A very fine morning. Preparing to leave for Battle Creek, our next stopping place where Ed West lives. Took the train from Rockford, Ill. for Battle Creek at 8am. Arrived in Chicago about 10 o’clock & went directly onto the Mich. Central road and arrived at Battle Creek at 3 o’clock. Found Mr. West at his store & was ushered up to his house by his son, Julius. Has a very pleasant home in a beautiful part of the city. Chauncey is feeling quite poorly. It is also very dry here, need rain badly. It is a lovely place.
Rockford, Ill.
Before we continue on from Rockford, Ill. with Chauncey and Adaline, how about taking a look around the town? I found a site with some old postcards that seem to date from around the time when they were visiting. The image of Bridge and State Street shows a wide view of the town and a great picture of one of the street cars. Adaline often mentions traveling on street cars while in some of these towns, so it is neat to see what she meant. The postcard of West State Street really shows the architecture of the time. The horse and carriage is still the primary mode of transportation, and there are some more street cars in the background. You can almost feel the pull of society from a rural existence to a more modern and industrial way of life. I think the picture of Mulberry Street is my favorite; a tree lined street, houses peeking through, and rails for the street car going right down the middle.
More about Buel and Mary Pickett
I have previously posted a little bit of information about Buel and Mary Pickett. I wanted to find out more about them, just in case that Mary E___ might have been a daughter. Even though I found out that she wasn’t, I did find some census information that tells us a little bit more about Buel and Mary.
According to the 1860 census Buel was employed as a gardener and he and Mary had a 2 year old son named William O.
On the 1880 census William was 22, living at home, and was employed at a watch factory.
The next census I found for this family was 1900. It states that Mary was the mother of one child, and that the child was no longer living.
It is also interesting that all the census records state that Mary was born in Maine, not New Hampshire. Just an example of how someone might need to do further research to find absolute facts.
Ella Root and Charles Giddings
I was typing out the last journal entry when I came to the name Charles Giddings. That immediately got my attention because I have a book on The Giddings Family (Adaline’s family traces back to them). Well it just so happens that this book is also on-line so I searched for Ella Root and Charles Giddings and there they were on page 59:
Ella Amanda, b. Dec. 9, 1845, m. 1867 or 8, J.B. Root, of Mason, Mich., a graduate of Michigan University in the class of 1865, after which he studied law and practiced that profession successfully for three years, when he was obliged to retire from it on account of ill health. In 1870 he removed to Rockford, Ill., and turned his attention to market-gardening and seed-growing, and built up a wide reputation by his writing in Horticultural Journals. He died Nov., 1877, of vascular disease of the heart. They had four children, but one survived. His widow has since conducted the business successfully.
Charles M., b. Dec. 31, 1849, at Havana, N.Y., educated at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. Is a Mechanical Engineer by profession and is engaged in that capacity for the firm of Russell & Co., Massillon Ohio. He m. Feb 11, 1880, Anna A. Van Duyn, at Romulus, N.Y.
A word of warning in case someone choses to search around that book for information on other individuals; it is not always 100% correct. It is a good idea to verify information using other sources.
Apr. 30 Tuesday
Very pleasant but very dry here as we are now in the beautiful city of Rockford, Ill. Left cousin Mary E___ as we expected & reached Rockford about 3 o’clock before day light & set at the depot till a proper time then took st. car for Uncle Buel’s. Found her sick abed but set up a while to day. This afternoon Chauncey & Uncle B___ went for a walk down town. Mrs. Ella Root called & took tea with us, also her brother Charles Giddings who formerly lived for 6 years at Sioux City on acct. of depression in work has removed here again with his family.
A Burch Tree 