Before I Forget

Happy to find my ancestors living in Dinuba, Tulare County, California in the newly-released 1950 Federal Census. Woo hoo! 

          FROM:  https://1950census.archives.gov/  at ED No. 54-8

          Line 20 - Coffee, John W, head, age 75, married, born in Texas  

          Line 21 - Coffee, Dorothy E, wife, age 74, married, born in Illinois

via URL:  https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Tulare&name=Coffee&page=1&state=CA

NOTE:  I had earlier posted an incorrect link and image that has since been corrected. Thank you, Carolyn

The first two articles from The Paxton Record on April 25th and April 30, 1904 made my day. I've also included a few other articles from this paper published in Paxton, Ford County, Illinois.  

I'm reading Newspapers.com this rainy afternoon. Found a few McCormick obits of people my GGrandmother Elta (McCormick) Coffee or her parents may have known--beginning with her dad's obituary:

Obit of Elta's father's father, William S. McCormick, Sr.:

A grandson of William S. McCormick, Sr., via Redlands Daily Facts, Redlands, California, p. 6, April 25, 1961.

Another grandson of William, Sr., and our GREAT Aunt Helen's cousin, via Albuquerque Journal, New Mexico, p. 84, April 10, 1983. (Postscript to Coffee cousins:  my app's relationship-counter ALSO indicates Helen and Wilfred were 4th cousins via a distant Van Doren ancestor-cousins who were married). #Agoodygoody

          My maternal 2nd Great Uncle Ivor McCormick met with the Chaves County draft board on September 12, 1918 in New Mexico. He was 39 years old and a resident of nearby Hagerman. 

         And he got on the wrong side of Mr. M. H. Long's high horse:

          On the backside of Ivor's draft card is a record of Mr. Long's disgust with Dr. McCormick's reply:

                                          "Refused to give middle name. Needs military training" 

          And I say, GO  IVOR!

My Mother's Great-Granddad served in the Union Army during the Civil War. He was 20 years old when he signed on in May of 1864. I don't find that he saw battle, but do find that Corporal McCormick's unit had "garrison duty" at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for a few months before being mustered out in Saint Louis, Missouri.(1)  Other records indicate he was 6'2", dark hair, black eyes, and dark complected. This height was passed to many of his grandchildren.

He married, had seven kids on his farm in Illinois. When he was 62 he joined other family who were homesteading in New Mexico Territory. Today I found mention of him in a rural newspaper.(2)  William McCormick and other "old soldiers" had been awarded military pensions. William, now living near the town of Hagerman, got a whopping $12 a month. I've no clue what that sum would be in today's dollars, do you?

A couple of columns over from this article was a cute Mark Twain story. You know, Samuel Clemons was so very popular long ago. Oklahoma's Will Rogers later matched Twain in the public eye. WE NEED A NEW HUMORIST of their quality. 

William died in 1921 at age 75. He didn't live as long as his 90 year old dad. A kind soul shared William's parents' tombstone photo which appears to have been taken after sunset. But what the heck is that gargoyle on top? I've tried to brighten these photos, but failed. Click to see all three in the gallery:

Before I return to reading 100 year old newspapers, here's a brief bit of data on William's ancestors. Thanks for stopping by!

SOURCE: 

1.   http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UIL0138RI  

2.     The Spanish American, Feb. 1, 1908, Image 12, newspaper from Roy, Mora County, New Mexico. URL as of July 10, 2014: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92061524/1908-02-01/ed-1/seq-12/#  

Roscoe is my Mom's "Grand Uncle" (and also third cousin twice removed!) and was the second son of Union Army veteran, William McCormick, and his wife, Elizabeth Van Doren, of LaSalle County, Illinois. He was the fifth of their seven children, born in late 1877. Roscoe married Margaret Kerby in Van Wyck, Idaho in 1904, and they had three children: Francis William, Doris Marie and Marjorie Margaret McCormick. (Note to Californian kin: His two daughters once lived in Sonoma County, and died there in 1994 and 1996) 

Roscoe studied and received his first degree in Natural Science from the University of Illinois in 1901. I found him teaching science that year in Jackson County, Illinois. He then pursued his medical degree at the College of Physicians & Surgeons from 1903-1908. Dr. McCormick was employed as a medical inspector for the city of Chicago Health Department from 1908 to 1910. Can you say Upton Sinclair? Sinclair chilled his thousands of readers with an expose of Chicago's meatpacking industry in his book The Jungle. Have you read it? I've started it several times but can't finish it. Chicagoans too were horrified. Public outrage led to the 1906 Meat Inspection and Pure Food and Drug Acts. So our Roscoe certainly came on board at the Health Department during a challenging time in Chicago's history. What stories he might have told!

The Pure Food and Drug Act also generated attempts to regulate Chicago's milk supply. In 1909, Chicago became the first city in the United States to pass an ordinance requiring compulsory milk pasteurization. This law did not guarantee the city's residents access to safe, pure, and cheap milk, however, in part because of discrepancies between Illinois statutes and Chicago ordinances. The city passed stricter regulations than the state and had a larger inspecting staff. But Chicago still faced great difficulty enforcing its rules, because it could not command uniform standards from 12,000 dairies in four different states that supplied residents with milk. Nor was it able to exercise regulatory control over an interest group with power at the state level.

 After what was most likely not a soiree at the Health Department, Dr. McCormick went into private practice in Wauconda, Illinois. The 1930 Federal Census finds him working in Logan County, Colorado. He died in Colorado Springs in 1953, and is buried in Denver.

And before computers, there were card files at the American Medical Association:

Source:  U.S. Deceased Physician File (AMA), 1864-1968 via familysearch.org 

I got a kick out of reading the curriculum for the Murphysboro Township High School that Roscoe taught at in 1901:

Thanks for stopping by. A pumpkin pie goes to anyone who can come up with a photo of Roscoe. I'm eating a piece now from Village Inn--the best pie hole in town.