Sunday's Obituary: Dr.Span Ragan

Dr. Span Ragan* died on January 24, 1875 in Georgia.  He was born on April 1, 1818 and was the son of Elizabeth Span Regan Bryan and her first husband, Joseph Regan. This tiny piece of paper was found in Terrell and Harriet's Bryan's family bible. 

*Note that Span changed the spelling of his last name from Regan to Ragan. The spelling of his first name varies as Span or Spann from document to document. 

Diana                                                                

© 2012

Friday's Photo: Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery now has a burial database of its more than 400,000 burials. The database, the ANC Explorer, is searchable on-line and is also available as an app. Photographs of gravestones can be downloaded from the site. These photographs, found using the ANC Explorer, show the gravestone for William J. Quinn, my father-in-law. On the back of this stone, is the birth and death information for his wife, my mother-in-law, Doris Mary Quinn. 

Diana

© 2012

Sunday's Obituary: Joseph Albert Glynn

Joseph Albert Glynn was my great-great-grandfather. He was born in Putney, Vermont on February 13, 1835, the son of Joseph Glynn and Nancy Read. He died on November 2, 1905. He was the husband of Julia Harvey and father of daughters Caroline "Carrie" Glynn Alter and Mary Lucy Glynn Giddens (wife of Charles A. Giddens.) His obituary is below. The name and date of the newspaper are unknown. 

Albert Glynn, 70, a farm laborer, was found dead in his home in East Putney Thursday morning. He lived alone and for sometime he had been ill with heart disease. On Wednesday night Will Richards, who lives at M. C. Ingall's stayed over night with him leaving early in the morning. About 8 o'clock Mrs. John Nicholas who lived near by and who had shown him many kindnesses went to his house and found him dead on the floor.  He had prepared breakfast and had been seized with a sudden attack of heart disease while doing his work. He leaves two daughters, one in Phillipsburg, N. J. and one in New York. The funeral was held at the house at 10 o'clock Saturday. Rev. R. C. Charlton officiating and the burial was in Maple Grove cemetery. 

Diana

© 2012

Making Assumptions

Julia Harvey Glynn with her daughter Caroline

My great-grandmother, Mary Lucy Glynn, wife of Charles A. Giddens, was the daughter of Joseph Albert Glynn ("Albert") and Julia Harvey.  Joseph Albert Glynn was well documented in Putney, Vermont, but Julia Harvey appeared to have no past before her marriage to Albert.  I made the following assumptions about Julia Harvey:

• I assumed that Julia married Albert in Vermont before relocating to NYC where she is found on the 1870 census. 
• I assumed that she might be the 15 year old Julia M. Harvey that lived in Washington, Vermont with a glove manufacturer in the 1850 census.
• I assumed that Julia may have come from Ireland alone as family didn't appear present. 

In genealogy, it's okay to make assumptions, but it's not okay to turn these assumptions into facts. In the "genealogy world," I have seen many assumptions such as maiden names, birth and death locations, and even parents of ancestors turned into facts.  

I have made this mistake several times and one was pointed out to me this week.  On my website, posted in about 2003, I listed an ancestor's death place as Erath County, Texas. She married in Erath County, her husband had a business in Erath County, and she is buried in Erath County so I ASSUMED that she died in Erath County and that is what I put in my family tree and on my website. However, she died in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas. 

So, before you add those facts to your database, your tree at Ancestry, or your website, think about that fact - How do you know this? Do you have a source? If not, leave it blank and look a little harder or wait – it may come to you.

Now back to Julia Harvey. I left her marriage date and place blank in my database years ago. I didn't pursue this fact, but it came to me yesterday as a "hint" while I was entering her husband, Albert Glynn, into my family tree at Ancestry.com - Albert Glynn married Johanna Harvey in Walpole, Cheshire, New Hampshire on June 9, 1861. I started to question this, but saw that Albert's birthplace, age, and parents were listed accurately.   So now my first assumption was proved as incorrect and I am looking for Johanna Harvey, as well as Julia Harvey. 

FYI - my second assumption is also incorrect. Julia M. Harvey is not my Julia Harvey. In 1870, my Julia was now Julia Glynn, living in NYC while Julia M. Harvey continued to live in Washington, Vermont. 

Diana

© 2012

Friday's Photo: The Quinn-Murray Family in 1930

I love these pictures of William Joseph Quinn II and Susan Murray Quinn, my husband's grandparents, and their twins. The twins are William Quinn III and Helen Quinn, born in 1930. The child in the top picture was identified as Patricia "Patsy" Quinn by her sister, Kitty. 

William Joseph Quinn II was a bus driver.  Look at his uniform and his high boots.  What was his occupation before driving buses in NYC? 


Diana

© 2012

Identifying Baby Pictures

This picture was identified as DeRay Bryan by a family 
member who had the same picture. 

