Monday, February 26, 2007

Trying to Catch Up!

I'm a week late getting to the latest edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. All of the posts were great and I have several new resources to check out.

As always, Jasia has picked an interesting topic for the next Carnival.

And now it's time to Call for submissions! The topic for the next Carnival of Genealogy will be: Shelter from the storm, stories of the home and hearth. Is there a haunted house in your family? Did one of your ancestors live on a boat? Did you research your grandparents' home and find that someone famous once lived there? Did your family share a hunting cabin or cottage at the lake? What have you learned about Aunt Millie's house from census records? Was a family member's home destroyed by fire, flood, tornado, or a hurricane? It's time to tell all about your family's abode! Write your blog post and submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. The deadline for submissions for the next edition will be February 28, 2007. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

More Kelly Photos

Mary Kelly (my grandmother) in the center. I'm not sure who the other four girls are, she only had two sisters. I'm fairly sure it was taken on Metcalf St. I originally thought it was taken prior to her marriage, sometime between 1917 & 1922 but then I found the next picture.


1926. In this picture Mary is clearly wearing the same dress and is with her husband, Kimberly Powell Berry and son, Harvey Gordon Berry who was born June 1926. This photo is labeled Ottawa.


Isabella White Kelly (my great-grandmother, Mary's mother) Not sure of the year, Again I think this was taken at the Metcalf St. address. 1926? 1936?


1936. Ottawa. Isabella White Kelly with grandson, Thomas Kimberly Berry. Her only granddaughter is in the back ground (not identified here as she is still living.)


Isabella White Kelly 1949. I'm not sure if this was taken in Ottawa or Syracuse.


1949. Taken same day. left to right - Isabelle Kelly McKinstry (daughter of Isabella), Kimberly Powell Berry (My grandfather, husband of Mary Kelly Berry), Isabella, Mary Kelly Berry, (I think) David Gordon McKinstry (husband of Isabelle)


1949. In this one Kim Berry took the picture. The new man in the picture I believe to be a son of Isabella but I have no idea which one. Since there is no wife in the picture it could be Philip, as far as I know he never married. It could be Mary's twin, Sandy, I don't know when his wife, Honoreen died. But it could be James and his wife, Ida, simply wasn't there at the time.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Top 5 Tips - Upstate New York

Top 5 tips for online research in Upstate New York.
  1. NYgenweb - Some counties have more information than others but when searching in Upstate New York this is where I aways start. Most counties have handy search this site features but do not rely on them. Poke around for links that may be off site and not covered by the search.
  2. The Making of America (MOA) collection at Cornell University. Lots of NY information also at the MOA collection at the University of Michigan. I wrote about these collections here.
  3. Old Fulton NY Postcards - Do not overlook the wealth of information here. The papers are not limited to Fulton or even Oswego County. There are many other resources available here too. For more information see what I wrote here.
  4. New York State Historical Literature Collection at Cornell University. Your ancestor may well be mentioned in one of the scanned books but I use this site to brush up on my history. There are many County, Town and Village histories here. The site is searchable. This is a list of Upstate sites but I will mention that you will also find Abstracts of wills on file in the Surrogate's Office, City of New York here also. These abstracts include wills of persons who lived between New York and Albany in the 1700's.
  5. New York State History Net - Links, links and more links. Links to Historical Societies around the state. Erie Canal links. Email address to individual Historians from around the State. And much more.

Thursday, February 8, 2007

George H Kelly Divorce

Divorce was still a big deal in 1899. I'm glad mine didn't make the papers!

Watertown Herald, Saturday April 1, 1899, pg 1

Jennie L. Kelly, of Syracuse, has been given a decree of divorce from her unfaithful spouse, George H. Kelly, who resides in Adams. This parties were married in Ellis village in August 1885 and have two children, Eva and Nina, whose custody has been awarded to the mother. Bert Hall and Henry Stevens, of Adams, gave the principle testimony for Mrs. Kelly.

