Sentimental Sunday: Paul and his Twin Granddaughters

Paul Orshoski, Sr. is pictured here giving his twin granddaughters a big hug. The snapshot was taken in the fall of 1982. Sadly he would lose his battle with lung cancer only five months after this picture was taken. Throughout his life, Paul's family would appreciate his kindness, generosity, and his great sense of humor. He had a big heart, and he is still missed by his family and friends.

A Morbid Fascination

Jeffery Smith's blog A Morbid Fascination never fails to amaze me. His site contains beautiful photographs and images of cemeteries and tombstones from all over the world. The subtitle of A Morbid Fascination reads The Art and Lore of Cemeteries and Tombs. The image in the post below features a haunting piece of art by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Two women are seen mourning in a cemetery. The work was done in 1859. Check out A Morbid Fascination to view many more works of art and photographs of tombstones.














To learn more about William-Adolphe Bourguereau, see this link from the Web Museum.

Mrs. Mary A. Walsh Quinn

In the 1860 U.S. Census for Erie County, Mary Walsh, born in Ireland, and age 23, is a domestic servant working for Mr. William Mills, a land broker. The family unit listed right before the Mills family is that of John Quinn. The elder John Quinn was born in Ireland. Several persons are in the same household, including a younger John Quinn, age 20, who was also born in Ireland.

It appears that sometime after 1860, John Quinn and Mary A. Walsh were married. Sadly, on February 27, 1866, Mary A. Walsh Quinn died. Her tombstone has a cross at the top of the stone, with the words: In Memory of Mary A. Walsh, wife of John Quinn. Mrs. Quinn is buried in the St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy: Week 9

A prompt from We Tree, "52 Weeks to Better Genealogy," hosted by Geneabloggers, has challenged bloggers to pick five genealogy blogs and read them every day. The blogs I have chosen to follow have to do more with local history than genealogy.

Since the people in our past are so closely connected with the towns they have lived in, I find local history blogs go hand-in-hand with genealogical blogs.

The blogs I have chosen to follow are:

1. Restaurant-ing Through History

Jan, who is also an author, looks at restaurants throughout years past. The post Taster of a Decade: Restaurants 1900-1910 covers lunch rooms, cafeterias, tea rooms, and a strike by cooks and waiters in Denver in 1903.

2. Ohio's Yesterdays features features items from the collections of the R.B. Hayes Presidential Center. This post discusses a memoir of Johann Gephart Sneider, who came to Ohio from Austria. Other entries have included interesting people, places, and businesses of the Northwestern Ohio area.

3. Tom Glover’s Hamilton Library Scrapbook is a blog about "local history with a personal touch." You will enjoy viewing historical photographs and articles about former residents of Hamilton Township of Mercer County, New Jersey at this website.

4. The Bowery Boys New York City History is a delight! Photographs, historical news articles, as well as podcasts and video links bring the Big Apple to life.

5. The Library History Buff Blog features posts about libraries, illustrated with vintage photographs and images that will help you appreciate the rich heritage of American libraries.

While these particular sites are not strictly genealogical, you will find interesting historical posts at these blogs. Check them out! You will learn a lot about about particular places and people and their past.

Note: While the image of the Sandusky Library above does not pertain to any of the blogs I mentioned, it represents a significant repository for books, articles, obituaries and much more information related to the past residents,businesses and landmarks of Sandusky and Erie County.

Anna Bardshar Skadden

Anna Bardshar Skadden was the daughter of Solomon and Amelia Bardshar, born on Christmas Day in 1862. She died on February 25, 1935 in Port Clinton, Ohio. Her husband was Henry B. Skadden. These facts were gleaned from Anna's death certificate, freely available online at Family Search Labs.

A Google Map shows a point in Erie County, south of Miller Road, and west of State Route 4, where Skadden Road and Bardshar Road meet. Anna's tombstone shows the joining of two families as well as the meeting of two roads in Erie County, which were often named for the early landownders of the property adjacent to the roadways.

Sandusky History Blog in the Top 40

Read this article from Family Tree Magazine to see the voting results for the Family Tree Magazine 40 Best Genealogy Blogs!

Sandusky History is one of the blogs selected for the Local & Regional Category. Check out all the top 40 blogs...to see the cream of the crop in genealogical blogging!

Thomas and Ann Bowser Milner

Erie County Census Records for 1860 indicate that Thomas Milner was born in England about 1797. THE HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY, edited by Lewis Cass Aldrich, states that Thomas Milner and his wife, the former Ann Bowser, took their family from Yorkshire, England to Canada in 1829. The Milner family moved to Erie County in 1836. Thomas and Ann had a family of nine children, but only five children were living in 1889: Henry, Thomas, John, Mary A., and Sarah Jane.

Thomas Milner died on March 8, 1877. He is buried in the North Ridge section of Oakland Cemetery. Mrs. Ann Bowser Milner died on February 21, 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Milner's son Henry married Huldah Westfall. Henry Milner was one of the organizers of the county mutual insurance company. Henry and Huldah Milner were the parents of one adopted daughter, Sarah, who became the wife of Charles F. Steen.