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 Three Generations of Conklin Family in Tecumseh c. 1921
Back: Virginia Irene, Viva Amelia (Howell), Myron,
Eliza Virginia (Webster),  Gertrude (Howell), Viva Gretel (Conklin) Collins
Front: Georgianna, Stuart Erwin, Jack Webster,
Herbert Roy, and Ellsworth Collins (MyHeritage Enhanced)

 Jim and I laugh that we are never very far from where his ancestors have lived…and we didn’t know it before moving there! It started when we were first married and spent our summers at Sand Lake in Lenawee County, Michigan, just along M-50 from Tecumseh. Jim didn’t have the opportunity to know his maternal grandparents, as they both passed away before Jim was born and since he grew up on the west side of the state they didn’t visit the cemetery plots for them. 

Some Connections in MI

One day Jim was talking with his mother when she said, “Well, you know, your grandparents are buried not too far from you in Tecumseh.” Nope, he didn’t know. That kicked off my investigation of the Conklin family in Tecumseh which led to the Webster, Howell, Wheeler, Spofford, and Remington families all who settled in Lenawee County in the 1830’s and were prominent (mostly farming) families in Macon, Ridgeway, and Tecumseh. I recently found while visiting the Mid-West Genealogy Center in Independence, Missouri, a wonderful collection of transcribed Plat Map books which identified the original land granted/purchased by each of Jim’s ancestors in the 1830s! Here’s an example from James L. Remington with a drawing of him I’ve shown before. I don’t think that I’ve shared the resource for finding the original Bureau of Land Management’s General Land Office Records, so I’m sharing the US Department of the Interior BLM Land Patents search page.

Some Connections in PA

But that was over 30 years ago. We have now lived in central PA for over 20 years and we keep finding connections to Jim’s family here, too. One of our earliest discoveries was learning about Pealertown, Asbury, and Orangeville, where there was a church with stained glass windows in honor of Russel Ralph Pealer’s parents (the GAR member of the previous blog). You can see our kids who have been dragged along on this journey (and more cemeteries than they can count!)

Asbury Church in Orangeville, PA

Our daughters in front of the window dedicated
to their 4xgreat-grandparents!

Since I have become Jim’s family’s family historian too and we are the joyful recipients of boxes of photos and paperwork from both

John Harold Breyfogle &
Elizabeth Santee Homestead
Nescopeck, PA c. 1900
(MyHeritage AI Enhanced)

sides. About 12 years ago, we were given boxes of family things from Jim’s aunt. In it I came across a photo of Jacob William Breyfogle as a little boy. I knew by that time that the Breyfogle’s came from the Nescopeck, PA area (about 30 minutes from where we live now) and had a farm there (see photo of John Harold Breyfogle 1835-1910 and wife Elizabeth Santee 1842-1913), but the photo of little Jacob was taken at the McMahan & Irland photography studio in Danville (just across the river from where we live now!). What a funny coincidence!

Jacob William Breyfogle
c. 1871 (MyHeritage AI)

McMahan & Irland
Danville, PA

Traveling Back Home

Last week’s blog started with an investigation of the Gettysburg Glass matchstick holder that Russel Ralph Pealer must have picked up that Jim brought back from his parents house. As I have been continuing to look through the boxes of items, I came across something else a little closer to our home now!

When Russel Ralph Pealer traveled, he apparently kept his wife up to date with where he was through the US Mail. I found numerous letters on wonderful stationary of the hotels and locations where he visited. When I came across this envelope and letter, I was thrilled. 

On September 18, 1892, Jim’s great-great-grandfather stayed at the Neff House, which was a hotel in Sunbury, PA.  Unfortunately, this hotel no longer stands, it appears that it fell into disrepair in the 1980’s but it started its life as the Washington House in 1790 and renovated twice over the course of its life. (If you are familiar with Sunbury, it was at the corner of 2nd & Market across from the Court House--now where a Bank and Weis Market are.)

It’s not easy to read his penmanship, so I will transcribe a bit here:

“Dear Wife,

I am well and had a good night rest. I am going to Danville this morning-....” 

Danville?! How fun! He doesn’t say if he is visiting someone or what he is doing there, but his sister Matilda Pealer Price is living in Danville at the time and his father is still alive although appears to be living in Fishing Creek.

Jim and I were both born and raised in Michigan and although we’ve lived in PA for more than 20 years, we still consider ourselves Michiganders…but it appears Jim’s ancestors and all of their connections (and belongings) are finding their way closer to home and taking us with them.

Glass, Gettysburg, and the GAR!

 My husband and I are in the time of our lives where our parents are downsizing and simplifying their lives, which means we (as natural preservers of family history) are acquiring more memorabilia (I know, right at the time in which I’m trying to sift through our own things!).

