Mystery Photo: McCormicks or Van Dorens?

          My maternal Aunt Nancy snail-mailed me an original photograph of people we know not who. Nancy thinks they might be McCormick cousins. Or Van Doren cousins? Our McCormick and Van Doren ancestors migrated to New Mexico from Illinois and homesteaded land in that new territory. The people pictured in this image might be descendants of those early settlers. Nancy suspects it is her mother's mother's brother, a Great-Uncle McCormick. 


          But which brother among the four? That remains to be researched. 


          Perhaps another cousin viewing this pic might have a clue. Please reply below, if so. Thanks for any leads!


A Paternal Third Cousin--Once Removed

        Google told me of the recent death of a third cousin. One whose grandparents I had been researching. A fascinating cousin from my home state. But first, some background. If ancestral lines bore you to tears, then please DO skip to the bottom of this page. 

        This same cousin's third great-grandparents, Samuel Ackley and Sarah Rush Ackley, are also my third Greats. Some readers will recall seeing Sarah pictured here with her teenage daughter, our 2xGreat-Grandma, Lucy Ackley Childers (1864-1888). Lucy's dad Sam is pictured below. The Ackleys first entered Indian Territory from Kansas in March of 1878, and settled in Chouteau for a short while.


        Sarah and Sam Ackley had eight children. Are you my paternal cousin? Our ancestor Lucy was their second to last child. Her brother Francis was Sarah and Sam's second son. Francis allegedly hated his name and went by "Marian." (I know of a famous Marion who loathed HIS name. He chose to go by "John Wayne").

          My 2xG-Uncle Marian was born 1855 and died in Myton, Utah in 1929. Like his dad, he frequently moved around. And I mean OFTEN.

          At age 30 Marian graduated from Starling College in Ohio in 1885, as evidenced by this card from a database on  Familysearch.org called the U.S. Deceased Physician File (AMA), 1864-1968. That college later became Ohio State University.



          Dr. Ackley practiced medicine in several states and Indian Territory. I think he resembles the actor Rod Steiger:


        Dr. Fran, I mean, Marian Ackley was living near his parents in what is today Chouteau, Oklahoma. He was mentioned in The Indian Chieftain newspaper published in nearby Vinita, Cherokee Nation. See page 3 of the March 31, 1887 edition. The second article is from December 4, 1890. I was happy to find these!



          The M, K & T house was where the employees of the Missouri, Kansas, Texas railroad were housed. It was famously known then as "The Katy railroad." Why, Dr. Ackley's younger brother Henry met his bride outside Chouteau while working on the railroad, I was pleased to learn.The Katy also enabled my family from upstate Missouri to travel through Indian Territory to northern Texas with much greater ease. A trip that would have normally taken weeks. 


          Marian's death certificate from Utah Death Certificates, 1904-1964, database with images, via FamilySearch.org. Don't cringe! Death, marriage and birth certificates are primary sources for family historians. 



        MARY, MARY & MARY:  Dr. Ackley married Mary Witham in 1880. They divorced in Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory after about 12 years. His second wife was Mary Jane Speed. His third wife was Mary Slater. Marian Ackley had three children with the first two wives. Got that? It was exhausting researching his Marys and children, let me tell you. 

          It was with the first Mary that Dr. Ackley had daughter Edna Rowena Ackley (1885-1930). Edna's mum Mary is listed here in the 1907 Guthrie City Directory as "widowed." She wasn't a widow, but women frequently used that title rather than label themselves as "divorced." I googled this address but found only a Zillow listing for a home built in 1940. 



        A distant cousin writes that Edna Rowena once sang opera to audiences, flew airplanes, and lived in Greenwich Village. I hope to find articles confirming I'm indeed related to a high-flying diva who lived a century ago. (UPDATE: Hey, Dawn! -- Edna sounds fascinating! As more newspapers are archived/digitized, let's hope we find mention of our fun-girl Edna in a NYC paper or an early Studio-54-type mention on a society page). 

        In 1903, 18 year old Edna Rowena married recently-widowed 52 year old Edward Lee Blincoe in Oklahoma Territory.Their only son Edward Jr. was born in nearby Guthrie in 1907.



