William Baird

In celebration of Independence Day , I’d like to honor another true American patriot from our heritage: William Baird.

Born on September 10, 1713, in Monmouth, within the Province of New Jersey, one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial America, William Baird entered the world at a time when our nation was yet to be conceived. His father, John Baird, was 48, and his mother, Mary Osborne, was 38, welcoming their son into a family destined to be part of America's great story.

On February 1, 1749, William married Tabitha Elizabeth Jones in Freehold Borough, of Monmouth. Together, they raised a remarkable family, their children, each carrying forward the Baird legacy, included Mary, Benjamin, William, Phebe [Baird] Seely, Tabitha [Baird] Dickerson, Anne [Baird] McGill, Zebulon, Lydia [Baird] Dunn, Sarah [Baird] Dillon, and Joseph.

During the six-year Revolutionary War, more battles took place in New Jersey than any other colony. Over 296 engagements between opposing forces were recorded. One of the largest conflicts of the entire war took place between Morristown and Middlebrook, referred to as the 'Ten Crucial Days' and remembered by the famous phrase 'the times that try men's souls.' The revolution won some of their most desperately needed victories during this time."

William Baird played a vital role in this epic struggle for independence. Records indicate that he served as Captain of the 2nd Battalion, Somerset County Militia, NJ, and later as 1st Major. According to a descendant's application for the Sons of the American Revolution membership, William Baird, Sr., was a teamster during the Revolution, serving in New Jersey. He received, from Joseph Lewis, Quartermaster General, certificates for services and supplies. He received eight more certificates for forage, wood and carting.

Due to the unwavering efforts of patriots like William Baird, the Province of New Jersey transformed into the proud state of New Jersey, part of the United States of America.

From the Genealogical and Personal History of Northern Pennsylvania, Volume 3, By John Woolf Jordan we learn about the Baird family relocating to Pennsylvania. "William Baird came from New Jersey, and in 1785 he laid a warrant on 218 acres of land lying a short distance east of Liberty in what is now the township of Dunstable, Clinton county, Pennsylvania. This tract was called Partnership.
He came out and settled on it, and among the trees on the banks of the river he built a log house of the most primitive kind, and at once began the work of making for himself and his posterity a home. The country was still occupied by the Indians, who at the time were very warlike.”

William passed away on September 2, 1792, in Woodward Township, Clinton, Pennsylvania, at the age of 78. He rests in the Dunnstown Cemetery in Clinton County, Pennsylvania.

His legacy is lovingly remembered, especially through his daughter Anne Marie McGill, who was bequeathed a bed, spinning wheel, cow, and calf in his will. To his "dearly beloved wife Tabitha," he left "the whole of the residue not bequeathed and the house occupied by Peter Grove; each of the sons are to deliver to her on the 1st of November each year of her natural life five bushels of wheat and three bushels of Indian corn."

As I often say, every story in my family tree is a romance. I try to imagine how Anna Marie Baird, daughter of teamster William Baird, met her husband Patrick McGill, another teamster during the Revolution. Did Dad introduce them? Did he approve right away? William didn’t live to see them married, but I believe he would have been proud. I am proud to call this family my ancestors, and I equally hope they would be proud of me.
​
* nothing says love like a bushel of Indian Corn.
~by Christine Applegate 7/3/2024

Barbara Bergmann

"Barbara Bergmann: The Butcher’s Wife, the Brave Young Immigrant, and the Matriarch We Nearly Missed"
Some women’s stories —like Barbara Bergmann’s—are found in ship manifests, faded obituaries, and the quiet lines of old census sheets. But make no mistake: Barbara’s life was full of strength, love, and a resilience worth remembering.
Born on February 9, 1875, in Schweinshaupten, Bavaria, Barbara Elizabeth Bergman was just a girl when her world shifted. Her father, Mattaeus Bergmann, seems likely to have passed early. Her mother, Eva Rosenberger, had an older daughter, Klara Bergmann, who crossing the Atlantic before in 1882, at 15 years old.
Barbara and her mother arrived in America on April 30, 1887, stepping onto the docks of Castle Garden when Barbara was just 12 years old. Not long after landing, Eva married Frederich Hostetter, and Barbara gained new siblings--Fred Jr. in 1888 and Lina in 1892. But according to the 1895 New Jersey state census, Barbara had moved on from the Hostetter household. At just 20 years old, she was already charting her own course.
That course led her to St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Times Square, where she married Rupert Hensle on October 2, 1897. She was 23; he was 30 and a fellow German immigrant who had arrived in 1893. Rupert worked first as a butcher, then in the abattoir, or slaughterhouse —a hard, honest trade.
Together, they built a family:

• Carl (Charles) Robert Hensle, born October 4, 1899 in Manhattan

• Friederick Julius Hensle, born March 1, 1902 in Manhattan

• Robert Hensle, born March 11, 1904 in Jersey City

But happiness was never guaranteed. Rupert passed away in 1912, leaving Barbara a widow with three young sons. And the losses kept coming: her half-sister Klara died in September 1914, and just two months later, their mother Eva passed as well.
Somehow, Barbara carried on.
She later married a second time—to Henry Steinlien—and became active in the Order of the Maccabees of Jersey City, a fraternal society that championed service and support. She passed away peacefully in her sleep on June 30, 1945, at 85 Booream Avenue in Jersey City after a stomach ailment at age 70.
At the time of her death, Henry was seriously ill in the Jersey City Medical Center. Henry ultimately died 8 months later in March of, 1946. Barbara was survived by her three sons and six grandchildren, and was buried at New York Bay Cemetery.
And here’s where you come in:
If you know anyone descended from Charles, Frederick, or Robert Hensle—Barbara’s boys—please invite them to join our family history group. We’d love to welcome more Hensle voices into the conversation. The more we connect, the better we understand the people who came before us—like Barbara, whose quiet courage helped build the family we’re all part of today.

