Using Newspapers to Check a Family Story

     A number of years ago my Dad, Lester Albertson, told me that his Smalley grandparents had come from Kansas to Halsey, Oregon, for a visit in about 1917 because his grandmother was going to a national DAR convention in Portland. I doubted that it was completely correct because I had no record that she had belonged to the DAR. However, her obituary did say that she was a member of the WRC, Women's Relief Corp, which is a women's group of the GAR, Civil War Veterans. Also my father was born in October 1907, so would have been only 9 or 10 in 1917 and maybe would not remember the date correctly. The Smalleys were my great-grandparents, so I wanted to know if my father's memory was accurate. I believed that newspaper research could help me answer this question.

    First I checked to find if there was any type of national convention in Portland for the Civil War Veterans organizations since I knew she had belonged to one of these. Using the University of Oregon website, Historic Oregon Newspapers, I did find some articles in The Oregon Daily Journal from Portland in 1918. On May 10th it reported that the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) was planning for a national encampment in Portland that summer. There were women on the committee from the WRC, Ladies of the GAR and Daughters of Union Veterans. By August 9th the paper reported that there was entertainment planned for the delegates at the encampment to be held August 19th - 24th. Then on August 15th they wrote that 15,000 were expected to attend. There were large articles about the event on the front page on August 19th. One featured the WRC, stating their membership was 165,000 and they expected 500 or more of their members to attend the convention.

    Recently a newspaper from the town of Halsey, The Halsey Enterprise, came online at the U of O website, Historic Oregon Newspapers. It included papers from 1917 to 1920. So I could check for 1918. I searched for the name Albertson for a Halsey paper and found an article on August 29, 1918 which stated: "J. N. Elliott and family, who expected to start for Kansas Tuesday of last week, were delayed a day the arrival of relatives from the east - Mrs. E's parents, who are guests in the Albertson home." Mrs. Elliott was my grandmother's sister.

     Then I decided to check the subscription site, Newspapers.com, which has some newspapers for Goodland, Kansas. It was there I found the following article on August 15, 1918 in the Goodland Republic: "Mr. and Mrs. L. F. Smalley and Mr. and Mrs. H. M. Errington, of our county, departed Wednesday, for Portland, Oregon, to attend the National Encampment of the G.A.R.  Mr. and Mrs. Smalley will visit their two daughters, Mrs. O. J. Albertson and Mrs. J. N. Elliott, of Halsey, Oregon, before returning. They will be gone about two weeks."

     So by using three different newspapers, I can conclude that my father's grandparents did come to Oregon in 1918 to a national convention in Portland and visit family. Even if the convention was for the GAR, not DAR, and if was in 1918 rather than 1917, my father's story gave me the clues to discover an interesting
family event. 

Branching Out – Connections to Cottage Grove – Part 2

Last week I wrote about how I was connected to Cottage Grove through the farm where I grew up. After I moved to Cottage Grove I discovered there was a Cottage Grove connection at the church I attended in Halsey. One of the “older” ladies at the Halsey Christian Church was Mrs. Ethel Maxwell. She was among that group of ladies who wore hats to church and were almost always there.

After living in Cottage Grove over 20 years, I joined the Cottage Grove Genealogical Society and became active in researching my family history. In checking the books at the Society library, I found one about the Powell family. [Powell History, written in 1922 by James Madison Powell, then updated in 1977] I was acquainted with several members of a Powell family so I did some reading in that book.

It was on page 285 I found Ethel as the wife of Frank Maxwell, son of Nancy Powell and Antony Maxwell. Nancy and Antony were married in 1860 and about 5 years later had moved to a farm near Halsey where they lived for almost 40 years. So Ethel’s mother-in-law was Nancy Powell. But does that make a connection to Cottage Grove other than a book in the library? Well, Nancy did have brothers.

One of these was Joseph Goble Powell (1841-1924) whose daughter Nancy married John Overholser. John’s son Ross was married to Marguariete, a former president of the Cottage Grove Genealogical Society and also the Cottage Grove Historical Society and the author of some historical books. She was someone I knew in Cottage Grove.