          Edna's husband Edward, Sr. died in 1919, and later, Edna at age 45. (Only one month before her brother Glenn passed. See my later post about Glenn). Edna is buried in Glendale, California near her son "Byron Haven Blincoe."  

          I'm grateful to Edna's descendant (and my 4th cousin) who left two comments on her memorial page that speak volumes: 



        Edward Blincoe, Jr. is mentioned in a Who's WHO of California book with his hobbies as "swimming, sailing, research in astrology." His death certificate indicates he was a minister and philosopher. He ran for California State Senate in 1966.



        In 1933 Edward married Margaret Shawn of Philadelphia. Their daughter Barbara Rowena was born in Hollywood in 1936. She later changed her name to Spira DeWilde. It is SPIRA who recently died, and whose first husband identified her as "the original hippie."

          I find this family fascinating. Please see her obituary with photos of Spira and her art:

          http://www.topangamessenger.com/story_detail.php?ArticleID=8334

         Spira's ex-husband Don Preston played with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, OH. MY. GOD. How cool is that!

         


         And this: http://www.stevemoore.addr.com/donpreston.html  (Don once played with Nat King Cole).


        And Don Preston's new group, a clever variation on Mothers of Invention called THE GRANDMOTHERS, on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GRANDMOTHERSOFINVENTION/  Squee! Love it

          Hey, thanks for stopping by! 


--This post was updated 26 Oct 2019. Thanks to my cousin Dawn.

Heavens To Betsy And Six Hands Around!

What was my favorite research find of the day, you ask? How about this sentence from an editor in a 1911 newspaper, The Kenna Record:

                             "...your pigeon-toed daughter's tacky wedding!" 

While searching for kin in archived New Mexico newspapers at newspapers.com/ I found this article written by the editor, W. T. Cowgill, of Kenna, New Mexico. Starving writer? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Cowgill has apparently had enough of deadbeats. 


I understand "heavens to Betsy," but am not sure what "six hands around" means. A reference to measurement? Do you know?

Noted Centenarians

Did you see on the news this week that Olivia de Havilland turned 100 years old? Her sister Joan Fontaine passed just three years ago at age 96. Good genes! Curious about others who have lived to see 100 (known as centenarians), I found this website that someone takes great care in compiling:

          http://genarians.com/

Why, Herman Wouk, David Rockefeller, Vera Lynn, AND June Foray--the voice artist for Natasha Fatale, are still alive? You recall Natasha, don't you?

I'm grateful to "Leno," an obit writer that I follow, who shared this list of female film or TV notables who are over 90 years old:

