Before I Forget

Thanks to old newspapers I finally found a death date for my distant cousin. Plus his photo in a database of seaman records! I already knew of a death date. But i HAD NO PROOF until now. Proof of sorts, that is, as newspapers are considered secondary sources--not primary.

But let's not quibble. With this data I can now search for a death certificate on FamilySearch.org which has uploaded Los Angeles County death certificates (albeit WITHOUT an index). He was only 48 when he died, and I want to know why. And where is he interred? 

Source:  The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA, USA: The Los Angeles Times, 1881-1894, Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003 via Ancestry.com. NOTE:  Alas, no date is given on the clipping nor page number.

When a toddler, his name appeared in a Nebraska census as "Owen G. Ackley."  But later his signatures and records reflected "Glenn Witham Ackley."  Did he dislike Owen and went with Glenn, do you know? I like to note both legal and "go by" names in my gedcom. For now I'll stick with Glenn. And his middle name of Witham? That was his mother's maiden name. Mary taught school in Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory for many years, BTW. Here's Glenn with his parents, Mary and "F.M. Ackley," near the bottom of this 1890 Territorial Census page:

Also, how neat is this: Ancestry has Merchant Marine files online. Chock full of details. From this I learned Glenn was 5'6 1/2" tall, with brown hair and eyes, dark complexion, and with a scar on his thumb--to boot. He was living at 519 Beacon Street in Los Angeles, which Google now tells me is in San Pedro. (Not to worry. YOUR data will all be online too someday, but we'll be long dead. Oh, wait. ?  )

Other cousins had "West Virginia" as Glenn's birthplace. But with no proof attached. However in this Application For Original License to become  "Third Mate of Ocean Steam Vessels of any gross tons" dated 16 Dec 1918, I learned Glenn was born in Mason County, West Virginia on 16 August 1882. 

Glenn applied a second time a few years later. That 1923 doc is attached in this same image gallery below. See eight pages here:

Source: U.S., Merchant Marine Applications for License of Officers, 1914-1949 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.  Original data: Records of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation. Merchant Marine Applications for Licenses of Officers. NAI: 7591749 Record Group 26: Records of the U.S. Coast Guard. National Archives at Riverside, California.

While in the Port of San Francisco, he received his Citizen Seaman's Identification Card of December 1918. He had served on board the S.S. Maine ("Remember The Maine". No, not that one) and hoped to serve on the S.S. China. Glenn is 36, and apparently grew a half inch from when he met with the Merchant Marines. Hey, I love a document with a photo. Yea, Glenn. Happy to see your face!

Source:  From:  U.S., Applications for Seaman's Protection Certificates, 1916-1940 via Ancestry, Washington, D.C.; The National Archives and Records Administration; Application for Seaman´s Protection Certificates; NAI: 2788575; Record Group Title: Records of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation; Record Group Number: 41; Box Number: 001 - Sa

Last is Glenn's draft card of September 11, 1918. He's staying at the Ocean View Hotel in San Pedro, California, working for S.W. Ship Building Co. as a "Ship-fitter."  His sister Edna is his contact person:  Mrs. E. L. Blincoe  532 West 51st St., Los Angeles. Go ahead. Google that address. The building is no longer there, but I like seeing places that once were. 

NOTE TO CURIOUS COUSINS:  Glenn Ackley and I both descend from Samuel Ackley and his wife, Sarah Rush. His father, Francis, and my 2xGGrandmother Lucy were siblings. Both children of Sam and Sarah.

Thanks for stopping by!

        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.