Photos from Paint Bank Community Cemetery

I promised pictures of my grandma's grave. Below is a slideshow of the best shots I took when I visited on July 12.

You can visit a direct link to a full-sized slideshow here or view the entire album by clicking on the thumbnail below!

Paint Bank Community Cemetery

Do you know the Sharp family of Cambria Co, PA?

I work at a used bookstore in Cary, NC.  The two photographs below were found in a used book on our shelves.  I would love to find the family of these people. I don't know if they are related to each other, but I suspect that they are from the same roll of film.  There's no writing on either one of them, but one has the number 25 stamped on the back and the other is stamped 26.

 

It was pretty easy to track down whose grave this is.  It has been entered on Find a Grave.  I contacted the man who created the memorials for Joseph and Anna Sharp, but unfortunately, he's not a relative and hasn't researched the family.  After I scanned the photos, I went ahead and uploaded the gravestone photo to both of the memorials, making it clear that I did not take these photographs and mentioned that I'm hoping to get the photos to people who will appreciate them!

It's hard to tell if this photograph was accidentally taken at an angle or if the house sits on a hill.  If it was taken in Cambria County, PA, where the Sharps are buried, then I'd guess that it's on a slope.  What do you think?  Do those clothes look like the 40s to you?  Please contact me if you think you know who these people are!

#52Ancestors Week 15: Where was Mary Elizabeth (Wolfe) McDaid really born?

For week 15 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, I want to touch on the mystery of where my 2nd great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth (Wolfe) McDaid was born in 1837.  While I am fairly certain that I know now, when I was first researching my family history, she confused me!

I first found her in the 1880 Census for West Finley Twp of Washington County, PA.  She was called Elizabeth and it listed her place of birth as Pennsylvania.  That seemed logical, most of my father's side of the family had been born in PA and lived there all their lives.  I went back ten years to 1870 and found the McDaid family in the same place, but at that time, they listed her birthplace as Ohio and she was called Mary E. McDaid.  So, my first thought was that my g-g-grandfather Samuel McDaid had been married twice.  Once again, I went back ten years to 1860 and found Samuel and "Elizabeth" McDaid.  Her place of birth was once again Ohio.  This led me to believe it was the same woman in all three of those census records and that whoever provided information to the enumerator in 1880 didn't know where she was born. 

Because my grandma had filled out my dad's side of the family in the family tree chart in my mom's Bible, I knew that Mary Elizabeth McDaid's maiden name had been Wolfe, so it was relatively easy to find 13 year old "Elizabeth Woolf" in the 1850 Census when she had lived with her parents Luther and Nancy in Morris Twp, Greene County, PA.  Imagine my surprise when her birthplace was once again listed as "PA." With the 1890 Census unavailable, I next searched for her in the 1900 Census and found "Mary E. McDaid", a widow, living in West Finley with her daughter, Margaret Sprowls and Baby Sprowls.  Again, her birthplace was listed as Pennsylvania, and I found the same thing in 1910.  By then, I was beginning to think that the two census records that said she was born in Ohio were anomalies of some kind.  

About that time, I got in touch with my 3rd cousin, Marilyn (McDaid) Varilone, who was also a 2nd g-granddaughter of Samuel and Mary Elizabeth McDaid.  She shared her family tree with me.  I was surprised to see that she had g-g-grandma's place of birth listed as Mount Vernon, NY!  I had never seen any evidence that these people had been in New York, but I wondered if Mount Vernon might be a clue.  There is a Mount Vernon in Knox County, Ohio.  A search of records for that county indicated that there were people named Wolfe living there and that it seemed possible that a man named Daniel Wolfe of that county was the brother of Mary's father, Luther.  Perhaps Mary Elizabeth Wolfe's parents lived for a short time in the same area?

While I have not found a primary source for Mary Elizabeth (Wolfe) McDaid's birth, in the early 2000s, I was researching Delayed Birth Certificates for my family members on microfilm at the Family History Library when I came across one for Margaret McDaid Sprowls who was the daughter of Samuel and Mary and the sister of my great-grandmother, May (McDaid) Atkinson.  One of the pieces of information required on the form was her mother's place of birth.  On it, Margaret had entered "Mount Vernon, Ohio."  And while I realize that Margaret Sprowls could have been mistaken about where her mother was born, until I have further information, I'm going to take her at her word!

Mary Elizabeth McDaid and her husband were buried with many of their family members in West Finley Cemetery.  Take a moment to visit her memorial on Find a Grave by clicking on the photo on the left!

