3rd Great-Grandparents?? How many can you name?

When I think of the early 1800s, I know it’s a long time ago but it doesn’t feel like 200 years! This is the time (within a 20 year timeframe) that my 3rd great-grandparents were born. Who were they, when and where did they live and die? Every once in a while, I have time for the Saturday Night Challenge sponsored by Genea-Musings and it is something that I think my readers might be interested in. This week, we were asked to list our 32  3rd great-grandparents with as much information about them that we have. 

Did you know that you have “32” 3rd great-grandparents?! They add up quite quickly when they double each generation! How many of your 3rd great-grandparents can you name? How about your 2nd or even 1st great-grandparents? And do you have any photos of a 3rd great-grandparent, someone born in the early 1800’s and lived until photography was available to the common folk in the 1860’s?

My 3rd Great Grandparents: 

Well, here is the list of 28 of my 32 3rd great-grandparents. I haven’t found 4 of them. The list was generated using the Ahnentafel Report option in Ancestry. They are numbered beginning with 32 because there are 31 ancestors of mine between me and them (16 great-great grandparents, 8 great-grandparents, 4 grandparents, 2 parents, and me=31) and from the top begin with my father’s father’s father’s father’s father down to my mother’s mother’s mother’s mother’s mother’s mother.

32: Dominico Vespia was born in 1801 in Italy and died on 11 Jan 1880 in Villa San Giovanni, Reggio di Calabria, Calabria, Italy.

33: Catarina Malerba was born in May 1804 in Cannitello, Reggio di Calabria, Calabria, Italy and died in Sep 1867 in Villa San Giovanni, Reggio di Calabria, Calabria, Italy.

36: Giuseppe Mortelliti was born in 1805 and died on 10 Jan 1886 in Scilla, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italia.

37: Antonia Lofaro was born in May 1813.

38: Guiseppe Stefano Morabito was born on 5 Nov 1819 in Scilla Reggio Calabria, Italy and died on 15 Jul 1878 in Scilla, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italia.

39: Dominica Nicolo

#47 Christina Dunker

was born on 13 May 1824 in Scilla, Reggio Calabria, Reggio di Calabria, Calabria, Italy and died on 17 Nov 1886 in Scilla, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italia.

40: Joannes Szedlák

41: Catherine Liplak was born in April 1814 in zsebes, Kosice, Košice, Slovakia.

42: Janos Szabo Kristof was born on 31 May 1816 in Garadna, Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen, Hungary.

43: Theresia Kotsis was born in Sep 1815 in Garadna, Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen, Hungary.

44: Johann Herman Hillman was born on 27 May 1824 in Syke, Diepholz, Lower Saxony, Germany and died on 2 Oct 1871 in Bremen, Bremen, Germany.

45: Johanne Caroline Elisabeth Druckhammer was born in abt 1831 in Germany and died on July 9, 1902 in Bremen Germany.

46: John Heinrich Sackman was born on 31 Aug 1811 in Jork, Hannover, Preußen and died in 1870 in Abbotts, Potter, Pennsylvania, United States.

47: Christina Dunker was born on 29 Apr 1827 in Elmshorn, Pinneberg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and died on 19 Aug 1898 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.

48: George W. (Washington ?) Tubbs was born on 3 APR 1802 in Bristol, Addison Co., VT and died on 7 SEP 1854 in Scio Twp., Washtenaw Co., MI.

49: Rebecca Sophronia Walter was born on 5 OCT 1807 in Norfolk, Litchfield, Connecticut, USA and died on 13 MAY 1855 in Scio Twp, Washtenaw, MI.

#48 George W. Tubbs

50: Timothy Castle Randall was born in ABT 1806 in Geddes, Onondaga, New York and died in abt 1849 in Cobourg, Canada.

51: Julia Ann Chapin was born on 8 JUL 1806 in Burlington, NY and died on 20 APR 1880 in Scio Twp., Washtenaw Cty, MI.

52: Harvey A Orcutt was born on 4 MAY 1802 in Pittstown, NY and died on 15 OCT 1858 in Cambridge, NY.

