Those Spunky Female Ancestors!

I mentioned Kate Jae Nehren Jackson in another post and how she was one of the strongest women in my family tree. The following newspaper blurb gives a great example of this. Love it!

The Pittsburgh Post (Pennsylvania), March 30, 1888

Note: Her husband, Jacob Nehren, had died the previous year of cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 44.

Related Post:  Family Birth: Walter Charles Jackson in 1890

The Will of Julia Gamble of Saltsburg, Pennsylvania

It's always a thrill to find an ancestor's will, and I particularly love those that list specific possessions. There aren't many wills for relatives in my family tree, but my husband is much more fortunate.

Julia L. Gamble, who lived her entire life in Pennsylvania--both in Kiskiminetas, Armstrong County, and Saltsburg, Indiana County--was my husband's 3rd great-aunt. She was not married and signed her last will and testament on February 4, 1900:

"Last Will and Testament of Julia L. Gamble, of Saltsburg, Indiana County, Pennsylvania:

Item. I direct that my just debts be fully paid.

Item. I nominate and appoint M. Wilson Stewart my sole executor. [This was the 35-year-old son of her sister Elizabeth Gamble Stewart. Elizabeth had died the previous year at the age of 58.]

Item. I direct my executor to sell my real estate as soon as he may conveniently do so for a fair and reasonable price, hereby giving my said executor full power to make, execute and deliver all necessary deeds or other instruments of conveyance to pass my title in said real estate.

Item. I direct my executor to retain $200.00 to be used by him in paying funeral expenses of Mother and brother Robert, whenever such events occur, $100.00 for each. [Julia's mother, Fannie Moore Gamble, died the following year at the age of 89.]

Item. I direct my executor to expend $500.00 for a monument and in improvement and care for the cemetery lot.

Item. I give my gold watch to my niece Grace Shadle. [Grace was the youngest child of her sister, Nancy Gamble Kirkendall, and had been married for a year to John Wherry Shadle.]

Item. I give my gold chain to my nephew Scott Stewart. [Scott was the youngest child of her sister Elizabeth.]

Item. Of my trinkets, clothes and other similar possessions sister Fanny is to get anything she wants; she can divide with the rest of them if she wants to. [Her sister was Fannie Gamble Kiebler.]

Item. All the rest, residue and remainder of my property in possession or to which I may be entitled, I direct my executor to use in support of Mother and Robert, and the balance if any to give to my niece Fanny Gamble. [Her niece Fanny was the only daughter of her brother, John Gamble.]

Item. I revoke all former wills and testaments by me made.

In witness of this my last will and testament I hereto set my hand and seal this Fourth day February A.D. 1900. 

Julia must have known she was dying, since she passed the next day, on February 5, 1900, at the age of 62. Her obituary stated that she suffered from "a lingering illness from a complication of diseases."

Related Post:  Peruse Probate Records

Oh, Foolish Young Love

My 2nd great-aunt, Elizabeth Jae Kuckert, became the stepmother of four children when she married Jacob Kuckert in Pittsburgh around 1877. One of these stepchildren was Edward G. Kuckert, whose daughter would make front-page news in 1919.

Irene Kuckert was born in 1903 and apparently fell in love with Edward H. Price. Their scheme to marry didn't turn out quite as they had hoped:

The Gazette Times (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), March 22, 1919

I'm assuming the marriage was declared null and void, but I still need to do more digging to find out what happened and if her aunt and suitor were punished. It appears that Irene might have been sent away because the very next year she was working as a housekeeper in East Liverpool, Ohio, even though her parents were still in the Pittsburgh area. 

Dear Irene then quickly fell in love again! In July 1920, she lied about her age to marry a glass worker named Andrew Schneider in Lisbon, Columbiana County, Ohio. The marriage license application showed her age as 20 when she was really only 17. But perhaps the event wasn't scandalous this time since a notice was published in the local newspaper:

East Liverpool Review (Ohio), July 10, 1920

I'm not sure yet what happened to the couple but, by her father's death in 1936, her name was Irene Leonard and she was living in Gary, Indiana. No matter what choices she made during her youth, I hope Irene's life was full of love.