​Sources Consulted:

• New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Castle Garden and Ellis Island), accessed via Ancestry.com

• United States Federal Census Records (1900–1940), accessed via Ancestry.com

• New Jersey State Census Records (1905 and 1915), accessed via Ancestry.com

• New York City Birth Index and Digitized Birth Certificates, available through NYC Municipal Archives

• New York City Marriage Index and Digitized Marriage Records, available through NYC Municipal Archives

• Obituary in Hudson Dispatch Monday, Jul 02, 1945, page 29

• Find A Grave www.findagrave.com/memorial/184866057/barbara_elizabeth-steinlein

Klara Bergmann

​Klara Bergmann Schmidt
18 July 1868 – 7 September 1914
Born in Schweinshaupten, Bavaria – Died in Staten Island, New York
Klara Bergmann remains one of the most intriguing figures in our family story—a daughter of Eva Rosenberger whose path to America is filled with unanswered questions.
Born on July 18, 1868, in Schweinshaupten, Bavaria, Klara shares her birthplace with her sister Barbara, but their records offer a puzzle. While Barbara’s father is listed as Matthaeus Bergmann, Klara’s father is recorded as Andrew Bergmann. Whether these were the same man under different names or two different fathers remains a mystery.
Even more curious is Klara’s journey to America. We find no U.S. immigration or census records that place her alongside her mother Eva, yet we know Klara made it to New York. Her name appears on a marriage certificate from St. Luke’s Lutheran Church on Manhattan’s West Side, where she wed a blacksmith named Johann “Philipp” Schmidt. At the time, Klara lived at 284 Avenue G and Philipp at 963 W. 30th Street—two addresses now long since changed or erased by the city’s tides of time.
St. Luke’s served a bustling community of German immigrants like Klara and Philipp, offering not just religious services but also a place for newcomers to find connection and support. It was in this environment that they began building a life together.
In October 1888, Klara gave birth to their first child, Philip Jr. More children followed: William, Carl, Elsie, Edward, and Otto, the youngest, born in 1901. Over time, the family toggled between the surnames Schmidt and Smith, reflecting a common pattern among immigrant families adapting to life in America.
Klara passed away on September 7, 1914, at the age of 46, in Richmond—now known as Staten Island, New York. Her death marked the end of a life begun in a small Bavarian village and lived out in the swirl of New York’s immigrant neighborhoods. But her full story—how she came to this country, whether she traveled alone, and how much contact she had with her mother and sister—remains one of the great unsolved chapters in our family’s history.

​Samuel Montgomery Burchfield

B: Aug. 12, 1834, Woodcock, Crawford, Pennsylvania
​D: Jan 27, 1895 Edinboro, Erie, Pennsylvania
​Son of Nancy McGill and William H Burchfield.
Grandson of Anna Marie Baird and Patrick McGill.
Brother of Civil War soldiers William Burchfield and Robert R. Burchfield
The archive contains a biography and a Civil War Veterans file.
Served in 145 Pennsylvania Inf. Regiment Infantry Company: B Rank In: Sergeant, Rank Out: 2nd Lieutenant
findAgrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5767354/samuel-montgomery-burchfield
​Digital Civil War Pension File is possession of Kerri Corby Fawcett.

Robert Reid Burchfield

B: Feb. 12, 1830 Saegerstown, Crawford County, Pennsylvania
D: 8 Jan 1865 Florence, Florence, South Carolina
Son of Nancy McGill and William H Burchfield.
Grandson of Anna Marie Baird and Patrick McGill.
Brother of Civil War soldiers Samuel Montgomery Burchfield and William Burchfield.
Served in Company E 63rd regiment Pennsylvania Infantry.
findAgrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/78058331/robert-reed-burchfield​
Digital Civil War Pension File is possession of Kerri Corby Fawcett.

William Burchfield

B:15 Jan 1828 Pennsylvania, USA
D:07 Sep 1892, cause of death: cancer of the face.
Click here to open new page with details about his medical health records in his pension file. Warning: Graphic.
Son of Nancy McGill and William H Burchfield.
Grandson of Anna Marie Baird and Patrick McGill.
Brother of Civil War soldiers Samuel Montgomery Burchfield and Robert R. Burchfield.
Husband of Carrie Robinson. Father of Norma C Burchfield.
William was drafted in to service on March 6, 1865, in Company E 98 regiment of the Pennsylvania Voluntary Infantry.
​Digital Civil War Pension File is possession of Kerri Corby Fawcett. (a sad 18 pages)

Mary Alice Clayton

Written by Christine Applegate, posted on social media July 2, 2025.

• A new name in our family tree and… It’s a girl.
  Dear Family, You may recall that earlier this year—on Gertie Hostetter’s birthday—we first mentioned the story of the mystery baby girl she placed for adoption. Today, we celebrate both Gertrude’s courage and the joyful discovery about that baby girl. Our intention is to honor Gertrude’s bravery, not to reopen old wounds. This is truly a celebration of life and love.
  
  When the Ancestors Call Out to Be Found
  In the quiet hours of genealogy research, when the census pages blur and names seem lost to time, there are moments that stop us cold—moments we can’t explain, but we feel deep in our bones.
  A book falls open to the exact page we need.
  A sealed or misplaced record suddenly appears, against all odds.
  A headstone, half-buried in a cemetery we've never visited before, calls out until we notice the name we've long been searching for.
  And often, these discoveries arrive on a birthday, an anniversary, or a date we later realize is filled with significance.
  I call this Psychic Genealogy. (Although sometimes I call it Spooky Genealogy!)
  
  It’s not about fortune-telling or spiritualism. It’s about those rare and remarkable coincidences—when it feels as though an ancestor is reaching forward through time, not just hoping to be found, but making sure they are. It's about how they find us, just as much as we find them.
  
  These moments defy logic. They rarely come when we're expecting them. But they remind us that memory is not confined to paper, and that family ties—however distant—may be more powerful than we know.
  
