Wisteria

HERBERT H. HALBERT (June 1853-After 1910) Ellicottville (Cattaraugus Co), NY: September 1888 – August 1889 Sandusky (Cattaraugus Co), NY: 1889 Strykersville (Wyoming Co), NY: 1889-1890 Lancaster (Erie Co), NY: April 1891 (studio burned in 1894-1895); 1900 Warsaw (Wyoming Co),NY: 1894-1895 (Tuttle’s Block) Buffalo (3 rd ward) (Erie Co), NY: 1900s There were ads for tin types being made in the Heunerfeld Photo Rooms in the Ellicottville Post during the year 1889. These were likely done by the photographer, H.H. HALBERT. HALBERT took out an ad in the Ellicottville Post on September 19, 1888 stating that he had leased the studio in the Huenerfeld Building. Several mentions were made in March of 1889 that folks like John Ehmans of West Valley and C.H. Rider of Great Valley and his school group had their photos taken by H.H. HALBERT. (Charles Rider was listed as the Sugartown District teacher in another news article.)                 In May 1889, there was more

Last night I finished reading A Star for Mrs. Blake by April Smith . The novel is set in the 1930s and is a story about five Gold Star Mothers who travel to France to visit the graves of their WWI soldier sons. When I downloaded it to read on my Kindle, I vaguely recalled that Granny Westfall's mother, Anna Coughell Smith, was a Gold Star Mother. After I finished the book, I jumped online and googled Gold Star Mothers to learn more about the history. Interestingly enough, the last Sunday in September was designated as "Gold Star Mother's Day" by a proclamation approved by Congress in June of 1936. Shown here in a postcard pose with Niagara Falls in the background is Anna Coughell and her husband Eliud Smith. According to an inscription on the back of the original photo, this was taken in 1916 on a trip back to their native Niagara Falls, Canada for the funeral of Egerton Detler, Eliud's brother-in-law. Eliud and his family immigrated to the U.S. on 7

For tonight's Saturday Night Genealogical Fun , here's a grandma story: If she were still alive, my maternal grandmother would have been 101 years old a couple of days ago on September 22. She was the fourth of six children born to a native of Friesland, Netherlands and an American-born daughter of emigrants of the Netherlands as well. She married a man also born of Dutch natives in Hudsonville, Michigan on May 15, 1933. Me and my grandma When I was eight years old, my father retired from the Navy and we moved to be near these grandparents. We lived with them for several months before settling on a lot adjacent to the home that my grandfather had built as their retirement cottage right around the time I was born. My grandfather also constructed another building in front of his garage/workshop where my grandmother sold her craft items. She called her shop, Ted’s Treasures, because her nickname was Ted. She sewed, she painted, she knitted, she crocheted, she embroi

The Family Bible Record of George Richard Watts and Emily Jane Chaffin Family Bible Record of George Richard Watts and Emily Jane Chaffin  The Holy Bible, Containing The Old and New Testaments, Translated out of the Original Tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised. New York: American Bible Society, instituted in the year MDCCCXVI. 1851. "This Book now belongs to Kenneth Lee Watts" written in ballpoint pen. George R. Watts was born March 7, 1839 Emily J Watts was born February 17, 1845 John W. Watts was born July 27, 1860 George W. Watts was born April 9th, 1862 James T. Watts as born February 24, 1866 Mary E. Watts was born November 8th, 1868 Samuel L. Watts was born June the 9, 1870 Emma Frances Watts was born July 11, 1872 Lulan May Watts was born August 21, 1875 Richard Walter Watts was born April 1, 1878 Joseph C. Watts was born June 12, 1880 Harry D. Watts was born June 15, 1882 John Wat

