James Cahoon of Wayne, Michigan

I hate it when I start obsessing.  Going over and over and round and round.  I can't seem to let go of Lucia Cahoon Drake, wife of John Stout Drake.  I'm researching her brothers and sisters and parents.  Sometimes you get a little random information that you can use, but most of the time I am banging my head against the wall.  Then I write it all out to see what I'm missing...which is everything.  Shoot, the people that are researching Lucia can't even agree on the spelling of the last name.  Is it Cahoon?  Cohoon?  Cahoone?  Calhoun? 

The 1840 United States Census shows James Cahoon living in Wayne, Michigan.  In 1840 Lucia would have been about 15.  There is 1 female recorded between 10-15.  In the 1850 United States Census all the households names are listed.  Comparing 1850 with 1840 -- in 1840 there is a female between the ages of 15 and 20.  1850 reveals that her name was Mary J.  Lucia names one of her daughters Mary.  There is another girl, under the age of 5.  Her name is Mellisee. There are also two boys in the house:  one that was born between 1820-1825 and another born between 1825-1830.  I am guessing that the oldest -- the once closest to the age of Lucia is James A.  There is a James A Cahoon business man in Hillsdale at the same time Lucia is there.  I believe the youngest boy is Albert. 

James Cahoon, the dad, has two wives.  The first is the mother to Mary J., Lucia, Mellisee, Albert and the other boy I think is James A.  James marries Jane Ann Sloan in 1838.  They have Alice, Florence, Flora, Robert and Cora.  There is a 7 year gap between Albert and Alice.  I'm guessing mom died, one year of mourning, a couple of years to find another wife, 2 years for the next baby. 

There seems to be two distinct Cahoon families.  There are the Cahoons from New York.  Most of these boys settle in Michigan and then there are the North Carolina Cahoons.

James Cahoon's parents were Joseph Cahoon and Nancy Parr.  And I will spell "Cahoon" as I've found it in other family trees -- just make note that these are NOT errors.  Their children are:

• David Cohoon 1783-1858
• Thomas Cahoon  1786-1858
• Heman Cahoon  1788-
• Stephen Cohoon  1789-1858
• Henry Cahoon 1790 or 1796
• William Cohoon  1791
• John Cohoon  1791-
• Charles R Cohoon  1795-1876
• Samuel Cohoon 1797-
• James Cahoon  1800-1872
• Lidick Cohoon  -1802-1888
•  There might be a girl added to this mix.

Scribble Scrabble Chicken Scratch

I've got a lot of books about genealogy.  When I first got into building my family tree, only the libraries had great collections of "how to" books. Then bookstores started carrying a half a dozen titles.  And then came the Internet.  And let me tell you how THAT changed the face of genealogy.

Along with the Internet came Ancestry.com and that's a tremendous place to be once you get that far into it. But, don't neglect your own education.  You need to learn to do your own research -- how to find it, how to interpret it and how to cite it.

Every once in a while I break out one of my beginner books and flip through it.  It helps remind me of how far I've come, and also reminds me of basic thoughts and techniques that I almost forgot.  Today I am going through The Complete Idiot's Guide to Genealogy by Christine Rose and Kay Germain Ingalls.  On page 27 is a great tip:

"Always try to take notes in a manner that minimizes recopying.  Each time they are copied, the chances of error multiples."

Usually I find errors happen when I am in a hurry or I'm so aware of making mistakes that I over compensate and screw up.

I like to keep my handwritten notes in a three ring binder.  However, I hate to carry around a big old binder. I like writing in spiral notebooks with a full size sheet of paper, that has the spiral across the top.  This page HAS to have 3 holes punched in the margin.  I only write on one side of the paper.

Actual writing  -- well, this presents a problem.  I like to write with mechanical pencils.  But pencil smudges.  But I'm one of those people that can't stand to see any mistake scribble scrabbled out -- although back in the '60s we were taught the acceptable method for correcting errors made in ink.  I was ecstatic when the came up with erasable pens.

The point is, if you scribble scrabbled your notes, and scratched things out and didn't use your best handwriting -- even though you were in a hurry -- there's a good chance that you might have to copy those notes  over -- at least part of the notes...like dates, the correct spelling of a name, a middle initial  -- the list goes on and on.  It's kind of like the telephone game -- how you start things one way and they go so far in another direction when it gets back to you.  Scribble scrabble notes can really screw up not only your family tree. but if your tree is on line -- it will screw up their trees too.  I know, people need to do their own research or at the very least their own validation, but they don't.

Just to drive this point home, get into any of the Federal Census and don't stop at the extracted information but go all the way into the page itself.  And read it.  See the letters and numbers that look confusing because they were scribble scrabbled by a tired census worker.  Take that to heart and try to make your own handwriting clearer.  Remember that some of this information is going to survive after your gone.  Be THAT person who everyone loves because they wrote so clearly.

A Letter from Dennis E Austin to His Folks

Transcribed by me:  Martha Ellen Drake Bishop  1 Sep 2012

Note:  This is transcribed exactly as it was written.  I have taken the liberty of breaking this into paragraphs so it is more easily read.


11 am Sunday June 19-10

My Dear Parents

We rec'd your Dear letter + was so glad to hear you were both well.  I am sorry you are feeling so blue though mother.  And for your sakes you should try and throw it off.  For don't you know any time you can't live in old Mich in comfort -- you still have a home + care coming in the only Houston Tex.  Now please don't forget that while I live you will always find me ready to make this good too. 

I expect to buy two more lots soon + if on any of the 6 vacant lots you would like to have a garden the whole year round with a cow and chickens + fruit why I guess we could find a chance to put up a nice cozy 4 room and bath cottage + you won't need to have the blues at all for since I am by myself I could make a painter of father I know.  With your chickens eggs + milk at 10@ (sic) per quart + garden I don't believe you would ever feel but what you had plenty. 

I cannot imagine what the matter can be up there for I feel that Claude should be all that thru boys would be to you located right next door as it seems to me when I feel how far away I am.  I am going to write him today although he has not answered my last letter + I don't want to wait any longer.  I shall take it myself to talk to him just as an older bro has a right, for I know that he little appreciates the natural responsibility that is his + would be mine were I located so near you.  I have never asked you nor have you told me of your deal in the place whee he lives + I cannot think he would do anything but right by your.  And if it is anything of this nature you must tell me + if I cannot advise I can at least have the chance to help you. 

I wish so much I could have a good visit + help you see the bright side.  I am glad to say I don't have the sour stomach I used to have.  I think the climate + being busy all the time that I just work eat + sleep + don't think at all.  I have been rushed some for the last two weeks, but tomorrow I put on another man + get caught up a little.  There is lots of work in sight + now that I am by myself + (unreadable word) to look after it.  I can make much more than I could with a partner.  I got up this am at 5 + done my garden work befor the sun got up.  I tore out root + branch 8 hills of cucumbers that were bearing fine.  I bet there was a wash tub full of all sizes of them but I had to take them in two armfuls and put these around the peach plum + fix trees in the chicken yard, then I took the sickle and went around the tomato vines + I pruned there sure so a little more sun could get in.  I have 8 tree tomatoes that stand up nice + the fruit has a chance to ripen all I have to do is to drive a stake and tie the stalk to it. 