  Sunday was one such moment for Kerri and me. It was the anniversary of Gertrude Hostetter’s passing, and that morning we had paused to honor her life.
  
  Back in the mid‑1930s, Gertie gave birth to a baby girl in a home for unwed mothers. Kerri and I searched everywhere for a trace of that baby—scouring local newspapers, birth records, and homes for unwed mothers in the 1930s. All we found were dead ends…until Sunday evening.
  Having discussed a new experimental feature on FamilySearch, Kerri went online to follow a lead about naturalization documents for the Hostetter gal’s grandfather, Frederick. Instead, she was greeted by something no one expected: a fully intact docket page from the Hudson County Surrogate’s Office, dated January 1937— proof of an adoption record that had been thought long since destroyed.
  
  This record provided the date of adoption of that little girl, named like her mother Gertrude Hostetter, on January 22, 1937, when she became Mary Alice Clayton, this was all it told us. Through a newspaper article we learned she was entrusted to Ruth and Rev. Leonard Clayton. Why Gertrude made that heart‑wrenching choice remains unrecorded—other than that she was unwed—but one can imagine a mother’s fierce hope that her daughter would grow surrounded by faith, love, and stability.
  
  We haven’t learned much about Mary Alice yet, as the discovery was so recent, but traditional genealogy has given us a glimpse into her life. In 1940, the Clayton family was living in East Orange, New Jersey. The household included her mother, Ruth; father, Rev. Leonard; big sister, Dorothy, who was 13; big brother, David, age 6; Mary Alice, age 5, and Ruth’s mother, Ida
  The 1950 census show the family had moved to Philadelphia, where they lived with Leonard, Ruth, David, and little Mary Alice.
  The New Jersey Marriage Index tells us that in October 1963, Mary Alice married Charles T. Walker.
  And the Social Security Death Index tells us that Mary Alice passed away at the age of 62, on May 9, 1998. Her last residence was in Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery, Pennsylvania. FindaGrave tells us she was laid to rest at Sunset Memorial Park in Huntingdon Valley, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
  
  Between the anniversary of Gertie’s death—June 29th and the anniversary of Mary Alice’s birthday—July 2nd—we felt as though Gertrude and Mary Alice have chosen this day to whisper back to us through time:
  “Remember me. Remember her.”
  So, today, we honor that whisper. We honor Mary Alice Clayton, born ninety years ago today under a different name, and we take comfort in knowing that Gertie entrusted her little girl to a home of faith.
  Sometimes, in genealogy as in life, the most extraordinary discoveries come at the moment when an ancestor’s voice breaks through the static of history, insisting that their story—and their child’s name—be told.
  Happy 90th Birthday Gertrude / Mary Alice.
  Sources:

• Find A Grave (Mary Alice Walker #262791545) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/262791545/mary-alice-walker

• 1940 & 1950 US Federal Census, accessed through Ancestry.com

• Jersey Journal, Jan 23, 1937 page 1, via GenealogyBank

• Hudson County Surrogate’s Court, docket #94001 (1937), via familysearch.org

• Social Security Death Index, via Ancestry.com

George Herbert Conklin

Birth 19 MAR 1887 • Cornwall On Hudson, New York, United States
Death 30 MAR 1963 • Monmouth, New Jersey
2nd husband of Charlotte Ross Golden Hostetter.
Biography to follow.

John Conrad

Birth 1 APR 1833 • Pennsylvania, USA
Death 25 NOVEMBER 1915 • Meadville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania\
Father: Christ (Christopher?) Conrad
spouse: Mary Ross
served in Company G, 103 Pennsylvania Infantry. HEADSTONE SAYS 105th
​findAgrave : https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/123125591/john-conrad

Carl Herbert Corby

Birth 5 SEP 1934 • Thurston Hollow, Wyoming County, Pa Death 12 AUG 1983 • East Rutherford, Bergen, New Jersey
Husband of Marjorie Ann "Hoodjie" Macchia.
​Father of Group Founder Kerri Corby Fawcett.
​Biography to follow.

Paul James Corby

​Birth 24 MAR 1903 • Whites Ferry, Pennsylvania, USA
Death 14 SEP 1963 • Eaton, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, USA
Husband of Edna Mae Redmond.
Grand​father of Group Founder Kerri Corby Fawcett.
​Biography to follow.

Julia Anna Cochran

Birth 31 DECEMBER 1799 • Pennsylvania, USA
Death 12 SEPTEMBER 1870 • Crawford County, Pennsylvania
Daughter of Margaret Johnston.
Wife of William Perry McGill.
Mother of William Johnston McGill.
For a biography, request from Kerri Fawcett, as she is the undisputed expert in this family line.

Daniel Joseph Curtin

Birth 19 FEB 1905 • Jersey City, New Jersey
Death JUN 18, 1985 • Edison, New Jersey
Husband of Charlotte Elizabeth Hostetter
Biography to follow.

Dilworths.

Meet the Dillworths is a three-part series focusing on one branch of the McGill family tree written by Kerri Fawcett.

Meet the Dillworths (part 1)

