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. 

52 Ancestors 2020 – 15 – Fire – James Curtis Smalley

52 Ancestors 2020 – 15 – Fire – James Curtis Smalley

In considering who to choose for the theme “fire” I looked at the “aunts and uncles birthdays” for this week and tried to find someone who might fit this theme. It was a little bit of a stretch, but I finally decided to write about James Curtis Smalley. James was born in Adams County, Ohio, which had a rather disastrous courthouse fire in 1910. Of course James had moved away many years before the fire.

James Curtis Smalley was born 11 Apr 1862, the 4^th child of John Wilson and Rachel Ann (Hemphill) Smalley, during the time of the Civil War. His father enlisted in the Union Army on 14 Oct 1861, after James was conceived. Then, according to John's pension file, he was classified as absent without leave (AWOL) from 6 Feb 1862 until 3 Aug 1863 when he was arrested and placed in confinement until 31 Dec 1863. Thus his father may have been home when James was born. John then served until his discharge 28 Oct 1864 when he returned home.

The family moved farther north before the 1870 census where they were enumerated on the census in Clinton County, Ohio. There were at least 2 moves during the next ten years as they went to Illinois in about 1872 and then to Nebraska in 1879. James' youngest sister, Rosa, was born in Nebraska in June, bringing his number of siblings up to 12: Mary, Lafe, David, William, Isaac, Saber, Eliza, John, Joseph, Martha, Fred and Rosa. But sadly it was just a few months later, in Sep 1879, James' younger 13 year old brother Isaac died of typhoid fever.

The 1880 census shows their family in Saline County Nebraska. The family suffered another death as James' 18 year old sister, Saber, died in Dec 1885. It was about 1887 when the family moved again, this time southwesterly, as they went to Sherman County, Kansas. Both James and his father John settled on homesteads in Itaska Township, about 1 mile east of the County seat of Goodland, and received their patents in 1893.

But before proving up on his homestead, on 26 Nov 1889, James married 15 year old Stella Coffman, known as Stella Deatherage, as she was the adopted daughter of Charles and Eliza Deatherage. Their first child, a daughter, Iseal Fay, was born 20 Aug 1890. About 2 years later their first son was born, Earl Weaver. In 1894 the local Goodland newspaper listed James as a constable in Itasca Township.

It was in 1895 that Russell Ray was born, which was after James had been issued his patent. They may have moved south by then as they do not appear on the 1895 Kansas state census. Raymond Henry was born in Oklahoma in Aug 1897. Then death came to their young family when Russell Ray died in Jan 1898. He was buried at Cimarron Valley Cemetery in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma. James and Stella and their 3 older children were listed on the 1900 census in Woods County, Oklahoma. They were probably there when Martha was born in Nov 1900, Bertha in Jun 1902 and Gilbert in Jul 1904. Again I found James mentioned in a Goodland newspaper in 1906, when it related the sad news that his 18 month old son had died of pneumonia. The family was apparently visiting in the area, staying at his sister Rosa's home. 1906 was also the year when James' name is included on the land ownership map of Township 21N, Range 10W on the southeast ¼ of section 24 in Woods County.

But the family did not stay in Oklahoma, for in the 1910 census they were shown in

Hemphill County, Texas, with 6 children in the household, which included Florence Frances who had been born in Texas in Nov 1908. James must have had wandering feet for the family was back in Oklahoma in Sickles Township in Caddo County by the 1920 census. Also in the household was their daughter Florence and Ninetta who probably was born about 1911.

Sometime in the next 10 years James and Stella made their biggest move, when they went west to California. They were enumerated on the 1930 census in Highland Township in San Berdardino County next to their youngest daughter, now married.

So from his birth in Ohio, then to Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, James

died in Highland California 7 Dec 1936. He was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernadino. Stella was also buried in that cemetery when she died about 30 years later in 1966.

52 Ancestors 2019 – 6 – Surprise – Mary Victoria (Smalley) Morey Albertson

When I looked over the “aunts and uncles birthdays” for this week I wondered how I could choose one of them to fit the theme surprise. I decided that Mary Victoria was the closest I could find that might have had an element of surprise.

