Tuesday's Tip: Public Tax Returns for Pittsburgh

It's just something you don't see everyday.  Local newspapers printing up the tax returns for your neighbors.  Just in case you've just broken out in a sweat, go on and wipe off your brow.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette published the 1864 Tax Returns for several of its districts.  While some of us may cry out in fear of the newspapers stance that the desire to review tax returns is universal in the neighborhood, we genealogy buffs jump in joy.

These 1864 returns are just another tool to use in our quest for documenting the location of our beloved ancestors, and, in some cases, documenting they were still alive.

So, go on and take a look.  Who knows what you may discover.  How much your family paid in taxes or how little their neighbors did.

These lists can be found on our Pittsburgh Old Newspaper Project:  http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~paallent/index.html

Ahh, genealogy.  The tax man came and the newspaper let everyone know.  Wonder if that would go over well today?  Hmmmmmmmm......


©AS Eldredge 2013

Friend of Friends Friday: Pittsburgh Folks Just Keep Dying to Get In

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

Wordless Wednesday: 1931 Holocaust in Pittsburgh

History teaches us many lessons as we seek to learn of the past.  Some lessons are terrifying while other lessons demonstrate the heroic deeds of mankind.  We all remember the details of the Holocaust that so many suffered under the dictator hands of Hitler.  What about events that were given the description of Holocaust by those who lived through them?

One such example is the 1931 six alarm fire at the Little Sisters of the Poor Home in Pittsburgh.  Many newspaper articles referred to the event as a holocaust.  It must have been terrifying to witness the fire and the helpless infirm patients and inmates of the home.  The rescue efforts mounted by the firemen, policemen, and general public should be remembered.

Sample excerpts:

"... Carried down by ladders by firemen, after she became weak and overcome by smoke, Mrs. Margaret Kline, 80, told her rescuers after resuscitation, that she was hemmed in by smoke and flame and "prayed that God would take her away."

Miss Veronia Stein, 64, also one of the rescued, said that when she was taken down the ladders she told firemen that Mary Henley, 75 and Mary Jacobs, 75, both crippled, and paralyzed, were lying behind a door, unable to help themselves.  When firemen returned and tried to enter the same window from which Miss Stein had been saved, they found their ladders burned, and fire pouring from the window...."

"... Mrs. Sarah Carlson, 65, first spread the alarm to the aged group, three of whom were crippled or paralyzed.  Then she started for the men's quarters in another part of the building to make sure that her husband, Dan, was saved.  Her friends last night did not know whether or not she reached safety.

As the five aged who were able to walk began helping Bridget Dooley, Margaret Henry and Bridget Reardon to safety, the three invalids cried in unison:  "No! No! Help Mama."  "Mama" is an aged and paralyzed woman in the next room, beloved by all the inmates...."

"... Men seemed to try to outdo each other in their efforts to save the aged and infirm from the smoke and flames.  Trapped inmates were carried down ladders by firemen, and volunteers and one aged woman, unconscious, was lowered to the ground from the third floor by a rope tied around her waist.

Firemen and policemen, live Lavery, off duty, rushed to the fire, working in civilian clothes in which they had been enjoying an evening's rest to battle the flames.  Brawny bluecoats worked with the doctors to aid the stricken victims of smoke as they waited for the arrival of the clanging ambulances in the shadow of the flames that had turned a quiet haven for the aged into a roaring inferno.

Men and boys living in the vicinity of the home, were the real heroes of the catastrophe, veteran policemen and firemen, who had attended most the city's big fires in recent years, said last night.

"This is certainly the worst fire I've ever seen," Lavery said..."

Take time to read some of the stories on our Old Pittsburgh Newspaper Project.  Along with details of the fire and rescue efforts are the names of the wounded and dead.

Ahh, genealogy.  Tis a great day to thank those first responders for their heroic efforts to protect others in times of need.  Thanks.

©2013 AS Eldredge

Those Places Thursday: Going Crazy Just to Smoke

Ever heard of the smoker? Today, most visions when the word smoker is uttered include someone with a cigarette hanging out of their mouth.  Typically, this brand of smoker is found lounging around the approved smoking section outside the doors of many buildings.