53: Elizabeth Walker was born on 17 JAN 1808 in Pittstown, Renn Cty, NY and died on 7 November 1885 in Thornapple Township, Barry County, Michigan, United States of America.

54: George Dolan Bailey was born in 1805 in On ship when parents came from N. Ireland to America and died on 16 MAR 1849 in Ann Arbor, MI.

55: Mary Ann Mosher was born on 18 JUL 1810 in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York, USA and died on 30 OCT 1887 in Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, Michigan, USA.

58: William Croft was born in 1827 in Canada West, Canada and died on 15 Jun 1856 in Carlton, Ontario, Canada.

59: Margaret Carmichael was born on 28 NOV 1832 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland and died on 14 Dec 1905 in Hancock, Houghton, Michigan, USA.

60: Rodman Stoddard was born on 4 JUL 1797 in Woodbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut, USA and died on 13 MAY 1853 in Detroit, Wayne, MI, Michigan, USA.

#55 Mary Ann Mosher

61: Mary Matteson was born on 25 JUN 1809 in Genesee Co, NY and died on 21 DEC 1893 in Reed City, Osceola County, Michigan.

62: George W. Bedell was born in 1798 in Dutchess Co., N. Y. and died on 17 Jun 1869 in Nankin Twnshp, Wayne Co, Michigan.

63: Anna Samuels was born in 1809 in New York and died on 8 Mar 1887 in Nankin Township, Wayne, Michigan.

#61 Mary Matteson

#62 George W. Bedell

#63 Anna Samuels

 If you have been following my blog, you know that I’m all about photos. I was curious, how many photos do I have of my 3rd great-grandparents? Remember, they were born over 200 years ago! It turns out that I have 6 photos of my great-great-great-grandparents, one even of someone born in 1798!

My Husband’s 3rd Great-Grandparents:

For my husband’s family, I have found ALL of his 3rd great-grandparents. Here’s his 32:

#32 Jacob Breyfogle

32: Jacob Breyfogle was born on 1 OCT 1805 in , Berks, Pennsylvania, United States and died on 30 Aug 1871 in Briggsville?.

33: Elizabeth Keen was born on 11 SEP 1811 in Pennsylvania and died on 7 Dec 1876 in Briggsville, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States of America.

34: William Santee was born on 11 FEB 1811 in Pennsylvania and died on 11 FEB 1852 in Bradford, Pennsylvania.

35: Sarah McCafferty was born on 12 DEC 1816 in Pennsylvania and died on 9 FEB 1858 in Bradford Co., Pennsylvania.

36: George Pealer was born on 14 AUG 1818 in Fishing Creek, Columbia, Pennsylvania, United States and died on 9 DEC 1897 in Fishing Creek Twp, Columbia, Pennsylvania, USA.

37: Rebecca Boyd Hampton was born on 2 FEB 1820 in Bloomsburg, Columbia, Pennsylvania and died on 7 MAR 1876 in Fishing Creek, Columbia, Pennsylvania, USA.

38: Benjamin Miller Stephens was born on 13 JAN 1815 in Huntington, Luzerne County, PA and died on 9 JUN 1890 in Huntington, Luzerne County, PA.

39: Mary Ann Fellows was born on 29 MAY 1815 in Huntington, Luzerne, Pennsylvania, United States and died on 20 FEB 1892 in Luzerne, Luzerne, Pennsylvania, United States.

40: Pieter Joostz den Boer was born on 28 Dec 1804 in Elkerzee, Schouwen-Duiveland, Zeeland, Netherlands and died on 2 July 1848 in Duivendijke, Netherlands.

41: Lena Marinnusses Stoel was born on 28 June 1816 in Elkerzee, Schouwen-Duiveland, Zeeland, Netherlands and died in 1860 in Grand Rapids (Kent, Michigan, USA).

#33 Elizabeth Keen

42: Dingenus MOERDIJK was born on 12 Jun 1806 in Baarland, Borsele, Zeeland, Netherlands and died on 20 Jul 1845 in Baarland, Borsele, Zeeland, Netherlands.

43: Cornelia Huijzen was born in 1812 in Baarland, Borsele, Zeeland, Netherlands.

