The good people in the Allegheny County, PA, area keep dying and well, we keep finding them.
For over two years, our little band of volunteers has been digging in the old Pittsburgh area newspapers for death notices. The volunteers come and go, but there are usually at least five of us working at any given time.
Our last update brought us to over 88,000 death entries. We have over 3500 entries waiting in the hopper. I suspect these names will be available for family history buffs by Easter weekend.
Check us out. In addition to our death index, we have:
over 24,000 marriages
Divorce notices
WWI Military Personnel with over 73000 names
World War I articles
The record of Company E from the Civil War
House of Refuge information
Morganza information
Poor House Census 1850-1910
Poor House articles
1931 Fire of Little Sisters Poor House
1890 Veterans Schedule/Poor homes
Allegheny Co Home Census 1860-1940
There are also wonderful snippets of interest that will lead you to outside links with history information and resources from the area.
Whatcha waiting for? http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~paallent/
The index of names: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm
Ahhh, genealogy. Such generous, kind friends-- any day of the week, not just Friday!
©2013 AS Eldredge
Ahhh, genealogy. A glimpse of the past shows of what I am made.....
Showing posts with label morganza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label morganza. Show all posts
Friday, March 22, 2013
Thursday, January 03, 2013
Thankful Thursday: Finding the Poor, Ill and Insane in Early Allegheny County
Finding documentation or information on some ancestors can be quite a task if the ancestor happened to have been admitted as an inmate to an early institution for the poor, ill, insane or neglected. The Commonwealth of PA does not readily allow for any information on the inmates to be released easily. For some researchers, this may be just the lead for which they are searching.
My genealogy buddy, Lynn B, and I have been fascinated by the early poor houses and institutions used in early Allegheny and Washington Counties, PA, after some recent comments on the Allegheny Co Rootsweb Mail List. So, we set out to find the census for these places which frequently changed names and locations over the years. Additionally, we are locating old newspaper articles and placing them online as well for researchers to peruse.
The tidbits I have gleaned from this research include identifying which institutions just changed names and which ones changed locations. Common to them all is the appalling circumstances these poor and ill of our past lived in. It can be heartbreaking to read the articles.
Comments from readers have included that Marshalsea, which was later renamed the Pittsburgh City Home Hospital at Mayview, was for the people from the city of Pittsburgh while Woodville was for the county poor and ill.
Other comments have included the correction of spelling of some names found in their census, while another researcher sent the death notice for one of their own who had spent time at an Allegheny Co. institution.
Woodville Hospital had alternate names as well in its history. Included are:
Allegheny County Almshouse
Allegheny Hospital for the Insane
Allegheny County Home for the Poor
Woodville State Hospital
The House of Refuge which was incorporated by the Commonwealth of PA in 1850 was originally in Pittsburgh. It moved to the new site in Washington Co, Morganza, in 1876. Whether your research takes you to the early House of Refuge or the later Morganza, it should be remembered this institution was for the confinement and reformation of delinquent youth.
As we find more articles, we are placing them online for other researchers. Another 20 articles were uploaded today, bringing our total to 53 for the Poor House and 33 for Morganza.
If interested in reading these articles or looking for your beloved, go to the Pittsburgh Old Newspaper Project.
Ahh, genealogy. We appreciate the comments and knowing others may find some tidbit to assist them in their quest for the family history.
©2013 AS Eldredge
My genealogy buddy, Lynn B, and I have been fascinated by the early poor houses and institutions used in early Allegheny and Washington Counties, PA, after some recent comments on the Allegheny Co Rootsweb Mail List. So, we set out to find the census for these places which frequently changed names and locations over the years. Additionally, we are locating old newspaper articles and placing them online as well for researchers to peruse.
The tidbits I have gleaned from this research include identifying which institutions just changed names and which ones changed locations. Common to them all is the appalling circumstances these poor and ill of our past lived in. It can be heartbreaking to read the articles.
Comments from readers have included that Marshalsea, which was later renamed the Pittsburgh City Home Hospital at Mayview, was for the people from the city of Pittsburgh while Woodville was for the county poor and ill.
Other comments have included the correction of spelling of some names found in their census, while another researcher sent the death notice for one of their own who had spent time at an Allegheny Co. institution.