Read the words from 1931 Pittsburgh and weep for the old men who went "gas crazy" just to catch a smoke in their approved smoking site at the Poor House.

..... I had heard of the "smoker" while I was still in the observation ward of the hospital.  An old Negro had come over from the home for a few days' treatment of a boil on his neck.  He regarded the boil as a not unmixed evil, since it gave him a few days of uninterrupted rest and food considerable better than that he was accustomed to in the home.  He was talking about the old men over at the home.

"Those old fellows oveh theah all crazy," he informed me. "They all gone gas crazy."

"Gas crazy," I demanded, immediately thinking of gas victims of the war.  "Those men were all too old to serve in the army.  They can't be gas crazy."

"Oh, they's gas crazy all right.  They sits theah all day drinkin' in that gas in the smokah till they gits jes as crazy as bedbugs."

Hot and Stifling

He failed to make me understand just what he was talking about but assured me:

"You goin' oveh to the Home, yeh say.  You'll find out about the gas, Jes' wait."

I did.

The first place I made for when I was transferred to the home was the "smoker."  It is a great, barn-like room, filthy dirty with rows of benches.  More than a hundred old men were sitting and standing about the great room.  Here these old pensioners on a great city's bounty can smoke.

At one end of the room is the biggest stove I ever say.  It must be done duty in its time as a giant kitchen range.  That's the only purpose I can conceive anyone might have for building such a monstrosity.  It must be all of 10 feet square with an iron top.  Underneath this top, great gas jets roar.   Flames leap out through big cracks and holes in the shattered top.

The Home - Rockview

It provides heat.  It also fills the great room with stifling fumes of unburned gas until the air is thick and foul.  I could stand it only a few minutes.  But these old men are used to it.  All day long some of them sit there, smoking in silence and hopelessness, breathing in the noisome deadly fumes......

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.....Together we walked through the corridors and saw the broken men draped along the pipe, the blind, the halt, and the maimed.  We ate the scanty dinner.  We breathed the fumes of the "smoker" for a moment and then escaped to the keen, wintry air outside with a gasp.

He turned to me, on his face the most devastating despair I have ever seen - and I have seen men go to their death on the gallows - and he said slowly:

"Well - here we will live.  What do you think?"....

What do you think of the smoker written about in 1931 Pittsburgh?  Tis enough to drive one crazy.  At the least, many old pensioners were allegedly crazy after they smoked in the approved smoking site of the City Home at Mayview. 

This entire story, along with 74 other historic articles, can be read on the old Pittsburgh Newspaper Project site.  But beware, reading some of these stories will break your heart.

Ahhh, genealogy.  Another day has passed in to the history books.  I wonder what future generations will think of our stories from today. 

©2013 AS Eldredge

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

Friends of Friends Friday: Flocking to Feed the Poor in 1897 at Marshalsea in Pittsburgh

Reading old newspapers can be quite entertaining.  Today, I ran across a great article from December 24, 1897.  The article tells us of the spirit of giving to the poor in Pittsburgh.

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The Pittsburgh Press, Dec. 24, 1897, page 2

AT MARSHALSEA

An Enjoyable Time that is Promised the Unfortunates.

The 710 inmates of the city farm at Marshalsea will not be forgotten by Director George Booth and Supt. George Linderman.  Everything will be done to give them a good time.  Confined in the building are about 43 children.  These little ones on Christmas eve will hang up their stockings to see what Santa Claus will bring them.  The usual Christmas exercises will be held at the home on Christmas eve and the several hundred inmates with two or three hundred others will be ushered into the large chapel in the evening. 

