Nuts From the Family Tree: Dorothy Williams Conrad

Showing posts with label Dorothy Williams Conrad. Show all posts

Monday, September 22, 2014

Granny Whetstone's Missing! (And I can't find her.)

Yes, dear Granny Whetstone, Mom's own kind and gentle grandmother, is missing. There she is above with her husband Joseph Hampton Whetstone (1858 - 1939). No, she didn't wander off just now. She's been gone since right around the time I was born. And yes, she's missing from the records. Oh, sure, she's right there in the census records from 1870 with her House family in West Virginia all the way through the 1930 census in Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland. She's there except for a birth certificate but that's to be expected because it's West Virginia in 1865, right after the Civil War and West Virginia is a brand new state, so no birth record for her... and by way of extension, for me. By the way, she was born April 5th and the war ended April 9th. I wonder if there ever was a birth certificate for her?

But I can't complain too much (even though you know I'm going to) because of one census return for Granny and her family. Here it is and you'll notice that she and her husband are there, as well as Mom - Virginia - and her parents, Emma and Cambria Williams. And look, they are all named and the relationships are named too! WOW! Jackpot! Three generations in one record.

Isn't this cool?!

Alright, that's nice but what I really want is Granny Whetstone's death certificate. I have the rest of my great grandparents death certificates and I need hers too. So I emailed my guy who knows his way around the Maryland State Archives and off he went to get her death certificate as well as that of her husband, Joe. When I received his package in the mail there was no death certificate for Granny. WHA?? I couldn't believe it. So I went on the Maryland State Archive myself and tried to find her in the index. Got nothin'.

Then I noticed a discrepancy in her death year. Her tombstone says she died in 1945. Just look at this photo of it and see for yourself.

Mom's tree and it says that she died in January of 1946. Now I'm really confused because if I think about it, maybe that's not right either. Mom remembers - and I asked her about this many times over the years - that after she had me in October of 1946, she spoke with Granny on the phone and Granny said, When are you going to bring that baby over so I can see her? So Mom did, and Granny saw me, and presumably I saw her too. It was winter, Mom said, which in Western Maryland can come anytime really, but usually from November and until about April. That would make it late 1946 and into 1947. And Mom remembers that she took me to Granny's home of many years, on Midlothian Road in Frostburg. So maybe Granny Whetstone passed in January of 1947.

Grand pop Whetstone had passed on August 15, 1939, and Mom remembers it well. She and Dad were to get married that day but cancelled until the 21st because Joe died then. Granny continued to live in their home until she passed, as Mom has said.

So what's with the missing death certificate? And what's with the multiple death years? I'm at a loss.

Mom, Virginia Williams, on the left and her sister, Dot, on the right Flanking their mother Emma Susan (Whetstone) Williams in the light dress and Granny Kate, in the dark dress.
Katherine (or Catherine depending on the record) Elizabeth (House) Whetstone.
Photo, mid 1930s.

I seriously needed Granny Whetstone's death certificate because I'm working on Mom's application to the NSDAR. The DAR for short, or Daughters of the American Revolution, requires exact and accurate documentation in the preparation of your application. Death certificates are a boon to the applicant because it ordinarily includes birth and death dates as well as the names of both parents and therefore proved the vitals of that person as well as provide a link back to the previous generation.

But my Maryland State Archive guy sent a note with the things he did find stating in blatant terms, "She did not die in Maryland."

I was in shock. Shocked and maybe a little depressed at how much more work this was going to make for me. Now what the heck was I going to do? I have no vital records for Granny Whetstone. She's just plain missing.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Sentimental Sunday: Happy 95th Birthday to Mom!!

Happy 95th Birthday!

Virginia Williams Kelly on her 21st birthday!

My Mom turns 95 years young July 29th! She's happy and healthy, thank goodness, and enjoying life. She follows this blog so here's another birthday wish to her!

