24 August 2010

Tombstone Tuesday: Eli Assad


When I saw this I had to look into this a bit more. I wondered where the title Uncle came from. Was he someone's uncle or was he called uncle as a term of endearment? It turns out that he was an uncle.

Eli Assad arrived to the US from Turkey in 1900. He was living here at the mission in 1910 when he was enumerated as head of house hold. Living with him was his nephew Eli Jurdy who was 19 at the time, also from Turkey. Both of them were carpenters. This is all from the 1910 census of District 165, Mission, Kootenai, Idaho.

The mission was built between 1850-1853 and the Parish House was built in 1887. He was likely there to build or maintain the many other buildings that were on the property at one time. All other buildings are now gone.

Eli Assad was in the US for such a short time that not much can be found on him. On the other hand his nephew Eli Jurdy made his life here in the Kootenai County, Idaho area. In 1917 Elios Joseph Jurdy registered for WWI in Spirit Lake, Idaho. According to his registration he was born 10 August 1891. On the 12 May 1918 he married Rose M Rodgers in Spirit Lake, Kootenai County, Idaho. This record can be found in the marriage book at the County Courthouse located in Kootenai Co., ID in Volume 13 on Page 256. Then Rose and her whole family can be found in the 1920 census in Butte Ward 3a, Dist 207, Silver Bow County, MT. Eli Jurdy is living with his new wife in her families home. There are a total of 16 people in Dwelling 110. Salem and Anna Rodgers are her parents along with 10 siblings and one grandmother - Anna Farris. All of their roots go back to Syria. Most of the children were born in MT and a couple in PA. By the 1930 census Eli and Rose can again be found in Spirit Lake, Kootenai County, Idaho where they now have one daughter, Josephine (6) and a son, Raymond (1 1/2). Raymond is listed as being born in WA and Josephine in ID. So it's apparent that the family moved throughout the northwest. Likely to follow where there was work. He did everything it appears. In 1920 he was a smelter, in 1930 he was a laborer at the lumber mill. In1942 he registers again for another World War, WWII. He and Rose are now living at 815 5th St, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

This started out as a history search of Eli Assad, but turned into a history of his nephew. More can be found about Eli, who apparently died of tuberculosis, on the Assad and Brooten family website.

18 August 2010

1910 Fire: 100 Year Anniversary

Source: U.S. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog
Wallace, Idaho after the fire.

On August 20th and 21st of 1910, a century ago, the Great Fire of 1910 devastated the Inland Northwest, including North Idaho and Western Montana. More than one million acres of forest were burned. 86 people were known to have lost their lives due to the fire. Whole towns were burned to the ground before it was over, including Wallace, ID. The Great Fire was feed by smaller fires that actually began as early as May across the Bitterroot Mountains and the Cour d'Alene Forest. On the afternoon of August 20th, near Elk City, ID a great gust of wind helped to spur Mother Nature into an inferno feed by dry pine needles, leaves, brush and grass as the result of a very dry spring and summer. There are so many stories and photos to share on this centennial event.

I began putting this together earlier in the week and didn't have time to finish before my dear friend Mariam, writer of AnceStories, posted a great post:The Great Fire of 1910 Centennial Events and Articles. So I guess I better get busy and finish this, thanks for the motivation. :-)

The West Is Burning UP! An endless array of stories and photos of the 1910 Fire. There is also another link at the bottom of this article asking a very important question: Could the 1910 Fire Happen Again? It's something to think about. The answer is yes, but the likelihood is much slimmer due to the advancement in equipment and our forest practices. Also read stories from smoke jumpers.

Stories of survival: Families and the 1910 fire. A herring story given by the last known survivor of the fire. Lilly Cunningham was 3 years old at the time of the fire. She talks about how her family lost their homestead on Little Beaver Creek in Thompson, MT. But she also recalls how her father and brother ran to the aid of others neighbors to help them save the homes.

Wallace, Idaho after the 1910 Fire: Wallace is a quaint little mining town in Shoshone County, Idaho. It's known for the Sierra Silver mines. I have visited many times, and I love the little town. In 1910 it was nearly destroyed by the fire. Then in 1997 it was destroyed again on screen for the making of the movie "Dante's Peak." Thank goodness that was only in the movie. I'd hate to see this little town ever destroyed again. I also found out through the grape vine that Wallace is also having an event to remember that day.

When the Mountains Roared. More great photos and stories of the Wallace, ID area. That photo of the rail road after the fire is from this website.

Centennial Commemoration of the 1910 Fire: The Idaho Fire Chiefs are holds a Commemoration to honor the fallen of the 1910 fire.

Forest fire photos - near Scalplock Lookout: great photos of the devastation left by the 1910 Fire in Glacier National Park.

Sandpoint and Sagle, ID in the 1910 Fire: Many accounts leading up to the fire and of the fire, as well as some photos of damage that can still be seen today, 100 years after the fact.