44: Jan Jurjines Van Dam was born on 3 APR 1803 in Eenrum, De Marne, Groningen and died on 11 DEC 1888 in Plainfield Township, Kent, MI.

45: Frouwke Wickers Rijpenga was born on 17 JUL 1803 in Loppersum, Groningen, Netherlands and died on 24 May 1898 in Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, USA.

46: Harm Pieters van der Veen was born on 8 JUN 1811 in Oosterwijtwerd, Loppersum, Groningen, Netherlands and died on 20 AUG 1889 in Wyoming, Kent, Michigan, USA.

47: Aafke Heikes Kamp was born on 16 SEP 1814 in Oldenzijl, Eemsmond, Groningen, Netherlands and died on 28 NOV 1862 in Garsthuizen, Loppersum, Groningen, Netherlands.

48: John Bachar was born on 7 January 1787 in Somerset, Pennsylvania, United States and died on 24 September 1858 in Ohio, United States of America.

49: Julianna Judith Rough was born on 24 Feb 1798 in Pennsylvania and died on 2 Mar 1832 in Franklin County, Ohio, USA.

50: John Monroe Fenstermacher was born on 23 Jun 1805 in Northumberland, Northumberland, Pennsylvania, United States and died on 1 Aug 1873 in Amanda, Hancock, Ohio, United States.

51: Mary Catherine Beck was born on 28 Mar 1806 in Nazareth Township, Northampton County, PA and died on 4 Sep 1887 in Ridge, Van Wert, Ohio, United States.

#36 Jacob Pealer

52: Simeon Maxson Howell was born on 9 Apr 1817 in Turtle Creek, Shelby, Ohio, United States and died on 9 NOV 1900 in Santa Fe, Auglaize, Ohio, United States.

53: Hannah Mahala Horner was born in March 1821 in Thirsk, Yorkshire, ENGLAND and died on 10 AUG 1862 in Washington, Auglaize, Ohio, United States.

54: Thomas Cochlin was born on 2 FEB 1825 in Maryland and died on 1 Jan 1881 in Ohio, United States.

55: Mary Elliott was born on 17 JUL 1829 in Licking, Co., OH and died on 27 Aug 1909; her mother died in 1838, so she was raised by Richard's 2nd wife, Sarah Howell d/o David 1777 in Auglaize County, Ohio, United States of America.

56: Samuel G. Conklin was born on 16 OCT 1808 in Livingston County, NY and died on 29 APR 1877 in near Tecumseh.

57: Lucetta Brazie (or Beazie) or Bresie was born on 25 FEB 1813 in Livingston County, NY and died on 12 AUG 1877 in Tecumseh, Lenawee County, Michigan, USA.

58: Anson Bennett Webster was born on 15 AUG 1809 in Sheldon, Franklin, Vermont and died on 11 OCT 1854 in Darlington, Montgomery, Indiana.

59: Harriet Mariah Spofford was born on 16 JAN 1816 in Hopkinton, Merrimack, New Hampshire, United States and died on 30 JUL 1898 in Tecumseh, Lenawee, Michigan, United States.

60: Joseph Howell was born on 5 MAY 1803 in Covert, Seneca, New York, United States and died on 18 MAR 1888 in Macon, Lenawee, Michigan, United States.

61: Lutitia Van Duyn was born on 19 OCT 1803 in Ovid, Seneca County, New York, USA and died on 30 APR 1876 in Macon, Lenawee, Michigan, United States.

#52 Simeon Maxson Howell

62: James Leonardo Remington was born on 2 JUN 1814 in Hancock, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States and died on 26 MAY 1894 in Tecumseh, Lenawee Co, MI.

63: Elizabeth Ann Wheeler was born on 18 NOV 1823 in Alleghany Co, NY and died on 6 SEP 1900 in Tecumseh, Lenawee Co, MI.

And how many photos do I have from his 32 3rd great-grandparents? TEN!!

#56 Samuel G. Conklin

#57 Lucetta Brazie

#59 Harriet Spofford

#60 Joseph Howell

#62 James L. Remington

#63 Elizabeth Wheeler

What blows my mind to think is that my daughters can now name 60 of their possible 64 4th great-grandparents and have photos of 25% of the known 4th (!!) great grandparents. How many people do you think can say that?!