Woodville Hospital had alternate names as well in its history. Included are:
Allegheny County Almshouse
Allegheny Hospital for the Insane
Allegheny County Home for the Poor
Woodville State Hospital
The House of Refuge which was incorporated by the Commonwealth of PA in 1850 was originally in Pittsburgh. It moved to the new site in Washington Co, Morganza, in 1876. Whether your research takes you to the early House of Refuge or the later Morganza, it should be remembered this institution was for the confinement and reformation of delinquent youth.
As we find more articles, we are placing them online for other researchers. Another 20 articles were uploaded today, bringing our total to 53 for the Poor House and 33 for Morganza.
If interested in reading these articles or looking for your beloved, go to the Pittsburgh Old Newspaper Project.
Ahh, genealogy. We appreciate the comments and knowing others may find some tidbit to assist them in their quest for the family history.
©2013 AS Eldredge
Friday, December 14, 2012
Friends of Friends Friday- Allegheny Co, PA Poor House
While this census information is not from the stereotype definition of slave, it does reflect the poor, the insane, the sick, and workhouses from Allegheny County, PA.
Just today, we have updated our Pittsburgh Past, One Page at a Time to include the 1860-1940 census for Woodville Hospital. Alternate names used over the years also include:
Allegheny County Almshouse
Allegheny Hospital for the Insane
Allegheny County Home for the Poor
The location for this institution is noted as S. Fayette and Collier Twp in Allegheny Co, PA.
In looking at the names on the list, I wonder about the men, women and children. Times were tough and I suspect, there was not much hope to be found within the walls of the institution. As many of the names on the lists were paupers, there is not much to be found on their deaths or final resting spots. Rest gently and know you are not forgotten.
While looking at our Pittsburgh Past, be sure to check out Morganza, which was first incorporated by the commonwealth as the House of Refuge in 1850. One reader recently commented on the information we have posted on Morganza with the following words:
I don't recall seeing any other genealogy site with as many articles and documents about Morganza as the Pittsburgh Old Newspaper Project webpages, and I appreciate being able to get some sense of what life, as difficult as it was, was like there for my gg-uncle at that time. I am grateful for all of the hours of hard work everyone has put into the Pittsburgh Old Newspaper Project webpages and look forward to the next time new information has been posted. -MM
Ahh, genealogy. Small prayers go up from around the world today for those frightened, innocent youth in Connecticut and remind us that lost innocence of children due to tragedy remains a part of our society. Rest sweetly.
©2012 AS Eldredge
Just today, we have updated our Pittsburgh Past, One Page at a Time to include the 1860-1940 census for Woodville Hospital. Alternate names used over the years also include:
Allegheny County Almshouse
Allegheny Hospital for the Insane
Allegheny County Home for the Poor
The location for this institution is noted as S. Fayette and Collier Twp in Allegheny Co, PA.
In looking at the names on the list, I wonder about the men, women and children. Times were tough and I suspect, there was not much hope to be found within the walls of the institution. As many of the names on the lists were paupers, there is not much to be found on their deaths or final resting spots. Rest gently and know you are not forgotten.
While looking at our Pittsburgh Past, be sure to check out Morganza, which was first incorporated by the commonwealth as the House of Refuge in 1850. One reader recently commented on the information we have posted on Morganza with the following words:
I don't recall seeing any other genealogy site with as many articles and documents about Morganza as the Pittsburgh Old Newspaper Project webpages, and I appreciate being able to get some sense of what life, as difficult as it was, was like there for my gg-uncle at that time. I am grateful for all of the hours of hard work everyone has put into the Pittsburgh Old Newspaper Project webpages and look forward to the next time new information has been posted. -MM
Ahh, genealogy. Small prayers go up from around the world today for those frightened, innocent youth in Connecticut and remind us that lost innocence of children due to tragedy remains a part of our society. Rest sweetly.
©2012 AS Eldredge
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Talented Tuesday: Six Degrees to Kevin Bacon
Have you ever felt an "aha" moment when you finally connected the dots between families in your past? It appears that every will, every probate, every land transaction I come across in the old Pittsburgh area leads me to connect dots or relationships between early families in the neighborhood.
Just the other day, I posted a connection between Adam POTTER and Henry POTTER. To my surprise, a cousin of mine emailed to tell me she also had a connection to Adam POTTER as a named guardian in a will.
