Mrs. J. R. Shipman In the Newspaper

Yesterday (May 10th) I wrote about my 2nd great-grandmother, Lucy Jane Chase, who married Joshua Rodney (J. R.) Shipman. She appeared in the Goodland Republic newspaper from Goodland Kansas as Mrs. J. R. Shipman. A portion of this newspaper has been digitized and placed on the Library of Congress Chronicling America website. I found entries for her from 1898 through 1903.

It appears that the paper had local correspondents who reported what was going on in the community. In 1898 she was found under the headline New Liberty Notes. We can learn that Lucy Jane had been quite ill in the middle of May, but was improving. Many of the notations were about who visited whom. In June the Shipmans visited the L.F. Smalley home (Rosa was their daughter) and the C.C. Kipps family.

By 1900 the headline was Edson. Several of the times when Lucy Jane was mentiioned, it was due to illness. Among her ailments were: a severe attack of pleurisy, rheumatism, and a severe attack of neuralgia. This last one required Dr. Smith to come out to their home.

But more of the articles were who visited them and who they visited. Among others in the community who were mentioned were Mr. and Mrs. William Dubre, Mrs. L. F. Smalley, Mrs. J. Bobbitt, Mrs. J. W. Gogan, Mrs. G. L. Calvert, Mr. and Mrs. John Reed, Mrs. Morey, Mrs. C. W. Sigman, Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Austin.

They also went fishing. The Shipmans and the Dubres went down to the Smoky (River) on a Thursday and returned home on Saturday. They reported plenty of fishing, but few fish.

The last article I found for her was in Oct 1903 at Edson: "The quilting at Mrs. J. R. Shipman's Monday was well attended, about 17 of her friends being present, and a very enjoyable time was had."

I truly enjoy reading about the daily lives of my family. It seemed that although she had aches and pains as many of us older people do, she still was able to visit with friends and neighbors and even hosted a quilting party.

Busey School Was in the News in the 1920s

Yesterday (12 Feb 2017) I posted a photo of the students at Busey School in 1923. Busey School, District 44, was located about three miles north of Harrisburg, Oregon. Because Harrisburg is located between the cities of Eugene and Albany, I was able to find some mentions of the school in both Eugene and Albany newspapers.

In February 1923, eight months before the photo, Busey dedicated a new school building with a community supper and some outside speakers, including Mrs. Edna Geer, the Linn County School Superintendent. It had cost more than $2000, covered by interest-bearing warrants. The article concluded with a new fact for me. My grandfather, J. A. Falk, was a member of the school board. A month after the photo was taken, in November of 1923, a newspaper reported that the pupils "enjoyed a Hallowe'én frolic that evening. The ghost, witch and jack o'lantern featured."

The papers usually noted who the teachers were at the school:

1922-23 -- Miss Bess Jones

1923-24 -- Miss Jennie Reed

1924-25 -- Miss Mildred or Margaret Martin

1928-29 -- Mrs. Vernita Cooley

It was in May 1925 when the results of the Linn County Dental Essay Contest were announced. The winner of the division for 5th & 6th grades in rural districts was my aunt, Lois Falk, a sixth grader. The paper announced in June 1925 that District 44 had one student who had passed the 8th grade examination on the first try and so graduated: my mother, Wilma Falk.

The next spring in April of 1926, Busey School children entertained their parents with an Easter program. They also enjoyed the new volleyball and flag there, which they had earned by selling pencils. At the last day of school in May of 1926 the Lake Creek and Busey schools celebrated together at the Busey school grounds.

In June of 1927, four of the students from the photo graduated from the 8th grade: Lois Falk, Samuel Brock, Merle Cook and Ralph Wilbert. June of 1929 reported that two students from Busey had passed the 8th grade exam: Helen Cook and George Hargett. So together with the newspapers and the photo you can put faces with some of the names.

