Treasure Chest Thursday - The Hartman Girls

Written on the back is "The Hartman Girls: Cleo Duffield, Fannie Hart-Erwin, Zoe Rader and Etta."


These are my Great-grand aunts and my Great-grand-mother Fannie (Hartman) (Hart) Erwin, on my mother's maternal line. My great-grandmother is behind two of her sisters, so we only see her head. I don't know why Etta's married name is not listed, but it is Archer.

Their parents were Samuel Myers Hartman (1844-1928) and Julia Zimmerman (1844-1913) who  grew up and married in Wayne Co Ohio, near Wooster, then moved to Findlay Ohio in Hancock County sometime before October 26, 1872 as my great-grandmother was the first child I know for certain was born in Findlay.  Samuel and Julia had 11 children: Charles O (1869-1930) s; Etta /Ettie (1870-????); Dellie (1871- ????); Fannie (1872-1954); Zoe (1874-1954); Jesse (1877-1945); Samuel T. (1877-1880); Wellie (1879-1960); 1880-1957); Henry (1884-1968); and Cleo (1899-1966.)

52 Ancestors: Ancestor #1 Crawford Erwin, 1818-1910

[Picture property of Jimmie Ferguson, Bowling Green Kentucky, used with permission. Click to embiggen.]

Crawford Erwin is my third great grandfather, and it is through researching his family that I connected with my first previously unknown cousin, a third cousin once removed, Jimmie Ferguson. He had several photographs of our mutual several times great grandfather and he graciously allowed me to use the photo above for my blog. Jimmie is descended through Crawford’s son ,Edward, from his second wife, and I am descended through Crawford’s second son from his first marriage.

I’ve done several posts about others in Crawford Erwin’s family. He is the son of Judge William Erwin and the father of John Erwin and Eli Erwin. They have been easier than some to write about as biographical sketches of several family members were written up in History of Wayne and Clay Counties, Illinois", published in 1884.

The book describes Crawford Erwin as one of Hoosier Township's "best and most prominent farmers." He would have been sixty-six when it was published. Crawford was born on April 19, 1818, in Lawrence County, Indiana, when his father was 40 and his mother was 35. His father, William Erwin, moved with part of his family, including Crawford and two of his brothers, to Clay County in October, 1832.  Crawford was fourteen at the time.  

Crawford Erwin was “brought up among the deer and other wild animals, and hence early learned the use of fire-arms. He has killed many a deer and other wild game.  At one time, upon returning home from taking his grandmother to his aunt's, he saw a herd of seven deer. He at once brought his gun to his shoulder (for they always carried guns then), and fired without getting off the horse.  The ball passed entirely through the deer he had shot at, and entered another one just in the rear, killing both of them. This was a wonderful feat for a boy. “ (I think it was pretty amazing since he likely had a muzzle loading rifle. It probably also was a flintlock rifle. Percussion rifles had just been invented in the 1820’s and were more expensive and thus not likely to have been given to a boy. The U.S. army had adopted an early single shot breech loader in 1819; but again, given the expense, it is doubtful that a boy had one.) 

In 1837, when he was 19 years old,  he married Eliza A. Craig (my third great-grandmother), daughter of Adam Craig, an early settler of Clay county; she was also 19. They had seven children, two of whom  died in childhood, in 1852, (Sarah Jane, 13, and Elbert, 16 mos.); those who survived to adulthood were William, John, Eli, Lafayette, and Elizabeth Adeline. Eliza died in February 1855, and Crawford again married, July 3 of the same year; this time to Mrs. Rachel Humes Milligan. (While this might seem like unseemly haste, Crawford was a farmer, which would have involved long hours in the fields, or hunting for meat for his family, and when Eliza died, their youngest surviving child was only one year old, and the rest were boys of 7, 12, 14, and 17. He needed someone to care for his youngest sons and baby daughter.) Rachel also likely needed a man to help provide for her children as the 1860 Census shows four children under 15 with Rachel’s prior married name living with Crawford and Rachel. He and Rachel had another five children together, two of whom were living in 1884 when the county history book was published, Angeline and Edward Everett. 

