Mary Green (1812-1907) (52 Ancestors 2020 Week 36) Theme: "Labor"

This week the focus is on my 3X great grandmother Mary Green's profession as a midwife where she would have had more than a passing familiarity with women in labor!

Mary (Green) Hoover 

Mary was born in Pennsylvania 4 September 1812 to Ezekiel Green and his wife (who may have been named Esther Ann but, with no evidence to back that up, she for now remains nameless). Mary was the 6th of the 9 children this unnamed woman bore Ezekiel (assuming he had just the one wife) so she was also no stranger to labor!

1830 US Census for Plumcreek, Armstrong County, PA

Mary grew up in Plum Creek, PA. In the 1830 U.S. Census, a portion of which is shown above, she is no doubt one of the 3 females between the ages of 15 and 20 in the Ezekiel Green household, Conveniently, one neighboring family was that of Christian Hoover (Sr.) where there was one young man in his 20's -- quite probably Christian Hoover (Jr.) who may have already been courting Mary. Christian and Mary were married on 15 August 1833.

Their first-born child was my 2X great grandmother, the inimitable Barbara Hoover (the operator of many restaurants, hotels and boarding houses written about in an earlier story). Christian and Mary would also have a total of 9 children born between 1834 and 1849. Shortly after completing their family, they were on the move, first to Illinois, then to Kansas Territory for a couple of years, then back to Illinois and then to What Cheer, Iowa before finally moving back again to Kansas where they settled at Burlingame in Osage County.  This is where we find Christian (70) and Mary (68) with two grandsons residing with them in the 1880 U.S. Census. The household next in the form is that of their daughter Hannah and her husband and family. 

Christian and Mary Hoover in the 1880 U.S. Census

Note that Christian's occupation is given as "Physician" while Mary's is "Keeping House". No census ever affords her any other occupational description, yet we know that she was credited with being the midwife and registering 22 births (including a couple of her own grandchildren - Clark and Elda Kelleher) and also with registering 3 deaths (not sure if the deaths were related to childbirth, but that is certainly a possibility at that time.)

Fortunately for Mary receiving the recognition that she is due, the State of Kansas required annual registration of all physicians and midwives starting in the 1880s. My favourite is the first registration for which both Christian and Mary are found for Osage County in 1887 (although they had been registered since 12 September 1885). Christian (age 75) says he has had 47 years in practice, 7 of which were in Kansas. For his school of practice, he says, "man and beast"! His field seemed to be what was termed "eclectic medicine" at the time. (One of his descendants, Arlene Jennings, had a scrap of paper with the formula for "Grandpa Hoover's Liniment.")

Neither Christian nor Mary filled in the blanks for where or when their diplomas were conferred, leading one to the conclusion that they had not gone to any sort of medical school to train but had simply done what training they could and then hung out their shingles, something that it was still possible to do at that time.

Mary's registration indicates that in 1887 she had been practicing for 18 years, 7 of them in Kansas.  She was 73 at the time and her school of practice was given as "accoucheur", another name for a midwife.

Both Christian and Mary appear in the Annual Reports for the Kansas State Board of Health in 1892, 1893 and 1894. By then, Mary is listed under the category of "midwives". Christian seems to have retired by 1895 and no longer appears in the registrations, but Mary continued to remain active until 1898. We know that this aging couple were not in great shape, physically or financially, by this time. 

Christian had signed up for the Union Army during the American Civil War, notwithstanding being in his 50s at the time. He suffered terribly from rheumatism and piles after this; eventually the pain got to him and he shot himself on 15 December 1897. Mary by then was almost blind and was left alone and destitute. (One might wonder if she suffered from the  macular degeneration that has caused loss of sight in so many of her descendants as they age.) At first, her application for a Civil War Widow's Pension was denied on the basis of her husband's suicide, but a few months later, the Board relented and gave her the usual $8 per month pension.

Mary eventually moved in with her only surviving child, son Samuel Hoover in Warrensburg, Missouri, which is where she died on 10 October 1907, her labors finally done. 

