Merry Christmas from the Mattingly's!!

No one will be getting a Christmas card from us this year.  I sent cards to Holiday Mail for Heroes.  This will be my way of sending our Christmas greeting to family and friends.

There were lots of additions to our extended family this year, the only one in our immediate family was Apollo - Haven's Husky.  We attended three weddings and I lost count of the number of babies born among our nieces, nephews and cousins. 

Haven finished her first year of college at the University of Kentucky, then decided it would be OK (and less expensive) to be a little closer to home.  She transferred to UNO in Omaha.  We're lovin' that!  She's in her second year, but technically has enough credits for a Junior.  Still working on deciding her major.  She and a friend took a road trip through the Virginia's and Carolina's in May.  I was jealous.

We had some great times in San Diego, and in Lebanon and Muncie, Indiana visiting family. It was so good to see everyone. Thanks for the hospitality to those who put us up!  I also enjoyed a road trip with my sister and her dog to Alliance.  

This was finally Joe's year - he won his flight in the Mayor's Cup.  Won't be golfing again until he is fully recovered from rotator cuff surgery.  I'm sure he's hoping to repeat.  His involvement with the City Singers this year, besides the annual Christmas concert, included their performance at the Chautauqua in late June.  One HOT performance!

Me, my obsession with family history is getting worse, for instance, this blog.  I dream of retirement.

We want to wish everyone a great holiday season.  Loved seeing family and old friends during the year, especially those we don't get to see often.  Looking forward to good times in 2014!

Lena Jorgenson - No Ole and Lena Jokes!

Lena Jorgenson was the daughter of Ole Jorgenson, but I'm not sure if her mother was Caroline.  Lena was born in Denmark, April 10, 1858, and from Ole's obituary, he and Caroline were married November 2, 1860 in Denmark.  It's possible Lena was born out of wedlock, it's also possible Ole was married before to a woman who probably died.  Or, it's possible one of those dates is wrong. Still working on which case it is. 

The Jorgenson's came to America in 1867.  Another daughter, Hannah, was born in Denmark in 1866.  In Illinois, Ole & Caroline had 5 more children - Peter, Isabelle, Andrew, Alberta, and Walter.  My Great Grandmother Charlotte Isabelle Menke was most likely named after her Aunt Isabelle Roscoe.  More about both of them in a future post.  

In the 1880 Illinois census, Lena is living Peotone with the family of Michael Collins.  She is 20 years old and a servant, he is a Merchant of Dry Goods and is disabled.  To my knowledge, there is no connection to the Collins family.  The rest of Lena's family is living in Will Township.

Marquette, Nebraska, where I grew up, has a population of around 200 people.  There was the Methodist Church in town where I went, and a Lutheran Church about 3 miles east of town in the unincorporated Danish community of Kronborg.  Those two churches got together for summer Bible school so that there were enough kids to bother with, each church having it every other year.  When it was in Kronborg, we all learned to dance the Danish Grand March (I think that's what it was called).  All I remember about the dance is marching into the hall and winding into a big spiral, then somehow marching back out of it.  There was a little more to it.  At the time, I'm not sure if I knew I had Danish heritage. The dance was a lot of fun!

I don't know if Will & Lena danced at their wedding, but they were married for 65 years. Their children were Laura May, Cleveland Crosby, Charlotte Isabelle, Frank Edward, Oliver Bert, David Harlow, Cecil Marvin, and Charles E.  As parents they dealt with losing children to deadly diseases, mental illness and possibly special needs.  

This is not the best photoshop job, but I want to compare the two photos of William and Lena that I have side-by-side: 

What do you think?

Well, maybe one joke, it's a clean one - 

Ole was very ill, on his deathbed upstairs in his farmhouse.  He called his family to be around him.  Ole asked, "Is my wife of fifty years here, Marta are you here?"   "Yes, Ole, I am here."  came the woman's reply as she took his hand.  Ole then asked, "Is my son Peter here?"   "Yes father, I am here right beside you."  Ole then asked, "Is my daughter Lena here, too?"  "Yes Pappa, I am here."  to which Ole replied, "If everyone is up here with me, then why is the light in the kitchen still on?"  

William Harlow Roscoe's Lineage

Probably most people who get interested in family history think about the possibility of finding a connection to someone famous... or infamous.  Just looking for a brush with fame.  A few think about the connections to significant historical events like the Revolutionary War or the passengers of the Mayflower.  William Harlow Roscoe is my connection to both of those American events. 

With my greatest thanks to other researchers, I have the lineage of William all the way back to Richard Warren, who arrived in 1620 aboard the Mayflower.  Richard Warren would be William Roscoe's 7th Great Grandfather. 

William's middle name Harlow goes back to his Grandmother's maiden name - Mercy Harlow.  Mercy's father Sgt William Harlow was a military leader in Plymouth, Massachusetts.  His first wife, Rebecca Bartlett, was the granddaughter of Richard Warren. Mercy Harlow married Asa Corbin, who fought in the Revolutionary War.  Several other ancestors of William were in the military.  The names Harlow and Corbin were used often in later Roscoe families.  William had an uncle also named William Harlow Roscoe.  

Slowly, I'm working on finding books and things to help me collect the documentation on this branch of the family tree myself.  The Nebraska State Historical Society Library in Lincoln has newspapers on microfilm from all around the state.  So far when I've been there, I've spent most of my time searching through those (and having fun doing it!).  One of these days I want to look over their book shelves more and see what they have for out-of-state research.  Fall is not the best season for going to that Library.  Saturday's are the only day I can go, and the library is within a few blocks of Memorial Stadium where over 90,000 people converge most Fall Saturday's for Husker football.  If the boys are playing out of town, you still need to check on the Husker volleyball schedule.  The library is also within shouting distance of "The Bob", or the Bob Devaney Sports Center, where the girls games are always sold-out, too.  It takes patience and determination to deal with the traffic in Lincoln on a Fall Saturday.  Maybe that's just because I'm from a small town.

Searching through old newspapers I can find things like this advertisement from the DeWitt Times-News for William Roscoe's business from April, 1884.  His uncle Charles Roscoe was also in the well and windmill business, competitive or cooperative, I don't know.  The 1885 Nebraska census shows Will's occupation as a Dealer of pumps. Other census records list him as a stock buyer and manager of the grain elevator. His obituary said he was a grain dealer. He was definitely involved in agri-business throughout his lifetime. 

Ancestry.com. Nebraska, State Census, 1885 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.

Lena and William Roscoe, about 1932

William was born March 6, 1859 in Frankfort, Herkimer County, New York.  His place of birth in his obituary is Kankakee, Illinois but he is listed in the 1860 census in Herkimer County.  He lived to be 88 years old, passed away on September 2, 1947 and is buried in the Clatonia Cemetery. 

Treasure Chest Thursday - Laura Kyle's quilt

Laura May Roscoe was the first of 8 children born to William and Lena Roscoe.  She outlived them all reaching the age of 98.  She married Joseph W. Kyle in 1901 and they moved to Manitoba, Canada soon after where they spent the rest of their lives.  Their children were Gertrude, Merle, Glen, Gordon, Orval, Reginald, and Dorothy. 

My Grandma gave me this beautiful crazy quilt that was made by Laura May Kyle.  It's a treasure from her old trunk in the attic, but that is certainly not where I keep it.  It hangs in my living room on the quilt rack that my Grandpa made. 

I think this is hand-stitched, at least some of it.

I love family heirlooms like this!

Wedding Wednesday - William Roscoe & Lena Jorgenson

Thursday, May 4, 1882:  William Roscoe and Lena Jorgenson were married in Gage County, Nebraska.  A fellow Roscoe researcher sent me this photo calling it their wedding photo, but although they're wearing flowers I question that.  Maybe an engagement photo?  This was taken in Peotone, Illinois where they both lived in 1880. They moved to Nebraska (not necessarily together) sometime between the 1880 census and the 18th of March, 1882 when they filed the application for marriage in Gage County.  The home of William's parents was the site for their wedding.  Lena's family didn't move to Nebraska, I wonder if any of them attended the wedding.  Or maybe after their ceremony, Will & Lena took a trip back to Peotone and had this photo taken. 

  

Tombstone Tuesday - CCR

Cleveland Crosby Roscoe was born April 30, 1885 in Saline County, Nebraska.  He was the oldest son of William and Lena Roscoe. 

From what I've been told about Cleve, his wife was Josephine and they didn't have any children.  I'm finding some other things that are interesting - in the 1930 census record Cleve's age at his first marriage was 22, but in 1920 he was single (he was 35).  At familysearch.org I found a marriage record for a "C C Roscoe", son of William, married to Anna Cardst or Cordot on November 23, 1909 in Council Bluffs, Iowa (he was 24).  I haven't been able to find him in the 1910 census.  But I have found a marriage record in Jackson County, Missouri for Cleve Roscoe and Josephine Cox on June 3, 1921. 

During WWI he served in France.  In 1920 he was stationed at Camp Stanley in Bexar, Texas.  He worked for the Kansas City Police Department and was a special agent for the Wabash Railroad.  He lived in Kansas City for about 20 years, then moved back to Nebraska.

Cleve was involved in a traffic accident on June 16, 1961 at the intersection of Highways 77 and 33 south of Lincoln.  On June 28 he died from his injuries.  He was preceded in death by his wife and 5 brothers, survived by 2 sisters and "a number of nieces and nephews".   He was 76 years old and is buried in the Lincoln Memorial Park in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Friday's Faces from the Past - David & Mary Roscoe

David A. Roscoe

Here in GI, the Family History Center is open only a few hours a week, mostly during business hours.  There are 2 hours a week that I'm able to use the center.  Back in the 90's they had one computer which I was lucky enough to get to use a few times.  The International Genealogical Index is how I learned that William Roscoe's parents were David & Mary Roscoe.  Then through the Rootsweb Mailing list I "met" a couple of other Roscoe researchers. Ivan Roscoe and Kathy Schaefer shared a lot of information with me, both in emails and by good old snail mail.  It was a thrill to find distant cousins who were also trying to learn about the same ancestors and to compare thoughts and ideas on their lives with them.  Kathy shared these photos with me and I am so grateful!   Notice they were not taken by the same photographer or in the same town, but they are the same style.  The year would have to be before 1882.

Mary Crosby Fero Roscoe

David A. Roscoe was born July 5, 1823 in Utica, New York, the son of Russel Roscoe and Nancy Corbin.  Mary Crosby Fero was born Dec. 11, 1836, in Glen, New York, the daughter of Isaac Fero and Philomena Crosby.  They were married April 6, 1854 in Utica, New York. 

They were the parents of 2 girls and 8 boys:
Nancy Corbin Roscoe
Martha A. Roscoe
William Harlow Roscoe
Sherman Isaac Roscoe
George Corbin Roscoe
Franklin A. Roscoe
Ervin Ward Roscoe
Bertruss Francis Roscoe
Edward Wright Roscoe
Charles Doyle Roscoe

About 1860, the family moved from New York to Will County, Illinois where David farmed. Around 1881, most of the family moved to DeWitt, Nebraska.  David died of congestion of the lungs in 1884 at age 60, and is buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery.  Mary remarried to Lyman Adams in 1891, but there is no mention of that fact in her obituary.  She and Lyman moved back to Illinois in 1892, then Mary moved back to Nebraska alone about 1911.  I haven't found any death record for Lyman.  Mary died at age 86 and is buried next to her first husband David in the Oak Grove Cemetery.

Wednesday's Child - Cecil Marvin Roscoe

Cecil Marvin Roscoe, youngest son of William and Lena, died when he was 5 years old. This poem is engraved on his tombstone in the Oak Grove Cemetery in DeWitt, Nebraska:

A loved one from us has gone

A voice we love is stilled

A place is vacant in our home

Which never can be filled

His name is not right in his obituary and the months and days of age differ from his tombstone.  From the DeWitt Times-News, DeWitt, Nebraska, Thursday, March 22, 1906 

"OBITUARY  Died March 19, 1906 at the home of the parents in Clatonia, W.H. Roscoe, Son of William and Lena Roscoe, after a sickness of two weeks, age 5 years, 6 months, 13 days. Cause of death, pneumonia.

On Wednesday (March 21), after a short service at the house, conducted by Rev. Williams, Congregational pastor of DeWitt, the body accompanied by friends and relatives was lovingly laid to rest in the DeWitt cemetery."

Back in August, in my post "Stone Binge" I told about how I had recently gone back to the Oak Grove Cemetery in DeWitt and did not find the Roscoe family tombstones that I had taken photos of years earlier.  My bad.  After contacting the very helpful cemetery caretaker there, I am embarrassed to say that I was wrong - the stones are all still there! Even better than that, she told me that there was one unmarked grave in the family plot. I have an idea who that is but she didn't have the name to confirm it.  

William and Lena had a son Charles who was living with them in 1910 at age 19.  After that I had no idea what happened to him.  He was never mentioned as a survivor in the obituaries of his parents or any of his siblings.  For years I searched for this Charles in census records and couldn't find him.  With access to the Beatrice Daily Sun online I just happened to find out what happened to Charles.  Normally, it's a fun thing to find someone when you've been looking for them for a long time.  In this case, it was sad. Charles killed himself drinking poison in 1914.  He was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, apparently never given a gravestone. 

Tombstone Tuesday - Roscoe Family Plots

The Roscoe family plot in the Clatonia Cemetery, Clatonia, Nebraska is the final resting place for my Great-Great Grandparents William and Lena Roscoe and 4 of their 8 children. The two military markers seen in this photo are for sons Frank and Oliver Roscoe. 

Frank died in 1923 at age 34 of Typhoid fever.  He had served in France as a fireman in the Navy during WWI.  One obituary says he was survived by a wife but I have yet to learn her name, and there was no mention of any children.  Frank was single and living with his parents in 1920.  After recently stumbling on a short paragraph in the Beatrice Daily Sun, I suspect his wife may have been pregnant at the time of his death.  A "Miss Frankie Mae Roscoe of Missouri is visiting at the home of her grandparents Mr. and Mrs. William Roscoe" in August of 1941. As of yet, this is the only reference to Miss Frankie Mae Roscoe I have ever seen and have not had any luck finding her in census records.

Oliver served as a private in the Army, Co 1,3 164 Depot Brig.  The Nebraska State Journal ran this paragraph on January 4, 1919:  "Oliver Roscoe, son of William Roscoe of Clatonia, died at the home of his parents on January 1.  The young man had been home only a day after being mustered out of the army.  He left Vancouver, Wash, sick with the Spanish influenza, to go to Camp Funston for discharge.  He contracted pneumonia before he reached home.  Oliver was well known and a popular young man among his friends."  He was 23 years old.  Oliver has a second flat marker for some reason. 

William and Lena have this simple flat marker. Their son David Harlow Roscoe is also buried in Clatonia, but when I was there years ago I wasn't aware of that.  So I have no photo of a stone for him, but I know I would have taken one if I had seen it.  One of these days I'll get back there, it's about a 2 hour drive.  David lived with his parents until his death in 1948 at age 51. He apparently didn't ever learn to read or write, so I think he may have been mentally or physically challenged. 

As I sort through my Roscoe files during the next few weeks, my series of blog posts will be focused on William and Lena's family.

A P.S. on my Henry Menke post

In my post about my Great-Great Grandfather Henry Menke (here) I mentioned the movie "Nebraska" directed by Alexander Payne.  I saw the movie this weekend and I just wanted to say I loved it and I was very happy with the realistic characters (some were actually local citizens). There are some good laughs, and it's a wonderful story.  And the scenery is just like home! It IS home!!

I especially liked that there were a few scenes where learning family history is a part of the story.  They visit a cemetery, visit the "old homestead" and the son even learns something from the local newspaper editor.  I'm just sayin'... anyone with an interest in family history might enjoy this movie.