Another of Joseph’s children was Charles. One of his sons was Archie Powell, who served as an elder at the Cottage Grove Church of Christ. This was the church I attended and I did know Archie. Among Joseph’s other children was Edward, whose daughter Geneva had married Frank Richardson. Geneva was a faithful member of the Cottage Grove Church of Christ and I considered her a good friend.

Nancy had a half-brother, Alexander Hamilton Powell (1834-1915). He moved to the Cottage Grove area in 1878. Four of his five children married descendants of Cottage Grove area Donation Land Claim settlers. One of these settlers was Henry Small. As our Genealogical Society is publishing stories about these local settlers, I wrote about Henry Small. I didn’t realize when I noted that a descendant had married a Powell that I had a connection to the Powell family from my Halsey days.

So the Powell family had connections to Cottage Grove through people I knew and someone I wrote about. I believe that as I continue to study the Powell History I will continue to find more connections between the Powell family and Cottage Grove.

Branching Out – Connections to Cottage Grove – Part 1

I want to use February to write about some genealogical connections I have found to the town where I now live, which is Cottage Grove, Oregon.

If Cottage Grove is the town where I now live, where did I live before? I was born over 80 years ago in Eugene, Oregon. But that was the location of the hospital not my home. My growing-up years were spent on a farm about halfway between the small incorporated city of Halsey, Oregon and the smaller unincorporated town of Shedd.

Although our address and phone indicated we lived at Halsey, the farm was on the north side of the road, so our voting precinct was Shedd. Therefore you will find me listed in Shedd on the 1940 census. After graduating from Halsey High School, I attended Northwest Christian College in Eugene. It was after college that I moved to Cottage Grove, now just a little over 60 years ago.

Did I have any connections to Cottage Grove before I moved here? The answer is yes. We lived on a rented farm. My grandparents had rented it in the fall of 1914 and after they retired, my parents continued to live there. The owner was Eugene Stockwell. He was the grandson of one of the Cottage Grove area donation land claim settlers, Ira Hawley. Apparently Ira purchased farms for several of his grandchildren. Eugene’s sister, Lena, also was given a farm in the Halsey area. Although I wasn’t actually related to the Hawley family of Cottage Grove, I did have a connection through the farm where I grew up.

It was a few years after I moved to Cottage Grove, August 27th of 1964, when the Cottage Grove Sentinel published an item with the headline, “50 Years on Farm Occasion for Fete.” It began by stating that Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Stockwell and others had spent a few days in Cottage Grove visiting his sister, Mrs. Frank McFarland of Cottage Grove. Then it continued, “During their stay here Mr. Stockwell entertained with a dinner at the Eugene Hotel for the Lester Albertsons of Halsey.” It was to celebrate the 50th year of renting his farm. Lester Albertson was my father and I was one of the 28 people who attended that dinner. 

Postcard From the Past – Christmas

Again I wish to share a postcard from the collection of my father, Lester Albertson. This was sent to him by one of his aunts back in Kansas after his family had moved to a farm near Halsey, Oregon. It was probably received over 100 years ago.

My Christmas greetings to Family and Friends!

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 29 – Music

Music has always been important in my life, singing and playing the piano. When I took a writing class in the Fall of 2016, for one of my assignments I wrote about taking piano

lessons. Here is that essay:

Piano Lessons

by Joanne Skelton

It was sixty-nine years ago when I began my piano lessons. I was in the third grade and was starting in a new school, Halsey Grade School. They had a special arrangement for students who wanted to take piano lessons. If our grades were good enough, we could take time during the school day to walk to the piano teacher's house and have our lesson once a week. As a third grader who lived on a farm four miles from town, walking the approximately four or five blocks to the piano teacher's house was intimidating. I would have to cross Highway 99 and then cross over the railroad tracks to get to her house. But my parents had purchased a new piano, a Lester brand spinet, and agreed to pay for piano lessons for me, so I began my piano lessons that year.

My third grade teacher was Mrs. Eldon Cross and my piano teacher was her sister-in-law, Mrs Jess Cross. So I called both of them Mrs. Cross. Sometimes it was hard for my parents to determine which teacher I was talking about. My Dad sometimes would try to be funny by called them Mrs. X.