Obituary for Mary (Green) Hoover from the Osage County Chronicle
October 17, 1907
Burlingame, Kansas 
(Once again, no mention of her midwifery career)

Mary was buried with her husband Christian but apparently not given her own stone. Nevertheless, we remember and salute you for your numerous contributions to this world, Mary.

Burial stone for Christian Hoover in Burlingame Cemetery
Photo Courtesy Jean Pinick of Find a Grave

Some Resources:

• Annual Reports of the State Board of Health for the State of Kansas; Topeka, KS: Press of the Hamilton Printing Company for the years 1887-1898 (containing the State Register of Physicians and Midwives), digitized copies of which can be read on the following website: https://cdm16884.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16884coll4/id/743
• Jennings, Arlene V., "Mary (Green) Hoover, Physician, of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Armstrong County, Pennsylvania", Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol 45 (2007), pp.6-20

Inez Bardahl (1918-2004) (52 Ancestors 2020 Week 35) Theme: "Unforgettable"

My aunt Inez Louise Bardahl ("Inee") was born on her mother's 37th birthday and was given her mother's name as her middle name. For the remainder of her mother's 103 years, the two often celebrated their birthdays together. Inee's birthday was unforgettable and all who knew Inee will attest to her being a delightfully unforgettable person! 

Inee and her mother Louise celebrating a birthday probably 1980s

Inee was the youngest of the six daughters born to John and Louise Bardahl. Two brothers would follow over the next few years. The family of 8 children grew up on the Bardahl homestead farm north of Swift Current, Saskatchewan. I spent the first 10 years of my own life in that little two-bedroom home and always have a difficult time figuring out how 10 of them managed to fit inside. 

John and Louise Bardahl family 1946 (colorized)
Inez seated beside her mother, front right

Inee was the only petite dark-haired brunette in a family of fairer-haired lanky Norwegians and one gets the sense that she sometimes felt she didn't belong. There are even a couple of family photos where she's taken scissors to cut herself right out of the picture! (It was often said that I resembled my aunt Inee; also being the shortest and the only brunette among my taller fair-haired siblings, I can likewise attest to sometimes wondering if I belonged!)

An example of Inee having removed herself from a family photo

Inee's Confirmation Photograph

On the 20th of September 1941, Inee married Robert ("Bob") McMurdo in Edmonton, Alberta. The couple, sadly, never had any children of their own, but were widely adored by nieces and nephews - and children in general.  

Inee and Bob

Inee and Bob were usually just a lot of fun and were always playing good-natured tricks and enjoying a good laugh, but never in a mean way or at anyone else's expense. Hamming it up in photographs was a common theme over the years.

 

My cousin Roger remembers Inee well from the time of the Second World War in Regina, Saskatchewan. The men were away serving in the war effort and Inee would come to help his mother care for her five young kids. Inee would always bring cookies or other treats and enjoyed spending time with the children. 

After the War, Inee and Bob moved to Edmonton, Alberta where he was a driver for Woodwards' Department Store and Inee worked as a meat cutter with the neighbourhood butcher. (This was news to me!)

Cousin Roger tells how Inee was the only family member who ever came to watch him play football. She made a point of showing up whenever he was playing in Edmonton for the Calgary Junior Broncs in 1954 and 1955. She really loved a lot of sports and in her later years had a huge-screen television set for watching the games. 

Inee worked as a Comptometer operator for Palm Dairies Ltd. in Vancouver in the early 1960s. (The Comptometer was an early version of a calculator; according to a glowing letter of reference from her employer in 1963, her work related to the computation of ice cream drivers' sheets and receipts of sales.) She continued in a similar occupation for many years with Simpsons Sears; I recall her working in the office at its North Hill Store on 16th Avenue N.W. in Calgary, Alberta in the later 1960s. 

Inee with brother Jim and mother Louise 
on Stephen Avenue, Calgary c1951

Although generally very well turned out, Inee enjoyed dressing up in costumes as well.