She was the older sister of my great-grandfather “Lafe” Smalley, the first child of John Wilson and Rachel Ann (Hemphill) Smalley. Mary Victoria was born 5 Feb 1857 in Adams County, Ohio. I have wondered if her middle name was in honor of the Queen of England. Victoria had been the queen for about 20 years when Mary was born.

Mary Victoria would have been 4 ½ years old when her father enlisted to fight for the Union in the Civil War in the fall of 1861. But near her 5^th birthday it appears John may have come home since he was listed as AWOL from February 1862 until August 1863. However he had to go back and be placed in confinement for awhile, until was finally mustered out in October 1864.

When Mary was about 10 years old the family moved north to Clinton County, Ohio, then when she was about 15 years old they moved west into the western part of Illinois.

She was just 20 years old when she married Myron Curtis Morey on 25 Feb 1877. In about 1878 the newlyweds moved to Nebraska, then it was probably in 1889 they moved again, this time to Sherman County Kansas, with the 6 older children: Oscar, Anna, Dennis, Dessie, Herman and Milton. One more child was born, Jay, in 1893.

The family had gains and losses during the next 10 years. Their son Herman died at the end of 1897 and Mary's husband the next May. The patent for their homestead near Edson in Sherman County was issued to Mary as Myron's widow in 1899. It was

26 Jan 1902 when Mary was remarried to a widower who lived nearby, Nathan Elias Albertson.

It was this marriage which caused what might have been a surprise. Nathan had 5 children from his previous marriage, so Mary was now a step-mother. When one of her step-sons, Oran Jesse Albertson, was married in 1906 it was to Lucie Rachel Smalley. Lucie was the daughter of Mary Victoria's brother, so Lucie was a niece and step-daughter-in-law at the same time. Then when Oran's family moved to Oregon in 1911 how did Mary sign her letters to them: grandma or aunt?

Mary died 15 Apr 1916 near Edson in Sherman County and was buried in the Goodland Cemetery using the name Mary V Morey, on a double stone with her first husband. Her obituary claimed: The funeral, which was held in the Christian church, was said by old settlers to have been one of the largest, if not the largest, ever held in the city.  

52 Ancestors 2019 – 1 – First – Isaac S. Smalley

First

Again in 2019 I am attempting to write about family using the themes from 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks by Amy Johnson Crow. In 2018 I did write, using a little over a third of the suggested topics. This year I am planning to write about an ancestor's sibling whose birthday was during the week and who I could connect to the theme for the week.

The first theme in 2019 is “First.” I have chosen Isaac S. Smalley, a younger brother of my great-grandfather, Lafayette Pierce Smalley.

Isaac was born on the first day of the first month (January) in 1866, in Adams County, Ohio, the son of John Wilson and Rachel Ann (Hemphill) Smalley. Isaac was not their first son, but he was the first child born after John W. was discharged from the Union Army at Chattanooga, Tennessee, 28 Oct 1864.

It was while Isaac was still a baby the family moved north into Clinton County, Ohio. They were still living there in 1870 when the census was taken. But somehow Isaac was mixed up with his brother James so Isaac was shown as 8 years old. It was about 1872 when the family headed west and settled in Illinois. Then in 1879 they moved farther west to Saline County, Nebraska and sadly, it was there on 15 September 1879 when Isaac died of typhoid fever, the first child of John and Rachel to die. He was buried in Atlanta Cemetery in Saline County. In about 1886 the rest of his family moved again to Sherman County, Kansas.

You can see a photo of his gravestone on the Find a Grave website:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57452459/isaac-s-smalley

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 21 – Military

Yes, I do know that week 21 was last week, so I am late, which is not that uncommon for me. I had thought that I would probably skip this theme because most of my family did not serve in the military and I had already written about many who did. However, yesterday I saw that Ancestry had added a new database to their collection, U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, so I decided to look up some family names in that collection and write about them today.

I started with Albertson in Linn County, Oregon. There was my father, Lester Albertson and his first cousin Earle Albertson, both listed as Halsey, Linn County, Oregon as their residence place. My father's registration was on 16 Oct 1940. I checked the historical background for this database as given by Ancestry:

“The U.S. officially entered World War II on 8 December 1941 following an attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. About a year before, in October 1940, President Roosevelt had signed into law the first peacetime selective service draft in U.S. history because of rising world conflicts. Multiple registrations held between November 1940 and October 1946 signed up more than 50 million American men aged 18–45 for the draft.”