The Sunday Herald, Syracuse, April 26, 1899, pg 21, col 5
There was another divorce case tried which had less color but more evidence. It was brought by Jennie L. Kelly, a careworn-looking woman, against George H. Kelly, who is said to be living with another woman in Adams, Jefferson county. The plaintiff now lives at No. 513 (313?) Croton street, this city. She testified that she had not forgiven her husband. There are two children in the case, aged 13 and 11, both of whom are with their mother.

"Bert" Hall a very young man and Henry Stephens, a very old man, furnished the realism. Stephens said that for seventy years he had been a policeman, Constable, Sheriff's officer, contractor and bus driver at Adams. He had seen considerable of Kelly's relations with "Lib" Smith who used to be "Lib" Wheeler, and it was his evidence that made Mrs. Kelly free, Justice Wright ordering a decree in her favor.

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Midnight Confession

Janet at The Art of Getting By, has an interesting TITMT question this week.

If you could have heard the deathbed confession of one person from history, who would you pick and why?

I would have to pick Captain Daniel Carlisle, cashiered revolutionary patriot. You've never heard of him? Let me fill you in a bit.

Daniel was born in Harvard, MA 30 Oct 1738 to Irish (or Scottish) immigrants, David & Leatis Carlisle. The family moved around a bit and eventually ended up in Cheshire County, New Hampshire.

When the Revolution started he signed up and was a private in Col. Reed's regiment at Bunker Hill. January 20, 1776, the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted to raise one regiment of soldiers forthwith. This regiment consisted of eight companies and was placed under the command of Colonel Timothy Bedell to reinforce the Northern Continental army. The second Company of this regiment was commanded by Captain Daniel Carlisle, of Westmoreland.

Capt. Carlisle ended up at Lake Champlain where his commanding officer sent him to hunt up some boats to get his men across the lake. The British had destroyed all the boats, making Capt. Carlisle's task impossible. Now here's where things get cloudy.

From "History of Cheshire and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire Edited by, D. Hamilton Hurd, J W Lewis & Co., Philadelphia 1886:

"He was ordered to make another search, and necessarily with the same result and report. Sullivan flew into a passion, drew his sword and made a movement as if to strike Carlisle down. Carlisle instantly seized a gun from the hands of a soldier standing by his side, instantly leveled it at Sullivan's head, and, with a firm voice, informed Sullivan to lower his sword or die. Sullivan lowered his sword, but Carlisle was cashiered and sent home in disgrace. Nevertheless, Carlisle was a good soldier and a true patriot."

A different account of the incident at Lake Champlain as found in the History of Westmoreland - "Under date of Aug 9, 1776 Capt Carlisle was sent to get troops across Lake Champlain. For want of sufficient boats to transport the men, he was unable to do as ordered, and for this he was unjustly reprimanded by Lt Col Waite. He felt the censure was undeserved and on the moment drew his sword and would have struck Col Waite had not one of his Company stepped out of the ranks and with a sudden blow knocked him down and resumed his place before the Captain recovered himself. Capt Carlisle was cashiered and sent home in disgrace for behavior unbecoming an officer. He was a good citizen, a good soldier, and a true patriot."

On January 1, 1782, Capt. Carlisle "rescued" Samuel King from the New Hampshire sheriff.

So my questions for my Grampa Carlisle would be:

1. What really happened at Lake Champlain?
2. Tell me more about breaking Sam King out of jail!
3. What stories can you tell of running a public house late in the 18th century?
4. Was your 2nd marriage a "musket" wedding?
5. Who was your grandpa and are we Irish or Scottish?

Monday, February 5, 2007

17th Carnival of Genealogy

The 17th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is up at Creative Gene. This month's topic was thanking those that helped along the way. I enjoyed a couple of new to me blogs - go check them out! There were also a few bloggers MIA, that I hope to see next month - because

I love the topic for the next Carnival! I'm looking forward to learning about some new resources and methods. If you haven't participated before this would be a great time to start! Those of you that have been at this for awhile help the rest of us out! I really could use some help with researching in Ontario, Canada - hint, hint.