Mom was born just at the close of WWI. She was born in July and the war ended in November of that year. Her family all lived in the little mountain town of Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland, and that war must have seemed far, far away, but not so far as to reach out and touch her family and town. One uncle suffered from the aftermath of nerve gas. The coal mining industry that employed almost every man in the area took a hit as coal prices fell when war time demand lessened. Yet it was a very happy childhood, as Mom tells it. No one had much but they all pretty much had the same. We were poor but everyone was poor, so we shared, she often says.

Mom as a baby with her parents,

Cambria Williams (1897 - 1960) and Emma Whetstone Williams (1897 - 1956).

Mom, right sporting a big hair bow and blond hair, with her sister Dorothy Williams Conrad.

Mom and Dad both graduated from the same high school but he was two years ahead of her. It was the last years of the Great Depression but work was to be had in local factories. They worked hard, saved, and secretly married. Each lived at home and more money was saved. But you know how small towns are: soon everyone guessed! An apartment was found and family life began in earnest.

Mom and Dad, an attractive couple.

Mom. Always did love a nice hat. Still does!

Mom at Dad's new office, early 1960s, Ohio.

Kids came along, we all moved to Ohio for better work opportunities. The kids, three of us, all grew, enjoyed college educations, found mates, and lived happily ever after. The doctor (PHD/ JD sister), the lawyer (JD brother) and myself.

Mom got interested in genealogy in the 1970s. Of course as you know, that was before computers. I look at her stacks of family group sheets and all the rest and am glad I waited to jump in until the convenience of the laptop! Mom is as sharp as a tack and remembers stuff I marvel at daily. Genealogy keeps her young, she says. She spent many years hiking over graveyards, climbing stairs in court houses and archives, walking to index remote cemeteries. If she finds anyone over 80 who is not on the internet, she gives them a good scolding!

Mom in the 1980s at the National Library of Wales.

Mom's most recent project is writing up stories of her life. It's an ongoing project and will take a while. First, she is transcribing her handwritten notes from a bunch of those old steno books. (Remember those?) She has always liked writing and this will be another fun project for us! I'll add photos to her writing and get it printed.

Mom: I want to be her when I grow up!!

Mom blows out the candles!

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/07/sentimental-sunday-happy-95th-birthday.html

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Talented Tuesday: Mom Sings in a Choir

Last week on Tuesday I continued writing about the musical talent on Mom's side of the family and you can read that post here. Talented Tuesday is a blogging prompt from the fascinating folks at GeneaBloggers, and you can click through and see all about here: Talented Tuesday.

Mom's family is almost entirely Welsh on her Dad's side. Her grand father Daniel Williams (1852 - 1920) was born in Wales and her family attended a church founded by Welshmen, The Congregational Church of Frostburg, Maryland. The original founding documents are mostly in Welsh. They were found in an attic, given to Aunt Betty who is a member there, and she gave them back to the church.

There's Mom in the church choir in the photo below, seated third from the left in the front row. Looks like she was in her teen years. And there's her best friend next to her on the left, and on the end her sister, Dot. Mom liked choir... she said so.

In doing some general background research on the Welsh people who immigrated and landed in upstate New York -- in hopes of understanding enough about them so that I could get a clue and find Daniel's siblings and mother who we have a photo of, taken possibly in the 1890s -- I googled around. What I found was a really nice write up from the Oneida County Historical Society about the Welsh community there. In it was this: "Pomeroy Jones wrote in 1851 that the Welsh are a nation of singers." And I learned about Welsh singing societies and their spring competitions called Eisteffods.

The Welsh immigrants who came to the Frostburg, Maryland area brought this love of music, and particularly singing, with them. Sometimes in the tiniest of details, the entire character of an ancestral line is revealed.

When I look at this photo and then look at the other musical folks in this line in particular, I can feel their love of music... and think it might be part of the Welsh character. How else do you explain that an immigrant coal miner, Daniel Williams, supported his son Joe's interest in music and somehow got him into one of the most prestigious music schools of the day? Amazing!