I can't remember exactly what happened during my piano lessons. I know I had a little book that the teacher used to write my assignments for the week. Then I was supposed to practice them each day so I could play them for her the next week. I'm not sure I always did that, but with my mother's oversight. I probably did it most of the time. I always enjoyed when I got a new book to play from and occasionally I would get a piece of sheet music. Thinking back, my parents might not have enjoyed the new music as much since they would have an extra cost added to the bill.

One of the benefits or not of taking piano lessons was the recital near the end of the school year. Even though I was shy, I rather enjoyed showing off what I had learned. Even more, as I got older I was assigned to play in duets and trios and sometimes even double trios with two pianos. I liked playing together and hearing all that extra sound.

My last year for piano lessons was in the eighth grade and I remember my recital piece that year was By the Light of the Silvery Moon. That was scheduled next to last on the program, but was the last solo number which meant I was at the top of her students that year. The final number was a double trio, including some former students who were now in high school. I really enjoyed playing in that, Stars and Stripes.

So piano lessons were long ago, but they have lasted a long time, as now I am playing in public about two and a half hours each week and still enjoy it.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 28 – Travel

When I thought about this theme, I realized that I know little about how most of my ancestors traveled. But then I remembered that I have used at least three different sources to learn about their travels: by train, sailing ship and covered wagon.

1. I interviewed my father, Lester Albertson, before he passed away in 2004. He told me that when he and his parents and two sisters came to Oregon from Kansas in 1911, they rode the train. His father, Oran Jesse Albertson, had worked for the railroad back in Kansas, so they had a pass. Apparently they traveled from Goodland, Kansas to Portland, Oregon and then continued south to Halsey, Oregon where Oran's brother Arthur lived.

2. When my immigrant Falk gt-grandparents came from Prussia to the United States in 1858 the passenger list gives the name of the sailing ship they came on. It was a bark named Wieland. I have a picture of a bark named Wieland, but it was built in 1862 and was larger as Lloyd's Register found on the Mystic Seaport website, show the earlier Wieland tonnage to be 512 and the later one was 632. But I believe as they were both barks, they probably had a very similar appearance.

2. In 1938, before I was born, the Bond family reunion printed a booklet with the journal entries of my 2^nd gt-granduncle George Bond on the trip from Iowa to Oregon in 1853. Since this was over the Oregon Trail, it is logical to believe they traveled by covered wagon. It makes it more believable when the entry for April 9 stated that they “loded the wagons.” But they apparently did use tents while camping along the way because on May 14 George recorded that a storm prevented them from pitching their tents. I have always felt so fortunate to be able to read the daily travels for that group which included my 2^nd gt-grandparents and 2 sets of 3^rd gt-grandparents as well as over 30 other relatives.

Treasured Memories From the Past – More Photos of Smalley Relatives

On 7 Aug 2017 I posted some group photos of some of my Smalley relatives taken in about 1910 and also in 1944. Here are two more photos of some of my Smalley relatives taken probably in the 1940s.

This first photo appears to be taken at my grandparents' (O. J. and Lucie (Smalley) Albertson) house which was 4 miles northwest of Halsey Oregon and the second appears to be taken at the Joe Elliott residence in Brownsville Oregon. Lake (Smalley) Elliott was my grandmother's sister. I wonder if my father took the pictures since he does not seem to be in either one of them.

Both photos include my grandparents, my mother and me. I'm the one with the braids.

Ancestor Birthday – October 18 – Florence Edna Bond 1891 – 1979

My grandmother, Florence Edna Bond, was born 18 October 1891 in Creswell area, Lane County Oregon to John Howard and Mary Ann (O'Neal) Bond. She was the youngest of 5 children, with 2 older brothers and 2 older sisters. When she was about 3 years old the family moved to Eastern Oregon, Lone Rock in Gilliam County. A little over 10 years later the family moved back to the Willamette Valley to the Halsey area in Linn County Oregon.

