Sophia (Taylor Vaughn) Morrill (1848 - 1926) and Charles Valentine Morrill (1846-1932).
Newly discovered:
Quite a few back issues of The Blade, Toledo, Ohio Newspaper, have been archived at the Google News Archive, and you can search them (for free!) here: http://news.google.com.
Thanks to this source, a number of updates and new connections have been made regarding the family of Ira Ellsworth Morrill, and Effie Estella Pearce.
Only recently, great-grandson Ward contributed this photo of Charles Valentine and Sophia Morrill – 2 pioneering partiarchs of this Michigan family – along with additional photos, corrections and new data. Thank you very much for sharing, Ward!
Recent updates include:
the descendants of Ezra McKinstry,
the family of Anderson and Elizabeth (Dipboye) Johnson,
and the family of William and Delia Amanda (Pearce) McCain.
New data regarding the McCain family of Nodaway, Iowa, comes from The Adams County, Iowa Newspaper Archive, which can be searched for free.
Location, location, location . . . the geocoding of this database is currently underway.
Geocodes are latitude / longitude values that can specify any geographical location in the world. In this case, they are used to generate a customized Event Map for any individual in the database.
Look for more and more maps to appear as you cruise this web site.
Event Map for John Jameson Pearce
Pierce sisters, Sarah Eliza Palmateer and Margaret Hannah Barger
Cousin Berniece in Oregon has been kind enough to contribute a second batch of scans from her grandmother’s photo album / scrapbook.
These are quite remarkable and historically significant images that document the Franklin and Matilda (Hollenbeck) Pierce family, pioneers of the Portland area of Oregon.
An index to all of Berniece’s contributions is here.
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Berniece also sent along an Unknown – an unidentified photograph from the photo album kept by Minnie Palmateer Ely. There is some speculation he might be David Hollenbeck, brother of Matilda. The only thing certain about this circa 1880-1890s era cabinet photo is that it was taken in Peoria, Illinois.
W. W. Baker
Many thanks to Marie for her Baker family contributions. She has helped to bring the family of William Warren Baker and Silvia Caecile Burton up to date, and has provided a wonderful biography of W.W. Baker, written by Sinclair Oil Company 1957.
Here’s the list.
With several new items added to the W.W. Baker profile, the question remains: was his name William Warren Baker? or Warren William Baker ? Sifting through a variety of documents, there seems to be about a 50/50 split – even on documents he signed. It is starting to appear as though his legal name was William Warren, but he preferred Warren William.
Over the years, I’ve made a few good acquisitions from eBay to enhance the genealogy research – I’ve also been fleeced there. But with a little healthy skepticism, and a great deal of patience, eBay is a resource that should not be overlooked.
For example, I picked up Huffington Family History Volumes 1 and 2 (actual books, not computer CDs) for a nominal price. It took just over two years from the time I set up my eBay saved search, until the time a set of these books was put up for auction. I sniped successfully, and the books were mine.
The key here is the saved search feature on eBay. This feature is an automated scan for any items that match your saved search terms – if and when there is a “hit” you get an email from eBay with a link to the item. Most auctions on eBay last seven days, so there is still plenty of time to consider your bid.
More…
An ebook edition of The Hollenbeck Family In America (by Lawrence Hollenbeck of West Union, IL, 1973) is now available online – compliments of the Family History Archive of Salt Lake City, UT. This digital version was created from a 1974 microfilm of an original copy in the Clark County Genealogical Society Library at Marshall, Illinois.
Quite a few other Clark County, Illinois people are mentioned in this manuscript, among them White, Garwood, Gard and Holwick. Click the link above to view this manuscript, or you have the option to download your own text searchable copy (recommended).
If you happen to be a Hollenbeck, you will also want to check out this one.
Note: The Family History Archive now contains over 25,000 online documents – you can search their catalog for other surnames of interest by clicking here.
A few months ago a yellowed and food stained scrap of paper surfaced in my recipe archive, containing a recipe I’ve been meaning to try for many, *many* years. Well the day finally came, and the results were every bit as delicious (and addictive) as I remembered:
circa 1966
Grandma Pearce’s Choco Cake
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
½ cup shortening
1 stick butter or margarine
4 tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa
1 cup water
½ cup buttermilk
2 eggs beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
More…
