THE AMERICAN FRUIT CULTURIST, by John J. Thomas

Today a local collector loaned me a book which was published in 1860. The title is: THE AMERICAN FRUIT CULTURIST: CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR THE PROPAGATION AND CULTURE OF FRUIT TREES IN THE NURSERY, ORCHARD, AND GARDEN; WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PRINCIPAL AMERICAN AND FOREIGN VARIETIES CULTIVATED IN THE UNITED STATES.










The book was written by John J. Thomas, and was published in New York by C.M. Saxton, Barker & Company.

Inside the book are instructions on propagation by budding and grafting, transplanting, information about tools used in raising fruit trees, and details on a wide variety of fruits. Below is a comparison of several different types of apples from pages 188-189 of the book.

A copy of the 1850 edition of this book is available full text at Google Books. The reason this particular title was of such interest to me, is that in the front it is signed by George Barney, an early Sandusky businessman whose nephew Charles Barney was one of the original co-founders of Smith, Barney & Co. It appears that George Barney signed this book in Sandusky, Ohio on December 21, 1860. In different ink, the word Mrs. was written beside the name of George Barney. Opposite the name Mrs. George Barney, are the words "To Carrie Ella Barney." It seems that Mrs. Barney gave the book to her daughter some time after 1860, by noting the difference in the inks that were used.

Carrie Ella Barney was a popular local poet in Sandusky, and sadly she died in 1873 at the age of 18. The Barney family was a leading pioneer family in Sandusky, and it blessed my heart to see a book that once was held by Mr. and Mrs. George Barney and their daughter Carrie Ella. You can see many of the tombstones of members of the Barney family at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery.

John and Eva McCormick

Eva McCormick (1884-1919) and John J. McCormick (1878-1961) are buried at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. Mrs. McCormick was only 33 years old at the time of her death. Her husband John lived in Sandusky until his death in 1961.

Mrs. Eva McCormick died on January 28, 1919. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Bauman. Her funeral was held at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Sandusky. Mr. John J. McCormick passed away on May 6, 1961. His funeral was held at Holy Angels Catholic Church.









Mr. and Mrs. McCormick's tombstone was created by Conrad Keim. Sculpted onto the stone is a person who appears to be praying the rosary.( Mr. Keim's signature, C. Keim, is visible at the base of the tombstone.)The strong faith of John and Eva McCormick is still apparent today to visitors to Oakland Cemetery, as all who walk by their grave marker can view a sculpted figure in prayer.

Helen Dunn Rhind Watt, 1871-1873

Vital Records from Scotland, available at Family Search, tell us that Helen Dunn Rhind Watt was born on February 28, 1871 in Old Deer, Scotland, to James and Hannah (Lovie) Watt. U.S. Census records for Summit County, Ohio, indicate that James and Hannah Watt emigrated to the United States in 1871, the very year that little Helen was born. Helen D. Rhind Watt died on June 27, 1873. She was aged 2 years, 3 months, and 27 days old. Helen D. Rhind Watt was buried in the North Ridge section of Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. By 1900, Helen's family had moved to Akron, Summit County, Ohio, where her father was employed as a miller. Rest in peace, Helen.

War of 1812 Primer from Ohio Historical Society

Click here to see the War of 1812 Primer . from the Ohio Historical Society. This feature is part of the monthly newsletter series called the Ohio Histor-e-news. At the War of 1812 Primer site, you will find links to more information about the history of the War of 1812, which also took actually place between 1812 and 1815. Don't miss the informative database of cemeteries in Ohio that mark the final resting places for many War of 1812 veterans who were residing in Ohio at the time of their death. The database is a "work in progress" by The Ohio Society, United States Daughters of 1812. Click here to visit the Online Index to Grave Records of Servicemen of the War of 1812, State of Ohio. Once you are at the online index, searching is available by county, name, birth year, death year, and birth state. Did you know that there are fifteen individuals who were either patriots, soldiers, or officers during the War of 1812 who are buried in the small Bloomingville Cemetery in Erie County, Ohio? Check this online index for War of 1812 soldiers in your family tree!















Thanks Ohio Historical Society and Ohio Society, United States Daughters of 1812 for these excellent resources!

Note: Top image courtesy WikiPedia.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, June 23, 2012

Randy at Genea-Musings has challenged us to come up with a Name Acrostic for one of our ancestors. I am not sure that I followed the directions exactly, but this is what came to mind when I thought about the letters that spell out the name of my mom, Joyce Orshoski:






















This acrostic was created with the help of Read Write Think!


