Skipping Down Memory Lane: May 2019

Friday, May 24, 2019

The Road

#52Ancestors

   The theme for week 18 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge was "Road Trip." I could write about the scenic drives I used to take on Route 9W along the Hudson River in Ulster County, NY to visit rural cemeteries and take pictures. I could write about driving from South Carolina down to Florida to visit a cousin I didn't know existed until I started researching my maternal grandmother's mother's family. My grandmother's father, Samuel Davis, had ancestors who served in the Civil War. I could write about driving from South Carolina to New York and making an unplanned stop in Pennsylvania when I saw a sign for Gettysburg. I'd always wanted to visit Gettysburg. As I was driving through town I saw a sign for the Gettysburg National Military Park and remembered my 3rd great-grandfather, William Davis had three brothers who served in the Civil War and that there was a monument for their regiment. The Davis brothers were in the 120th NY Infantry Regiment. I had to find that monument and take a picture.
   I am not writing about any of the road trips I had taken. I'm writing about an actual road, a scenic road that runs along side a mountain with beautiful views of the Hudson River and Hudson Valley in New York. Storm King Highway is a 3 mile stretch of road, part of Route 218, that was formed from the side of Storm King Mountain which is on the west bank of the Hudson River. This narrow, curvy road runs from the town of Highland by West Point Military Academy up to Cornwall-on-Hudson and is sometimes closed due to rock slides and inclement weather. I have driven this road once and will never do it again.
   Construction on Storm King Highway began in 1916 and with my 2nd great-grandfather's help it was completed and open to traffic in 1922. Stephen Duper was born approx. 1873 in Austria. He immigrated to the United States in 1887 or 1888 and was naturalized in 1892 in Rosendale, NY which is in Ulster County. He died 16 July 1931 at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan, NY. Stephen Duper was a dynamite foreman who worked on Storm King Highway. My grandmother's cousin told me in a letter that he died of rock dust in his lungs. His death certificate states that he worked in construction as a rock driller and the cause of death was 'pleurisy-suppurative'. Rock dust from the rocky road?

   R.I.P.
   Stephen Duper
1873-1931

Sunday, May 19, 2019

+ Let Us Pray +

#52Ancestors

8 year old Gregory

   The topic for week 17 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge was "At Worship." When I saw this I thought of my 12 year old son. Gregory attends Catholic School and is an altar server. When he is scheduled, he serves 8am Mass on Sunday mornings. Gregory likes serving but sometimes he doesn't want to get up.
   Every now and then Gregory will sometimes complain about getting up early to go to church and tell me that he had just gone to Mass on Friday then ask why he has to go again. I remind him that my mother attended Catholic school and had Mass every morning, Confession on Saturdays, and Mass again on Sunday. I have told Gregory many times that he doesn't know how good he has it. When my mother attended church as a child the kneelers were not padded, there was a lot more kneeling back then, and the Masses were in Latin.
   Gregory is a good boy. He recently served a First Holy Communion and a Confirmation a few days later. At the Confirmation, he was one of the 'Vimps' (wore the fuzzy white shawl called 'vimpa' and assisted the Bishop). He was a vimpa last year as well. He has also served many funerals. Gregory likes serving and has gotten many compliments.

Let Us Pray

11 year old Gregory (2018)    12 year old Gregory (2019)
assisting Bishop at Confirmation    assisting Bishop at Confirmation

Saturday, May 18, 2019

Out of Place

#52Ancestors

   The topic for week 16 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge was "Out of Place." I have no idea what I can write about. Should I write about a person who might have felt out of place in a particular situation or environment or maybe some recordkeeping/records that I found were 'out of place?'
   After much thought, I chose to write about my 3rd great-grandparents, Patrick Devine and Emily Sheldon. These are my favorite people to write about. I was not working on genealogy while my maternal grandmother, Eleanor was alive nor did I know about Patrick and Emily. Once I found out about my Irish ancestors I was obsessed! I've always been fascinated with Ireland and long to visit that island. Patrick and Emily were a mystery to me when I first started this research. After quite a bit of stalking and with the help of census records, I found the names of all their children beside my 2nd great-grandmother, Teresa.
   William Vincent Devine was Patrick and Emily's youngest child, born sometime in February 1882 in upstate New York. The 1900 federal census shows him living with his mother who was listed as divorced in Ulster County, New York. I think his father was in a poorhouse in 1900. At some point after the 1900 census was taken, William moved to New York City, Manhattan, New York. On the 25th of January in 1903, William died of head injuries in Manhattan. His death certificate states that he had been residing there for two years. I found out about William's death from hints on Ancestry.com then ordered the death certificate hoping this was my William Devine. Yes, this was my William, my 2nd great-grandmother, Teresa's baby brother. He was only 21 years old when he left this earth.
   St Peter's Cemetery in Rosendale, NY is the final resting place for William Vincent Devine. I was excited to find William's place of burial. I felt I was getting closer to my Irish ancestors who were hiding from me. I called the cemetery to get the location of the plot so I can visit and also ask if anyone else is buried there. I was told that Patrick purchased the plot. I don't know when he bought it but I guess it was before 1900 when he and Emily were divorced. The tombstone has William's date of death and age as well as the names of his parents but there are no dates of death for Patrick and Emily. I later discovered that Emily had relocated to Ontario, Canada and is buried in Toronto. I have no idea where Patrick is.
   Patrick and Emily are Out of Place.

