Black Sheep Sunday: William D. Gatlin's Prison Records

Mug shot of William Gatlin. From Department of Correction Indiana State Prison records. Record details available at https://secure.in.gov/apps/icpr/search/Home/Detail?rId=543590

I recently obtained the prison records for William D. Gatlin, my great-grandfather Henry Brown Gatlin's brother, from the Indiana State Archives. He began his sentence at the Indiana Reformatory on 6 December 1912, and he was transferred to the Indiana State Prison on 30 July 1915. He was paroled on 25 May 1917. The records include inmate registers, his records as a citizen and inmate, and his Bertillon card with his measurements and mug shot. If he were not wearing his prison ID number, he would look like a fine young man; he certainly made a nice appearance!

While in the Indiana Reformatory, William was punished for refusing to work, talking in D.R., misconduct, fighting, and talking in chapel. While in the Indiana State Prison, William was punished for insubordination, breach of trust, aiding & planning with other inmates to escape, and having a cigarette stub.

The records include notes about his previous and later prison sentences. He had been sent to Chester, Illinois for 1 to 20 years for robbery, and served 3 years 4 months or 3 years 6 months (two different lengths are given in the records). I know he was there in 1910, because he was in the Southern Illinois Penitentiary in Chester, Randolph County, Illinois during the 1910 United States census. During his sentence, he broke out of prison twice and was caught after he committed a burglary at Henry, Illinois. On 13 July 1917, he was sent to Joliet Prison for 1-14 years for robbery (and he died there two years later). He was back in prison less than two months after he was paroled!

The records also provided information about his parents and siblings. I had known that his brother John was in naval prison, but the records told me that he was in the Charlestown, Massachusetts prison.

52 Ancestors: Week 2 "King": Margaret Ann (Schneider) Boe

For Week 2 of the 52 Ancestors Challenge, Amy Johnson Crow's optional theme is King: "January 8 is Elvis’ birthday. January 15 is the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Do either of these 'Kings' remind you of an ancestor?" Although I wrote about my maternal grandmother Margaret Ann (Schneider) Boe for the 52 Ancestors challenge last year, when I saw the week's theme, I knew I had to write about her again.

When I was growing up, Grandma Boe often picked me up from school. One year, when she picked me up after the last day of school, she said to me "Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, free at last!" At the time, I did not know that it was a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech. But I thought it was very appropriate. As a child, I was bullied at school. At that time, people did not have the awareness of bullying that they have today. People often told me to ignore it, but that never worked. When the school year ended, I did not have to see those bullies for several months. I really was "free at last," if only for a short time.

I had forgotten that she had said that to me until last year. I am a librarian, and last year the library I work at had a display on Martin Luther King, Jr. I was looking at the display, and the "Free at last" quote was on an open page. As I looked at it, the memory came back to me. I am so glad that I regained another memory of my beloved Grandma Boe, who was such an important part of my life.

Martin Luther King, Jr. giving his "I have a dream" speech, 28 August 1963. From the defunct United States Information Agency; in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of 17 U.S.C. § 105. Original image available from the National Archives and Records Administration and Wikimedia Commons. Text added by Beth Gatlin.

Grandma Boe

Funeral Card Friday: Samuel August Samuelson

Image contributed to Find A Grave by Eva Hopkins, researcher at the Westchester Township History Museum, Chesterton, Indiana.

Funeral card for Samuel August Samuelson, brother of my 3rd-great-grandmother Johanna Carolina Samuelson
Born 3 January 1839, Västra Harg, Östergötlands, Sweden
Died 14 January 1908, Porter County, Indiana

Those Places Thursday: Elmwood

Elmwood. Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division HABS: WVA,19-SHENJ.V,1-1. Available from Library of Congress and Wikimedia Commons.

Elmwood is a two-story brick house in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located 2.4 miles south of Shepherdstown on County Road 17 (Flowing Springs Road), on 315 acres of land.

The land which Elmwood is located on was claimed by my 7th-great-grandfather Edward Lucas in 1732. The house was built in 1797 by his son Edward Lucas (from his first marriage to Mary Darke), the half-brother of my 6th-great-grandfather Andrew Lucas. The house was inherited by Robert Lucas, the son of Edward Lucas and Elizabeth Edwards. Robert, who had received medical certificates from the University of Pennsylvania, volunteered as a physician during the Civil War, and Elmwood was used as an army hospital. The Lucas family owned the home until 1948.

References
Elmwood (Shepherdstown, West Virginia)
National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Elmwood
West Virginia Cattle Farm Is Family Affair That Will Be Passed On

Workday Wednesday: Theodore Christopher Troedson, Director of the Queensland Intelligence and Tourist Bureau

My first cousin three times removed Theodore Christopher Troedson was the director of the Queensland Intelligence and Tourist Bureau. The Bureau was established on 11 April 1907. Theodore became Acting Director in 1908, and he was Director by 1911. The Bureau promoted tourism in Queensland. It produced pamphlets, which were available by mail or at the Bureau. The 1915 pamphlet Hints to Tourists provides information about tourist attractions in Queensland, as well as the best times to take a trip. The Bureau also produced color postcards and created tourism exhibits.

Theodore often traveled on business. In 1918, he published an article, "White Grown Sugar in Queensland", in the Mid-Pacific Magazine, vol. 15; the article emphasized the opportunities to make money in Queensland.

Brisbane Courier, 3 July 1908, page 4

Queenslander, 24 August 1912, page 40

Northern Herald, 14 May 1913, page 6

Morning Bulletin, 18 June 1913, page 6

Queenslander, 2 April 1921, page 6

Queensland Times, 13 November 1924, page 4

Sydney Mail, 1 November 1911, page 22

Inside front cover of Hints to Tourists. Issued by the Queensland Government Intelligence and Tourist Bureau, 1915. Available from Internet Archive.

Tuesday's Tip: City Directories May Contain Death Dates

If a person has died, the next city directory published in the community may indicate that the person has died, and it may include the person's date of death.

Nashville City Directory. Vol. 33, 1897. Compiled by Joel Davis. Nashville, Tennessee, Marshall & Bruce, 1897. Page 299. Available from Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Nashville City Directory. Vol. 34, 1898. Compiled by Joel Davis. Nashville, Tennessee, Marshall & Bruce, 1898. Page 424. Available from Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. 

The death dates of William Cox and John G. Gatlin were published in Nashville city directories. William Cox was the half-brother of my 2nd-great-grandmother Sarah Claire "Sadie" Dyer. John G. Gatlin was the brother of my 3rd-great-grandfather William Dow Gatlin.

Mappy Monday: Community Areas and "Sides" of Chicago

Map of the Community Areas and 'Sides' of the City of Chicago. By Alissapump (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

Many of my ancestors lived in Chicago, so this map of the community areas and "sides" of Chicago is very helpful to me.