Though there was never an F in my mom's name, she was always a lot of fun to be with, and we miss her very much!

Austin J. Atwood

Austin J. Atwood enlisted in the U.S. Navy on June 23, 1917. Austin was the son of Mr. and Mrs. George Atwood of Sandusky, Ohio. According to the United States Office of Information, on October 30, 1917, twelve men from the U.S. Navy were lost while on patrol duty aboard the U.S.S. Michigan. It is believed that the men were lost in a storm in the Atlantic Ocean.

The tombstone of Austin J. Atwood at Oakland Cemetery is adorned with an anchor and a U.S. flag. The inscription reads:

Austin J. Atwood
1896-1917
Erected by his shipmates
U.S.S. Michigan

Northwest Boundary Marker of the Connecticut Western Reserve

This marker, on the grounds of the Catawba Island State Park in Ottawa County, Ohio, marks the northwest boundary of the Connecticut Western Reserve. The marker is one of four markers erected by the Early Settlers Association of the Western Reserve. During the 1960s the Early Settlers Association placed a stone marker with a plaque in the four corners of the Connecticut Western Reserve. To learn more about the history of the Western Reserve, see these websites:

• Article about the Western Reserve from the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

• Article about the Western Reserve from Ohio History Central

• "What, Why and Who" of the Western Reserve from the Western Reserve Historical Society
  

My great grandfather's ancestors, Julius House and Percy (Taylor) House settled in the Firelands area of the Connecticut Western Reserve in 1815. Many of the town squares and churches in the Firelands area look very similar to town squares and churches found in Connecticut. The Firelands Pioneer is a periodical found in most larger libraries in northern Ohio. It features obituaries, biographies, and historical articles about the early residents of the Firelands, the most western portion of the Western Reserve.

















Map of Western Reserve courtesy Wikipedia Commons.

Mom and her Sister at Noah's Ark Ride at Cedar Point

The rather grainy snapshot above is a picture of my mother, Joyce Parker Orshoski, and her younger sister Sally in front of the Noah's Ark attraction at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio in the mid to late 1940s. From 1925 to 1955, my great grandfather Leroy Parker was one of the several area men who ran the Concourse Amusement Company which operated concessions at Cedar Point. Leroy and Ada's grandchildren had the opportunity to visit Cedar Point in the summer many, many times. When relatives came back to Sandusky for a visit, of course Cedar Point was one of the favorite places to visit. Grandpa Roy and Grandma Ada had a small cottage at Cedar Point, so when the little ones got tired from the excitement of the amusement park, they could go back to the cottage for a snack or a much needed nap!

Cecil F. and Marjorie S. Keeley

This lovely memorial found in the western section of Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery honors the memory of Sandusky businessman Cecil F. Keeley, and his wife, the former Marjorie S. Butts. Cecil F. Keeley was born on Kelleys Island, but spent most of his life in Sandusky, Ohio. He was formerly associated with the Sure Gauge and Lock Co., Firelands Distributor, Inc., and the Diehl Brewery. In 1944, Mr. Keeley was selected as president of the Sandusky Butter and Egg Company, which became the distributor of Stroh's Beer in 1964. On June 19, 1972, Cecil F. Keeley died at his Columbus Avenue home in Sandusky, after a lengthy illness. He was only 60 years of age. An obituary for Cecil F. Keeley appeared in the June 19, 1972 issue of the Sandusky Register. Mr. Keeley was a member of Sts. Peter and Paul Church, past vice president of the Providence Hospital Board of Directors,member of the executive board of the Firelands Council Boy Scouts. He was also a member of the Amvets, Knights of Columbus, Elks Lodge, Rockwell Springs Trout Club, past vice chairman of the United Fund Council of Erie County, and he was a founding fellow of Bowling Green State University Firelands Branch. In November of 1966, Cecil F. Keeley was named "National Wholesaler of the Month," by Beer Distributor magazine. Mr. Keeley was survived by his wife, a daughter, two grandsons, and two brothers. Funeral services for Cecil F. Keeley were held at Sts. Peter and Paul Church. Mrs. Marjorie S. Keeley passed away on January 28, 2006, at the age of 94.