It was 27 Mar 1910 when Florence married Julius Adolph Falk. They moved to his farm between Halsey and Harrisburg, with a Harrisburg address. Their first child, Howard Ludwig Falk, was born late in November of 1910 and lived about 3 weeks before his death on 22 Dec 1910. It was a little over a year later when my mother, Wilma Anna Falk, was born 27 Jan 1912. The family increased with Lois in 1915, Erma in 1919, Violet in 1924, and Gerald in 1927. Florence became a widow when Julius died in 1944. She lived most of the rest of her life on the farm until she suffered a stroke in March 1979 and died in June of that year.

I have written about her before on my blog:

22 Oct 2014—Her wedding

4 Jan 2017—Attending England family reunion in 1929

6 Jan 2017—Attending Bond family reunion in 1939

7 Jan 2017—Attending Bond family reunion in 1949

13 May 2017—Mother's Day 4 generations

10 Sep 2017—Grandparents Day

It is good to remember her in many different ways.

Treasured Memories From the Past -- My Grandpa Was a Trapper

My Albertson grandparents lived on a farm about 4 miles from Halsey Oregon from 1914 until they moved to Eugene in 1946. Muddy Creek ran along the edge of the property, so there was an opportunity to make a little extra money by trapping.

Treasured Memories From the Past -- Three Albertsons

This is my father, Lester Albertson born 1907, his younger sister Vida Albertson born 1910 and his older sister Buena Albertson born 1904. This would be after they had moved to the Halsey Oregon area in 1911.

Ancestor Birthday - March 15 - Huldah Hayes 1827-1903

Since I had two ancestors who were born on March 15th, I did the oldest one first yesterday and am writing today about the second one.

Huldah Hayes was one of my 2nd great-grandmothers. She has a quite a lot of information about her life on my genealogy website on her person page.

http://www.joanneskelton.com/p15.htm#i371

There also is an article about events in her life in the one year 1876 on the site.

http://www.joanneskelton.com/e179.htm

From these we learn that she was born 15 Mar 1827 in Geauga County Ohio to Seth and Lydia (Jewett) Hayes. The family moved to Jefferson County, Iowa, before 1840 and it was there she married Solomon Bond on 6 Jan 1842. The family is listed in Marion County Iowa on the 1850 census and it was in 1853 when they traveled over the Oregon Trail to settle in Oregon Territory. They received a Donation Land Claim next to where Halsey Oregon is now.

She and Solomon had 11 children and at least 40 grandchildren. Here is a photo of her with some of her grandchildren, probably about 1901.

When Huldah died 26 Jun 1903, her obituary stated about her:"She was a woman of excellent character, a good citizen in every respect."

An Unknown Cousin in Halsey

Pine Grove Cemetery, Halsey, Oregon

I grew up in the Halsey, Oregon, area. I knew I had some Hayes and Bond relatives in the area since my 3rd great-grandparents Hayes and 2nd great-grandparents Bond were original settlers there. In the early 1900s some of my Albertson and Falk ancestors moved into the area. When I graduated from Halsey High School I had an Albertson 2nd cousin and a Falk 2nd cousin in my graduating class. But I had no idea while growing up that I had any relatives from the Patton family who lived at Halsey. In fact, I had never even realized that I had any Patton ancestors.

When I began researching my family history in the mid-1980s, my Albertson, Falk, Bond and Hayes cousins shared much information with me. I began working on my Smalley relatives from Kansas and learned they had previously lived in Adams County Ohio. As was usual at that time, I began writing letters and corresponded with various relatives. When I had traced back to Nancy (Patton) Milligan, some of the correspondents noted that two of the Milligan daughters had married Gordon brothers. A Gordon descendant (Robert Abram Gordon) had self-published a book about the Gordon family and included sections on the Milligans and Pattons, so some of my ancestors were in it. Copies were shared with me and I began to study the book. Several generations down in the Patton family it noted that a certain descendant was born in "Halsey, Linn Co., Oregon," the daughter of Thomas Porter Patton who was born in Illinois in 1855 and died in 1933. If his daughter was born in Halsey and he didn't die until 1933, maybe my father, who lived in Halsey area from 1911, would have known him. So on one of my visits I asked my father if he remembered a Thomas Porter Patton. He replied yes. He and his father had considered buying some sheep that Thomas had for sale, but then decided against it.