Kool History

Jack & Jamie, c. 2012

Just about a year ago, I wrote the blog post History of Today for Tomorrow about Tove Moon and our Tulip Tree, hoping to capture the history of today. This is a similar post capturing the history of today and a fun little boat.

Getting underway

A couple weeks ago my husband was at an auction and he saw some David Armstrong photos. I wasn’t familiar with David Armstrong’s art, so I looked up some of his work and was secretly very glad that he let others bid on it. This prompted me to look at the recent work of an artist whose work I do have on our walls at our cottage on Sand Lake in Michigan. The artist is Curt Baldwin, who works in oil producing paintings of subjects and images from his childhood summers “on the southern shore of a small midwestern lake”. I know Curt, he is the youngest son of family friends we have on the lake and I hung out with his older brother and cousins. Many of his works are named for people or places on the lake and in fact, there is one with my family’s name and it proudly hangs on a prominent wall in our cottage.

Source: Curt Baldwin Artist Website

In checking out his latest works in 2025, I came across the following: “The Kool”. OMG!! That’s OUR Sea Snark sailboat! I actually don’t know if Curt modeled this after our family’s sailboat but I don’t remember there being another Kool sailboat on the lake. I will have to ask him this summer!

Source: Online Exhibits-Yale

Why “Kool” and not “Cool”? 

Me & Kim, c. 1978

Well, it’s because in the 1970’s, Kool cigarettes had a marketing campaign, slogan, and “giveaway”. The slogan, “never a rough puff” and their opening lines of the advertisement, “Not with the taste of extra coolness in Kools. And now, for more smooth sailing, we’re offering you the world’s most popular sailboat, the Sea Snark.” For $88 and the carton’s end flap, you could have your own Sea Snark with Kool sail. 

My grandfather smoked Kool cigarettes, so this was an easy thing for him to get. My grandfather loved spoiling his only child (a daughter–my mom) and grandchildren so he bought the sailboat for the family–I don’t ever remember him sailing in it. It appears that the first year the promotion was offered was 1971 and I read that they produced about 18,000 of these Kool Sea Snarks. According to Wikipedia, it was repeated in 1972 and 1975. I don’t know which vintage (or if there is a way to tell) ours is (and I say “is” because we still have it and occasionally bring it out). Generations have learned to sail using this little Kool boat!  It is a styrofoam hull sailboat with a total length of 11 feet and beam of 3 feet. It is an EXCELLENT boat to learn to sail, so safe and easy for one or two.

I couldn’t find a photo of my dad by himself in it, but in my mind’s eye I can see the day my dad entered the Sand Lake 4th of July sailboat race in this boat. I did, however, find photos of me sailing in it. By the looks of my glasses the first picture was taken in 1978 and then the second a few years later.

Jack & Don, c. 1999

We also have photos of my dad teaching my nephew (c. 1999) and then my daughter and nephew venturing out by themselves (c. 2012, above). 

I so appreciate Curt creating this work and I can’t wait to buy a print of it to mount along side these other photos to record the history of today for tomorrow.

Small Clues Can Lead to Big Rewards

 Today, while volunteering at the Columbia County Historical Society, I came across a box with a sign “Unidentified” and I asked what was going to happen with the photos in this box. My colleague responded that he wasn’t sure, but there was no sense cataloguing these without names.

If you have been following my journey, you know that I love photos, a good mystery, and trying to bring to life the photos--to the point of connecting them with their descendants (See A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words!)

I couldn’t help myself but look through the box to see if we could figure out who some of these people were. I came across this photo, which seemed to be a senior class photo. It was still in its cardboard frame. There was no name written anywhere, but there were two very important clues that led us to identifying her.

First, the writing under her photo reads “A Portrait by Ralph G. Phillips”. This was a professional photographer based in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. 

Second, the embossed emblem in the right hand corner said “Class of ‘39”. This second clue made it pretty darn easy to find her. We thought that it was a high school graduation and the most likely school was Bloomsburg High School. Fortunately being in the CCHS, where they have a robust collection of yearbooks, it was an easy task. Sadly, this photo doesn’t appear among the senior class.

