great source of oral history), my cousin Sue, her husband Bob, and my daughter and me.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Currey

And here they are--Harold and Bernice (Grenfell) Currey standing proudly next to their 1939 La Salle.*

[Both photos from my personal collection]

Unfortunately there's no caption to these photos which were pasted into the album side by side. (In the second photo you can just make out the couple in the chrome of the hubcap. It looks as if there's at least one other person with them but who?**)


*For the reasons why I think that's what the car is, look here.
**Probably Junior.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Saturday Night Show: Limited Time Free Webinar Recording – Storyboard Your Family History

I can use all the help I can get writing these genealogical blog posts on ancestors!  Here is a webinar, "Storyboard Your Family History," using Scrivener:

Learn how the Scrivener software, a multifaceted word processor and project management tool, can help you plot, organize, and write your family history narrative, prepare research reports, and much more. (Attendees are encouraged to download the free trial (PC or Mac) prior to webinar to maximize the learning experience).

Presented by Lisa Alzo.

Free to view without pay/subscription through August 5, 2015.


© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.