Walter and Margaret Tuttle

Walter and Margaret (Scharer) Tuttle are both remembered in the Mausoleum at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. Margaret Tuttle passed away on June 24, 1983, at the age of 70, and her husband Walt died on October 7, 1994. Mrs. Tuttle had been a realtor for the Bayland Realty Company. She was a member of Sts. Peter and Paul Church, the American Businesswomen's Association, and Zontal International. My memories of Walt and Margaret Tuttle go back to my youth, when the Tuttles operated Tuttle's Dairy Queen in Bay View, in the 1950s and 1960s. When my siblings and I were very young, Dad often did work as a plumber for the Tuttles at the Dairy Queen. On many a hot summer evening, he took us all up to the Dairy Queen, and Mrs. Tuttle would make us these delicious vanilla sundaes, complete with whipped cream and a cherry on top. She only charged us a quarter for each sundae! (I think she appreciated Dad's expertise as a plumber.) Tuttle's Dairy Queen sponsored several youth baseball teams in the 1960s. If the ball team won, they would go up to the Dairy Queen and the whole team would line up for an ice cream cone. I am pretty sure the only choices were vanilla or chocolate, no fancy sprinkles or dip-top back in those days.

My very first summer job was working at Tuttle's Dairy Queen. It took me a while to get the hang of swirling that ice cream just right, underneath the soft serve dispenser. We had a terrific crew of teenagers who worked there. The onion rings were so delicious, as were the chili dogs. My starting salary was 85 cents an hour! All I can recall of Mr. Tuttle is that he was quiet and gentle. Mrs. Tuttle, on the other hand, ran a tight ship at the Dairy Queen. Though the Tuttles are no longer with us, and neither is the Dairy Queen, they brought joy to hundreds of happy customers at the Tuttle's Dairy Queen in Bay View during the 50s and 60s.

John and Linda Paul with sonTommy at the Beach

My in-laws, John and Linda Paul are pictured above with my future husband Tom in 1953 at the beach at East Harbor State Park. John and Linda both worked long hours at their jobs, so it is lovely to see them relaxing by Lake Erie on a sunny summer day! You can read more about John and Linda Paul at a previous blog post at the Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay. We still miss you both, John and Linda!













This post was written for the 5th Annual Swimsuit Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, hosted by Creative Gene.

Civil War Encampment at Ohio Veterans Home

Now known as the Ohio Veterans Home, the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Home welcomed its first seventeen Civil War Veterans on November 19, 1888. An article at Ohio History Central states that by 2005 more than fifty thousand veterans had been residents of the Home. Virtually everyone in Erie County, Ohio has known either a resident, employee, or volunteer at this outstanding facility.

During the weekend of June 15-17, 2012, a Civil War Encampment took place on the grounds of the Ohio Veterans Home. Re-enactors from both the South and North took part in this event. Pictured below are re-enactors representing the First Ohio Artillery.

















These two gentlemen portrayed soldiers from Taylor's Battery, Co. C, from Virginia.






















Our grandsons were a bit intimidated when an Officer from the 128th Ohio Infantry asked them to enlist!






















Even President Lincoln made an appearance.






















The Heritage Minstrels played "Dixie" so very well!

















The ladies of the Thomas Neill Women's Relief Corps have been active in events which honor Veterans for decades. Thank you ladies for your many years of service to Erie County Ohio's Veterans!

Lansford W. Hastings, Civil War Veteran

Lansford W. Hastings died on June 16, 1913, in his home near Parkertown, Ohio. (Parkertown is an unincorporated area of Erie County in Groton Township, about four miles south of Castalia.)

The listing in the 1890 Veterans Schedule, available on the database Ancestry Library Edition, provides us with the Civil War unit in which Lansford W. Hastings served: the 145h Ohio Volunteer Infantry. A search on the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors network gives his name as "Sanford W. Hastings."

An obituary for Lansford W. Hastings appeared in the June 18, 1913 issue of the Sandusky Register. His funeral was held at the Parkertown schoolhouse on June 18, 1913. He was survived by six sons and two daughters. Burial was in Deyo Cemetery (called Bowlus Cemetery in the newspaper article.)

Lansford W. Hastings, who was born in 1836 and died in 1913, is not to be confused with another well known Lansford W. Hastings, also born in Ohio. Lansford Warren Hastings (1819-1870) wrote The Emigrants' Guide to Oregon and California , which was the guidebook used by the Donner Party.