Although this states the registrations began in November, apparently Linn County started soon after the law was passed.

Next I looked at my Falk cousins who lived in Linn County. There were 10 of them listed, except Gerald was my uncle, not cousin. The first 5 were registered on the same day as my father, 16 Oct 1940. The next 2 were registered on 1 Jul 1941, still before war had been declared. They both were born in 1920, so were age 21 before that date. The next 3 were on or a few days after their 18^th birthday. They were registered near the end or after the end of World War II. Here is a listing as found on Ancestry.

Name	Birthdate	Registration Date
Charles Donald Falk	08 Nov 1913	16 Oct 1940
Leslie Edgar Falk	03 Jun 1915	16 Oct 1940
Russell Charles Falk	05 Apr 1915	16 Oct 1940
Omar Ellsworth Falk	27 Aug 1916	16 Oct 1940
Rawley Lincoln Falk	12 Feb 1918	16 Oct 1940
Everett Henry Falk	21 Jun 1920	01 Jul 1941
Lyman Lyle Falk	15 Feb 1920	01 Jul 1941
Louis Raymond Falk	12 Apr 1926	12 Apr 1944
Gerald Keith Falk	01 Aug 1927	08 Aug 1945
Delmer Orvilee Falk	13 Mar 1929	13 Mar 1947

I checked one more place. Were any of my relatives in Sherman County, Kansas registered?  The answer is yes. An Albertson cousin, Wilfred Glen Albertson, and a Smalley cousin, Lauren Bobby Smalley, were both registered on that first date, 16 Oct 1940.  For these 2, Ancestry provided a link to Fold 3, where I could see a copy of the actual registration. So here are those 2 registrations. 

So, what did I learn from this? Often it pays to check the research databases to see if any of the new records will include your family members.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 13 – The Old Homestead

The theme for this week is “The Old Homestead.” It was during the Civil War, in May of 1862 when the United States Congress passed the Homestead Act. I believe that 6 of my ancestors chose to use that legislation and gain “free” land: 2 in Oregon, 3 in Kansas and 1 in Nebraska.

So who were my “Homesteaders”? I'll begin with those from Oregon. My 2^nd gt-grandfather, Commodore Perry O'Neal, received a patent dated 30 Jun 1891 for 164.53 acres located adjacent to land he had purchased in 1870. This was about 4 miles west of the town of Creswell in Lane County, Oregon. His son-in-law John Howard Bond, my gt-grandfather, received his patent about a year earlier, 28 May 1890, for 160 acres located about 2 miles northwest of Commodore Perry's land. John sold his land in 1893 and moved across the Cascade Mountains to Gilliam County Oregon where he stayed about 10 years before moving back to the Willamette Valley. Commodore Perry stayed on his land until his death in 1919. He had deeded his land to his 3 sons about 2 months before he died.

In Kansas, my gt-grandfather, Nathan Elias Albertson, received his patent 28 Sep 1893 for 160 acres in McPherson township, Sherman County Kansas. As I noted in a blog post about his homesteading last year, 9 Sep 2017, it was located about 10 miles southwest of the County Seat, Goodland Kansas.¹ Before the 1900 census he had moved to another township in the County, Washington Township, about 2 ½ miles west of the town of Edson Kansas.

Nathan's future daughter-in-law's (Lucie Rachel Smalley) grandfather, my 2^nd gt-grandfather, Joshua Rodney Shipman had a homestead also in Washington Township. His patent was dated 23 Sep 1893 for 159.28 acres, located about 2 ½ miles southwest of the town of Edson.

Lucie's other grandfather, another of my 2^nd gt-grandfathers, John Wilson Smalley received his patent 29 Apr 1893 for 160 acres in Itasca Township, Sherman County, Kansas. This was a mile east of Goodland and so was about 5 miles west of where Nathan lived in Washington Township.

It was one of my 3^rd gt-grandmothers who received the patent to a homestead in Nebraska, Lucy Irene Chase (the mother-in-law to Joshua Rodney Shipman.) Lucy's husband Timothy had originally filed for the homestead, but died in 1877 before it was finalized. She received the patent for 80 acres 30 Jun 1879 as his widow. This land was in Atlanta Township, Saline County Nebraska.

