Travel Tuesday: A Trip for Good Health

When I first received my paternal grandfather's birth certificate, I was a bit disappointed that it didn't seem to point me in any new directions. The only new information it provided me were the ages of his parents at the time of his birth. This information has actually proven to be quite valuable. I wrote about some of the more unsavory information I discovered on my great grandfather. Fortunately, my great grandmother does have some appearances in the paper that are not for arrests!

Myrtle Park was born 12/16/1906, to parents Fredrick Park and Fannie (Nethery) Park¹. Her mother's maiden name helped me pinpoint the family further, as Myrtle had a younger brother named Nethery (Ned). As soon as I found the basic info on the family, I headed for one of my favorite resources, the Delco Newspaper Archives, and started plugging in some names. As usual, the Chester Times has not let me down.

May 29, 1913²

On May 28, 1913, Mrs. Fannie Park left Chester with her oldest daughter, Myrtle. The pair were bound for Colorado, planning to stay several months with family who owned a ranch near Denver. The article mentions Mrs. Park's poor health, and states that the trip is planned in hopes of improving her health². Although cars were being mass produced by this time, many women of the era did not learn how to drive. It's likely that the mother and daughter traveled by passenger train.

June 16, 1913³

Unfortunately, the trip did not do much to improve Fannie's health. Just a little over two weeks later, on June 16, 1913, the Chester Times reported that Fannie's husband Fred, had been informed of her passing³. I'm sure this 'woman of genial disposition' was greatly mourned, but my first thought when reading this was for her daughter. Myrtle was just six years old at the time of her mother's passing. Left with an aunt and uncle she'd probably never met before, so far from her own family, how did she cope? I wonder how Myrtle made it back to Pennsylvania. Perhaps her aunt was able to accompany her. Her father could also have gone to retrieve her, as his own mother was still alive and well, and she could have stayed with the family's other children. In either case, how terrible it must have been for her.

On a brighter note, did you know that there are official rail guides that you can check out, if you want to map the exact route your ancestors may have taken? I spent a little time looking at the 1910 guide. Very cool.
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¹Myrtle Park, Birth Registration 139176 (16 Dec 1906); “Pennsylvania Birth Index, 1906,” digital image, Pennsylvania Department of Health (http://www.health.state.pa.us/indices/1906%20Birth.htm : accessed 03 Feb 2013).
²"Personal Mention," Chester Times, 29 May 1913, p. 8.
³"Died In The West," Chester Times, 16 Jun 1913, p. 1.

Goals for the upcoming week!

I have a friend who loves to make lists. She has so many lists that she has a master list of her lists. I'm going to take a page out of her book and start some lists of my own this week. I'm floundering a bit lately, looking at my tree and picking a person, searching for information, occasionally adding citations... I need to get organized. So, with this in mind, this will be my 'To Do' list for the upcoming week:

1. Review maternal grandfather's information in FTM, create list of blanks I need him to fill in.

2. Review Great Grandmom Sellers's entry, add/reformat citations for all facts.

3. Send a follow-up email regarding the records from the Church Home for Children, where my great grandmother was raised.

4. Call the Radisson, formerly the Warwick Hotel, to inquire about the existence of employment records (Frederick Gledhill, second great grandfather).

5. Review Great Grandfather Gledhill's entry, add/reformat citations for all facts.

6. Review maternal grandmother's information in FTM, create list of blanks I need her to fill in.

7. Call maternal grandfather on Friday to discuss questions.

8. Make list of records to be ordered, prioritized.

9. Research cemeteries in my area, find one to adopt.

10. Add sources to completed blog entries.

This should keep me relatively busy! Good thing I'm off from work on Friday.

Workday Wednesday: The Warwick Hotel

My second great grandfather, Frederick Gledhill, was born in 1882¹. He was a lifetime Philadelphian, and unfortunately lost his wife, Elizabeth, during the birth of their youngest daughter². Throughout the decades, I've been able to trace Fred's employment via census records and draft registrations. He worked a variety of jobs, from 1900 where he is listed as a teamster³, to chauffering¹, landscape gardening⁴, and finally working in a hotel⁵.

The 1940 census found Fred living with his son (also named Fred), and his occupation is listed as "houseman" in a hotel. When Fred registered for the draft two years later, he provided further information on his employment. His employer is listed as The Warwick Hotel⁶.

Warwick Hotel Postcard, 1940s

It's really exciting to be able to see the exact location where my ancestor worked. The facade has not changed much since the hotel was built, and thankfully there are old photos and postcards of the Warwick still floating around. A little piece of my personal history found on the Register of Historic Places!
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¹World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005, entry for Fred Gledhill, citing original record Registration Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1907766, Draft Board: 42.
²Richard J. Gledhill, Sr., Barbara Gledhill-Begg, and Stacy McConnell. Oral interview, 12 October 2012, by Stacy McConnell at Richard's home in Secane, Pennsylvania. DVD recording in the possession of Stacy McConnell, Azusa, California.
³1900 U.S. census, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, 30th Ward, enumeration district (ED) 772, sheet 9, dwelling 175, family 179, Fred Gledhill household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http:www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm 1241472, roll 1472.
⁴1930 U.S. census, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, 40th Ward, enumeration district (ED) 51-240, sheet 17A, dwelling 174, family 186, Fred J. Gledhill household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http:www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm 2341865, roll 2131.
⁵1940 U.S. census, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, 40th Ward, enumeration district (ED) 51-1633, sheet 9A, dwelling 129, Frederick J. Gledhill, Jr. household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http:www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives and Records Administration, microfilm roll Roll: T627_3737.
⁶World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010, entry for Frederick Joseph Gledhill, citing original record Registration Location: Pennsylvania; Microfilm Series: M1951; Microfilm Roll: 111.

Some good luck in the graveyard

I took a trip home to Pennsylvania last month (and got trapped by Hurricane Sandy!). My extended stay was the perfect opportunity for my mom and I to go on the hunt for some family graves.

Earlier in the month, my mom had gifted to me a genealogy treasure--a battered metal box containing the Mass cards, flower list, and guest book from my great grandfather's funeral. Finding any information about this particular branch of the family tree is rare. The oldest living person is my maternal grandmother, who seems neither interested in, nor particularly knowledgeable about, our family history. This funeral box was from her father, Martin Hannigan's, funeral. It also contained the deed to the burial plot, and dates of interment for both of Martin's parents¹. Jackpot.

Armed with the knowledge that these three family members were buried together at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Cheltenham, PA, I told Mom we were going visiting. (Sidebar--how the hell do you say Sepulchre? I have no idea, so I'm going with Holy Sep, as the cemetery staff referred to it). This cemetery is still in use, and the woman working in the office was kind enough to copy the information on our family for us.

This is the headstone for my second great grandmother, Mary Gilbride Hannigan. Her husband, John, and son, Martin, are buried in this plot along with her. Martin evidently chose not to have his father's name added to the tombstone. My grandmother did not add Martin's name either, for reasons unknown to me. She speaks very highly of her father, and he died unfortunately young. Graves without headstones are incredibly sad to me. We have quite a few in our family. I am thinking perhaps I will add Martin's name to the stone. I would like him to be properly remembered.
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¹Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Cheltenham, PA, Burial record (1961), Martin Hannigan.