I suggested maybe it was college and to try Bloomsburg University (then Bloomsburg State Teachers College). My colleague disappeared for about 10 minutes and reappeared with a broad smile saying that he had found it! She wasn’t at Bloomsburg High School or College and not in Orangeville either, but she WAS a senior in 1939 at the Scott High School (now a part of Central Columbia High School)!

Melva's senior photo in Scott High School 1939

Meet Melva Orpha Kocher, born 18 April 1921 in Orangeville, Pennsylvania, daughter of William and Orpha Stiner Kocher. After high school, she went off to Bloomsburg State Teachers College and majored in Business Education. She graduated in 1943. Here she is in the 1943 Bloomsburg College Yearbook.

She became a teacher at Hughesville High School in 1945 and continued after her marriage to Dr. LeRoy Wintersteen, dentist in Danville, PA.

Mrs. Melva K. Wintersteen in
1949 Hughesville High School Yearbook

In the 1950, she was a dental assistant, probably helping her husband with his business in Danville. Sadly, she died at age 62 in 1984. Her obituary  identified that she also taught in East Lycoming School District. She was a member of the Eastern Start, Business and Professional Women and Shiloh United Church of Christ, Danville. Her brother, Richard Kocher and her husband of 36 years, Dr. Leroy Wintersteen survived her. they did not have any children.

While there are no descendants to alert that we have her photo, I feel good knowing that we were able to identify one of the photos in the "unidentified box" and share her some of the story of Melva Orpha Kocher Wintersteen's life.

A small clue can sometimes be all that you need!

Connecting Two Childhood Friends

Columbia County Historical Society building

Usually I talk about my own family history journey, but this blog entry is about an absolutely wonderful experience that has filled my heart to overflowing and is only tangentially related to my family history journey.

Last fall, I began volunteering at the Columbia County Historical Society in Bloomsburg, PA. Volunteering there is a win-win for me and my research on Jim’s family who is from this county. I learn more about the holdings while helping them to catalog photographs and help people who might walk in off the street to do research on their families. 

It’s also a win because I have met numerous lovely volunteers who religiously turn up several times a week, every week! (Some people look at me funny when I squeal in delight when I find some official paperwork associated with my husband’s ancestors like the one shown here. It’s an Order of Resurvey for Caleb Hopkins [Jim’s 5th great-grandfather] on the original paper from 1806. On the contrary, the volunteers at the historical society get all excited with me and “ooh” and “aah” over a find like this. They ARE my people!)

One of these volunteers, we’ll call her Susan, is one of these lovely people. She is also one of these kinds of people that make anyone feel welcome to be there and always introduces me to others and makes sure they know who I am. One day, early last fall, she asked me if I knew a professor who worked at Bucknell, we’ll call her Alice. Susan didn’t know if she went by her maiden or married name but she mentioned her maiden name and I said, “why yes, I do know Alice! But I know she retired many years ago so I haven’t seen her in a while.” Susan said that she hasn’t seen her in a long time but they were good friends when they went to high school in Millville. We only talked about Alice that once, but it was something that was filed away in my brain, hoping to one day see Alice.

Columbia County Court House

Fast forward to two weeks ago, I happened to be in CCHS dropping off some documents and I saw Susan. We chatted only briefly because I wanted to run across the street to the Columbia County Court House to look for a Will document for a project and had to get back to Bucknell by noon. I did my quick search and was heading back to my car parked behind the CCHS. As I was walking back, who did I see? Alice and her husband!

At that moment I couldn’t for the life of me conjure up Alice’s name or Susan’s for that matter, but I knew Alice and she recognized me. She said she knew me but couldn’t place me and I said, “I’m Lynn Breyfogle and we knew each other from Bucknell” and I went on to say, “and you need to follow me because I have someone you have to meet!” I didn’t wait for an answer but Alice and her husband dutifully followed me back into the CCHS building. Susan’s back was to us so I rushed over and tapped her on the shoulder (I still couldn’t conjure her name) but was able to say, “I have an old high school friend of yours”. 