Here is her excerpt: ..."my greatx5 grandpap Charles McMILLEN, who I think is a brother or nephew of our Thomas McMILLEN and Margaret (McMILLEN) HENRY, had two daughters, Mary McMILLEN(b 1800) and Elizabeth McMILLEN(B 1799), and the sisters grew up to marry two brothers, James OBNEY and William OBNEY of Robinson Twp. These guys had a younger brother named Richard McClure OBNEY who lived in N Fayette Twp, and when Richard OBNEY died in 1852, he named ADAM POTTER as the guardian of his minor son, Sanford OBNEY, who later died in the Civil War 1862."
JoAnn also likened our genealogy search to the game "Six Degrees to Kevin Bacon", where movie buffs try to link Kevin Bacon to other actors by identifying movies which tie the actors together.
So, I thought that we could do that as well. The rules had to change a bit as our family is not in the movies.
The rule change is simple in this version of the game. I will connect my family to Kevin Bacon using movies and film locations, instead of just actors.
Here it goes:
Kevin Bacon to Brad Pitt in Sleepers (1996) -- No. 1
Brad Pitt to Anthony Hopkins in Meet Joe Black (1998) -- No. 2
Anthony Hopkins in the Silence of the Lambs (1991) -- No. 3
Silence of the Lambs partially filmed at Morganza in Washington Co, PA -- No.4
Land for Morganza sold by Wesley GREER -- No. 5
Wesley GREER's sister in law, Marguerite CLARK is my 2C3R -- No. 6
Ta da!
And just so there is no confusion, I do relate to Art CLOKEY who gave us all that wonderful character, Gumby. Or rather, I am related to Joseph CLOKEY who adopted Art.
Ahh, genealogy. Who knew it could be so fun or hip?
©AS Eldredge 2012
Just the other day, I posted a connection between Adam POTTER and Henry POTTER. To my surprise, a cousin of mine emailed to tell me she also had a connection to Adam POTTER as a named guardian in a will.
Here is her excerpt: ..."my greatx5 grandpap Charles McMILLEN, who I think is a brother or nephew of our Thomas McMILLEN and Margaret (McMILLEN) HENRY, had two daughters, Mary McMILLEN(b 1800) and Elizabeth McMILLEN(B 1799), and the sisters grew up to marry two brothers, James OBNEY and William OBNEY of Robinson Twp. These guys had a younger brother named Richard McClure OBNEY who lived in N Fayette Twp, and when Richard OBNEY died in 1852, he named ADAM POTTER as the guardian of his minor son, Sanford OBNEY, who later died in the Civil War 1862."
JoAnn also likened our genealogy search to the game "Six Degrees to Kevin Bacon", where movie buffs try to link Kevin Bacon to other actors by identifying movies which tie the actors together.
So, I thought that we could do that as well. The rules had to change a bit as our family is not in the movies.
The rule change is simple in this version of the game. I will connect my family to Kevin Bacon using movies and film locations, instead of just actors.
Here it goes:
Kevin Bacon to Brad Pitt in Sleepers (1996) -- No. 1
Brad Pitt to Anthony Hopkins in Meet Joe Black (1998) -- No. 2
Anthony Hopkins in the Silence of the Lambs (1991) -- No. 3
Silence of the Lambs partially filmed at Morganza in Washington Co, PA -- No.4
Land for Morganza sold by Wesley GREER -- No. 5
Wesley GREER's sister in law, Marguerite CLARK is my 2C3R -- No. 6
Ta da!
And just so there is no confusion, I do relate to Art CLOKEY who gave us all that wonderful character, Gumby. Or rather, I am related to Joseph CLOKEY who adopted Art.
Ahh, genealogy. Who knew it could be so fun or hip?
©AS Eldredge 2012
Such a BAD Boy, Chewin' Tobaccy and Lying
"He's such a bad boy, " the poor distraught mother cried as she
talked to the local magistrate. "He's been chewing tobaccy and lying. I
can't handle him."
While I don't know if those exact words were ever uttered by a mother in distress, I do know the sentiment was a familiar one in the history of Morganza. It was known that parents up in the Allegheny and Washington Co areas of PA did threaten their youngsters with the punishment of having to go to Morganza. I wonder how many children were scared straight....
Morganza. Just the name of this reform school is enough to send chills down the spine of the local residents. While I am unaware of any of my family members being sent there "for their own good," I am fascinated by it. I can't imagine the horrors that happened there and my heart aches for the lost youth of the time.