Russel Ralph Pealer
GAR Uniform

This week, Jim brought back to PA a curiosity from his father’s collection, something that we are fairly certain came from Jim’s father’s grandfather, Russel Ralph Pealer (Jim’s middle name comes from this amazing man). 

I had never before seen this glass bowl, it wasn’t something prominently displayed in their home, instead it had been relocated to the cluttered basement office Jim’s father kept. It’s a curiosity and like the silver in my last post, this took me down a rabbit hole into the world of Glass, Gettysburg, and the GAR!

Glass

I found this glass piece curious, since it plainly says “Gettysburg, 1863” and “Souvenir of”, it is suggestive of a souvenir that someone would have picked up from Gettysburg commemorating the battle of Gettysburg July 1-3, 1863. It didn’t look old enough to be from 1863 and it was clearly something to commemorate the battle long afterwards. So, how old is it actually and how did it come by being a souvenir in Jim’s father’s family? I am reminded how lucky we are to be living in the age of the internet and at my fingertips I could start to explore.

Did you know that there is an Early American Patterned Glass (EAPG) Society? Nope, neither did I! I guess I should have learned from my investigation into my great-grandmother’s Irises (Flowers are Forever!), that there is a society for nearly everything! 

As I was searching (using Google Lens) for an image or information about this little souvenir, I came across this nearly identical glass piece, the only difference was the location for where the souvenir is acquired.  Clearly, the company that made this mass marketed piece would just gold foil different names onto the pots for sale at various tourist attractions. I started seeing “EAPG” on all sorts of websites describing various glass pieces and learned that EAPG stood for Early American Patterned Glass and they have a society with an absolutely AMAZING website that catalogues all different companies and patterns of glass.

Although I didn’t find the “exact” glass, it is pretty darn close to the United States Glass Company’s match/toothpick holder pressed glass “Colorado” collection. I am fairly certain that this was produced by the US Glass Co around 1913, which would have been the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Gettysburg

Many people know that Gettysburg was an important war during the Civil War. I have mentioned before in an earlier blog last Memorial Day, that both Jim and I had great-great-grandfathers who bravely served in the Civil War and I shared about the records I found in the National Archives. Both ancestors also bravely fought in the Battle at Gettysburg. Jim’s ancestor, Russel Ralph Pealer, was in the 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Their regiment joined the 3rd day of the battle on July 3. The monument to the 16th PA Calvary was erected in 1884.

Lynn’s ancestor, Henry Clay Stoddard, was a member of the 24th Michigan which was part of the Iron Brigade and arrived to Gettysburg July 1 and fought for the 3 days. The 24th Michigan lost 397 out of 496 soldiers, an 80% casualty rate in this battle, second only to the 1st Minnesota who suffered a 82% casualty rate. In 1889, the surviving members congregated for the installation of a monument at Gettysburg in 1889. I believe my great-great-grandfather attended this, but I couldn’t pick him out of the photo. He died in 1909, so he would not have attended the 50th Anniversary in 1913.

GAR (Grand Army of the Republic)

Henry Clay Stoddard

Both of our ancestors were proud members of the GAR in Michigan. "The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, and grew to include hundreds of "posts" (local community units) across the North and West. It was dissolved in 1956 at the death of its last member, Albert Woolson."(1) Henry Clay Stoddard was a member of the Steedman Post, No. 198 in Reed City, Michigan and served in many leadership positions within the local Post. Russel Ralph Pealer, was a very active member in his local post (Prutzman Post No. 72, Three Rivers, MI) and also state organization and even served as the Statewide “Department Commander”, the highest position in the state in 1899. Here is a photo of his recommendation for election to the position and GAR medals from when he served as a representative to the national reunion encampments.

GAR Medals from 1901-1917
from various encampments.

Although I found no proof that R. R. Pealer went to Gettysburg in 1913 for the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, I think it is a pretty safe bet that he was one of the 43,000 people who traveled to Gettysburg for that commemoration and probably picked up the little glass trinket along the way.

Silver, Spoons, & Souvenirs

Dad, Mom, and Me traveling with 
our station wagon in the background.

 Souvenirs

When I was a little girl, my parents loved to take my sister and I traveling. We usually drove to our vacation destinations using our trusty Chevy station wagon with the fake wood paneling sides (there was more than one!). This was the time before seatbelt laws and if we were traveling late at night (or through the night!) the back seat folded down and we could unroll our sleeping bags and sleep prone in the back. It was also before air conditioning, but the windows rolled down (using our arm muscles to rotate the knob) all the way flush with the door to give us plenty of wind!! 

Souvenir shops were a big thing and you could buy pencil cases or t-shirts, things that won’t really last the test of time. I’m not exactly sure who gave my mom the idea, but for each place–mostly states, but some cities–she encouraged me to buy a spoon as my souvenir. I collected them well into my 30’s and filled two huge spoonracks which later included countries and European cities.  I don’t display them anymore, but I still own them. There are a few special and really interesting ones, but most of them are still pretty cheap souvenirs. 