Inee on the right with her sisters

Her sense of humour was often in evidence. She was an excellent joke-teller and loved a good laugh. She would often dress as a clown or pull a trick on someone, catching them completely unaware.

Inee with her siblings (except for oldest sister Joetta) 1992 Family Reunion
She is decked out in hat and oversize orange sunglasses, pink shorts set, 
and orange striped socks offset by the contrasting shoes! (And what is she holding behind her back???)

Aunt Inee was very artistic and excelled at a variety of crafts. She taught me to make tiny intricate flowers using a clay made from McGavin's bread, of all things. I remember this because we NEVER had store-bought bread at our house and it seemed impossible to locate a loaf of the stuff! 

Inee was a cake decorator of renown. My recollection is that one of the families that she did many cakes for over the years was the musical Carter family (Johnny Cash and June Carter). 

All of these things made Inee who she was, but it fails to give a true sense of her playfulness. Cousin Roger recalls how she delighted in Christmas and, along with husband Bob, put on spectacular displays in her home that always attracted a lot of attention. She made many of the ornaments herself and added to her collection each year. An electric train went around the tree, and over the years she would add more and more track until it went around the room. She would start to decorate her entire home very early; over the years, her Christmas Season was extended to last from October 15 to March 15! 

She gave me one of her giant glass ornaments which I treasure and remember her by each Christmas when it takes a special place in our tree, although, unlike Inee's,  our tree always comes down the first week of January. 

Bob predeceased her in 1995. She continued to live in Turner Valley where they had made a big circle of friends of all ages. Inee died in 2004 at the age of 86. A celebration of Inee and Bob was held on 10 July 2004 in Okotoks, Alberta, the card for which indicated that  "As Inee had wished, because of their renowned love of Christmas, their ashes shall be scattered together beneath two Christmas trees, west of Turner Valley."

Inee won't be forgotten by anyone whose life she enhanced. That certainly includes her nieces and nephews, several of whom were happy to share their memories of her with me - thank you, Sandy, Louise and Roger. Three cheers for Aunt Inee!

John Westcott and Amey Clark Family (52 Ancestors 2020 Week 34) Theme: "Chosen Family"

Ever since Wescott cousin Jack Brown suggested that my great grandfather's name was probably meant to be George Gardiner (rather than "Garner") Wescott, I've been wanting to spend a bit more time among the relevant ancestors. The journey takes a bit of a twisting trail, but, in the end, I am convinced that Jack is correct. 

Unusual first or middle names are often found to reflect a lost maternal line surname somewhere back up the family tree. Looking at the siblings of my great grandfather George Garner Wescott, two of his brothers definitely have names that were surnames of earlier female family lines - Barton Wescott and Carver Wescott.

In addition to the Barton and Carver families, there was a Gardiner family line as well. George Garner's 3X great grandfather Josiah Westcott had married Hannah Gardiner on New Year's Day 1701. Hannah was the daughter of George Gardiner (c.1650-1753) and Tabitha Teft and the granddaughter of George Gardiner (1599-1677) and Herodias Long, a couple whose true story rivals any fictional account of infidelity and scandal. (You can read about their tempestuous relationship in a story I wrote five years ago about George Gardiner and Herodias Long, also as part of a "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" challenge.)

One of Josiah Westcott and Hannah Gardiner's sons, Caleb, married another Gardiner and they named one of their sons Gardiner Westcott (1774-1808).  In turn, that Gardiner named one of his own sons Gardiner Westcott (1770-1853) who also had a son that he named Gardner (sometimes the "i" was dropped) Wescott (by now the first "t" was also sometimes dropped in some branches of the family more so than in others). The last Gardner Wescott lived from about 1813-1880 but did not seem to name any of his children Gardner. Whew! This Caleb Westcott line is a side branch in my tree, but does serve as an example of how the surname of a female ancestor can survive through the generations as a first or middle name and also of how the same given names were often recycled again and again throughout the family tree.

