People in the Pictures Continued.

The discoveries from the photos sent to me by the Clawson Historical Museum's curator have really got me trying to come to conclusions as to which families are in the pictures which we have from my husband's family which are unidentified. The majority of the pictures don't have photographer's studio marks and those that do were Canadian which is where virtually all of Hubby's lines were prior to settling in Michigan. One photograph of a large family had a marking that said "Wheel City Studio Cheboygan, Michigan" so I looked at my FTM file for Jim's lines that were in that area. There were two families there in the 1900s--Ellen Lincoln Buchanan Stoner(she was widow of John Buchanan and mother of 3 sons) she had remarried and by 1910 is in Pierce Co. WA. The other family that was in that area was that of the elusive Thomas H. Leonard. Going by Census & Death records I've been able to place him in the area around 1901-1910. He and his wife Jane McHugh had a rather large family with 7 children--3 sons & 4 daughters. The picture with the Wheel City Studio shows what looks to be parents with their seven children. I got out the census entry for this family to compare the children listed with the ones in the picture. I grouped the children in the picture from oldest to youngest and the pattern of son, daughter, daughter, daughter, son, daughter, son fits perfectly with the known children of Thomas & Jane. I immediately looked at the daughter who would if my guess was correct be Margaret Leonard (my husband's great grandmother). A comparison of the face with a known picture of an older Margaret Leonard really makes me believe even more that this is the Leonard family. I'd been working with another Leonard researcher who believes that her lines may connect with that of my husbands so I sent her a quick explanation and copy of the pic via email. She thinks she may have a similiar picture but we will have to wait until she can get to her box of family pictures.

The People in the Pictures

Last week I wrote an email to the Clawson(MI) Historical Museum inquiring about Alice Shallow Buchanan. Alice was the wife of William Buchanan(b. 1873) and was listed as a widow in the 1930 census(see below) living in Clawson MI. I wanted to know if Alice worked in Clawson at the town hall as a Stenographer or did she merely work IN Clawson.

1930 Oakland Co. MI Clawson Village Enum Dist 63-113 Sup. Dist 14 Sheet 11 A pg 249
Alice M. Buchanan Head F W 47 Wd marr 1st at 18 MI NY NY Stenographer Village
Keith N. Buchanan Son M W 21 S WA MI NY
Oliver L. Buchanan Son M W 17 S WA MI NY
Frances J. Mitchell Boarder F W 24 S MI IL MI Stenographer Village

I heard back from Melodie Nichols, the curator of the Clawson(MI) Historical Museum later that day, She responded that she would see if she could find anything and get back to me in the coming week. Today I received an email from her which included

• A note on the Buchanan's listed in the 1924 Polk Directory
  
  
  
  • Buchanan, Alice, cook at Burke's confectionery. Residence on Renshaw, 1 blk south of Clawson Road (14 Mile)
  
  
  • Buchanan, Frank (Julia A, B&B bus), residence on Madison
  
  
  • Buchanan, Willard (B&B bus), boards with Frank Buchanan
  
  
  
  

• A picture of the buses from B&B bus line of the buses.

• Two pictures of Burke's confectionery when it was known as Buchanan's Confectionery and owned by Frank & Family taken in 1921.

• A picture of Main street and the Burke's confectionery taken in 1924.

The picture of Frank & Julia helped me to identify them in some old family photos that weren't labeled. I'm so glad that I wrote and inquired about this history. Things like these bring the people in the pictures to life.

Chasing Leonards

I'd sent off for the death record from the Cheboygan Co. MI library of a John Leonard in hopes that this would be THE John Leonard who was an Uncle of Thomas H. Leonard(Jim's Direct line) & living in Thomas H.'s household in the 1900 census. You can read my earlier post here. I don't want to go down the wrong road in this research but the age and location is certainly right on the money for it to be his Uncle. From the Death Info I learned that this John Leonard was a widowed farmer and was the son of Hugh Leonard & Dorothy Downey. This doesn't tell me for certain that this John Leonard is the one I'm looking for as I don't know for certain who Thomas H. Leonards parents were. It is progress though in that I can see if there is a trail from the Hugh Leonard & Dorothy Downey that might lead to Thomas H. Leonard's Dad.