Spoons

A friend of mine shared with me that she has started taking 10-15 minutes each day to purge 3 things from her house. She goes to a drawer or cabinet everyday and finds at least 3 things to donate or toss. That sounded like a great idea to me and while I will not commit to doing this everyday, I’m happy to do it on the weekends. One weekend a couple weeks ago, I chose a cabinet in our built-in china cabinet. I quickly and easily found 3 items to donate and toss, to be honest I found lots more than 3!! 

I did also find a bag of silver trinkets that had been passed down to me from my grandmother through my mom. What a find, and what fun I had!! The internet is an incredible resource and it was well used that day as I was tracking down companies, dates, and patterns. There were some unique items, like my grandmother’s Japanese Sterling Silver 950 Demitasse Bamboo Spoons Set. I don’t know for certain, but I’m going to guess that these were purchased in the 1950’s when my grandfather was stationed in Japan and my grandmother and mother were with him. My grandmother talked about the entertaining she would do (usually with the military families) and how far the American dollar went in Japan at that time. 

The real fun for me  began when I came across….my great-grandmother’s (Florence Stoddard Leach) souvenir spoon collection!  (Note: This 15 minute task became an 8-hour funfest, the real reason why I’m not going to commit to this everyday!) I remembered seeing, years ago, a silver spoon engraved with “Flossie” (her nickname) and 1901. You might remember from an earlier post about the Buffalo Pan-American World’s Fair, that my great-grandmother graduated from Reed City High school in 1901, so I imagine this was to commemorate that occasion. 

Reed City High School c. 1900

What I didn’t remember is the approximately dozen other silver spoons from different places and times in her life. I’m not done cataloging and researching all of them, but in the process I’ve learned a few things that might be helpful to others with their silver identification.

Silver

Fish slicer

My great-grandmother, Florence, was born in 1882, so I imagined that most of the spoons were collected or given to her early in life. Her husband died in 1919 and I can believe that her traveling days with two young children were over and resources a little slimmer. This does still create a 40 year window to date them. Unlike my souvenir spoons, these were all sterling silver!

I found an incredibly robust website that was helpful because not only does it provide a catalogue of companies and their histories but also images of many of their maker’s marks. Quite honestly, anything that was ever made from silver from most countries in the world can be found here, including flatware patterns, egg boilers/coddlers, fish slicer, tankard (became a beer mug), waste bowls, and, yep, even nipple shields!  (I will leave that last one for you to look up, or just imagine.)

(Some examples of maker's marks).

It was fun to search the images and look for which company produced which spoons to help date them. Here’s one from Saginaw Michigan. It is identified as having been produced by the Alvin Co, using the silver marking emblem. Created as Alvin Mfg. Co. in Invington in 1886. Moved to Long Island NJ in 1895. Name changed in Alvin Silver Co. in 1919. Now a division of Gorham Corporation. 

One, which is from Buffalo, NY was not an official Pan-American souvenir spoons, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t purchased at that time in Buffalo.

And this one from Toronto. I’m thinking this one might be from their honeymoon in which they spent 6 weeks traveling to New York City and probably went through Canada on the way.

Or this one, was engraved with “L” for Leach in 1907 on a Reed & Barton sterling silver Parisienne pattern spoon. They were married in 1905 and had their first child, Virginia, in 1906 who died in 1908. I have no idea the significance of the date.

Or this one, which is haunting me because I have no idea what it could mean. It says “Ireland” and also “1000 Islands”. I don’t see how they are related, but I’m pretty sure that this was during their honeymoon that they stopped to the 1000 Islands! I’m fairly certain that they were still British islands and maybe there was an island named Ireland? The Islands were a popular tourist attraction in the Victorian era and has inspired me to plan a trip for my husband and I this summer to see 2 of the castles still on the islands.

But the most fun one was this spoon. Not so much because the spoon is beautiful, but because I have discerned where it was from. At first glance, I saw “mining” and assumed it was another spoon from the Michigan College of Mines, where my great-grandfather attended. But on closer inspection, I found that it was labeled “Mines & Mining Building”. I learned from my research on the Pan-American World Fair that a mines & mining building was a common feature at a World’s Fair. So, was this a spoon from the 1901 Buffalo Pan-American World Fair? After much research and searching, no!! It is from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair!! I have no idea who went to that World Fair or how this spoon came to be in Florence’s collection, but maybe it was what sparked her curiosity in the World Fairs? 

Mines & Mining 
Building at the 1893 Chicago World Fair

Depiction of the Mines & Mining Building

This provided me with a day's worth of fun and learning about the history of silver, spoons, and souvenirs! Investigating the history of the spoons and my great-grandmother's collection is providing a glimpse into her travels and her life around the turn of the last century!!! I guess if I can't have photos to chronicle her life, souvenir spoons isn't such a bad substitute.