I wish you could come to dinner today.  Roast veal new potatoes green corn sliced tomatoes.  Sliced onions and cucumbers.  Ice tea, but no pie or cake.  Now I happen to think when is that note due + do you want it renewed with int at 8 per.  Write and let me know in your next letter more about your business affairs + also if your int with what you raise on the little place keeps you.  I don't know but it seems to me that when I see men with no business ability with the price of $200 lot build a @600 cottage on it + sell the whole thing for from $1500 to $1800 that there are better things than digging.  That's why I am (unreadable word) into lots any time some one wants that particular location I will finish paying for them in a lump sum + negotiate a lone with the lumber Co + double my money + get 8 per cent on the bal of purchase price even if one has to hold the lots the int + taxes are not 1/4 of what the regular rise in price is, when $1 a foot is tacked on to them regularly twice a year helps some. 

Well I have written a whole lot + said nothing + I must save a little room for the women folks.  So I will say good bye.  Try and cheer up.  With best love + kisses to you both I am always your Dennis.

What Did I Miss?

I am looking at a transcription from FamilySearch.org fromthe "Michigan, Births and Christenings, 1775-1995," for Lucia M. Drake.  The reason I printed this out was because it was a record for Lucia stating that she was born in Amboy, Hillsdale, Michigan.  I have also found a document that said she was born in Ohio.  It was just something to think about as the folks in that part of Michigan went back and forth across the state line all the time, but I was looking for more information about my great grandfather Allison Royce Drake. 

Anyway, on this birth record, it says her mother is Jane Drake, but the father's name is Henry Drake.  Now I don't think that Jane had a child with a Henry Drake, but I'm wondering if the reason I can't find any death records, or newspaper articles or anything like that is because he went by the name Henry.  His son Royse Allison went by the name "Bill."  Apparently his uncle, Frank Converse (Lucia Melissa's daughter) husband, that said Royse was too pretty of a name and he was going to call him Bill ... and it stuck. 

So maybe Allison went by Henry. I think he was a shady character and maybe he was looking to disappear.  It's something to check out, at least.  Leave no stone unturned.

Last Will and Testament of William Drake

The Last Will and Testament of William Drake

Transcribed by:  William Richard Stout
Transcribed on: 20 Jul 1999
Will Written:  22 April 1826
Will proven:  21 Jun 1826

I William Drake of Lyons Town, Wayne County, New York, do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following.  Viz. All my estate real and personal I desire may be sold by my executor, my personal property to be sold in one month after my decease, and my real estate at such times, in such manner and on such credit as in his judgement shall be most conductive to the interest of the parties concerned, and the money arising therefrom to be divided into thirteen equal parts, and applied as follows, Vis" To Aaron Drake, Gideon Drake, Joab Drake, Nathan Drake, Amos Drake, Amelia Stout, Susanna Wikoof, Sarah Beard, Elizabeth Knapp, Marry Riggs, Francina Forgerson, my sons and daughters, each one share.  To John Stout, James Stout, Simon Stout, Mabel Puttess (?), Mary Baikley, Eliza Ann Stout, and Katherine Stout, sons and daughters of my deceased daughter Katherine Stout, on other part to be equally divided amongst them.  To Charles Stafford, Mary Stafford, and Susanna Stafford, son and daughters of my deceased daughter Else Stafford, the one other part to be equally divided amonst them.  And I hereby nominate, constitute and appoint my grand son James Stout sole executor of this my last will and testament hereby revoking all other and former wills by me at any time heretofore made.  In witness thereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the twenty second day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty six.

William Drake (seal)

Signed sealed published and declared by the said testator, William Drake, as and for his last will and testament in the presence of us who have subscribed our names as witnesses thereto, in the presence of the testator. Richard P. Price, John N. Bloomer, Josiah Colcord.  My wearing apparel I give and bequeath to my son Amos Drake.

Be it remembered that on the twenty first day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand eight and twenty six personally appeared before me (unknown name) Esquire, Surrogate of the County of Wayne, Richard P Price who being duly sworn, did depose and say that he de??? saw William Drake late of the County of Wayne, deceased, sign and seal the written instrument, then show unto him of which the aforegoing is a true copy, purporting to be the Last Will and testament of the said William Drake deceased, hearing date the twenty-second day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty six.  That at the time thereof, the said William Drake was of a sound disposing mind and memory, to the best of the knowledge and belief of him the said deponent and that he the said deponent and John W Bloomer and Josiah Colcord subscribed their names and witnessed to the said will in the presence of each other , and the presence of the Testator.

(Unknown name)

I have not seen this document myself.  I believe the original is still in the courthouse in Lyons, New York, but it was transcribed by a Stout Cousin.  We've emailed each other a few times and he seems to be a bright man, so I would trust that he transcribed it exactly as he read it.  

More About Sophia Eagle Drake and Husband, Jehiel Drake

To be honest, for a long time I thought that "Jehiel" was a misprint.  I had never even heard of a name like that before.  And in the 1870 United States Census, our boy is actually listed as James.  But that is the one and only time.  I can say this with certainty, whenever you are searching on Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org or any time you have an opportunity to look at the actual record -- and not the indexer's transcription of the information -- you gotta do it.  I just finished indexing 1000 words for Family Search.org and, I tell you, it is hard to read many of these records.  Names, dates, birth towns -- when an indexer is looking at it cold, they just have to write down what they think they see.  And we could be wrong.  I still don't think there is any excuse of spelling a name but in that regard -- I indexed 100 men in a row, in Tennessee for the draft, and everyone of those men made their mark.  That means they couldn't write their own name.  I guess that might mean that they might not be able to spell it either.

Anyways, back to the children of Sophia Eagle Drake and Jehiel Drake.  In my last post, I think I mentioned a son, William Drake.  William was born in 1886 in Michigan.  On 12 Feb 1909 he married Denia Dick in Hillsdale, Hillsdale, Michigan.  I think it's important to keep track on the in-laws names.  Many times they show up as names on children in the next generation.  Denia Dick's father was John Dick and he other was Lillie Hubbell.  As of right now, I have a tiny notation on my old family tree that William and Denia had two children, both boys, Richard and John.

Fly Like an Eagle -- Sophia Eagle

I was listening to a lecture not too long ago from one of the gals over at Ancestry.com.  She was talking about getting stuck and some of the ways to get around your lack of information.  One of her techniques is to run family group sheets.  She made me start thinking about that in relation to my own family, and even if it doesn't provide me with one single clue for my own stuff, it makes me see my family in a totally different light.  Many of us are so focused, that if you look at our family trees you would think that we were all only children, that we were the only child of two people who were only children.  It's a wonder if any of us survived at all.

Now I know that all families are special and unique, but we did something really well in my family.  Apparently we had lots of sex and that resulted in lots of babies -- heavy on the boy children.  Oh, sure, big farm families was kind of the norm, but we not only had lots of children, but we managed to raise them up.  The married and then they had lots of children.  And up until the John Stout Drake group, we all seemed to be pretty healthy.  I haven't found anybody that lived to be over 100, but we had plenty of 80 year olds that were still farming.

Anyway, I've been trying to work my family group sheets, partly because I'm kind of stuck right now, but also I'm hoping to unearth some little tidbit of information along the way.  I have also recently spent a week with my children in Alabama and just looking at them and their off spring, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that we are one of the whitest families in the United States.  I find it difficult to believe that we continue to marry folks of English, French, German, Irish and Dutch extraction.  I wonder if that might have been what weakened the family.  We don't even have any Italians in the family.  So I went on a search to find someone in the family that wasn't English, French, German, Irish, Scots, Dutch and so on.

