#34 Helen Moore

I have written about my great-grandmother’s sister Helen before (back in 2011). Since this week was about tragedy, I though I would share her story again, and include some newspapers articles I’ve found since 2011 that shed some light on what happened to her.

Helen was born March 14, 1895 in Plymouth, Michigan to Fred and Mina (Bolt) Moore. She had an older brother and sister, Glenn and Mae, and a younger brother, Earl.

Helen Moore, at left, c1897

Written on the back of the photo by oldest brother Glenn

Helen was 2-3 years old when she was photographed with her sister and younger brother, shown above. An article from the Northville Record from Friday, April 28, 1899 says, “The four-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Moore of Plymouth was seriously burned in that village last week Friday. Her clothes caught from a burning bon-fire near which she was playing.” So that would mean the accident occurred on Friday, April 21, 1899.

Another article from the April 28, 1899 issue of the Yale Expositor also said she was burned when her clothes caught fire from a bonfire. That paper said, however, that “she may live but will be disfigured for life.”

Helen died on May 1, 1899 at about six in the morning in Plymouth, MI. Her death certificate says she suffered a severe burn 10 days before.  The disease causing death was listed as a sympathetic fever, which she had been enduring for 48 hours, and the immediate cause of death was listed as a hemorrhage.

Week 34 (Aug. 19-25): Tragedy

#16 William Bolt in Iowa?

I think I may have found my 3rd-great grandfather in an unexpected place. There is a William D. Bolt enumerated in the 1856 Pleasant Township, Wapello County, Iowa census. This William was 21 years old and born in New York (same age and birthplace as my William). He is listed as widowed with no children. This is a surprise. If he had a wife besides my 3rd-great grandmother, it is news to me! He was living with James and Caroline Hyde and their family. James and Caroline had been born in New York, but married in 1847 in Wayne County, Michigan. Their children had been born in Michigan as well.

In the 1860 Federal Census, William was married to Mary J. Everitt (having been married within the year) and living in Plymouth, Wayne, Michigan. In the same census, James and Caroline were living in with their children in Ypsilanti, Wayne County, Michigan.

I haven’t found that the Hydes and Bolts were related, but maybe they came from New York to Michigan together, and then William decided to join them in Iowa for a while before they all returned to Michigan around 1859.

Week 16 (April 15-21): Out of Place

#6 Hazel B. Moore (1888)

It’s often surprising in my research when I find that my ancestors had more children than I thought they did. One example is my great-great grandparents Fred and Mina Moore. They were married in September 1885 in Plymouth, Michigan. They had a child I didn’t know about named Hazel, who was born January 5, 1888 and died August 1, 1888 of cholera. She is listed as male in her death registration, but female in her birth registration.

Hazel B. Moore’s Death Registration

Week 6 (February 4-10): Surprise

#50 – Mina Bolt Moore Thompson

Mina Adell Bolt Moore Thompson, my great-great grandmother, lived for years with Bert Thompson while still married to my great-great grandfather Fred Moore! She and Bert were officially married about three weeks after Fred’s death.

Bert & Mina

Mina A. Bolt and Fred L. Moore were married on September 10, 1885 in Plymouth, Michigan. They had five children between 1888 and 1897. Two daughters died before 1900. Two sons, Glenn and Earl, and another daughter, Mae, survived into adulthood. In 1900, the family was living in Plymouth and Fred was a railroad freight agent.

I’m not sure what happened to the marriage between 1900 and 1910, but in the 1910 Detroit City Directory, Mina was listed as widowed. In the 1910 Federal Census, she was listed as married and was boarding with her daughter Mae. She was listed as the housekeeper for the head of the household, Alta Fisher.

Sometime between 1910 and 1918, Mina met Bert Thompson. She was listed as his wife on his September 12, 1918 WWI Draft Registration card. And they were living at 370 Maple Ave. in Plymouth. Meanwhile, in 1919, Fred was selling grapes in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

From the Sept. 10, 1919 Benton Harbor News-Palladium

In 1920, Bert and Mina were living as husband and wife on Columbia in Dearborn, while Fred was listed as divorced and living as a roomer with the Dean family in Benton Harbor. By March 1923, Fred was living in the Berrien County Poor Home. He died on November 4, 1924. On his death certificate, he was listed as widowed and his son Glenn was the informant.

This is odd, because Glenn’s mother Mina, was alive and well and married Bert Thompson in Toledo, Ohio on November 22, 1924. She was listed as divorced, but I’m not sure that Fred and Mina were ever legally divorced. Ancestors always keep you guessing!

Week 50 (December 10-16): Naughty

#49 Seneca W. Everitt

The children of G. B. and Roseann Everitt. One of the men in this photo is Seneca W. Everitt. The only identified individuals are Mary J. Everitt Bolt (seated), Rachel Everitt Westfall (standing), and William Harrison Everitt (seated to Mary’s right).

This week, I’ll be looking at my 4th great-uncle, Seneca W. Everitt, who was born on December 26, 1838 in Portage, Ohio. He was the son of George B. Everitt and Roseann Elrick/Eldridge. He was the brother of my great-great-great grandmother, Mary J. Everitt Bolt (1837-1918). By 1850, the family, including 8 children, were living in Livonia, Michigan. Seneca was 11 years old.

