A day in the life

I always enjoy seeing what my ancestors did during their daily lives. On December 21, 1932 my grandmother Ruth Eileen McFadden (1905-1985) and great grandmother Elizabeth Neuland McFadden (1866-1949) went to the movies and saw Fast Lane. I do enjoy Pre-Code films and may have to add this one to my collection. Who knows, I may even wait until December 21 and watch it 86 years later.

Ruth and Elizabeth (Lizzie) McFadden circa 1940

Dec 21, 1932 - Ruth and I went to the Stanley to see Bill Haines in Fast Life. When we came home Tom Tarriton was here with Christmas Presents. I don't know who Tom Tarriton was and why he was bringing presents. I'll need to look into him soon.

Stanley Theatre September 23, 1927

Stanley Theatre circa 1928

Stanley Theatre circa 1927

Evening star. (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, January 01, 1933

 LOEW'S FOX - "Fast Life."

LOEW'S Fox Theater is offering as its

 screen attraction William Haines in 

"Fast Life." with Madge Evans, Cliff

Edwards and Conrad Nagel. Belle

Baker headlines the vaudeville bill.

In "Fast Life" there are scenes of 

the boat races at Catalina Island and 

in the Los Angeles Harbor, which show

high-powered craft pounding over the 

waves at close to 100 miles per hour.

Cameras were mounted on speedboats 

to follow the racers. The picture is 

based on E. J. Rath's novel "Let's Go". 

Available on Amazon.com for $14.99 through the Warner Archive Collection

Dennis Mcfadden 1865-1886: The Missing Years

About three or four years ago I submitted a request to the NARA for my great grandfather Dennis Cornelius McFadden’s (1847-1924) Civil War pension application file. A couple of months later I received a reply stating that they did not have the file.

Next I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Veterans Administration for the pension file. A little later I received a reply that they did not have it at their location and would forward the request to another office. A while after that I received another letter saying the same thing, and then again.

I had given up hope of getting the file but then one day almost three years later it showed up in my mailbox. I was thrilled to finally have it and it has helped fill in a few gaps

Shortly after turning 18 Dennis enlisted in the United States Army in Portsmouth, Ohio on 18 July 1863.[1]  He was paid $25.00 out of a promised total of $100.00 for joining the army. He served as a private in the First Ohio Heavy Artillery, Company E.[2]  Between 14 December 1863 until February 1864 Dennis was absent with leave.[3]  His military pension file does not address this absence so it’s still a mystery[4].

Dennis mustered out of the army on 25 July 1865 at Knoxville, Tennessee.  It is currently unknown where he went and what he did immediately after the war.  According to the Declaration for Pension[5] after his service he moved to Vinton County, Ohio. Then in 1867 he moved to Washington County, Pennsylvania and remained there up to 1900.

The next time Dennis appears in the public record is 1 February 1886 in his Application and Statement of Marriage to Lizzie (Elizabeth) Neuland.  At this time both are residents of Coal Center, Washington County, Pennsylvania.[6]

So far I have been unable to locate Dennis after leaving the service and up to his marriage in 1886. I have sent a research request for the Catholic diocese for the area and am hoping they will have something in their files concerning Dennis. After that, I hopefully will be able to visit Vinton County, Ohio and Washington County, Pennsylvania and do some research there.

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[1] Compiled service record, Dennis McFadden, Pvt., Co. E, Ohio First Heavy Artillery; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Records of the adjutant General’s Office, 1780s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Dennis C. McFadden (Pvt., Co. E, 1^st Ohio Heavy Artillery., Civil War) pension no. X.C. 956,627, certificate no. 1095,474; service of Dennis McFadden; Case Files of Pension Applications…, 1905-1949; Civil War Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

[5] Dennis C. McFadden Civil War Pension no. X.C. 956,627, NA-Washington.

[6] “Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950” index and images, Family Search (https://familysearch.org/pal/MM9.1.1/VF34-RCD : accessed 8 February 2013), Dennis McFadden and Lizzie Newland, 1886.

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. 



Wedding Wednesday-Dennis McFadden and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Neuland

Application and Statement for Marriage License

Dennis McFadden resident of Coal Center, Washington County Pennsylvania

Names and residence of his parents are:residents of the state of Ohio

He is twenty seven years of age

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Neuland

Names and residence of her parents are:Luis Neuland and Hanna Neuland residence Coal Center

She is twenty years of age

Sworn on 15th of February 1886

A couple of interesting things from this document. 

Most other records indicate that Dennis was about 19 years older than Lizzie.  Family stories suggests that he lied about his age in order to emigrate from Ireland, then lied again to serve in the Civil War.  He is said to have been about 13 when he signed up in Ohio and gave his age as 18.

The second is the reference to his parents being residents of the State of Ohio.  Again according to family stories, his father died in Ireland during the potato famine while Dennis was a child.  When  his mother remarried, the step father refused to support the McFadden children forcing Dennis and possibly his brother John to immigrate to the US between 1848-1850.

It seems with Dennis, the more information I find about him, the cloudier his life becomes.