An excellent program has been arranged for with Supt. Linderman as director and Dr. Charles Owens as manager, Miss Agnes M. Wenzel will be pianist of the occasion.  The performance will consist of vocal and instrumental music, with a few recitations.  Following is the program:  Anthem, "O, Little Town of Bethlehem:, chorus: recitation, "Orthodox Team,: Miss Lillian Shade, vocal solo, selected, Miss Louise Loomis; tableau, "Angels' Watch,: Misses Whan, Phillips and Symers; vocal solo, "Queen of the Earth,: Alex. Chas. Owens, M.D.; tableau, "Ten Virgins," Misses McNulty, Sowers, Whan, McDermott, Flanagan, Campbell, Harvey, Trimble, Horner Phillips, vocal duet, "Lover's Quarrel," Miss Emma Fox and Mr. Frank Bell; dialogue, "Mr. and Mrs. Thompson," Misses Lillian and Florence Shade, duet, violin and piano, selected, Howard Arbogast and Miss Wenzel; tableau, "Peak Sisters," Misses Whan, Phillips, Sowers, Symers, Harvey, Horner, McNulty, Flanagan, McDermott, Campbell, Trimble, Patterson and Mrs. S. E. Shade; vocal solo, selected, Miss Louise Loomis; tableau, "A Young Man's Dread," Miss Minnie Sowers, piano solo, selected, Miss Agnes M. Wenzel, duet, "La Chatelain," Misses Lillian and Florence Shade; Christmas carol, chorus.

A real Christmas dinner will be served to the inmates on Christmas day.  It will consist of 1,000 pounds or roast turkey with cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, celery and pickles, bread, butter, tea, coffee, apples, oranges and candy.  Of the 710 inmates of the home and hospitals 380 are insane.  These will be entertained just as well as the more fortunate inmates during the day.  The insane inmates will not be allowed to leave their wards, but they will receive their candy and presents as well as their share of turkey.  The director said that the people living around Marshalsea enjoyed the feast as well as the inmates.  The young women and men flock to the home of Christmas day and act as waiters.

 Seven more articles on the Poor House from old Pittsburgh newspapers have been uploaded for your researching pleasure.  Check it out.

Ahh, genealogy.  Kind of gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling as we Americans continue to assist those in need.  Merry Christmas.

Update: Marshalsea was built in 1893 in Southern Allegheny Co on the old George Neal Farm in/near S. Fayette Twp. It was renamed Pittsburgh City Home and Hospital at Mayview in 1916.

©2012 AS Eldredge

Wordless Wednesday: The Pauper's Secret

Secrets are a part of our lives.  With our ancestors, some secrets certainly include what happened to them.  If our searches of today are successful, evidence can sometimes be found to reveal some of those secrets.

Enjoy the newest addition to our Pittsburgh Past--  the Poor House Articles.  Perhaps a clue to one of your beloved will leave you speechless.

Seven new articles have been uploaded to our Pittsburgh Past, One Page a a Time site.  We have many more waiting in the wings. 

Here is one excerpt from March 1, 1872-
.....The deaths were Hugh McHard, age 60; Mary Dougherty, 68, Cathering Mulholland, 75; Laura Beggs, 5 months; Rachel Johnson, 5 months; Charles Armstrong, 27; Phoebe Franks, 45; Conrad Miller, 40, The causes of death were: apoplexy, 1; old age, 1; whooping cough, 1; consumption, 2; pneumonia, 1; inflammation of the lungs, 1; asthma, 1.....

And another from May 8, 1882-
...Years ago Thomas Mulaney had a happy home, and managed to support his family in a comfortable way. Many pictures in memory of the domestic happiness of those days now cheer the old man in his declining years. Death finally broke up the family circle, taking his wife first and all but two of his children afterward. Then darker days came upon him. Losing his corporal vigor, and the increasing infirmities of old age settling down upon him, he was no longer able to work. One daughter and a son had drifted away to distant points, and he had no knowledge of their whereabouts. At last, when he was on the verge of starvation he was taken charge of by the authorities and sent to the Allegheny Home.
This was about three years since, and he was then about eighty years of age. About a year ago he learned in some manner that his son ....


Check it out.  You'll love finding the secrets of the paupers.

Ahh, genealogy.  The desire to uncover the past keeps on going even as I prepare my heart and home for the holidays. 

©2012 AS Eldredge

Mystery Monday: Another Way Found to Search Your Civil War Kinsmen

The old saying "There's more than one way to skin a cat" takes on new meaning today for researchers who look around Pennsylvania. 