Susan looked at Alice and said, “who are you?” Alice responded that she was Alice…. Susan squealed and raised her arms to go to hug Alice while Alice stood bewildered saying, “Who are you?!” Susan laughed and said I’m Susan …. And Alice immediately raised her arms and pulled Susan into an embrace! Not just a hug, but one of those embraces that lasts for minutes. They pulled back to look at each other and both said, “I didn’t recognize you!” and hugged again. Then dozens of questions and answers tumbled out.

I was already late for campus, so I left the women and quickly headed to my car. My heart was full and my eyes were wet with tears. 

The next day Alice wrote me an email of thanks and said that they hadn’t seen each other since high school graduation in 1968! I talked with Susan the next week and they are so delighted to rekindle their relationship and had set up an appointment to get together and get caught up on the last 56 years.

What an amazing coincidence and I was definitely in the right place at the right time! It reminds me of connecting my dad with his childhood friend, Randy. While this situation wasn’t really making use of my genealogical skills, I wouldn’t have ever been able to do this without volunteering at the CCHS.

A Castle, A Clan, and A Connection

Jim and Lynn at Urquhart Castle c. 1989

Sometimes a place calls us to it and we don’t learn for decades later why! 

For me, the place is Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness, close to Inverness Scotland. In 1988-89, my boyfriend (now husband), Jim and I studied our junior year abroad at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. In addition to our travels to Europe during winter break and around the UK during spring recess, we took day trips and long weekends organized by the exchange program. At least twice that year, we visited Urquhart Castle. I’m sure that the infamous Loch Ness was one reason, but a love of castles was another. 

The Castle

Urquhart Castle, like most castles in the UK, has a long and storied past. For those interested, please visit the official historic website. There are many beautiful photographs of the location, far better than my (over) 35 year old digitized photos can provide!

 

Sometime after we were married, we happened upon a vintage image of what we thought was Urquhart Castle. I think we found it on our trip back to Scotland in 1999. We didn’t get that far north on that trip to Scotland but we must have picked it up on our travels. We liked it enough to have it framed and it has been hanging prominently in our house on a kitchen wall for decades. In researching for this blog, I learned that the image is actually a copy of a vintage engraving from 1895 printed in a book called Souvenir of Scotland: Its Cities, Lakes, and Mountains One Hundred and Twenty Chomo Views. Who knew?!

The Clan

There was also a clan named Urquhart who resided in the region. Both Urquhart Castle and the Clan Urquart were named for the Celtic word “Airchart”, which is a region now called Cromarty, just about 25 miles north of Inverness. The research that I read suggests that the Clan Urquart was not affiliated with Urquhart Castle, they were both just named after Airchart. So maybe it was more of a draw to the area and not really the castle?

The Connection

About 10 years ago as I was investigating my great-grandmother (Cora Viola Orcutt–the one whose Irises I have in my yard), I learned that the name Orcutt is a version of Urquhart that shows up in America. My great-aunt, Helen Tubbs Judson (my genealogy angel), researched the Orcutt Family and identified who she thought was the immigrant. That was William Orcutt (1618-1693) and his wife Mary Lane (1646-1693). There is some question about Mary, as it seems he might have had more than one wife and possibly more than one wife named Mary. There is documentation, though, that they had a son named William in 1664 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts, where William died. William Orcutt was born in Fillongley, North Warwickshire Borough, Warwickshire, England. In some information I found, it appears that there were Orcutt’s who migrated to England before heading to the “new world”.

Why now?

Why did I have a renewed interest in Urquhart Castle and the Clan Urquhart? Well, as I was investigating lineage societies recently, I came across Clan Urquhart Association, a lineage society open to anyone who can trace their name back to an Urquhart, Orcutt (as well as Cromartie and Cromarty)! The one-time fee of $20 would get me a membership card, two newsletters a year, and invitations to international gatherings of the Clan. The organization was established in 1976 to help promote awareness and preserve the history and heritage of the Clan. There is still also a Chief of the Clan. I haven’t decided if I am going to try to join, but I may invest in some article of clothing with the Clan’s tartan, which I find quite appealing! And just maybe I will wear it sometime when I’m back in Scotland and visit my family’s long ago homeland near Urquhart Castle?