My Mother Went to Busey School

Busey School, 17 Oct 1923

Back row (left to right): Jennie Reed (teacher), Ralph Wilbert, Sam Brock, Merle Cook, Wilma Falk, Wayne Brock, Silas Hargett

Front row (left to right): George Hargett, Lois Falk, Helen Cook, Pauline Marts, Dica Brock, Helen Wilbert

I am very thankful for this photo, which was shared with me by Helen (Helen Cook in the photo). I attended my Aunt Lois' 80th birthday party and met one of her friends, Helen. I explained how I was related to Lois and Helen told me she had a photo from their school days which included my Mother. Then she offered to get me a copy, which she did along with the identification of those in the photo. There are some things we can't give enough thanks for.

Triple Jump Ancestors

Ancestors of Joanne (Albertson) Skelton

Born, Married & Died in Different States

Generation	Name	Born	Married	Died
3	Oran J Albertson	Iowa	Kansas	Oregon
4	Nathan E Albertson	Indiana	Iowa	Kansas
4	Lafe Smalley	Ohio	Nebraska	Kansas
4	Rosa Ella Shipman	Illinois	Nebraska	Kansas
5	Benjamin Albertson	North Carolina	Indiana	Missouri ??
5	Sabina Marsh	Ohio	Indiana	Kansas
5	Rebecca Hartley	Ohio	Indiana	Kansas
5	Lucy Jane Chase	Connecticut	Ohio	Kansas
5	Solomon Bond	Kentucky	Iowa	Oregon
5	Huldah Hayes	Ohio	Iowa	Oregon
5	Commodore Perry O'Neal	Indiana	Iowa	Oregon
5	Margaret J England	Illinois	Iowa	Oregon
6	Elias Marsh	New Jersey	Ohio	Indiana
6	Edith Townsend	Pennsylvania	Ohio	Indiana
6	Isaac Hockett	North Carolina	Ohio	Iowa
6	Sarah Frazier	North Carolina	Ohio	Iowa
6	Joseph L. Shipman	Connecticut	Ohio	Michigan
6	Sarah Chastain	Virginia	Kentucky	Washington
6	Seth Hayes	New York	Ohio	Oregon
6	Lydia Jewett	New Hampshire	Ohio	Oregon
6	William L England	Kentucky	Tennessee	Oregon
6	Mary Jane Walker	South Carolina	Tennessee	Oregon
7	Solomon Bond	North Carolina	Kentucky	Iowa
7	Joseph England	Maryland	Kentucky	Missouri
7	Mary Reed	Virginia	Kentucky	Missouri

To read more about these individuals look on my genealogy website:

www.joanneskelton.com

Ruth A. Reed, a 2nd Cousin

Researching a 2nd Cousin, Ruth A. Reed

My second cousin, Ruth A. Reed, was born on 28 December 1920. I have only her name posted on her mother's page on my website, since I am unsure if she is living. See this page
http://www.joanneskelton.com/p625.htm
So I decided I need to see what more I could find out about Ruth.
I began by doing a general search on Ancestry.com. I found her on the 1940 and 1930 census living with her parents, Earl and Ellen (Ward) Reed. Then I realized that I already had that information while researching her mother, although it is not yet entered into my software so doesn't yet show on my website.
While checking some of the compiled family trees I discovered that someone had entered Ruth's sister, Faith, and showed who Faith had married, George Eden. Then I found that both George and Faith were deceased and were both listed on the Minnesota Death Index. So here is more information to enter. Doing a followup on that information led me to Find A Grave and the double stone for George and Faith is in Harrison Township Cemetery, Swea City, Iowa. It appears they had lived in both Iowa and Minnesota.
Since I believed Ruth was born in Iowa I found that FamilySearch.org has a database of Iowa County Births from 1880-1935. I did a search for just their surname Reed for Kossuth County, Iowa and 4 of Earl and Ellen's children were listed including their middle names.
But I really wanted to determine if Ruth was still alive. Since I didn't know if or who she had married I was at a standstill. I used the Death Records website by Joe Beine and checked for Minnesota obituaries and found that Southern Minnesota Historical Center in Mankato, Minnesota had an obituary index online which covered Blue Earth County. Ruth's mother is listed in this index for 1971, so now I must send a copy request with the appropriate fee to them and hopefully it will list Ruth as a survivor and I can learn her married name and then do further research.
In the meantime I have information from the census, death records and birth records to enter.