The History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865 by Samuel P Bates has long been a major source for information for genealogy buffs to research their kinsmen who were in the War of the Northern Aggression.  The book is great for looking up the rosters and histories of the units formed in Pennsylvania.

Now, there's another way to search the book.

Recently, a friend asked if I would be interested in taking his compilation of the units formed, where the units were organized by town and county, the length of enrollment time, the date of organization, and the page number of where this information is found in the Bates book.

Having wondered from time to time what units were formed in the general area in which my Pennsylvania kinfolk lived, I thought this information could be of value to others.

The information is live now and can be found on my ongoing Pittsburgh Newspaper Project.  Check it out at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~paallent/ and then click on the PA Volunteers Regiment Location tab.

Ahh, genealogy.  Skinning the cat in genealogy sure can open new lines of thought.  A special thank you to Jerome D for providing the information he gathered and to Lynn B for her rapid fire transcription.

©2012 AS Eldredge

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

Thankful Thursday: Remembering WW1 Thru the Eyes and Words of 1918 Warriors: Thanks Mrs. Schiller

Last May saw the beginning of uploading a series of old newspaper articles from the 1918-1919 time frame which were originally published in Pittsburgh by one of their cracker jack reporters who spent time in France with the troops. These articles were transcribed by my geni-buddy Lynn B. 

Thought you'd enjoy seeing one of the articles as we get ready to honor the women in our lives.  After reading this article, check out the other 50 or so we have found at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~paallent/

You're sure to be needing your hanky, or at the least, an American Flag to salute and a mama to hug!

THE GAZETTE TIMES

Jan. 19, 1919

Charles J. Doyle

Special Correspondent of The Gazette Times in France

NURSING IN FRANCE MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN SOCIETY TO THIS PITTSBURGH WOMAN

Mrs. William Bacon Schiller Works Every Day in Hospital – Many of Her Patients Heroes of Old Eighteenth Who Fell in Terrific Combats.

Paris, Jan. 17. – (Delayed) – Fifteen months of tireless work nursing American doughboys finds one of Pittsburgh’s most prominent women, Mrs. William Bacon Schiller, still smiling at her post in France.  But her labors of mercy are almost finished now, and she is planning to leave for home in a few weeks.

That was and suffering bring out the finest qualities is strikingly shown in the case of Mrs. Schiller.  She is the wife of the president of the National Tube Company, a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation.

About 18 months ago Uncle Sam issued an urgent call for volunteer nurses.  Among the patriotic women and girls who heard and heeded that call was Mrs. Schiller.  Although she always had been accustomed to every comfort that ample means and an assured social position could give, this mother of three fine boys volunteered and was accepted.

Mrs. Schiller knew nothing about nursing when she placed herself at the disposal of her country.  In fact, she knew practically nothing about hospital work.  But all this has been changed, and when I saw her today in her strikingly becoming nurse’s garb, almost engulfed in bandages, dressings and other surgical paraphernalia, it was quite evident that her capability had been developed into splendid harmony with her devotion.

She was busily engaged arranging medicines for the morning round of the hospital as I entered and we had our talk while she worked.  I tried to induce Mrs. Schiller to tell me some of her remarkable experiences during her long term in France, but she evaded any personal touches and insisted on dwelling exclusively on the great work done by others.

Mrs. Schiller, I learned, has been “on the job” for six days a week since she came to France, sometimes seven, but she evidently feels fully repaid by the appreciation shown by the gallant Yankees.  She spoke of having attended a number of Pittsburghers, mostly members of the Eightieth Division.  While she avoids allusions to her own part of the work being done at the hospital, she is ready enough to talk of “the boys.”

A visitor to the hospital who sees Mrs. Schiller as she goes about her work, looking in every way the typical Red Cross nurse, finds it hard to realize that she has a son old enough to be in the service.  This is the case, however, Morgan Schiller being an ensign in the Naval Aviation Corps.  The mother had hopes that her boy would be sent to France and they could enjoy a happy reunion, but he was instead detailed to Seattle.