My John Stout Drake was the son of Amos Stout Drake and Catherine Whaley.  And John Stout Drake was not an only child.  One of his brother was William who married Miss Lucy Alfred.  Now, William and Lucy had several children, but the one I've been chasing after is a boy named Jehile Drake.  Or Jihle Drake.  Or Gehile Drake.  And in the 1870 United States Census he was listed as James.  James married a gal named Sophia Eagle.  Could there be Indian blood there?  I haven't really pursued that yet, because I've been busy just gathering the basic information. So here is what I have found so far, although I'm not 100% sure of the info.

I started with the family tree chart that I painstakingly copied down in the summer of 1979.  The writing is so tiny, I need a magnifying glass to read it.  I've kept this chart and look back on it periodically because I always seem to find new information or it refreshes my memory.

Jehiel A Drake was born 22 Sep 1856.  He married Sophia Eagle. They had a daughter, Lucy L Drake.  According to her marriage license information, she was born in 1883, in Amboy, Hillsdale, Michigan.  On 28 Feb 1903 she married a boy named Carlton A Moore.  Carlton was born in Ohio, in 1880.   Lucy and Carlton went on to have six children of their own:  Helen who married George Annis, Cecil who married Jane Lowry, Hazel, Ronald, Marion and Marietta.  I know, I know.  I have to see if I can flesh out those kids who are just names.  Hard to believe that this family would have 4 kids who never married, right?  I mean  a house full of grown up unmarried children was kind of common in the 1930s, coming off the depression and all, but not so much at the turn of the century.

Now Jehiel A Drake and his wife, Sophia Eagle had a son named William.  Pretty sure he's named after Jehiel Drake's dad, William Drake.  We'll go there tomorrow.

Oh, and one more thing before I forget, on the marriage license information, Jehiel A Drake and Sophia Eagle Drake, were married on 21 Jan 1882, in Amboy, Hillsdale, Michigan.  They were married by Jehiel Drake's uncle, John Stout Drake who was a justice of the peace.  Witnesses to the union were George and Jennie C Priestly.  Jennie C Priestly was John Stout Drake's daughter (and Jehiel Drake's first cousin).  It's nice to think they were keeping it in the family. 

Alfred Bird Drake or Bird Alfred Drake?

You've got to have patience when you are gleaning information from a census.  One little piece of wrong information can send you so far down the wrong path that you think you've lost your mind.

It started with the 1860 United States Census.  There I have John Stout Drake and Lucia Cahoon Drake, married and living under one roof in Amboy, Hillsdale, Michigan.  John is 35 and Lucia is 34 and they have 7 children:

             James A.            13 years old
           Eugene E              12
              Anna R              10
            Sidney S                8
             Mary C                 6
            Alfred B                 4
           Allison C                 1

Sweet little Alfred B.  If he was 4 years old in 1860, then he would've been born around 1856...give or take.  But, you see, I'm a skeptic.  I see this perfectly fine record, but Allison's middle name was Royce.  At least that is what I've always been told.  Allison Royce Drake would eventually have a son named Royce Allison.  But I"m getting side tracked.

The mystery arises from the 1870 United States Census.  In the 10 years that's passed, Lucia has died, John Stout Drake has remarried a gal named Elinor.  James A and Eugene have left home, which was probably about right because they would have been 23 and 22 respectfully.  But Allison is gone as well, and he would have only been 11.  That whole mystery with Allison is for another day.  Today we are dealing with Alfred.  The 1870 United States Census has six kids still living at home:

                           Bird A                  13 years old
                           Alfred                   11
                              Ann                   20
                         Mary S                   16
                             Jane                      9
                            Lucy                      6

Bird?  Who the heck is Bird? And where was he in the 1860 Census?  Then I thought that maybe he was Elinor's boy and by 1870 John Stout Drake had decided to adopt him.

Back in 1979, at a Drake/Converse Reunion, I copied a family tree chart that was taped to the wall, the whole wall.  I was 8 months pregnant, it was hot and I was miserable.  I had a notation that a Jennie Drake married a George Priestly.  And I had a note that Bird Drake married a Eugenia Priestly.  I thought it was kinda sweet, and not uncommon among farm families.

The 1880 US Census finds Alfred Drake living in the home of George and Jane Priestly.

"United States Census, 1880," Alfred Drake in household of Geo. Priestly, Cambria, Hillsdale, Michigan

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• About this collection

Name:

Alfred Drake

Residence:

Cambria, Hillsdale, Michigan

Birthdate:

1857

Birthplace:

Michigan, United States

Relationship to Head:

Son-in-law

Spouse's Name:

Spouse's Birthplace:

Father's Name:

Father's Birthplace:

New York, United States

Mother's Name:

Mother's Birthplace:

New York, United States

Race or Color (Expanded):

White

Ethnicity (Standardized):

American

Gender:

Male

Martial Status:

Married

Age (Expanded):

23 years

Occupation:

NARA Film Number:

T9-0580

Page:

57

Page Character:

B

Entry Number:

682

Film number:

1254580

Household

Gender

Age

Birthplace

SELF

Geo. Priestly

M

59

England

WIFE

Jane Priestly

F

56

England

SON

Edwin Priestly

M

30

Michigan, United States

DAU

Mattie Drake

F

24

Michigan, United States

DAU

Katie Priestly

F

18

Michigan, United States

Alfred Drake

M

23

Michigan, United States

Alfred Drake is listed as the Son-in-law.  But where is Eugenia?  I pulled her birth date off of her death certificate -- 09 May 1855.  In 1880 she would have been around 25 years old.  There is a Mattie Drake, daughter of George who was 24.  Could Mattie be Eugenia?  I haven't been able to find anything with the initial M as a middle name.

In the 1900 Federal Census, Bird Drake shows up again.  Born in June of 1857.  Bird was born in Michigan and it says that both his parents were born in New York.  His daddy, John Stout Drake was born in New York, but his mama, Lucia Cahoon Drake was born in Michigan.  Again, I don't know who was the one answering the census taker's question.  Lucia would have been for almost 20 years by this time.  Also, in the "Number of Years Married Column" it says 1.  According to my records they were married in 1879.  So they would have been married 21 years.  Also, poor Eugenia had born a child, but it had not lived.

1905:  In the Hillsdale phone book, A. Bird is married to Eugenia.  He is working in a saloon at 47 N. Broad, in Hillsdale, Michigan.  He is living at 86 E. Sharp.

I have a copy of Eugenia Priestly Drake's Death Certificate.  Born 09 May 1855.  Married 02 Nov 1879.  Died 09 Apr 1908.  I know it's the right one because there are a few more clues.  Father was George Priestly, born in England.  Mother is Jane Hardy, born in England.  Eugenia died of La Grippa terminating in heart failure.  Spouse: A.B. Drake.  She is buried in North Adams, Cemetery.

In 1909 Alfred B Drake marries Ella Conway Ryan.  She is a nurse and both of them have been married one time before.

I found a copy of Alfred's death certificate.  Albert B. Drake died 13 Feb 1912.  Whoever provided the information said he was born 13 Jan 1861 -- which is several years off.  The also spell his mother's name -- Lucia Calhoon -- which sounds like it but is wrong.  But that I will prove another day.  

How to Write Dates for Your Genealogical Records

There can be confusion regarding how to write dates for your genealogical records.  And I believe that confusion is caused by where you grew up, where and how you were educated and if you were in the military. 