#52Ancestors Week 11: Christopher Wolfe

It's Week 11!

This week I'm writing about my 4th great-grandfather, Christopher Wolfe.  He was probably born in Morris County, NJ in about 1767 and moved to southwest Pennsylvania in about 1800.  I haven't researched his ancestry myself, but when planning this blog entry, I remembered an email that was sent to me way back in the year 2000 that mentioned that his father was probably George WOLF (b.10 Aug 1737 d.16 Sep 1789) whose father was Johaan Augustus WOLF (b.Abt 1712 d.Aft 1759).  More info is available at: Wolf family of NJ which was copied directly from the email I was sent.  I'm not sure what all the abbreviations for the locations meant, but if you have questions, I'd be happy to make a guess. 

Christopher Wolfe died sometime in  April 1847 and he was buried in the Upper Ten Mile Presbyterian Church Cemetery.  Luckily, his gravestone had been transcribed at sometime in the past because, as you can see, his marker is disintegrating.  One cemetery transcription can be found at: Upper Ten Mile Cemetery Prosperity, Washington County, Pennsylvania.  Clicking on the photo to the left will take you to his memorial on FindaGrave.com.  You may also notice the military flag next to his grave.  I have seen information that Christopher Wolfe fought in the American Revolution.  He would have been about 16 years old when it ended in 1783 and I have not researched whether that might be likely or not.  I have searched the DAR records and they do not list any men named Christopher Wolfe in their database.

Christopher Wolfe was married twice.  His first wife was a woman named Phebe whose last name is unknown to me, although I have seen her listed in some trees on the Internet as Phoebe Douglas.  She was my ancestor, the mother of my 3rd great grandfather, Luther Wolfe.  After she died in 1813, Christopher married again, this time to a woman named Elizabeth Smith.  It seems to have been a rocky marriage, at least at the beginning.  My evidence for that is the following notice which I found transcribed on page 47, in Abstracts of the Washington Reporter; January 1, 1817 to February 6, 1820. 

From the Washington Reporter, Monday, Sept 22, 1817

Caution.  The subscriber is under the painful necessity of cautioning the public against trusting his wife Elizabeth Wolfe, late Elizabeth Smith, of Morris Township.  She had previous to this time absented herself and threatened to involve me in debt and to get as much on my credit as possible, whether she stood in need of it or not.  Notwithstanding her improper conduct I looked over it and restored her to my house and protection - but now finding that nothing else will do, I am compelled to publish to the world that I shall refuse to pay any debts she may contract in future unless compelled by law, especially while she continues in her present unlawful and unbecoming course. /s/ Christopher Wolfe, Morris township.

As far as I know, Christopher and Elizabeth Wolfe were together until he died.  In his will, he mentioned her with the sentence:  

I will that my wife Elisabeth have a comfortable support at the Expense of my Estate as long as she remains my widow with liberty of remaining in the house where I now live.

#52Ancestors Week 5: Charles McConnell

I've made it to week 5 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge.  Be sure to take a look at what other people are writing.  You can see the list of recaps HERE! 

This week, I've chosen Charles McConnell, my 3rd great-grandfather and, as far as I know, my most recent immigrant ancestor.  According to the information on his gravestone, he was born in County Donegal Ireland in 1800, he came to America in 1820, and he died on Christmas Day in 1871.  

I first found him in the census for Upper St Clair, Pennsylvania, for 1850 as a single man living in the household of John Morrow.  By 1860, Charles was married to John Morrow's daughter, Ann Jane and they had two daughters, Mary F. (my g-g-grandmother, Mary Frances) and Sarah C.  John Morrow also lived with the family as well as three other people whose connection to the family I have not yet determined.  Their names were George McConnell (whose name I originally recorded as Gerry because the census taker's handwriting was difficult to read), Anna McConnell, and Samuel Corti (or perhaps "Corle" which was how his name has been transcribed on Ancestry.com).  They were all born in Ireland.  At first I theorized that George and Anna were possibly children from a previous marriage of Charles.  Once I discovered that Charles McConnell immigrated in 1820, that seemed unlikely, so perhaps they were his cousins or his niece and nephew.  

