Sepia Saturday ~ Elsie, Esther & John Ferrier

While looking at the photo for todays Sepia Saturday I got a feeling that these three individuals were siblings.  They are dressed very nice with gloves on the women's hands and I love the hats poised so nicely on their heads while the man is holding his.  

I looked through my family photos and couldn't find any with the subjects dressed as nicely.  But I did find a set of siblings who look pretty stylish.  The three siblings I have posted here are my grandmother, her sister (my great aunt) and their brother (my great uncle).   These photos are taking during the 1920s some time.  My grandmother and her sister have their hats on. If you look closely you can see the purses they are carrying.  While my grandmother (on the left) is carrying a box-type purse my aunt has a satchel bag.  It's very cute.  Both have wraps. My grandmother's like a shawl and my aunt a fur wrap.  

John Ferrier



Esther (nee Ferrier) Booth - my grandmother







Elsie (nee Ferrier) Williams



I'm not sure where the photo of my grandmother is taken but it looks like my aunt and uncle are standing in front of their home at 1109 N. Westmoreland, Los Angeles, California. 



Warm Regards,



  

Wednesday's Child ~ Grace Sherwood Allen

Grace Sherwood Allen (not a relative of mine) was a child of William H. and Emily J. Allen.  She was born on June 5, 1876 and lived at 11 Wellington Street, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.  Grace died November 11, 1880, shortly before her 5th birthday, of whopping cough.

While meandering through this graveyard in Massachusetts I found her buried at Forest Hills Cemetery and Cremetory in Jamaica Plain, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.

This is the most unusual child tombstone I've ever seen.  I am assuming that enclosed statue is Grace.

Warm Regards,
  

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Elsie DeWinter Mulder

 

Here are two photos of the tombstone for Elsje DeWinter Mulder - my 2nd Great Grandmother.  The left one was found in an old book. I might have never known where she was buried if not for this photo. I had to take a magnifying glass to read the writing.  I'm not clear when this photo was taken.

The photo on the right is of the same tombstone and was taken about 2005.  The stone is very worn and absolutely not readable. It's hard to believe how much they disintegrate over time.  Thank goodness I have the first photo of Elsje's stone.

Elsje DeWinter Mulder

Elsje came from a high class family in Holland. She married Hans Mulder who was a baker. They had three children - Reinardus Mulder (b.1862), Laura G. Mulder (b.1877) and Margaret L. Mulder (b.1883).

Elsje's oldest child Reinardus was the first to immigrate to the United States when he was 20 years old. He settled in Lincoln, Nebraska.
When Elsje's husband, Hans, died in 1887 she brought her remaining two children, Laura and Margaret, to the United States as well. They arrived in the United States on April 25, 1887 after travelling on the Zaandam out of Amsterdam. They settled in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Warm Regards,
  

Church Record Sunday ~ Amy Morse Ferrier

As I was working on my family history I wanted to focus on my 2nd Great Grand Aunt Amy Morse Ferrier. I wasn't able to locate her birth record but once I discovered her family church, St. John's Episcopal Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I was able to obtain information on her birth by using the church's records.

It's a beautiful church located on the corner of Chestnut and Mulberry streets. The church is located right around the corner from the family home. St. John’s was founded in 1853 at its present location. It was the first Episcopal congregation in Pennsylvania to be established without a pew rental system, and so was originally called St. John’s Free Church. Wealthy and poor parishioners were able to come together as equals in their worship of God, an unusual practice at that time for Episcopal congregations.

I began looking for the church's records to see what I could learn about Amy M. Ferrier.  Luckily I found some documents online that answered some of the questions I had.  Her Baptismal records listed her birth date (September 4, 1873), baptismal date (November 9, 1873), and each of her parents names as well as the name of the church, city and state it was located in.   I then found her Confirmation record which verified she was confirmed on March 23, 1890. 

Through the records that were provided by St. John's Episcopal Church and the information I have found on ancestry.com I am now able to put together a bit of a family story about my 2nd Great Grand Aunt - Amy Morse Ferrier.

I wish I had a photo of her, but I don't.  I've searched over the internet but no luck. I think it would make this story a little more complete .. to see ... visualize .. what my Aunt looked like.  Maybe someone out there has a photo and if they do I certainly would love to see her.

You see .. this story doesn't end with the church records.  Her life went on way beyond her young years with her family and her church upbringing.    I will share some more of what I learned about her below.



Confirmation Record



Baptismal Record



Ms. Amy Morse Ferrier was born in Lancaster, Pennslyvania to Isabelle (nee Heller) and John A. Ferrier. They lived on Mulberry Street in the same city.   Amy was baptized at 2 months of age and later took her first Communion at 16 years of age.   Ancestry records indicate she lived in the same home until she was 27 yrs(year of 1900).   I can't locate her in 1910 in any records but then I find her in 1920, at the age of 47, living with a woman friend.  Ten years later, at the age of 57, she is living at Henry T. Long Asylum for the Aged in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  She seems so young to be in an asylum for the aged.  But by then both of her parents, John and Isabelle, have passed on and maybe she wasn't capable of caring for herself.  She never married.  Amy was the youngest of 12 children (if my records are correct) so she comes from a large family.   Maybe she was a spinster and happy with her life. I don't want to assume anything.   In 1940, at the age of 66yrs., Amy is living in the same place but the name has changed to the Henry T. Long Home for the Aged.  I lose her again in 1950 but then find information that she passed away on December 15, 1952 at the age of 79. 