Later in doing newspaper research in the microfilmed Halsey newspapers, in the Halsey Journal on 9 Mar 1933, there on the same page as a Falk item was an obituary for T. P. Patton. The headline stated: "Pioneer Passes." In the article: "Thomas Porter Patton was born in Illinois, June 26, 1855, the son of Mr. and Mrs. James Patton. He came to Oregon in 1879, and has lived in this locality ever since." It also stated he would be buried at Pine Grove Cemetery. In a visit there looking for other relatives, I photographed his gravestone. I suspect that my grandmother Albertson never knew that her 2nd cousin twice removed lived close by. We probably have many unknown cousins out there.

Families Visit Each Other

Often I find it very interesting how the older local newspapers report on who visited whom.

Checking out some of the Falk families I found that in August 1915, nine family members of the Leonard Falk clan from Albany, Oregon, traveled by automobile to Salem Heights to visit their brother George's home.

In October of 1925, Roy Bond of Glide, a brother of Mrs. Julius Falk, my grandmother, came to Harrisburg area to visit her. I suspect he was glad to tell her that the prune ranch operated by he and his brother Perry had a good yield that year.

There was quite a strange item in the paper of December 1925. It stated: "Julius Falk and family, who reside southwest of town, [Harrisburg, Oregon] motored to Roseburg Thanksgiving day and spent a few days visiting with Mrs. Falk's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bond."

What is strange is that her parents had died in 1918 and 1919. I suspect it is probable that they visited her brothers who lived at Glide, which is in the Roseburg area.

It was in August of 1934 when my grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Julius Falk, along with their seven year old son Jerry, went to Halsey on Sunday morning and attended church services at the Church of Christ. Then they had dinner at my parents' home, Lester and Wilma (Falk) Albertson. Wilma's ten year old sister, Violet, had been visiting with them and now later that day she went back home with her parents.

A year later, August of 1935, the paper reported that my parents went up to Harrisburg and visited my grandparents' family on a Sunday afternoon. I wonder if they visited other times too rather than just once a year.

He Used a Different Name in the Civil War

August Falk, my half-grand uncle (half-brother to my grandfather), served in the Civil War as John Krause. August was born in Prussia 11 Oct 1842 to Ludwig and Marianna (Kuss) Falk. Marianna died about 1849 and Ludwig remarried. In 1858 the family immigrated to the United States: Ludwig and his second wife Anna Louisa, August, his two sisters and a half-brother and half-sister. The family settled in Muscoda Township, Grant County, Wisconsin.

August used the name John Krause when he enlisted in Company G, Wisconsin 27th Regiment Infantry 16 Aug 1862, at age 19. His future brother-in-law, August Schrader, had enlisted in that same company 4 days before. A researcher for August's family, stated that August had taken the place of John Krause for a payment of $300. and then just continued to use that name for the remainder of his life. August was wounded and met a lovely Irish nurse (Mary Ellen Sweeney) at the hospital and they were married 24 Jan 1866 in Brooklyn, NY. Later the family moved to Illinois and eventually August and Mary Ellen were divorced. August, as John Krause, died 17 Dec 1915 in the Veteran's Hospital in Danville, Illinois.

It was fortunate that one of August's half-brothers, who was living in Halsey Oregon in 1917, had his Congressman write a letter to the Pensions Department, telling the story of the change of name to try to locate August. The letter was sent after August had died, but the letter stayed in the pension file, so in the 1970s a researcher for the Krause family found the letter and was able to make the connection with the Falk family in Halsey Oregon.. So when I started researching in the 1980s the information was there for me.

The Falks Drove Fords

At least in Oregon in 1913, 1914 and 1915 the Falks drove Fords, that would be Model T Fords
It made me happy when the genealogy site, Ancestry.com, posted a database of Oregon motor vehicle registrations from 1911 to 1946. So I searched for Falk family members in the first five years and found eight entries for them in 1913, 1914 & 1915. All of the entries were for Fords.