Erie County Resident Leads Effort for Repairs at Oakland Cemetery

Click here to read an article in the Sandusky Register which reports about how an area resident has led the effort to see that repairs take place at the Veterans Memorial at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. Thanks to all who have contributed to this project!

Lodrick Brown

Lodrick Brown is buried at the Perkins Cemetery in Erie County, Ohio. Mr. Brown was born on September 8, 1800 and he died on May 21, 1882. The United States Coast Guard's website pertaining to Lighthouses states that Lodavick Brown served as the Keeper of the Marblehead Lighthouse from 1849 to 1853.

A quick search on WorldConnect indicates that Lodavick Brown was the son in law of William Kelly, the builder of the Marblehead Lighthouse. Lodrick/Lodavick Brown was married to William's daughter Margaret. Cemetery records state that Mrs. Margaret Brown's death date was March 11, 1877. Mr. and Mrs. Brown's daughter Eunice Brown Dewitt worked tirelessly on the home front during World War One. She knit over one hundred pairs of socks for the soldiers overseas.

The Marblehead Lighthouse, so closely connected to the Kelly and Brown families, still stands today as a beacon on the Great Lakes. Thousands of tourists visit the Lighthouse every year.

Wordless Wednesday: Rest in Peace John Maschari

Anna Maria Furrer

Anna Maria Furrer was born on December 14, 1879 in Erie County, Ohio to Peter and Susan (Windisch) Furrer. Sadly,she died on June 12, 1880, before her first birthday. Her tombstone is located in Block 39 in Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. Adorning the tombstone of Anna Maria Furrer is an angel which appears to be putting out a candle, perhaps representing a life cut short.

Fritz Frye/Frederick Frey

According to the Ancestral File portion of Family Search, Frederick Frey was born in Wurttemberg, Germany on August 14, 1825, and he died on June 10, 1873. His wife is listed as Magdelena Weisler, born in Baden in 1822. The couple had a son also named Frederick Frey, born in Sandusky, Ohio in 1856. The 1870 U.S. Census for Erie County, Ohio, lists a Frederick Frey who was employed by the Railroad. He was age 41, and his wife Magdalina was 43. The couple had a son, Frederick Frey, Jr. who was 14.

The tombstone for Fritz Frye is found in the G.A.R. Lot of Oakland Cemetery. Mr. Frye's tombstone indicates that he served in Company F of the 107th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System states that Frederick Frey had risen to the rank of Sergeant at the time of his military discharge. A biographical sketch about the grandson of Frederick Frey, which appeared in Hewson Peeke's A STANDARD HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY, OHIO gives a summary of the military experience of Frederick Frey, who was also known as Fritz:

The family was founded in the United States by his grandfather, Frederick Frey, who emigrated to this country from Freiburg, Germany, in 1849, with his wife, and, settling at Sandusky, engaged in following the trade of shoemaker. The outbreak of the Civil war found him so engaged and being possessed of patriotism and a love for his adopted land he enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Seventh Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war. He enlisted as a private, but soon won promotion to sergeant of his company, and as such participated in many hard-fought engagements, including the bloody battle of Gettysburg in which his regiment was nearly annihilated. At the battle of Chancellorsville he was captured by the Confederates and removed to a Southern prison, from which he was subsequently taken to the notorious Libby Prison and there confined for six months. After experiencing all the hardships' and privations connected with imprisonment there he was aided to escape by one of his comrades and succeeded in making his way back to the Union lines, where he rejoined his regiment. He was in bad physical condition, owing to the experiences through which he had passed, and was sent home because of disability, but as soon as he had recovered again rejoined his comrades at the front and continued to fight valiantly until Appomattox closed hostilities. Mr. Frey then returned to Sandusky and resumed his business, but did not live long thereafter, dying June 11, 1873, his death having been probably hastened by the intense rigors of army life.

An obituary which appeared in the June 12, 1873 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that Fritz Frey died while at this job at the warehouse at the Cincinnati, Sandusky, and Cleveland Railroad. (The Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland Railroad had originally been known as the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad, and went to become part of the Big Four.) He had been handling some lumber at the time of his accidental fall. The article said that every attempt was made to resuscitate Fritz Frey, but without success.

