Bailey

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Sometimes people aren't the only family members that make a lifelong impact on you.

Bailey had a huge effect on my life.  He was a rescued dog--a German shepherd mix who was in the most desperate need of rescuing.  Lacking any kind of socialization as a puppy, he shook from head to toe and would urinate if any stranger came near him.  He was deathly afraid of our family the first time we met him.  He wanted nothing more than to run away from everyone.

My daughter Amanda changed all that for Bailey and he changed her world too.  Bailey learned there was someone he could trust to take the best care of him, to love him and to provide him with a safe place to live and a "grandma" (me) who loved him too.

Bailey had his ups and downs on his life's journey.  At first, he tried to run away--several times.  After nearly 13 years, he still shook during thunderstorms and would hide in the bathroom when it rained hard.  But he also made remarkable, astonishing progress. 

With Amanda, Bailey's confidence grew immensely.  He went from being guarded to being "on guard."  I was never worried a single day about my daughter's safety because Bailey was her constant companion.  I would watch Bailey when he was with Amanda.  He kept an eye on everything that was going on near her.  NOBODY would have been able to harm her with him on duty.

Amanda took Bailey to obedience and agility training.  Except for one of the earliest training sessions when he jumped out of the window at Golrusk during class, he loved learning and ultimately earned his Canine Good Citizen ribbon.  Not only did Bailey learn how to behave, he taught Amanda how to train him and every other dog she will ever own--in need of rescue or not.

Being with Bailey made me happy.  He was lovable and he was always so eager to see me.  When I came home I would open the door to Bailey coming at me with a great big toothy grin and his tail wagging so hard that his entire back end was swaying.  He loved me, his grandma! 

Bailey and I had an an unwritten agreement.  I would let him be a dog on our walks.  He could sniff every tree, post, and spot he wanted on our way out on a walk but he would "Fuß" (German for "stay at my foot"--directly at my side) on the way back.  He usually kept his end of the bargain.

Our backyard was Bailey's heaven.  He loved to run, chase his bumper, watch for squirrels and rabbits, and graze. 

Bailey dealt with some tough physical challenges near the end.  In pain, he often preferred to suffer in silence and hid out in quiet places.  He spent long periods of time away from everyone in the house.  Except when he wanted to visit the treat cupboard for his favorite chicken snack or needed a neck scratch from Grandma, he pretty much disappeared in the house when he came to visit.  He had a hard time lying down and would sometimes get "stuck."  But, he would still try to overdo it when he went outside to play in the backyard and would end up limping.  To help him, he was medicated but that would cause him to walk around very unsteadily, almost in a glassy-eyed stupor.

It's hard to let go when something you love is at the end of his days.  I am very proud of Amanda for loving Bailey, for saving him, for giving him the best life a dog could have, and for not letting him suffer.

Bailey will always hold a very special place in my heart.       

             

          

De Wane Family Reunion

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Two hundred descendants of Denis De Wane and Mary Maher De Wane gathered in Maribel at the De Wane Family Reunion this weekend.  The organizers had planned wonderful programs that included plenty of food, fun and family.  It was especially fun for Dan and me to have Aunt Elaine Tracy join us!


Elaine Gilling Tracy and Shirley Tracy VerBruggen

Cousin Dianne DeWane Vadney shared her family history research including this excellent display of pictures and documents of the families of the children of our ancestors Denis and Mary:  Mary Ann, Bridget, John, James, Dennis and Timothy.

My family is descended from the son Timothy who married Bridget Cook.


Seated is Bridget Cook De Wane and Timothy De Wane
Mary Ellen De Wane is in the second row, right side.

Representives of our line of the Timothy and Bridget family at the reunion included Gordon De Wane and some of his children.

Elaine Gilling Tracy and Gordon De Wane

After lunch, there was a family history presentation explaining the journey of the De Wanes from Roscrea, (Ross-KRAY), County Tipperary, Ireland to America.  After Denis and Mary arrived in America, Denis died in New York state.  Mary died in Illinois on the travel west.  The children came north and settled in Cooperstown, Wisconsin about 1851.  

A special event of the reunion was a mass at the home parish, St. James Catholic Church, at Cooperstown, celebrated by family priests, Msgr. John De Wane assisted by Fr. Dan De Wane and Sr. Pat Touhey (Pat Touhey was an Academy classmate of Elaine Tracy).



Sr. Pat Touhey and Elaine Gilling Tracy

St. James Church is where the families of Martin and Elizabeth O'Brien Tracy and Timothy and Bridget Cook De Wane were married, baptized and buried.  (Their children were my great-grandparents Terrence Tracy and Mary Ellen De Wane Tracy.)  Although I had visited the graveyard before on my genealogy hunts, I had never been in this lovely church.



St. James Church, Cooperstown, Wisconsin



A highlight of the visit to the church was a wonderful discovery in the cemetery.  Leroy Verkuilen, a family member, local historian and caretaker, had marked family graves.  Among the plots is the final resting place of Timothy and Bridget.

  

FATHER

TIMOTHY

April 15, 1834 - October 10, 1919

MOTHER

BRIDGET

May 3, 1845 - August 9, 1924

My thanks to the organizers for inviting us to participate in this special family event.  

Remembering Bob Schmidt

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Robert (Bob) Carl Schmidt, my first cousin, once removed, passed away on May 12, 2011. 

Bob lived in Central Point, Oregon.  He was born in 1935 to Carroll Joseph Schmidt and Ethel (Tracy) Schmidt in Green Bay and was a lifelong Packers fan. He attended St. John's Grade School and Central Catholic High School in Green Bay. He was a Sgt. in the Army Armored Division Tank Corp and served as a tank commander in Gelnhausen, Germany from 1958 to 1960.  He retired from the ODOT Sign Crew in 1997. His favorite pastime was golf.

