#130 John Richards--Close in Location, but Far Away in Time

The theme for this week is far away. It could be interpreted in several ways, so I decided that I would interpret it in terms of time and blog about an ancestor who lived a long time ago, Nathaniel Richards, who was born in the 1600’s.  I have previously blogged about his father, Edward Richards and his brother, John Richards.

Nathaniel Richards, the second son of Edward and Susan Hunting Richards was born on January 25, 1648/49 in Dedham, Massachusetts.  On February 21, 1678/79 he married Mary Aldis, daughter of Deacon John and Sarah (Elliot) Aldis.  Nathaniel and Mary had eight children.

Nathaniel first appears in the Dedham Town Records when he received “ten shillings for killing one wolfe” (Vol 5, p.36).  Three years later, Nathaniel along with 21 others was fined 16s 8p for “sitting disorderly in the meeting house (Vol 5, p 72.  In In 1679, he was fined 2 shillings for defects in his highway work.

Nathaniel served in the town of Dedham in several ways.  In 1681/82, and 1882/83, 1685, 1689 he was appointed to view fences.  Both John’s father, Edward, and his brother, John, were fence viewers so I was interested in finding out exactly what this job involved.  After a quick search of the web, I learned that fence viewer is one of the oldest appointed positions in New England.  The viewer’s job was to make sure that fences were maintained properly and to settle disputes over property lines when a person believed that his neighbor’s fence was on his property.  .Nathaniel was also elected constable and collected taxes from the town’s property owners. In 1700 and 1705 he laid out roads.

On several occasions, Nathaniel lent the town money.  In 1690 Nathaniel lent the town 5 pounds to pay Josiah, the Indian.  The town paid the debt by selling land at Dorchester.  Five years later, Nathaniel and his brother, John, lent the town 4 pounds and ten shillings.  In return, they were granted 20 acres of land at a place they both could agree was satisfactory.

Nathaniel died on February 15, 1726-27 “suddenly while sitting in his chair” at the age of 79.  He was buried in the Village Cemetery. His tombstone reads “Here lyes buried the body of Mr. Nathaniel Richards age 78 decd Feb ye 15, 1726/7.

In his will, he gave his wife all his silver money, the use and improvement of all his housing and lands during her life.  He gave land to his sons, Nathaniel, James, Edward, and Jeremiah.  His son Edward received his homestead.  Each of his daughters received 100 pounds.  Whether or not he believed that some of his children would not be pleased with their inheritances I cannot tell, but he did instruct that anyone who objected would be cut out of his will.

I would like to talk to Nathaniel about why he and his brother lent the town money.  Did they offer?  Were they asked?  I also would like to know why Edward inherited the homestead rather than Nathaniel his oldest son?  Of course, I would like to know about just what behavior was considered disorderly in the meeting house.

#129--John Bayard Hannah--Civil War Soldier

Siege of Vicksburg

In a letter sent to my great aunt, Cora Hannah Parke, Phillip Hannah states that there were three John Hannahs from Edgar County that fought in the Civil War:  Old John (John M. Hannah), Little John (John Wesley Hannah) and Big John (John Bayard Hannah).  I have previously blogged about the Civil War experiences of my great grandfather, John Wesley Hannah, and of my great great grandfather, John M. Hannah.  So for this week, when the theme is military, I thought I would blog about the third one, John Bayard Hannah.  I knew nothing about him so this would be a good opportunity to learn more about my Hannah ancestors.

John Bayard Hannah was born on August 9, 1829, in Brown, Ohio, to Katherine Beard and Henry Hannah.  In 1834, his family moved to Edgar County.  After living for a short time in Indiana, John Bayard returned to Edgar County.  John Bayard Hannah married Elizabeth Frances Lawrence in Paris, Illinois, on October 27, 1857.  John and Elizabeth had four children:  Bayard Lee; Phillip Ensminger, Henry and John Gray.  The family lived in Paris, Illinois where John Bayard practiced law and also served as justice of the peace. By 1880, John and his family had moved to Ross Township in Edgar County, where he farmed.