Charles and Ann Jane McConnell are buried at Fawcett Methodist Church Cemetery in Bridgeville, PA.  A George McConnell is buried in the same small graveyard.  I found this interesting because my research indicated that most of my family on my dad's side were Presbyterians.  My grandma, her parents and siblings were all associated with the First Methodist Church in Canonsburg, PA, and my grandfather joined that church after he married Grandma.  Charles and Ann Jane were my grandmother's great-grandparents.  This could explain why my father grew up belonging to the Methodist church.

#52Ancestors Week 4: Lydia (Lafferty) Skiles

I'm very grateful to Amy Johnson Crow who challenged everyone to write about 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  She has really given me a reason to push myself to write at least one blog entry every week this year!  I can see myself accomplishing this goal and I encourage anyone reading this to play along!  I'm also going to make an effort to read other people's blogs and make comments.  It's important to give and receive feedback.

Lydia Lafftery Skiles is a real mystery to me.  I'm not sure when she was born, and I have no idea who her parents were.  My dad once told me that he had always heard she was an orphan.  She was one of his maternal great-grandmothers.

The earliest record I've found for her was the 1860 Census.  She was living with Joseph and Jane (Gilkeson) Denniston in Peters Twp of Washington County, Pennsylvania, and they claimed that she was 12 years old at that time.  When she was listed in the 1870 Census, she was living alone with Jane Denniston and her age was given as 26 years old.  By 1880, she was married to James H. Skiles.  They lived in North Strabane, PA, she was 29 years old, and she and James were already the parents of three children.  Obviously, there was some confusion about exactly how old she was.  

I have searched, page by page, through the Orphan Court Records for both Washington and Allegheny Counties of Pennsylvania that are available on microfilm at the Family History Library for any hint I could find about her birth family with no luck.  I have so many questions.  Were the Dennistons related to her, or did she merely work for them as a domestic servant as the 1870 census indicated? 

In 1904, Lydia Skiles died from lung problems.  Her obituary appeared on the front page of the Canonsburg (PA) Herald on July 28, 1904.  It says she was "in the 55th year of her age" which seems to indicate that she was born around 1849.  This is what it said:

Lydia L.  Skiles -- On Monday night, July 25, at her home on East Pike Street, Mrs. Lydia L.  Skiles died of lung trouble in the 55th year of her age.

She is survived by her husband, Jas.  H.  Skiles and the following children: Mrs. C.  Fife, Mrs. H. Bowers, Alice and Maude.  The funeral services were held in the First M.  E.  Church on Wednesday at 1 p.m.  Interment was in the Center Presbyterian Cemetery.

Lydia was buried at Center Church Cemetery in Peters Twp.  There are no markers there for her or her husband, James, but I have assumed that they were buried in an empty space near James H. Skiles' parents, James P. and Martha (Hair/Hare) Skiles.  Joseph and Jane Denniston are also buried in the same cemetery.

A cousin once told me that Lydia and James used to have markers on their graves but that my great uncle claimed that he visited the cemetery once many years ago and found the stones in a rubbish pile and because he didn't speak up, they were lost.  That's a little difficult to believe.  Uncle Selwyn was known for his jokes and tall tales. 

Click on the photo to view Lydia Skiles' memorial on Find a Grave.

#52Ancestors Week 3: Sarah (Combs) Webb

Once again, thanks to Amy Johnson Crow for her great idea to write about 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks! 

This week I wanted to share the story of my maternal great-great-grandma, Sarah Ann (Combs) Webb.  I wish I had more than a basic outline of her details because I feel certain that her life was very difficult.  It would have been interesting to hear her describe it in her own words.

Born about 1840 in southwestern Virginia, "Sally's" parents were Newell and Frances (Beamer) Combs.  On July 20, 1855, she married John J. Webb in Carroll County, VA.  She gave birth to four children while he was alive.  After the South seceded from the Union in 1860, John Webb joined Co. I of the 13th Virginia Infantry, fighting for the Confederacy.  At first I assumed that John Webb was my ancestor and that he had fathered my great-grandmother, Rhoda (Webb) Tolbert, after he had returned from the war.  However, I was disappointed to learn that John Webb was taken prisoner and died of typhoid at the Federal Prison Camp at Camp Chase near Columbus, Ohio on May 2, 1865.  Since Rhoda Webb was born in October of 1866, it seems unlikely that John J. Webb was her father.

Sarah Webb bore 9 children after her husband died, but she never remarried.  A distant cousin, Freddie Spradlin, mentioned in an email that when he looked at the original birth records for her children at the court house in Carroll County, VA, he found notes from a person he called a "helpful" clerk (quotes added by Freddie) noting that her husband had died in the Civil War. 