[Crawford Erwin seated with second wife Rachel Humes Milligan Erwin. Back row, standing (L to R): Angeline Erwin Britten, John Erwin (my 2nd great- grandfather), Edward Everett Erwin (Jim Ferguson's great-grandfather), and Elizabeth Adeline Erwin Kenley Henderson. (kindly given to me by Jim Ferguson, 9/23/13, and used with permission.) The gentleman with the medal is my 2nd-great-grandfather, John. The one labeled "Grandpa" is Jimmie Ferguson's 2nd-great-grandfather, Edward. They are half brothers. (Click to embiggen.)]

When the Civil War broke out Crawford’s three oldest sons left to fight for the North in the Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and his fourth son fought for the North in the Illinois Infantry.  Crawford's eldest son, Capt. William Erwin, Captain of Company D, Eleventh Regiment Missouri Volunteer Infantry, was killed in front at Spanish Fort, Ala., while “heroically leading his men on to victory”.  His third son, Eli, a private, was badly wounded at the Battle of Shiloh; and, while records show he survived in hospital a few months, he never made it home. His second son John was wounded in his first service but returned to fight again, and survived the war, to return to Clay County. The youngest of the four, Lafayette, also survived, and subsequently moved to California.

At the time the county history book was written, Crawford owned 347 acres of land and resided along the northern township line (sort of in the central portion) of Hoosier Prairie, Clay County, Illinois (see picture below, click to embiggen). He was a member of the Methodist Protestant Church, and of the Masonic order. For ten years, in addition to being a farmer, he held the office of Justice of the Peace, and “also has held other offices of trust”. 

Rachel Erwin died in 1893 at age 70, and apparently Crawford liked being married, as he married Elizabeth Adams the next year. She was 69 and he was 76. He was widowed again by 1910, and living in the home of Clara and Thomas McWilliams; the 1910 census lists Crawford as a step-father in that household. I haven’t figured out whether one of the two was a child of Rachel Humes Mulligan who wasn’t living with them after their marriage, a child of Elizabeth Adams, or whether he married yet again after Elizabeth Adams died. Crawford died on December 2, 1910, at the age of 92.

["History of Wayne and Clay Counties, Illinois” published 1884 by Chicago: Globe Publishing,historical Publishers, reprinted 2000 by Brookhaven Press , LaCrosse Wisconsin, (Google ebook, scanned), pp. 185 & 186 of original, pp. 655 & 656 of Google eBook scan;  Find-a-Grave: Illinois; Federal Census for 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910; Illinois, Marriages, to 1850 and 1851-1900[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Volume 1, page 222, Lic # 2950, Clay County; Ancestry.com. U.S., Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918 (database on-line). Photos from Jimmie Ferguson, used with permission.]

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I'm Back!

I had a good Christmas with my parents and youngest brother’s family, and a good break. I hope you did as well! [The photo is what it looked like here on Thursday.]

I don’t really do New Year’s Resolutions but I have sort of reviewed where I am in my life and set some goals for myself. The genealogy related ones involve finishing up the first pass at my mother’s side of the family, probably by the end of January the way things are going (I’ve got a couple other things going on in my life that are temporarily limiting the time I have to spend on genealogy research, but one of which, upon completion, will likely make it easier to do in some respects). The other genealogy related goal is to start and complete my first pass at my father’s side of the family this year.