The hospital where Mrs. Schiller has been giving her time and labor is one of the finest operated by the American Red Cross in France.  It is known as No. 1, and is located about three miles from the center of Paris.  It is an imposing structure, designed to house a magnificent college, but had not been completed when the war started, and the building was turned over to the Red Cross.

While walking along a corridor of the big building I noticed a ward furnished by the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company.  One of the many comfortable cots was donated by Mrs. Henry W. Oliver of Pittsburgh, whose name appears on a neat plate above the bed.  Lying on this cot was a smiling doughboy, Private Harry Seymour, who told me he was a farmer from New York state.  He has been occupying this cot since October 28.  He received a severe shell wound in the leg, but has so far recovered that he is able to walk on crutches.

Although the government changed the designation of the old Eighteenth Regiment, N.G.P., to the One Hundred and Eleventh Infantry, there is a sentiment and pride in the old organization that leads to the use of the old name by the thousands of Pittsburghers over there who have followed the career of the regiment during the past year.  The old Eighteenth say great fighting at a number of critical points, and the importance of the achievements of the Pittsburghers and the whole Twenty-Eighth Division is partly indicated by the long list of heroes who gave their lives in France under the Stars and Stripes and the flags of the Allies.

IN DESPERATE FIGHTS

Among the good people of France, particularly the surviving defenders, the memory of the Pittsburgh fighters will be forever recalled by the names of Chateau Thierry, Fismes, St. Mihiel and the Argonne Forest, all desperate conflicts where the sterling Keystone State guardsmen contended and fell in valorous exploits.  At present the infantry and artillery are divided by hundreds of miles.  The doughboys are, with the division headquarters, billeted near Toul, 200 miles east of Paris, while the artillery, which recently operated in the Belgian sector, has been moved to the area between Paris and the seacoast.

About a month ago the Twenty-eighth Division was ordered into Germany to form part of the army of the occupation.  One regiment was already on its way to Luxemburg when the first orders were countermanded and it was brought back.

Sergt. Allen McCombs, 927 Beech avenue, North Side, Pittsburgh, an athletic youngster who was a member of the old Eighteenth, is a fine specimen of the type of soldiers that constituted the regiment.  Almost fully recovered from a machine gun wound in the leg, Sergt. McCombs and I met in the beautiful Red Cross hospital where, he said, “a man couldn’t be sick if he wanted to and didn’t want to leave when he got well.”

BROUGHT DOWN BY A BULLET

Sergt. McCombs is a graduate of the Scottdale High School, where he played on the football eleven.  After leaving school he took a position with the Pennsylvania Railroad and joined the Eighteenth as soon as he was old enough.  He was leading a platoon of Company I in rushing a nest of machine guns during the terrible fighting in the Argonne woods when he went down with a bullet in his leg.

“But one day’s treatment since I was struck is worth all the hardships we went through,” said the sergeant, who has all sorts of vivid tales of the actions of his division.  When he recovered sufficiently he was given clerical work in the hospital, where he seems to be a prime favorite with patients and nurses.  In the parlance of the doughboys, the handsome soldier “has it pretty soft.”

Private John Danknichy, aged 21, a flaxen-haired Slavish boy of McKees Rocks and Esplen, is another who is manfully upholding the traditions of the old Eighteenth.  He is recovering from a severe machine gun wound in the thigh received near the Aisne River.  It was an exceedingly ugly wound.  When located by the stretcher bearers it was found difficult to get him to a first-aid station, but because of the seriousness of the case they started back through a heavy shell fire.  For a time he lay between life and death, but the wound is now healing and he is able to walk with a cane.  John was an employee of the Pressed Steel Car Company.

Ahh, genealogy.  Here's to you, Mrs. Schiller, and all the other women who have served America and our veterans.  I like to think you were there nursing my grandfather when he was wounded and gassed in France.

©2012 AS Eldredge

Tombstone Tuesday: And They Fought and They Won "Over There"

Just a quick note for you World War I genealogy buffs who have roots in Western PA, with an emphasis on Allegheny County. Yes, the wonderful men of World War I are all gone now and we visit their tombstones.  Perhaps, it's time to read more about what they experienced.