The topic for the next edition will be: 5 Best tips for specific genealogy research. Let's get the word out and create a Carnival full of recommended "best" tips for researching in a specific time or location. We've all discovered some outstanding resources in the course of our research. Maybe you've got some wonderful resources for researching in Ireland, New England, or South Carolina. Tell us the best sources you recommend for researching a specific location! Did your family come over on the Mayflower, fight on Civil War battlefields, or participate in the California gold rush? Share your best sources for researching specific time or events. Let's put together more than just a list of resources, let's make it a Carnival of best recommended resources! Think about writing more than one blog article if you have knowledge of more than one area of research and submit them all. Let's see if we can get this next Carnival to go around the world, the country, and the block! Tell us how you've researched historical events too! Recommendations can be specific databases, books, web sites, genealogical/historical societies, collections, etc. This is Challenge Carnival... bring on your best!

Amy Crooks at Untangled Family Roots has started a new Carnival; who is that? As usual, I'm a day (or three) late. It looks like it will be once a month. I have several years worth of who, what & wheres! Lol
"Submit your stories of unknown people in photos, unknown relative and ancestors you can't find, and stories that may be something from Uncle Joes immagination."

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Eliza? Jane? Mary?

I ran across the original of this photograph today and looked at it a little more closely. On the back, written in pencil and hard to see, was Age 81. On the front is Sproule & O'Connor, Ottawa, Can.


Being from Ottawa it must be from my father's side of the family. I am guessing that it is a direct line ancestor but it could be an aunt. I felt I could eliminate all those that didn't live to 81 years. Grandma Lottie only lived to 68 and her mother only to 34. Sarah Lower Ross made to to only 72. Ann Berry made it to 81 but she died in the Shipston Union Workhouse, so we can eliminate her.

Agnes Adam Craig 1802-1882 Dalhousie Twp
Eliza Ewing Hollington 1815-1897 Ottawa
Isabella Craig White 1826-1908 Dalhousie Twp
Jane Rawlings Berry 1830-1914 Ottawa
Mary Kelly 1830's-aft 1900, wish I knew more about her, I don't know if she ever lived in Ottawa
Isabella White Kelly 1865-1951 Syracuse, lived Ottawa

I can probably eliminate Agnes Craig and Isabella White because they did not live in Ottawa but they could have traveled there to see family and had a picture taken.

I have no reason to think that Mary Kelly lived in Ottawa but she, too, could have visited there and had a picture taken. Her son, James, lived in Ottawa and I can't locate her after the 1900 census.

I have pictures of Isabella Kelly so I know it isn't her.

That leaves:
Eliza Ewing Hollington 1815-1897 Ottawa
or
Jane Rawlings Berry 1830-1914 Ottawa

The clothing makes me think it must be Eliza taken in 1896, which would have been the year that Sproule and O'Connor started their photography business (or at least the first year they were listed together in the city directory.) But it is possible it was taken in 1911 and is Jane.

Any thoughts? Do any of these others resemble her? I've never been good at making facial comparisons.


Saturday, February 3, 2007

Labels

I felt my side bar was getting a bit too long and had stopped adding new label categories. Thanks to Ramani at Hackosphere I was able to put them in a drop-down menu and now feel free to add new ones as the whimsy strikes me. Anyone who knows me knows that I never would have figured it out by myself!

Friday, February 2, 2007

Kelly - Berry Marriage

Mary Leith Kelly, daughter of James Kelly and Isabella White, married Kimberly Powell Berry, 12 April 1922, Ottawa, Carleton, Ontario, Canada. Witnesses were Thomas David Berry, brother of Kim, and his fiancee May Jarvis.




Edited Oct. 7, 2007
This picture of Mary and Kim is thought to be their wedding picture. I have posted this picture before but felt it should be added here as well.

My mother just recently told me that the minister that performed the ceremony, A.F. Pollack, was a friend of theirs who did missionary work. That was all she could remember my grandparents saying about their wedding. Kim literally married the girl next door. His family lived at 493 Metcalf.

Thursday, February 1, 2007

White - Kelly Marriage

Isabella White, daughter of James White and Isabella Craig, married James Kelly,15 July 1891, Ottawa, Carleton, Ontario, Canada.