Morganza was first incorporated as the House of Refuge in 1850 in Pittsburgh. Youth were sent there for various reasons, but there was no need for any conviction of a crime. Apparently, testimony from a distraught witness was enough for the "sentence" of going there to be reformed. How many poor children went there? How many parents sent their child there if they couldn't put food in their mouths? I imagine it's enough to break your heart.
As the House of Refuge grew, it was decided to purchase land and get the youngsters away from the city. Perhaps farming would be encouraged. Land was purchased from Wesley GREER (a kinsman of mine thru marriage) and plans were made, and buildings were built.
According to a 2007 email from a great grandson of Wesley, the land was purchased from the MORGAN family. The claim to fame for the MORGAN family is Aaron BURR stopped at the farm and spoke of his intent to overthrow the government.
I first became aware of Morganza as I traveled from Pittsburgh down to Washington Co as I was researching my roots. I saw the building as we drove down the road and asked many questions about it. Most of the responses seemed to begin with a heavy sigh.
As many readers are aware, a group of volunteers has been painstakingly going through old Pittsburgh newspapers to find marriages and deaths. While involved in this work, one volunteer contacted me to say she had found many mentions of Morganza in old newspapers. This sparked my interest as I recalled driving by the old buildings which haunted my memory for months.
We started actively looking for mentions of Morganza or of those associated with the institution in the newspapers and then we decided to add the census information we could find. All of this information can be found on our Pittsburgh Old Newspaper Project Updates.
Ahh, genealogy. Some of our past breaks our hearts, one name at a time.
Sources:
Herron, James T, Morganza, Jefferson College Times, Vol XLI, No 1, March 2008.
Photo by P. Thomas
©AS Eldredge 2012
While I don't know if those exact words were ever uttered by a mother in distress, I do know the sentiment was a familiar one in the history of Morganza. It was known that parents up in the Allegheny and Washington Co areas of PA did threaten their youngsters with the punishment of having to go to Morganza. I wonder how many children were scared straight....
Morganza. Just the name of this reform school is enough to send chills down the spine of the local residents. While I am unaware of any of my family members being sent there "for their own good," I am fascinated by it. I can't imagine the horrors that happened there and my heart aches for the lost youth of the time.
Morganza was first incorporated as the House of Refuge in 1850 in Pittsburgh. Youth were sent there for various reasons, but there was no need for any conviction of a crime. Apparently, testimony from a distraught witness was enough for the "sentence" of going there to be reformed. How many poor children went there? How many parents sent their child there if they couldn't put food in their mouths? I imagine it's enough to break your heart.
As the House of Refuge grew, it was decided to purchase land and get the youngsters away from the city. Perhaps farming would be encouraged. Land was purchased from Wesley GREER (a kinsman of mine thru marriage) and plans were made, and buildings were built.
According to a 2007 email from a great grandson of Wesley, the land was purchased from the MORGAN family. The claim to fame for the MORGAN family is Aaron BURR stopped at the farm and spoke of his intent to overthrow the government.
I first became aware of Morganza as I traveled from Pittsburgh down to Washington Co as I was researching my roots. I saw the building as we drove down the road and asked many questions about it. Most of the responses seemed to begin with a heavy sigh.
As many readers are aware, a group of volunteers has been painstakingly going through old Pittsburgh newspapers to find marriages and deaths. While involved in this work, one volunteer contacted me to say she had found many mentions of Morganza in old newspapers. This sparked my interest as I recalled driving by the old buildings which haunted my memory for months.
We started actively looking for mentions of Morganza or of those associated with the institution in the newspapers and then we decided to add the census information we could find. All of this information can be found on our Pittsburgh Old Newspaper Project Updates.
Ahh, genealogy. Some of our past breaks our hearts, one name at a time.
Sources:
Herron, James T, Morganza, Jefferson College Times, Vol XLI, No 1, March 2008.
Photo by P. Thomas
©AS Eldredge 2012
Monday, May 07, 2012
Living in the Past in Pittsburgh
Another new project is coming up soon and will be available for all you genealogy buffs to view. It will take some time, but I suspect that my handy dandy volunteer-friend and I will be hot on the trail to get the info up as soon as possible.
While waiting for this new index which was transcribed a number of years ago by another volunteer, who would like to see his work online for all, take the time to check out what has been accomplished to date on the Pittsburgh Old Newspaper Project.
