To Share, Show, and Explain

The Carnival of Genealogy 55th Edition is “Show and Tell”.  “Remember that fun little exercise you used to do in your grade school days? Here’s your chance to do it again. Show us and tell us about an heirloom, a special photo, a valuable document, or a significant person that is a very special part of your family history. Don’t be shy now, show us what you’ve got! This is all about bragging rights so don’t hesitate to make the rest of us green with envy! This is your chance to brag, brag, brag, without seeming like a braggart (you can’t be a braggart when you’re merely following directions ;-)… so show and tell!”  This edition of the Carnival is hosted by Jasia at Creative Gene.

Do to the time constraints I have right now – I will be re-running one of my older posts on “The Christening Gown”.

The Christening Gown (originally published on May 28, 2008)

One of the items that I treasure is the Christening Gown my great-grandmother Katie J. (Blazer) Johnson hand made.  I first saw this gown when I was in high school and needed something that had been passed down through the family for an oral report.  Mom dug it out of the storage trunk and handed me the box.  Inside was this off-white gown and some pictures.  In the old photos were babies wearing this gown: my grandfather – Glen R. Johnson; his son – Glen R. Johnson, Jr.; my aunt – Genevieve; and my mother.  I’m not really sure they were all actually baptized or “christened” in this gown as I have other documents and oral histories about each one being baptized as an older child.

The gown is actually in 2 parts.  The slip which is plain gets put on the baby first and then the “dress” goes over that.  It has hand tatted lace and exquisite handiwork.  There are been some rust stains scattered here and there and Mom actually soaked the dress is carbonated water to remove most of them (old laundry hint!).

The dress remained at my mother’s and when it was time for my nephew’s first child to be baptized, the gown came out of storage and used.  When my first born grandson was to be baptized at six weeks, my mother shipped the box from Ohio to Texas to me.  Then my youngest grandson also wore the gown at 2 months when he was baptized.  The Christening Gown has been worn by 3 out of five generations (I don’t believe any of us – children of my mom, aunt or uncle or our children – have worn the gown).  It truly is a treasure that I will keep for future babies to use.

(Picture is of my youngest grandson wearing the gown at his baptism in October 2006.)

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Freaky Friday – 4th Edition for 8/29/2008

Today’s “Freaky Friday” edition explores what I would encounter if I lived in a different era. I thought it would be easier if I started with the decade prior to my birth and then move backwards!

THE 1950s

Women weren’t entering the work force as more than nurses, teachers, switchboard operators, secretaries, waitresses or stewardesses (notice the different terminology than today?).  Generally if women attended college, it was for a nursing or teaching degree, to get involved in a sorority which could help them move in the correct social circles or to find a husband.  They weren’t inspired to reach for the sky to do anything they desired.

Families found entertainment through television which had reached the mainstream.  Evenings were spent watching “Your Show of Shows”, “Ozzie and Harriett” and Milton Berle.  They also spent time at local community social events or through travel usually in their new “finned” automobiles.  Air travel wasn’t as common as it is today.  Films that captured attention included science fiction especially in the face of the new Cold War. (see Footnote 1)

Young women wore poodle skirts, rolled up blue jeans, penny loafers and bobby sox.  They dressed conservatively lest they be saddled with an unsavory reputation.  Married and older women wore tailored suits to church and social ocassions.  They were polished and dressed well when they were out in public.

Rock and roll was brand new and under close scrutiny from parents and those in authority.  Musical artists who came into their own during this decade include Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, and Bill Haley and the Comets among many others.

Women who were married, especially after children were born, stayed at home and ran the household.  Not only was she the housekeeper, the cook, and the laundress, but she took care of everyone’s schedule, made a hot meal three times a day, joined the PTA, the church ladies organization, and community or social groups.