Dates are extremely important in genealogy as sometimes a year is the only information we've got on an ancestor.  I am always reluctant to write down a specific date unless I am absolutely positive in it's accuracy.  And as I progress with my family history, I try to think about the body of my work when I'm dead and gone -- how it will be regarded.  I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who has spent a tremendous amount of time straightening out our family's misinformation, half facts, coupled with blase attitudes towards fact and then we have down right lies.  When our families were creating records, I don't think they realized the importance, so it's hard to blame them, but as students of genealogy, we do know and therefore should always demand accuracy from ourselves.

If you are a new genealogist, there is a whole set of skills that you will be developing.  And so here is my tip of the day for you...

I consider the Church of the Later Day Saints to pretty much set the standard for collecting genealogical data and they have contributed a lot to the education of young genealogists.  They suggest that you write your dates military style.  That means double digit day, followed by the month, followed by four digit year.

                 Example:  09 April 1871 

Personally, I like to see a double digit day.  That shows me that whoever was recording the information absolutely intended that particular date, in this example the 9th day of April.  Not the 19th day or the 29th day, but the 9th day.  As a genealogist you'll learn to question every piece of information that you come across.  

In my house -- since my husband was in the military but also because he is stubborn as a mule, we use a three letter abbreviation for the months:

                 Example:    January = JAN
                                February = FEB
                                    March = MAR
                                       April = APR
                                        May = MAY
                                        June = JUN
                                         July = JUL
                                    August = AUG
                              September = SEP
                                  October = OCT
                               November = NOV
                               December = DEC

Now give it some thought.  Once you decide on how you're going to write the dates for your genealogical records, stick with it.

I have spent a lot of time indexing records for Ancestry and Family Search and it makes me absolutely nuts to try to decipher bad handwriting.  If the sloppiness comes in the name, many times you can tell what that name is, but in dates, you don't get that luxury.  There are only 10 possible digits, but I've seen 7s that look like 9s, 5s that look like 2s, 3s that look like 8s.  What I am asking is that you try really hard, to write you numbers beautifully.  Write them like you were in 5th grade and actually getting a grade in handwriting.  It will make your own records so much easier to read, but also who ever picks up where you left off. 

Henry R Scovill of Ypsilanti, Michigan

Here is an article regarding my great great grandpappy.  Apparently it wasn't just the Drakes that had it going on.  This is from a publication called Ypsilanti Gleanings:

Henry R Scovill:

     During the one hundred and eighty year history of Ypsilanti, many people have had a major influence on the history of the City. Henry Scovill's influence was social, financial, and political during his Ypsilanti years.

     The son of Amasa and Laura Scovill, Henry was born in Cleveland, Ohio on January 28, 1843. His father moved the family to Ypsilanti in the 1850's. When the Civil War erupted, Henry could not resist President Lincoln's call to arms and was one of five members of the Light Guards who volunteered. He saw the battle of Bull Run and participated in a number of skirmishes with Confederate troops.

     On his return to Ypsilanti he was restless and set out for the West, going as far as the railroad would take him and then continuing by boat to Omaha, Nebraska. There he secured employment as a driver for a mule team freighting outfit serving Salt Lake City and for weeks drove across unbroken prairie. He soon mastered the trick of wielding a black snake whip and driving six mules with aid of one line and the use of mule language. For all of this, he earned fifty cents per day. The only Indians encountered on the trip were bent on mule stealing. He met some of the leading gunmen of the day, among them one known to the Mormons as “The Quieting Angel,” no doubt a reference to the permanency of the sleep his guns provided.

     It took Henry two months to drive his six mules to Salt Lake. With $30 saved, Henry bought passage on a wagon train to California. In California he worked on a ranch and hunted gold in his spare time. The search was unsuccessful and he eventually returned by ocean steamer to Nicaragua, traveled across the isthmus by river boat and mule pack. From Nicaragua he went by ship to New York and finally back to Ypsilanti.

     Back in Ypsilanti, Henry married Mary Jarvis, daughter of William and Ann Jarvis on February 15, 1868. After the death of Mary, he married Nina Mavis on January 25, 1888. Together, Henry and Nina built and lived in a large brick home at 160 North Washington.
 
     In 1869, Henry started Scovill Lumber Company adjacent to the mill race that surrounded the east side of our present day Frog Island Park. The Huron River was used for power and nearby forests furnished the lumber. The saw mill was an important factor in business life when scores of farmers brought huge loads of logs on sleighs from all sections of the surrounding country to be sawed into lumber for summer building. He did import white pine from the Saginaw area. After a flood that wiped out his lumber company and with the coming of electricity, the lumber company moved to the corner of Jarvis and North Huron. Pine lumber recently occupied the site. Self storage units are now for rent at this location.

     Henry was first elected Mayor of Ypsilanti in 1881 and was reelected in 1882 and 1883 for three successive one year terms. In his first inaugural address, he recommended that the council proceed at once to build a number of cisterns at different places about the City for fire protections. Several of them were built and kept filled with water until the City put in a water works system. During his second term, payment of road bonds was an issue. The City lost a law suit and, through the tax payers, were forced to pay $10,000 each year for ten years to pay the bonds off. One wonders what the alternative method of payment might have been. After serving three years as mayor in the 1880's, Henry was elected again for two one year terms in the 1890's. After serving these terms, he declined to run again and retired from politics. D. L. Davis, a long time associate of Henry, is quoted saying “Mayor Scovill's administration was noted for its economy and business like management and I feel that we owe him a debt of gratitude for what he did for the City of Ypsilanti at that time.”

     Like many Ypsilanti residents who never expected to spend their lives in Ypsilanti, Herbert Bisbee came to Ypsilanti to attend college, Cleary College in his case. He met and married Henry's daughter and joined the Scovill Lumber Company in 1910.

     In 1929, Henry drove his horse drawn delivery wagon on North Huron as he frequently did. At the intersection of Forest Avenue, an automobile collision resulted in fatal injuries for Henry.

     The business became Scovill-Bisbee Lumber Company and continued in business until September 3, 1962. The family run lumber company operated continuously for 93 years. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Scovill and Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Bisbee are buried on a hill in the northwest corner of Highland Cemetery overlooking the Frog Island site of Scovill Lumber and the Huron Street site of Scovill-Bisbee Lumber.

Henry R Scovill of Ypsilanti, Michigan

This is Henry Roswell Scovill.  It goes from me, to my dad -- Donald Duane Drake -- to his mother -- Ruth Henrietta Scovill -- to HER father -- William Henry Scovill to this gentleman.  I have not spent much time studying him because I always figured there would be plenty of time, and come on, let's be serious, what's up with that crazy mustache?

But as I write this I am close to tears.  I never realized it before, but those are the eyes of my father.  Dark, deep set with smudges under them, that can get really dark when tired.  He has a very round head and quite a broad jaw.  My brothers, Dob Jr. and Mike Drake, have very round heads, as does my daughter, Jessi and Mike Drake's boy -- Mike Drake.  We've been known to call that a bullet head.

 And there is that nose!  I was the only one in the family to end up with that schnoz.  I never cared to much because it was just like my dad's.  He once told me that I had a Roman nose, and I thought that was pretty great because I thought Italians were beautiful.  And then he hit me with the punch line "It roams all over your face!" As if he could talk.  My daughter Nicole has that nose, and I'm pretty sure that her daughter has that nose as well.

Here's a picture of Donald Duane Drake.  What do you think?  Do you see the resemblance?

 
Apparently, Henry R. Scovill was a pretty big deal in Ypsilanti.  He was a lumberman as well as a residential builder and some of his houses are still standing.  I'll cover that next time.

Put it on Paper!