   Rest in Peace
William Vincent Devine

Sunday, May 5, 2019

Who am I?

still late with these writing assignments....

   For week 15 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge, the topic was "DNA." Maybe tardiness is in my DNA because this story is late.
   I had always known that I had German and Irish ancestors and never really had a desire to take a DNA test. I bought my mother a DNA kit a few years ago as a Christmas gift. She is mostly Irish which is no surprise since her 2nd great-grandparents emigrated from Ireland in the 1840's. My mother's results state 24% Ireland and Scotland and 25% England, Wales, & Northwest Europe. I had read somewhere that 'Davis' is a Welsh name so maybe her Davis ancestors were from Wales. I finally bought myself a kit when Ancestry.com had a super sale at Thanksgiving time. I submitted my saliva sample and eagerly awaited the results.
   Who am I? What am I made up of? I know about the Germans and Irish but what else do I have thrown in the mix? Where are my people from? Days turned into weeks then finally... the email I'd been waiting for... the DNA results are in...
   I'd been stalking my 3rd great-grandparents, Patrick Devine and Emily Sheldon for years. I focused mainly on Emily because I had found out that Patrick was from County Mayo in Ireland but no idea what county Emily emigrated from. I needed to find her date and place of death so I could order her death certificate and hope the informant supplied more than country of birth.
So, how Irish am I? St. Patrick's Day is my favorite holiday. I love watching the St. Patrick's Day parade and hope to visit the Emerald Isle one day. I was so excited!!!
   I cannot believe this! Only 3%? ? ? ? My mother is 24% Irish and all I got was 3. I have 54% German which I guess isn't too bad. There are beautiful castles in Germany I would like to visit.

GERMANY!    not much Irish here....

My mother stealing all the Irish from me... :)

Saturday, May 4, 2019

- - Braught family Brick Wall - -

   BRAUGHT family

   Yes, I'm late again....

For week 14 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge the theme was "Brick Wall." I'm always writing about my maternal grandmother, Eleanor Davis. She was the first born child of Samuel George Davis and Josephine Agnes Duper. Samuel's parents were Daniel Davis and Flora Braught. I had already written about the Davis family but I had not written about the Braughts and put them on hold because I didn't have much information. I would consider the Braught family to be my brick wall.
   My 2nd great-grandmother, Flora Helen Braught was born March 4, 1863 in Ohio. Her parents were Samuel C Braught and Eleanor J Clark. The 1870 federal census has 7 year old Flora listed as 'deaf & dumb' and living with her 39 year old mother Eleanor, a widow who worked as a domestic servant. By 1880, 17 year old Flora was still living with her mother who had remarried since the last census but her husband is not with them. I don't know where Eleanor's husband was but she had Flora and her 23 year old son living with her. In 1870, Flora's older brother would have been 13 year old and I have no idea where he was living.
   I learned from the 1870 and 1880 censuses that Flora was born in Ohio. Her mother, Eleanor and Eleanor's parents were born in Vermont. Her father and older brother were born in New York. I did not find my 3rd great-grandparents, Samuel and Eleanor in the 1860 federal census. I found a Samuel Braught with wife Jane and some children in the 1850 census. Eleanor's middle name was Jane. I have found many censuses that have the person's middle name listed instead of the first. Are these my people? If so, at some point, Samuel and Eleanor moved to Ohio where their youngest child, Flora was born. I wonder if she was born in Fulton County because that is where she lived in 1870 and 1880. I wonder if the children on the 1850 census stayed behind in New York or accompanied their parents if their parents are indeed my 3rd great-grandparents, Samuel and Eleanor.
   In March of 1864, Samuel C Braught enlisted in the Army and three months later died in a field hospital in Tennessee. His death was not caused by battle wounds but instead he died of acute meningitis on 22 June 1864. He is buried in the Chattanooga National Cemetery. I have no idea when or where Eleanor died. I also do not know if the family in the 1850 census is mine and if so then I have no information about the children. I only have the dates of death for Flora, her brother, and their father.

Flora Samuel

BRAUGHT Brick Wall