Gardner Westcott (died 1853) and wife Hannah
Buried Deerfield-Schuyler Cemetery, Deerfield, New York
Photo by Tom Morosco of Find a Grave Website

We descend through Caleb Westcott's younger brother Oliver Westcott (1720-1795). Oliver had a son named John Westcott. John and his wife Amey Clark were probably the first parents in the family to name one of their children George Gardiner Westcott (1784-1815) and their lives will form the basis of this week's story as my "chosen family".  

John Wescott (1745-1831) was my 5X great grandfather. He was the first-born child of Oliver Wescott and Susannah Wilkinson and spent his life at Scituate, Providence County, Rhode Island. On the 21st of October 1770, at age 24, he married 18 year-old Amey Clark and started a family with her. Seven children would eventually join them: Susannah, Christopher, Stephen (my 4X great grandfather), Artemus, Charles, Josiah, and finally the baby of the family (and the only one treated to a middle name) George Gardiner Westcott.

John and Amie's son George Gardiner Westcott born June 11, 1784

Given the lack of a middle name for the father John and the proliferation of Westcotts's descending from our immigrant ancestor Stukely Westcott at Providence, R.I., it is difficult to ascertain which records for John Westcott pertain to our John Westcott. Nevertheless, it seems certain he was a minister (probably Baptist) and is generally called Reverend John Westcott or Elder John Westcott. He was one of the first ministers in Scituate and continued his ministry into his 80s. He performed marriages in Scituate and Foster, R.I.

Although probably not a military person, John assisted in the American Revolutionary War through his work as a Justice in the Civil Service.  Several of his descendants' applications for membership in the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution ("DAR") have been based on this service. 

Amey died on her husband's birthday on 26 March 1814 at the age of 62. John died the day after Christmas in 1831 at the age of 87. Both are buried at the Westcott-Wilkinson Lot, Scituate, Providence, R.I.

Now, to get back to George Garner (or Gardiner) Wescott's name. When John and Amey's grandson Stephen H. Wescott and his wife Catherine Barton started their own family, it is quite likely that they were harking back to granduncle George Gardner Westcott for a name  for their second son. (They had named their first son "Artimus" in memory of another of the granduncles from the John and Amey Westcott family. Sons Barton and  Carver were named for female ancestral surnames.) It would be easy enough to forget the "d" in Gardiner through the passage of time. Or maybe they knew it should have a "d" or "di" but preferred the sound of the name without it. 

1850 U.S. Census for Farmingham, Washington Co., Wisconsin
Stephen and Catherine Wescott and Children including George

To the best of my knowledge, Garner isn't a common, or even uncommon, name except as a surname. (Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck have named their son Samuel Garner Affleck, clearly with the intention of retaining the mother's name.) It seems very likely that our George's parents Stephen and Catherine were similarly intending to carry on one of the old family names - Gardiner. 

From the Civil War Pension File for "Garner Westcott"

But all records for George Garner Wescott are spelled without the "d", including his Civil War Pension records in which he used Garner as his first name. I'm not suggesting any amendments are in order, or that the records are wrong, but it does seem very likely that the intention was to honour the old family name of Gardiner.

In the end, although I may have chosen to write about John Westcott and Amey Clark's family as my "chosen family" for this week, it seems the story has really developed a mind of its own - the chosen family was obviously the Gardiners!

Some Resources:

• Mayflower "Silver Book" for John Howland, Volume 23, Part 2 "Fifth Generation Descendants of Lydia Howland Brown"
• National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution webpage located at  https://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_adb/?action=full&p_id=A123353 relating to Ancestor #A123353

Knud Aslaksen Aakre (1710-1768) and Steinar Aslaksen Aakre (1698-1763) (52 Ancestors 2020 Week 33) Theme: "Troublemaker"

First, just to be clear: Knud and Steinar were NOT troublemakers.