I'm a letter writer.  Always have been.  When I was away at college I kept up with a dozen different people, always managing to find time to write, even though I was working, taking 18 hours and making the dean's list.  I love the internet, don't get me wrong.  And I love the quick little note from my kids, and the long distance phone calls.  But that leaves nothing left over to write about.  Long flowing letters, where one shares one's heart -- too complicated to say over the phone, too intimate to drop into the ethernet.

One of my greatest possessions is about thirty letters from Illda's side of the family, letters saved because the writer was missed, and cherished for 100 years.  This is the only insight I have to the family members I never knew.  I was watching a little article on Youtube on how a handwriting analyst could tell you a lot about people in your family, just by the way they wrote.  Was he a powerful personality, was he sad.  Did he pay attention to detail, what was his level of education.  What are people going to take away from the 20 word emails we leave behind?

So I urge you to pick a family member and write them a letter.  Even if it's just at Christmas.  That person won't through it away.  They'll stick it somewhere safe.  In in a 100 years, someone will find it and remember you and wonder about who you were.

This is a letter that my grandmother Illda Martha Austin wrote to her gran Elizabeth "Libbie" Moore Austin.  This is one of the letters I've used to track down which Daniels and Austin Family I'm connected to.  See if you can pick out the clues:

Denver Colo
Sunday

My Dear Dear Grandma:

Your letter of recent date at hand + if I had not been so busy I would have answered sooner.  You see I have been in the dentists hands for over 2 weeks.  For more than four years my teeth have been in terrible condition + Aunt Addi knew I could not stand all those abcesses (sic) another year so she left me $25.00 to pay for them.  I go every afternoon + stay from 12 to 4 o'clock.  Then I am in my spare time making a silk dress for my sister + besides that I am trying to locate something to work at.  But can't start before my teeth are ready.  you know how badly ever since Papa died that I have wanted to be a nurse + I guess I will have to give it up.  Because you have to have a High School education + that I have not.  So I have lost quite a little time investigating into that.

I would so love to come to you + would do so only there would be no work when I got there, so what would I do?

Aunt Addie wants me to come to her but I can't think that it would be best for me to do so.

You know we have been here jut about a year + 2 weeks now.  Just before we came there was a terrible cloud burst in Houston and our house was all but demolished + what furniture we did have left we brought along.  I was buying the other furniture on time (that we were using here in Denver.)  So when I sold the furniture that was our own I got $25.00.  So now you know my financial end of the situation.

No, I am + have been (since Aunt Addie went back) been staying with friends who I don't think will take any board.  I have here for a week yesterday (Sat).  So I am not with this man or his daughter + and while dear Grandma I haven't taken you into my confidence it isn't because of anything of which I am ashamed but rather its too long a story to write at the present.  I shall have to tell you when I see you.  My mother, bless her memory, did what she did for me, not her self for to her the idea of marriage again was most repulsive.  To think then that I have been the cause of what terminated a most unhappy affair, make me more than miserable.  But I will make it up to her in the next world.  Because I know there is a world whose pleasures have not yet been tasted by the living + I know too, my mother is numbered among its people.  I have confidence too that I shall meet that weary little soul only it will be so changed.  Because for some time past I have accepted God as my Saviour + Father + now this morning when Church time comes I am about to do it publically (sic) much to the pleasure of many of my dear friends who all walk in the path of God.  So that my influence dear Grandma is the most Christian and Godly.

No I am not refusing to make a confident of you.  But just at this time I am too much shaken to go through with the details one by one which were the direct cause of mamma's death.

And I shall have to stay here until I see whether he settles mamma's bills or not.  Because if he doesn't I shall have to do so + I don't want to go until I know.

No, do write me very often dearest Grandparents because while friends are very very dear they aren't so much to us as our own relatives.

Lovingly Illda

4212 Stuart St.

What a lovely letter from Illda Martha Austin.  And I know for a fact that up to this point, Illda had only gone to school for one day.  She told me years ago that she went to school one day and that she was so traumatized that her mom didn't make her go back.

Alfred Joseph Hughes

This is a document that I recently found among my grandfather -- Cleo Mallison Hughes -- papers.  It is the obituary for his father, Alfred Joseph Hughes.  It was not written by my grandfather, but definitely in a manly handwriting.

Obituary
Alfred Joseph Hughes was born in Menia, Dutches (sic) Co New York in the year of 1861 and departed this life at his home in Battle Creek Mich July 23 - 1910 at the age of 48 years ten months and 24 days.

Deceased was 1 of a family of 11 children and moved with his parents to Storm Lake Iowa at the age of 11 years. of which place he made his home until 1884 when he came to Michigan locating in Dowagiac at which place he lived for 17 years returning to Storm Lake for 2 years thence to Coldwater Michigan and later to Battle Creek at which place he passed peacefully away of heart failure Saturday night July 23.

In the year of 1882 he was united in marriage to Miss Emily Hannon of Storm Lake.
To this union was born 4 children the eldest dyeing (sic) in infancy namely Alfred L of Kalamazoo Michigan Mrs. Bertha LaDow of Girard Michigan and Fray A of Battle Creek.  The wife of this union preceding him to the better land in the year 1899.

In the year 1900 he was united in marriage to Mrs. Ella Mallison, to this union was born 3 children Louis Lee.  Cleo M. and little baby Thelma all of which are left to mourn. the loss of a kind and affectionate husband and loving father beside one step son Charley Mallison.  The greatest part of his life was spent at his favorite occupation that of carpentering.

The funeral was held from his home 418 Upton Ave. Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock conducted by Rev. R. Skimmerhorn of Hudson Michigan.  Internment takeing (sic) place at Oak Hill Cemetery.  Three sister (sic) and 2 brothers from Storm Lake Iowa and relatives and friends from Coldwater Quincy Kalamazoo Charlotte and Dowagiac attended his last remains.

The grief striken (sic) wife and family have the sincere sympathy of all their neighbors and friends in this their great bereavement. 

My Number One Bit of Advice

Whenever a new genealogy enthusiast asks me for a piece of advice, this is pretty much what I tell 'em:

1)  Go slow.  Go slow in printing everything you find about everyone you find on the Internet.  It is to easy t get overwhelmed.

2)  Go slow.  Go slow in inking in people on your family tree chart.  It's up to you to validate.  Not some cousin 17 times removed who's family tree chart you found on the Internet.  Many of us keep two charts.  The working chart that is done in pencil.  I keep that with a list of questions that I need answered before I claim this person as my own.  Then there is the much smaller, much more pristine chart that is written in ink, with no scribble scrabbles or smudges.

3)  Go slow.  I know it's tempting (because I did it myself) but don't rush out and get paid subscriptions to all the genealogy sites out there.  You will probably eventually want to join Ancestry.com, but look around and see what you can find for free.
           
               *  FamilySearch.org -- This is a free site from The Church of the Latter Day Saints.

               *  Pull out your library card.  My county's library has a subscription to Heritage Quest that you can     access from your home computer.  Heritage Quest isn't as user friendly as Ancestry, but there are some genealogists that swear by it and prefer it.  Also see if the library system has a subscription to Ancestry.  Many do, but you  have to actually go into the library facility to access it.

              *  Look in the phone book and see if your town has a Family History Center.  Connected to the Mormons, but last time I checked they did not charge for research you do at the center.