Don't Forget Fathers

As we take time to remember and honor all fathers today, here's an excerpt from an article on Newspapers.com that appeared in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle on June 20, 1920:

"In time, if we all do our share, Fathers' Day will come to be as much observed as is Mothers' Day. Surely we are not going to forget the fathers. It is a pleasant custom, isn't it, to put aside one day a year to do some little special thing for mother, so that she will know that her children never forget that she has given them more than anybody else in the world. It is equally pleasant to have a day just to make a little return to father for the sacrifices he makes and the love and care he gives to his family.

Of course, one day for each parent is a sweet way of expressing love for those who cared for us when we could not care for ourselves, but the true son and daughter will do their best to make every day a 'Mothers' Day' and a 'Fathers' Day' as well. For it is, after all, the little things that are done every day in the year that impress themselves most on those around us, and mothers and fathers everywhere appreciate daily manifestations of love, however trivial, more than they care for one big remembrance for a day only and forgetfulness for the rest of the year."

I am fortunate to be spending time with my father today. Happy Fathers' Day, Dad!

Romance Existed in 1884

I'm not romantic at all. If there's a gene that determines this personality trait, I definitely didn't get it. So as I research marriages of the past, I tend to assume that couples married more for practical reasons than love and romance. Especially in rural areas, there couldn't have been many opportunities to meet eligible partners.

But then, as I was searching Newspapers.com, I came across the little blurb above in the Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette dated September 23, 1884. How sweet! The birthday girl was my great-great aunt Mary Jae Prill, and she had been married to Charles for four years. She probably loved her serenade.

Note: The genealogist in me can't help but point out that it wasn't Mary's 28th birthday; she was actually 30. Not that I want to rain on her party...

Portraits in Souvenir Programs

For those of you with ancestors who owned businesses, advertisements may give you more than just details about where the business was located. In some instances, particularly if the ad was in a souvenir publication, you may be lucky to see a photograph of them.

In the 1908 Sesqui-Centennial and Historical Souvenir of the Greater Pittsburgh, there are several ads that include a portrait of the owner. Here is one of J.W. Ruhlandt, whose cafe and bar was located on the South Side of Pittsburgh.

From Sesqui-Centennial and Historical Souvenir of the Greater Pittsburgh, 1908

An even better find is in the 1902 Souvenir History, McKeesport Police Department, which can be viewed on Ancestry.com. On one page is a photo of Braddock businessman Jacob Klaus and on another is a nice biography. Love it!

Neither of these gentlemen are in my family tree, but I hope this post inspires you to look for advertisements in similar publications where your ancestors lived. A search of "souvenir" on the HathiTrust Digital Library website is a good place to start.

Related Posts:

• Bonus Photos in Yearbooks
• A Plumber's Portrait

A Family Death on the Day of Her Birth

My husband's great-grandmother, Gertrude Kress, was born in Germany on June 16, 1862. Although she would live a long life, it's sad to know that she died on her birthday.

Gertrude decided to move to America and left her parents at the age of 19. She arrived in Baltimore on July 9, 1881, and seemed to be traveling alone. She probably knew someone living in the U.S. because she indicated she was headed to Pennsylvania.

Two years later, she was married to Casper Kaufman, a farmer living in Washington County, Pennsylvania. They would have at least 10 children together.

Gertrude became a citizen of the U.S. when her husband was naturalized on June 1, 1911. His naturalization petition on Ancestry.com is a great record because it lists the name, birth date, and place of birth for eight of their children.

In 1946, Gertrude was living with one of her daughters, Mary Kaufman Cowden, in Clairton, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, when she died on her birthday at the age of 84. She is buried with Casper in Raccoon Church Cemetery in Candor, Washington County, Pennsylvania. You can view their headstone on Find A Grave.

Quote about Family

"Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten."  

--David Ogden Stiers