I have also been considering taking up the challenge of "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" proposed by Amy Johnson Crow of the No Story Too Small blog. I think that I will as it plays into my Ancestor Highlight posts quite well and gives my readers something to look forward to each week.  I've missed this week already so I will start next week and perhaps, if I can, get two in to catch up. They, as always, will be based on what I have been able to find about the person I’m highlighting. I heard over my vacation that one person on my father’s side has been disappointed with some of my blog posts because I don’t “tell the stories” of my ancestors. I tell what I know/have found out. Sometimes that is fairly dry bones at this point. I expect to be able to flesh people out more in my second pass when I spend more time tracking down more different databases to check but that will also take more time. “Telling stories” will also occur more naturally when I do my father’s side of the family, even on the first pass through, because people on the Henn side, and others in that surname soup, have been keeping family stories and family trees for years and I have a lot more to draw one (like Grand-Aunt Lucille’s book, and the treasure trove of collected family stories and history one of Dad’s siblings gave him a few years ago that he loaned me this Christmas) and will be able to tell more stories. But, if such exists of my Mom’s side, neither she nor I had access to it. I’m constructing the highlight posts from the data I find on Mom's ancestors, not from anyone’s memories, and doing the best I can with it.

I have had an exciting breakthrough on one of the lines on Mom’s side of the family that I had thought stonewalled after I discovered a new source last month. I had tried several different ways to get access to a copy of it, but it’s only in 24 library collections throughout the country and they don’t send it out through inter-library loan. Finally, I found it online at a price I could justify gifting myself with (Amazon had it for $189 – and that was hard to justify), and wow, it looks like I have Amish roots! Who would have thought?! I’ll be spending the next few weeks working with that and trying to cross-reference it with other sources through Ancestry.com and I’ll eventually do a full post on it, and I expect several Ancestor Highlights will grow from it. Not this week though, as I don’t have enough information yet.

Check back Sunday to see who I write an Ancestor Highlight on this week! 

See You In The New Year!

Hi Everyone!

I'm sorry I missed putting up my Wordless Wednesday photo. Things have been getting zingy with Christmas preparations and work responsibilities, then I went and got sick. Even I can see that sign, lol! As I have a chronic illness that is exacerbated by stress (gastroparesis), I know that I have to start off-loading responsibilities and take things a bit slower so as not to flare. And, believe me, I don't want to be unable to eat anything at Christmas time! So, I'm going to put the blog on hiatus until after New Year's Day.

You all have a wonderful set of holidays and I'll see you in the New Year!

Ancestor Highlight: Phillip A. Snyder, 1882-1967, and Pearl Pauline Bailey, 1891-1978, my great-grandparents

Aren’t they a cute couple? (I don’t know who the little boy is.)

In researching my great-grandparents I discovered what treasure trove city directories can be! Philip Snyder and his wife lived almost their whole life in one town, but due to the generosity of the city  of Findlay Ohio in allowing its archive of city directories to be digitalized and put online, through Ancestory.com, I know more about them than the once every ten year Census would normally allow me to know.

Philip Aaron Snyder, was born on 18 July 1882, in the town of Forest, Ohio, which was then in Wyandot County (now it straddles Wyandot and Hardin Counties), to John and Katharine (Snyder) Snyder, twenty-one miles outside of the city he would live in most of his life. The woman who would become his wife was born nine years later, on 8 March 1891, in Findlay, Ohio, to Edward Carleton and Martha Emily "Emma" (Wolfington) Bailey.

By the time Philip was 18, his family lived in Findlay OH, where his father worked at a saw mill and Philip was a Motorman, according to the 1900 U.S. Census. His maternal grandfather, who was 69, lived with the family at that time, and his occupation was listed as jeweler. One of his sisters and his only brother had died by 1900. His second sister, Mary Margaret (Mollie) had married Marion Greer two years before. The 1906 and 1909 city directories indicated he lived at 432 W. Lima Street in Findlay and listed his occupation as “laborer”; the directory indicated that this was also his parent’s address. The address, 432 W. Lima Street, is one digit off of the address written on the back of the picture of the house I posted earlier  where the handwritten inscription says that Philip bought the home at 431 W. Lima for his wife (oddly I found nothing else that ever placed them at 431 W. Lima. Perhaps whoever wrote the inscription on the photo made a slight mistake on the address). 

In 1900, Pearl Pauline Bailey was at nine years old the youngest child in her family. In the Census, she was listed as Pearl. Three older brothers (Howard, Floyd (or Lloyd), and James) and one older sister, Myrtle (who later became the missionary to China of whom I’ve written before) still lived at home. Her family lived in Findlay Ohio, where her father was a blacksmith. [I’ve found references to another brother also named Lloyd in other sources; one was Lloyd Wellington Bailey and the other Lloyd Weldon Bailey. At first I thought that it was simply a case of name mix-up but Pearl Pauline’s father’s obituary refers to both of these sons surviving him so it appears instead to be a case of parents reusing a favorite name, never thinking how that would confuse future genealogists!]  I don’t know yet how to tell exactly where the family lived in 1900 using the Census, but according to the Findlay City Directory in 1904 the family lived at 519 Hull Avenue (her parents would continue to live there the rest of their lives).

On 8 March 1909, Philip married Pauline (as she was called thereafter) in a ceremony held in the parsonage of the Assembly of God Church; the Rev. T.K. Leonard officiated. Philip was 26 and Pauline was 18. Pauline’s family belonged to that church. I don’t think Philip’s family were members of this church before the marriage, as John Snyder's obituary said he was a member of the Evangelical Church, but Philip and Pauline were members of the Assembly of God Church thereafter. 

The 1910 Census shows Philip and Pauline living at the same address as his parents, with a baby son, Clarence (my grandfather, who was born 22 March 1910), and lists his occupation as Timber Cutter.  The 1911 and 1913 city directories indicate that he was a now a Timber Buyer and that he and Pauline had moved to their own home on 525 W. Lima Street. 

Now that they were in their own home, their family grew in leaps and bounds. In 1912, the couple had a daughter, who they named Christina, and on 3 March 1914, another daughter, Phyllis, was born.  Their son Paul was born in 1917, and their last child, Don, was born on 15 May 1918.

As Philip had had to register for the draft on 12 September 1818, he was undoubtedly much relieved that WW1 ended less than a year later via the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. The draft registration card tells us that, at age 36, he had brown hair and eyes, was of medium height and large build. It lists his occupation as Lumber Dealer and indicates he was self-employed.

Something must have happened to Philip in the early 1920’s that I have not yet been able to find as the 1920 Census indicates that he is not employed and the 1923 City Directory also list no occupation for him. The 1923 directory does indicate that the family had moved to 305 East Street in Findlay.

In 1925, when Philip was 43, his father died. I don’t know yet whether there was any inheritance involved, but it does look like his life had started to improve by 1925 as the city directory states that he was a Dealer in Native lumber and Buyer of All Kinds of Timber. They are still living at 305 East Street, and, for the first time the directory lists a telephone number for him: Bell Telephone Main 3269-W. He was still listed as a Timber Buyer in 1927. But in 1929, his occupation changed to “Real Estate”.

The 1930 Census shows that four of Philip and Pauline’s children still lived at home: Clarence, 20; Phyllis, 16; Paul, 13; and Don, 12. Their daughter Christina had married Warren J. Buntz, jr. on 18 February 1929, in a small ceremony in the parsonage of the Assembly of God Church. The Census listed Philip’s occupation as a “tire builder” and states that he works at a [indecipherable] Plant.

The 1931 City Directory indicates that Philip now worked for the National Refining Company, as a Laborer. The city directories showed me that he continued working for that company in various capacities until he retired sometime after he was 66 (there’s a gap in the directories between 1948 and 1955). The 1933 directory showed that the family had moved to 524 Eben Avenue and that Philip was now a Car Worker at the Refinery.  Two of Philip and Pauline’s children had married and moved out by 1933: their daughter Phyllis married Ralph Norris Fry on 24 November 1932, and by 1933, their son Clarence had married Mabel Erwin (my grandparents).

