Genealogists Beware of "Fake News"

Fake news is making headlines recently but journalistic inaccuracies are nothing new.  Genealogists searching for newspaper stories about elusive ancestors in the 19th and 20th century will need to be careful and search for additional evidence before jumping to an erroneous conclusion.

Here is one small case study involving the Glynn Family of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. James Glynn was born in January 1834 in Ireland. He immigrated to the U.S. about 1848. He married Bridget Dunn probably in New York in 1856. They had 15 children in 21 years in New York and Pennsylvania. James Glynn and his family are found in census records in Old Forge, Pennsylvania, in 1880 and 1900. He died before 1910 given the fact that his wife was a widow in the 1910 census of Old Forge.

Death certificates became required in Pennsylvania in 1906.  Nothing was found in the Death Certificate database for James Glynn.  He is also not found in any of the early death records of Lackawanna County.  The next step was to look for an obituary in one of the nearby Scranton newspapers.  Chronicling America has digitized images of the Scranton Tribune from 1891-1910 but no obituary was found for James Glynn.

Newspapers.com has several other Scranton newspapers in their collection including the Scranton Tribune (1894-1902), the Scranton Republican (1889-1936), the Scranton Truth (1904-1915) and a German language newspaper called the Scranton Wochenblatt (1869-1918).

Two articles were found describing funerals for John Glynn and James Glynn of Old Forge, Pennsylvania in April 1904:

When you look carefully at these two articles, you will see that all of the details are the same except for the names John and James.  I believe that the first article was a misprint and that it should have stated James Glynn instead of John Glynn.  Fortunately, there were two articles that allowed for comparison and analysis of the facts.

In addition two articles were found regarding a guardianship for James Glynn.  It appears that he may have become incapacitated and his wife, Bridget requested that her son, Joseph Glynn, be appointed guardian for his father.

Unfortunately, Family Search only shows the following available regarding Lackawanna County probate matters:

• Lackawanna County (Pennsylvania) probate files, 1878-1885

These additional facts concerning the guardianship of James Glynn help to accumulate a preponderance of genealogical evidence indicating that the death of James Glynn of Old Forge, Pennsylvania occurred on 18 April 1904.

Newspapers Reveal the Character of Our Ancestors

Some of the advances of technology for which I am the most thankful are online newspaper websites. I use these sites regularly for both client and personal research. Newspaper sites that I have been using extensively include Genealogy Bank, Newspapers.com and the Portal to Texas History. Here is an example of an article that I discovered on Newspapers.com last year:

The Journal-Advance (Gentry, Arkansas) · Thu, Apr 11, 1935 · Page 2; Newspapers.com; Downloaded on Feb 1, 2015

The discovery of this article in an Arkansas newspaper is an object lesson in widening your search strategies.  The subject of this article is my great grandfather, Joseph Hanson Mayne who was born in Frederick County, Maryland but lived most of his life working as a United Brethren pastor in the vicinity of Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus, Ohio. His son, Virgil B. Mayne was also a pastor and served for a while at the Congregational church in Gentry, Arkansas. If I had limited my search to Ohio, I might never have found this article.

It was common for newspaper editors to search for articles from other newspapers to fill their pages. The Journal-Advance editor had the added bonus here that the story was connected to a local man of note.  The arrival of the new Congregational minister was trumpeted in this depression era newspaper.

The editor of the Journal-Advance accurately described the full article as long and interesting.  This newspaper article is very revealing of the family history and the character of my maternal great grandfather. I publish the full article here in the hope that you will find some amusement in this story of the walking feats of an octogenarian:

Columbus Sunday Dispatch, Sunday, April 7, 1935 p. 1 with photo. Westerville Minister Walks 13 Miles In Record Time--Reverend Mayne Firmly Refuses Offers of Obliging Motorists. By Hugh Fullerton    

   The Rev. Joseph Hanson Mayne, Saturday morning established a new all-time, All-American record for retired ministers, 86 years old and upward, by walking 13 miles from Westerville to the Dispatch office, in the remarkable time of four hours, 30 minutes.         Dr. Mayne set out to establish the record for which Dr. George Scott, professor emeritus of Otterbein college, essayed to make at the same age.  Dr. Scott failed in his attempt because before he reached Alum creek a large and ferocious dog ripped the seat from his pants and stopped the adventure.      

   The Rev. Mr. Mayne escaped such a fate, and by firmly refusing the offers of a dozen or more motorists who mistook him for a hitch-hiker, reached his destination and delivered this account to the city editor of the Dispatch without mishap.  