             *  If you are lucky enough to live in the same town where your family has resided for years, check to see if there is a local historical society or a local genealogical society.  Sometimes there is a membership fee, but it's usually pretty miserable.
             *  Cyndi's List -- Wikipedia defines Cyndi's List this way:

• "Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet is a categorized and cross-referenced list of links for genealogical research. The site contains roughly 260,000 links in 180 categories. Cyndi's List supplements operating expenses with affiliate advertising."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyndi's_List

You could spend weeks and months, just combing through that website seeing what they have to offer.  Here's a link:  http://www.CyndisList.com/create-a-link-to-cyndis-list/

           *  YouTube.com -- go ahead and search their site for "genealogy."  They have a TON of videos and lectures and from those you can get thousands of tips and tricks.

Crazy!

Some crazy things have happened to me since I started getting into genealogy.

Several years ago, I put a message on the Ancestry Message Board looking for anybody that had any information about Illda Martha Austin. I was stuck.  I was stumped.  I was a rookie and didn't know what my next step should be.

A lady contacted me and said that she collects antique photos, and she had one that had the name Illda Martha Austin written on the back of it.  She had picked it up (along with a box of other photos).  She said that she would send me a copy.  Yea!  Great!  Oh, and to get a print of it would cost $14 and shipping.  Really?  Oh, I'm a skeptical soul.  Sounds like someone is trying to flamboozle me.  But it was only $14 so I fell for it and mailed her a check.  At least she gave me a real address, not a PO Box address.

Guess what?  A couple of weeks later, I got the picture in the mail.  I know.  I couldn't believe it.  And it was indeed my grandmother at about age 4 or 5.  And, really, I didn't need the name Illda Martha Austin to know it was her.  It looked just like her.  And years later, I found the same print in an old album in the attic.

But I wonder how it got into the antique shop.  The lady found it in Jackson, Michigan and I have some family in that neck of the woods, but who would get rid of a child's portrait.  Did the last person who knew who she was die and the photo meant nothing to no one?  How sad.

Scovill, Scovil, Scoville --

The very first thing I did with genealogy was search for my father's mother -- Ruth Henrietta Scovill.  I had no idea who she was, where she was from.  I had no idea HOW to search, how to use a census, how to diagnose information. I was just clueless.

Now, I don't know how I did it, but one day, after work I was inspired to visit the Mormon church over in Fort Myers.  No, I'm not a Mormon -- I'm a Luthern -- but I heard they had a lot of genealogy stuff and I figured if since their library was in their church that maybe they would be nice and maybe bump me in the right direction.

There was a man and a woman in about a 1000 square feet of space.  I would find out later that they were volunteers.  And that it was always volunteers who ran the library.  I introduced myself, pulled out my dozen sheets of scribble family tree and told them I really wanted to find my grandmother, Ruth Henrietta Scovill who married a Don Dee Drake.

Now let me add here that this wasn't like a typical library where someone walked around shushing anyone who spoke above a whisper.  There were people in this library who were talking about researching and discussing various methods of research and where would be a good place to look next.

I was pretty uncomfortable.  I kept waiting for them to ask me for my Mormon card and when they found out that I wasn't a Mormon, they would toss me out.  But that didn't happen.  The gentlemen who helped me suggested that because there were so many ways to spell Scovill that perhaps I should do a Soundex search.  I know.  What?  We'll get into a Soundex search later, but just let it be enough right now for me to say, the gentleman showed me how to do it.  He then said that it would cost $3.00 for The Church of the Latter Day Saints to send me this reel of microfilm.  $3.00.  That was it.  We'll, I didn't have a machine to read the microfilm.  The man looked it me like I was mad.  "You can use one of ours," he said.  Duh!  Well, I had to tell him.  "I'm not a Mormon," I whispered.  "It doesn't matter," he whispered back.  Mmmmmm.  Yeah, we'll see about that.

Okay.  Soundex.  According to Wikipedia, Soundex "is a phonetic algorithm for indexing names by sound as pronounced in English."

So I gave him $3.00 and filled out a little paper work.  He told me that they would let me know when the microfilm came in.  He also encouraged me to look around and brought me a couple of books that I might be interested in.

Less than a week later, I got a postcard from the Family History Center that told me my microfilm was in.  It made me crazy because it was almost a week before I was able to get back over the river to check it out.

A different volunteer couple was working in there, but the man took my postcard, retrieved the roll of microfilm, beckoned me to follow him into a room filled with all kind of mechanical devices.  He strung the film onto the machine, showed me how to work it, showed me how to take a picture of the image if I found it.  He wished me good luck then flipped the light switch.  I sat in the dark room, slowly winding me way through Scovills, Scovilles, Schovilles, Skovils and on and on.  And there it was.

Ruth H. Scovill.  My grandmother.  The gran I never knew.  The gran that died young.  The gran who birthed 3 wild and crazy children that all died before the age of 40.  Her father was William H Scovill.  And her mother was Martha Scovill.  MARTHA.  My name.  Ruth had eventually named her only daughter Martha.  In turn, my dad had named HIS only daughter Martha.  I sat there and cried like a baby.  Not just little tears oozing out the corner of my eyes.  But great, heaving sobs.  Smearing mascara, and lots of snot.

About an hour later, I handed the reel back to the volunteer, keeping my chin tucked so he couldn't see the mess I was.  He smiled at me and said, "That happens to all of us."

I sat out in my truck and wondered what the hell had just happened.  And, I'll tell you, that wasn't the last time I cried like a baby over finding another family member. It's what I do.

Right now I am wading through a tome called A Survey of the Scovils or Scovilles in England and America: Seven Hundred Years of History and Genealogy by Homer Worthington Brainard.  And -- here's a link where you can get it FOR FREE -- http://books.google.com/books/about/A_Survey_of_the_Scovils_Or_Scovills_in_E.html?id=Qe4UAAAAYAAJ

I'm warning you -- it's over a 1000 pages.  Personally, I find it fascinating and so far have resisted jumping to the end to find my family.  It is magnificent.  But, I must caution all you new genealogist, just because it is in a book doesn't necessarily mean that all the information is true.

Calling All Drakes -- I Need Your Help!

I'm going to teach you a lesson today.  Hopefully two things will happen:

     1)  You will learn from my mistake.
     2)  You just might have the information that I'm looking for.

One of the things that happened in my generation was the Internet.  Before that, most of family tree research was spent writing letters, physical trips to the area you were researching and copying.  When the Xerox machine came along, we all thought how much time that was going to save us.  Can you imagine the meltdown the Internet created for the genealogist?  Yeah, I know. I'm still sitting on 6 banker boxes filled with information that needs to be validated, notated and filed.

On one of those pieces of paper is the information that I found -eureka- on a gentleman named Howard Drake.  I remember finding him in a census while tracking down a whole 'nother side of them family.  He was there and his daughter Marjorie.  I have the very minutest of memories but here is what I know.  First off, I'm assuming that his last name was Drake.  The last time I saw him was in June 1967 or '68 at my grandpa -- Don Dee Drake's funeral.  After the ceremony, we all went to his farm.  His granddaughter was named Marti Manigold and she was less than a year younger than me, meaning she was born in 1955 or 1956.  I thought it was way cool to have a cousin my own age that had the same name.  While at Uncle Howard's farm, Cousin Marti Manigold and I rode on a pony all afternoon. Uncle Howard raised trotters.  If he was old enough for my dad to call him Uncle Howard, that would mean he was probably born around 1900.  I believe his daughter was named Marjorie Manigold.  I found an obit for Marti on one of those class reunion sites.  She went to high school in Niles.

I am hoping that one of you out there has information on Howard Drake.