Bob is survived by his wife, Gaille; sister, Judy (Jerry) Thibaudeau, Green Bay; niece, Melissa (Greg) Thibaudeau; nephew, Keith Thibaudeau; and grandnieces, Brianna, Madison and Autumn.

The last time I saw Bob, he visited my home (about 10 years ago) when he was in town to see his sister.  I believe he also wanted to visit Lambeau Field and the Packers Hall of Fame.  He and his lovely wife Gaille came to our house for a barbeque.  We thoroughly enjoyed their company. 

Bob shared stories and pictures of our common ancestor, my great grandfather Terrence Tracy.  Terrence lived with Bob's family when Terrence was elderly, after the death of great-grandmother Mary Tracy.  Bob and Gaille also told us about their home in the mountains and Gaille's experiences working at 20th Century Fox and on TV and movie sets like Payton Place and MASH.

I lost contact with Bob since then.  I wish I hadn't. 

Rest in peace Bob. 

Sometimes My Backyard Reminds Me of Ireland

Saturday, May 21, 2011

I wrote this story years ago, one day when I was looking out my kitchen window into my back yard and reflecting on a wonderful trip my husband and I had taken to Ireland.

Today my backyard reminds me of Ireland.  The trees are fully leafed; their branches--soaked--are a stark black contrast against the emerald leaves.  The lawn is another hue and the wild, natural strip yet un-mowed, another still.  The blue spruce is distinguished from the white pine and the rest of the evergreens.  The hibiscus bushes are beginning to bloom in their pots on the deck.  They add a spark of color to a variety of 40 shades of green. 

Maybe my yard doesn't really look much like Ireland after all.  A robin lands on the deck rail.  Then a purple finch takes a dip in the birdbath on the corner post.  If I sit quietly for a minute, I'm sure to see the oriole that stops every now and again at the shepherd's hook outside my window, tantalized by the grape jelly and orange halves set out especially to attract him.  However, I have never seen a grebe or a razorbill here.

Actually, now that I've sat a moment and contemplated it, why should my backyard remind me of Ireland?  There are no remnants of castles and fortresses, no stone hedges separate my lot from my neighbors' and there are no sheer cliffs.

Although my property has a home that I like to consider my castle, there is no equivalent to Blarney here--no ancient shell with its narrow stairway leading you to the sky, where, to have a chance to gain the gift of eloquence, you may lie on your back and arch to kiss the Blarney Stone. 

Rhododendrons, which we have never been able to winter over in Wisconsin, would not be considered a nuisance plant in my yard.  They most certainly would not grow to 25 feet or higher. 

There is no Ring of Kerry (to be traveled counter clockwise) or a Dingle Peninsula (to be traversed clockwise) with their breath-taking vistas here.  Although my backyard is park-like, there is certainly no Ladies View--the most spectacular outlook in all the land.  There is no Reeks--no mountain ridge--to be seen here. 

My flower pots--even at the height of the growing season--won't measure up to the baskets on the store fronts of the little shops of Killarney.

There are no peat bogs on my property...a little black mud maybe.  But, I won't be harvesting any sod to keep the hearth and home warm this winter.

And, although my daughter's pets do like to graze in our backyard on occasion, they don't resemble the sheep mowing the pastures and hillsides of Ireland.  Bailey, her German Shep is no sheep dog. 

Except for a brief rain like the one that fell today, there is no Irish mist to keep everything lush and growing all summer long.  The lovely green grass I see today will turn into straw by late summer. 

No, except for the many greens of this late spring day, maybe my backyard really doesn't remind me of Ireland.

The Romantic Legend of the Blarney Stone

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Blarney Castle

The Romantic Legend of the Blarney Stone

A handsome young chieftain of the McCarthy Clan, Cormac O

met and fell in love with the Faerie Queen.  One day they were

walking along the river when an arrow from a rival's bow


pierced the heart of the young chieftain. He fell to the ground dying

and the Faerie Queen placed his head on a large stone nearby as a

pillow and she remained with him until his last moments.

Then she laid her golden harp aside

and knelt by the moss-clad stone.

The fair young chief, his day's pride,

was gone and she was done.

And she pressed her lips to the silent flood,

the crimson stain of his true heart's blood. 

Then sank in the deep of the Lee's fair shore,

and her golden harp ne'er played more.

Then McCarthy More, a warrior bold, 

a chief of wealth and power

placed the stone in his great strong-hold

The Blarney Castle Tower.



And there it stands to this very day,

tho' the castle itself is old and gray;

and lovers are sure of endless bliss

who press their lips o'er the faerie kiss.

Kissing the Blarney Stone

A Taste of Ireland

I'm waxing nostalgic for Ireland.  This blog post begins a short series of stories I wrote about my travels and experiences there and my reflections after returning home. 

It was li'll Tommy O'Reilly who showed us a wee bit of Ireland--just a taste of Ireland as he was prone to remind us--on our jaunt to the isle of 40 different shades of green.

On Day 1 we stepped out of the plane into the 1950's decorated arrivals hall of the Dublin airport with its ancient vinyl-covered furniture and a 1980's vintage computer long ago parked in the hallway. After grabbing our luggage, we set out in search of the CIE tours desk, where, after waiting a while and checking out the airport book store (where the newest tale of Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, sat with its England-version cover), we first met little Tommy O'Reilly and secured a ride to our downtown hotel.

After a sleepless flight overnight to Ireland, we found ourselves catching a snooze in the elegant lobby following a snack of tea and club sandwiches. Then after settling into our room at the Burlington Hotel on Upper Leeson Street, we headed out on a tour of Dublin.

Dublin City or "Duvlin" as it used to be called means "Black Pool." But don't call it that today. Accompanied by a local guide named Maura (Mary), Tommy drove our tour bus through the impossibly narrow streets to show us all of the local sites of interest. We toured the Dublin Castle where the State Apartments are located and where many historic governmental events have taken place. The mirror room of the castle reminded me vaguely of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles; though beautiful, it was not nearly as opulent.

Looking out the back windows and past the castle garden (which serves as a heli-pad), one would swear to be in London as the flats and buildings all around look just like those across the Irish Sea. This shouldn't come as a surprise as Ireland was highly influenced and dominated by Great Britain for over 800 years until she demanded independence in the late 1920s. Much of the culture, certainly the English language which is prominently spoken, and many aspects of the architecture of Ireland derive from Great Britain.

Next we headed to the Guinness Storehouse at St. James Gate for a tour and a taste of the famous black stout. A thimble full was as much as I could handle but the nearly 360 degree panoramic view of Dublin from the 6th floor bar was the main attraction of interest to me at Guiness.

Later that evening we met for a drink in the hotel bar and then headed out for a show at a local cabaret. The headliner was Ireland's popular Tony Kelly and a comedian (who did a fantastic medley of Bing Crosby tunes).  They were complimented by dancers and a woman named Lou with a lovely voice.

Tony had definitely let his headliner status go to his head. He was the biggest over actor I have ever seen! He would fall backwards after every song as though it was all he could do to stay on his feet after giving such a dramatic, intense performance. This was followed by a wipe of his brow as if to tell us that he had really worked himself up on that one. Dan and I agreed that Tony should be a lounge act on a cruise ship. Our meal during the show featured a delicious salmon dish, the first of two great salmon meals we enjoyed in Ireland. Following the show, we were treated to Irish coffee, a mixture of coffee, booze, and cream served hot in a wine glass. Not my cup of tea, but certainly enjoyed by our dinner companions, lovely Londoner Maureen and her 80+-year-old Irish-born mother who found her Irish coffee quite enjoyable.

Back at the hotel, sleep was our top priority and that we did. Once I put my head down, I didn't move until the alarm sounded to get up and ready for breakfast. Following our breakfast of a buffet of typical English/Irish breakfast items like porridge, black and white pudding (blood pudding), and baked tomatoes and sausages, we headed out. But first, we couldn't resist snapping pictures of each other in the front yard of the hotel with its lush foliage including palm trees. Who would have expected palm trees in Ireland?

As we left the hotel, Tommy kept up his near non-stop tale of Ireland's history, jokes, singing, and other stories. But, Tommy knows his customers. He knows when to talk and when to shut his gob.

Tommy pointed out the colorful front doors of Dublin. He offered two tales (from which we were free to take our pick) as to why painting one's front door one of a myriad of bright hues is so popular in Dublin. The first story involved a drunken husband who claimed he had wandered into the home and bed of his neighbor's wife because he could not tell apart the near identical row houses. Painting of the doors would help to guarantee that the same "mistake" could not be repeated. The second tale involved a collective nose thumbing by the Irish after the death of England's Queen Victoria when all of Ireland received a directive to paint their doors black in a sign of mourning. Me thinks the later story is probably closer to the truth of the matter. But, whichever story you accept, you will not find more colorful doors anywhere on earth than those that greet you in Dublin City.

As we traveled through the beautiful countryside, Tommy explained one way that Ireland is changing drastically. The hot economy, called the "Celtic Tiger" is causing a rapid increase in housing values in cities. This is forcing many of the young and newlyweds to build outside of town and commute into the city and having a dramatic impact on Ireland in many ways. Outside of Dublin and elsewhere, we noticed many new housing projects. I suspect the small island of Ireland will not look the same ten years from now if the current trend continues.

On our way to Cashel and to Blarney, we passed through rich horse country. Tommy explained that the limestone in the soil helps put a large amount of calcium into the grasses from which the horses feed. This in turn gives the horses strong bones.

The highlight of our morning was a visit to a sheep farm where we took tea and scones and then watched Rose, the sheep dog, round up her charges in the pasture. She was a real work dog.

At lunch time we arrived at Blarney Castle.

Wisconsin Society DAR State Conference 2011

Sunday, May 15, 2011

A couple of pictures from the Wisconsin DAR Conference in Madison last weekend.  It made for a nice little get-away.  The dinner program was excellent and included the Sons of the American Revolution color guard. 

 

President General Merry Ann T. Wright, State Regent Pam Miller and me



Wisconsin Society DAR

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

For the 115th time, from May 5-7, the Wisconsin Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution will hold a state conference. 

The honored guest speaker will be the DAR President General Merry Ann Wright.  I look forward to meeting the President General and I really want to be there to support Wisconsin State Regent Sherron Pamela Miller.  "Pam" is also a member of the same DAR chapter I belong to--Jean Nicolet Chapter--and is the reason I am a member of the DAR.  She is a brilliant and sweet woman: kind, encouraging and generous and simply a good friend to everyone who knows her.  I like to call her the "Grand Poobah" but it is in the most positive, loving and respectful way that I do so.  But, I think she will appreciate my addressing her as "Madam State Regent" at the state conference.    

I am also looking forward to celebrating with Chapter Regent Pamela Khraibut, a soft spoken lady who is better at putting people at ease than anyone I have ever met.  It is simply her way to welcome people and make them feel like they belong.  This is what DAR is all about and she personifies the word welcoming.

The mission of the Daughters of the American Revolution organization is to "Preserve the Past, Enhance the Present, Invest in the Future."  I believe strongly in those objectives and so do these women.

At the conference there is a great deal of work to be done.  But there is also a lot of fun to be had.  It's a wonderful learning experience and an opportunity to honor outstanding achievement in history education, citizenship, patriotism and service to veterans.

I'm proud to belong to the Daughters of the American Revolution and honor great great great great great grandfather Jesse Benjamin for his six years of service in the Revolutionary War and his wife Rachel (Bunn) Benjamin for allowing me to do so.

Time to get out the white gloves and brush up on parliamentary procedure.         

Rev. Rutherford H. McDonald

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Rutherford Hubert McDonald

The third of three sons of Michael and Ella McDonald, Rutherford Hubert McDonald was born in Algoma, Wisconsin on October 17, 1876.  He was the brother of my great-grandmother Frances Tooley. 

Reverend McDonald, or "Uncle Uncle" as he was called in my family, was a descendent of Scotch Irish Protestantism (on the McDonald side) and New England Puritan blood (on his mother's side).  He was converted to Roman Catholicism as a young man by the esteemed Abbot Pennings, O. Praem.  He changed his name to MacDonald, presumably to better reflect his Scotch Irish heritage.   

According to In His Vineyard, a book of sketches of the bishops, priests and permanent deacons of the Green Bay diocese, Rutherford received his education in the classics at St. Norbert College and at Mt. Calvary and his theology training at St. Francis Seminary. 

Before being ordained by Bishop Fox on June 10, 1906, he spent two years (from 1898 to June, 1900) at St. Norbert preparing for the priesthood.  At the end of June, 1900, he took his vows of the Premonstratensian order and sailed for Europe--Holland and Belgium to be exact--to spend a year or so in the convent before returning to the U.S. in November, 1901 to accept a professorship at St. Norbert College. 

Rutherford McDonald (back left) with Abbot Pennings and students

During his stay in the Abbey of Berne, Heeswyk, in Holland and the Abbey of Tongerloo, in Belgium, he wrote home to this family.  A few of these letters exist and are shared in Vol. 4, Issue 3 of Family Times.  He described his time there in one letter like this:

"I am contented and well satisfied here... all I have to think of are my studies and my religious duties,... I am firmly convinced as ever that it is my vocation to become a priest." 

O Priest!  Thou art not thine own master but the servant and minister of Christ; thou art not thine own, thou art the spouse of the Church.  S. Norbert

To be a priest is the greatest and the sweetest obligation of my life.

Souvenir of the Ordination to the Priesthood of

Rev. Rutherford Hubert McDonald

conferred by the 

RT. REV. J. J. Fox, D. D.

at St. Francis Seminary, St. Francis, Wis.

Trinity Sunday, June 10, 1906

and of his

FIRST HOLY MASS

celebrated June 21, 1906 in the

Church of the Immaculate Conception

Algoma, Wis



"Uncle Uncle" spoke several languages fluently and had a passion for crossword puzzles.  He is remembered for sitting in his big chair with a stack of puzzle books and filling them all in as fast as he could read them.  When asked why he did the puzzles, his reply was "Oh, some of them are quite good!!"

His best buddy was his dog "Hans."  "Uncle Uncle" spoke German to the dog and the dog obeyed. 

Reverend MacDonald served for over 60 years.  At the time of his death at age 91 on November 3, 1967 he was a pastor at St. Patrick's Church in Lead, South Dakota.

Terrence and Mary Ellen Tracy

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Terrence and Mary Ellen (De Wane) Tracy
(Left to right:  Terrence, Roland, Mary Ellen, Alice De Wane, Cy)

For three weeks, banns and the intentions of Terrence Ambrose Tracy and Mary Ellen De Wane to wed were announced at St. James Catholic Church in Cooperstown, Wisconsin.  The year was 1895.  The union being uncontested, the son of Martin and Elizabeth (O'Brien) Tracy and the daughter of Timothy and Bridget Ellen (Cook) DeWane were married on Tuesday, September 10 of that year.  From all accounts, their marriage was the kind that lasts a lifetime.  This couple were my great-grandparents, the parents of my grandfather Roland Martin Tracy.

Terrence, who was born July 25, 1866 in Franklin, Wisconsin, had grown up on the family farm there and had moved to the Wisconsin northwoods to log.  He came back to his home town to marry the neighbor girl, one of the daughters of the prolific De Wane clan.

Mary Ellen, born January 9, 1873 in Franklin, was a well-known school teacher in Kewaunee County at the time.  Following their marriage, they moved to Wausaukee, Wisconsin.

On census day in 1900, the Tracy family household consisted of Terrence, Mary Ellen, son Cyril James "Cy", who, like Terrence, was born July 25 (in 1896) and daughter, Alice Elizabeth, born October 8, 1897.  Mary Ellen's sister Alice also lived with them at that time. 

Odessa "Dess" Mary was born July 29, 1902 followed by Roland Martin on September 25, 1904 and Ethel Bridget on January 14, 1908. 

Terrence, a lumberman, held the positions of woods foreman, barn boss and teamster.  A teamster is a person in charge of driving the horses and wagon that hauls the logs.  Later, after logging, the family established a farm.  They bought about 360 acres on the outskirts of Wausaukee.  There they hosted family gatherings and great meals.  

At the farm, Terrence had a huge team of horses named "Dan" and "Daisy" which were, in addition to being their farm animals, entered in horse pulling contests at the Marinette County fairs.  He also bought a pony that the grandchildren often rode and had a dog named "Shep" who, at milking time, brought the cows to the barn. 

Great-Grandpa Tracy was described as a very big man--tall and big-boned, and straight as an arrow in posture.  Great-Grandma Tracy was remembered for her devotion to her Catholic faith.  She was a devout Christian woman who insisted on all those around her practicing their faith, saying their prayers and attending mass.  She was described as an exceptional teacher, who, after her marriage to Terrence, became a great cook in the logging camps and the bookkeeper for the camps in Northern Wisconsin where Terrence was foreman.  She was very popular for her delicious meals, great homemade breads, rolls, pies and cakes, and ice cream.  Terrence loved good food and Mary Ellen could cook a great meal.  It was a match made in heaven!

Mary Ellen and Terrence Tracy

Mary tended her flower and vegetable gardens while Terrence tended the fields and the cattle.  She was strictly in charge of "Her Creamery."  Terrence and his helpers were allowed to milk the cows and carry the pails to her but only to hand them to her at the door.  She kept the place immaculate and no one was allowed inside with "barn boots."  She churned butter and they derived income from selling milk, vegetables, eggs and apples from a large orchard on the farm.

Cooking on a wood stove with no temperature gauge, Mary baked loaves of bread, cloverleaf rolls, apple and cherry pies, donuts and cream puffs and they always turned out perfectly.  So say her devout fans. 

On the same old stove, she would place four different irons at a time to heat them and then take them, one at time with a handle, and iron the clothes. 

Mary Ellen Tracy loved her God, her family and her life.  Everyone, I'm told, loved her and respected her.  She had no other place to go but to heaven when she died at age 70 on August 19, 1943.  When she passed away, Terrence might as well have gone also because he was never the same after her death.

After Mary died, Terrence lived with his daughter Ethel, her husband Carrol Schmidt, and their children in Green Bay.  Terrence died on November 1, 1957 in Green Bay at age 91 after a short illness of pneumonia and a compression fracture.  He lies buried next to Mary in the cemetery in Wausaukee.

Who are you Chester Elliot?

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Dear Chester, 

I know you were there.  And, someday I'm going to find out who you were.

I found you once.

Here you are in the 1810 US Census for Lewis County New York.  You're on the same page with your father-in-law Jesse Benjamin.  You're practically neighbors! 

1810 Lewis County New York Census

* Your name is spelled "Elliot"--one t. 
* You have two boys under 10 years old in the house--Joseph and George W.?
* You are between 26 and 45 years old; so is Betsey (Benjamin), your wife. 

I know somewhere there are tax records and other documents that could tell me who you are and where you came from.

How about giving me another hint?

Sincerely,

Your GGGG-Granddaughter

Mollie McDonald: Pioneer Businesswoman

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

If I had lived in the mid-1800's I would have wanted to be like Mollie McDonald. 

Mary Jane "Mollie" McDonald was born about 1840.  Early in 1856, she came with her mother Jane, sister Lizzie and brothers John and Michael (my great-great grandfather) to Ahnapee, now Algoma, Wisconsin.

Her mother, who kept a strict boarding house, might have been a mentor for Mollie.  Mollie became a successful pioneer businesswoman.

1870 Morse Telegraph Embossing Printer (photo from Google site)

When the Northwestern Telegraph Company extended its line from Two Rivers to Sturgeon Bay beginning in late August, 1872 and just before Christmas 1872 the line was installed and operational, Mollie McDonald became the first telegraph operator at Ahnapee.  In the telegraph office, Mollie opened a news depot.  She sold periodicals, books, stationery and confections.  From the office, she also ran a circulating library and agency for Singer and Remington sewing machines.

1865 Singer Sewing Machine (from Singer website)

The Kewaunee Enterprise newspaper reported on May 20, 1873:

"One of the neatest and best arranged little business places we have visited in a long time is the circulating library and news depot of Miss Mollie McDonald, telegraph operator at Ahnapee.  Miss McDonald has an excellent selection of books and periodicals, and her establishment should be well patronized."

The Ahnapee Record newspaper ran this ad continually for Mollie's news depot from June, 1873 into July, 1874:

MISS MOLLIE McDONALD  

NEWS DEPOT.  KEEPS A CONSTANT supply of all the leading periodicals of the day.  Also Stationary and Confections.  Agency for the Singer Sewing Machine.  South Water street, Ahnapee, Wis.

Based on numerous articles in the newspapers, Mollie had a very good reputation in the community.  When election returns were due in November, 1873, the paper reported:

 "Ahnapee was the first town on the Northwestern telegraph line to report election returns to Milwaukee.  We are endebted to the telegraph operator, Miss Mollie McDonald, for late election returns."

The community was encouraged to patronize her establishment.  In January, 1874, an article read:

"Miss Mollie McDonald has recently added quite a number of new books to her circulating library.  This institution should be well patronized."

And, another reported that:

"The News Depot of Miss McDonald, at the telegraph office, is a great convenience to our community, and deserves liberal patronage.  The circulating library contains many volumes of standard authors, besides miscellaneous works upon science, theology and law, and interesting novels."

In May, 1875, the telegraph company promoted Mollie.  She assumed charge of the telegraph office in Manitowoc on May 26, 1875.  Her brother Michael took over the Ahnapee telegraph office.  Upon the announcement, the Ahnapee Record newspaper reported:

"...While the departure of this estimable lady from our midst will be regretted by all, it is a gratification to know that her talents as an operator are appreciated..."

Sadly, in August of 1876, Mollie became very ill.  She had to give up her telegraph job.  Her sister, Mrs. William (Elizabeth "Lizzie") Nelson went to Manitowoc to care for her.  Ultimately Mollie moved to Chicago where her other sisters, Mrs. Kingsley (Catherine "Katie") Olmstead and Mrs. John (Margaret "Maggie") Kley, and brother Andrew lived.  Mollie died in Chicago on September 23, 1876 of consumption (tuberculosis).

The announcement, although not unexpected, was a grievous blow to her relatives and friends.  The death notice described her as "an estimable lady, possessed of rare mental powers, an untiring energy, which disease and sickness could scarcely diminish, and a grace of disposition that gained and held for her many firm friends.  Among those who best knew her, and whose hands during her last hours, supplied the tender ministrations prompted by love, her loss will be the most keenly felt, while by all who enjoyed her acquaintance the tidings of her death will be received with profound sorrow and regret." 

She was only 36 years old.

Special thanks to Wes Cox, Sr. of Algoma who provided much of the information I have about the other children in the Jane McDonald family.

Elliotts of Sutton, Massachusetts

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

In a prior blog, I promised to follow up on the hunt for the elusive father of Chester Elliott.  Here's an update.

George W. Wing, in his SAR (Sons of the American Revolution) application, said that David Elliott, brother of Joseph Elliott (Jr.), of Sutton, Massachusetts was the father of Chester Elliott.  I don't think so.  David Elliott, brother of Joseph Elliott, Jr., did not enlist in 1781 to serve in the Revolutionary War.  This David Elliott, according to the Sutton vital records (gs11) died at age 27 in 1761.  This David Elliott, according to the Officers and Men of Sutton (page 778) may have been in the Colonial Service as a private serving with his brother, Joseph, Jr., and his father, Corporal Joseph, but he did not live to enlist and serve in the Revolutionary War in 1781.

The problem--it seems--for those, like George Wing, who researched these records around 1900 is that there are so many Elliotts who named their children after their brothers or fathers.  There are so many Elliotts period.  Or, maybe I am reading records that are not accurate?

Here is what I have learned about this particular Elliott family so far.

Joseph Ellyott/Elliot (1701/2- January 22, 1796), son of Frances Elliot and Abigail (?), married Jerusha (Fuller) ( -September 12, 1788), daughter of John Fuller and Phebe, in Middleton, Massachusetts on April 3, 1730 according to the vital records of Middleton.  John Fuller was the son of Thomas and Ruth Fuller of Salem, Massachusetts.

According to the History of the Town of Sutton, Massachusetts 1704-1876, the children of Joseph and Jerusha Ellyott were:

Joseph, (Jr.) b. November 17, 1731 in Sutton, Massachusetts
David, b. October 11, 1734 in Sutton
John, b. February 21, 1739
Andrew, b. December 9, 1743
Aaron, b. July 22, 1747

The most compelling evidence that this family might be the right Elliott family is not what George Wing claimed in his SAR application but what George W. Elliott himself said about his father Chester and his grandfather Joseph Elliott in the Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Brown, Kewaunee and Door, Wisconsin....  G.W. Elliott believed that his grandfather was Joseph Elliott, a preacher of renown who married his wife in Massachusetts and had a large family and lived to an old age.  Joseph, Jr. fits the description of this man.  Except, this Joseph didn't die in Utica, NY as G.W. Elliott believed and he didn't have any children named Chester--at least according to the Sutton records. 

Joseph, Jr. married first Susanna (?) and second Anna (Dwight), daughter of Samuel Dwight, on October 28, 1772.  The facts known about Joseph, Jr. are that he was a major, lived near a blacksmith shop in Sutton, kept a tavern in his house at one time and was a deacon at the time of his death at age 90 on April 19, 1821 in Leicester, Massachusetts.  His family was large.  His children were:

Molly, b. 1756
Abigail, b. 1758
John, b. 1761
Jerusha, b. 1763 who married Asahel Kimball in 1786
David, b. February 19, 1766
Samuel Dwight, b. 1773
Joseph, b. 1775
Ama, b. 1779 who married Leonard Kimball in 1799
Susanna, b. February 14, 1781
Elizabeth, b. 1783
Katherine, b 1785
Charles Buckley, b. 1788.

I suspect the David that George Wing refers to is actually the son of Joseph Jr., not the brother of Joseph, Jr.  If David was born in 1766, he could have enlisted at age 15 as a fifer in 1781 in his father Captain Joseph Elliott's (Jr.) company.

Here is what I know about this Elliott family of Sutton, Massachusetts.  It is not the same family that George W. Elliott described that he descended from.  It is not the same family that the descendents of Irving Elliott say they descended from.  It is not the same family that Grace Wing says the family descended from.  It is not the same family that Charles D. Elliott says the family descended from.  And, it doesn't look like it is correct in the SAR application of George Wing either. 

The Elliott search continues....  Perhaps I'll eventually be able to rule out all of the wrong Elliott familes of New England!
  

Irving Elliott's Civil War Letters to Home

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

This article is from my Family Times newsletter regarding Irving Elliott, brother of my ancestor Ella Elliott.  Irving was the oldest surviving Civil War veteran of Kewaunee County.

Click on the article to view and enlarge the print.  Then click on the back arrow to return to the blog.

The DeWane Family

Friday, March 18, 2011

Following the blight of the potato in 1845-1847, starvation and typhus pushed thousands of Irishmen in cheap passage ships to an underpopulated Canada.  An estimated 15,000 died crossing the Atlantic and many more when they arrived in Canada or the United States.

St. Cronan's in Parish Roscrea, Diocese of Killaloe, in county Tipperary, Ireland was the home parish of Denis D-Wane & Mary Maher/Meagher before coming to America around 1851. This picture shows the remaining facade of the monastery that exists on the site of the church. A copy of the record of their son Denis's baptism from March 9th, 1832 is among papers the family has. Other D-Wanes were also baptised there. Dr. Francis Dewane and his wife Mildred viewed the documents during a trip to Ireland in the 1970s.  Photo and description from Dianne Dewane Vadney's web site.

During this time, Denis DeWane and Mary (Maher) DeWane, whom were both born in Tipperary, Ireland, left their home in County Tipperary and with their six children--four boys and two girls--came to America.  The trauma of being uprooted, the long boat journey and the strangeness of the new world were too much for Denis.  He died and was buried in New York state.

Mary and her six children went west to Illinois where Mary succumbed and was buried.  The children came north into Wisconsin and, in 1853, settled in the township of New Denmark.  The six children were:
1)  James married Mary Lynch  (or Lyon?)
2)  John married Mary Finnel.
3)  Timothy, my ancestor, married Bridget Cook.  Bridget Ellen Cook/e was the second child of James and Mary (Burns) Cook/e.
4)  Bridget married Patrick Ryan.
5)  Mary Ann married John Cooney.
6)  Denis married Margaret Scanlan. 


James and Mary DeWane Family



Denis and Margaret DeWane Family

 Timothy and Bridget settled in Franklin where they were among the first settlers of the town.  They purchased a tract of virgin land and transformed it into one of the finest farms in Franklin.   

Timothy and Bridget had eight children: 
1) William married Mary Gorman, no children.
2) Ellen married Walter Duggan, no children.
3) Alice married Pat Shea and had two children--a baby who died in infancy and Roland Shea.
4) Tim married Mary Quincanon and had three children:  Larry, Arleen Farrell and Mary Hogenson. 
5) Thomas married Angeline Bos.  They had five children: Abbot Evermode (Tom) of St. Norbert Abbey; Gordon (Gordy and Tommy DeWane's father); Lois Cawley; Gladys Jentz and Marilyn Marsh. 
6) James married Elizabeth DeBeukelar and had four children:  Walter, Francis, Helen Liedeka and Ethel DeFrance.  (I lived in the upstairs apartment of the home of Ethel DeFrance when I moved away from home at age 18.) 
7) Dennis DeWane never married.
8) Mary Ellen DeWane married Terrence Ambrose Tracy.  They had five children:  Roland, my grandfather; Cyril; Alice Olsen; Ethel Schmidt and Odessa Mueller. 

Bridget (Cook) and Timothy DeWane Family
Left to right behind parents:
Tim, Ellen "Nel" Duggan, Will, Tom, Dennis, Alice Shea, Jim, Mary Ellen Tracy
Mary Ellen is my great-grandmother

Timothy was born April 15, 1834 and died October 10, 1919.  He is buried next to Bridget, who was born May 3, 1845 and died August 9, 1924, in the cemetery at St. James Church in Cooperstown, Wisconsin.


Obituary of Timothy DeWane


Bridget's father, James Cook, died March 20, 1890 at 78 years of age and his wife, Mary (Burns) Cook, who was born August 15, 1822, died October 19, 1902.  They are buried at St. Isadore Catholic Cemetery in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin.

Photos and Timothy DeWane's obituary is from Dianne Dewane Vadney's excellent genealogy website.

On the Hunt for the Elliott Ancestors

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

When you love genealogy like I do, it's exciting to find a new clue about your ancestors.  Unfortunately, sometimes the clue doesn't get you anywhere; it just gives you more ideas for more places to search.  Follow the trail with me as I take an ancestor hunt.       

For many years, I have been looking for the father of Chester Elliott.  In fact, my very first blog entries described the family mystery surrounding his identity.

It is important to identify Chester Elliott to help confirm or rule out the claim that our earliest Elliott ancestors in America were the parents of Deacon Jacob Elliott who came to Boston in 1630.

So, when a google search turned up this listing from the Yearbook of the Wisconsin Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, 1896 for the father of Chester Elliott (as part of the documention for George W. Wing's SAR membership), I thought I was on to something!

Page 104 of the SAR Yearbook lists these details about David Elliott according to the application filed by George W. Wing. 

"...enlisted July 12, 1781 as a fifer in his brother Captain Joseph Elliott’s company of Colonel William Thomas’ regiment of the Massachusetts troops of Sutton, Massachusetts.  David served four months and 23 days in the Revolutionary War. 

Authorities:  War Records of Massachusetts; Records of Sutton"
Massachusetts soldiers and sailors of the Revolutionary War, Vol. 5, pg 287

Armed with this information, I was on the trail.  At least I thought I was.

I looked at the Revolutionary War lists for soldiers from Massachusetts named David Elliott, Captain Joseph Elliott and Colonel William Thomas.  Nothing conclusive jumped out at me.

I looked at the Sutton Vital Records and came up with two David Elliotts:

1)  David, son of Joseph and Jerusha, b. Oct 11, 1734
2)  David, son of Joseph Jr. and Susanna, b. Feb 19, 1766

And two Joseph Elliotts:

1)  Joseph, son of Joseph and Jarusha, b. Nov 17, 1731
2)  Joseph, son of Joseph Jr. and Anna, b. August 19, 1775

One pair seemed too old: 1) David, 47 and Joseph, 50; and the other is definitely too young: 2) David, 15 and Joseph, 6, on the enlistment day in 1781.  While fifers did enter the service as young as age 9, it is impossible that set 2) could be right because this Joseph could not be a captain at age 6. 

Then, assuming that set 1) David IS the father of Chester Elliott and Chester was born somewhere between 1774 and 1780, David would have been 40-46 years old when his son Chester was born and 41-47 when he enlisted in 1781 .  His older brother, Captain Joseph Elliott, would have been about 50 when David went into the service.

To consider if it would have been plausible for David and Joseph to be in the Revolutionary War between the ages of 41 and 50, I read the Militia Act of 1792 (written just 10 years later).  It clarified whom the militia consisted of.  The Act reads: 

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as is herein after excepted) shall severally and respectively be enrolled in the militia, by the Captain or Commanding Officer of the company, within whose bounds such citizen shall reside, and that within twelve months after the passing of this Act..."

That tells me it is reasonable that these brothers could be serving at their ages.

Then I e-mailed the Town of Sutton offices and their historical society.  Both responded with suggestions and contact addresses for further research but did not have any information except a record that "a David Elliott" died at age 27, no date of death available.  They had no record for children of David Elliott.

On my next blog entry I'll provide an update on the hunt for the elusive David Elliott.

This information turned out to be inaccurate.  See the post called Elliotts of Sutton, Massachusetts for an update.

My Grandparents

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Roland and Helen (Tooley) Tracy

I found this beautiful family tree form and decided to fill it in--one for my grandmother's ancestry and one for my grandfather's family.

Click on the tree diagram for a close-up view.  Then use the back arrow to return to the blog.

Helen Winifred Tooley Tracy

 My (paternal grandmother's) earliest ancestors to arrive in America (as far as I know with documented proof) were Betsy Benjamin's g-g-g-grandparents, John Benjamin and Abigail Eddye Benjamin.  The Benjamins came from Cranbrook, Kent, England on the ship "Lion" and joined Governor Winthrop's Colony in Massachusetts in 1632.

My grandmother Helen Tooley's great-grandmother, Jane Nelson, who was born in Ireland, was referred to as "Scotch-Irish"--a term descriptive of her Protestant faith rather than her place of birth.  Patrick McDonald was born in Ireland.   Rebecca Page and William James Tooley lived in England (where James William Tooley was born) but I don't know their ancestral parentage.  Ancestors of the Crofoots and the Elliotts came from England. 

Roland Martin Tracy

 My grandfather's grandparents--DeWane; Tracy; Cook/e; and O'Brien families--were all born in Ireland and settled in Franklin and Cooperstown, Wisconsin around 1854.  Bridget Cook was born in County Limerick, Ireland.  Dennis DeWane and Mary Maher were born in Tipperary in Roscrea County, Ireland.   

After the War

Monday, March 7, 2011

In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, I would like to honor my great-great grandfather Michael McDonald in a series of blogs including his written accounts of his Civil War experiences.

Michael McDonald mustered out on October 9, 1865 at Mobile, Alabama. 

Upon his return to Ahnapee, (now Algoma, Wisconsin), his home, Michael captained the first regularly organized militia company ever perfected in the county.  It was organized in the spring of 1866.  Comprised of late veterans of the Civil War, it numbered some 60 men.  Their uniforms consisted of bright red flannel shirts with black trousers and the company, according to "Pioneer Story" written and printed by George Wing in the Algoma Record Herald in 1914, "made quite a natty appearance when it appeared upon the streets for drill."

Veterans, who were bonded like brothers by their Civil War experiences, held reunions for many years after the war. 

Michael McDonald (center) and his brother John (right)

In the summer of 1866, at 21, Michael married Ella Louise Elliott, the 17 year-old daughter of George W. and the late Juliana Elliott on July 23 in Ahnapee. 

The Civil War had taken a toll on Ella's family as well.  All of her four brothers: David, 26; Charles, 20 (of the Iron Brigade); Park, 17; and Irving, 16, served in the Civil War.  Only two returned.  Park was killed on the battlefield at Chaplin Hills, Kentucky on October 8, 1862.  Charles was wounded but recovered and went on to be a prominent newspaperman in Pennsylvania.  Irving was in Washington, D.C. and shouted with the others as President Abraham Lincoln and his wife passed on the way to Ford's theater and wept with the rest of the soldiers as they passed his bier where the body of the martyred president lay.  A month later Irving, in the 32nd Wisconsin, took part in the Grand Review.  A printer, Irving was also in the newspaper business and published the Algoma Record from 1908 to 1918.  He was the oldest surviving Civil War veteran of Kewaunee County and perhaps the oldest Mason (member of the Masonic order) in years of membership at the time of his death in 1941.  (Read Irving Elliott's letters home from the war here.)  David never came home.  Some claimed that David deserted over a disagreement with his superiors.  He may have died--as so many soldiers did--from illness.  I've never found a definitive explanation for David's disappearance.      

Charles Elliott of the Iron Brigade (from THE OWL)

(The amazing story of Park Elliott is told in my September, 2000, volume 3, issue 9 of Family Times, "Ancestor Anthology--Park Benjamin Elliott:  A Boy Lost Too Soon.")

After the war, Michael, barely 21, bought the Sherman House and became a hotel proprietor, then sailed upon the lake on the "Bessie Boalt" and fished for a few years with his brother John (the one-armed ship captain who lost his arm in the Civil War) and bought and attempted to clear a farm near Brummer's Mills.  Then Michael conducted a store in the village and, finally, studied law and opened a law office with Judge Parker.  He was a police justice of Ahnapee and deputy sheriff of Kewaunee County and active in politics.  He established and edited the Algoma Press and finally, broken in health, almost totally blind, and so deaf that he could only hear with the greatest effort, and stricken with paralysis, he gradually dropped out of the life of the town.  He died at the National Soldier's Home in Milwaukee on May 20, 1914 at age 69.
       

Michael McDonald

The End.

The Grand Review

In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, I would like to honor my great-great grandfather Michael McDonald in a series of blogs including his written accounts of his Civil War experiences. 

At the close of the war, a Grand Review of the Armies procession was held in Washington D.C. to honor the troops with the soldiers parading before dignitaries including President Andrew Johnson (Abraham Lincoln was assassinated the month before).  Here is Michael McDonald's personal account of that day, May 24, 1865.

The Grand Review (photo from Wikipedia site)

I have a distinction that I desire to lay claim to at this time.  I was the last man to pass the reviewing stand on the day of the historic Grand Review at Washington at the close of the war.  It happened this way.  Company E was the only company in its regiment to make the through trip with Sherman (William Tecumseh Sherman) on his memorable march, and it had been attached to the 1st Missouri Engineers in charge of the pontoon train.  At the Grand Review, the pontoon corps brought up the rear of Sherman's army--the engineers marching ahead and the wagons following.  The 1st Missouri Engineers was a good regiment but it had never been in battle, while Company E had memories of Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, Atlanta, and a score of lesser engagements, and so, in our soldier pride, we refused to march with our Missouri command, detaching ourselves from the regiment and falling behind the wagons.  There were only 30 or 40 of us but on that day we were the veteran 14th Wisconsin Infantry, and I was the last man in the company ranks.


                                                              Michael McDonald

Click here for last entry.