   Dr. Mayne preached the sermon at the United Brethren church in Westerville Sunday. Having spaded two gardens in a week besides attending to the grocery store on Summit street which he has operated since his retirement from the pulpit, he decided to show the modern generation how to walk.  Leaving the grocery at 6:30 a.m., he reached The Dispatch office at 11 a.m., making his record official.  

   Dr. Mayne retired, after half a century in the ministry, having presided at a dozen churches from Newport, Ky., to northern Ohio.  He preached in many churches in and around Dayton, was a student at Heidelberg college, and a graduate of Bonebrake.

   He was born on a farm near Frederick, Md., and was one of 11 children. His boyhood was spent on the farm at the peak of excitement over slavery.  He was a young man when the war between the states came, and the farm near Frederick seemed the center of that war, three great battles, Gettysburg, Antietam and Monocracy (sic).  For two days, he remembers, he with brothers and sisters listened anxiously while the roar of cannon shook the air and earth at Gettysburg.  

   He came to Ohio when he was 17 years old.  A friend from his own section of Maryland, had promised to get him a job in the quarries at Marietta, where he was employed.  Reaching Marietta he could not find a trace of his friend or a trace of a job, so he decided to push farther west.  

   He had an uncle, bearing the same name as his own, living near Dayton, and he started there.  When he reached the crossing of the Little Miami railroad near Lebanon his money was exhausted, and he commenced, without realizing it, training for Saturday's walk.  

   He walked to Dayton and started in a general direction toward his uncle's farm.  He was plodding along the dirt road when he met a road wagon, upon the seat of which a man was sitting.  The man shouted:  Whoa!  Are you a Mayne? You walk like a Mayne.  

   It was his uncle.  He went to the uncle's farm, but soon found a job with a neighboring farmer and went to work.  Always studious and inclined to religion he attended Heidelberg college, then taught school and studied for the ministry.  Graduated from Union Biblical (now Bonebrake) with the highest standing in his class, he began his career as a minister.   

   In spite of his advanced years, Mr. Mayne takes a keen interest in public affairs, conducts his little grocery, spades and plants his own and another garden, and loves outdoor exercise, especially walking.  His memory is still keen as ever and he has won some fame as a pulpit orator and and as a lecturer.  

NOTE:  Bonebrake Seminary is now United Theological Seminary (UTS), Dayton, OH.  For further information contact: The Center for the Study of Evangelical United Brethren History, UTS, 1810 Harvard Blvd., Dayton, OH 45406, (513) 278-5817

Bootlegger: Cimino Family Legend

Were your ancestors making more than juice and jelly?
Source: Winefolly.com

"Finding the Roots of Your Family Legends" was one of the presentations by D. Joshua Taylor that I attended on Saturday at Rice University.  Josh is one of the hosts of the popular Genealogy Roadshow reality series on PBS.  The end of his seminar was greeted with a standing ovation from the Houston genealogy community.  He recommended that we develop historical context for family legends through newspapers and local history publications.

I am wondering if South Sioux City, Nebraska had a newspaper in the late 1920s or early 1930s.  I am trying to verify a family legend about bootleg wine.  For a few facts about prohibition, check out this link: http://winefolly.com/update/prohibition-facts/

My dad told me a story about his grandfather, Tony Cimino making wine during Prohibition. Enacted in January 1919, the 18th amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibited the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors. Prohibition lasted from 1920 to 1933.

My great grandfather, Tony Cimino had been making his own wine since he had come to the United States and settled in Omaha, Nebraska in 1909. Tony moved his family to Sioux City, Iowa in 1912 and then across the river to South Sioux City, Nebraska in 1920. According to the story my dad told, Tony decided that it would be wiser not to store the wine in the house any more.  He went out to the field near his house and buried his gallon jugs of wine. Apparently a neighbor must have reported him.  The Sheriff arrived at the house with a team of horses and a plow. 

This event occurred after my Grandpa Dick started working in Sioux City at the packing plant in 1926. In 1930 the Cimino families lived on West Frederick Street in South Sioux City.  My great grandfather's home address changed to  618 West 17th Street but they never moved.  The street name was changed sometime between 1930 and 1940.

The streetcar line from Sioux City, Iowa to South Sioux City, Nebraska was about 5 or 6 blocks from the house.  Tony had apparently buried a lot of jugs because Dick could smell the wine as soon as he got off the streetcar.

According to some sources, home wine making was legal during prohibition but apparently not in Nebraska:

"...in 1916 Nebraska voters approved a statewide prohibition amendment. Prohibition passed in Nebraska almost simultaneously with limited woman suffrage, and with the full support of the Nebraska Woman Suffrage Association. By law, there would be no more booze when the law formally went into effect in 1917."  SOURCE: NebraskaStudies.org

I sent an inquiry to the South Sioux City Library asking if it is possible to borrow their newspaper microfilm through interlibrary loan.  