We will start with Gertie McGill, or to give her her proper name, Gertrude Margaret McGill. She was the daughter of William Johnston McGill and his wife Charlotte Ross. Gertie was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania on November 23, 1867, the oldest of nine children and a sister to our Anna Tina McGill. Gertie moved around the western Pennsylvania area with her family, living in Cornplanter, Venango County in 1870 and then Titusville, Crawford County in 1880. The family eventually came east to Bayonne, New Jersey in the early 1880s, just before the Statue of Liberty was erected in New York Harbor. What a change it must have been for her to go from the small towns and countryside to the excitement of living just across the river from New York City.
​
On November 22, 1887, the day before her 20th birthday, Gertie would marry John C. Dilworth, the son of Irish immigrants, Patrick Dilworth and Mary Sheehan, from Cork. John was born in New York in February 1866 and at the time of his marriage he was a waymaster. What does a waymaster do? He was responsible for a section of railroad track, making sure it was unobstructed so the trains could pass by safely. The couple were married by Justice of the Peace F.W. Hulsebus in Northfield, Staten Island, New York and they soon started their life together in Bayonne.
It did not take long before children would enter their world. They were all born in Bayonne. Their eldest, Patrick Joseph, was born on January 26,1888. He was followed by Mary on November 19, 1890, Gertrude on July 6, 1893, Anna on August 20, 1896 and twins Julia and Elizabeth on September 9, 1900. Brothers John Michael, born on October 26,1903 and William Joseph, born on June 9, 1906 would complete the family.
While Gertie and John did have eight children, sadly, like so many families at that time, not all of them reached adulthood. Influenza, smallpox, measles and tuberculosis swept through families and neighborhoods quickly as people often lived in close and cramped conditions. The Dilworth's lost their twin daughters, Julia at the age of 18 days on September 27, 1900 and then Elizabeth at the age of 23 months on August 15,1902. In the next year, on April 7, 1903, they lost their son Patrick William at the age of 15. In 1905, on December 6th, they lost their 9 year old daughter Anna. All of these children are buried in Hudson County Catholic Cemetery, or as it is called today, Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City.

John and Gertie were married just a few months shy of 20 years. They saw their fair share of sadness during their time together. While most of the world was focused on the Great War in February of 1917, there was one interesting story concerning them in the Bayonne Review newspaper. Apparently John was due to be a juror but showed up to court drunk. He was excused but ordered to come back the following day. He did not show up to court that day so he was fined $25 or five days in County Jail for contempt of court. His defence was that he had to visit his sick wife who had tuberculosis in a Long Island hospital. Two days later, the same newspaper printed another story, this time from Mr. McGill, a relative of Gertie who stated that she does not have tuberculosis and she is not in the hospital but is staying with him in Staten Island. I believe this Mr. McGill could be her brother William Johnston McGill Jr. who was living in Staten Island at the time. Our Gertie was not blessed with a long life and she passed away a few months later at the age of 49 on July 31, 1917 at their home, 88 West 13th Street in Bayonne.

During the next 14 years, John would move a few more times and then retire from his job at the Tide Water Oil Company where he worked for 40 years as a cooper. Perhaps he spent some of his time following the New York Yankees as they had one of their greatest years in 1927 with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Closer to home, he could have been watching the construction of the Bayonne Bridge, which was opened on November 15, 1931. A few weeks later, John passed away at the age of 65 on December 6,1931 at the home of his daughter Mary and son-in-law Peter Long, 84 West 16th Street in Bayonne. Gertie and John's funerals both took place at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Bayonne, otherwise known as Our Lady Star of the Sea Church. They are also buried in Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City in the family plot, Block K, Letter U, Number 72.

Of their four children to survive into adulthood, apparently William Joseph was the only one not to marry. We do not know a great deal about him. William was unemployed when he filled out his World War Two draft card on October 16, 1940. He was 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 140 pounds. His eyes were blue, his hair was brown and he had a light complexion. It appears that he was in Saint Francis Hospital in Jersey City at the time he filled in the card and he passed away in the same hospital almost four years later on March 8, 1944 at the age of 45. His funeral took place on Saturday, March 11th from St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Bayonne and he was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington.

Their daughter Mary married Peter Anthony Long in 1916 at St Mary's Church in Bayonne. Peter was born on November 7, 1893 in Jersey City. He worked for the Esso Standard Oil Company in Bayonne. In the 1920 census, Peter's occupation was a boiler maker and in 1940 he was a clay burner at the oil company. They did not have any children. Mary was living at 118 West 14th Street in Bayonne when she passed away at the young age of 44 on September 26, 1935. Her funeral took place at St. Mary's Church and she is also buried at Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City. Peter went on to remarry in 1937. His bride was Anna M. Coughlin and she was born in January 1899 in New Jersey. Like Peter, she also worked for the Esso Standard Oil Company. Anna worked in the shipping department. According to two very short mentions in The Bayonne Times, Peter and Anna went on a three week motor trip to Florida in April 1939 and then another three week motor holiday to southern Canada in August 1940. Peter passed away on March 14, 1947 at 807 Avenue A in Bayonne. Anna lived until the age of 67 when she passed away on January 21,1954 in Elizabeth. They are both buried in Newark at Mount Olivet Cemetery.

In parts two and three, we will focus on the remaining two children, Gertrude Dilworth and John Michael Dilworth. Part two will be shared next Friday. Thanks for reading!

Meet the Dillworths (part 2)