Six more World War I articles which were found in old Pittsburgh area newspapers and transcribed by my geni-friend Lynn have now been uploaded.

Relive the past in the 38 articles which provide a great look in to the 1918-1919 timeframe.  Maybe your past will come alive.  Maybe that special tombstone in your family will take on more meaning. I know mine did as I found my grandfather's name.

And just to keep you panting for more, there will be more articles uploaded in the next few days.

Check it out.

Ahh, genealogy.  "Over there, over there."  Yep, our doughboys went over there and didn't come back until it was over, over there.  Kind of an American tradition, don't ya know.

©2012 AS Eldredge

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

Our Heroes of World War I Remembered Every Day

Veterans Day is upon us.  As we stop and take time to reflect on those wonderful heroes of the past that we call grandpa, cousin, brother, or uncle, be sure to thank the wonderful men and women who place their lives on the line for our freedoms today and everyday.

The Pittsburgh area newspaper project that I have been involved with for almost two years now is still growing.  Just this week, more than 4300 names were added to the death index.  As it has been from the beginning, this is a tremendous resource for those who are searching for our past.  The value to genealogy buffs for Pittsburgh area is priceless.  Of course, some of us want to find even more names on the index.  It's interesting to think about how many people have lived and died in our little area of the world. 

An added feature to this project has been the transcribing of old newspaper articles about the World War I military personnel from the Pittsburgh area.  There are a series of articles describing everyday life in France with our doughboys as one reporter lived and traveled with them over a period of months in the fall of 1918 and through the winter of 1919.

These articles, which appeared in the Pittsburgh Gazette can be read at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~paallent/ .  For those who are interested in their Pittsburgh area roots, one of our awesome volunteers also took the time to index the names of the military personnel that were mentioned in the newspapers.  There are over 73000 names on the list.  Perhaps, you too will be find your loved one's name and the description of the battle in which they were wounded.  Perhaps, you will find tears running down your face as you realize what they went through for you and me.

So, say a prayer today for our military personnel and say a prayer for those brave warriors who believed in our country enough to fight for it and for us.

Ahh, genealogy.  A snapshot of the past has me on my knees praying for our military today.

©2011 AS Eldredge

New for Memorial Day: Relive World War I History Thru 1919 Articles

Last month, my genealogy buddy, Lynn B, sought my opinion on whether she should transcribe some World War I newspaper stories.  She sent a sample and I responded with a resounding "yes."

With the assistance of our favorite Rootsweb Web Files Manager, Ellis Michaels, on the Allegheny County PA GenWeb Archives site, these articles are now available for viewing.

The transcription is taken from the 1919 Pittsburg Press.  The article series is A History of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania Troops in the War written by John V Hanlon.

I will say my world came to a screeching halt as I read about the battles and the events which described how and where my grandfather was wounded and severely gassed.  After I took a few moments to say a prayer of thanks for his service and that of his fallen doughboy comrades, I eagerly read the other chapters.

In reading the 21 chapters, you will undoubtably gain a new appreciation for the sacrifices made by our World War I veterans.  Relive the joy, the pain, the sorrow and the tragedies of the day.

You can find these wonderful articles here: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/military/wpa-ww1/contents.htm

Ahh, genealogy.  Read, weep, and take a moment to say your word of thanks to all our veterans, past and present.

©2011 AS Eldredge

Honoring WWI Pittsburgh Area Veterans

For those of you who follow my genealogy antics, you know I have been the coordinator for a fabulous project in the Pittsburgh area.  A super group of volunteers have banded together to search the old newspapers and pull out the death, marriage, divorce and photos found within.  These entries have been put into indices which can be checked at no cost online.  

Our last death index had over 73000 entries!  This has been accomplished in about 15 months and still the labor of love of history keeps on ticking!  We update the these lists on a regular basis, so there is always a reason to check the lists every month or so.  You  just never know when you will be jumping for joy!