Old photographs of babies are not easy to identify.  I have several pictures of babies with no names. The only sure way to find out about the identities of these babies is to find family members with the same or similar pictures and hope that their picture has been labeled. Those baby pictures will never be identified if they remain in an album in my closet. So, below are the baby pictures that I would like to know more about. If you have similar or identical pictures, please contact me!!

The picture on the left is probably a Bryan family baby, maybe a grandchild of Terrell and Harriet Bryan. This was sent to me by a Hammett family member. However, this could be a Latta, Biggs, Hammett, Wylie, Keith, or Bryan family baby. 

It was taken in by Lenox of Stephenville, Texas. The date is unknown, but Lenox was taking pictures in Texas both in the late 1800s and the early 1900s.

This unknown baby on the right was found in the bible that once belonged to Terrell L. "Bunch" Bryan and James Biggs. "Bunch" was the daughter of Terrell and Harriet Bryan. 

This tintype came from Terrell and Harriet Bryan's family bible.  It is damaged and hard to view. The person holding the baby is not visible from the neck down. This tintype could be a Bryan family baby or one of the many babies in the extended Bryan family. One Criswell family member thought that it might be William E. Criswell, but I have no baby picture that matches. It could also be someone in my grandmothers Hairston family. 

The picture to the right and the picture below belonged to my husband's grandparents William J. Quinn and Susan Murray. No one has been able to identify these. If you are a Quinn or Murray with old family pictures, please look for these.

Diana

© 2012

Sunday's Obituary: Hollon Bryan Latta

Before daily newspapers, funeral notices
 were  printed by the local newspaper and
distributed throughout communities.
This funeral notice for Hollon Bryan Latta
was found in the family bible that once
belonged to Terrell and Harriet Bryan.

I found the below obituaries and notices while searching newspapers yesterday.  Hollon Span Bryan Latta was my grandfather's sister. She died in 1906 and I know very little about her. Span was also her grandmother's middle name (Elizabeth Span Regan, wife of Reddick Bryan) and a name used often in the Bryan/Regan family. I am not sure of the origin of the name "Span," but assume that it is the maiden name of a female ancestor. 

This tintype, labeled Aunt Holly,
is in the bible that once belonged
to her parents, Terrell and
Harriet Bryan. 

DEATHS

Latta

Mrs. Hollie Span Latta, wife of J. A. Latta, died Saturday night at 7:30 o’clock at her home in Rosen Heights, aged 42 years. Left surviving her are Mr. Latta and a daughter, aged 9 years. Mrs. Latta had been a resident of Fort Worth for the last three years having removed here from Hobart, Okla. The body will be shipped to Stephenville, Texas, Sunday afternoon at 3 o’clock by L. P. Robertson, undertaker. Funeral services and interment will be held at that place.

Sept. 2, 1906 – Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Mortuary Matters

Mrs. H. A. Latta, aged about 42 years, the wife of James A. Latta of Rosen Heights, died this morning. The remains were shipped this evening to Stephenville, Tex. By Undertaker L. P. Robertson.  The deceased is survived by her husband and a daughter.

Sept. 3, 1906 - Dallas Morning News

Hollon Bryan Latta was
buried in West End
Cemetery in Stephenville,
Erath County, Texas. 

Mrs. H. S. Latta

Undertaker Robertson Sunday shipped the remains of Mrs. H. S. Latta, wife of James A. Latta, to Stephenville, where they will be interred.  

Sept 3, 1906 - Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Record of Deaths

Mrs. H. S. Latta, age 42 years, Rosen Heights, Sept. 1, peritonitis. 

Sept. 5, 1906 - Dallas Morning News   

Hollon "Hollie" was the wife of James Alonzo "Lon" Latta and the mother of Millard Ray Latta.  Millard Ray lived with my grandparents when they were in Baylor County.  She was a teacher and also a principal in that county.  You can see more about Millard Ray Latta on my webste. 

Diana

© 2012, copyright Diana Quinn

Friday's Photo: A Baby's Death

Last year, another Hairston descendant (Carla) showed me this picture. The woman looked familiar and I scanned the picture. Recently, I started comparing this picture to others and realized that this was my grandmother, Myrtie Hairston Bryan, who died in 1927. 

Noting that this is probably a postmortem picture, it would have to be one of two babies who died soon after birth; Redic Eli Bryan Jr. who died in 1913, or R. E. Bryan who died in 1916.  Redic Eli Bryan Jr. was less than a month old when he died and the baby in this picture looks older than one month. I assume that the the baby in this picture is R. E. Bryan who died at three months on December 31, 1916. The following obituary was found in the Bryan family bible. 

Diana

© 2012, copyright Diana Quinn

Happy Birthday To My Second Cousin Once Removed!

Sharon and I met on the Internet after I posted a picture of her grandfather. She lives on the west coast and I live on the east coast, but together, we have attended two genealogy conferences and been on nine genealogical research trips; visiting new found relatives, numerous libraries, courthouses, state archives and of course, cemeteries. 

Happy Birthday! Enjoy your day!

Diana

© 2012