I haven't been able to locate burial places for most of my ancestors on my mother's side of the family and I have assumed that their graves were unmarked.  I was very excited to find Sarah listed on Find a Grave HERE. Her memorial had been created by a volunteer who was able to visit  Cruise Cemetery in Carroll County where Sarah is buried. In October of 2013, I was able to visit her grave myself and took many photos, including the one I've posted here.  It seems likely that this marker was placed long after she died.  I find it interesting that only the first three of her children are mentioned on the stone, although another of her children, Fair Lillian (Webb) Nester is buried nearby. There is also no date of death engraved.  I have been unable to determine exactly when Sarah Webb died.  She was still living when the 1900 Census was taken, but she was not enumerated in the census for 1910.  She probably passed away sometime between those years, but since many of my ancestors seem to have hidden from the census taker, I'm not assuming that is true.

The Graveyard Rabbit: New Carnival on the Block

Announced on Jan 31 at The Graveyard Rabbit: New Carnival on the Block:

The topic for the premier edition of this carnival is "exceptional finds." Share with us those rare and unique cemeteries, gravestones, monuments, memorials, inscriptions, etc. Send one, send two; it's up to you! Submissions are due on February 25. And hey, bring a friend! Let's make this the best carnival debut in history!

I've been putting off writing this article because I couldn't decide what to share. I'm afraid I have already written articles about my most exceptional finds that relate to my own family, so I'm going to take this opportunity to write about a grave I found which does not belong to a family member. Now I know that "I" didn't actually discover this grave, that other people realized where he was buried, but when I visited the Mentor Avenue Cemetery in Lake County, Ohio, I was surprised to find a large zinc marker for Jonathan Goldsmith. Perhaps, unless your grew up in North East Ohio or if you are some kind of architecture expert, you may not know who he was, but since I DID grow up there, I recognized the name right away! He was a well-known architect and builder in the part of Ohio that used to be called "The Connecticut Western Reserve".

A few years ago while visiting my mom in Painesville, she and I were driving along Mentor Avenue and for the first time, I saw a cemetery in a spot that I only remembered as an overgrown field. My mom told me that someone had made it a project to clean it up, making it visible for the first time in decades! It's hard to imagine that such a thing could remain unknown for so long along such a busy road. The cemetery is now usually referred to as Mentor Avenue Cemetery, but has been called Painesville Twp Cemetery, Blish Cemetery, and Nye Road Cemetery at different times. Many Lake County pioneer families are represented there, and you can see some history and a full transcript on a page from the Lake County Genealogical Society (Ohio) Projects Site. In 2006, after I began submitting photographs to Find a Grave, I talked my mom into spending an afternoon there with me exploring and taking pictures. That's when I found Mr. Goldsmith's grave marker.

I decided to submit his information to Find a Grave and I thought he needed more than just the bare biography that I could create from the information on his grave and from my own memory, so I looked for biographical sources on the internet that I could use to compose something original without much success, but luckily, I found an out-of-print book on eBay called Jonathan Goldsmith, pioneer master builder in the Western Reserve by Elizabeth Hitchcock that I was able to get for a reasonable price. It became my main source in writing a biography for him on Find a Grave which I am also republishing below. I hope you find it interesting! I also hope you'll also take a few minutes to visit his memorial that I created there. It contains more pictures, including a famous example of his work at Jonathan Goldsmith.

Master Builder, Architect. Jonathan Goldsmith was considered a pioneer in the Greek Revival Style of architecture, and he was also known for creating buildings in the Federal style. Originally apprenticed to a shoemaker in his native Connecticut, he bought out his apprenticeship four years early and apprenticed himself to a carpenter-joiner.

In 1805, he went into business for himself, first in Hebron, CT, and later in Hinsdale, MA. In 1808, he married Abigail Jones, and in 1811, he, his wife and their two eldest children followed many of Mrs. Goldsmith's family members to Painesville, OH. At first, he was only able to find work as a cobbler, and when the War of 1812 broke out, he volunteered for service. After returning home, he went on to become a well-known architect and builder in the area of Ohio once known as the Connecticut Western Reserve.

