1927 gas tank explosion-Pittsburgh, PA

I was going through a few more pages of my great grandmother's (Elizabeth "Lizzie" Neuland McFadden, 1866-1949), diary and I came across this entry:

Pittsburgh      Monday 14, 1927
A gas tank explosion about 20 minutes to 9.  Lots of damage done and people killed.  The whole city shook, glass broke every where.  Our house shook.  I didn't know what had happened.  I was in laundry washing.

 

 



In 1920 they lived just across the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh on Amabell Street.  If they didn't live at the same address in 1927, it was the same general area.  By 1930 Lizzie and my grandmother, Ruth (1905-1985) were living in Maryland with her son Cornelius P. McFadden (1903-1977)

 

Here is a YouTube video on the explosion. 



52 Ancestors- Week 13-Edward McFadden

Blogger Amy Johnson Crow has created a challenge, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Each week the object is to post about a specific ancestor.

I have been bad about posting lately, but hopefully can get going on this again.

Also, apparently I skipped #13.

 

Edward McFadden (?-?)

Edward McFadden is the father of my maternal great grandfather Dennis Cornelius McFadden.  His wife was Alice Collum and both are believed to have been born in Ireland.

This is pretty much all that is known about Edward. 

There are two family legends concerning Edward and the McFadden family and how they came to America. 

One story has it that Edward died during the potato famine in Ireland.  Alice was no longer able to care for the children, so Dennis and his brother John walked to one of the Irish ports and sailed for America.  After arriving they settled in Ohio with a sister who possibly married a Ferry.

The second story indicates that Edward and Alice at some point immigrated to America and settled in Ohio.  It is unknown if Dennis and John came with their parents or if family members came over at different times.

Possible candidates for Edward and Alice McFadden show up in the 1860 US Census for Clinton, Vinton County, Ohio.  So far, I have been unable to prove or disprove if this is the correct family.

Edward McFadden - 56 - day laborer - (birthplace) Ireland

Alice - 56 - (birthplace) Ireland

John - 18 - day laborer - (birthplace) Ireland

Dennis -16 - day laborer - (birthplace) Ireland

Peter McAndre - 30 - day laborer - (birthplace) Ireland 

William Ocallaghan - 38 - teacher - - (birthplace) Ireland

Edward and Alice are next mentioned on Application and Statement for Marriage License for Dennis and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Neuland in 1886.

The parents of Dennis are not named but are listed as "residents of the State of Ohio"

In 1919 Edward Vincent McFadden (1889-1977) a son of Dennis and Elizabeth applied for a passport to travel to Europe after World War I.  In it, he lists the places his father had lived up to that point. It also says that he immigrated to the US in 1852.

States Dennis had live in the US for 67 uninterrupted years at "Coal Center, Roscoe, Monongahela & Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania).   Also lived in State of Ohio."

Finally, the death certificate for Dennis, names his parents as Edward McFadden and Alice Collum.  Both are also said to have been born in Ireland.  The informant was Cornelius McFadden (1903-1977), ninth child of Dennis and Elizabeth.


Allegheny County, Pennsylvania-1924

So far, I have been unable to locate any possible candidates Edward, Alice or Dennis in the immigration records. I'm hoping if I can focus on Ohio, something may turn up.


Sources:

1860 U.S. census, Vinton County, Ohio, population schedule, Clinton Township, p. 63 (penned), dwelling 453, family 441, Edward McFadden; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 February 2013); citing National Archives Microfilm publication M635 roll 1046.

Washington County, Pennsylvania, “marriage license no. 133,” Dennis McFadden-Lizzie Newland, 18 February 1886; digital images,  Family Search (https://familysearch.org/pal/MM9.1.1/VF34-RCD : accessed 8 February 2013).; Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, death certificate no. 11973 (1924), Dennis C. McFadden; Department of Health, Pennsylvania

Edward  V. McFadden passport application, 10 April 1919; U.S. Passport Applications, 1979-1915; General Records of the Department of State, Record Group; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, death certificate no. 11973 (1924), Dennis C. McFadden; Department of Health, Pennsylvania.

52 Ancestors- Week 16-Otto Schildhauer

 Blogger Amy Johnson Crow has created a challenge, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Each week the object is to post about a specific ancestor.

Otto Schildhauer was my maternal 2nd cousin once removed.  While researching some collateral family members, I have come across a few individuals that I have been able to locate quite a bit about with minimal research time and effort.

One of these individuals is Otto Schildhauer (1898-1959).  I have been able to find a pretty good summary of his life just searching newspapers.   

Also, when people talk about the lack of privacy these days, I like to bring old newpapers up.  It's a good illustration that social networks really aren't a new idea.  It's only the technology that has changed.