In 1861 John Bayard enlisted in the 54th Illinois and became the Captain of Company F.  According to Parkinson in Edgar County Illinois in the Civil War, 1861-1864, the 54th was involved in two notable incidents.  First was the siege of Vicksburg.   The success of the siege cut the Confederacy in half and prevented the flow of Confederate supplies on the Mississippi.  After the siege ended, the Regiment was part of the expedition against Little Rock.  The second notable event was the Charleston Riot.  Charleston Illinois was town divided:  some individuals, knows as Copperheads, were sympathetic to the South and others supported the North.  On March 28, some Copperheads fired their rifles on the soldiers of the 54th, who were in town as part of their re-enlistment.  As lengthy fight followed, ending in nine men killed and 12 wounded.

After the war, John Bayard returned to Paris and continued to practice law.  According to his obituary, he was a mason and also active in the Methodist church.  He died on April 3, 1819 and was buried in the cemetery in Paris.

I wish I could talk to him.  I would like to know about his experiences with the Illinois 54th, his law practice, and why he left it to take up farming.

#128 My Oma, Speaking German

When I think of an ancestor that spoke a foreign language, I think of my Oma, my great grandmother, Maria Huelster Eitelbach.  She was as born in Schmallenberg, Germany in 1865  and came to the United States in 1895 with her husband, Louis Eitelbach and four of their sons.  When I think of Oma and when she spoke German, I remember two things.

First, both my mother and my father had studied German in school and were able to speak it, how well they were actually able to do that, I am not sure.  However, I do remember that when we would go to visit Oma, sometimes they would talk to each other in German.  I think all of them enjoyed doing that.

Second, I remember that Oma would come for Christmas Eve.  After diner, my mother would play Christmas carols.  One that she played was O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum), and Oma would always sing it for us in German.

If I could talk to Oma, I would ask if she spoke German with other of her relatives or friends.  I would also like to know how hard it was for her to learn English, which she spoke very well.

#127 Mother's Day

It should be no surprise that the theme for this week is Mother's Day.  I have two other blogs on this theme: Happy Mother's Day and Happy Mother's Day Maria Huelster so it was time to figure out what to do now.  I have lots and lots of mothers in my tree, but somehow blogging about them was not what I wanted to do.  When I think about mothers, I think about my mother and my grandmothers so I wanted to focus on them.  Also wanted to be able to use  pictures and was delighted that I could find some taken when I was a baby.

Here is one of me and my mother in Prospect Park.

 Next is my Nana, Regina Minarcik Eitelbach, holding me.

 Here is my Granny, Gertrude Richards Hannah, also holding me.

My great grandmother Oma, Maria Huelster Eitelbach also would come to visit,and here she is with me on her lap.

And last here is one of my Oma, Nana, my Mother and me.  I just love their hats.

What an amazing group of women.  I was so fortunately to have them in my life and miss them every day.

#126--Close-Up of Mabel Jewell

One way to think about the theme of close is a close up picture of someone.   I inherited a box of small portrait photographs from my grandmother.  I believe the photos were exchanged between friends in the late 1800’s.  As I looked through them, I realized that I had several of my grandmother’s cousin, Mabel Jewell.  Perfect for this week’s challenge.  Mabel Jewell was born in 1874 in Brooklyn, New York to George  and Evalina (Cochrane) Jewell. Her brother Herbert E was born in 1876.

Mabel lived in Brooklyn her entire life, either with her parents and, once they were deceased, on her own.  Only the 1930 census lists an occupation for her, that of a teacher in a school for girls.  Mabel Jewell died in August 1952 when she was 78 years old.  She is buried in her
family plot in Greenwood Cemetery.

That is all I know about Mabel.  If I could talk to her, I would like to know more about her life?  Where did she go to school?  Did she travel?  What did she like to do?  Where did she work? I think I would also like to know where she got those incredible hats.