Wordless Wednessday


Four Generations
Left to right: Emily (Scott) Hoard,
Thomas Hoard (Emily's son and my great great grandfather)
Roy Hoard (Thomas' son)
Fontana Hoard (Roy's daughter)

I don't know when or where this picture was taken, but I love it. It sits right in front of me every day on my desk. It reminds me that there is always more to their stories then just their data. Look at the old cabin behind them.

What I do know is that in 1920 Thomas and his family are enumerated in Benton, AR,though Roy is not with them. Then in 1925 Roy is enumerated in the 1925 Kansas State census in Butler, KS. In that census Fontana is five years old, which is about how old she looks in this photo. So it's very possible that this photo was taken around 1925 in KS at Roy's home, or possibly in Benton, AR where Emily lived most of her life and where Thomas was in 1920. I know he was in Oklahoma by 1930 though.


___________________________________________________________________
Sources:
  1. Ancestry.com.. Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009. 1925 Kansas State Census. Microfilm reels K-1 – K-177. Kansas State Historical Society.
  2. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City). Year: 1920;Census Place: Dickson, Benton, Arkansas; Roll T625_54; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 18; Image: 190.

17 August 2010

AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors: Online Genealogy Classes Available in Spokane Area

AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors: Online Genealogy Classes Available in Spokane Area

A good genealogy friend of mine is teaching classes in the Spokane, WA area on researching you ancestors. You'll enjoy her class! One is learning to research military records and the other is research of online records.

Tombston Tuesday: A Grave in the Wilderness



On Saturday my family and I took a bike ride on the Route of the Hiawatha. On August 20th and 21st of 1910 this area was devastated by fire. It killed 86 people and burned millions of acres of Montana and Idaho forests. From 1906-1911 the Pacific extension of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St Paul was being built through here. When the fire hit the area those that were working on the railroad jumped into rail cars and rode them to the safety of the tunnels.

In this case a man on one rail car panicked and jumped from the car, and died. The train continued to tunnel 20 where the rest of the passenger survived. Later the railroad workers went back and buried his body beside the rail, where a cross still marks the spot today. His name is unknown, but he was believed to be one of the railroad workers known as a "gandy dancers."

16 August 2010

Farragut Naval Base in Idaho

Farragut State park was once a Naval Base during WWII. It was opened in 1942. Due to the fear of more strikes on other shoreline bases this one was built inland near Bayview, ID along the shore of Lake Pend Oreille. Lake Pend Oreille offer an inland location with a lake that is deep enough for submarine testing. Today the submarines are subcontracted and not done by the military. The base it's self has been turned into a lovely state park. The Naval Brig is the only building still standing of the old base, that now serves as a museum to preserve the history of the base. You can read more about the history of the base here. If you would like to know more about the park for it's recreational value today, go here.

Below are two photos I took on our visit yesterday. The first is of my children standing in from the the statue that was erected to honor the Naval Sailors that lost their lives in WWII. On the face are more faces etched. No two are a like, and in the front on the ground are cement step stones with the impression of booted feet. Again no two are alike and they are suppose to represent the sailors standing at attention. The other photo is of my daughter riding my parents horse, Bunny. They brought the horses out where we spent a few hours riding the trails. It is absolutely beautiful there.

14 August 2010

Route of the Hiawatha

We took a bike ride in the mountains today. Now when we took off on this trip I was very apprehensive. I haven't had my bike out of the basement to ride in probably more than five years. I have enough trouble staying upright on my bike on level ground, and yet my husband thought that I would be just fine going down hill for 15 miles at a 2% grade. Okay so I hate to admit it, but he was right. I did just fine the whole day, and enjoyed myself the whole time.

The Route of the Hiawatha is full of history. It was once the Pacific extension of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul rail road line through the Bitterroot Mountains between Montana and Idaho. The old towns that once dotted the landscape along the rails are long since gone. Today it has been returned to the wilderness, except for the path that winds through Idaho from the Montana border near Roland to Pearson, Idaho. The old Rail Road tracks were removed and the path was made into a trail for bikers and hikers. The route includes seven high steel trestles and ten tunnels. All along the trail there are interpretive signs that tell of the history of this area.

Many nationalities were hired and worked on building the rail road from 1906-1911. The rail road used millions of workers at a cost of $260 million. The Milwaukee road finally went bankrupt in 1977 after many workers proudly kept her running for decades.

The Taft Tunnel was built from both the Idaho and Montana side at the same time. When it came together they were only a couple inches off. It is a very dark and wet 1.7 mile tunnel. I choose to walk instead of ride my bike when starting out in this tunnel at the beginning. When we went back through I dared to ride about half way before I again got off and walked again. It is very easy to get disoriented. It's very hard to see. The bike lights almost aren't enough to help you see. Not to mention it's in the 40's and very wet through the tunnel.

The most dominate historical event of this area would be the 1910 fire. It devastated over three million acres through Idaho and Montana on August 20 and 21st. It killed 86 people, one of whom was from this rail road. I'll show the marker of that grave later.