Newark Daily Advocate, Newark, Ohio, 7 June 1898

Born, to Mr. and Mrs. Schildhauer of Buckingham street, a twelve-pound baby boy.



Newark Daily Advocate, Newark, Ohio, 12 Jan 1900

The little child of Mr. Herman Schildhauer is quite sick at 349 Buckingham street.



Newark Daily Advocate, Newark, Ohio, 23 Feb 1901

Otto, the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Herman Schildhauer is very sick at the home on Buckingham street.

Newark Daily Advocate, Newark, Ohio, 27 June 1901

Otto, thee little son of Mr. Herman Schildhauer, the well known B & O machinist residing at 348 Buckingham street started to the well a morning or two ago, with a cup for the purpose of getting a drink of water.  As he was going to the well he slipped and fell cutting his arm entirely across the left wrist.  The wound had to be sewed up, but the little fellow is doing well as could be expected at this writing.



Evening Independent, Massillon, Ohio, 26 Nov 1926

Another Massillonian is making a name for himself in movie circles.  He is Otto Schildhauer, son of Mrs. M Schildhauer of 1218 Wellman street.  Mr. Schildhauer has been successful on Hollywood as a technical director.

An Article in a Hollywood newspaper says:

Otto Schildhauer, well known technical director, whose services have been so much in demand of late due to his able ability and originality in set designing, left for Honolulu, where he will be on location for the next four months with the West Coast Picture corporation.

"Lately Mr. Schildhauer has been doing designing for some of the larger theaters on the coast and his work has attracted the attention of a great many of the larger picture corporations.  The West Coast corporation is indeed fortunate in having Mr. schildhauer working under its banner.

"During his four months stay in Honolulu, the management of his two cake shops will be in charge of Mrs. Lucille Holder who has been managing the store in Western Avenue.

Mr. Schildhauer went to Hollywood two years ago. 

So far, I have not located any titles of movies he may have been involved with. 



Evening Independent, Massillon, Ohio, 16 Jun 1931

Mrs. Schildhauer, of State Ave. NE, returned Sunday from Hollywood, where she spend the past year with her son, Otto Schildhauer.

Evening Independent, Massillon, Ohio, 9 Dec 1936

Miss Mae Breninghouse who has been spending three months with Mr. and Mrs. William Casack of 1st st. ext... NE, left Tuesday morning for her home in Hollywood, Cal., accompanied by Mrs. Margaret Schildhauer, of State ave. NE, who will be the guest of her son Otto Schildhauer.

Evening Independent, Massillon, Ohio, 25 Feb 1936

Otto Schildhauer of Hollywood, Cal. formerly of Massillon, arrived Sunday evening, having been called here by the serious illness of his sister, Mrs. Glenn H. Krishner, of 313 State ave, NE.

Evening Independent, Massillon, Ohio, 9 Jan 1940

Mrs. Margaret Schildhauer, of State ave, NE and Miss Mae Breninghouse of 1st st, NE ext. left today to spend the remainder of the winter in Hollywood, Cal.  Mrs. Schildhauer will be a guest of her son, Otto Schildhauer while there.

Evening Independent, Massillon, Ohio, 26 Jun 1940

Mr. and Mrs. Louis Drouhard and daughter, Pauline, of 2nd st. SW, and Mrs. H. Schildhauer of State ave, NE will leave Thursday at noon by motor for a two months trip to Hollywood, Cal, where the will visit Mrs. Schildhauer's son Otto Schildhauer, formerly of Massillon.




Evening Independent, Massillon, Ohio, 2 Jul 1959

Otto B. Schildhauer, 61 of 4933 Melrose Ave. Hollywood, Cal., former Massillon resident died at 2:05 am today in the Massillon city hospical where he was admitted May 18.

A Native of Newark, O, Mr. Schildhauer came to Massillon at the age of 12 years and formerly attended St. Joseph's parochial school.  Since 1925 he had lived in Hollywood where he owned and operated The Food Shop.

Mr. Schildhauer is survived by his mother, Mrs. Margaret Schildhauer, who made her home with  him in Hollywood and two sisters Mrs. Ernest Gross and Mrs. Glen Krisher of Massillon.

The funeral will be held Saturday at 9 am in St. Mary's Catholic church.  Internment will be made in the parish cemetery.

Friends may call at the Gordon Shaidnagle-Hollinger funeral home Friday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 pm

The Rosary will be prayed Friday at 7 pm at the funeral home.



52 Ancestors- Week 15- Charles McFadden-update

 Blogger Amy Johnson Crow has created a challenge, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Each week the object is to post about a specific ancestor.