Henry T. Long Home for the Aged, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Henry T.Long Asylum for the Aged, Lancaster, Pennsylvania



This home actually looks live a very nice retirement home.  I'm sure my 2nd Great Grand Aunt had many happy years there. 

Warm Regards,
  

Written Word Wednesday ~ Clues for Our Descendents

Please take the time today to write a "handwritten" note.  Whether it be in a formal journal or on a scrap of paper just write a little something about yourself, what you did today, the weather, or maybe what you had for dinner.  We all appreciate the handwritten notes we find from our ancestors and how it gives us clues to their lives.  Lets do the same so our descendants will also have available to them a clue into our lives.  We may not think our lives are anything special. Most of us have a very set routine. . . work, dinner, bed, then back to work the next day and so on.  What do we do on the weekends when we have more free time? What tv shows do we watch routinely?  How many hours do we spend searching clues to our ancestors lives? What family members do you feel closest to?   What do you wish was asked on the census records of our ancestors but wasn't?  Write about that tidbit of information about you.  It may be easier if you are writing "to" someone as opposed to just statements. What if you wrote a note TO your descendants?  "Dear Descendants ... whomever you may be.. I'm writing this so you will have a peek into my life ... "   Wow.. if I found a note like that from an ancestor of mine!  I would love it .. to know they were thinking about the future. While we may think our life isn't interesting ... I bet our ancestors thought the same thing about theirs.  So write your note, a handwritten note,  and tuck it away for others to find when you are no longer here.

Warm Regards,
  

Mystery Monday ~ A Killing, An Orphange and the Disappearance of Martin Moe

     My Grandmother, Bertha Rasmussen (nee Moe) never knew what really happened to her family. She had no memories of her parents and was raised by Nuns in a Catholic orphanage, "Home of the Guardian Angels" in Los Angeles, with her brother Harold Theodore Moe. 
     Beginning in the 1970's I wrote to the orphanage, where she and her brother were raised, in order to obtain any type of family information. I wrote repeatedly for several years and each time I wrote I would get a tidbit of information and would be mailed a document or two.  Each revealing a clue but never the entire story of why she and her brother were brought there.       

Application for Admission

     The orphanage's "Application for Admission" states the Father's name was "Martin Moe" (other documents indicate father born in Norway). Their Mother "not known".  It stated "Moe Harold - 6 yrs 9 months" and "Moe Bertha - 4 years 11 months" were born in Mexico.  It also states parents were married in Mexico. They were admitted into the orphanage August 27, 1908.
      My Grandmother remembers being told by the Nun's her mother was killed by the "Indians".  They told my Grandmother that she was shot in the head. (My grandmother did have a small scar).

The Killing of my Great Grandmother and two of her children

      Finally, after years of exhaustive searching my cousin found this article!  It coincides with the story she was told. Unfortunately, this article does not have their mother's name, just "Mrs. Moe".  The article states Mrs. Moe, her father, and two children were killed.  We know Martin Moe, Bertha and Harold Theodore Moe survived, so the children killed were probably their siblings. The date of the article is in 1905, therefore my Grandmother, Bertha Moe, was 1 yr old and her brother, Harold Theodore Moe, was 3 yrs old when this occurred.

Letter indicating Martin Moe's death

Once the children were left at the orphanage, their father Martin Moe, was not heard from until this letter was received from his employer "G.B.C.Co".  It indicates he died on August 20, 1908. We assume he was buried there in Sonora Mexico.
Update:
Bertha Moe my grandmother  (1903 - 2000) had an opportunity to be adopted a few times but rejected the family's and chose to remain an orphan in the convent.  She left the orphanage at 16 yrs, married, became a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother and lived to be 87 years. She is found in census records in the orphange as a "servant" and after her marriage.
Harold Theodore Moe (1901 - 1947) left the orphanage at 14 yrs, worked various jobs such as barber and hospital aide.  He got in trouble with the law, stole a patient's radio and spent a year in San Quentin prison for it. My mother once told me she thought he had a child with an unmarried woman. My mother said she never saw that child. Unfortunately, he died as a result of alcoholism at the age of 46. He is found in census records in the orphanage as a "servant". Once he was no longer in the orphanage he can not be found in census records - although he should be in California as my mother saw him on occasion in Los Angeles area.
Father - Martin Moe - one document indicates he was born in Norway.  We read of him in that article of the killing of their mother. Then not again until the letter indicating his death in Culiacan, Sonora, Mexico.  I can not find him in any census records at all.  It is believed he spent most of his  life working mines in Mexico.
Mother of Bertha and Theodore - documents state mother and father were married in Mexico and the children were born in Mexico. Therefore she should be in census records from Mexico. I have no knowledge of her name. I have no records on her.

Block Wall!  I'm stuck at Martin Moe and his unnamed wife. Since documents indicate they married and had children in Mexico I would expect to find them there, anywhere between 1850 - 1908.  If anyone has any tips on how to locate them I would appreciate it.

Warm Regards,
  

Wordless Wednesday ~ The Booth Family Relocates in California

I don't recall finding in any census records with my Grandparents living in Ontario, California.  But the photograph states that's where they are moving to.   Two sets of my Paternal Great Grandparents are in this photo ~ which is nice ~ and my Dad (Walter Booth) is the little boy on the far right.  That's my Great Grandmother's writing on the photo ~ Laura Ferrier (nee Mulder).

Warm Regards,