A Young Adaline

I feel so bad about neglecting this blog for so long, so to make it up to you here are some photos! Click on the images to seem them larger.

This was such a cool find. Wasn’t she pretty? This is a photo of Adaline probably dating to the 1850’s, so she would be in her late teens or early twenties. It is not a daguerreotype, but is probably a tintype or ambrotype. The latter two types of photography were less expensive and I don’t think that the sitter (the person in the photo) had to sit still for quite so long.

The case itself is only three or four inches high. In case you were wondering, no, I don’t own it… although how fun would that be? I do, however, have the contact information of the woman who does. If any family is interested in purchasing it from her, let me know through the comments and I will get you more information. Unfortunately it was more money than I was willing to spend!

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Just Like a Mother

In case anyone was wondering, or if you haven’t looked over at the families listed to the right, Belle is the daughter of Chauncey and Adaline. At the time of this writing she is about 26 years old and has been living in New York for awhile. I think it has been about a year since Adaline has seen Belle. It surprises me that it has taken her this long to mention her thoughts about Belle, they have been there for 10 days already! Mothers seem to be the first ones to notice if something is not quite right with their children. Apparently Adaline is no different. She even compares their weights!

Almost Home

When I first read that line about them almost being able to leave for home I was a little confused. At first I thought they were leaving to go back to Bellwood, Neb. but then I realized that she is talking about “home,” as in the place she was born and raised. They are nearly to Shelby County, New York.

Adaline has also been mentioning more of her family members so I thought I better get to work organizing who everyone is for you all. If you look over to the right side of the page I have started creating pages for each family. I hope to add to the list pretty regularly so keep your eyes open for any changes. I also plan to have them linked together so you can click on a name and see who their parents are or who their children are. Just run your mouse over the names if you want to see if there is a link there. Hopefully this will be a pretty easy way to make sense of all the generations.

Right now we see Adaline between homes. Behind her is her current home and the homes of her children; she just sent a letter to her oldest son and his wife, Dan and Minnie. On the road in front of her is the home of her parents and of her youth. They are almost there!

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.

Figuring Out Family

I am really working at trying to figure out how all of Adaline’s family fits together. But so far I have not been able to figure out where Cousins May E. and Mamie belong! If anyone knows who they are, please share your information. I do, however, know that Uncle Buel is one of her father’s brothers. He was born in Sherman, Connecticut on July 31, 1811 and married Mary H. Adams on Sept. 3, 1857. Mary was born August 15, 1818 in Dover, NH. Apparently Buel Pickett was also a captain of the militia.

As far as their location in their journey, Adaline refers to the place as Nashua. Today, Oregon-Nashua is a township in Ogle County, IL.