#125--Visiting Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn

Green-Wood Cemetery

When I was growing up, we lived near Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.  That was in the era when families went for a car ride after Sunday dinner.  We often did that, and one of the places we visited was Green-Wood Cemetery, which was very close to where we lived.  Green-Wood was one of the first “rural” cemeteries, built in the mid 1800’s.  As a rural cemetery, it was constructed with lots of winding roads, trees, bushes, and several lakes.

Richards Lot

Cochrane Lot

We always visited out family plots.  First, we would go to the Hannah plot where my grand-parents were buried.  Often we would then go to the Richards lot.  My father always said you found it by driving down the outer drive of the cemetery, and stopping at the tomb of the vaudeville player with the banjo, parking the car and walking down the path to the right.  The Cochrane lot was on the other side of the road in a very quiet spot.    I think one of the reason I became interested in genealogy was because I was curious to know more about the people who were buried in those lots.







Two years ago I had the opportunity to take a tour of Green-Wood, which showed me aspects of the cemetery that I did not know about.  On one of the highest points in the cemetery, we saw the Altar of Liberty.  Here there is the Goddess Minerva, with her arm raised, facing the Statue of Liberty as if saluting her.








Slightly down the Hill is the monument to those who fought in the Civil War.  The monument is 35 feet high.  There are plaques on all four sides, which contain inscriptions.  Most impressive to me are the four life-sized statues of represent the four branches of the military:  infantry, cavalry, artillery and engineers.

Feltman 

As we drove through the cemetery we saw a number of mausoleums.  Some of them contain the remains of people you may know—like Charlies Feltman, the inventor of the hot dog or Henry Steinway, the piano manufacturer. Many of these mausoleums have stained glass windows, statues, and furniture in them.  One even has heat!










We also saw the graves of famous people like Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Leonard Bernstein to name a few.

I was particularly struck by the beauty of the statues that adorn various graves.  The ones that appeal to me the most of those of angels.  Here are three of my favorites.

Angel of Grief

Angel of the Resurrection

Our Boy

Should you ever be in New York City, I would highly recommend a visit to Green-Wood Cemetery.  They have regularly scheduled tours--you will learn a great deal about the cemetery, but also enjoy a beautiful setting.

#124--Revisiting the Blizzard of 88

This week’s theme is storms.  Two years ago, I blogged about the Blizzard of 1888 in New York City.  So I decided to go back this week and re-visit that blizzard.  For that blog, I used the New York Times as my source for information.  

As I wrote then, “The storm started as rain on March 12, 1888, but the temperature dropped during the night, heavy snow fell and the winds increased to 50 miles an hour.  While the measured snow fall was 21 inches, the winds created very large drifts, in some cases reaching to the second floor of houses.”  The city came to a total halt; 200 people died during the blizzard, either my freezing to death or being killed by falling objects and electric wires.   

Since my great grandfather, Abiathar Richards and his family, lived in Brooklyn, I wanted to look at that blizzard from the perspective of Brooklyn.  The Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote about the blizzard on both March 13 and 14.  Obviously, the paper focused much more on what happened in Brooklyn and how its residents were affected. 

First, the river froze, which prevented the ferries from running between Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.  

To further complicate things, the Brooklyn Bridge was so deep in snow that it became impassible.  Consequently, many Brooklyn residents, who commuted to Manhattan in the morning of March 13,  were stuck in Manhattan and unable to get home. 

Second, there was so much snow that people could not walk down the sidewalks or use their carriages on the streets.  The newspaper urged people to shovel their sidewalks themselves or hire men to do so. 

I have this photograph of Fort Greene Place where the Richards's lived and been impressed with the amount of snow on that street.  

Third, the paper wrote about how many things which are delivered, e.g. milk, coal, etc. were stopped by the storm.  However, I was amused  to see that the paper was very clear that even if not delivered, the paper was written and printed.

I would really like to be able to talk to my grandfather about his experiences during the blizzard.  First, I would want to know who is in that picture.  Is it his daughter, Gertrude and his two sons, Chester and Bill? Are they shoveling the snow?  If not, who did shovel it? I would also like to know whether they were trapped in the house, and, whether Abiathar tried to go to work in Manhattan.