I have fallen a little behind on this challenge, but hopefully can catch up fairly soon.

While visiting my parents last week, my mother gave me another family journal that she came across while organizing their new place.

At first we thought this diary belonged to my grandmother, Ruth MCFADDEN Webb (1905-1985), but after reading several of the entries it appears to have beem my great grandmother's, Hannah BITTINGER McFadden (1846-1890).  

 

At the back of the diary there are several newspaper clippings pasted on a couple of pages.

There are two articles that deal with the illness and death of 10 year old Charlie McFadden (1891-1900) which I had previously posted about here:  Charles McFadden. 


Clipping 1:  Charles, 10 year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Dennis McFadden is very ill with catarrhal fever.

Clipping 2:  Charlie McFadden died yesterday

morning.  The little fellow suffered

awfully during the last few days of

   his illness.  Catarrhal fever, followed

by pneumonia and spinal trouble,

made his case a difficult one to treat.

He was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Dennis

McFadden and was ten years of age.

One mystery solved, he appears to have died of natural causes.

New mysteries:

     Catarrhal fever is an infection that affects mostly ruminants, cows, sheep, etc.  according to the Merck Veterinary Manual.  I checked A Medical Miscellany For Genealogists by Dr. Jeanette L. Jerger and What Did They Mean By That: A Dictionary of Historical and Genealogical Terms Old and New by Paul Drake.  Neither listed catarrhal fever.

     Why was his death still not talked about among family members?  Family lore has it that Dennis was an alcoholic and abusive to his family.  Because of this I had considered the possibility that Charlie may have died at the hands of his father which would have been a reason why the memory of him was hushed up.  Since other siblings died at young ages, yet were freely discussed among family members through the years, it seems especially odd that Charlie was not remembered.

  Unfortunately, the newspaper clippings do not include the name of the publication or the dates the articles were published.     According to the 1900 & 1910 census the McFadden family lived in Roscoe, Washington County, Pennsylvania.  I will focus on newspapers for that area and hopefully I can find the publication information and possible a little more about Charlie's death.

I was also considering using Charles as my case study for when I officially begin working toward certification through the  Board for Certification of Genealogists.   Fortunately, I have several other ancestors that would make for good case studies that I can use for this project.


52 Ancestors-Week - 14 - Ruth Eileen McFadden (1905-1985)

This post is part of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge.  The object is to write something about 1 ancestor each week.  More information can be  found at her blog No Story Too Small.

When I became serious about pursuing my genealogy, my parents gave me a box that had a lot of pictures and letters from my grandmother Ruth Eileen McFadden (1905-1985) along with some items of my grandfather Clyde Lee Webb (1898-1987). 

Among the items in this box was a journal that my grandmother kept that began at the end of 1975 and ended at the beginning of 1977.

I don't know if she kept diaries or journals throughout her life but this is the only one that made it to today, whether on purpose or by accident.   

Here is a page from her journal from 38 years ago this month.

11-17 April 1976

 

Sunday April 11

Elizabeth (my mother) came over & we visited Sallie (don't know who she is).  She looks well and was in good spirits.  Will be operated on tomorrow morning.

 

Monday April 12

10:45 & going to bed.  Busy day packing for trip etc.  Started to drizzle tonight.  Talked to Beverly (don't know who she is). Sallie is doing well.  Today is Dr. Hamilton's birthday-96. (what I remember about Dr. Hamilton is that everyday my grandmother would go over and check on him.  Not sure what she did for him other than see him for a few minutes.  The one memory I have of him is of him on his porch yelling at us kids to shut up.  We were playing Nerf football in the front yard of my grandparents house in Fort Worth.  I was 10, my brothers were 12 and 6 and my sister 8.)

 

Tuesday April 13

Left at 11:15 for Miss. (My grandparents second daughter and her husband) Arrived in Monroe, LA about 4:45 PM-stopping at Ramada Inn had dinner at the Inn.   Drove (not sure what this means or relates to.)

 

Wednesday April 14

Left Monroe about 9:00am-decided to stop along the way for breakfast but did not see a decent place-so had a hamburger at Stucky's (I remember Stucky's.  When we went on family trips to Arkansas, to visit my fathers family, we'd look forward to stopping at the blue roofed Stucky's.  I'd always get the little pecan pie.)

 

Thursday April 15

M & B (my aunt and uncle) had class today (both were university professors) came home for lunch- Daddy came over about noon. (no idea what this means.  Came over from where? She definitely did not have the best handwriting.) Had a wonderful day- Bucky barbecued chicken which was delicious.  B. fixed Black Russians.  Had one, salad, home made bread, ice cream, cookies, wine. 