BIRTH YEAR - NAME OF ACTRESS - FILM OR TV TITLE

1908: Edith Meinhard (Diary of a Lost Girl) 
1911: Lupita Tovar (Dracula (Spanish), mother of Susan Kohner), Renee Simonot (French actress/dubber for Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz) 
1912: Mary Carlisle (Baby Face Morgan), Connie Sawyer (A Hole in the Head) 
1914: Gisele Casadesus (My Afternoons with Margueritte), Gertrude Hadley Jeannette (Shaft) 
1915: Danuta Szaflarska (Time to Die, 2007), Patricia Morison (Song of Bernadette), 
1916: Olivia de Havilland (Gone With the Wind), Jean Rouverol (Autumn Leaves) 
1917: Zsa Zsa Gabor (Moulin Rouge), Danielle Darrieux (La Ronde), June Foray (Rocky & Bullwinkle), Marsha Hunt (Smash-Up), Suzy Delair (The Mad Adventures of 'Rabbi' Jacob) 
1918: Fay McKenzie (Down Mexico Way, 1941), Ivy Bethune (Back to the Future), Baby Peggy Montgomery (Helen's Babies, 1924) 
1919: Sono Osato (The Kissing Bandit, 1948), Margot Hielscher (Doktor Faustus, 1982), Marge Champion (dancer and model for Snow White) 
1920: Michele Morgan (The Fallen Idol), Maggie Griffin (TV's My Life on the D-List), Franca Valeri (The Widower, 1959), Nanette Fabray (The Band Wagon), Kate Murtagh (Farewell, My Lovely, 1975), and Noel Neill (TV's The Adventures of Superman). 
1921: Carol Channing (Thoroughly Modern Millie), Barbara Hale (The Boy With Green Hair), Muriel Pavlow (Doctor in the House), Patricia Barry (Send Me No Flowers), Liz Smith (A Private Function) 
1922: Betty White (TV's The Golden Girls), Joan Copeland (TV's As the World Turns), Micheline Presle (Devil in the Flesh, 1940s), Tônia Carrero (Tico-Tico no Fubá, 1952), Janis Paige (Silk Stockings), Louise Latham (Marnie), Lee Wilde (Look for the Silver Lining, 1949), Lyn Wilde (Look for the Silver Lining), Jacqueline White (Crossfire, 1947), 
1923: Valentina Cortese (Day for Night), Anne Jeffreys (Dillinger, 1945), Gloria Henry (TV's Dennis the Menace), Elizabeth Sellars (The Day They Robbed the Bank of England, 1960), Peggy Stewart (Oregon Trail, 1945), Maria Pacôme (The Undergifted, 1980), Rhonda Fleming (Spellbound), Rose Marie (TV's The Dick Van Dyke Show), Glynis Johns (Miranda), Dina Merrill (Operation Petticoat), Inge Keller (Aimee & Jaguar) 
1924: Carole Cook (The Incredible Mr. Limpet), Machiko Kyo (Rashomon), Doris Day (Pillow Talk), Noreen Nash (Giant), Priscilla Pointer (Carrie, 1976), Gisela May (Fleur LaFontaine, 1978), Eva Marie Saint (North by Northwest), Maria Dolores Pradera (Vida en Sombras, 1948), Joyce Randolph (TV's The Honeymooners), Lily Weiding (The Green Butchers), Anita Linda (Adultery, 1984), Maria Riva (The Scarlet Empress, 1934), Marge Redmond (The Trouble With Angels)   
1925: Katherine "Scotty" MacGregor (TV's Little House on the Prairie), Dorothy Malone (The Man of a Thousand Faces), Elena Verdugo (TV's Marcus Welby), Kristine Miller (I Walk Alone), June Lockhart (TV's Lost in Space), Cara Williams (The Defiant Ones, 1958), Gloria DeHaven (Two Girls and a Sailor), Miiko Taka (Sayonara), Lola Albright (TV's Peter Gunn), Arlene Dahl (Journey to the Center of the Earth, 1959), Honor Blackman (Goldfinger), Angela Lansbury (Gaslight), Mary Kay Stearns (TV's Mary Kay and Johnny), Lee Grant (Shampoo),  June Whitfield (TV's Absolutely Fabulous), Kaye Ballard (TV's The Mothers-in-Law), Peggy Cummins (Gun Crazy, 1950) 
1926: Nancy Gates (Suddenly), Jean Alexander (TV's Coronation Street), Jane Withers (Giant), Gloria Jean (Never Give a Sucker and Even Break), Charlotte Rae (TV's The Facts of Life), Cloris Leachman (Young Frankenstein), Virginia Patton (It's a Wonderful Life)

Hmm, Glynis Johns played Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins. I didn't know she played a London mermaid in Miranda. And yes, Gloria Henry was mom to Dennis The Menace. I also learned that a little girl named Jeanne Russell had accompanied her brother to the casting call for boys to act as playmates of Dennis in his fictional 1959 neighborhood. The young boy wasn't picked for the TV show. But his sister was! She got the role of Margaret. Evidently Jay Thomas (Dennis) had pointed to little Jeanne and said, "I like HER!" Today former child star Margaret works as a chiropractor. 

Having just spent a good 40 minutes googling some of these names, I'm now going to make coffee. But will only drink it inside, as the humidity is 76 percent outdoors according to my trusty HUMIDITY-IS-LOATHSOME app. Here's hoping your name makes a centenarian list some day!

My New Mexico Homesteaders

          Did your ancestor homestead? Ancestry.com/ has many homestead records for land that opened up in America in the 1800s. NARA has this short primer on the 1862 Homestead Act:  http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/homestead-act/

          Now that you're up to snuff, try putting your ancestor's name in the search engine at the marvelous Bureau of Land Management site:  http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx  Did you find him or her? Is this cool, or what!