Instead, I've chosen to write about a fight between brothers, a story as old as Cain and Abel. Sometimes family feuds can end in unwelcome estrangements with one party or the other feeling like the odd man out or the "black sheep" or "the trouble maker" of his family. But, more often than not, if one brother is attacked by an outsider, his brother will be the first to come to the rescue. 

My 6X great grandfather Knud was born at Drangedal, Telemark, Norway just months before hisÈ soldier father Aslach Steinersen died. There is some confusion as to how much older his brother Steinar was; it seems likely that he was born in 1698 but was not baptized until the month after his parents married in the autumn of 1708. The boys' mother Aaste Aasulfsdatter, left widowed with two young sons to raise, remarried to a widower named Erik Person.  

1710 Baptism record for Knud Aslaksen
Drangedal, Telemark Kirkebok

No doubt the boys were best buddies during their childhood years, but the story that remains about them involves a life-threatening attack by one brother on the other. (This is where I wish my Norwegian language skills were better than they really are. I'm afraid I'm missing some crucial details and would welcome input from anyone who can read more into the following story than I can.)

Here is the Norwegian version from page 361 the Drangedal farm book:

Dei to brørane hadde ein gong vore saman I eit brudlaup i Sannidal. Der hadde Steinar I fylla og I vanvare stukke bror si med kniven. Steinar blei då arrestera og sett under tiltale. Då ;lensmannen kom til brudlaupsgarden, låg brørane og heldt om livet på hinannan og gråt. Knut bad for bror sin. Det blei vitna at dei alltid hadde vore gode vener. Knut sveiv lenge millom liv og død. Men han kom seg att. Seinare lived dei som grannar og gode verner all sin dag. 

My understanding is that the brothers ended up in a knife fight at a wedding at Sannidal. Another account of this story indicates that a knife fight had erupted between Steinar and another man. When Knud came to intervene, Steinar would not calm down and ended up injuring Knud with the knife. By the time the sheriff came on the scene, the two brothers were crying with relief that they were both still alive and hadn't killed each other. Steinar was arrested and imprisoned, but Knud forgave his brother and must have agreed with the testimony of neighbours that there was no bad blood between the brothers. Knud lay a long while hovering between life and death but did eventually recover. The brothers lived as neighbours and good friends for the rest of their lives. 

Knud's survival was likely crucial for the very existence of my mother's line of the Torkelson family who descend through Knud's great great granddaughter Signe Knutsdatter Tveitane. 

It isn't clear just how old the brothers were when they got into this fight, but my guess would be youthful high-spirits at a local wedding, indeed perhaps fueled by spirits. Both men ended up marrying (Steinar in March of 1728 and Knud in January of 1730) and having families. We descend through Knud's daughter Maria Knudsdatter Aakre who was born in 1742. 

The brothers probably thanked their lucky stars for the rest of their lives that things had not turned out worse. I wonder how often the story was revisited over the years, perhaps with many embellishments.

Steinar died at age 65 and was buried at Drangedal 20 June 1763. No doubt he was much missed by younger brother Knud. 

Steinar's burial record from 1763

Two possible death/burial records have been located for Knud. The first of these was for 14 November 1767 - it refers to him as being crippled, which is certainly a possible result of the fight, but the age (52?) appears to be wrong.

1767 Death record for a Knud Aslaksen

It is also possible that the first is a record of his death and the second (below) is for his burial date. Sometimes, Norwegian burials were postponed for months until the ground thawed in spring.

The second record that might be his death or burial is from 18 March 1768 and, given his stated age and farm name, is likely correct:

.

1768 death/burial of Knud Aslaksen

Not troublemakers, but normal brothers who were capable both of endangering one another's lives and also of defending and supporting one other when push came to shove.

Some Resources:

• Telemark Farm Book: Drangedal med Tordal ei Bygdesoga av Olav Sonnes, I Kommission Hos H. Holms /Bokhandel, Drangedal 1924.
• Kirkeboker for Drangedal, Telemark, Norway available online at the Norwegian Digital Archives: https://media.digitalarkivet.no/en/kb/browse