I also asked if they have any local history books or manuscripts that might include stories about the prohibition period in South Sioux City.

It would really be fun if I could verify this story.

Apparently his bootlegging was not serious enough to prevent him from becoming a citizen in 1930.

1930 Certificate of Citizenship for Tony Cimino, South Sioux City, Nebraska

The Cimino Family first settled in Omaha, Nebraska with other immigrants from Carlentini and Lentini in the Siracusa province of Sicily.  The Omaha newspapers at GenealogyBank.com provide us with this wonderful story of an Omaha winemaker in 1970.

Source: GenealogyBank.com; Date: Sunday, October 18, 1970 Paper: Omaha WorldHerald (Omaha, Nebraska) Page: 30

If you would like help researching your family legends, please contact me.

GenealogyBank.com - Newspapers Galore!

GenealogyBank.com Home Page

I often get asked which is the best newspaper site.  There are so many digital newspaper sites to choose from.The best newspaper site is the one that has the greatest number of stories about YOUR FAMILY.  That is why it is so important to pay attention to the newspaper titles available on a site and the date range of those titles.

ga·lore

ɡəˈlôr/

adjective

1. in abundance.

   "there were prizes galore for everything"

   synonyms:

   aplenty, in abundance, in profusion, in great quantities, in large numbers, by the dozen

GenealogyBank.com has great coverage for two cities that interest me: Sacramento and New Orleans. Sacramento is my birthplace.  I am doing research for a client in New Orleans.  Genealogy Bank has really good coverage of the Sacramento Bee in the 1950's.  That is a period in which I find many articles related to my family.

Here are a few samples of the articles on the Cimino family in the Sacramento Bee:

This is my parents wedding announcement.  This article is packed with details about family members and where they lived.  George William Kelly was my mother's stepfather and Engle True Mayne was her father.  My grandmother, Elaine Kelly is known here as Mrs. George W. Kelly.  My cousin, Christine Watson was the flower girl and her name was spelled wrong.  Mrs. Bruce Watson is my Aunt Joan.  Using the husband's name was very common in newspaper articles.

Grandpa George was a devoted golfer.  I remember his many golf trophies
were displayed over the fireplace mantel on Parkside Court.

This is the engagement announcement for my Aunt Betty and Uncle Tony Cimino.  Mary Frances Lutzy was Aunt Betty's sister.  My cousins called her Aunt Tiny.

Here is an article about Uncle Tony playing basketball in the Municipal Basketball League.  Lou Borovansky was a long-time friend of his.

This article is about the death of the father of my Grandma Macy Kimes Cimino.   Grandpa Dick had been a widower for three years in 1955.  He would marry Macy a few months after this article was published.  The wedding occurred on 2 July 1955 in Reno, Nevada.  Macy is known as Mrs. Macy Bailey here.  I did not know she was married to Bailey until I found this article.  I remember Clayton Kimes in his older days.  He always wore cowboy hats and boots and a big belt buckle.  Mrs. Gail Burns was better known to us as Aunt Joy Gail.  Her maiden name was Irons.  I did not know that Grandma Macy's father was buried in Sacramento either.

My mother attended this shower and she is listed here as Mrs. Dick Cimino.  Our family would visit with the Chuck  Pratt family over the years.  This shower was for Chuck's sister, Marcia.

My mother was a bridesmaid at this wedding.

I have to ask my dad why he did not attend the Senior Ball with mom.  I remember Mom talking about Mimi Nicolaus and Owen Schermer.  Shirley Spencer was one of her best friends from high school.

There is so much here from the Sacramento Bee that I will have to save New Orleans for a future blog post.  Suffice it to say that the coverage of the New Orleans Times-Picayune is even better than the Sacramento Bee.  I have found articles in New Orleans from the 1880's through the 1980's.

Newspaper articles are a very interesting window into the lives of our ancestors.  Check the coverage for your cities before signing up for the pay sites.  If you need any look-ups in Genealogy Bank, let me know.

The Black Elephant Saloon

 A strange confluence of events has occurred over the last week regarding the Black Elephant Saloon. I have blogged before about the "Mysterious Bob Sloan: His Journey from Slavery to Freedom and Beyond."  I used my research on Bob Sloan as the basis for a presentation on Saturday, April 9, 2016 to the Houston Chapter of the Afro-American Genealogical and Historical Society.  Newspaper research at the Portal to Texas History was one of the techniques discussed.  This 1892 advertisement from the Brenham Banner shows that Bob Sloan was the co-owner of the Black Elephant Saloon in Brenham, Texas.