On another note, last December, one of the volunteers, Lynn Beatty, approached me with the idea of pulling the World War I veterans names from the newspapers.  My first thought was this would be so grand since so many of the World War I veterans information has been lost due to fire.  

Since then, Lynn has singlehandedly indexed 85133 entries for the military index.  My buddy, Ellis, graciously added the index to our Allegheny County Death Index page.  Norm even set up a page for our beloved veterans which will take you to the link for the date the name was seen in the newspaper.

So grab a cup of joe and take some time looking at the stories, the happy reunions, the letters, and shed a tear for those who gave their lives for our wonderful country.

Military Service Index:  http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Enjm1/11AC-WWI-Military-Service.html

Death Index:  http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm

Ahh, genealogy. Listen to your heartbeat when your beloved's name is found.

©2011 AS Eldredge

Eek! She's a "Common Scold"!

Sometimes, reading an old newspaper can bring out the giggles.  This morning, this article about a legal case in the 1869 court system really caught my eye.  After reading it, I wonder who this outspoken woman was.  I also have to wonder if that law was ever taken off the book in Pennsylvania.

A Common Scold


Michael Sweeny, a tavern keeper on Gibbon Street, in the Sixth Ward, made information before the Mayor a few days since against Mrs. Elizabeth CARREL, alleging that she was a "common scold."  This is a term applied by the common law to women, who from a propensity and disposition to quarrel with and scold their neighbors and families become a nuisance in the neighborhood in which they resided, and was punishable by fine and imprisonment.


The offense has never been embodied in our criminal code on account of the gallantry, perhaps, of those who revises it, and out of the the respect they had for American women, yet, notwithstanding its omission from the "catalogue of offenses", the courts have decided it to be an indictable offence in this State, as will be seen by reference to the case of the Commonwealth vs, Mole, reported in Second Smith.


In this case it appears from the testimony that there is some grounds for complaint on the part of the prosecutor, and if the conduct of the defendant at the Mayor's office is any evidence, the charge is well funded.  She was held to bail for her appearance at court.


Ahh, genealogy.  Guess this woman should have been more meek?  Can you imagine being labeled a "common scold"? Guess the standards have changed somewhat since then!

Source:
The Pittsburgh Gazette, Jan 11, 1869, pg8
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=NKlx0PmyA3cC&dat=18690111&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

©2011 AS Eldredge

Old Pittsburgh Newspaper Marriage and Divorce Indices

The awesome all volunteer group from the Rootsweb Mailing Group that I am associated with has done it again.  We've recently celebrated our one year anniversary for the death index we've been compiling from old newspapers in the Pittsburgh area.  Yep, we've been combing the old newspapers from the last 200 years and the entries just keep on coming.

What would we do without the wonderful volunteers?  (Did I mention these 46 super folks are fantastic in their commitment to the project?)

Just in case you missed it, our little project now has marriage and divorce sections, as well as our new military index with names from World War I.

Latest index numbers for marriages online (and available to all for free- well, maybe an occasional shout out from other researchers):  16,520

Latest index numbers for the divorce:  1083

Latest index numbers for the World War I military personnel index: 37, 324


Click here to go to the pages to see if you will shout for joy in your Pittsburgh area research:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm

Ahh, genealogy.  The old marriages and happy times come alive just in time for Valentine's Day.  After all, we needed them for our generation.

©2011 AS Eldredge

Treasure Chest Thursday: Linking Pittsburgh Area WWI Vets for Today's Family

Even though we've been cold, wet, and sometimes stranded during the raging winter weather, my volunteer research efforts have been roaring on.

The death/marriage/divorce indices that I coordinate for the old Pittsburgh newspapers have given rise to another new index.

It's really cool to announce not only the World War I men of Allegheny County whose names were listed in the local newspaper, but I also get to send kudos to Norm M for setting up a webpage which details the issues of the newspapers that have been indexed by Lynn B.

Go to the site to see some of the over 30,000 hometown military personnel names and activities.  If you've got Pittsburgh area roots from that time period, you may be in for a special treat.  Even if you don't have roots in the area, you can just spend some time reading about World War I.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njm1/11AC-WWI-Military-Service.html

Ahh, genealogy.  What great reading for a winter day.

