William Chynoweth, if only ALL the obituaries were this helpful!

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Jodi

William Chynoweth, one of the 10 in the 1935 class of Macon High School in Macon, Illinois. From his obituary in 2006:

William was born Oct. 2, 1917, in Macon, the son of Ray and Irene Chynoweth. He received his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering in 1940 from the University of Missouri. Bill was a member of the Army Air Corps serving the Pacific Theater in World War II as squadron flight engineer to the 879th Bomb Wing. During his service, he was awarded the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart. Bill attended the University of Illinois where he received his master of science in electrical engineering. After receiving his degree, he lived in Chicago, where he met Ruth Oakes of Summit, N.J. They soon married and, in their 52 years together, raised four children. During his career as an electrical engineer, he was instrumental in developing new technology for General Electric and Honeywell and was directly responsible for three patents. His sharp and inquisitive mind, his continual spirit of giving and his quiet, nurturing soul have been a help and inspiration to his family and friends. He was a resident of Good Samaritan Village and formerly lived in Fort Collins, Colo.

William R. Chynoweth, 1935 Macon High School, Illinois

I was going to write a full article on William, but his obituary is so complete it seemed redundant! Such rich genealogy detail in an obituary. Here’s an interesting tidbit though: if it weren’t for the 1940 census stating where someone lived in 1935 (the year of this photo) I may not have found him at all! William and his family moved around a lot. Luckily the lived in Macon, Illinois in 1935, because by 1940 they were in Columbia, Boone, Missouri where his father Ray was a traveling Salesman. And travel he did.

William’s youngest sister Virginia was born in South Dakota in 1931, where the family was registered in the 1930 census as well. They has been in Macon before in 1920. Ray was born in Arkansas. And, as you can see from the obit, William eventually resided in Colorado.

I hope this photo makes it’s way to willing descendants.

Aldyth Gregory, looks don’t lie, she was remembered kindly

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Jodi

Aldyth Gregory, 1935 class of Macon High School in Illinois

Aldyth Gregory, a great name, one you don’t hear anymore. Aldyth was one of 10 graduates in 1935 from Macon High School in Macon, Illinois. It’s a wonderful class photo; I can’t wait to share all the graduates with you.

Aldyth was born April 20, 1917 in Zion, Illinois to Luther Carl Gregory and Anna Jones. Carl and Anna were married almost 10 years before their first daughter was born, so it would seem. Robert followed Aldyth 4 years later, and Gertrude one year after Robert. Carl Gregory was a dairy farmer.

The family lived in Mount Zion, Macon, Illinois in 1920 and in South Wheatland, Macon, Illinois in 1930. Mr. Gregory passed away in 1939 and I was unable to find a 1940 census record of Anna and her children. In 1947, at the age of 30, Aldyth married Howard Kiesling. She became a step-mother and eventually had a daughter of her own.

Aldyth died on January 10, 2006 and is buried in Havana, Mason, Illinois where she had been a teacher for many years. One touching flower on her Find A Grave memorial says “my kindergarten teacher and was a very kind lady.”

I hope her name (Aldyth) lived on with descendants, as well as that sweet smile :)

Bespectacled Floyd Blum

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Jodi

Floyd Blum, 1923 Liberty Union High School in Ohio

Meet Floyd, as promised, the husband of Dorothy Cowan from the previous post. They were in the same class at Liberty Union High School in Baltimore, Fairfield county, Ohio. Whether or not they were high school sweethearts is unknown. Dorothy, we know, had 3 years of college before she married.

Like Dorothy, Floyd was born in Ohio. According to Find A Grave his birthday was April 14, 1906 and he lived until September of 1981. Unlike Dorothy, not all that time was spent in Ohio. The son of Charles Blum(e) and Nellie Strayer, both of Ohio, Floyd moved with his family to Michigan sometime before 1915. We know this because Floyd and his younger sister Relva (who is daughter is named after apparently) were both born in Ohio, but younger brother Paul was born in Michigan in 1915. Charles was working as a motor builder in Detroit during the 1920 census. Before that, in 1910, he had been an oil well drilling supervisor in Lancaster, OH. Clearly the family was back in Ohio by 1923 for this photo.