Song my grandma sang

I consider myself lucky to have had two grandparents who lived to be over 100 years old. My maternal grandfather died a few days shy of what would have been his 102nd birthday. My paternal grandmother lived a few months beyond her 102nd birthday. My parents married later than average and were both the next to the youngest child in their family. This meant that by the time I was born, my grandparents were in their early 80s. I did start my research in 1990 at the age of 22 which at that time was a bit of an early age for interest in genealogy. However, by that time my grandparents were not in the best health and state of mind for remembering. I woke up this morning realizing that I did not remember that much about my grandparents heritage that had been passed down from them and not just from what I had learned about their families through my own research. It's too late to ask what they remembered from their childhood. My paternal grandmother's parents(The Jakes) raised horses in Bedford Co. TN. These great grandparents descended from JAKES, HARGER, MORROW, FRIZZELL, & MANLEY families. I don't remember much about my early childhood but I do remember parts of a song that my grandmother used to sing when she bounced one of my brothers on her knee. I think it might be an Irish tune though I'm not sure whether its a lullaby or a drinking song. I tried Googling the words I remembered but most of the hits didn't call up anything that looked remotely similar. The words I remember, and I don't think that she was singing all of the lyrics, were "Dee Dee Diddle To rah riddle....long summer day".

My Next Step in Searching for Jim's Leonard Line

I had written in an earlier post about Jim's Leonard lines and finding a John Leonard living next door to possibly his brother and nephews. I know that Jim's Thomas Leonard lived in Cheboygan Co. MI & had his Uncle John Leonard living with him in 1900. The death index showed a John Leonard dying in Cheboygan Co. MI in 1901 who would have been the correct age to have been this guy & the one from the 1880 census. I've sent off a lookup request(on July 29) to the library there and am hoping to prove or disprove that.

Top five discoveries in my ancestry

Admittedly none of the top discoveries were made specifically by me. I will admit to prodding other researchers of my lines and asking way too many questions. Whatever works...lol.

1. Acuff- Proof of Wm. Leon Acuff's father was found(by Billie McNamara)in Bledsoe Co. TN court records when under oath Wm. L. Acuff was asked how he knew Jonathan Acuff whose case was being heard. His answer was "He is my Father". Case notes and statements further verify that this Wm. L Acuff was indeed the one who lived in Van Buren Co. TN(where my GG grandfather is found on census records)

2. Millie Hitchcock's maiden name--I believe it was Agnes Jones & another researcher who found the marriage record from March 11, 1806 for George Hitchcock and Millie Riddle in Roane Co. TN records.

3. Comfort Pittman's maiden name-- This is the first of 3 breakthrus that came about from one record. That record was the Application to the Eastern Cherokee of Comfort's Grandson, John R. Dunham--discovered by Royce Dunham & Jan Hicks. John was denied but the application stated Comfort was a Hatfield before she married Daniel Pittman.

4. Finding older Children of Daniel & Comfort Hatfield Pittman--These were listed on Annie Pitman Dunham's son's Eastern Cherokee application. These were children who were out of the household before 1850 census.

5. Comfort Hatfield's parents--The Eastern Cherokee application doesn't plainly list her parents names but it does say her mother was Annie Ross and that her dad was a Hatfield. There is record of an Annie Ross who was the first wife of James Hatfield which we feel is correct considering several key factors. There is also a sworn statement that Annie Pittman Dunham(Dau of Daniel & Comfort Pittman) was at Tahlequah in Aug of 1866 though I don't even pretend to know how to go about finding those records I'm going to try. I need to review the copy of the Eastern Cherokee Application. Thankfully the Wallace College Library where I attend classes has those on Microfilm.