Knowing that some who filed for homesteads did not complete the process, I was glad to discover that at least 6 of my ancestors did the required work and were issued patents. Maybe I should also be thankful to the U.S. Congress for passing such a law so my family had the opportunity to be landowners.

1The blog post about Nathan Elias Albertson's homestead is at:

https://joannesgenealogyresearch.blogspot.com/2017/02/great-grandfatheralbertson-had.html

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 11 – Lucky

The theme for week 11 on 52 Ancestors is Lucky. I consider my self lucky (or I prefer the term blessed) that with all the moving my family did, my earlier ancestors were at the right place at the right time to meet and marry and become the parents of my later ancestors.

For example, my 4 grandparents were born in 4 different states: Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin and Oregon.

My paternal grandfather, Oran Jesse “OJ” Albertson, was born in Marshall County Iowa in 1882, but in 1887 the family moved to a homestead in Sherman County Kansas. My grandmother, Lucie Rachel Smalley, had been born in 1886 in Sherman County just after her family had moved there from Saline County Nebraska. It was in Sherman County that OJ and Lucie were married in 1906 and my father, Lester Oran Albertson, was born in 1907. The family moved to Linn County Oregon in 1911.

My maternal grandmother, Florence Edna Bond, was born in 1891 in the Willamette Valley, Lane County, Oregon. About 1894 the family went north to Gilliam County Oregon, but by 1905 they had moved back to the Valley to Linn County Oregon. My grandfather, Julius Adolph Falk, was born in 1880 about 2000 miles away in Iowa County Wisconsin. A number of his family moved to Iowa and then 6 brothers moved to Linn County Oregon between 1900 and 1910. Julius came by 1905 and it was in 1910 when he and Florence were married. My mother, Wilma Anna Falk, was born in Oregon in 1912 and because Lester and family had moved to the area in 1911, they eventually met and were married in 1933.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 5 – Lafe Smalley

Lafe Smalley abt 1910

Today is the last day of week 5 and the theme for this week on 52 Ancestors is “In the Census.” I wrote about my gt-grandfather, Lafayette Pierce “Lafe” Smalley on his birthday on 21 Sep 2017 and noted that he probably was listed on more censuses than any other of my ancestors, 8 U.S. Census and 5 state census, for a total of 13. So here is a chart showing them.

Year	Type	Name	Age	Town/Twp	County	State
1860	US	Lafayette P. Smalley	1	Oliver Twp	Adams	Ohio
1870	US	Lafayette Smalley	12	Greene Twp	Clinton	Ohio
1880	US	Lafayette Smawley	21	Turkey Creek Twp	Saline	Nebraska
1885	State	S. F. Smally	26	Atlanta Twp	Saline	Nebraska
1895	State	L. F. Smalley	37	Washington Twp	Sherman	Kansas
1900	US	Lafayette Smalley	41	Washington Twp	Sherman	Kansas
1905	State	L. F. Smalley	46	Washington Twp	Sherman	Kansas
1910	US	L. S. Smalley	51	Washington Twp	Sherman	Kansas
1915	State	L. F. Smalley	56	Washington Twp	Sherman	Kansas
1920	US	Lafe F. Smalley	61	Washington Twp	Sherman	Kansas
1925	State	L. F. Smalley	66	Goodland	Sherman	Kansas
1930	US	Lafayette F. Smalley	71	Goodland	Sherman	Kansas
1940	US	Lafe Smalley	81	Goodland	Sherman	Kansas

He was born in Adams County Ohio 21 Sep 1858 and died in Goodland, Sherman County Kansas 30 Jan 1946. He married Rosa Ella Shipman 29 Dec 1880 in Saline County Nebraska. She appeared on all the censuses after that with him.

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.

Places From the Past - Sherman County Kansas

I had a number of ancestors who lived in Sherman County Kansas. On 28 Oct 2017 I posted photos of the county seat, Goodland.

I found this photo postcard among my father's collection. It shows a little of how flat that part of the country is. No mountains show on the horizon. The caption handwritten on the bottom says: “Highway between Pa Albertson Place and Aunt Sis.” I believe that Pa Albertson is my gt-grandfather, Nathan Elias Albertson, and Aunt Sis is the sister of my Smalley gt-grandfather, Mary (Smalley) Morey. After Nathan's wife died in July 1901, in January 1902 he married Mary who was a widow. Their farms were enumerated next to each other on the 1900 census.We might not consider that this should be called a highway. What do you think?