​Gertrude Dilworth is the reason why I decided to do a little story about her family. A few months ago, I found the obituary of her father John C. Dilworth in The Bayonne Times. One part of it caught my attention: survived by...Mrs. Gertrude Creole of Havana, Cuba. Havana, Cuba?! What was she doing in Havana, Cuba? I could not imagine how she wound up there and I made it a personal challenge to find out. Was I successful? Spoiler Alert: Partially.
Through Gertrude, I was introduced to her Russian husband, Berno Creole, or to give him his original name, Berno Criouleansky. There were some newspaper articles and records on Ancestry and I found him quite interesting. I joked with Tina how I should write a story on the whole family and call it Meet The Dilworth's. And here we are, although delayed a few months by real life and other genealogical finds grabbing my attention. Finishing this story has been on my mind for weeks and I just had to get it completed so I can move on to other projects. So now let me tell you a little more about the remaining two children of Gertrude and John C., Gertrude and John Michael!
Gertrude Dilworth was born on July 6,1893 in Bayonne. She was the third child of John and Gertie and worked as a bookkeeper. By the age of 27, she was living in Manhattan at 342 West 56th Street. Like her mother, she got married on the day before her birthday too. Gertrude became the bride of Berno Creole, on July 5,1921 at City Hall in Manhattan. Since Prohibition started the year before, I hope they were able to sneak into a New York City speakeasy club to celebrate their wedding. Her 48 year old groom was living at the same address as Gertrude and his occupation was a commission agent. Berno was born on May 6, 1872. Where was he born? According to his marriage record, he was born in Galatz (Galati), Romania. On most other documents, he said he was born in Russia and he specified the town of Reni, Russia on his naturalization form. Reni and Galati are about 10 miles apart and as he said he was Russian more than Romanian, I think he was born in Russia. However today, Reni is in Ukraine.
From newspaper articles and Ancestry records, we know Berno was a salesman. This was his occupation when he was living in the Tampa, Florida area where he was naturalized as a US citizen on February 16, 1912. Where did he work as a salesman? Berno frequently travelled back and forth between Key West, Florida and Havana, Cuba. From Havana he sometimes also travelled to Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina to sell American goods. According to his passport application, he lived briefly in Havana from October 1917 to May 1918. Then in the early 1920s, he sold hosiery and underwear to Cuba, Mexico and South America when he worked for the James Risk Company, based at 346 Broadway in New York City. Later in life he worked for his brother Simon, a merchant, in Key West. He also travelled from New York City to Florida often and in the early 1930s, he listed Washington DC as his home address. For an immigrant from Russia who came to America in February 1901 via Southampton, England on the ship Lahn, he certainly was a well travelled man.
Let me focus on Havana in the 1920s for a minute. It was quite a popular place. Between 1915 and 1930, Cuba hosted more tourists than any other Caribbean country. Writer Ernest Hemingway moved here and Irving Berlin wrote a song about it, titled "I'll See You in C-U-B-A". This description is straight from Google AI: In the 1920s, Havana, Cuba was a vibrant and cosmopolitan city, often referred to as "the Paris of the Caribbean". It was a thriving economy, particularly due to high sugar prices, and attracted many American tourists, including those seeking to escape US Prohibition. The city was known for its numerous bars and its diverse population, with a significant influx of American bartenders. Estimates suggest there were as many as 7,000 bars in Havana at this time. Many of these bars were run by American bartenders who moved to Cuba to seek work during US Prohibition.
So, in 1931 the Empire State Building opened as the tallest building in the world and John C. Dilworth passed away in December. From his obituary, Gertrude was living in Havana. I do not know how long she was there but she made at least four trips to Havana over the years prior to her father's death. According to some passenger records on Ancestry, she had visits in 1921, just after their marriage, and again in 1924, 1930 and June 1931. She could have travelled more but these are the only records available for now. Their marriage broke down within the next few years. The couple separated but never divorced. The 1940 census has Berno living as a lodger at 318 W23rd Street in Manhattan. He was 66 years old with no occupation but still listed as married.
I do not know where Gertrude was in 1940, but in 1939 she was living at 427 Boulevard in Bayonne. It was on September 29, 1939, World War Two had just started a few weeks ago in Europe, when Berno attempted suicide. He boarded a Hudson River ferry, the Binghamton, bound for Bayonne. As the vessel crossed the Hudson, Berno tied his ankles together and then pushed himself overboard. As he landed in the water he suddenly changed his mind and yelled out for help. The crew of a passing tugboat, the Walter L. Meseck, saved him and gave him first aid. When they docked in Hoboken, he was taken to St. Mary's Hospital to recover.
About two weeks later, on October 12th, Berno registered to vote as a Democrat in New York. He spent another year or so in New York but then made his way back down to Florida. He moved back to Key West just before the death of his brother Simon in May 1941. On his 74th birthday, May 6, 1946, Berno was living at 602 Duval Street when he had a heart attack and died. His obituary stated he was due to be buried at City Cemetery in Key West. It did not mention his wife Gertrude.
Around the time of Berno's death in Florida, Gertrude was still living in Bayonne. She got a job working as a bookkeeper for the Lawler Electric Company. She would work here for 20 years before retiring about 1968. On Monday, March 20, 1972, Gertrude was living at 930 Avenue C in Bayonne when she passed away at the age of 79. Her funeral took place on Thursday, March 23 at St. Mary's, Our Lady Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church in Bayonne and then she was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington. Plot info: Blk-10 Sec-G Gr-148 1C Her obituary did mention her "beloved husband Bernard".
As a side note, when I was looking for photos of the ferry, the Binghamton, to add to this article, I was a bit surprised at what I found. I have actually been on this ferry...and so has my mother, my husband Colin and his mother Vera! Does anyone in the North Jersey area remember in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Binghamton was actually docked in Edgewater, NJ and used as a restaurant? When Colin and Vera came to America in November 2000, we went there for lunch. It was rather spooky when I realized Berno was on board this ferry at the lowest moment of his life. Thankfully he survived and I hope he found peace and happiness before he died.
Next Friday will be the last part of the series, focusing on John Michael Dilworth and his family. Thanks for reading!

Meet the Dillworths (part 3)

​Meet the Dilworth's
Part Three
I did not know anything about the seventh child of John and Gertie when I first started to research this family. John Michael Dilworth was born in Bayonne on October 26, 1903. He was 13 when his mother died in 1917. In the 1920 Federal census, John was living at 537 Boulevard with his widower father, John, older sister Gertrude and younger brother William. Also in the household was his other sister Mary and her husband Peter Long. He was 16 years old and already left St. Mary's School. John had a job working in an office as a life insurance clerk. By the 1930 census, he was still working as a clerk but now he was in the oil yards. A few years later he was a shipping and receiving clerk at the Ingram-Richardson Corporation.
There was a contest to find Miss Bayonne and men were encouraged to write in to nominate some local women. Our John was not shy and he submitted his nomination which appeared in The Bayonne Times on July 14, 1927. He recommended Miss Anna McCarthy who, in John's words "is five-two, 105 pounds, has pretty auburn hair and a voice that thrills. She's a hello girl in the Bell system". I wonder if they were dating or he was just interested in her. Perhaps he could have taken her to the movies to see the first "talkie" when The Jazz Singer came out that year.