Goldsmith's buildings include 30 homes and commercial buildings in Painesville, another handful around Lake County, and 10 houses in Cleveland. Many still exist today, although many more have been demolished. The front doorway of one of those razed homes, known as the Isaac Gillet House, has been exhibited at the Cleveland Museum of Art. His drawings were also included in an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum's titled "The Greek Revival in the United States" in 1943. His work is better documented than many other 19th century builders due to the efforts of his daughter Lucia, who preserved his drawings and other manuscripts. Many of his personal and professional papers are stored at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland.

He was also known as a mechanic and farmer, and he is credited with inventing a multiple plow. While visiting his son, Gillett Goldsmith, who lived in Bexar County, TX, he obtained a patent from the Republic of Texas on May 7, 1840. In later years, Goldsmith suffered financial setbacks resulting in his selling his home, which he had built himself in 1818, as well as 86 acres of land. His final building project was the creation of a smaller house, later known as "Ingleside" where he lived until his death. The home was purchased in 1911 by the Lake County Agricultural Society as part of a parcel of 36 acres that is now the Lake County Fairgrounds. It was destroyed by fire in 1929. Jonathan Goldsmith was buried in the Painesville Twp Cemetery (now known as the Mentor Avenue Cemetery), located less than a mile from his home.

Tombstone Tuesday: Michael McDaid

This is the grave of my 3rd great grandfather, Michael S. McDaid. This was taken long before I owned a digital camera. Michael was an interesting character, but with as much as I know about him, there is so much more I wish I knew.

He was born in Pennsylvania, but I've never found his parents. There were few McDaid families in Western Pennsylvania, but he could have been from the eastern part of the state where the name is a little more common. He was born sometime around 1809-1810, although I can't be sure. Every census gives an inconsistent age and even his pension applications after the Civil War gave ages that don't match a particular date of birth.

He married his wife, Jennet (or Janetta) McCoy, presumably before 1828 when his eldest daughter, Mary Jane, was born. He and Jennet went on to have 8 children, including my 2nd great-grandfather, Samuel S. McDaid. They moved around Greene and Washington Counties in Pennsylvania, finally seeming to settle down in West Finley Twp. However, the Civil War changed that.

Michael McDaid was about 50 years old when the war started. He and his son, William, went to Wheeling, West Virginia to enlist to fight for the Union. Michael served in Co. L of the 2nd WV Cavalry. According to his service records, though, he was away from duty quite a bit, often related to injuries that seemed to be caused by clumsiness or carelessness, although his age could have been a factor. One major injury was a dislocated shoulder caused by a rearing horse. There was some indication that he was AWOL for a time, but his excuse was that he had returned home to recuperate.

After the war, Michael never returned to live in West Finley, but instead went to live in Marshall County, WV, with a man named Jesse Gorbey. Mr. Gorbey might have been a relative -- perhaps a brother-in-law -- I've seen information that indicates that his wife's maiden name might have been "McDaid". Jennet McDaid continued to live on her own in West Finley. After the war, she filed for a pension based on the service of her son William who had died of Small Pox in Washington, DC, during the war. Her pension request included several affidavits signed by her neighbors and friends testifying to the fact that her husband had abandoned her! And yet, I have never found any indication that she and Michael were divorced. However, in 1879, Michael married Lucinda Martin in Marshall County. She was at least 25 years younger than he was, and Jennet was alive until at least 1883. The fact that Michael McDaid seemed to have been married to two women at the same time makes him interesting to me, but I know of one cousin who was upset when she found the same info I did in the pension records. She seemed sorry that she had done the research, and I don't even know if she's still doing genealogy.

Michael died in 1892, although there seems to be some confusion about exactly when. The date shown in his pension paperwork looks like February 10, 1892. However, a pension increase was approved in April 1892, and his file wasn't closed until December. It seems that Lucinda might have been a little shady. She remarried the next year to another Civil War pensioner. After he died, she applied for widow's pensions based on the service of both husbands, while indicating on each application that she had only been married to one veteran. Someone at the VA was on their toes and caught her deception. The files of her two husbands have been combined at the National Archives.

Luckily, since Michael was a veteran, his grave has been marked. He was buried at Shepherd Methodist Church in Adaline, WV. The stone only shows his name and service info, no birth or death date. I originally found a record of his burial on the website for Marshall County WV GenWeb . Also buried there was Mary Gorbey, wife of Jesse. The town is very isolated, and my husband and I had a little trouble finding it. That was in the days before Google Maps or GPS devices, but you can see it's location below. We were relieved when we located the churchyard.