A Photo to Remember

What a great photo, right?!!

This photo was among my grandmother’s (Elizabeth Anna Leach Tubbs) photo collections. I’ve seen it on numerous occasions and although it is marked with “Tyler Family” in my grandmother’s handwriting on the back, that’s all I knew about it!

I had no idea if these people were related to my grandmother (thus me) or if it was just some random family.

I decided to colorize it using MyHeritage to see what it might have looked like in color.

Since I do love a challenge, I thought I would try to figure out who these children might be. I made some assumptions to get me started:

1. The surname of the 4 children was Tyler

2. The fashion of the children appear to be the 1920’s

3. My grandmother lived in Ypsilanti, Michigan in the late 1920’s

It actually didn’t take me that long to find a Tyler Family living in Ypsilanti in 1930. In the 1930 Census, a family of 6 were living at 215 Cross Street. Parents were Lewis H. and Linda C. Tyler. The four children were Janet L (18), Mary E (15), John F (13), and Virginia P (9). The ages and gender of the children seem to fit. In the 1920 Census, the family of 5 (Virginia wasn’t born yet) were living at the same location. Janet was about the same age as my Uncle Clay and Mary was the same age as my grandmother. My great-grandmother was an elementary school teacher in Ypsilanti, so it is also possible that she was one of these youngster’s teacher.

When I showed my husband, he said it is possible that this is the same family, but he wouldn’t definitively agree with me. Maybe the photo Tyler family didn’t live in Ypsilanti? So on to looking for more evidence.

As I was starting to investigate the children, I started with Mary Elizabeth Tyler who was about my grandmother’s age. I found that she married Jack Robinson Donohoe at age 21, in 1936 in Steuben, Indiana. My grandparents also were married in Steuben in 1935…it appears that was the place to go to elope during the 1930s. (I later found that her sister, Janet L, also was married in 1935 in Steuben, Indiana.) Jack was from a farming family in Caro, Michigan, so they moved there and he farmed. She lived until age 91 and he until 85 and had no children and I could find no photos of her.

I then turned my attention to Janet Louise Tyler and that’s where I hit pay dirt! In 1932, there was a Janet Louise Tyler was attending Michigan State Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University) from Ypsilanti and majoring in Fine Arts and part of the Normal Art Club. Here’s her photo (clearly she found a way to tame her hair). And I enlarged the original photo and I was pretty certain at that this was the same person. Interestingly, my uncle Clay was in the same year, so probably they knew each other from high school, although he studied history and mathematics.

Janet married Cornelius James Fox in Steuben in 1935 after they had both graduated from Michigan State Normal College, he studied mathematics and science and was the year behind Clay and Janet, which happened to be in the same year as Clay’s future wife, Vivian Lantz. Vivian was also part of the Normal Art Club in 1933 but Janet was graduated by then. Both women became teachers, although Vivian became full time at home when the children came along. 

An interesting fact is that in 1950, both couples were living in Nueces County, Texas about 38 miles from one another! I have no idea if they knew that at the time, but a very interesting coincidence. Janet continued to teach and contributed to Art Education in profound ways, including authoring a three-volume series Modular Art Education, teaching in the Art Education department at University of Houston, honored by the art education community as Texas Art Educator of the Year and inducted as a Distinguished Fellow of the TAEA (Texas Art Education Association). After retiring she co-founded CityArtWorks, a nonprofit children’s art program in Houston. Quite a remarkable person! She lived to be 99.

Did you see what Janet is holding? A camera.
Clearly the budding artist.

I found photos for the other two siblings. It’s a little harder to be convinced that they are the same people because they were younger in the photos, but I’m pretty convinced that these are in fact the same family. The three women all lived into their 90s and John lived to be 78. This is interesting to note because I came across a fascinating article in the Detroit Free Press on Feb. 14, 1915 in which a large photo of Janet (referred to as “baby doll”) as a young child announcing the birth of her sister, but also advertising that she has all 4 grandparents alive and 7 of her 8 GREAT-grandparents still alive–something not many people could have (or still now) boast to have. Clearly they had long-living genes.