When she went to the grocery store, she generally paid less than $1/gallon of milk; less than .20/loaf of bread; and less than $1 for a T-bone steak.  When her new Ford (costing less than $2,500) was filled up with gas, she paid less than .30 per gallon. (see Footnote 2)

SummarY 1950S vs 2008

• Career: Secretary – CEO/owner of own business
• Education: high school diploma – PhD
• Being Unmarried: Old Maid – Single Woman
• Being married: wife & mother – partner in marriage
• Entertainment: Ozzie & Harriett (not quite reality TV) – Survivor (reality TV)
• Films: The Blob – The Dark Knight
• Music: Early Rock & Roll – Heavy Metal
• Daily life: Centered around needs of family & others – attempting to be Superwoman
• Social activities: PTA, garden club – (still) PTA, physical fitness activities, sports, volunteerism
• In the Home: cooking, cleaning, etc. – dividing up the chores, hiring a lawn & maid service to help
• Prices: .27/gallon of gas – $3.40/gallon; .90/gallon of milk – $4/gallon of milk
• Travel: family vehicle – air travel

In conclusion, I can’t honestly say I would be less happy in the decade of the 1950s as I am today.  My parents were older when I was born so they had lived through the Great Depression, World War II, and the 1950s so they had the values of the time.  In many ways my values were shaped from how I was raised and the ideals within my family.  Yet, I’ve come to appreciate and sometimes depend on the technology we have today.  Don’t have time to go to the library, check the internet.  Want to see a movie that no one else in the family wants to see, download it and watch it whenever you want on your computer or Ipod.  Forget what else you were supposed to buy at the store, use the cell phone to call home.  Don’t have time to wash all those dishes, load the dishwasher.  Don’t have time to preheat the oven and cook dinner, set the microwave.  Unfortunately the down side to all of this is that patience is tested – not only for waiting for a page to download from the computer but waiting in line at the post office or in traffic.  Not often is there time to actually stop and smell the flowers let alone eat two or three meals together each night.  Days are scheduled down to the last minute without any give built in for spontaneity and fun.  Perhaps it’s time to bring a little of the 1950s “slowness” to modern times – if only to be able to appreciate each day before it draws to a close, lost forever in all those other days that we eventually wish we could have again.

Footnote 1: Wikipedia – 1950s

Footnote 2: What it cost in 1954

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Explanation for Wordless Wednesday

This photograph was taken in Coshocton, Ohio in the early 1940s.  Those in the picture include:
Back Standing: Norman, Gail, Bervil, Paul, & my dad, Gene; Front row: Gertrude, my grandfather – Lloyd, my grandmother – Ella (House), and Marie.  All seven children of my grandparents were together.  I don’t know the reason for this ocassion.

This photograph was taken in the Summer of 1967 in St. Claire Shores, Michigan at my Uncle Pauls’ home during the very first Amore Sibling (Descendents of Lloyd and Ella Amore) reunion.  This reunion was actually recorded on reel-to-reel tape, and I know have the CD of this recording.  I hope to get it transcribed at some point.  Left to right: my dad – Gene, Paul, Marie, Gertrude, Gail, and Norman.  My Uncle Bervil didn’t come to this reunion or to any of the subsequent reunions.  He also never went to the Amore-Baker reunion held for the Descendents of Henry and Annie Amore except maybe once.

This one shows Norman, Paul, Marie, Gail, and Gertrude.  My dad was taking the picture so he’s not in it.  This was taken at a Sibling reunion in the 1970s. 

What I find interesting is how close the brothers and sisters remained most of their lives.  Besides getting together once a year for their own reunion (held at each others’ homes), most of them traveled to the Amore-Baker reunion that was also held every year in Coshocton.  They also visited with each other quite a bit.  Unfortunately as age and health concerns creeped up on each of them, the visits grew further and further apart.  My Uncle Norman moved closer to my dad in the 90s.  My Uncle Paul moved from his home in Michigan to Las Vegas to live with his surviving son after my aunt passed away.  Luckily my dad lived out West for a good number of years and was able to visit him at least once a year.  My Uncle Gail passed away in the early 1980s.  My Aunt Gertrude became more reclusive and stopped communicating with her siblings in the 90s.  Today only Aunt Marie and my dad are the only ones left.  I feel quite lucky that I saw my uncles and aunts a lot while I was growing up since they seemed to be spread out from Illinois to Michigan to Pennsylvania to Ohio.  The last time I saw all of them together (minus Uncle Bervil) was in the early 1970s at the last Sibling reunion I was able to attend.  Someday I hope that all of us that are left – descendents of Lloyd and Ella – now spread out even further than before – can make an effort to come together to remember those who came before us and catch up on family ties.  There are 11 of us first cousins left – many of us haven’t seen each other or spoken to each other in over 30 years.