©2011 AS Eldredge

Easier to Search Old Newspapers from Athens, Georgia

Love seeing how more and more historic newspapers are going online so we can continue our genealogy research from the comforts of our homes when the weather outside is frightful!


Thought you'd be interested in seeing this great news from UGA:


Historic Athens newspapers now available online via digital library

An archive of historic Athens newspapers is now available online via the Digital Library of Georgia at the University of Georgia.

The Athens Historic Newspapers Archive provides online access to five newspaper titles published in Athens from 1827 to 1922. Consisting of more than 57,000 newspaper pages, the archive provides historical images that are both full-text searchable and can be browsed by date. The site provides users with a view into the history of Athens in its early years as the home to the first state-chartered university in the nation and its eventual growth into the largest city in northeast Georgia.

The archive includes the following Athens newspaper titles: Athenian (1827-1832), Southern Banner (1832-1882), Southern Watchman (1855-1882), Daily/Weekly Banner-Watchman (1882-1889), Daily/Weekly Athens Banner (1889-1922).

The Athens Historic Newspapers Archive is a project of the Digital Library of Georgia as part of the Georgia HomePLACE initiative. The project is supported with federal Library Service and Technology Act funds administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. Digitization also was made possible through a grant provided by the Francis Wood Wilson Foundation, Inc. The Athens Historic Newspapers Archive is available at http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/athnewspapers.

Other newspaper archives available through the Digital Library of Georgia include the Atlanta Historic Newspapers Archive (1847-1922), the Macon Telegraph Archive (1826-1908), the Columbus Enquirer Archive (1828-1890), the Milledgeville Historic Newspapers Archive (1808-1920), the Southern Israelite Archive (1929-1986), and the Red and Black Archive (1893-2006). These archives can be accessed at http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/MediaTypes/Newspapers.html

“Georgia HomePLACE is very pleased to support digitizing and presenting online content for the Athens Historic Newspapers Archive, a project of the Digital Library of Georgia, which is an initiative of GALILEO (Georgia’s Virtual Library),” said Ed Johnson, director of Georgia HomePLACE.

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Ahh, genealogy.  What a great way to keep warm on these blustery winter days.

©2011 AS Eldredge

Use Your Imagination to Investigate the Past

We've all heard it. "My family can't be found," or "The census didn't list slaves," or "The courthouse burned."

Well, yes, this can be a real mind blocker. Use your imagination when looking at various resources.  Don't just depend on the census lists.  And, for the sake of all genealogy racing heartbeats, don't grab a name from the census and plop it in your tree just "cause it was the same name."  Like no name has ever been duplicated in history!!!!

Look at everything. 

Examples include:
Wills
Estate Inventories  - (can be great if the estate had owned slaves)
Land Records
Church Records
Cemetery Records
Bibles
Local County Histories
Orphans Court Records
Local Tax Records
Local Historical Societies
Local Genealogy Societies
Probate Court Records
Lawsuits -  (I found a part of one family after I ordered the records about a trial.)
Asylum Records
Old Church Magazines
Journals of old genealogy societies
Newspapers of the era and place of interest  (1888-1899 newspapers are great finds.)
Family History Library


As you look at every source you can find, have an open mind.  Don't be stuck in the "blame game" of genealogy.  Perhaps someone moved away.  Perhaps someone was listed as "chattel."  Perhaps you've looked in all the wrong places.  Perhaps the trail has gone cold.  Keep looking as it may warm back up one day.

My tip of the day:  Be open as you continually search for documentation to support your theories.  Be open to investigate the not-so-readily-available sources.  Be open to traveling to the area of your interest and digging in the old records or hire someone to do it for you. 

Use your imagination to investigate the past.  And use the facts to document your current family trees.

Ahh, genealogy.  It's only as good as the documented research.  Otherwise, it can make a pretty good bed time story for the kids, not to mention the hair pulling of someone who has documented the facts:)


©2010 AS Eldredge