Mysterious Grandfather

#52Ancestors

Hello peeps, hope you are all staying safe and warm with all of these winter storms floating around. It's week 2 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge and it's all about a favorite photo. The photo I've picked is of my Grandpa, Charles Dailey, because it's one of only about 2 pictures that I have of him.

This was taken, I believe, in the house on 27th in Akron, Ohio; at least that's what my dad said. I have no idea when it was taken, but sometime before 1 September 1920 when he died at age 53. At that time the house was in the town of Kenmore which later became part of the city of Akron. Charles was born 10 April 1866 in Richmondale, Ross Co, Ohio.

I wish I had more info on him so I could put some meat on the bones but for now I have to settle for what I have. He was a carpenter/carriage maker from the census [I have his vintage tool box and tools], he wasn't Catholic like my Grandma Dailey but didn't mind that she and the children were, and, as my dad recalled, and he liked to drink as Grandma would send him to Zimmerman's bar to fetch him home.

Well peeps, thanks for stopping by... hope you enjoyed your visit. I love comments and try to answer all of them.

Starting my Genealogy is intimidating?

Hi Peeps, and Happy New Year 2018!! I've joined a challenge for my genealogy that's called "52 weeks of 52 ancestors". Amy Johnson Crow came up with this challenge, gives you prompts for your 52 weeks, and... it's free. You can sign up anytime by clicking Here for the details.

Week #1  Start
I began my genealogical roller coaster ride in 1986, a year before my dad died, when I was 39 years old. I was never intimidated when I started, even though I didn't know how to go about such a thing.

About 3 years after I started I decided it might be a good idea to join a genealogical group in my town if there was one to be found. There was, Summit County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society, and I joined. This allowed me to talk to people with the same interest and to learn how to actually start having successful researches.

I grew up hearing about the family of my mom's [Martha Ellen Renner Dailey] family through her and her mother, my grandmother, Nellie Ruth [Hitchcock] Renner. However, I had literally no knowledge of my dad's [Martin John Dailey] family. Now we lived with Grandma Dailey until she died when I was 12 years old, but she never talked about her family or my Grandfather's family.

I knew that Grandpa Dailey was Charles Dailey, and that he died when dad was a young boy. I also  knew that the name of my Grandpa Dailey's father was Joseph Dailey and his wife's name was Elizabeth, possibly Cowdrey or Corder.

The Dailey family moved from Chillicothe, Ross Co, Ohio to Akron, Summit Co, Ohio when my dad was about 3 yrs old, or around 1911. We would randomly make trips to Chillicothe to see some of dad's cousins but if they talked about the earlier generations I never knew about it.  Dad didn't have many memories of  my Grandpa since he was so young when Grandpa died. But he did say he would have to go to "Zimmerman's" bar to fetch his dad home from drinking, and that when he worked he was a carpenter. Sadly, that was the end of my knowledge about my Dailey ancestry.

I have been trying, off and on, since 1986 to find information on my Gr Grandfather's parents and family but still only have possibilities. I've fared a little better with [Philomena 'Minnie' Margaret Mathias Dailey] my Grandma Dailey... but that's for another day.

Well peeps, that's how I got started in the search for ancestors... and it continues today. Thanks for stopping by... and have a wonderful day. I welcome all comments.

#52ancestors

Tragedy On The Rails

Genealogy, to me, is more than gathering names and dates; but also trying to bring the people to life by putting flesh on their bones and telling their story. Such is the case of one Epenetus Owen, a Methodist Minister, who was the brother of my great great great great grandmother, Sarah [Owen] Hogeboom. The only information I had to start with were a couple of notations in the large Family Bible, handed down through the generations to my grandmother, Nellie Ruth [Hitchcock] Renner. Also, 4 loose pages from another Bible that were in the large Bible. The large Bible is now in my possession.