View Larger Map

I think of Michael as one of my more interesting ancestors. In his pension file is a letter written in his own handwriting. One of my brothers-in-law does handwriting analysis. I had him look at that letter without telling him anything that I had learned about Michael McDaid. He told me that the handwriting indicated that the writer was a creative and intelligent person who bored easily and probably seemed irresponsible. He also mentioned that the handwriting indicated that Michael was a heavy drinker, but due to the age he was when the letter was written, he might also have had a minor stroke at some time. I have wondered how his abandonment of his family might have affected later generations.

Tombstone Tuesday: Nancy Jane (Chase) Wolfe

I've recently started spending more time reading other people's genealogy blogs, and I've noticed some memes I'd like to use for inspiration. One of these is "Tombstone Tuesday". Since I have uploaded almost 4100 photos (so far) to Find a Grave, I have plenty of content for sharing photos of tombstones!

For my first entry, here's the grave of my g-g-g-grandmother, Nancy Jane (Chase) Wolfe. I took this photo in July of 2005 while I was on vacation in Southwestern Pennsylvania where my dad's family lived for generations, looking for family graves. At the time, I had barely learned Nancy's name and didn't have a clue where to look for her and her husband's graves.

On our way to see the graves of my McDaid relatives who are buried at West Finley Cemetery in Washington County, we stopped at Windy Gap Cemetery which was on the way. I had read a partial transcript that showed that the sister of my g-g-grandfather, Samuel McDaid, whose name was Mary Jane, had been buried there in 1852, so I wanted to see if there was a marker. As I walked thru the gate, I saw the stone you see here. It reads:

Nancy.Wife ofLUTHER WOLFEDIEDJuly 30, 1873Aged 63 years11 Mos & 16 ds.

You can't imagine how excited I was. In fact, hers was the very first grave I entered on F-a-G. It turns out it was more than serendipitous that I found her grave then. In August of this year, I was able to visit again, and the stone had degraded so much that I'm not sure I would have recognized the name on the stone. Luckily on that day in 2005, the stone was in good enough condition and the light fell just right on the face for me to read the inscription!

I don't know a lot about Nancy beyond the basics. She was the daughter of Barnabas and Elizabeth (Carroll) Chase, born August 14, 1809, and died July 30, 1873. She married Luther Wolfe, and they had 7 children, including my g-g-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth (Wolfe) McDaid. You can see Nancy Wolfe's info on Rootsweb WorldConnect HERE. Something I found very interesting about her is the fact that she's the only female ancestor I've found so far who had a will of her own. I wish I knew more about her. Here's a transcript:

Will of Nancy Wolf

(Washington County, PA, Willbook #10, page 161)

Know all men by these presents that I Nancy Wolf of West Finley Township in the County of Washington and state Pennsylvania widow being in ill health but of sound and disposing mind and memory do make and publish this my last will and testament hereby revoking all former wills by me at any time heretofore made.

And as to my worldly Estate, and all My property personal or mixed of which I shall die siezed and possessed or to which I shall be entitled at the time of my decease I devise bequeath and dispose. There of inasmuch following to wit. First my will is that all my just debts and funeral expenses shall by my Executor hereinafter named be paid out of my Estate as soon after my decease as shall by him be found convenient-- I give and bequeath to my daughter Sarah A. Potter one of my best milk cows her choice, also my bay mare, and the one half of my bed clothes and bedding; The other half of my bed clothes and beding I give to the children of my deceased daughter Jane Milligan. I will and bequeath to my soninlaw Samuel McDaid one hundred dollars; My will is that all the rest of myproperty be sold by my Executor and after the payment of all legal exhenses of the settlement of my estate that the ballance of the money be divided between my daughter Sarah A. Potter and the children of my deceased daughter Jane Milligan; the one half to my daughter Sarah A. Potter, the other to the children of Jane Milligan deceased-- My son Christopher C. Wolf and my daughter Elisabeth McDaid have received all that I intend them to have.

And Lastly I do nominate and appoint J. W. Milligan to be the Executor of this my last will and testament subscribed my name and affixed my seal this fifth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy two.

signed sealed published and declared by Nancy Wolf as and for her last will and testament in the presences of us, who at her request and in her presence the presence of each other have subscribed our names as witnesses hereto

William S. Irey
Arthur Sprowl

Commonwealth of Penna.
County of Washington s.s.

Be it Remembered that upon This 2d day of Aug. 1873 before me A.O. Day Register for the Probate of wills and granting Letters of administration within and for said county came William S. Irey & Arthur sprowls the subscribing witnesses to the forgoing attached will of Nancy Wolf deceased who after being duly qualified according to law depose and say, That They were present at the execution of said will, saw the testatrix sign the same heard her publish it as and for her last will and testament, that they at her request in her presence and in the presence of each other subscribed their names ____ as witnesses, William S. Irey Arthur Sprowls sworn and subscribed before A.O. Day Register
And were Aug 2, 1873 As being adjudged that the said will has been duly heard Letters are issued to J. W. Milligan who was duly qualified. A.O. Day Regr.

Memory Medallions

This is also posted on my photo blog, here, and I thought it was appropriate for this blog, too.

You may ask, "What is that thing?" And if you found one in real life, you'd still wonder! I have seen a few of these on gravestones around Washington and Greene Counties in Pennsylvania where most of my dad's side of the family lived and died. Being the curious person I am, I had to see what they were.

From the Memory Medallion website, this is how they're described:

The Memory Medallion is a small disc, about the size of a half dollar, which is embedded in a monument, memorial or grave marker. Inside the Medallion is a digital memory device that holds a photograph and life story of your loved one.

To access the information on a Memory Medallion, all you need is a handheld computer or laptop—and the special Memory Medallion “touch wand”. Simply connect the wand's cord to your computer and touch the metal tip to the Medallion. Instantly, the information on the digital memory device will download to your screen—and you'll be looking into a beloved face, or reading the life story of someone special.

The Memory Medallion can store one photograph and up to 600 words. Each profile page also offers hyperlink capabilities so you can access Internet sites, including genealogical sites, family history pages, military history pages and personal Web sites. The Memory Medallion opens up a whole world of photos, video and stories to enhance and enrich your memories.

With the Memory Medallion, the true spirit and meaning of a person's life can be stored—and shared—for generations.

Pretty cool, huh? I've never seen one in action, but I'd like to. Maybe someday they'll be more common. I photographed this one at Enon Cemetery.

Find-a-Grave Cemetery Picture List

Originally posted HERE on November 29, 2005

(That page has been updated several times since then, but from now on, I’ll update this entry instead.)

Below are graveyards for which I have entered one or more photographs to the cemetery entry page on Find-a-Grave. This entry is intended to be an addendum to my Find-a-Grave Biography.

Addison Family Cemetery
Airport Boulevard Community Cemetery
Amey Family Cemetery
Amity Presbyterian Cemetery
Andrews Chapel Cemetery
Ash Hollow Cemetery
Bagwell Family Cemetery
Batchelor Yates Cemetery
Benedictine Sisters of Adoration Cemetery
Bethel Cemetery
Bethesda Baptist Church Cemetery
Bethlehem Baptist Cemetery
Beulah Cemetery
Blacknall Cemetery
Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens
Boot Hill Cemetery
Brakeman Cemetery
Brier Creek Cemetery
Brush Run Cemetery
Camp Chase Cemetery
Catawba Memorial Park
Cedar Fork Church Cemetery
Cedar Hill Cemetery
Center Presbyterian Churchyard
Chapel Cemetery
Chardon Municipal Cemetery
Charter Oak Park
Chestnut Grove Baptist Church Cemetery
Chimney Rock Cemetery
Claysville Cemetery
Clayton Family Graves
Cold Harbor National Cemetery
Conception Abbey Cemetery
Concord Cemetery
Confederate Cemetery
Crocker Cemetery
Cullowhee Baptist Church Cemetery
Elmwood Cemetery
Emmaus Baptist Church Cemetery
Enon Cemetery
Evans Chapel AME Zion Church Cemetery
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Brown Cemetery, Jersey County, IL

Originally posted HERE on Sunday, August 21, 2005

I promised to post those pictures if I found them. Well, I did, and I just finished scanning them.

These were all taken on the afternoon of July 25, 1998.

Hope they meet your expectations :)

Grave Adventures

Originally posted HERE on Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Over the last weeks since my vacation, I have managed to upload most of the information and photos about burials to Find-a-Grave that I have collected over the years I've been doing genealogy. You can browse what I've submitted by using the link I provided in my previous entry, if you're interested!

All this thinking about graves and cemeteries reminded me of an "adventure" I had a few years ago. At the time, I lived in Kirkwood, MO, a suburb of St. Louis. I belonged to a mailing list (in fact, I still do) along with a couple of the descendents of a man named William A. Tolbert, a brother of my g-g-g-grandmother, Mary Tolbert. They had mentioned that he was buried in Jersey County, IL, in Brown Cemetery, which I discovered was only about an hour and a half drive from where I lived. One day, when I was bored, I decided to take a short road trip! The following is the text of the email I wrote the next day describing the experience.

Written July 26, 1998:

Yesterday I had a few free hours and decided I would drive up to Jersey Co, IL to look for the grave of William Allen Tolbert. (Good thing I didn't wait until today... it's all rainy and dark outside!)

There is good news and some very bad news! I did manage to find the cemetery, but if W. A. Tolbert was buried there, either the gravestone is gone, or it has fallen over and the weeds and bushes have hidden it! The whole place is a mess, I feel like I must have been divinely inspired to even find the graveyard! (OK, maybe I just have good intuition!) :)

I got to Jerseyville about noon, and spent a couple hours driving back and forth in the area where I knew it had to be, trying to see if there were any graves off the side of the road where I could see them from the car. I couldn't find anything, and I worried that the graves might be behind one of the tall corn fields in the area. I took a break and went back after lunch. I tried a couple more times (I couldn't drive as slowly as I wanted to... I was surprised how much traffic there was on that road). There was one place along the road that I decided I would park and get out and walk around. It was a large clump of trees, right in the middle of all the corn and soybean fields. And there was actually a place nearby where I could pull off the road... most of the rest of the road had ditches close to the pavement (or gravel, or dirt, depending on which part I was on). I walked over to the trees, and managed to get over the ditch on some fallen branches, and when I pulled back some bushes, I found a rusted iron fence with three graves in it, so I knew I had finally found it. At first I thought that was all to the graveyard, and I was disappointed to see that the gravestones were all for a family named Campbell. But looking thru the thick branches beyond the fence, I could see more gravestones outside the fence.

The condition of this graveyard is horrible! I managed to get thru the bushes and weeds (the worst were blackberry bushes... ouch!!) all the way back to the rear boundary of the cemetery. There were about 15 graves that I could see, and all but one of the large stones were knocked over. Some smaller stones had broken off, and someone had propped them up against their base. Of the recognizeable graves, I could read at least part of maybe 5 of them. I couldn't find a grave with William Tolbert's name on it, but I am assuming that there were probably many more gravestones that had fallen down and were hidden by the undergrowth. There was one large gravestone that had fallen down that I couldn't get close enough to read, because of the blackberry bushes all the way around it! (I kept thinking of the castle in Sleeping Beauty!) But I could see a masonic symbol on it, and I thought I could make out the word "wife", so I don't think it was the one I was looking for. In all, it probably took me 45 minutes to work my way thru the cemetery and back. I took some pictures, mainly to show the condition of the grounds and the stones there. My hair was full of leaves and sticks, and I spent a few minutes looking for ticks (I only found 3) :)

Dixie, how long ago was it when your brother took those pictures? From what I saw, I would guess that it's been several years since anyone has been back in there. I would really be interested in seeing copies of the pictures he took for comparison (and let me know if you'd like me to pay costs.) After I see how my photos come out, I'll be happy to scan and email them to anyone who'd like them, or I can have copies made and snailmail them. Let me know!

Sorry this email was so long, but I wanted to try to impress on you all how difficult and disappointing it was to find this cemetery. From the way it looked, I can't imagine it being cleaned up unless there was some way to burn all the undergrowth without damaging anything else. I don't know if there would be any way to organize enough people to make a difference!

What did I learn from this excursion? Well, since then I have carried sweat pants and a sweatshirt in the trunk of my car. I sure could have used them that day!

I still have those photos, although they didn't turn out very good. Mainly they just show a very tangled bit of wooded wilderness. If I come across them soon, I'll post them here to illustrate!

Stupid hole

Originally posted HERE

I went out to fulfill some Find a Grave requests this morning at St. Mary's Cemetery here in Painesvile Ohio where I'm visiting my mom. While wandering around, I was busy looking at the sheet of paper I printed out with the requests instead of where I was going, stepped in a hole, and twisted my ankle which threw me to the ground. While sitting there hoping I would be able put weight on my foot, I took this picture of the stupid hole.

It took a few minutes before I felt safe to get up, I was relieved that no one was nearby to see me, and grateful that I had my cell phone. It's been a few hours now, it doesn't look swollen, but it does hurt. I took a couple Aleves and I'm going to get an elastic brace later. Hopefully it will be fine.