Fun with FamilySearch Collage Feature

 

Above is an example of a collage anyone with a free account can create at FamilySearch. The link is:

https://www.familysearch.org/en/campaign/photocollage

My great great grandfather, Thomas Francis Larkins, lived in Sandusky, and he worked for the Big Four railroad, later the New York Central. After he retired from the railroad, he ran a bicycle shop on Market Street in downtown Sandusky. My mom had precious memories of Grandpa Tom Larkins!

Mrs. Alice DeWitt Akins, 1856-1951

 

Alice Frank Bush was born in Illinois in 1856 to William Millard Bush and his wife, the former Mary Amanda Hubbard. By 1860, the Bush family was living in Erie County, Ohio, where William Bush worked as a farmer in Perkins Township. According to pedigree charts on FamilySearch, Alice's Bush lineage goes back to John Bush (1593-1662), who is also an ancestor of President George Herbert Walker Bush.

In 1873, when Alice was only age 17, she married James Lloyd DeWitt, an attorney who would become Mayor of Sandusky from 1883 to 1886, and later served as Common Pleas Judge for Erie County. Judge J.L. DeWitt died in 1890, when he was struck by a train as he was walking along the railroad tracks. The whole community mourned his loss. Alice was left a widow, with two children. Alice’s son Rufus DeWitt moved to Idaho, where he was a farmer. Her daughter Maud DeWitt married well known biologist Raymond Pearl.

 Alice became the wife of F.A. Akins in 1903. Mr. Akins was a widower who also resided in Perkins Township. Mr. Akins passed away in 1920.

 In May of 1951, Mrs. Alice Akins died at the age of 94. She was survived by three grandchildren. One of Alice’s granddaughters became a psychotherapist and author. Penelope Russianoff wrote the books Why Do I think I am Nothing Without a Man? and When Will I Be Happy?

Alice DeWitt Akins outlived her two children and both husbands.  She was buried at Lot 106 in Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio. Both Judge J.L. DeWitt and F.A. Akins are buried nearby. Alice lived through the Civil War, and two world wars. She saw a multitude of inventions during her lifetime, including electricity, the airplane, the automobile, the telephone, and radio and television. She was truly a pioneer woman.

Mrs. Ellen Conners, nee Printy

 An obituary for Mrs. Ellen Conners (sometimes spelled Connors) appeared in the December 5, 1904 issue of the Sandusky Daily Register.

Patrick Conners (aka Connors) followed his wife to the grave between 1904 and 1910. Several children of Patrick and Ellen were also laid to rest in St. Joseph's Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio, in Section A, Lots 26 and 27.

• Bernard Connors died December 20, 1933
• Catherine Connors died November 30, 1938
• Margaret Connors died March 17, 1947
• Ella Mary Connors died April 11, 1948
• Rose Ann Connors died May 6, 1956

May they all rest in peace.

New Exhibit at the Hayes Presidential Library and Museums

President R.B. Hayes image courtesy Wikipedia

From March 28 to June 30, 2025, an exhibit which focuses on President Rutherford B. Hayes' love of reading. President Hayes collected  thousands of books throughout his wife, many of which are in the library at his former home at the Hayes Presidential Library and Museums.

President Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife Lucy Webb Hayes are both buried on the grounds of the Hayes Presidential Library and Museums.

Cannon Townsend, died 1855

Photo by J. Mazza

Cannon Townsend, aka Charles C. Cannon, was the young son of Absolom Townsend and his wife, the former Eleanor  Bowe. Cannon Townsend was born in 1849, and died in 1855. He is buried in Section 12, Lot 8 of Oakland Cemetery in Erie County, Ohio.

The name Cannon was the surname of Cannon Townsend's paternal grandmother, Esther Mary Cannon. Many members of the extended Townsend family settled in Erie County, Ohio, after moving here from New England states.

To learn more about your own ancestors, check the free database www.FamilySearch.org, where many vital records and family trees may be located. In Erie County, Ohio, the Sandusky Library houses a vast variety of genealogical resources, both in print and online, to help you in your family tree research.