The lesson to be learned?  As tempting as it is to race through the Internet and amass all the information on your family that has ever been printed ... go slow. Make a file folder.  Make a notation where you got that information.  I spent 10 hours today looking for that one piece of people.  I'm exhausted and didn't make any progress on my tree at all.  Don't let this happen to you!

Learning the Lingo -- Genealogy Speak

I'm always sad when I hear about someone who started out so passionately on their family tree research, but got  beat down by all the technicalities AND overwhelmed with all the paper that they generated.  Genealogy, family tree research, family history -- whatever you want to call -- it has a learning curve.  And like any other profession or hobby, it also has its own lingo.  The problem is that so much of the stuff we need to read is boring, dry, yawning, mind numbing.  So-- if you are a new genealogist and you want to learn about the who, whats, whys, whens and hows -- let me recommend my favorite genealogy book:  The Essential Guide to Unpuzzling Your Past by Emily Croom.  Probably not the most technical book out there, but it's actually a fun read.

You'll see as you get deeper and deeper into your family history research that there are more and more things that you need AND want to know, but you can't spend every waking minute researching.  Sometimes you just want to be entertained, so how about a book that is entertaining AND educational AND amazing.  This book is an absolute must read for anyone who has a female in their family tree.  There were parts of this book that made me furious.  And sad.  And breathtakingly proud of America's women.  This isn't about the famous dames in America's history, but about the average, every day gal.  Do yourself a favor and check it out of the library first.  I bet you'll buy your own copy.  Check out:  America's Women:  400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines by Gail Collins.

In Memory of Martha Jane Drake Dietz

 Martha Jane Drake Dietz

 Born: 04 Jan 1923

Died:  13 July 1960

 One of the things I love the most about family tree research it the constant ferreting out of clues, using information about one person to find information for another.  Here is my latest discovery -- and I'll let you know my results in the next couple of days.

Martha Jane Drake was my dad's sister.  And not just any sister.  His only sister.  His beloved sister.  The one who took care of him after their mother died and their dad gave them away.  He named his only daughter after her (that would be me).  I didn't know much about her because she died when I was 5 years old.  What I remember about her was that she looked a lot like my dad, Dobbie Drake, and my grandfather, Don Dee Drake, and while that may be handsome in a man, not particularly attractive in a woman.  I know that my dad always acted a little silly when she was around and if any one was the boss of my dad, it was Martha Jane.  And I remember him weeping like a little child when she died.

So I found this funeral card and I have no idea where it came from.

Let me back peddle for a moment -- for 5 years I've been looking for information regarding my grandmother Ruth Henrietta Scovill Drake.  It particularly bothered me that I didn't know where she was buried.  So here's what I'm thinking -- would a beloved sister, a DIVORCED beloved sister, just be shoved in the ground anywhere?  Would you think that they would think that she should be buried near family/with family.  So I'm thinking that maybe the buried her near her mom.  So over the next couple of days, I'm going to check out Highland Cemetery in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Another thing that bothered me is a man that I found in my mother's and father's address book called Uncle Souse.  I know that we got a Christmas card from him every year, and that my dad would sometimes talk to him "long distance" gasp.  Now I know that my gran Ruth Scovill Drake had a younger brother who went on to be a doctor.  And as you can see there is a Dr. H.A. Scoville as a casket bearer.  In the Federal Censuses, he was listed as Aaron.  It also concerns me that the Scoville is spelled with an E and in my family we are sans E.  I will have to ask my friend Mike Wooden, who was my German teacher in high school and also married to a German gal, if Souse is some sort of endearment.  And Souse is pronounce like Dr. Suess -- not souse like louse.  I also wonder who the 6th pallbearer was -- an Errol Lee.

I have a pretty good memory.  Well, it's more than pretty good.  I'm a damn marvel, and for the life of me I don't remember going to my Aunt Martha Jane's funeral.  I can't imagine that my dad would let that happen.  But after looking at the date she died  -- 13 July 1960 -- explains it.  On June 28, 1960, my mother had given birth to my youngest brother, Scott.  I'm pretty sure she stayed home with the newborn.  Now, I'll need to check with my older brother to see it he went, but I'm pretty sure I was left at home to tote and fetch.

My memories of Martha Jane Drake Dietz are very few.  She was a big woman and she scared me a little.  But what I remember is how much my dad loved her and even as grown adults, my dad and Uncle Jack missed her terribly and they never seemed to get over it. 

It's In the Genes

I could do genealogy stuff all day long -- and all night long, too.  I love to read about it, I love to do it, I love to think about it, I love to learn about it and I love to talk about it.

But when I try to talk to my hubby about it.  I watch his eyes glaze over and he looks like a wolf with his foot caught in a trap.  I thought maybe he's just not interested in MY family.  Maybe I could find out about his family and that would pique his interest.

"Here," I said.  "Here is the manifest for when your family came to Ellis Island.  That whole thing about changing the family name from Bischoff to Bishop?  Yeah, that's not so.  Your family was Bishop before they came over.  Your grandfather was married twice did you know that?  He joined up with his brother in Richland, did you know that.  Did you know that Uncle Tom worked at a celery plant? Here's a copy of the 1920 Federal Census.  Here's your family.  Your dad hasn't been born yet..."

His eyes glazed over and he looked like a wolf with his foot caught in a trap.

This weekend I was reading Your Guide to Cemetery Research by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack.  In it she writes:

                          "Did you know that scientists have isolated the gene that makes
                            certain people predisposed to an interest in genealogy and cemeteries?"


All my life I've been attracted to cemeteries.  I thought it was because my parents died when I was so young and there were many times I'd drive out to the cemetery, lay down between their graves and think.  It was probably the only place I could go to hide.  When my kids were little, and we happened to be back in Michigan when there was snow, I'd take them to the cemetery with me and we'd make snow angels.  That resulted in the fact that my kids like cemeteries, but I don't think any of them give a rip about genealogy.  Maybe that's because they have been lucky enough to have close family still alive and up in their businesses.

Illda Martha Hughes -- Where Did You Go?

So Dennis E Austin died 02 Aug 1912.  I don't know if it was as bad for Illda and Minnie as it was for a lot of other women, because Minnie ALWAYS worked -- either for milliners or had her own shop.  But still -- something happened.  And I don't think it was a happy something either.  I still haven't worked out all the kinks yet -- and this will later be divulged in a generic genealogy tip -- but let us say that by hook or by crook Illda Martha Austin and her mom, Minnie, ended up in Denver, Colorado.

I have several letters from Illda to her grandmother, Elizabeth "Libbie" Moore Austin, and it was through one of these that I finally figured out what Daniels family I'm part of.  Illda mentions that her Aunt Addie had been to Denver.  I actually remember Illda talking about her Aunt Addie.  I knew that Minnie had been born in Michigan.  So I started looking for all the Daniels in Michigan in the United States Census 1870 and 1880.  There was only one family that had a Minnie AND an Addie that were the correct ages.  Years later I found that I was on the right track.

Minnie Daniels Austin died in Denver, Colorado.  I think that Illda was probably around 16 or 17 years old. She spent several weeks getting her traveling suit ready and a new set of teeth.  I know she went to nursing school and worked as a nurse. On the FamilySearch.org website, I found a wedding license for Cleo Mallison Hughes and Illda Martha Austin that said they were married on 28 Nov 1920.  Here's the fun stuff: in 1920 Cleo Mallison Hughes claims to be 21 years old.  On that same document, Illda Martha Austin claims to be 22 years old.  Now, let's do a little math:  Cleo was born in 1903.  So in 1920, he would have been 17 NOT 21 a difference of 4 years.  Illda was born in 1895.  In 1920 she would have been 25.  My grandma was a good person and a hard worker.  But, if my son would have ever brought home a bride 8 years his senior, the SH*T would have hit the fan.