          In 1930 my Great-Grand Dad was issued a land patent near Hagerman, New Mexico for the purpose of "stock raising." I knew he loved and raised horses, but didn't know he raised cattle. Or did "stock" also apply to horses? 


"Patent # NMLC 0028040 is a homesteading, mining, ranching, logging, and more patent in Chaves, New Mexico owned by John W Coffee. It is a homestead entry: stock raising."

"Ownership and use of this patent is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management's Roswell Field Office under the serial number NMLC 0028040. The last action for this patent—patent issued—occurred on May 20, 1930. Information on the patent was last updated on July 19, 2011."

          Seven years earlier, In 1923, a New Mexico land patent was first issued to John W. Coffee. Why wouldn't they also list his wife, Dorothy? Was that not a thing back then? American women had won the right to vote just three years earlier. But considered "chattel" in many states for decades to come. 


          Some time after their marriage in 1904, Dorothy (McCormick) and John W. Coffee moved to New Mexico Territory. They appear on the 1910 Federal Census in Chaves County with their infant, Audrey. New Mexico became a state in 1912. They farmed in Chaves County until 1940 when the census finds them in Fort Sumner, DeBaca County. That census page indicates an address of: "Left Side Of 4th Valley Road." My mother recalls their home being in baseball-batting distance to William H. Bonney's grave. You know, Billy the Kid. 

          In their seventh decade and during World War II, my Great-Grands joined their children in California. Dorothy passed away a decade later, and John lived to see his 93rd birthday. I don't know that they ever returned to New Mexico to visit.   

It's In The Genes

          Tonight I learned from a podcast that children are three times more likely to have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder if one of their parents suffered from PTSD before birth. Got that? It may be passed in utero. Chilling news, that!

          I'm surely not alone in wondering what family traits came from which ancestor. Have you too wished you could time travel for a week? Censuses and vital records don't tell if someone was athletic, had a curious mind, a love of animals or playing the fiddle. Many 19th century obituaries speak of a person's 24/7 prayer life, and their love of Scripture. (Well-thumbed were the Old Testament's stories of polygamy, no doubt, as a few Dearly Departed enjoyed many spouses).

          A glimpse of a family's heart ache is learned when you count the number of children they buried. The 1910 Federal Census asked each parent how many children had been born--and what number were still alive. The numbers are frequently different. How did this affect my ancestors? When families emigrated hundreds of miles to new homes, how easy or difficult was it to adjust? Feeding large families must have been a burden in itself. How did people manage stress? 

           It is an interesting half-hour show on Studio Tulsa's "Medical Monday" program. Author Mark Wolynn, director of The Family Constellation Institute in San Francisco, discussed his work and that of Rachel Yehuda's research at Mount Sinai Hospital of children AND grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. Fascinating! Public Radio Tulsa's podcast link is:

http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/st-medical-monday-it-didnt-start-you-how-inherited-family-trauma-shapes-who-we-are#stream/0

           Wolynn's book is now on my mobile: It Didn't Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle. 

          

When Cowboys Wore Pancake Hats

          Today I learned that cowboy hats as we now know them were not invented until 1865. John Stetson created that look.

          Before 1865 men on the frontier wore bowler hats, wide-brimmed pancake hats, and floppy top hats. Did you know this?

          Someone please inform Hollywood.



          Which may explain why my German immigrant great-grandfather wore this:

Free Civil War Records On FamilySearch.org/

Familysearch.org/ continues to be amazing with the number of databases they continue to upload. Three and a half billion records so far. With Memorial Day coming up, many of the PAID genealogy sites offer limited free access to veterans' records. But FamilySearch has many of those same records available for free 24/7. Or they might link to ancestry.com/ (a paid site) with whom they recently partnered on some databases. Curious about your Civil War ancestors? Familysearch has made it easier to locate their military docs.

"There are a lot of Civil War-related collections that don't say 'Civil War' on them," FamilySearch spokesman Paul Nauta said. The average person won't think to look at those. We've aggregated all these collections together online so a novice can go and see the broad spectrum of selections to see if they can find their ancestors."

Have a look at FamilySearch's database and its wiki article below. Don't know your ancestors' names? If you know your grandparents' full names and/or the names of your great-grands, you can trace backwards via the U.S. Census. Holler at me for more.

          https://familysearch.org/civil-war#wiki_articles