Monday Mystery Photo - #9

Here is the mystery photo for today, 4 Dec 2017

This is an unidentified photo from my father's, (Lester Albertson) collection. I believe it was originally from his mother's photos, Lucie (Smalley) Albertson. Some of the surnames from her family include Smalley, Shipman, Hemphill and Chase. But she also may have collected photos from the Albertson family.

It is a tintype about 2.2 inches by 3.2 inches. I wonder if this little boy had his first haircut.

Death Certificates From the Past – Lafe F and Rosa Ella (Shipman) Smalley

I wrote about Rosa yesterday and had an election document for Lafe on Tuesday. Here are their death certificates from Kansas.

You may notice that part of Lafe's certificate had been typed. I confess I have traced over some of the letters, since they were very hard to read. Rosa's certificate was handwritten, even though it was made 8 years later. Their daughter, Julia Everett, was the informant for both certificates.

Ancestor Birthday – November 29th – Rosa Ella Shipman 1863-1954

Rosa Ella Shipman was my gt-grandmother. She was the youngest of my 8 gt-grandparents, being born 29 Nov 1863, during the middle of the Civil War. I believe she was born in Mercer County, Illinois, although some records give the location as Galesburg, Illinois, which was in a neighboring county.

There is a fairly complete entry for her on my website:

http://www.joanneskelton.com/p2.htm#i31

Rosa was listed along with her father on the 1870 census in Mercer County in the household of her grandfather Timothy Chase. Before 1880 the family moved to Saline County, Nebraska and she was listed there with her parents and brother Timothy on the 1880 census which was taken on June 1st. She was age 16 with the occupation teacher. It was just a month after her 17^th birthday, 29 Dec 1880, when Rosa married Lafayette Pierce Smalley. This photo shared by a cousin was dated Jul 1881 and seems to be the closest to a wedding picture that we have.

It was May of 1882 when her first child, Pierre A. Smalley, was born. Sadly he died when about 15 months old 2 Sep 1883. Six months later her son Ralph was born 16 Mar 1884. Soon after that the family moved to Sherman County Kansas where her oldest daughter, Lucie, was born 5 Aug 1886. Lucie was my grandmother. Rosa's next child, Curtis, was born 21 Dec 1888 and died less than a month later 9 Jan 1889. Then came a succession of children who lived to adulthood: Lake 1890, Celia 1892, Marvin 1896, Julia 1898, and one day before her birthday, 28 Nov 1900, the twins Lauren and Laurene were born.

As I posted in September, Rosa continued to do some teaching. Before the 1930 census, she and her husband, Lafe as he was called, moved from the farm into the town of Goodland. She was listed in that census as a retail merchant in the grocery business.

When I was 10 months old in 1940, my parents, grandparents and I traveled back to Kansas and were able to visit Rosa and Lafe and many other relatives. On 21 Sep 2017 I posted a 4 generation photo taken during that 1940 visit. It was in 1944 when they came to Oregon to visit us and other relatives who had moved from Kansas to Oregon. In December 1945 Rosa and Lafe celebrated their 65^th wedding anniversary and a month later Lafe died 30 Jan 1946.

Rosa lived as a widow for 8 more years. My father took a trip to Kansas mid-summer of 1954 and was able to visit his grandmother. She died a little over a month later, 16 Sep 1954, and was buried in the Goodland Cemetery, Sherman County Kansas.

Monday Mystery Photo - #7

Here is the mystery photo for today, 20 Nov 2017

This is an unidentified photo from my father's, (Lester Albertson) collection. I believe it was originally from his mother's photos, Lucie (Smalley) Albertson. Some of the surnames from her family include Smalley, Shipman, Hemphill and Chase. But she also may have collected photos from the Albertson family.

It is quite small, the image about 1.35 inches by 1.85 inches, pasted onto cardboard about 2.85 inches by 3.5 inches.

On the back of the photo the following is handwritten:

September

20 – 1903

Canton Ill

From H.M.J.