However, just about a year later, on June 18, 1928, John was mentioned in The Bayonne Times for a different reason. The car he was travelling in as a passenger was involved in a hit and run accident. Their car was sideswiped and the other vehicle sped away. He was in the car with two other men and one woman, who was not Anna. They were all treated for minor injuries at City Hospital in Newark.

On December 6,1931 John's father died. Just over four months later on April 9, 1932, John got married. He finally married his Hello girl, Anna Mary McCarthy. They married in Manhattan in the Roman Catholic Church Our Lady of Perpetual Help on East 61st Street. He was 28 and still working as a clerk. His bride Anna was 25 years old, born on December 24, 1906 in Bayonne. She was the daughter of Irish immigrants Anna Daunt and Daniel McCarthy. Daniel worked as a boiler maker in a boiler factory.

Children would soon enter the lives of John and Anne. In 1933, the year Prohibition ended in the US, their daughter Kathleen Anne would enter their world on April 20th. She was followed four years later by her brother James who arrived on October 31, 1937. Both were born in Bayonne. They would have been the only grandchildren of their father John's parents, John C. and Gertrude Dilworth, who sadly were now both deceased.
By the time little James joined the family, they were now living at 5 Washington Parkway in Bayonne and John Michael Dilworth was no longer an office clerk. He was now a tavern owner. We should not be surprised to find a tavern owner in our family tree! John's first tavern was at 393 Boulevard and then, by 1941, he was at 755-757 Boulevard. Both taverns no longer exist in Bayonne.

Our John was not just a tavern owner, he was a local politician. In 1939 he put his name on the ballot for one of five spots as Bayonne City Commissioner. He ran as an Independent Democrat with the slogan of Economy, Civil Service and Orderly Government. He started his own Association and hosted some dances, with his brother William on the dance committee. I think it is fair to say the election on May 9, 1939 was just like the title of the movie that was released a few weeks earlier, Gone With the Wind. John did not come last, but he was a long way from claiming a spot on the commission. I hope he was at least proud to have tried to make a difference in his community.

As the 1940s started, John was managing his tavern and still trying to run his Association as a social club. The children Kathleen and James were growing up and World War Two was raging across Europe and in the Pacific. When Kathleen was an adult, she wrote a letter to The Jersey Journal about how her mother, Anne, was like Rosie the Riveter and went to work to help the war effort. She, along with her brother Bill and sister Ellen McCarthy worked seven days a week at the Electro-Dynamic Company on Avenue A in Bayonne making motors. After the war was over, Anne went back to her original job as a telephone operator. She worked for the Oildom Publishing Company and then was chief operator at Salomon Brothers in New York City when she retired in 1964.

The tavern business was keeping John busy. There were several accounts of break-ins, alarms going off in the middle of the night and broken windows. Then there was stories of underage drinking at the tavern and John getting arrested, his liquor license suspended, some fines to be paid. In 1946 even his bartender was arrested for illegal bookmaking. It was not easy being a tavern owner at the time. In 1953, the tavern started serving "The Finest Italian Foods" like pizza pies, ravioli, jumbo shrimp and also hot roast beef dinners and all kinds of sandwiches.

The tavern was not the venue for the wedding reception of John and Anne's daughter Kathleen. She married Army war veteran Roland Lawrence Wilke on July 4, 1952 in St. Mary's Church in Bayonne. Roland was born on May 24, 1924 in Bayonne and he worked as a printer in the Oildom Publishing Company, where his mother-in-law Anne worked. Is that how he met Kathleen? Later Roland would work as a printer for the Quinn and Bowden Publishing Company before retiring in 1987. He was also a past commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post 9119 in Roselle, NJ, and a member of the American Legion, Post 19, in Bayonne. He was in the Philippines during the war. Roland passed away on April 14, 1998 in Bayonne. Kathleen passed away at the age of 81 on September 4, 2014 in Bradenton, Florida. She and her husband Roland are buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, NJ.
Here is a link to Kathleen's online obituary: https://www.legacy.com/.../name/kathleen-wilke-obituary...

Kathleen and Roland would go on to have three children. Their son Roland Lawrence Wilke, Jr. was born on August 14, 1953 in Bayonne. Roland Jr., otherwise known as Larry, had a few encounters with the police. The first I know of was in 1973 when he was about 20 years old. He was ordered to pay a $25 fine for interfering with police officers and becoming abusive. Then in 1981, he was arrested for DUI, in 1985 and 1986 he was arrested for drugs, mainly PCP or angel dust. On September 6, 1988, Larry passed away. According to a message in the newspaper, the family thanked the doctors and nurses at Bayonne Hospital. His funeral took place at St. Henry's Church and he was cremated. He was only 35 years old.
Kathleen and Roland also had two daughters, Eileen and Patricia Kathleen. Eileen was born on October 31, 1954 in Bayonne. She married Robert H. Kopec in February 1979 in Bayonne. Robert was born on April 11, 1949 in Jersey City and passed away a few years ago on October 16, 2022 in Stockholm, NJ. Robert served as a chef in the US Navy and then after he was discharged he became a microbiologist. They had two children, Joseph and Kristin. Kristin is married to Scott Patterson with two sons, Eugene and Ian.

Here is a link to Robert's online obituary: https://www.vanemburghsneider.com/obituary/Robert-Kopec

Patricia Kathleen Wilke was born on November 8, 1958. She was christened on Thanksgiving morning (November 27th), 1958 at Assumption Church in Roselle, NJ. Her Godmother was her grandfather John's sister, Gertrude Creole. I do not know much else about Patricia except she had a son, Christopher Wilke, and she passed away before her mother Kathleen died in 2014.
Last, but not least, we have James Dilworth. Did you forget about James? He was the second child of John M. and Anne. He was quite a bright young man, a very good debater when he was at Bayonne Vocational High School. And then there was nothing. No mention of him at all, anywhere. Then I read his sister Kathleen's obituary online and all the way at the end was a comment left by a friend of his (who called him John and and not James, but I believe this is our James). The comment went on to say that "John" was living in Puerto Rico when he suddenly found out he had colon cancer in November 2013 and he died a week later. It does not sound like James had a family of his own but I hope he found happiness in Puerto Rico.