A couple of things that still confuse me:

* I'm pretty sure they were married in March.  At least that's when they celebrated it.  Illda Martha Austin and Cleo Mallison Hughes were both born and March -- or course I could be confused.
*  I found a document on Ancestry.com  -- a directory entry from 1921 that has Illda as Illda Martha Austin, nurse, employed at Nichols Memorial Hospital.

In another directory from 1922, I found Illda and Cleo Hughes living at 13 Roseneath Avenue in Battle Creek Michigan.

Illda Martha Austin Hughes -- The Quiet Ones are Usually Trouble!

Here's another picture that I posted over on Ancestry.  I think Illda was about 3 years old which would put this around 1898. There is no identifying marks, but I know that face like I know my own kids.

When Illda was living with me, I asked her where she got the name Illda from.  She told me that her mother named her after a heroine in a Russian novel.  Part of the problem with her name is that I've seen it spelled:  Illda, Ilda, Illdah, Hilda, Hildah -- and some of these mistakes were made by people in her own family!

I asked her about school and all, and she said she went to school for one day and it was so traumatizing that her mom didn't make her go back.

What I know about Illda:

*  She first shows up in 1900.  Darling daughter to Dennis E Austin and Minnie M Drake.  I have seen a few things where Minnie's middle name is Martha.  Which would make sense because Illda's middle name is Martha -- and so is mine.  Illda was born in March of 1895, making her 5 years old in June 1900, when the 1900 United States Census was taken.  (Pay attention to the dates here.  You'll see about them later.)  Illda Austin was living with her parents at 743 East Marietta, in Decatur, Macon, Illinois.  She was born in Toledo.  Minnie Daniels Austin was a milliner and Dennis E Austin worked for the Railroad and I think because of the railroad, they moved around quite a bit.  


* By the 1910 United States Federal Census, Illda Austin and parents had moved to Houston Heights, Texas.  Minnie Daniels Austin is once again listed as a milliner and Dennis E Austins occupation was a decorator/painter/paper hanger.  Illda Austin does not have an occupation listed.  However, she is 15 years old.


*  A telephone directory from 1911 has the entire Austin Family listed at 601 W 17th Street, still in Houston Heights.  I am lucky enough to have quite a few letters from Dennis and Minnie as well as Illda back to their families in Michigan.  Miss Illda Austin is not listed with her parents in the directory, but on her own.  It also says that she was a milliner and worked for the milliner Mrs. Minnie D. Austin.  

*  Dennis Austin died on 02 Aug 1912 in Houston Heights, Texas.  And things kind of went to hell in a hand basket for Illda Austin and her mama, Minnie.  Which is where we'll pick up tomorrow.

There's More to Me Than Being a Drake

Sometimes I get hung up on my families.  It's fun researching the Drake side of me for several reasons.  First, there is a paper trail.  When we start getting way back, many of my family were men who owned their own businesses and men of the sea -- not just sailors, but men who owned their own boats.  Later we became farmers, but that was much later.  Most of the men in the family read.  We came from money and I think we treated our women -- wives, mothers and daughters as equals.  There has been a lot of stuff written about the Drakes.  And, you can spend weeks and weeks jumping from Drake family tree to Drake family tree on Ancestry.com.

But sometimes I've got to suck it up and spread my time around.  I mean, why continue to go over someone else's research on an already well documented family.  So today I'll give you a little background on Illda Martha Austin Hughes.  

Considering she lived with me for about a year, I really don't know much about her.  I know that she was born 15 Mar 1895 in Toledo, Lucas, Ohio.  Her mother was Minnie M Daniels, a milliner, and her dad was Dennis E Austin, a railroad man.  As a kid, I knew that Illda LOVED Texas.  I remember them closing the store for a few weeks and racing off to Texas.  Galveston.  I knew that Illda and her husband Cleo, had bought land in Texas and were planning on retiring there.  I knew that at one time, Illda had been a nurse.  She had bad eyes, she had bad feet, and she had bad legs.  She was a good cook and a good artist.  She was very quiet and shy, but every once in a while, she would whisper a zinger that would have me laughing all day.  She had a temper.  She always told me that she was Irish.  She worked like a dog in their grocery store.  She wasn't very tall.  By the time she came to live with me, I towered over her.  I'm thinking she was around 5'0" or 5'2"

Here is a picture of her:

Cemetery Research

One of the things I love to do on Saturdays is spend the entire day working on the family tree.  I don't answer the phone, I don't cook, I don't do anything but work on the family tree.  Usually I've got the whole day's worth of research planned out, but right now I'm feeling a little perplexed. And burned out.  I've been working on the family tree of John Stout Drake and Lucia Cahoon Drake every night this week until about 2 in the morning.  And I feel like I'm banging my head into the wall.  On the one hand, I seem to be spinning my wheels, going over and over the same small bits of information, hoping to find something -- anything -- that I've missed.  On the other hand, I learned that Jane C Drake -- who married George Priestly -- went by the name of Jennie or Jen.  Which makes me believe that I should continue to go over and over information, beat the proverbial dead horse if you will.

And John Stout Drake and Lucia Cahoon aren't my only relatives nor my only mysteries.  Perhaps tomorrow I'll try to figure out what is up with the four sided head stone for John Stout Drake.  I was right there at the Drake/Baker Cemetery in Hillsdale, Michigan and I can't believe I didn't record Mary M. Pease's side or Elinor's.  I should also do some research regarding the customs of headstones.  I think it might have been one of Mary M Pease's kids who went to the trouble to get the stone made.  That could explain the descrepency of dates.  But where do I go to find out who had the stone cut?  I would also like to find the death certificates of both John Stout Drake and Lucia Cahoon Drake.  And, I've practically given up on ever finding out what really happened to Allison Royce Drake. And how could there be no pictures?

Here's a picture of John Stout Drake's head stone:

All it says on John Stout Drake's side is his name, died June 29, 1994.

On Lucia Cahoon Drake's side it says:  "Lucia A."  To the best of my knowledge, her middle name started with an M.  Then it has her death date of Oct. 9, 1871 and then her age in years, months and days.  Then there is a line and under it:  "Johnie S.  Son of J.S and L.A. Drake.  Died Aug 31, 1871" and then his age in months and days.

From a few documents I've seen, Johnie S.  was really Johnie C -- the C standing for Cahoon.  Also, who spells Johnie like that?  I've never seen it spelled for a boy that way. Usually it's Johnny or for a girl Johnnie.  Also, the 1870 United States Federal Census has John Stout Drake married to an Elinor.  It's a conundrum.

Lucia Cahoon Drake? Or is it Lucia Cohoon Drake? Or is it ---

Lucia Cahoon Drake

I can't tell you how many hours I've spent trying to figure out this old gal's last name.  These are the names that I've been working through:

Lucia Cahoon
Lucia Cohoon
Lucia Comoon
Lucia Cohoom
Lucia Cohone
Lucia Calhoun

This weekend I'll write down my research and how I determined that her last name is Cahoon.  Actually, I contacted a gentleman who is kind of the grand master of the Cahoon name and he told me that originally the name was Colquhoun.  And that is Scottish.  Which I will gladly claim.