Cuba Illinois

I checked Wikipedia and found that Canton now has a population of about 14,000 and it is the largest city in Fulton County. Cuba is also in Fulton County and its current population is about 1200. I don't know who lived in those towns in Illinois, so if it rings a bell for anyone, please let me know.

Monday Mystery Photos - #6

Here are the mystery photos for today, 13 Nov 2017

These are photos from my father's, (Lester Albertson) collection. Each print is 1.75 inches by 2.75 inches. There were with a group of snapshots taken in 1940 when our family visited relatives in Kansas and Nebraska.

The photo on the left is my father. He is holding me, 10 months old, and another little girl. My mystery for today is: who is this little girl? The second picture seems to have been taken in Nebraska. I believe the man in front is Ray Smalley, son of William S. and Nellie (Chase) Smalley. He seems to be next to the same little girl. Who is she? Maybe there are some relatives who can answer this question.

Monday Mystery Photo - #5

Here is the mystery photo for today, 6 Nov 2017

This is an unidentified photo from my father's, (Lester Albertson) collection. I believe it was originally from his mother's photos, Lucie (Smalley) Albertson. Some of the surnames from her family include Smalley, Shipman, Hemphill and Chase. But she also may have collected photos from the Albertson family.

The image is about 2 inches by 2.62 inches, pasted onto cardboard about 3.75 inches by 5.25 inches. I was unable to find any identification of the photographer.

Monday Mystery Photo - #4

Here is the mystery photo for today, 30 Oct 2017.

This is an unidentified photo from my father's, (Lester Albertson) collection. I believe it was originally from his mother's photos, Lucie (Smalley) Albertson. Some of the surnames from her family include Smalley, Shipman, Hemphill and Chase. But she also may have collected photos from the Albertson family.

The image is about 1.75 inches by 2.5 inches, pasted onto cardboard about 3.5 inches by 5 inches. The photographer was Churchley of Portland, Oregon. Historical records show the photographer at the address printed on the photo from 1900 through 1911.

Are These all the same Priscilla?

WHO	WHAT	WHEN	WHERE
Age under 5	1830 US Census	1830	Meigs Twp, Adams Co, OH, hh of John Eakins
Age 10-14	1840 US Census	1840	Meigs Twp, Adams Co, OH, hh of John Eakins
Pricilla Akins, age 20	1850 US Census	1850.10.08	Meigs Twp, Adams Co, OH, hh of John Akins
Prisilla, daughter	named in will of John Eakins	1856.07.08	Meigs Twp, Adams Co, OH,
Prescilla Eakins Samuel Eakins (a boy)	coroner's inquest	1860.02.16	Meigs Twp, Adams Co, OH, home of John W Smalley (son of Elizabeth Eakins)
Priscilla Eakins, age 35 Samuel Eakins, age 12	1860 US Census	1860.06.05	Green Twp, Adams Co, OH, hh of Joseph McKee (married to Margaret Eakin)
Miss A. P. Eakins	marriage	1860.11.25	to Wm H. Adams of Green Twp, Adams Co, OH
Ann P. Adams, age 36	1870 US Census	1870.07.16	Brush Creek Twp, Wayne Co, IL hh of William H H Adams
Ann Priscilla Eakins Adams, age 38 y, 7 m, 5 d	death birthdate	1872.07.30 1834.01.25	Neal Cemetery, Shelby Co, IL (Find a Grave)
Samuel Lewis Eakins (son of Ann Priscilla Eakins)	death birthdate	1914.02.02 1850.07.02	New Liberty Cemetery, Marion Co, IL (Find a Grave)

Are there conflicts which need to be resolved?

What about age difference for Priscilla in 1850, 1860 and 1870?

In 1860 her granduncle Joseph may not have been aware of her correct age.

In 1870 she may have wanted to be closer to William in age, as he was 32

Find a Grave gives her birthdate as 1834.01.25, which would not agree with the 1830 census.

This date is calculated by the age shown at death, which would agree with 1870 census,

so could be her changing her age.

Find a Grave gives Samuel's birthdate as 1850.07.02. But he is not listed with her in the 1850 census which was taken in October.
The official date for the 1850 census was June 1, so he should not have been shown.
It is my conclusion that these all refer to the same person, Priscilla Eakins, daughter of John Eakins and Hannah Wright, born in Adams County, Ohio about 1829-30, died in Shelby County, Illinois in 1872.