So, that is just about the end of our story. We just have to finish the lives of John M. and Anne. The end of 1962, John was in trouble again at the tavern, serving underage customers. The stress was probably not good for his health. He was in Bayonne Hospital when he should have been in court one day in early January 1963. They postponed the hearing until January 21st when John pleaded guilty to serving beer to teenagers and allowing minors to congregate in his tavern. Five days later, on January 26, 1963, John passed away at the age of 59. His obituary said it was after a short illness. His funeral took place at St. Mary's Church in Bayonne and he is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington. One last thing about John, his nickname was Pickles!
​
As for his Hello girl, Anne, in 1980, she moved to Puerto Rico. Could she have been inspired by her sister-in-law Gertrude Creole and her stories of Cuba many years before? Maybe that is when her son James moved there as well? He was the informant on her death certificate, listing his name as James J. Dilworth. I am guessing the J stands for John. Anne died on August 2, 1988 in Levittown, Puerto Rico and she was cremated.
That is the end of our story. I hope by now, you feel as if you have met the Dilworth family, or at least know something about our Bayonne cousins. Thanks for reading!

Frank John Flynn

Frank John Flynn, son of Millie Hostetter Flynn & Frank Walter Flynn.
Tomorrow, November 24, would have been Daddy’s 91st birthday. He passed away on December 28, 2021, but his memory lives on in so many special ways.

With a birthday so close to Thanksgiving—and sometimes landing right on it—his celebrations often included the holiday feast of family, gratitude, and love, served with turkey, pie, and birthday cake!

Since I’m currently navigating life with a broken right wrist, typing isn’t easy. So, I’ll be sharing some memories I recorded a few years ago along with some photos:
I remember one Saturday morning with Dad, about 50 years ago. Dad was teaching me about the flag, our country, the 1st Amendment and gun safety. All of that. The 1st Amendment represented everything I needed to know about the US as a child: that Americans have the freedom to worship God however we choose and the freedom to speak our minds. But most importantly, the 1st Amendment educated me to the fact that there were other places in the world where people weren’t allowed to have those basic rights. (I felt grateful to be American.)

I don't know if Dad had this kind of conversation with my sisters. (Sad for them, if he didn't.) But I have a great Dad.

Frank Walter Flynn

​Birth 12 JULY 1908 • Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
Death 25 JULY 1992 • East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey
Son of Walter Flynn & Grace Madison.
Husband of Mildred Gladys Hostetter.
Frank Walter Flynn served in the US Navy, where we are told he enjoyed in boxing in his off time. He received an early discharge, at the request of his mother, who was a widow caring for her other son with a full disability from epilepsy. Sadly, we have still found no records of military service, probably because he claimed no veterans status or benefits.
​
Celebrating 116 Years of Grandpa's Legacy! Written by Christine Applegate
Today marks what would have been Grandpa Flynn's 116th birthday, and what a life he led! Born on July 12, 1908, in New Jersey, he faced early hardships, losing his father at just three years old. Despite tough times, Grandpa found joy in family, embodying the resilient Irish-American spirit.
Working at the General Motors assembly plant, Grandpa exemplified dedication and hard work. And let's not forget his patience and humor, navigating the whirlwind of having five Hostetter sisters-in-law! Can you imagine the stories he could tell?!

Grandpa was never happier than when surrounded by his children and grandchildren. His love for us all shone brightest during those family visits, where laughter and love flowed as freely as the stories, good times, and beer. Here's to Grandpa, let's raise a glass to his memory and keep his spirit alive in our hearts.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa! You are missed and cherished always.
Love, your 'Dolly' (CMA 2024)

Father of Frank John Flynn, etc....

Walter Flynn

Born in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania to a very large family, with immigrant parents, Walter moved to New Jersey, working on the railroad.
​ Walter Flynn is father of Frank Walter and John Flynn. Walter died at age 24, in a railroad accident, leaving widow Grace (Madison) Flynn to raise her sons alone, with young John suffering from severe epilepsy.

Golden

Haringa

Andrew T Harvey

Born APRIL 4, 1837 • Pennsylvania
Died Dec 7, 1909
Son of Sarah Berry and James Harvey.
Husband of Delilah Ross.
Served as a Private in Co. H 150th Pennsylvania Infantry
Andrew is buried in of Greendale Cemetery, Meadville, Pa Section 2, Lot 155 ​​findAgrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122920803/andrew_t-harvey#view-photo=195221877

​Anna Eva Hostetter Macchia

Happy Birthday Anna Eva Hostetter Macchia!
On this day in 1909, Charlotte and Fred Hostetter became parents when they had their first child, Anna Eva Hostetter. Anna was born on September 3rd in Bayonne, NJ and was named after both of her grandmothers, Anna Tina McGill and Eva Rosenberger. Anna had polio as a child and as a result she had one leg slightly shorter than the other. It gave her many hip and mobility problems later in life.

Anna would spend less than one year living in Bayonne as her family moved to Jersey City by the time the 1910 census was taken. Charlotte, Fred and Anna were living at 263 Lembeck Avenue with Fred's parents, Fred Sr and Eva. When she was 10 she was living in another house, 221 Winfield Avenue with her parents, four sisters and her uncle Edward Golden. This house was right across the street from Columbia Park so the girls had plenty of room to run around!
By the time the 1930 census was taken, Anna's life was quite different. She was now 20 years old and about six months pregnant. The family were now living at 103 Ocean Avenue. Anna went on to have a son, Robert Stenten, and 4 years later she would also have a daughter, Marjorie Macchia.

