Celtic Connections Conference, Day 2

I'm back home now after a long day! I started off Day 2 of the Celtic Connections Conference with Sheila O'Rourke Northrup's presentation on Irish immigration patterns. It was a very interesting lecture on an important topic. She mentioned the Erie Canal and its expansion, which is relevant to my family history. I then attended Brian Donovan's lecture "Murderers, Rebels and Drunkards: Your Irish Ancestors and the Law." Considering how many black sheep ancestors I have (and I keep finding more!), I may need this information! I then heard Bill Budde talk about Celtic timelines. During lunch, we heard a performance of traditional Irish songs. I then attended Kyle Betit's presentation on society records, which was of great interest to me because one of my ancestors was a member of the Repeal Association. The day ended with John Grenham's lecture on the reasons we sometimes cannot find Irish ancestors in online records when they are there, and ways to improve our chances. It was a great conference! The next one will be in Minnesota in 2016. I hope I will be able to go: I could combine the conference with a research trip!

Celtic Connections Conference, Day 1

Today was the first day of the Celtic Connections Conference, presented in Waltham, Massachusetts by The Irish Ancestral Research Association (TIARA) and the Irish Genealogical Society International (IGSI). After the introduction and welcome, Brian Donovan spoke about http://www.findmypast.com and its resources for researching Irish family history. I then heard Kyle Betit talk about landed estate papers, and then attended Marie Daly's presentation "Researching Irish Domestic Servants." At lunchtime, Sean Ó Dúill spoke about the Irish Gaelic language. I then heard John Grenham speak about Irish church records. He mostly talked about Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland records, but he also discussed other denominations. Next, I was originally supposed to hear Dwight Radford talk about the Irish who stopped along the way before coming to the United States. I had been looking forward to this presentation, since some of my Irish ancestors lived in Scotland before going to the United States. Unfortunately, Dwight Radford was unable to be at the conference. But at least I have the lecture handout in the syllabus. Instead, I heard Janice Duffy speak about passenger lists for the port of Boston, 1848-1891. The original manifests are not the same as the ones given to the United States government. Some of them have detailed information about passengers which tells their stories. I had no idea that passenger lists could contain so much information and found this fascinating.

I am looking forward to Day 2 of the conference!

Workday Wednesday: Augusta "Gussie" (Gersbacher) Parker, Hotel Waiter

Vista del Arroyo Hotel, 125 South Grand Avenue, Pasadena, Los Angeles County, CA. Historic American Buildings Survey, creator. Available from Library of Congress and Wikimedia Commons.

My great-grandmother's sister Augusta "Gussie" (Gersbacher) Parker worked as a waiter at hotels in Pasadena, California. The 1927 Pasadena city directory lists Gussie as a waiter at the Hotel Vista Del Arroyo.

Thurston's Pasadena (California) City Directory 1927, Including Altadena and Lamanda Park. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles Directory Co. Available from Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Emma C. Bangs opened the original Vista del Arroyo Hotel in 1882. Daniel M. Linnard purchased the hotel in 1919 and commissioned the architectural firm Marston & Van Pelt to design a new two-story building in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. In 1926, H. O. Comstock purchased the hotel. He hired architect George H. Wiemeyer to redesign the hotel and add a six-story building. Bungalows were also built on the property. The dining halls, including the Sunset Room and the Spanish Room, overlooked the grounds.In 1943, the United States Department of War purchased the hotel and converted in into an army hospital. The building is now the Richard H. Chambers United States Court of Appeals.

The 1934 Pasadena city directory lists Gussie as a waiter at the Maryland Hotel.

Thurston's Pasadena (California) City Directory 1934, Including Altadena, Lamanda Park, and San Marino. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles Directory Co. Available from Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. 

The Maryland Hotel was located on Colorado Boulevard. It was a year-round hotel, not a seasonal hotel. The first owner, Colin Stewart, was from Maryland and named the hotel after his home state. It was later owned by Daniel M. Linnard. On 18 April 1914, the hotel was almost completely destroyed in a fire. Myron Hunt designed the new building, which opened later that year. The hotel was torn down shortly after 20 August 1937.

When Gussie filled out her application for a Social Security number on 27 November 1936, she stated that she worked for the Huntington Hotel Co.

The Huntington Hotel was originally called the Hotel Wentworth. It was built by Wentworth and designed by Charles Frederick Whittlesey in the the Spanish Colonial Revival style. The hotel opened in February 1907. There were heavy rains during the hotel's first season, so many potential guests went elsewhere, and the hotel closed at the end of the season. Henry Huntington purchased the hotel in 1911, and it was redesigned by Myron Hunt. It reopened in 1914 as the Huntington Hotel. Every evening, formal dinners were held in the Georgian Ballroom. The hotel was originally a winter resort, but in 1926 it began to stay open year-round, and an Olympic-size swimming pool was added. Stephen W. Royce later owned the hotel, and he sold it to the Sheraton Corporation in 1954. The hotel was renamed the Huntington Sheraton. The hotel closed in 1985, but reopened in 1991 as the Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel. The hotel was purchased by the Langham Hospitality Group in 2008 and renamed the Langham Huntington, Pasadena.

Gussie worked as a waiter at least through 1949, but the later city directories do not list her place of employment.