Woodlawn Plantation of Col. Henry Embry Coleman, Halifax Co, VA Well, I am on a roll with blog writing and figured I might as well tell you more about my ancestor Henry Cheatham. An elderly Watts cousin of mine who resided in Halifax County, Virginia all his life warned me years ago that if you go back far enough in the family tree, you might find a horse thief or worse. What records I have located on Henry seem to indicate that he often incurred trouble of one form or another. The only reference to him I found in Halifax County, Virginia was in the General Index to Court Orders-Defendants.  Henry  Cheatham  was listed twice in Superior Court records for the years 1825 and 1826.  The records state the following: "Henry  Cheatham  for gaming at cards with one of Col.   Coleman's  slaves, Phil, on the side of the Public Road, near the aforesaid  Cheatham's  in Halifax County, a place of public, on Sunday the 18th of the present month by the information of Peter  Huds

One of my earliest introductions to some of my ancestors was through the Zetta Daniels letter (see this post here ). In page 2 of the letter shown below, Zetta refers to common ancestors Wyatt Chaffin & Betsy Cheatam [sic]. As Zetta wrote, two Moorefield brothers married two Chaffin sisters and a third Chaffin sister married a Watts. Emily Jane Chaffin was my second great-grandmother and married George Richard “Dick” Watts (the notation of "Dad's grandmother" on this sheet is in my dad's hand). I will post a scan of that Watts family bible record on this blog soon. The marriages of these Chaffin girls are recorded in Halifax County, Virginia (as is the marriage of their parents Joseph W. Chaffin and Elizabeth Cheatham in 1837). Intermarrying among the same families was quite common. One of my first contributions to the World Wide Web was an article about the lessons in intermarriage among the daughters of Nash Glidewell of Halifax County, Virginia which

Ada E. Flint Guthrie 1873-1946, Willoughby Cemetery, Great Valley, Cattaraugus Co, NY photographed 10 August 2014 Megan M. Westfall I am always doing research in one form or the other. I thought I would share information that provides data on the dash shown above between Ada's birth and death date. This was an interesting history romp around the internet chasing preliminary records on this family. I started by looking for information on a George Abbott who buried an infant child at Peth in the area of Shin Hollow (town of Great Valley) in Cattaraugus County, New York on 6 February 1894 according to the Ellicottville Post newspaper. I used the fultonhistory.com website to find this newspaper item. Census searches revealed that George was the son of Timothy and Jane (Nelson) Abbott of Great Valley and born in May of 1868. He was living with his parents during the census years of 1870, 1875 (New York did a state census for several years in between the federal census) and

Last week my daughter asked me to order a book for her that she’s been waiting for. I ordered it online from Amazon and checked my wish list for something I wanted, too. When the box arrived, my daughter eagerly opened it to find this one on top:  The Evolution of the Southern Backcountry: A Case Study of Lunenburg County, Virginia 1746-1832 by Richard R. Beeman “This one must be mama’s,” she said and handed it over. I’m sure she thought the title rather dry but I was excited about it. Even better, the books came before our weekend camping trip, so we were both happy about that. We finished them before Sunday. My Watts family was first listed among Halifax County records as early as the formation of the county in 1752. Indeed most of my father’s ancestry hails from that area and I can trace many names not only in Halifax but Pittsylvania, Charlotte and Mecklenburg Counties as well. These were all once a part of Lunenburg. Insight into Lunenburg County will also she

From the Ellicottville Post, May 22, 1907

I mentioned something about local photographers being itinerant and here's a good example of that: Identified as Josephine Beecher Scoville [1 Sept 1855 - 17 Sept 1905], accession #2013-7-106. Came to Ellicottville in 1870, married William P. Scoville in 1880. Courtesy Ellicottville Historical Society with kind permission from Mary E. Dunbar, town historian L.L. ZUVER (1861-1924)                  Ellicottville (Cattaraugus Co), NY: 1886-1887 (Partner with MH STEWART) Pleasantville (Venango Co), PA: Oil City, (Venango Co), PA: 1905- Tionesta (Forest Co), PA: photography business & general store   L.W. ZUVER (1854-1927) Duke Centre (McKean Co), PA: 1880-1884 El licottvi lle (Cattaraugus Co), NY: (after 1875) August 1884 Salamanca (Cattaraugus Co), NY: after 1875-November 1884 Cleveland, OH: November 1884; engaged in the manufacture of dry plates used in photography Olean (Cattaraugus Co), NY: 1885- Operated a steamboat studio covering Olean, NY to P