Sentimental Sunday: When Santa Wore a Beard Made from a Mop

Pictured above are my husband and I with our cousins Mary Clyde and her husband June, who live in Georgia. Since I married into the Paul family, Mary Clyde has been so very kind to share lots of the Paul family heritage with me. Below is a story that Mary Clyde recently told me. It involves a Christmas time spent in Germany, when her father, Clyde Paul, was serving in the Army during World War Two. To set the scene, here is a picture of Uncle Clyde and Aunt Mary, when Uncle Clyde was still in military service.

Here is the story of the Christmas in 1944, as retold by Clyde Paul's daughter, Mary Clyde.

Another Christmas story was when Daddy was in the middle of the Battle of the Bulge during WWII in Germany - the Christmas of 1944.  On Christmas Eve Daddy & several Army buddies were holed up in a bombed out home that still had the family living there.  The children of the family asked the soldiers to celebrate Christmas with the family which they did.  Daddy said Santa visited the children that night - he was wearing an old red suit with a beard made from a mop and all he brought the children were cookies made with NO sugar (since sugar was in short supply).  The children gladly shared their cookies with the soldiers.  Daddy said that was the best cookie ever.

Uncle Clyde and Aunt Mary opened their home to us many a time when we traveled the many miles from Ohio to Georgia. They loved me as though I had been born a Paul, not just someone who married into the family. I cherish this story, and feel very lucky to have married into such a wonderful family! I can only imagine what the "Santa" looked like, with a beard made from a mop!






































 


Correction: Uncle Clyde's grandson Andy informed us that his grandfather was serving in France in 1944,  not in Germany. Thanks for letting us know, Andy!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: December 21, 2013

Randy, at GeneaMusings, invited us to make a surname Christmas tree today! Visit GeneaMusings to read more about this edition of Saturday Night Genealogy Fun! Here is my Christmas tree made of surnames, including my current last name.

The way I made was tree was to use WordPad, and I centered all the words. I changed the colors of the font to green and brown for the Christmas tree. For the gifts, I used the letter "e" in Webdings font, and changed the colors of the gifts along the bottom of the tree.

Thanks for such a fun activity so close to Christmas!

Clement Clark, Marine Engineer

Clement Clark was born in Sandusky, on December 21, 1856. Mr. Clark lived his entire life in Sandusky, where he was employed as a marine engineer. Through the years Clement Clark worked on several different Great Lakes boats. On October 31, 1911, Clement Clark was issued a patent for an emergency brake. The full text of this patents is available at Google Patents.























On December 10, 1932, Clement Clark passed away suddenly. He was buried at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery next to his wife Mary, who had died in 1926. An obituary for Clement Clark appeared in the December 11, 1932 issue of the Sandusky Register. Mr. Clark was survived by three daughters, eight children, and a brother who was living in New Rochelle, New York.

Tombstone Tuesday: Sheldon White Neill, 1902-1927

Sheldon White Neill's lifespan only covered twenty five years. His name represents three different family names from his family tree. Of course Neill is the surname of his father, J.J. Neill. White was the maiden name of his mother, Harriet White Neill. Sheldon was the maiden name of his paternal grandmother, Catharine Sheldon Neill, wife of  W.H. Neill. Sheldon White Neill was born on June 2, 1902. He died on December 13, 1927 from myocardial disease and typhoid fever. An obituary for Sheldon White Neill, which appeared in the December 13, 1927 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal, reported that Sheldon had graduated from Ohio State University in 1924. He was survived by his father, two brothers, and five sisters. Funeral arrangements for Sheldon White Neill were handled by Marquart and Keller, and he was buried in the family lot at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. He left this earth much too soon.

Major Apollos Comstock

Apollos Comstock was the son of Watts and Nancy (Hoyt) Comstock, in New Canaan, Connecticut on October 18, 1836. When the Civil War broke out, Apollos Comstock was active in recruiting sharpshooters for military service. Apollos Comstock was named Captain of the Thirteenth Regiment of the Connecticut Volunteers on February 18, 1862, and he was promoted to Major on November 5, 1863. After the war's end, Apollos Comstock served as a representative in the Connecticut Legislature. Major Comstock earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Columbia in 1873. On October 22, 1878, Apollos Comstock married Julia Bouton in Toledo, Ohio. Dr. Comstock practiced medicine in the state of New York in the 1870s, until his health began to fail. He traveled to the west, and for a time he was a surgeon for the U.S. Pension Office. Later, he and his wife lived in Toledo, Ohio, where Dr. Apollos Comstock died on December 15, 1889. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio, where Mrs. Comstock had several relatives. Mrs. Julia Bouton Comtstock passed away in 1927, and she was buried beside her husband at Sandusky's Oakland Cemtetery.

Mrs. Ada K. Stippey, 1883-1912

Ada K. Linkenbach was born in 1883 to Charles and Dora (Knopf) Linkenbach. On June 15, 1904, Ada married George Stippey, the son of Henry and Magdalena Stippey in Erie County, Ohio. Mrs. Ada K .Stippey died on December 11, 1912, at the age of 29.  She left behind her husband George, and  four very young children. Funeral services for Mrs. Ada K. Stippey were held at the residence of her sister, Mrs. Joseph Hingerle. Burial was at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. An obituary for Mrs. Stippey appeared in the December 13, 1912 issue of the Sandusky Register.

1863 Map of Erie and Ottawa Counties in Ohio from Surveys by Philip Nunan

Recently I ran into a wonderful 1863 map at the website of the Library of Congress. The map was created from actual surveys by Philip Nunan. It was printed by Fred Bourquin of Philadelphia, and the engraving was done by Worley & Bracher, who were also from Philadelphia. The map shows landowners, and also shows the various townships in Erie and Ottawa Counties in Ohio.  Engravings of several residences are found along the border of the map. A helpful  business directory is found along the bottom of the map. I was delighted to locate several ancestors on this vintage map. My third great grandmother, Lorinda Stevens Sexton Steen was living in Florence Township of Erie County, Ohio in 1863. At this time, she had been widowed twice. Lorinda Steen's name was listed simply as "Mrs. Steen," and you can see her name between the letters F and L in the word Florence on the map.

My fourth great grandfather, Julius House, who settled in Perkins Township in 1815 is found in the Perkins township section of the map. His name appears on the lower right quadrant of the image below, just to the right of the letter I in the word Section.

The name of Henry Milner is also found in Perkins Township in the 1863 map. Henry and Huldah Milner were the adoptive parents of my great great grandmother, Sarah Nodine Milner Steen. The Milner family lived close to families with the surnames House and Lindsley. Of course, my lineage includes lots of members of the House family, and on both my father's and mother's side, my ancestors married a Lindsley family member. The name of Henry Milner is found just under the I in the word Perkins on the map.

Finding this map was just like solving a puzzle. I could see the proximity of my ancestors to each other. I still have questions, of course! How did Charles Steen find his way from Florence Township  to Perkins Township, where he met and married Sarah Nodine Milner Steen? What brought my Parker relatives from Monroeville in Huron County, to Perkins Township in Erie County, Ohio? Had the Parkers not moved, George Parker may not have met and  married Marian House. Visit the maps section of the website of the Library of Congress, to find historical maps that may feature the names of your ancestors. Happy hunting!