In 1860, Seneca was 22 years old and was a houseman for Henry O. Hanford. Hanford, whose real estate was valued at $7,430 and personal estate was valued at $3,944 at the time, lived in Plymouth with his first wife Margaret, their son James, and his parents Jesse and Eunice. Also living in the household was a housegirl, Henriette Phelps, and two more housemen, William Rhoads and John Pool. According to Silas Farmer, Hanford owned a nearly 300-acre farm, was Township Clerk of Plymouth, Justice of the Peace of Canton, and chairman of the executive committee of the Michigan State Agricultural Society.

In 1870, Seneca was living with his parents and his youngest brother Edward in Livonia. Seneca worked on a farm and had a personal estate value of $600. On January 5, 1874, Seneca married Jennie Adams (Jane Westfall Adams) in Northville. Jennie had been previously married to William J. Adams and had three children.  Jennie was also the first cousin of the spouses of two of Seneca’s siblings. His sister Rachel had married Orson Westfall and his brother Isaac had married Orson’s sister Mary Jane Westfall.

In 1880, Seneca and Jennie lived in Plymouth and he was employed as a carpenter. In 1893 and 1905, Seneca’s property can be seen on land ownership maps on Plank Road (now Main Street) in Plymouth, next to the Markham Air Rifle Works.

In 1910, Seneca and Jane were living on South Main Street in Plymouth. In 1920, they were living at 412 Starkweather Street in Plymouth. Seneca died of senility and apoplexy on March 3, 1924 at the age of 85. He was buried in Plymouth’s Riverside Cemetery. Jane died in May 1927 at the age of 91.

1893 map showing Seneca’s property

Week 49 (December 3-9): Winter

#32 Andrew Moore (1830-1918)

Photo by Anne Sears (www.findagrave.com)

Andrew Lowell Moore is one of my great-great-great grandfathers. He was born February 13, 1830 to John and Clarissa (Sparks) Moore in Mt. Washington, Massachusetts, which is located in the southwest corner of the state. In the 1850 U.S. Census, the family was living in Batavia, Genesee, New York (about 40 miles east of Buffalo). John was aged 59 and a farmer with $4000 in real estate. His wife Clarissa was 55. There oldest child was also named Clarissa and was 22. Andrew was 20, while George was 17. The youngest daughter was named Sabra Ann and was 12. All were born in Massachusetts, except John who was born in New York. John and Clarissa also had 6 older children, already out of the house, named Abigail, Betsey, Benjamin, Michael, Louisa, and John.

Andrew married Mary J. Lyman in Stafford, Genesee, New York on September 6, 1855. In 1860, Andrew, Mary, and their 11-month-old son Lee were living in Pembroke, Genesee County. Andrew was a farmer.

By 1870, the family had moved to Little Rock, Kendall, Illinois. Andrew was now a druggist with a personal estate of $1500. Lee was 10 years old. They had a son Fred (my great-great grandfather) who was 7 and had been born in Michigan. They also had a daughter Cora Libbie who was 7 months old.

In 1880, Andrew, Mary, and their youngest daughter Mary Frances, 2 years old, were boarders at widow Eliza Haines home in Plymouth, Michigan. Andrew was a general store keeper. Lee was back in Plano, Kendall, Illinois as a store clerk, while Fred was living in Stafford back in New York with his maternal grandmother Sarah. Cora had died in August 1870. I wonder why the family was spread across the country? It is interesting to note that Fred married my great-great grandmother in Plymouth, Michigan in 1885, so somehow he ended up there.

In 1900, Andrew, Mary and Mary “Mae” Frances were living in Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois along with a boarder named Francis Newton. Andrew was a druggist and Francis was a drug salesman. Mae and Francis eventually married.

Andrew’s wife, Mary, died on March 31, 1904 and was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Sandwich. In 1910, Andrew was living with his daughter Mae and her husband Francis who now was a proprietor of a drug store. He died at the age of 88 on October 3, 1918 and was buried next to his wife.

Andrew L. Moore’s Will (Illinois, Wills and Probate Records, 1772-1999. Ancestry.com. 2015. Provo, UT, USA)

52 Ancestors #32 – One of 32 3rd Great Grandparents

Wednesday’s Child – Isaac E. Bolt, 1863-1865

Isaac E. Bolt was born August 18, 1863 and died September 18, 1865.  He is buried with his parents, William D. Bolt and Mary J. Everitt Bolt at Riverside Cemetery in Plymouth, Michigan.  He had an older brother named George and a younger sister named Mina, who wasn’t born until after his death (in April 1866).

Helen Moore, 1895-1899

Another tragedy – isn’t genealogy full of them?  The first clue I had that this little girl ever existed is this picture.  She is at the left:

The back of the picture really opened up a can of worms.  The inscription was written by Glenn Moore, the oldest son of Fred Moore and Mina Bolt.

 

Wow.  I know the older girl is my great-grandmother Mae, born 18 May 1892.  The baby is Earl, born 2 April 1897.  I had never heard of another girl, but it explains why Mae named her only child, a daughter born in 1912, Helen.

Above: Helen Moore’s Birth Registration. She was born 14 March 1895 in Plymouth, Michigan.

Above: Helen’s death certificate is truly horrifying.  She died 1 May 1899.  The certificate says she suffered a severe burn 10 days before.  24 hours before her death she had a hemorrhage.  The cause of death was a sympathetic fever, which had been enduring for 48 hours.