Ancestor Birthday - September 21 - Lafayette Pierce Smalley 1858 - 1946

Lafayette Pierce Smalley was my gt-grandfather, born 21 Sep 1858 in Adams County, Ohio. He was the son of John Wilson and Rachel Ann (Hemphill) Smalley. I have written about him more than once during the past year. I generally use the name Lafe for him.

He was included in most of the census series which I did in July. When I looked again at his census listings, I found that he has probably the most listings where I found him in a census than any other of my ancestors. He was in 8 U.S. Censuses: 1860 in Adams County Ohio; 1870 in Clinton County Ohio; 1880 in Saline County Nebraska; 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940 in Sherman County Kansas. Plus he was in 5 State Censuses: 1885 in Saline County Nebraska and 1895, 1905, 1915, and 1925 in Sherman County Kansas. That totals 13 times I have found him in a census listing. His wife Rosa Ella Shipman would tie him, except she was born after 1860, so was only in 7 U.S. Censuses. She was in all 5 State Censuses with him and was probably in the 1865 census in Mercer County Illinois with her parents, but that census did not name the members of the household, but only gave a count, so I can't be positive it was her.

I have posted a couple of photos of him as an individual (11 Jul 2017) one where he was with his parents and siblings (6 Aug 2017) one where he was with his wife and children (7 Aug 2017) and another with family when he was visiting in Oregon in 1944 (7Aug 2017).

I did find a photo that I had not previously posted. It was taken in 1940 when some of the Oregon family visited back in Kansas. It is a 4 generation photo: back row, Lester (Lafe's grandson) and Wilma (Falk) Albertson, O. J. and Lucie (Smalley) (Lafe's daughter) Albertson; front row, Lafe Smalley, Joanne Albertson (Lafe's gt-granddaughter) and Rosa Ella (Shipman) Smalley.

This Is Grandparents Day

Back in 2013 I wrote about my grandmothers for a booklet of childhood memories, so I will share that today.

While I was growing up I had three grandmas: Grandma Albertson, Grandma Falk and Great-grandma Smalley.

Grandma Lucie Rachel (Smalley) Albertson.

When I was born, my family lived on the farm which was rented by my Grandpa Albertson. Grandpa and Grandma Albertson lived in the bigger house and my folks and I lived in the smaller house. I have some every early memories of going to Grandma's house (just across the yard) and sitting on her lap. When I was about 7 my grandparents moved to Eugene and my family, including my younger brother, moved into the bigger house. Grandpa and Grandma lived on Columbia Street on the eastern side of Eugene. My aunt and uncle lived next door to them. Since Eugene was about 30 miles away we did not visit too often. There were two things I remember about visiting Grandma. She had a large salt and pepper shaker collection. I did enjoy looking at all of them. Eventually I would inherit them after her death and discovered that there were about 150 pair. The second one was that there always seemed to be orange slices in her candy dish and she would let us each have one.

Grandma Florence Edna (Bond) Falk

Grandma Falk lived closer to us, but we still did not visit too often. One of the things that I found fascinating about her house was that when I was young she had a rain barrel next to her back porch. Also she had a pump organ that was kept in a part of the house that generally was closed. Since I started taking piano lessons in the third grade I thought it was really fun to get to try to play the organ. But a special thing at her house was a room, which I remember as being next to the living room, where there was a box of toys. It was there for us to play with when we were visiting Grandma and was kept put away until one of the grandchildren came to visit again.

Great-grandma Rosa Ella (Shipman) Smalley

My Great-grandma Smalley lived in Kansas. When I was about 10 months old my family took a trip to Kansas. I can remember seeing the picture of me with my Great-grandma along with my parents and Albertson grandparents. Also there was a picture with her and two of my second cousins who were about the same age. In 1995 we had a Smalley family reunion in Kansas and I got a picture of me with the same cousins. Great-grandma would write letters to our family and according to one of my first cousins she and great-grandpa came to visit us in Oregon when I was about 5 or 6, but sadly I don't remember that. I do remember that when I was in high school my Dad had to make to trip to Kansas and my great-grandma was still alive. He took a picture of her with his movie camera and I really enjoyed seeing that of her at age ninety. She died a few months later.