I have always been curious about Epenetus [ 1815-1890 ], and I knew from the Bible he married Sarah Maria Reed in 1843. I also assumed he was a Minister since the Bible refers to him as Rev Epenetus Owen. My first break was finding a family history book*  ** that Ancestry has in it's collections. Page 576 lists Sarah Maria Reed married to Rev Epenetus Owen. Page 610 lists more info on Sarah and Epenetus and names their 3 sons, including a son that died in infancy. Page 663 lists family details on their remaining 2 sons including their wives and children.This is where the tragedy occurs. Arthur Lyman Owen, Sarah & Epenetus' grandson, and his wife, lost all three of his children, between the ages of 5 - 9, on 27 February 1917 in a "railroad wreck".***

The children had been staying a few days with their Aunt, their mother's sister, and her husband. Word came that their Aunt's father, the children's grandfather, had died on February 26th so the children along with their Aunt, Uncle, and other family members went by train to New York for the funeral.The children were to meet up with their parents at their grandmother's home, but the reunion never happened.

A freight train missed signals and plowed into the end of a passenger train carrying the children and relatives. The car that was impacted was the Sleeper Car and no one in that car survived. Another relative had the gruesome task of identifying all 9 of his family members including the children.

My heart breaks for the poor grandmother of the family. Not only did her husband die, but several of her children and spouses, and all of her grandchildren, died in that train on the way to her husband's funeral. I know first hand the grief of losing a husband, but cannot begin to fathom loosing so many of my children and grandchildren on their way to the funeral.

The irony is that I made this discovery on 24 February 2017, just three days shy of the 100th Anniversary of the train wreck. As tragic as this is, it's one of the reasons I love genealogy. It puts the flesh on the bones of these relatives and brings them to life. It tells their story and mine.



 *{source: Ancestry.com, North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 [database on-line] Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 20116}. 

**{ book title: Reed-Reid Lineage; Captain John Reed of Providence, Rhode Island, and Norwalk, Connecticut, and his descendents through his sons, John & Thomas: 1660-1909} 

***{Google Search for: 27 February 1917, Mt Union, Pennsylvania}

Baby Boy Travis

Well folks, I've had to edit my earlier post, titled "The Travis Clan", to include a child  of Hank & Nina Travis that I missed. I hope you understand. 

Little know fact: Probably the only ones who know this would be Hank & Nina's kids, but I may be wrong. On 12 April 1948 Hank & Nina had a premature son who was stillborn. I don't remember hearing Nina, or anyone, talk about this little boy. My "then husband", Joseph Travis, was the one who told me. What I remember being told was that he would have been younger than Joe, and was supposed to have been named Richard.

Now I'm not a big fan of taking what anyone has on their family history as gospel. I'm referring to the "Family Trees" you see on all sorts of genealogy sites. I learned the old fashioned way, meaning you take the clues and find the documentation to prove the fact. 

First of all, and most important, Joe and his siblings would have been there at the time this child was born and could remember this. Second, A few years ago I took Joe's clue and began to search but came up empty handed. Third, doing an online search of microfilmed records I finally found a microfilm of the "General Index And Register Of Deaths - Wetzel County, W. Va." Unfortunately this death index does not give a burial location.

[Records microfilmed by "The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints], better known as the Mormon Church.

This little boy is listed on the 3rd line from the top. [It is ironic that the death of his grandfather, Everett Luther Travis, is listed on the 1st line. The information reads:

Surname:  Travis

Given Name: - - -

Race - Sex:  W - M

Date of Death - Age: Apr 12 1948 -   ---

Place of Death - Cause of Death:  New Martinsville - Premature-Stillborn

Names of Parents: James Travis   Nina Lee Underwood

Consort of, or unmarried - Person giving information: Unmarried - Mrs James Travis

I have edited my original post to include this missed information. You can see the post by clicking on this link. The Travis Clan

Hank & Nina

Who still remembers these two terrific people?