Brenham Daily Banner. (Brenham, Tex.), Vol. 17, No. 229, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 25, 1892; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth483328/ : accessed April 18, 2016), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; 

Later in the week, we watched the online full episode of  the TLC show "Who Do You Think You Are" featuring the ancestors of Aisha Tyler.   Her ancestor, Hugh B. Hancock owned a saloon in Austin, Texas called the "Black Elephant."  The name of the saloon has an obvious political overtone as most blacks were members of the "party of Lincoln" in the 19th century.

Aisha Tyler stands in front of the Hugh B. Hancock House in Austin, Texas

Social Historian, Christine Sismondo, revealed to Ms. Tyler that "politics happened in almost every saloon."  Segregated saloons served as a safe refuge for the discussion of current events.

The TLC show uses academic experts to reveal documents and facts about ancestors.

Aisha Tyler discovers that her ancestor owned the Black Elephant Saloon as shown here in the Austin City Directory.

Curiosity led me to wonder if there were any more saloons with the moniker "Black Elephant." Returning to the Portal to Texas History, a search of the exact phrase "Black Elephant Saloon" found 23 matches.  The first result was the application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Hugh B. Hancock House, in Austin, Texas.  The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, and photographs. Ms. Tyler might find that document about her ancestor of interest.

As I scrolled down the list, there was newspaper evidence of Black Elephant saloons in Brenham, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, El Paso and Houston.  Even Fulda and Hunter had businesses with the name Black Elephant.  There were so many "Black Elephants" that it seemed that someone had developed a franchise for the "brand."

A Google search revealed that the material culture from these saloons are valuable and rare. The "Black Elephant" collectibles included an old bottle, a trade token and a letter.

Here are some of the articles and images that I found that referenced Black Elephant:

El Paso International Daily Times (El Paso, Tex.), Vol. 12, No. 291, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 21, 1892,  (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth580178/ : accessed April 18, 2016), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu

The Black Elephant saloon in Houston was on the corner of Milam and Preston streets.
The Galveston Daily News. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 44, No. 161, Ed. 1 Friday, October 2, 1885, Sequence: 3 | The Portal to Texas History

The Sunday Gazetteer. (Denison, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 38, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 13, 1884, Sequence: 1 | 
The Portal to Texas History

The San Antonio bartender opened fire with a derringer.
The Houston Post. (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 29, No. 327, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 24, 1915, Sequence: 4 | 
The Portal to Texas History

The Black Elephant hotel in Fulda, Texas is mentioned here.
The Seymour News (Seymour, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, April 27, 1900, Sequence: 4 | 
The Portal to Texas History

This old bottle from the Black Elephant in San Antonio was described as a "picnic flask."
http://www.antique-bottles.net/showthread.php?686221-Black-Elephant-Saloon-picnic-flask-from-Texas

This token collector offered an extensive provenance with his Ft. Worth trade token.http://tokencatalog.com

Rusk Street in Fort Worth was the center of prostitution, gambling & saloons in Hell's Half Acre and the street was renamed Commerce Street in 1917 due to the bad reputation. 

"For foul filth, nothing in the Acre can compare with the Black Elephant." Ft Worth Record Dec 30, 1906 cited in Richard Selcer: "Legendary Watering Holes. The Saloons That Made Texas Famous," Page 281 note 13

The 1902-1904 City Directory of  Ft. Worth, Texas shows MONT DAVIS (c) running his Saloon at 1407 RUSK - Richard Burns (c) was his bartender in 1904 - Richard Burns had also been a Porter at the White Elephant Saloon in 1885. By 1902 he was a bartender at the Gray Mule Saloon run by Lucius R. Gillespie (c) at 110 E. 9th. ~ per John Byars

The (c) abbreviation in the early city directories identifies the African Americans (colored).

[ca. 1900] The right facade of the Black Elephant Saloon at theintersection of Flores and Nueva streets, San Antonio, Texas. Black and white. San Antonio Conservation Societyhttps://www.pinterest.com/pin/494410865316205577/

Letterhead from the "Black Elephant Saloon" in San Antonio, Texas. Dated October 26, 1893.

The letterhead shows P. Magadieu as Proprietor. Dealer in Wines, Liquors and Cigars; "Old Kentucky Bourbon Whisky a Specialty".  The saloon was located at 137 South Flores, corner West Nueva, one block south of Military Plaza. The letter is signed by Paul Magadieu, the Proprietor of the saloon. The letter is written in the French language which indicates that the proprietor of this saloon was white.  Did he cater to African Americans?