Left: One of the many trestles. Right: The Idaho side of the Taft Tunnel entrance.

Along the path are many interpretive signs. On the left speaks of the 1910 Fire, on the right is a funny account remembered by a rail road worker about one of it's more colorful characters Cora "Ma" Van Antwerp. She was the first station agent at Falcon.

One of the many beautiful views from the trail.


Left: My three angles (at least sometimes;-) just outside the Taft Tunnel in front of the beautiful waterfall. Right: Justin entertaining a chipmunk who came up to his hand thinking he was offering food, only to run away disappointed. The chipmunks were all over, begging and entertaining very well for their food.

09 August 2010

Madness Monday - Daisy Dollie Lee Dean Riddle 1890-1966

I've pulled up Daisy's file again, so I'm bringing this post back up. I really want to solve this mystery.

My next plan of attach:
  1. Find a marriage record for James J Dean and Mary. According to the 1900 census they were married for 13 years, so about 1887. The problem lies in where to look. She was born in IT, but we don't know her maiden name. He was from IL. Their oldest living son was born in MO (there were three other children not living by 1900) and by 1900 they are in KS. It's likely that they were married in the place their first child was born.
    But here is the interesting part. Ulias is likely not Mary's child, and Mary may be a second marriage for James. Ulias is 16 in the 1900 census and James and Mary had only been married for 13 years at that point. So it's likely that in MO James lost one wife (the mother of Ulias) and married another. Or the census record is wrong on the number of years that they had been married. If you take out the number of years, then everything else about Ulias lend to the idea that Mary is his mother. So it's possible that they had been married more like 18-17 years.
  2. Death records of Mary and James Dean. I have been unable to find James or Mary after the 1900 census. Starting with Cherokee County, KS I will search for any death records for them.
  3. Marriage record of Daisy Dean and Sam D Riddle. They were married about 1907. In 1910 they were in Atoka County, OK, so I will start there. Atoka Co., OK can also be considered as a possible death place for Mary and James Dean.

I mentioned Daisy Dollie Riddle a few weeks ago in another Madness Monday post when I wrote about her husband Sam D Riddle. At that time all I knew is that she was the second wife of Sam D Riddle. They were married about 1909 and that was based on the 1910 and 1930 census records. I also knew based on the California Death Index 1940-1997 that she was born 2 Oct 1890 in Oklahoma and died 27 April 1966 in Stanislaus, CA. One more piece of information from the 1930 census record further confirmed to me and the family that Daisy was most likely Native American. She was listed as born in OK, father of Mixed Blood (origin unknown) and mother was Pottawatomie.

After talking to my mother-in-law a few weeks ago she agreed to go to the court house, where they live and also where Daisy died, and obtain her death record. She called me this weekend to give me the details. From this Stanislaus County Death Certificate is further confirmed the birth and death dates above as well as giving me her full name which was Daisy Dollie Lee DEAN RIDDLE. I don't know how she ended up with so many names, but I suspect her parents likely named her Daisy Lee DEAN and Dollie was what everyone called her from what I understand. So when Uncle Bill reported on her death he just listed the whole name. It also listed her father as Jim DEAN and mother unknown.

She had lived in CA for 15 years and in Stanislaus County for five of those years. From Grandma Estelle's (the wife of Daisy's son Sam C) account of history they moved to CA and lived first around Bakersfield working in the fields and living in tents. It was a very hard life. It wasn't until her children were grown and on there own that Daisy had the privilege of living in a home with four walls and a roof over her head.

So with this new information I began looking for a Daisy DEAN with a father named Jim. I did find one family that fit. A 1900 Census from Salamanca, Cherokee Co., Kansas.

Name: Daisy Dean
Home in 1900: Salamanca, Cherokee, Kansas
Age: 8
Birth Date: Oct 1891
Birthplace: Arkansas
Race: White
Ethnicity: American
Gender: Female
Relationship to head-of-house: Daughter
Father's Name: James J
Father's Birthplace: Illinois
Mother's Name: Mary
Mother's Birthplace: Indian Territory
Marital Status: Single
Residence : Columbus City, Cherokee, Kansas
Occupation: View on Image
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
James J Dean 45
Mary Dean 32
Ulias Dean 16
Aura L Dean 11
Daisy Dean 8

The only problem with this is that Daisy's birth year is listed as 1891 not 1890 and her birth place is Arkansas not Oklahoma. But these mistakes happen in Census records all the time. The one thing I did find interesting is that her mother Mary was born in Indian Territory. This would lead me to believe there is a true connection here since we are looking for a mother of Pottawatomie blood born in OK. Based on the 1910 Census taken of Sam and Daisy just after they were married she listed her mother as born in OK and father born in IL which matches this family completely.

I also found another member on Ancestry that does have this same information and some other facts I'm not sure enough of it to post right now, but she did know from her family that the Daisy in her record did marry a Sam Riddle and that was about all she knew of the family. She also had the above family members listed. So I may or may not be on to something here, but at this point I haven't found anything more to confirm I have the right family.

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