In addition to the marriage, death, and divorce indexes, there are also some World War I articles, a newspaper account of Co. E from the Pittsburgh area during the Civil War aka the Recent Unpleasantness, and any names located from the House of Refuge aka Morganza.
In the snippets corner, links to published Washington County 1895 property owners, early marriages, Morganza history, death dates from the PA Dept of Health, military personnel links, and more can be searched for those elusive kin.
Our area on old World War I articles is also slated to be updated before Memorial Day.
So, grab a cup of your favorite cruising beverage, grab your pen and paper, and drop on in to see if your genealogy past can be brought up for the future.
Oh, and a hint about the project--- it's on the Civil War and searching for PA units.
©2012 AS Eldredge
While waiting for this new index which was transcribed a number of years ago by another volunteer, who would like to see his work online for all, take the time to check out what has been accomplished to date on the Pittsburgh Old Newspaper Project.
In addition to the marriage, death, and divorce indexes, there are also some World War I articles, a newspaper account of Co. E from the Pittsburgh area during the Civil War aka the Recent Unpleasantness, and any names located from the House of Refuge aka Morganza.
In the snippets corner, links to published Washington County 1895 property owners, early marriages, Morganza history, death dates from the PA Dept of Health, military personnel links, and more can be searched for those elusive kin.
Our area on old World War I articles is also slated to be updated before Memorial Day.
So, grab a cup of your favorite cruising beverage, grab your pen and paper, and drop on in to see if your genealogy past can be brought up for the future.
Oh, and a hint about the project--- it's on the Civil War and searching for PA units.
©2012 AS Eldredge
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Wordless Wednesday: On Living and Dying in Old Pittsburgh Area
Two years and folks are still dying to get in the index!
My favorite brainchild genealogy project recently celebrated its 2nd anniversary as the volunteers from our Allegheny County Rootsweb mail list are still feverishly working to index the deaths, marriages and divorces from old Pittsburgh area newspapers. I've wondered just how many bottles of Visine we have purchased since then?
The wonderful volunteers deserve a huge pat on the back as over 85,000 death entries and over 24,000 marriages have been indexed and placed online for all to dig through.
During the last two years, our adventures have expanded to include a World War I military personnel index which has over 73,000 entries. Also added was a great 1893 article on the boys of Co. E from the "Recent Unpleasantness" that some of my readers might call the Civil War.
In addition, we've added a number of articles on World War I which provide an everyday look in to the lives of wartime Pittsburgh men and women as they served overseas during the 1918-1919 timeframe.
And just to really make you fall on your knees and pray for those children who were sent to the House of Refuge which later became Morganza, we've been searching for articles on the institution and for as many names as we can locate and placing it online. Some of the tales are just so heart wrenching.
Check out all we've done here: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~paallent/index.html
You can also find the indexes here: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm
Note while the date of last update reflected on the main index page is November 2011, the individual updates were last completed in mid February 2012.
Ahh, genealogy. What great volunteers there are to make old news "new" for us and to render genealogy buffs "wordless" in appreciation.
©2012 AS Eldredge
My favorite brainchild genealogy project recently celebrated its 2nd anniversary as the volunteers from our Allegheny County Rootsweb mail list are still feverishly working to index the deaths, marriages and divorces from old Pittsburgh area newspapers. I've wondered just how many bottles of Visine we have purchased since then?
The wonderful volunteers deserve a huge pat on the back as over 85,000 death entries and over 24,000 marriages have been indexed and placed online for all to dig through.
During the last two years, our adventures have expanded to include a World War I military personnel index which has over 73,000 entries. Also added was a great 1893 article on the boys of Co. E from the "Recent Unpleasantness" that some of my readers might call the Civil War.
In addition, we've added a number of articles on World War I which provide an everyday look in to the lives of wartime Pittsburgh men and women as they served overseas during the 1918-1919 timeframe.
And just to really make you fall on your knees and pray for those children who were sent to the House of Refuge which later became Morganza, we've been searching for articles on the institution and for as many names as we can locate and placing it online. Some of the tales are just so heart wrenching.
Check out all we've done here: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~paallent/index.html
You can also find the indexes here: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm
Note while the date of last update reflected on the main index page is November 2011, the individual updates were last completed in mid February 2012.
Ahh, genealogy. What great volunteers there are to make old news "new" for us and to render genealogy buffs "wordless" in appreciation.
©2012 AS Eldredge
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