 

Friday April 15

Real nice day. M&B on vacation. We went to Stations (?) this afternoon.  Bought Rhoda & Nick (don't know who they are) a wedding gift.  Another delectable dinner-cheese souffle with shrimp sauce, homemade bread & salad.  10:15 PM getting ready to go to bed.

 

Saturday April 17

Real warm again today- Maureen hemmed her drapes and put them up.  Another delicious dinner.  Bucky made ice cream.

 

 

 



52 Ancestors-Week - 12 - Arlie C. Campbell (1873-1966)

This post is part of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge.  The object is to write something about 1 ancestor each week.  More information can be  found at her blog No Story Too Small.

Playing catch up.

Arlie C. Campbell was married to the brother of my maternal great grandmother.   She married Harry D. Neuland on 17 November 1897.

Harry and Arlie Neuland-65th wedding anniversary 1962

                                          I like the note she added to the back of this picture.  



 

I was smiling at first

but it took so long to snap

the picture, my smile

just faded out.

Our 65th Wedding Anniversary

 

My grandmother added a note:

Aunt Arlie died

July 3, 1966

 

 

 

52 Ancestors-Week - 11 Jeremiah Webb (1746-?)

This post is part of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge.  The object is to write something about 1 ancestor each week.  More information can be  found at her blog No Story Too Small.

I've fallen a little behind so today I will cover one of my Revolutionary War ancestors, Jeremiah Webb.  I haven't found too much on him and most of what I have is from a deposition filed in open court in Harrison County, Indiana, 22 March 1823.

State of Indiana
Harrison County

On the 22 day of March 1823 personally appeared in open court being a Court of Record of the second Indiana ___________Circuit of the State aforesaid, Jeremiah Webb a resident citizen of said Circuit, age 77 years the 27th march 1823 who being first duly sworn according to law doth ______ his oath make the  following declaration in order to obtain the provisions made by the acts of Congress of the 18th March 1818 and of the first of May 1820. That he said Jeremiah Webb enlisted some time in the month of October as well as he can recollect, in the first commencement of the Revolutionary War that he enlisted in the company of Captain George Taylor in the Regiment Command by Colonel Cleveland in the line of North or South Carolina and he does not recollect which.  That he continued in said company during the war on the continental establishment and was then discharged and has not other evidence of his services having had his discharge burnt with all his possessions.  That he was at the Battle of Kings Mountain and at Tarlton's Defeat at the Battle of the Cow Pen.  That he was principally on the frontier against the British & Indians.  That he commanded at the White Oak Station in North Carolina and at Green River in the ________ for about six months.  That his skull was severely fractured in the Battle at Kings Mountain which wound has injured him in such a manner that he is frequently not himself.

And in pursuance of the Act of the first of May 1820 I do solemnly swear that I was a resident citizen of the United States on the 18th day of March 1818 and that I have not since that time by gift or sale or in any manner disposed of my property or any part there of with intent thereby so to diminish it as to bring myself within the provisions of an Act of Congress entitled An Act to provide for certain persons engaged in the Land and Naval service of the United States in the Revolutionary War passed on the 18th day of March 1818 & that I have not nor has any person in trust for me any property or securities contracts or debts due to me.  Nor have I any income other that what is contained in the following schedule here to _______ ________ farmer by occupation but not much reduced by age have a wife named Malinda aged 76 years have six children but none of them living with us.

Schedule of property-One mare & colt, one cow & calf, one yearling calf, two beds & bedding, five pewter plates, three knives & forks, a pot & a skillet, one hoe, one tin cup, one ______ crock, four spoons, not debts due him, owes to the amount of about five dollars                        

Sworn to before me in open court.  Valuation of propert Fifty nine Dollars & seventy five cents. ($59.75)                                         A. Bayless                                    Jeremiah X(his mark) Webb
                                                       ________ Kirkpatric    


I have a court document from Chestnut Hill, Jefferson, County Tennessee, where Meredith Webb (my g g g g grandfather) states his father was Jeremiah Webb.

Jefferson County, Tennessee Court Minutes 1792-1795

pg. 113

John Burke            }
       VS                   }             Attachment
Jeremiah Webb     }

Meredith Webb a Guarnishee in this cause saith he doth
not owe anything himself to the Deft. but believes his
father Jeremiah Webb is indebted to the plaintiff.

I've tried to get the full record of this case and any supporting documents from Jefferson County, but so far have not been successful. 

I haven't proved yet that this is the correct Jeremiah, but so far it hasn't been disproven either.  My next step is to create a time line for both individuals and other family members then go from there.