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Wordless Wednesday – August 27th

Top: Amore family

Center: Amore Siblings minus one brother, Bervil

Bottom: Amore Siblings minus two brothers (one was taking the picture & the other was absent)

All photographs owned by: Wendy Littrell [address for private use]

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Audio Tapes

In the 1950s when my parents lived in Japan, they bought a reel-to-reel tape player and recorded oral letters which they sent to my grandparents in Ohio.  There weren’t many that survived as they were erased, recorded over or became so bad no one could understand what was recorded on them.  Those that did survive were compiled into CDs by my cousin and sent out to those of us who were there.  I really wasn’t there as it was many years before I was born.  I’m on one or two tapes that were recorded at my dad’s family reunions. 

Yesterday I received these seven CDs in the mail and hurriedly put one in to listen.  I had never heard my sister as a young girl or my brother’s voice as a young man.  All of them – including my parents – sound so young.  Then today I listened to another CD that included the voices of my grandparents. 

To say that this is like Christmas for me would be an understatement.  I’m hearing people whose voices I haven’t heard in many years.  Even though I have dozens of handwritten letters, there is something to be said to actually hear family speak about their day to day activities.  I hear the excitement of being in a new country, the sadness of being so far from family, the laughter from being silly, and the fear when my aunt became very sick.

My cousin probably doesn’t really understand just how much these CDs mean to me.  It’s a piece of time that will never come again – yet it’s been captured forever in the lilting words of my family.

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The Winner’s Circle

Many of you have been following the Genea-Blogger Group Games during the last couple weeks and the closing ceremonies were yesterday.  Thomas MacEntee from Destination: Austin Family hosted the ceremonies. Please go to Closing Ceremonies to see all the flags of the participants and the medals won.

Here are the awards I received:

Cite Sources – Platinum

Organize Your Research – Gold

Write! Write! Write! – Diamond

Genealogical Acts of Kindness – Diamond

I want to congratulate all of the participants on – not only acquiring a medal or two (or three or four or . . . ) – but on getting a little more organized.  We are such a great team!  Go Team GBG!

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I’m a Cool Kid Too!

I decided to head over to Alltop to see who all made the list and much to my surprise . . . (wait for it) . . . (wait for it) . . . I made the list! Do we have a party now? Confetti! Noise makers! Champagne! I’m a cool kid, too!

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Disecting Obituaries

Many times when we find an obituary of an ancestor or a member of a collateral family, we skim over the details without really taking it apart.  I will list some obituaries that I have found or that I have copies of and analyze them part by part.

ONE:

Funeral Services for John Lafe Johnson – Full name was John Lafayette Johnson, his nieces and nephews called him Uncle Lafe as there were many in the family named “John”.  The inclusion and shortening of his middle name was to make sure that extended family knew precisely that this was their family member.

age 78 – Age is given so if there is another member of the community with a similar name, this information would be enough to differentiate them.

former resident of Anderson – He had lived in Anderson most of his life and was well known in that town, however he had not lived in that location for about 9 years.  This information shows he still had family ties in that locale.

who died Sunday – Day of the week instead of the actual date.

at the home of a son, Glen Johnson, of Fairfield, O. – where the death took place.  By saying “a” son, this seems to indicate that John had more than one son – which he did – however, the oldest, Letis, had been deceased for many years.  This also gives the name of the son and where he lived.

will be held today at 2 p.m. in the Bob Waltz funeral home with the Rev. James H. Welsh, pastor of the East Lynn Christian Church in charge. – Day, time and location of funeral services.  Provides information on what type of officiant will be handling the service.  By naming a minister of a particular church, this is one way to deduct that the deceased had some affiliation either with the Pastor, that particular church, or that denomination.

Burial will be in Maplewood Cemetery. – Location of burial.  No city is listed indicating that it is in the same city as the newspaper location (Anderson, Indiana).

The body will arrive at the funeral home this morning. – Indicates death took place in another location and the deceased will be transported to the funeral home this same morning.

Questions I have after reading this one include:

• How many children did John Johnson have?
• Who were his survivors and how are they related?
• What was his wife’s name?
• Was she still alive or had she died?
• Why was John at his son’s home?
• Why was that particular minister in charge of the funeral?
• Was he a member of the Christian Church in Anderson, Indiana?
• What was the exact date of death?
• Had John been ill?
• Was his death sudden?
• Was he a native of Anderson or had he been born somewhere else?
• Who were his parents?
• What occupation(s) had he held in his life?

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

TWO:

This clipping is very similar to ONE except for a four things.  First: It states in bold headlines that “Johnson Funeral To Be Wednesday”.  This suggests that the obituary ran at least a day or two prior to the funeral as opposed to ONE, which suggests the funeral is that same day.  Second: Throughout the clipping, it also states Wednesday as the day of the funeral.  This answers the question – what day of the week the funeral will be held. Third: this obituary states “East Maplewood Cemetery” instead of just Maplewood.  This details the exact cemetery (as there is a West and East).  Fourth: Adding on to the last sentence it states, “to lie in state until the hour of the funeral.”  Now it is learned that the body not only will be transported to the funeral home, but there will be a time when visitors may pay their respects to the deceased and family until time for the funeral.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

THREE:

I also have the original typewritten copy that my grandfather, Glen R. Johnson, prepared for the obituary.  It reads:

JOHN LAFAYETTE JOHNSON, son of James W. and Amanda Johnson (nee Mullis) was born March 2, 1861 in Rush County, Indiana. His early boyhood was spent in and around Rushville and Kokomo, Indiana. While a very young man he settled in Madison County, near Anderson, Indiana. On July 4, 1883 he was married to Katie J. Blazer. To this union were born two sons, Letus W. and Glen R. In 1910 a foster daughter, Eva, came to bless the home. Letus, the older son, passed away in 1915. Shortly after coming to Anderson, Indiana, in 1889, to make their home they became identified with the Central Christian church and continued as active members until leaving there in March, 1930, due to illness of Mrs. Johnson, to make their home with their son Glen and family at Fairfield, Ohio. On May 20, 1930, Mrs. Johnson passed away and Mr. Johnson continued Living with his son until his death on May 28, 1939. In 1889 he entered the employ of American Steel and Wire Company at Anderson. In 1904 he entered business for himself as a fruit and vegetable peddler. After taking up his residence in Fairfield, he continued to sell fruit and vegetables during the spring and summer month, until the fall of 1938. Since January this year he had been in failing health, but did not become seriously ill until last Friday and died at 10:30 A.M., Sunday, May 28th, at the age of 78 years, 2 months, and 26 days. He leaves to mourn his passing his son Glen R. and daughter Mrs. Eva Skinner of Fortville, Indiana, and 4 grandchildren.

Extra details given include:

• Parents names, including maiden name of his mother
• Date and place of birth
• Locales of his youth
• Date and to whom he was married
• Names of his children, including details about one son being deceased and what year and that his daughter was a “foster” daughter and the date she came to live with the family.
• Year that he settled with his family in the town of Anderson.
• Church he joined and was affiliated with.
• Reason he and his wife left Anderson to move to Ohio with their son.
• Date of his wife’s death.
• His continuation to live with his son after his wife’s death.
• Date of his death.
• Year of his employment, company name, and location.
• His own business venture and the date.
• Continuation of his own business after moving to his son’s and the date he retired.
• How long he had been ill.
• Exact age at death.
• Those family members who survive him.

If this obituary had been printed in full, I would also have these questions:

• Is a funeral to take place?
• Where?
• When?
• Who will be in charge?
• Where will he be buried?

As a genealogist, I long to find obituaries written in the form that my grandfather typed for his father.  There is a wealth of information.  More than ONE or TWO.  THREE records a more accurate timeline of my great-grandfather’s life.  Many questions asked of the first two clippings are answered in the typewritten obituary.

When you discover an obituary, disect it to see if it gives you the answers to pertinent questions.  Sometimes I’ve been lucky to find not one or even two but three different obituaries for the same person.  Then I need to disect each one to retrieve details that are exactly alike and then see what is left.  More often than not, one or two items are conflicting.  Possibly a survivor’s name is listed wrong or in my great-grandfather’s case, the middle name is shortened in the newspaper clippings but his full legal name is used in the typewritten obituary.  There will always be unanswered questions, but being able to pick out each piece of information will give us a better understanding of our ancestors.

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Genea-Blogger Group Games – Final Tally

I completed my last task early this morning in the GBG games.  Whew!  I was able to get quite a bit completed – though I would like to have done more.  I think this has challenged many of us in the genea-blogging world the last two weeks.  Thanks to Thomas MacEntee, Miriam Robbins Midkiff and Kathryn M. Doyle for being the administrators for these games as well as the Genea-Bloggers Group on Facebook.  You all really keep us on our toes and make us strive to research deeper, keep proper documentation, stay organized, remember to keep back-ups of our information, and to write what we know.  Thank you!

So without further ado – these are my final stats:

1. Go Back and Cite Your Sources – completed over 50 citations using John Wiley’s “How to Cite Sources”. Platinum Medal

2. Back up Your Data – didn’t complete.

3. Organize Your Research:
   A) 0
    B) More than 20 – complete
    C) 0
    D) More than 20 – complete
    E) Created at least 20 new entries in the database; scanned over 20 photos – Complete
    F) Didn’t complete
Three Tasks – Gold Medal

4. Write! Write! Write!
    A) Wrote a Summary of my blog
    B) Participated in several of these
    C) Prepared at least 3 items in draft mode and published later.
    D) Wrote a Bio of my ancestor (finished today!)
    E) Didn’t do
Completed 4 Tasks – Diamond Medal

5. Reach Out and Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness
    A) Commented on several new (to me) blogs
    B) Joined more than 5 new blog networks
    C) Sent an invitation to another genealogist to join Facebook
    D) Didn’t do
    E) Indexed gravesites for Find-a-Grave (over 20)
    F) Didn’t do
4 Tasks Complete – Diamond Medal

Congratulations to all the participants and to all those who won any level of medals!

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James Emory House

James Emory House, born 2 May 1842, was my great-grandfather, born over 100 years and dying 35 years before I was born.  Yet it is this man that I return to in my family tree to seek out more information.  His is a fascinating story, and my father was privileged to be a small child in his company.

 

 

The House family originated in England and migrated to the United States in the 1600s settling in the Glastonbury area of Hartford County, Connecticut.  The family had married into the Loveland, Hollister, Risley, Bidwell, and Bigelow families.  When Allen House (son of Lazarus House and Rebecca Risley) was a very young man, he served in the War of 1812 from July 18 to Sept. 16, 1813. He and Editha Bigelow had been married less than a year.  In 1816 the couple moved from Connecticut to New York and became members of the Methodist Church in Ovid.  They moved then to Seneca County, New York. ⁽¹⁾  They are found in the 1820 census for Ontario and Steuben counties living in the town of Jerusalem. ⁽²⁾

 

By 1835 the family migrated to Michigan via Buffalo, New York (via Canal) then to Detroit (via steamboat) and settled in Oakland County.  He received a government land patent for Section 7, Milford Twp. Oakland Co., MI.  He had 91 acres and not much money left over.  ^{(3) (4)}

 

Allen (b. 13 Jun 1791 d. 1 Sep 1845) and Editha (b. 19 Apr 1791 d. 20 Oct 1865) had five children – Nelson W. House b. 13 Jan 1815 in Glastonbury, CT; Amasa G. House b. 26 Sep 1817 in Yates, NY; Florus Allen House b. 05 Jan 1813 in NY; Eli H. House b. 16 Feb 1824; and Abigail House b. East Hampton, Middlesex County, Connecticut.  The couple is buried in Oakgrove Cemetery, Milford, Michigan.

 

Florus Allen House married Julia Ann Lewis (b. 24 Dec 1815) before 1838.  Florus received government land in Livingston County, Michigan.  He first acquired 80 acres in 1835 and then120 acres in 1837.  The family is found in the 1850 Census taken on October 23, 1850.  They lived in Linton Twp, Coshocton County, Ohio.  Florus was 37, Julia (listed as Julianna) – age 34.  Their children were Emily (12), Wm R. (10), James E (8), Margaret (4), Sarah E. (3).  Emily is listed as being born in Michigan and the rest in Ohio. ⁽⁵⁾

 

The family is also found in the same township in the 1860 census.  By the 1870 census they were living in Tuscarawas Twp in Coshocton County where they were still living in the 1880 census. In addition to the children listed above, the family also included Emma, Nancy and John. ⁽⁶⁾ 

                                             

 

The nation was being torn apart – the north and south ripped asunder as the War Between the States dawned.  On the day following Christmas in 1861, James House, age 19, enlisted in Company “H” of the 80^th regiment of the Ohio Volunteers commanded by Col. Ephraim Eckley.  Two months later the regiment left Ohio and began its trek toward battle in Corinth, Mississippi.  It was near Corinth in April 1862 that James became seriously ill with catarrh of the stomach.  This was a particularly debilitating illness with symptoms of moroseness, weakness, chills, and paleness.  One’s stomach would feel full and sore to the touch, the appetite would be non-existent, yet thirst is great.  In addition to that, there would be bloating and constipation.  James suffered with this illness for the rest of his life.  During war time he was treated in St. Louis and Tennessee hospitals without much relief. ^{(7) (8 )}

 

 

March of 1863 saw the 80^th regiment moving along the Mississippi River to join General Grant’s forces at Vicksburg where there is a special monument erected in honor of the 80^th.  In June of 1864 the men joined with Sherman on the March to the Sea and took part in the Siege of Savannah.  The men took part in many other campaigns as the Great Rebellion started coming to an end.  At some point President Lincoln saw his regiment and it has been reported by his grandson (my father) that James shook hands with the 16^th president. (I have been unable to document a time or location that this could have taken place.) ⁽⁹⁾  James was honorably discharged on May 27, 1865 in Washington D.C.

 

James married Barbara Shryock in the mid 1860s.  She was born in Guernsey County, Ohio to George Shryock and Abigail Easter about 1843.  Barbara (also listed as Barbary in some documents) and James had one son, Edward, and two daughters, Belle and Lucina. Barbara died on July 10, 1872.  Soon, Frances V. Ogan, was helping James take care of his house and his children.  She gave birth to the first of their eight children in April 1873 – one month prior to their marriage.  The couple married on May 26, 1873 by J.P. Robinson in Washington, Guernsey County, Ohio. ⁽¹⁰⁾  The family included besides Florus Allen (named after his grandfather) b. 21 Apr 1873 – John W. (b. 31 Aug 1874), Alford Elmer (b. about 1878), James W. (b. 20 Jun 1879), Julia Ann (b. 20 Sep 1880 – named after her grandmother), Ella M. (b. 22 Jun 1882), Charles (b. 1884), and Alva Lester (b. 9 May 1886).

 

The family is found in the 1880 Census living in Tuscarawas Twp, Coshocton County, Ohio on June 9, 1880.  This is the only record of Alford E. at age 2 years old as he died at the age of 4. ⁽¹¹⁾  Charles would only have been recorded in the 1890 census as he died at age 12 in 1896 due to a farm accident.  ⁽¹²⁾ In 1900 the family is recorded living in Bethlehem Twp, Coshocton County, Ohio on June 14, 1900. James listed his birthplace as Ohio and that his father was born in Connecticut and his mother born in Ohio.  He owned his home and it was not mortgaged.  Frances listed that she was the mother of eight children and only six were living.  In addition to their children living with them, the household also included Mary J. Ruby (listed as Ward).  Mary was James’ granddaughter – child of his daughter Belle and her husband Thomas Ruby. ⁽¹³⁾  On April 15, 1910 the family is enumerated as living at 423 N. Eleventh Street in Tuscarawas Twp, Coshocton County, Ohio.  Besides Frances, their son, (Alva) Lester and his wife, Mary (Lucy Besser) together with their son Arthur, were living with them. ⁽¹⁴⁾