We know a bit about Floyd and Dorothy in 1930, they were married with one child, Relva. The directory of Newark, Ohio listed Floyd and Dorothy in 1927, 1929, 1931, and 1934. I believe it was 1935 when Dorothy was once again living with her family and the couple had divorced.

I was unable to find Floyd in the 1940 census, but we do know that in 1943 he joined the WWII effort from Philadelphia, PA. And, according to the SSDI, Floyd died in Parksburg, Chester county, PA. Whether he ever remarried is unknown. But he hadn’t by 1943 as he’s listed as “divorced with dependents” on the WWII draft registration card. Floyd is buried in Grandview Cemetery in Fairfield, the same cemetery where his mother is buried.

Dorothy Cowan, a survivor

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Jodi

Dorothy Cowan, 1923 Liberty Union High School

This is an absolutely wonderful class photo from 1923 – the seniors of Liberty Union High School in Baltimore, Ohio (near Lancaster in Fairfield county.) I’ve started with the lovely Dorothy Cowan. I don’t think the written name next to her photo is her signature though, as all the names are written in the same script.

1923 class of Liberty Union High School in Ohio

Dorothy, I presumed, was born about 1905 given she would have been 18 in 1923. I found a Dorothy Cowan living in Liberty, Fairfield county, OH in 1910, 1920, 1935, and 1940. She was the only surviving child of Charles G. Cowan and Emma Olive Sager born on May 7, 1905 in Ohio. It appears that Emma had several children die, but at what age is unknown. She was 34 when Dorothy was born. On the 1910 census the number of children born is difficult to read, it could be 3 or 5. Dorothy is the only one who made it to adulthood. That must have been tough on everyone.

In 1910, four year old Dorothy lived with her parents and maternal grandmother (Rebecka Fultz Sager.) By 1920, the three lived on their own; Mr. Cowan was a farmer. But Dorothy’s paternal grandparents, Amos and Lucinda Cowan, lived only a few houses (or farms) away. Three years after this lovely high school photo was taken, Dorothy married Floyd R. Blum* at the age of 21, and after 3 years of college. And in 1930 they had an almost 2 year old daughter Relva J. Blum and were living in Lancaster.

However, something goes amiss. By 1935 Dorothy had moved back in with her parents, little Relva with her. In 1940 she was an elementary school teacher still living in Liberty with mom and dad. Dorothy listed her self as a widow. But Floyd wasn’t dead. As a matter of fact he became a WWII vet and lived until 1981.

Her Ohio death certificate indicates that Dorothy Mae Cowan Blum died on July 5, 1994 in Richland and that she was divorced. It seems silly to indicate a marital status of divorced when she was married for less than 10 years of her whole life! Dorothy is buried at Union Evangelical Cemetery in Baltimore, OH.

It would be easy to characterize her life as sad. But the truth is that these bare facts tell us very little about how Dorothy weathered what may have been rocky times. She very well could have been the happiest woman on earth. And I hope she was!

*A follow-up post will cover Floyd. He’s also in the 1923 class photo with Dorothy!

The Short Life of Edward Gibis

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Jodi

Edward J. Gibis, age 18

Edward J. Gibis is 18 in this handsome photo. He was the oldest son of John Gibis and Maria/Mary Libich. Born on October 2, 1913 he appears to have had a tragic end to his life.

The family, John, Maria, Edward, and younger brother Julius lived in Chicago from at least 1920-1940. That is where Edward, in 1931, was photographed at St. Michael Central High School here as a Senior. Father John worked mainly as a mail carrier for the US Post office. Edward was still living at home at age 26 in 1940. He worked as a shipping clerk. Younger brother Julius was married with a child, but still in Chicago.

Moving on, Edward enlisted in the Army on June 12, 1942; he was still single. Only one more piece of documentation follows Edward after that WWII enlistment record. A Rockford, Illinois newspaper article titled “Discharged Soldier in Fall from Train Dies.” That appeared on November 2, 1945. The article states that Edward J. Gibis, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Gibis of Chicago fell from a New York Central Passenger train on his way home. He had been discharged from the army at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. How or why he fell is unknown. He died that evening at a Lafayette hospital. I’ve not found a death certificate or a burial record. The only odd thing is that the article says Edward was 20, when he would have been about 32.

Edward had no family of his own, but Julius lived until 1999 and had a large and loving family. Hopefully some of them will be interested in this long lost uncle.

Mildred Burch, a hometown girl for life

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Jodi

Mildred C. Burch, 1931 Plymouth High School

Mildred C. Burch, was a very studious looking 18 year old in 1931! She was born in Michigan in June of 1913 and lived her entire live in Canton, Wayne County, Michigan. She died there on May 13, 2006.

She was the youngest child of Elmer Burch and Catherine Kobbeman. The family consisted of brother Ralph (4 years older) and sister Henrietta (2 years older). Elmer was a farmer. He married Catherine, a much older woman, in 1908. Elmer was 26 and Catherine was 38 – at least according to 2 out of 3 census records. Catherine’s brother, Mildred’s uncle, lived with the family for many years.

According to her obituary, Mildred married Albert Foege and they had 3 children. She died in Canton where she has was born and raised and is buried in Riverside cemetery in Plymouth – probably not far from where this photo was taken. Find A Grave reports that husband Albert passed away 33 years before she did! I hope this photo is a welcome new addition to the family collection.

Lucy M. Moore, one of the few women on staff at the UT Law School in 1936

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Jodi

Lucy More, Librarian & Instructor, 1936 UT Law School

An interesting start to this research. I had appeared to find who I was looking for right away in the Austin, Travis county, Texas 1930 census. A Lucy M. Moore, teacher at the state university, was single, 40, living with a boarder (another teacher) in her household. Her parents were from Virginia, but she was born in Texas. What a great match! But after that I could find no Lucy Moore born in 1890 with parents from Virginia. There was however, another persistent Lucy M. Moore, this one born in 1881 – quite a big gap even for sketchy census data. Lucy #2 also never married. She was also a teacher at the state unversity. She also lived with boarders in Austin, Travis county. But her parents were from Arkansas and Missouri (dad and mom respectively).

My suspicion is that the 1930 census is a fluke with bad data for whatever reason. As it happens Lucy #2’s mother (Leah Ann Bateman Moore) had parents from Virginia. Could that have been the mix up? What about the nearly 10 year age gap? All I know is that Lucy #1 doesn’t show up again. Here’s a little history on Lucy #2 as I follow the documents…

Born on September 5, 1881 in Texas. The family lived in Stephenville, Erath county, Texas where Lewellyn D. Moore, dad, was a farmer. In 1900 Lucy was 18 at home with 4 siblings. By 1910, she was working as a teacher but still living with family in Stephenville. A Lucy M. Moore shows up several times in 1918 and 1920 in The Catcus, the yearbook for the University of Texas. One of those is a photo of her with the UT Cofer Law Society. Hard to tell if the photos match, but my feeling now is it is likely her. If we are to go with the theory that 1930 Lucy equals Lucy #2 then she’s teaching at UT at the time and continues to do so in 1940.

Lucy died on November 2, 1953 in Stephenville. Sister Nell was the informant on her death certificate. She is buried in West End cemetery in Stephenville with her parents. She’ll have no children to follow this, but hopefully some nieces and nephews.

A quick side note that caught my attention when I did a simple Google search for Lucy:

From the endowments at the University of Texas webpage:

Name: Lucy M. Moore Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Law

Approval Date: October 12, 1990

Description: The Lucy M. Moore Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Law was established by the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System on October 12, 1990, for the benefit of the School of Law. Gift funds were provided by Mr. Emory T. Carl of Bellaire, Texas, a 1936 graduate of The University of Texas at Austin School of Law. The endowment honors Ms. Lucy Montlee Moore.

Gerald Rogers and a scattered family story

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Jodi

*rald Rogers, Wakeman HS 1932

Another partial name from the 1932 class of Wakeman High School near Lorain, Ohio. On the back of the photo, all we have of the name is *RALD ROGERS. Initially I thought the D was an O. But I could find absolutely no one with the name *RALO ROGERS. Then it dawned on me that it was indeed a D!