The auction site also listed the following:
Condition: Very Good
http://collectibles.bidstart.com/1893-Letterhead-Black-Elephant-Saloon-San-Antonio-Texas-/16748408/a.html
BIN Price $30.00
Time Left: Closed Sun Dec-19-2010
This User is Not Active Or Suspended

Here is another newspaper article that references the term "black elephant" as a metaphor for black suffrage and the black political office holders that resulted in Washington, D.C.

Negro suffrage is described in this 1874 U.S. Senate debate as a "curse."
The Galveston Daily News. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 300, Ed. 1 Tuesday, December 22, 1874, Sequence: 2 | The Portal to Texas History

It would be interesting to find out if African American saloons in other states besides Texas used the name "Black Elephant."  The Oklahoma newspaper site shows the term used in several articles in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

Guthrie Daily Leader. (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 15, No. 98, Ed. 1, Tuesday, March 27, 1900, Sequence: 8 |
The Gateway to Oklahoma History

The terminology in this article leads me to believe that there may have been a trade sign with an elephant symbol in front of the "Black Elephant" in Guthrie.  

The bottom line is that many businesses in at least two states were known as the "Black Elephant." The saloon in Fort Worth was established in 1885 by West Mayweather, a black saloon keeper. He opened the Black Elephant on the opposite end of Main Street from the White Elephant which was founded a year earlier. Richard Selcer on page 276 of his book "A History of Fort Worth in Black & White," states that "whites could patronize the Black Elephant but never vice versa."   Much more needs to be written about the history of these early businesses in the African American communities.

Women Ancestors- Newspaper Revelations

We continue to celebrate Women's History Month by focusing on recent revelations from the California Digital Newspaper Collection.

Last November I wrote about my great grandmother, Mae Moss, 1882-1963, as my "brickwall ancestor."  You can read that article here: LINK  I mentioned in that article that Mae resided in the Sacramento "Orphan Asylum" from 1892 to 1897.

Her great grandchildren myself included always knew her as "Grandma Mae."  Her maiden name was  "Mae Moss."  I recently found several articles from the Sacramento Record Union under the spelling "May Moss" that note her participation in school programs at the Orphan Asylum. A useful technique when searching in book indices and digital databases is to consider all of the possibilities for alternate spellings of the names of your ancestors.

Here is the full page from the Sacramento Union which shows with yellow highlights that there were two columns naming students participating in activities celebrating Washington's Birthday in 1896:

Sacramento Daily Record-Union, Friday, February 21, 1896, page 3
California Digital Newspaper Collection
http://cdnc.ucr.edu/

The title of the article and opening paragraphs explain that all of the city schools had been directed to participate:

May Moss participated in a flag exercise conducted at the Orphan Asylum School:

Similar celebrations were held for Memorial Day in 1896:

Sacramento Daily Record-Union, Friday, May 29, 1896, page 4
California Digital Newspaper Collection
http://cdnc.ucr.edu/

May Moss performed the song "Dead Comrades" at the Sacramento Orphan Asylum School on Friday, May 29, 1896 during the Memorial Day celebration.

The following year, May Moss is listed as a performer in a school program celebrating Independence Day at the Sutter Grammar School in Sacramento:

Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 93, Number 194, 2 July 1897, Page 4

It appears that school sessions continued into July in Sacramento in 1897 which was surprising.  The school officials moved the time of the performances up to 9:30 AM rather than 10:00 AM in "view of the possibility of the weather being hot."  It is also interesting to note that May Moss was the first solo performer which would indicate that she had a good voice.  Another notable fact is that May is now attending Sutter Grammar School rather than the Orphan Asylum School.

Apparently, the school year ended in July rather than June because May Moss was again listed in a newspaper article regarding school promotions in the Sacramento Daily Union on the 14th of July 1897.  May Moss was promoted from the Sixth Grade at Sutter Grammar School.  According to the orphanage records, Mae Moss was about 15 years old at the time which seems a little old to be in sixth grade but not inconceivable.  In Mae's own account of her age in her Social Security application, she would have been about 12 years old which seems to fit better with a sixth grader.

The records of the Sacramento Orphan Asylum show that her mother removed Grandma Mae from the orphanage less than a month later on August 4, 1897 without permission from the board.

Now that I have Sacramento and San Francisco newspapers to search, I am starting to get more pieces of Grandma Mae's "ancestor puzzle."  These news articles provide a fascinating view into her life over 100 years ago.  While the "brickwall" isn't exactly tumbling down, hopefully, there will be more puzzle pieces discovered in the near future.