 

The family not only had lost two of their sons, Charles and Elmer, but also their oldest daughter, Julia.  She and Percy J. Tuttle had married on Christmas Day 1906.  Almost a year later she died from blood poisoning following childbirth.  The baby lived only a few hours. ⁽¹⁵⁾

 

On February 18, 1915 Frances died of Pulmonary Tuberculosis at the age of 68 years, 2 months, 19 days.  She was buried two days later in Prairie Chapel Cemetery in Roscoe, Coshocton County, Ohio near her daughter. ⁽¹⁶⁾

 

James is found still living in Tuscarawas Twp in the 1920 US Census dated Jan. 8, 1920.  Also in the household are his son, (Alva) Lester, daughter-in-law, Mary Lucy, granddaughter, Georgia and grandson, Jerrold. ⁽¹⁷⁾

 

Soon after that he went back and forth between living with his kids and the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Home in Sandusky, Ohio.  His granddaughter, Marie, wrote, “My mother’s father, James House, lived with his kids off and on when he got older and when he couldn’t stand the kids, he would go to the Ohio Vets home in Sandusky.  I think he had T.B. in his later years because when he lived with us (I remember him) Mom used to scald all the dishes he used.” ^{(18 )}

 

James passed away at the age of 82 on October 1, 1924 at the home of my grandparents, Lloyd and Ella (House) Amore on West Lafayette Road in Coshocton County.  His obituary stated that he was a member of the United Brethren Church.  He was buried with his wife, Frances, at Prairie Chapel Cemetery.  He left behind four sons, three daughters, three sisters, and numerous grandchildren. ⁽¹⁹⁾

 

My great-grandfather had enough influence on his grandson that he was proud to carry the name James as his middle name in honor of him.  I wish I could see a picture of James in order to see what this man who fought in the civil war looked like.  And to know that he served in the military under my favorite president and one I have studied, is thrilling.

 

Rest in Peace, Great-Grandfather.

 

 

Footnotes:

(1) Information from Florence Wenk Woodard Barrett, descendant of Nelson W. House, son of Allen and Editha House.

(2)  1820 US Census

(3) Related by Descendant of Nelson W. House

(4) Government Land Records (digitized copy in possession of Wendy Littrell)

(5) 1850 US Census (digitized copy in possession of Wendy Littrell)

(6) 1860, 1870, 1880 US Censuses (digitized copies in possession of Wendy Littrell)

(7) James House’s Declaration for an Original Invalid Pension, 6 Sep 1887 (copies from National Archives in possession of Wendy Littrell)

(8 ) Special Pathology and Diagnostics with Therapeutic Hints By Sigmund Raue, C. G. Raue

Published by B. Jain Publishers, 2002

ISBN 8170210798, 9788170210795

Pages 436-427

(found on books.google.com)

(9) 80^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~keller/ovi80/work/index.html

Charles Paul Keller, author of the website (his source is: from Volume 6, Ohio Roster Commission; Official roster of the soldiers of the state of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861 – 1866; Cincinnati, Wilstach, Baldwin & Co. 1886-95.)

(10) Dept. of the Interior; Bureau of Pensions

Certificate No. 418793 (copy from National Archives in possession of Wendy Littrell)

(11) 1880 US Census (digitized copy in possession of Wendy Littrell)

(12) Letter written by Alva Lester House to his niece, Gertrude Amore Shackelford, dated January 25, 1963.  (Copy is owned by Wendy Littrell.)

(13) 1900 US Census (digitized copy in possession of Wendy Littrell)

(14) 1910 US Census (digitized copy in possession of Wendy Littrell)

(15) Newspaper; Coshocton Age; Thursday, November 28, 1907 (digitized copy in possession of Wendy Littrell)

(16) State of Ohio, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificate of Death, Number 6761 (digitized copy in possession of Wendy Littrell)

(17) 1920 US Census (digitized copy in possession of Wendy Littrell)

(18 ) Email from Marie Quirk to Wendy Littrell on Feb. 9, 2000

(19) Coshocton Newspaper (digitized copy in possession of Wendy Littrell)

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