 

Yep... Hank and Nina Travis - Pa-paw and Ma-maw. I know at least 2 grandchildren never got to know Hank because, sadly, he died before they were born. The ones I know of are Sharon Travis, Joe's daughter, and Loretta Spears, Josephine's daughter. I know Theresa Travis, Bob's daughter,was a baby so she wouldn't have memories of her own. I'm not sure about Gary's youngest.

I have soooo many good memories of them. Hank was loads of fun and loved Roller Derby, so he watched that every Sunday. Nina was loads of fun too, and was the best cook ever. I still make a couple of her recipes.

If you are one of Hank & Nina's grandkids... make sure to pass your memories on to your kids and grandkids. You may have been too young to have your own memories, but I know you've heard the memories. If you're a little dusty in the memory department then ask your parents. Each one of their 4 kids has tons of memories to pass on... just ask!

The Travis Clan

[1st Gen] William Travis [1785-1885] married twice
                        1st  Mary Jane Pearce [17895-1885] They had 9 known children
                                      Elizabeth [1802-1850]
                                      Elsie [1804-1879]
                                      John D [1812-1895] 
                                   William [1815-1880]
                                   Thomas [1818-?]
                                    Mary Jane [1822-1899]
                                    Isaiah [1824-1895]
                                    Peter [1828-1898]
                                    R Jackson [1828-1871]
                       2nd Margaret Mason  [married William in 1847 - no other info]
 
      [2nd Gen] William Travis [1815-1880] married
                                  Hannah Buchannan [1818-1896] They had 10 known children
                                        James T [1838-1919]
                                        John W [1840-1895]
                                        William H [1842-1889]
                                        Friend Marion [1844-1926]
                                        Sanford [1847-?]
                                        Samantha J [1850?] a.k.a. Nancy J
                                        Sarah Caroline [1852-1921]
                                        Isaiah Manford [1855-?]
                                        Calvin S [1858-1919]
                                        Hannah N [1860-1862]

         [3rd Gen] Calvin S Travis [1856-1919] married
                                  Laura Jane Smith [1862-1939] They had 6 known children
                                    William C [1877-1923]
                                     Charles Wesley [1879-1942]
                                     Everett Luther [1882-1947]
                                     Friend G [1884-1898]
                                     Emma D [18887-?]
                                     Anne [1889-1889]

             [4th Gen] Everett Luther Travis [1882-1947] married
                                       Maude "Mollie" Gardner [1885-1965] They had 12 known children
                                             Evalyn Daisy [1908-?]
                                             Charles Wesley [1909-1980]
                                             Bessie Virginia [1910-1985]
                                             Otis Everett [1912-1980]
                                             Blanche Lucy [1914-1997]
                                             Rosetta Letha [1916-2002]
                                          George Ralph [1918-1995]
                                          Russell [1920-1978]
                                          James Franklin "Hank" [1922-1969]
                                          Harry L [1923-?]
                                          Betty Eileen [1927-1996]
                                          Carrie Ellen [no dates]

                  [5th Gen] James Franklin "Hank" Travis [1922-1969] married
                                            Nina Lee Underwood [1922-1995] They had 4 children
                                                  Gary
                                                  Robert
                                                  Joseph
                                                  Josephine
                                                  baby boy - premature stillborn 12 April 1948  
                                                              [edit 10-3-2015]

Update:  The names of some children may appear out of alignment, and I'm not sure why. They were aligned when I typed them, but when I posted this they were not. Ahhh... the marvels of technology!

Charles Dailey - lost photos

OMG!! I just found these 2 photos of my grandpa Charles Dailey. There are no dates on them but it would be between 1911 when they were first in the 27th St. house and 1920 when he died. That would put Charles between the ages of 45 to 54 years old.

This was taken in the Dailey house on 27th St. in Akron, Ohio. It would either be the front room or dining room.

This is a photo of a portrait taken in the side yard on 27th St. Mom had no idea what happened to the portrait as she never saw it herself.