References
Conyers, Patrick, Phillips, Cedar, and the Pasadena Museum of History. Pasadena: A Business History. Images of America. Arcadia Publishing, 2007
Early Views of Pasadena
History of Pasadena, California
History of the Huntington Hotel
The Langham Huntington, Pasadena
The Langham Huntington Pasadena Commemorates 100 Years of Enchanting Hospitality
Richard H. Chambers United States Court of Appeals
Vista del Arroyo Hotel

Tombstone Tuesday: Albert Powell Whitman

Albert Powell Whitman was born in Guntersville, Marshall County, Alabama, probably on 4 March 1871. Although his tombstone and death certificate give his birth date as 4 March 1870, he is not listed in the 1870 United States census with his parents James Phillip Whitman and Mary Gilbreath. He married Louise Amanda Tarkington, the sister of my great-great-grandfather, on 3 March 1897 in Davidson County, Tennessee. They had four children: Amanda Mary (born 5 February 1898), Finner Dupree (born 13 December 1903), Joseph Tarkington (born 31 March 1905), and Walter William (born 23 March 1908). Louise died on 13 February 1915. On 7 September 1916, Albert married Lillian Gertrude Pamplin in Williamson County, Tennessee. They had a daughter, Evelyn Lorraine (born 11 November 1917), and a stillborn son (born/died 8 October 1918). Lillian died on 10 October 1918. Albert worked as a postman for the city of Nashville. He died in Nashville on 3 February 1954 (the date on the tombstone is incorrect). On 5 February 1954, he was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville, section 13 lot 75.

Mappy Monday: Rhine River (Fluss Rhein)

Rhein-Karte. Map by Daniel Ullrich (Threedots) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

This map shows the Rhine River (Fluss Rhein). The Vorderrhein and Hinterrhein come together in Switzerland. The Hochrhein (High Rhine) flows to the west from Lake Constance to Basel, Switzerland. The Oberrhein (Upper Rhine) flows from Basel to Bingen, Germany. This section of the Rhine flows through Switzerland, France (Alsace), and the German states of Baden-Württemburg, Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz), and Hesse. The Mittelrhein (Middle Rhine) flows from Bingen to Bonn. The Niederrhein (Lower Rhine) begins in Bonn. After it enters the Netherlands, it splits into branches, including Waal, Merwede, Nieuwe Maas, and Nederrijn, and flows out to the North Sea.

My German ancestors lived by the Rhine River. My Schneider ancestors were from Erpel and Remagen. My Nagel ancestors lived in Bonn for a while. They were originally from Hürth (Hermülheim, Kendenich), which is near the Rhine. My Gersbacher/Gerspacher ancestors were from the Hotzenwald region in Baden, in Görwihl and Niederwihl (now part of Görwihl). My Dreier ancestors were from Niederwihl. Görwihl is at the edge of the river Alb, which is a tributary of the Rhine.

52 Ancestors: #32 Jorgen Jorgensen Boe

My great-great-grandfather Jorgen Jorgensen Boe was born on 18 November 1850 in Bø, Telemark, Norway and was baptized on 24 November 1850. He was the son of Jorgen Pedersen Boe (Bø) and  Ingeborg Torsdatter Vatner. In 1865, he lived with his father's brother Gregar Pedersen Bø and Gregar's family on the Bø farm in Bø, Telemark. The 1865 census gives his occupation as Tjenestedreng (servant boy, farm hand).

In 1866, he left Norway with his parents and most of his siblings. They left from Christiania (now Oslo) on the Vanadis on 12 May 1866 and arrived in Quebec, Canada on 2 July 1866. The family then settled in Canisteo, Dodge County, Minnesota, where they were enumerated in the 1870 United States census. On 17 December 1873 in Rock Dell, Olmsted County, Minnesota, Jorgen married his second cousin Aaste Halvorson (Halvorsdatter) Otterholt. By 1875 they lived in Swenoda, Swift County, Minnesota with their daughter Kari (born 5 April 1874). In 1880 Jorgen and his family lived in Big Bend, Chippewa County, Minnesota. By this time two more children had been born: John (my great-grandfather, born 15 March 1876) and Hans Adolph (born 5 February 1878).

On 13 August 1880, Jorgen applied for a land patent under the Homestead Act of 1862, for 40 acres of land located in the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 34 of Township 120 North of Range No. 41 west of the Principal Meridian, Swift County, Minnesota. His application was commuted when he paid cash for the land on 8 June 1882. He received his certificate on 25 July 1882. Jorgen and Aaste's son Theodore Jorgen was born on 16 July 1883.

In 1885 the family was enumerated in Lac qui Parle, Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota. Jorgen and Aaste's youngest child, Hannah Gurina Boe, was born on 23 May 1886. In 1895 Jorgen, his wife, his sons, his daughter Hannah, and his parents lived in West Bank, Swift County, Minnesota. In 1900 Jorgen, his wife, and three youngest children were still living in West Bank. He was listed as a farmer.

Jorgen died in West Bank, Swift County, Minnesota on 17 December 1900 and was buried in Big Bend Lutheran Church Cemetery in Milan, Chippewa County, Minnesota.

Telemark county, Bø, Parish register (official) nr. 8 (1849-1861), Birth and baptism records 1850, page 25. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20051011050473.jpg

Jorgen Boe. Photo from Boe (Bø) and Halvorson-Otterholt; Shared Roots in Telemark. Compiled by Melvin and Alpha M. (Boe) Brodshaug, 1984. Published by Arlene (Boe) Christensen and Marjorie (Boe) Bergee. Printed by Anundsen Publishing Co., Decorah, Iowa.

 Jorgen J. Boe, Swift County, Minnesota. Certificate no. 5060. United States Bureau of Land Management, 25 July 1882.

Family Reunion 2014

I had a great time at our family reunion! It was so good to see everyone again. I took many photos and will share a couple of them.

I was especially close to my cousins Amy and Jenny when I was growing up.

This shirt is perfect for my uncle. He has been called Dobby ever since my grandmother brought him home from the hospital as a baby and my mother tried to say "doll baby" but it came out as "dobby" instead.