So why are there variations in spellings of Fritz Frye/Frederick Frey's first and last names? Fritz has historically been a nickname for the name Frederick, and since spelling was not consistently uniform in the nineteenth century, Frey and Frye are variant spellings for the same person's surname. Always keep an open mind when doing family history research. The longer I do genealogical research, the more I don't rule anything out! By comparing census records and military records, with information from Family Search and the newspaper account, I was able to reasonably determine that Fritz Frye and Frederick Frey were the same individual.

Henry N. Ritter

Henry N. Ritter was born in 1859, to Mr. and Mrs. Louis Ritter, natives of Germany. The 1900 U.S. Census for Erie County indicates that Henry's wife was named Emma, and they had two children, Emma and Martin.

On June 18, 1908, Henry Ritter died as a result of a gas explosion in the cellar of the saloon which he owned in Sandusky. Henry was not yet 50 years old at the time of his death, and he was certainly missed by his young family. A military marker from the Spanish American War is found on Henry Ritter's tombstone at Oakland Cemetery. An obituary for Henry N. Ritter appeared in the June 19, 1908 Sandusky Register.

Henry was the nephew of another Sandusky resident named Henry Ritter. The elder Henry Ritter was the owner of a cigar shop in Sandusky. A photograph of the Ritter cigar factory can be seen at the Sandusky History web site.

Congratutions to Nephew Joey!!

Congratulations to nephew Joey, a proud graduate of Margaretta High School, 2012!! Joey is seen to the left with his cousin Amber, also a 2012 MHS grad. This was the first time that my mom, Joyce Parker Orshoski, was unable to be at her grandchild's graduation. (That is of the grandchildren from Ohio.... She did miss some of the graduations of the grandkids who reside in Georgia.) Mom was at Katie & Casey's double graduation celebration in 2010, not long before she lost her battle with cancer. Mom was such a booster of Margaretta High School, and she would have been so glad to attend yet another graduation.






Here are just a few of the Orshoski grandkids who shared in the celebration of MHS's 2012 graduation.
















Our extended family still gets together often, and we think of Mom and Dad every day!

















GO BEARS!!

Ernst Warnke

Ernst Warnke (sometimes spelled Earnest Warnkey) is buried in Block 70 of Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. The date of his interment was June 8, 1866, and the cause of death was listed on the cemetery interment card as "killed by horse." He was age thirty at the time of his death.

In the register of settlers listed in the book SANDUSKY THEN AND NOW, there are three members of the Warnke family who were considered pioneer settlers of Sandusky: Carl, Ernst, and Franz Warnke. A search on the immigration records portion of Ancestry Library Edition indicates that several members of the Warnke family emigrated from Germany in 1854. Carl, Wilhelm, Ernst, Emilie, and Charlotte Warnke were on the ship George Canning, which arrived in New York City on May 22, 1854. An 1860, a Sandusky City Directory shows a Charles Warnke working as a shoemaker in Sandusky. Charles is often the Americanized form of the name Carl.

While we do not know a great deal about Ernst Warnke, he must have been a brave young man to have left his native land and start a new life in the United States.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Family Traditions

The prompt for Week 23 of 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy, from Amy Coffin at We Tree, and hosted by Geneabloggers, is:

Family Traditions: For which family tradition are you most thankful? How did the tradition start? Which family members have been responsible for keeping the tradition alive and how has it shaped your own family history?

A family tradition that was started by my parents, Paul and Joyce (Parker) Orshoski, is that the Paul Orshoski family would have their main family Christmas celebration at lunchtime on Christmas Day. This allowed for everyone to be able to attend the festivities on the "other" side of the extended family on Christmas Eve. We used to have our own quiet dinner early on Christmas Eve, and then get our best church clothes on and attend Christmas Eve church services, where all the school age children in the family had to say a "piece." I can recall memorizing verses, and repeating them just as fast as I could, so I wouldn't forget a word!

Another tradition in the Paul Orshoski family was the annual Christmas photo card, sent to family and friends both far and near. Through the years, our loved ones could see the children grow and change, and those old family photo cards are still a treasure to our family.

Today, some of us now send out digital photo cards via email or Facebook, and not all the members of our multi-generational family can make it to the big Orshoski family gathering at lunch time on Christmas Day. The tradition still stands, and I can honestly say that except for a couple times when illness kept me home, I have been with members of my Orshoski family every year. The memories are bittersweet, as now our parents are gone, but there is always a spot at the family table on Christmas Day for our ever-growing family!