This doesn’t answer why my grandmother had a photo of the Tyler children, but there must have been something special between the Leach’s and the Tyler’s! 

Or maybe you still have doubts that I identified the right people…and these are just some other Tyler’s in a completely different state…where there is snow…?

The Beauty of Community

Pardoning Board of the State of Michigan
under Gov. Geo. Bliss, c. 1903

 I love being a family historian because I love mysteries and uncovering new truths. I also enjoy being a part of a community helping one another in their own searches. In genealogy, we are taught to document and cite and compelled to do so (see Elizabeth Shown Mills book Evidence Explained or the Genealogy Standards).

It is good practice for one's own research–it’s a heck of a lot easier than having to go back years later and try to recreate how you know something is true or where an original photo might live–and you can’t help out the community if you don’t do it. When working with others, I keep excellent track but with my own family I do a so-so job and every January I find myself listing “Document and cite everything” among my New Year’s Resolutions so do better. Sometimes, just sometimes though, I do do it right.

Lansing State Journal
10 Jul 1903

In 2012, I shared the group photo of my husband’s great-great-grandfather Russel Ralph Pealer (1842-1919) with other board members (he’s 2nd from the right) on my Ancestry.com family tree and included (unbelievably!) in the notes section what was written on the back, “R. Holzhey, Photographer, Marquette, MI. Taken when on pardoning board under Geo.(sic) Bliss”. Russel was born in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, actually not too far from where we live now. Russel was a member of the 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry, known as “Gregg’s Cavalry” during the Civil War. After the war, he continued his study of the law and was admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania in 1867 and later that year to the bar in Michigan. He moved with his wife to Three Rivers, Michigan where he practiced law, became a Circuit Judge, and eventually served on the Pardoning Board for the State of Michigan. This photo was taken between 1901-1903, while he was serving on the board. 

R.R. Pealer c. 1865

Fast forward 8 years to August of 2020, I was contacted by two historians from the Netherlands and asked if I owned the original photograph. (Thanks to Jim’s Aunt AnnaMarie Breyfogle Austin, we inherited this among MANY wonderful photos of RR Pealer most dutifully identified by Jim’s grandmother Bertha DeBoer Breyfogle) The Dutch historians had found the photo while researching in Ancestry.com and they were interested not in any of the people in the photo but rather the photographer! They were writing a book about the photographer, Reimund Holzhey, who had quite an interesting life after immigrating to the United States from the Netherlands. Reimund, for unknown reasons, resorted to robbing stagecoach and train passengers in northern Michigan and Wisconsin during the late 1880s. During one such event in the summer of 1889, he shot a man (Adolph G. Fleischbein) who died the next day. A massive manhunt was created and he was eventually caught in Republic, Michigan in the fall of 1889. He was sentenced to life in prison and sent to Marquette prison in the Upper Peninsula. 

He was a difficult prisoner until 1893 when he underwent surgeries related to a childhood brain injury and was completely transformed as a result. He became a model prisoner in Marquette and developed a passion for reading and photography!  The rest is history, as they say, and although I can’t read the book they produced and I own a copy (it’s written in Dutch), I can appreciate that I have helped to contribute to the story and the book. The authors have told me that the book was nominated for the most important history prize in the Netherlands and they are pleased with its reception. They are currently looking for a publisher in the US, so someday it might be printed in a version that I can read! (Most of the information for this blog about Reiumund Holzhey was found in an article  called “The Last Stagecoach Robber in Michigan” on Michiganology.com that was adapted from one that appeared in the Summer/Fall 2018 issue of Trace, the Archives of Michigan magazine.**)

Who would have ever dreamt that a photo of my husband’s great-great-grandfather, Russel Ralph Pealer (1842-1918) would find its way into a Dutch book in 2021?! It’s a beautiful story of the wonders of the internet, a culture of sharing, and the beauty of community. 

**In case you were interested, Reimund’s sentence was commuted by Governor Fred Warner on the advice of the warden, James Russell, in 1910. He was discharged in 1913 and lived and worked as a photographer wherever he found tourists, like Yellowstone and Captiva Island until 1952!