So Gerald Rogers came to life (again). There is one definitely Gerald Rogers that is bound to be our man. In the 1930 Wakeman, Huron County, Ohio census, Gerald is a 16 year old born in Ohio to parents also from Ohio. However, he’s living as a lodger (not working) with Gage and Gertrude Garner. Because he’s not living with his parents or anyone identified as family it makes comparing our Gerald with other Gerald’s harder.

In 1940, there is another Gerald Rogers still in Huron County. He’s 26 now, a farm hand on the Sweeting farm, married to Eleanor Rogers (21). Hard to know if it’s the same George but there is more than a little likelihood that it is.

Another Gerald Rogers in Ohio that comes up is Gerald Ernest Rogers, lets call him GED. GED was born 11/18/1913 in Lima, Ohio. His parents were Robert Rogers and Edith Ryerson. GED died in California on 2/27/1989. In 1920 in Kenmore, Summit Co., Ohio GED lived with his dad, step-mom, 4 siblings and grandparents (John & Ida Rogers) on his grandfather’s farm.

In my opinion, GED is our Gerald Rogers. By 1925, GED’s dad has married for the 3rd time. In 1930 older brother Howard is a lodger elsewhere, grandparents John & Ida are living with a sister of GED’s, dad Robert (now a widower again – this guy was trouble!) and another sibling Hazel are living in Cincinnati. In other words, the family is spread out all over the place. It would not be surprising that Gerald was living as a lodger. What would be surprising is if the Garner’s (with whom he was living) were not somehow related or at least close friends of the family. Maybe actual family can fill us in!

I’m sure hoping we can find your descendants Gerald!

*herine Salzman – spelling various are so much fun (insert sarcastic exclaimation point)

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Jodi

Yes, Another chopped off name from Wakeman High School in Huron County, Ohio. This one seemed straight forward, ____herine Salzman. What else besides “Catherine” or “Katherine” could that really be? So I was shocked when it didn’t turn up much. (Although I shouldn’t be shocked by any research hiccup at this point!)

But I think I’ve found the identity of this lovely lady. Kathryn Salzman was born in 1916 in Ohio to Walter Salzman and Edna Johnson. She was the second oldest of 6 siblings, including Louise, Stella, Grace, Robert, and Charlotte. Lovely classic names! In 1930, 2 years before this photo the family lived in Lorain, Ohio – not far from Wakeman. Walter was a dairy farmer. In 1920 Ohio census the last name appeared as “Saltzman.”

Something happened by 1940. Brother Robert lived with an uncle in Pittsfield, OH. John Glynn (but mom’s maiden name was Johnson?) and a John Salzman as well listed as “Helper”. Robert is listed as “nephew.” Sister charlotte lived with her grandparents, Conrad and Ida Salzman in Camden, Lorain, OH. Where is Kathryn?

Walter apparently lived until 1968 in Lorain, OH. Edna died young in 1933, which explains why the children may have been split up to live with relatives. According to Edna’s death certificate her death was related to third degree burns. Robert was not far behind his mother and died in 1943.

As for Kathryn, I’m not sure what became of her. Hopefully a searching family member will!

Wakeman 1932

Albert R. Haskin, Principal Eastman Business College

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Jodi

Albert R. Haskin, Principal of the Eastman Business College

In 1888, Albert R. Haskin was the principal of the Eastman Business College. (See the full class photo here.) He was married to Mary Haskin with 2 children Albert and Minnie, aged 9 and 5 respectively.

Albert R. was born about 1850 in Indiana – although you’ll see Iowa on some documents – to Caleb and Rebecca Haskin. He appeared to be their oldest child. His father and grandfather were both farmers in Iowa when the family lived there. But by age 24, in 1874 Albert married a woman from New York (Mary). He was likely living there at the time.

His professional career (all in New York, most in Poughkeepsie) was in teaching and accounting. According the the census records: 1880 – Professor, 1892 – Teacher, 1900 – Auditor, 1910 – Accountant for a Tobacco company. I don’t see him in any census records after 1910 so he likely died before 1920.

It’s possible his daughter never married as she lived alone with her father in 1910, after Mary died. Minnie was 28 then. Son, Albert Cline Haskin (Cline is Mary’s maiden name I believe) was living with wife Julia in Connecticut in 1920.

Hopefully we can find some interested descendants!