In 1913 the only entry was for L. [Louis] R. Falk of Halsey, one of my grandfather's nephews. In August he registered a 1913 model Ford. He registered the same vehicle in January 1914 and again in January 1915.

His brother, C. [Charles] L. Falk Jr. of Halsey registered a 1914 model Ford in June of 1914 and another brother, Henry J. of Halsey registered a 1914 model in January 1915. But by September Henry registered a 1915 model.

I believe it was their father, C. [Charles] L. Falk of Halsey, who registered a 1914 model in April of 1915. That same month his brother, Conrad Falk of Salem, also registered a 1914 model.

I found one more entry during that time period. Another of my grandfather's nephews, G. [George] L. Falk of Salem, registered a 1914 model in March of 1915.

This may not be the typical information found by genealogists, but I find it great information to have. If you want to see more typical information about this family, check my genealogical website, www.joanneskelton.com

A Special Friday the 13th

According to the story told to me by my father, it was on Friday the 13th that the Halsey Christian Church and the Harrisburg Christian Church had a party. My father, Lester Albertson who was a member of the Halsey church, attended that party. My mother, Wilma Falk who was a member of the Harrisburg church, also attended that party. Wilma and her younger sister Lois were brought to the party by someone who has never been identified to me. But he or she had to leave early so Wilma and Lois needed a ride home. They lived about halfway between Halsey and Harrisburg and Lester agreed to take them home. So my father always thought that Friday the 13th was a day to celebrate, since later he and my mother were married for over 48 years until her death.

In thinking about this I began to wonder exactly which Friday the 13th was that fateful party. My father's baptismal certificate was dated March 28, 1928. Among my father's belongings which I found after his death was a group of letters which my mother had written to him before they were married. The earliest letter was dated October 4, 1929. So the Friday I was looking for should be between March of 1928 and October of 1929. Using a perpetual calendar, the following Fridays were found: April, 1928; July, 1928; and September, 1929.

My mother graduated from Harrisburg High School May 31, 1929. I couldn't remember any stories about her dating my father while she was in high school, so that would make September 13, 1929 the most likely date. Was there any other thing I could do to find it that was correct? I remembered that the Eugene Register-Guard was online at Google News Archive, so thought maybe I could check and see if there happened to be any mention of a church party on that date. Eugene is about 20 miles from Harrisburg and often included items from the surrounding areas. After browsing several of the online issues I hit paydirt. On September 18, 1929, the following item was found in the Harrisburg section: "The Halsey Christian Endeavor entertained the Harrisburg C. E. Friday evening. A number of the local members attended and report a fine time." I'm sure that my father always thought that he had a fine time on that Friday the 13th.

Friday's Faces From the Past - O. J. and Lucie Albertson

      Yesterday I posted a picture of the Halsey Christian Church where O. J. and Lucie Albertson attended church.  Today here is a picture of O.J. and Lucie.

      You can read more about them on my website:
      http://www.joanneskelton.com/p3.htm
      http://www.joanneskelton.com/p2.htm

Those Places Thursday - Halsey Christian Church

     This photo is of the church building which was formerly the Halsey Christian Church. My grandparents, O. J. and Lucie Albertson, were baptized at that church in 1928. Since they lived four miles out of town they had waited to become church members until they obtained a car. After 1928 they were regular attenders at this church until they moved to Eugene in 1946,

Those Places Thursday - Halsey Home of John H Bond

       My great-grandfather John Howard Bond was born in 1855 near where Halsey, Oregon was established in 1871. In 1876 John married Mary Ann O'Neal in Lane County Oregon and had a homestead there. About 1894 the family moved to Gilliam County Oregon near Lone Rock and lived in that area until about 1905 when they moved back to the Halsey area. This photo shared with me by Robert Bond, another great-grandchild of John and Mary, shows them in front of their home in the Halsey area about 1910. It was about 1915 when John and Mary and their two unmarried sons, Perry and Roy, moved to Douglas County, Oregon in the Glide area.  It was there Mary and John died and are both buried at the Oak Creek cemetery.  John moved a number of times, still he lived his whole life in the State of Oregon.

Read more about John on my Genealogy Website: 

http://www.joanneskelton.com/p260.htm