Thanks to Aunt Betty for this image.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/02/talented-tuesday-mom-sings-in-choir.html

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Sentimental Sunday: When We Moved To Ohio

In the early months of 1952 Mom and Dad were living in their hometown of Frostburg, Maryland. They were both born and raised there, all their family was there, and all of their friends were there. When Mom didn't know why she felt so icky, she talked to her sister, Dot, who guessed correctly that she was pregnant, with me.

Frostburg was the kind of place the boys gladly returned to after World War II, married their high school sweetheart, bought a house, and started a family. Mom often talks of the decline of the Road Houses where the Big Bands of the war years and before played because people just wanted nothing more than to be home with family and friends. It was, after all, what the boys had fought for.

Their Friends

Mom and Dad at a gathering of friends during the War years.
Mom is seated and leaning in on the right and

Dad is the guy with the big smile and striped tie.

Looks like fun!

Their Families

The Kelly side.

That's Dad on the very left, about 1942

A Kelly back yard picnic in the 1950s.

Mom's side with Mom left,

her Mother next and then her sister and brother.

Circa late 1930s.

Dad had a nice job as a boss at a munitions factory during the war. While he was there and nearing the end or after the close of fighting, a man from a plastics plant in Ohio came to visit and he and Dad hit it off. They stayed in touch and eventually Dad was offered a really excellent job in Ohio. Dad took it in October of 1952.

Mom wasn't thrilled. I know she wasn't thrilled because I found these photos of them having dinner with the next door neighbors, the Mendelsons, the evening before they left. That's the top photo. She's the only one not smiling. Then look at the one below that. It's Mom, Dad and me leaving the next morning to drive all the way to the village of Chagrin Falls, Ohio and start our new life. I'm oblivious but Mom is still not working up a smile... and she always smiles for the camera.

There's another photo of Mom and me in Chagrin Falls just after we moved. Darn it, I can't find it right now when I want it and that tells me I need to go back to my photo file and do more organization! It's always something.

Mom and Dad and the Mendelsons the evening before the trip to Ohio.

Mom is in the light color dress and Dad is to her left.

Here we are leaving little Frostburg for the mysteries of

Ohio and Chagrin Falls in October of 1952.

Sentimental Sunday is a blogging prompt of Geneabloggers:)

Friday, March 2, 2012

Death In Texas

OK, so here's the situation: I'm busy indexing in hopes of being helpful indexing the 1940 US Census when it comes out April 2nd. Every genealogist on planet Earth is excited to have a look and a good ol' search of that record... but... searching can't happen until and unless many volunteers work at indexing the massive project. (See posts below about indexing.)

I indexed some birth records and some other stuff and was looking for a small bundle of items to index, about 10 to 20 records, to keep practicing on. All that I could find for beginners that had handwriting that didn't freak me out were Texas death records. Well, kinda creepy, I thought, but I took a look and ended up indexing a couple of them. Actually really interesting.

These records were for 1954 in San Antonio. Babies to old folks (whatever that was in the mid 1950s). And I just had to read why they died... I love the story stuff. Were they married, where were they born? Were they a "Jr." or was the mother or father's name known or unknown? It all started to come a bit together to frame a tiny picture of them. Fascinating, really, how much you can get from one death certificate.

So that's why we index: to fill in missing bits for those descendants out there looking for more information to better complete the picture of their ancestor. Yeah, I like indexing.

Photo of the day from my Archive:

My Aunt Dot, Dorothy Williams Conrad,

ready for her prom, 1938.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/03/death-in-texas.html

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Wondering About Tombstone Styles

As a newcomer to this genealogy thing I wonder about a lot of things. It's a long list and I won't bore you with all of it:)

One of the things I wondered about after my recent visit home to see Mom - and way too short at just two days - is grave marker styles. They vary tremendously and seem to me to be a product of era, assets of the family and perhaps local influences.

Here's a look at my GGGF John Kelly's (1829 - 1891) marker. He was born in Shanonbridge, Ireland in the parish of Clonmacnois. He died in Eckhart, Maryland and is buried in St. Michael's Cemetery. As you see, it's the traditional Irish Cross. It's of modest size and I think, appropriate for the times and places of his life.