​At the outbreak of World War 2, Anna was living with her mother Charlotte, two children and two sisters, Myrtle and Marjorie at 434 Pacific Avenue. After the war was over, Anna married Louis Macchia in 1947 and by 1950 she and her husband and two children were living at 246 Pacific Avenue.
In 1965, she was living at 450 Ocean Avenue when Louie passed away at the age of 56. Anna then went to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Marjorie and Carl, first at 18 Winfield Avenue in Jersey City and then in 1974, she moved for the last time, going to 10 Windsor Avenue in East Rutherford, NJ. Anna passed away at the age of 74 on January 4, 1984 and is buried in Hillside Cemetery in Lyndhurst, NJ. She had two children, four grandchildren and currently she would be so proud to know she is also the great-grandmother of seven and great-great-grandmother of four.

Anna was my grandmother and she lived with us. Here are a few random memories that I have of her: She had beautiful blue eyes and the softest skin, which might have been because she religiously used Oil of Olay cream. She would brush her hair 100 times before bedtime every night. She loved to laugh and smile and sing, especially nursery rhymes to children. She would sit in the kitchen, looking out of the window at the birds and 'spy' on the people in the neighborhood. She had my mother go out to get The Jersey Journal newspaper almost every day to read about what was going on in her home town. She would do the daily crossword puzzles in the paper and the Jumble too. She would keep track of the numbers that came out with the daily Pick 3 and sometimes 'play the numbers' and win! She loved to play a dice game called Bunko and gin rummy too. She loved a good party, her Budweiser and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and the occasional cigarette. She had a strong Jersey City accent and would pronounce the word 'oil' as 'earl' and 'toilet' would be 'turlet'. She was a fan of General Hospital, Lawrence Welk and the Merv Griffin Show. She was a loving and caring woman and she is still very much missed. Wishing my Grandmother a very Happy Birthday!

Fred Hostetter , Jr ~ by Kerri Corby Fawcett

Charlotte Elizabeth Hostetter

Frederick Hostetter, Sr ~ by Christine Applegate

Frederich Hostetter, Sr. was born on May 19, 1857, in a region of Germany near the French and Swiss border. One of many children, he left home at the age of fifteen—young, determined, and full of grit. Family lore tells us he traveled the world five times before finally laying down roots in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1872.
He married Helena “Eva” Bergmann (née Rosenberger) on August 2, 1888, and became a father to three children: Frederick Jr., Helena Augusta “Lena”, and Barbara, Eva’s daughter from a previous marriage whom he raised as his own.
Frederich was a builder in the truest sense of the word. Over the years, his occupation was listed as plasterer, bricklayer, mason—whatever the job required, especially when it came to laying solid foundations. It’s a fitting legacy for a man who built a life from the ground up.
He passed away on October 17, 1930, at the age of 73. His funeral was held at the family home on Ocean Avenue, now part of the land occupied by Bay View – New York Bay Cemetery, where he rests today—a traveler finally at home.

* some records say he was born in Switzerland, on the French and German border.

Gertrude Helen Hostetter

Due to a large volume of content Gertrude "Gertie" Hostetter information can be found at this link.

Marjorie Emma Virginia Hostetter McCormack Krueger

from Tina:
Aunt Margie, aka Marjorie Emma Virginia Hostetter McCormack Krueger, the Hostetter family historian of the 1900s, was the guardian of our family's past, wielding nothing more than a fountain pen and postage stamps. Her letters tediously handwritten (and hand-copied!) were our family newsletter, chronicling the comings and goings of our ancestors long before computers simplified genealogy.

Margie's letters were more than updates-they were family lore, with a dash of 'alternative facts' to protect reputations. Whether they were genuine errors or creative embellishments, we may never know. What's clear is that her version of history, while not always precise, kept our family story alive and, perhaps, a bit more respectable.
​
As we now sift through digitized records and modern tools, let's appreciate the challenges Margie faced. Her efforts were a labor of love. So, let's remember Aunt Margie as a devoted family historian and keeper of secrets, whose creative touch added a unique thread to our family's tapestry.
Cheers to Aunt Margie. Where would we be without you?

and from Kerri:
Margie was born on September 12, 1923 in Jersey City. She was the youngest of Fred and Charlotte Hostetter's children. She was 7 years old when the 1930 census was taken, living with her family at 103 Ocean Avenue in Jersey City. Ten years later, Margie was 16 and a high school student living at 434 Pacific Avenue.
During the next ten years, Margie would say goodbye to her father Fred who died in 1943 and then say hello to Edward Francis McCormack, who would become her first husband on June 23, 1946. She was just 22 and he was 30 when they married in Hoboken, NJ. It must have been a rocky marriage as by the time the 1950 census was taken, Margie was living with her mother Charlotte and Charlotte's new husband of less than one year, George Conklin. They were living at 253 Bartholdi Avenue along with cousin Lorraine Golden and two of George's relatives. Margie was a packer for a dairy product manufacturer, the same company where George worked as a foreman.
Arguably, the best day of Margie's life occurred on June 13, 1952 when she became a mother with the birth of her daughter, Charlotte Ann Margaret McCormack. She had a tremendous amount of love for Charlotte and Charlotte returned the love and devotion to her mother as well. By the end of 1961, Margie got married for the second time, on December 30th in Jersey City. Her new husband was Arthur Joseph Krueger. Artie was 53 and Margie was 38. They moved to Old Bridge, NJ where Margie would change the life of her namesake, her niece Marjorie Macchia.
It was in a bar in Old Bridge where Margie Krueger would meet a young man from Pennsylvania who was visiting his sister and brother-in-law. She struck up a conversation and was so impressed by him she said "Have I got a niece for you!" and she gave him the phone number of her niece, Marjorie Macchia. He called her and they arranged a date and three years later in 1964, Marjorie married the man from Pennsylvania, Carl Herbert Corby. And it is a good thing they did get together otherwise my brother Keith and I would not be here!
In 1965, