Meet Anson G. Bennett, My 2nd Great-Grandfather

Anson G. Bennett

Dear Reader: Do you think you are related to the individuals listed in this post? Please drop me a note! I love hearing from cousins and others researching my family!

This weekend, one of my aunts and I went through a ton of photos and documents that used to belong to my grandmother. Among the treasures was a funeral announcement for my second great-grandfather, Anson G. Bennett. I wrote about him briefly before.

One of the most exciting things about the article was the photo shown here — I’d never seen his photo before. Unfortunately, the newspaper clipping isn’t dated or identified by publication name. It most likely came from one of the San Antonio papers.

The article reveals several new-to-me facts. One of Anson’s sons was San Antonio city clerk. Anson was buried at St. Mary’s parish cemetery. Anson’s address at the time of his death was 619 Cedar Street.

619 Cedar Street, San Antonio

The following excerpt is especially rich in detail:

“A native of Missouri, he was brought to San Antonio in a covered wagon by his father, Capt. Sam C. Bennett, Civil War veteran and boat captain on the Mississippi river between St. Louis and New Orleans.” (“A. G. Bennett Funeral Services Set,” date and publication unknown.)

I already knew that Anson died on 12 Mar 1944. I didn’t know about his father’s Civil War service. I believe he served the Confederacy as I have evidence he was a slave owner (an obituary for one of the family’s slaves was even published in the San Antonio Express).

Beyond the above clues, searching anew for information on Anson led me to his listing in the 1940 census. I also found another newspaper article that said Samuel C. Bennett was custodian of the Alamo for three years prior to his death in 1900 (“Capt. Bennett Dead,” Dallas Morning News, 16 Jan 1900, digital image, GenealogyBank, http://genealogybank.com : accessed 2 Sep 2012.). I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot more material to find on him.

Friends Album: Investigating the YOUNGs

In this stage of research for the Friends Album, I find myself hampered by my physical location. For the most part, I’m restricted to using online records. I’ve almost come to the point where I’ll need to try and locate a co-conspirator in at least Connecticut to help me finish this project.

In the meantime, I decided to try and trace as many of the Young descendants as I could over the past week, and started by investigating the descendants of Cornelia Morris and Henry B. Young. The list below gets confusing, but bear with me. I created this post mostly to get my notes down as I researched. I know folks are interested in my progress, so here we go:

I found Cornelia and Henry along with their children, including a son Calvert, in the 1860 census. Calvert is about the age of 9, but there’s no trace of him in later years. Perhaps he died young.

I couldn’t find anything beyond census records up to 1880 for their daughter, Martha.

Mary L. Morrill also married into the Young family. She and her husband, Stanley, Cornelia’s and Henry’s other son, had several children. Among them was Calvert H. Young. I found him in the 1920 census in Yonkers, N. Y., which incidentally was the setting for several of the photos from the Friends Album (see Photos 3 & 4, Photo 14, Photos 30 & 31).

Calvert and his wife, Clara, had a son, Harold, who was 4 years old at the time of the 1920 census. But Harold wasn’t Calvert’s only child. I also found him in the 1910 census with two nearly grown children — daughter Nathley (age 21; apparently her name actually was Nellie/Natalie, as evidenced by other records I found) and son Stanley (age 17). I’m finding that there were a ton of Harold Youngs, many originating in New York, and so it’s difficult to find military, death or other records that are definitely his.

I moved on to Stanley and this is where reviewing another Ancestry member’s work paid off. I found a 1930 census record for Stanley’s family, including his three children. One of them was still another Stanley A. Young.

I’m getting close! More on Stanley A. Young, Jr., in an upcoming post. I think he’s going to be the key.

I also looked at another sibling of Calvert’s — George E. Young. I think I found him in the 1910 census in Danbury. He and his wife Katherine/Catherine had several children, including a son named Egbert.

I figured the name Egbert would be easy to find. I found him in Danbury city directories for 1921 and 1922, but he’s not to be found in 1924. I haven’t found an SSDI record for him. Perhaps he died in the 1920s?

I moved on to Egbert’s brother Richard, who was born in 1903 and I think I found him with wife Hazel and son Richard in the 1930 census. I think I found evidence of his death in 1999 on RootsWeb:

YOUNG, Richard S; 71; Danbury CT;
News-Times; 1999-1-21; sherik

The obit isn’t available online so I’ll either need to travel to the Library of Congress to view the record or find someone in Danbury who can look it up for me.

Moving on to George Young, Richard’s and Egbert’s younger brother. I found a casualty report on him from WWII, but not much else.

Going back to the sisters in this family, Antoinette M. Young married Norris Ballard according to another Ancestry member’s family tree. There’s no source for the marriage, but there are death records to use, if needed. The tree lists the names of their children, but I hesitate to follow this line any further without more evidence.

Going all the way back to Stanley and Mary Young’s children, William H. Young is the next subject to be investigated. Apparently, he died in 1910 (according to FindaGrave). There is no evidence that he ever married — he was still living with parents in his 30s in the 1900 census.

Charles Young is the last of the male siblings in this generation. I haven’t found much on him past 1900.

Edith M. Young married Emerson Ballard (related to the other Ballard above?) and they had a daughter, Alpha Margaret. Another Ancestry member found her death index record and her married name was Claus. She died in 1997. No record that she had children.

In re-examining descendants of Frederick A. Young:

Henry F. Young (one of Frederick’s grandsons via son Henry Samuel Young) — never married? Found birth and death dates… Haven’t found much on his sisters yet either.

George R. Young (Henry F.’s brother) — died in 2003 in Connecticut according to the SSDI; need to follow up and see if I can find an obituary for him.

Ernest G. Hawley (the younger, son of Frederick’s daughter, Cornelia): one member tree says (unsourced) he died in 1969; married Dorothy Mae Levine 24 Nov 1938 (not well documented).

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1860 U.S. Census, Litchfield County, Connecticut, population schedule, page 15, dwelling 125, family 125, Henry Young and family; Ancestry.com : accessed 27 May 2011. Roll: M653_82; Page: 601; Image: 16; Family History Library Film: 803082.

1905 New York census, Westchester County, New York, population schedule, Yonkers, page 18, family 42, FamilySearch.org : accessed 20 May 2011. FHL film number: 589664.

1910 U.S. Census, Westchester County, New York, population schedule, Yonkers, page 18, dwelling 34, family 333, Calvert H. Young and family. Ancestry.com : accessed 20 May 2011. Roll:  T624_1093; Page:  18A; Enumeration District:  0179; Image:  956; FHL Number:  1375106.

1920 U.S. Census, Westchester County, New York, population schedule, Yonkers, page 15, dwelling 79, family 370, Calvert H. Young and family; Ancestry. com : accessed 20 May 2011. Roll:  T625_1280; Page:  15B; Enumeration District:  230; Image:  649.

1930 U.S. Census, Fairfield County, Connecticut, population schedule, Ridgefield, page 7, dwelling 121, family 123, Richard M. Young and family; Ancestry.com : accessed 22 May 2011. Roll:  259; Page:  7B; Enumeration District:  173; Image:  51.0.

1930 U.S. Census, Westchester County, New York, population schedule, Yonkers, page 15, dwelling 180, family 222, Stanley A. Young and family; Ancestry.com : accessed 20 May 2011. Roll:  1668; Page: 15B; Enumeration District: 63; Image: 949.0.

FindaGrave Memorial 49155167, William H. Young; FindaGrave.com (www.findagrave.com : accessed 24 May 2011).

RootsWeb Obituary Daily Times record, Richard S. Young; RootsWeb (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~obituary/ : accessed 22 May 2011).

Social Security Death Index record, George R. Young (Connecticut); Ancestry. com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 May 2011).

Sunday’s Obituary: Steel in the Eye

In my research into descendants of the subjects in the Friends Album, I found the following obit:

“Ernest Hawley of Hawleyville, a grocer, 26 years old, died yesterday at his home in that village. He was struck in the eye by a bit of steel a short time ago and spinal meningitis developed. He leaves a widow.”

Not just a widow. Apparently, a pregnant widow — Cornelia. Their son Ernest G. Hawley was born in 1906. He and his mother are listed as living with her parents in the 1910 and 1920 censuses.

Cornelias’s parents were Frederick A. Young and his wife, Urania. I believe Frederick A. Young to be a subject of the Friends Album, pictured here.

I found memorials at FindaGrave for Ernest Hawley and Cornelia. So far, I’m having a bit more trouble picking up the trail for Ernest G. Hawley. I haven’t been able to find any military records for him, which I thought would be a sure thing. I did find a Social Security Death Index record for someone who may be him, but I need to strengthen the connection before I put too much stock in that record.

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“Obituary,” The Hartford Courant (1887-1922), 19 Feb 1905, p. 7, ProQuest Historical Newspapers Hartford Courant (1764-1985); (http://researchport.umd.edu : accessed 8 May 2011).

Wordy Wednesday: Friends Album Update

Well, I’ve done it! I’ve found a living descendant of a subject in the friends album. I haven’t contacted him yet. I’m still figuring out what I want to say.

Friend No. 12 (Ellis B. Wilson)

In the meantime, I’ll share some tidbits from a major clue that led me to the grandson of Ellis B. Wilson (I’m withholding the grandson’s name to maintain his privacy). Over the weekend, I decided to search the Hartford Courant archives to see if I could find Ellis’ obituary (previously, I found his FindaGrave memorial, which provided me with his date of death and the names of his two wives). Other records had confirmed for me that Hartford was the place to search for his obit.

The Courant’s archives delve back into the 1700s. The paper does charge users for anything besides a brief abstract of its older articles, but after failing to find the obituary through other free resources available to me (and resources that I already pay for), I decided it was worth the nominal fee to get the details that his obituary would divulge.

From Ellis’ obit, I learned he was known as “Mr. American Legion Baseball,” having established the American Legion Baseball program in Connecticut. I also learned that he died while on vacation in Treasure Island, Fla.

The obituary named his daughter and her place of residence at the time of his death. This allowed me to find more information on her, which led me to her sons including the one I know still to be living.

I think I’m going to wait until I’ve finished going through the entire album before I contact Ellis’ grandson. I’m still hoping that I’ll find other descendants of other known subjects in the album. This could lead to a dilemma. My original goal was to return the album to descendants of those pictured after I realized that many of the photo subjects belong to the same family. Now, it appears that I may identify descendants of unrelated subjects. I’m loathe to split up the album, at least right now. But if Ellis’ family doesn’t have this picture of him, how I could I not send it to them? Dilemma!

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“Ellis B. Wilson, 77, Dies; Legion Baseball Pioneer,” The Hartford Courant (1923-1984), Jan. 30, 1971, p 4: ProQuest Historical Newspapers Hartford Courant (1764-1985); (http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/advancedsearch.html : accessed 26 March 2011).

Happy Birthday, Herman Wild (Sr.)

Dear Reader: Do you think you are related to the individuals listed in this post? Please drop me a note! I love hearing from cousins and others researching my family!

My great-grandfather Herman Wild’s birthday was only two days after his father’s. Herman Wild was born in San Antonio, Texas, 8 Mar 1877, to Fridolin Wild and Lena Hoyer. Like his father, Herman went into sales and worked at a department store named Wolff and Marx for almost 30 years.

Herman married Susan Campbell Bennett 15 Jan 1908.

There is no photo of his grave on FindaGrave (yet, I requested one), but there is text from his obituary, which provides a wealth of information. He apparently died of pneumonia on 20 Mar 1928.

Google Street View of 232 Lotus Ave. in San Antonio, Texas.

His obit and other records list his address as 232 East Lotus Ave in San Antonio, Texas. There is a neat old house at that address on Google Maps Street View (if Street View can be trusted–I find it to be often inaccurate).

Sunday’s Obituary: Della (Crow) Hayes

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Della (Crow[e]) Hayes was my great-grandmother. All of the materials below are in the possession of one of my aunts:

Original source unknown

Original source unknown

Funeral Program Cover

Funeral Program, Inside

I have a couple things to follow up on here. There is a minister involved in the funeral of the last name ‘Hayes.’ Possibly a relative? Same with pall bearer Wayne Gourley (note the difference in spellings of Gourley/Gorley throughout the materials). I should also check with the church mentioned in the obituary to see if they have any family records.

Sunday’s Obituary — William E. HAYES

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New year, new-to-me blog theme! Below is a memorial obituary printed for the funeral of one of my maternal great-grandfathers, William E. Hayes. The memorial belongs to one of my aunts, who allowed me to photograph it last year.

Memorial Obituary for William E. Hayes

HAYES Headstone

Gravestone for William E. Hayes

RIP “Uncle Ben” HAYES

Yesterday I received a call from my Great-Aunt Ruth, who had sad news — her brother, my Great-Uncle Ben, had passed away earlier in the week. He was 77. The news was, quite frankly, startling. My sister and I just visited Ben over the winter holidays and he drove us all over Carter County, Tenn. He took us to the house where he and his siblings were raised, to the grave site of his parents and then took us out for barbecue. He gave my sister car advice.

But he did confess to us that he had triple bypass surgery in the fall (and hadn’t told anyone in the family). Of course, we immediately tattled on him to our aunts, who in turn told Ruth. Turns out, that bypass was in preparation for an even trickier surgery a week ago to operate on an aneurysm on his aorta (and again, he hadn’t warned anyone in the family). The surgery was not successful.

Ben’s wishes were that during his funeral he didn’t want “anyone standing around my grave crying.” So his good friend called my great-aunt on Tuesday, after Ben passed away. But she couldn’t call anyone else in the family until yesterday, after the funeral. I was the first person she reached yesterday and it fell to me to try and contact my sister and aunts with the news. I found his obituary online and shared that too.

I learned a lot from the obituary. His nickname was “Blink.” He was a basketball referee and served on the board of his church. I already knew he was a classic car fan, but that was about it.

The number of times I got to see Uncle Ben could be counted on one hand. I remember visiting with him at my Great-Grandma’s house and he ordered me to finish my green beans (I was five years old and I hated green beans). This prompted me to run away though I was gone for so short a time, I wasn’t even missed. During another visit with him at my grandma’s, I remember noting that his socks didn’t match. He didn’t care. He was a bachelor to the end.

I didn’t know Ben very well, but my sister and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit with him. We were the last members of the family to see him and as I spoke with my relatives yesterday, they all remarked on the timing of our visit. My sister and I count ourselves lucky for the chance to see him and learn from him before he passed away. While we were at the graves of my great-grandparents, I noticed there was a marker there for Ben already. It comforts me that I now know exactly where to go to visit him. Thank you and rest in peace, Uncle Ben.

Wordy Wednesday: My Meeting with a Buffalo Soldier

I didn’t want the last days of February — Black History Month — to slip away without relating one of the more awesome experiences I had back in my reporting days. In 1998, I had the chance to interview Mark Matthews, age 103 at the time, and one of the last surviving Buffalo Soldiers who fought in the Old West.

I met with Matthews in the home of his daughter, not far from the Maryland/Washington, D.C., line. The first time I arrived to interview him, with a photographer in tow, we were refused because he didn’t feel up to having his picture taken that day. The photographer was disappointed, but when you’re 103, you call the shots.

The second time we arrived for the interview, Matthews was feeling better. Much better. I asked him one question and he talked for 40 minutes. I asked him a second question and he talked for 30 more minutes. When it came time for the photographer to take his picture, Matthews donned his cavalry hat, sat up straight and jutted out his chin, though he could barely see the camera that was pointed at him.

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Here’s a quick summary about Matthews:

He joined the Buffalo Soldiers 10th Cavalry shortly after meeting some of the soldiers when he was only 15. A friend helped him forge papers he needed to join up because you had to be 17 at the time to enlist.

“They got me all trained up and everything,” he said. “When I got to 17, they shipped me out right to Arizona.”

Matthews was part of the border patrol at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., where he encountered bandits, including Pancho Villa’s men. He also served in World War II.

He later was stationed at Fort Myer, Va., where he performed in drills for the likes of Queen Elizabeth II. He got to meet President Clinton twice.

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At the time I wrote the article, it was believed that Matthews was the last surviving Buffalo Soldier from his regiment. Over time, I often wondered what happened to Matthews. After years went by, I thought surely he must have passed away. Turns out, he lived until he was 111 years old! I found this tribute page with the text of his 2005 obituary from the Washington Post. It is noted in his obituaries that he was the oldest surviving Buffalo Soldier before he died. He also was the oldest man in Washington, D.C.

It’s been nearly 12 years since the interview and I still can’t believe I had the opportunity to meet this man and hear his incredible story first-hand.

Obituaries: Researchers Beware

This blog post is in response to the blog prompt for Week #46 as provided by Amy Coffin at We Tree (via GeneaBloggers): “Comment on obituaries in your collection. Obits come in all shapes and sizes. Share some of the stand-outs with readers.”

My lessons learned after writing, reading and relying on the information made available in obituaries includes that they can be chock full of useful information: next of kin, parents, burial information and of course, major life events, but they are not the most reliable sources.

I am a reporter by training and have written several obituaries, both for relatives and for complete strangers*. Not all obituaries are written by professional journalists, however (and much to my chagrin, even when they are, errors can be edited in later). Many obituaries are written by relatives of the deceased — they may or may not have gone through the rigors of checking original sources of the information listed in the obit. In fact, it’s not impossible to imagine that many may gloss over some facts in remembering the life of their loved one and they may, inadvertently or not, introduce errors into the listing.

Before she passed away, my mother requested that I be the one to write her obituary. This I did, including the names and places of residence for her surviving family members, including her three younger sisters, all in the state of Virginia. Even though I typed the information for the obit and emailed it (in copyable/paste-able form) to the newspaper for inclusion, the state of residence for my youngest aunt was printed as California and not Virginia. Sigh.

Another obituary in my collection is for my great-grandmother, Della Hayes. I had always assumed that her maiden name (Crow) was spelled with an ‘e’ on the end because that is how it was listed in her obituary. All records I have found since then point to a spelling without an ‘e.’ Similarly, her mother’s maiden name also appears to have been misspelled in the obituary (Gorley instead of Gourley, as I have found in other records). Whether these spellings were provided by the family incorrectly or were printed incorrectly for some other reason, I do not know.

Of course, not all obituaries are so error-ridden and they are good starting points for finding facts that should be confirmed through further research.

*Obituaries are often the first things that budding reporters learn to write. Therefore, I found everything had come full circle during my final stint as a reporter (I decided not to pursue a career in journalism shortly after graduating from college). My final article as a general assignment reporting intern at the Viriginian-Pilot‘s Virginia Beach bureau was  the obituary for G. Dewey Simmons, a minister who hailed from that area. He had gained notoriety by performing wedding rituals in unusual places, including one ceremony underwater. On my last day in the bureau–the day the obituary appeared in the paper–I had a voicemail on my phone. It was his daughter, in tears, calling to thank me. She said it captured his life perfectly. I can’t think of a better way to end my reporting career.

Interesting side note: the major news services pre-write obituaries for major public figures so that when these individuals do meet their demise, it is simply a matter of adding the details of death before posting on the wire.  I learned of this practical, if morbid, procedure while touring the Knight-Ridder library at the National Press Building during another reporting internship in college. It’s often the newsroom librarians who compile the facts for these canned pieces, before they are polished up by the reporters.