The city directories indicate that in 1935 he was a Repairman for the Refinery; in 1937, he worked in the Refinery’s Car Shop; in 1939, he’s a Pressman; in 1940, he told the Census taker that he was a Wax Man at the Refinery; and in 1941, he was an Oil Worker; from 1943 through 1948, Philip was a Pressman in the Wax Plant of the National Refining Company.

By 1939, Philip and Pauline had moved to 2711 N. Main St, Findlay.  Their son Paul was married sometime before 1940 to Sara May Bowman, and their youngest son Don had joined the Army in the early 1940’s (well, first he joined the Ohio National Guard, but he later served in the Army in WWII). Don also got married sometime in the early 1940’s (probably 1942) to Ardyth Ebersole of Arcadia.  Tragically, Philip and Pauline’s daughter, Christina, died in an automobile accident on 9 September 1942, and her husband was severely injured. Philip and Pauline stepped up to help care for their daughter’s young children. On 13 May 1947, the Findlay Republican Courier carried a story wherein Mr. and Mrs. Philip A. Snyder announced the engagement of their granddaughter, Rosemary Buntz, to Homer Boatman.

Philip must have retired by 1955 as the city directory henceforth lists no occupation for him. He and Pauline live at 2711 N. Main St, Findlay at least through his death, in 1967, at age 84, of leukemia, after being ill for several years. The obituary noted that he was survived by his wife, three sons, Clarence, of Huron O; Paul, of Detroit; and Don, of Toledo; his daughter, Phyllis Fry, of Findlay; 17 grandchildren; 31 great-grandchildren, and 5 step-grandchildren(!). 

Pauline lived for another 11 years until she died on 30 July 1978 at the age of 87. She continued to be active in her church throughout those years.

[Sources: Findlay City Directories (1906-1959); 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 U.S. Censuses; U.S. Draft Registration Card;  Findlay Republican Courier: 4 November 1925 (p.8), 1 July 1926 (p.12); 18 February 1929 (p.8), 31 March 1942 (p.12), 9 September 1942 (p.2), 6 January 1943 (p.6); 13 May 1947 (p.8), 6 March 1959 (p.9), 13 March 1967 (p.17) at www.Newspaperarchive.com.]

December 7, 1941

On December 7, 1941, the United States suffered about 3,700 casualties in a morning surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Each year we honor our dead in our remembrance of that day of infamy. We should never forget.

But what I somehow did not know until I started doing my family history research was that on December 7, 1941, the Japanese also conducted surprise attacks sending hundreds of Japanese fighter planes and bombers against Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, and other key Allied defense bases in the Far East; these attacks were followed by ground forces which quickly captured the areas. Over 700 American missionaries, men, women, and children, and were caught in the cross-hairs of these attacks. In China and Hong Kong, many the missionaries and other civilians who were trapped in Hong Kong, including 3,000 British, 300 American, and about 100 Dutch, including children, were herded into the Stanley Internment Camp at the south end of Hong Kong Island, where living conditions were extremely poor, unsanitary,  and there was very little food. For some this internment lasted 44 months.  Other American missionaries were placed under house arrest in their own homes, which were taken over by Japanese officers and soldiers. My great-grand-aunt Myrtle was one of the American missionaries put under house arrest, along with the 15 orphans she had been caring for, and others who had sheltered in her home during the bombing. She was held under house arrest, subsisting on one handful of rice per day per person, for seven months, until she was given an opportunity to participate in the repatriation exchange negotiated between the Allies and the Japanese in which some 1500 people (each side), including 500-700 missionaries, were exchanged ship-to-ship in the closest neutral port in Mozambique. I’ve written my great-grand-aunt Myrtle’s story here. Her story and those of the other internees and prisoners of war of the other Japanese surprise attacks on December 7, 1941, as well as those who died in them, should also never be forgotten.  

[Information drawn from research done for post on Myrtle Bell Bailey, see cites there.]

Wordless Wednesday: My grandparents -- at 17!

The back of the photo says, "Clarence & Mabel, Camp Pittenger, Tiffin OH, 1927"
Clarence Snyder and Mabel Erwin would have been 17.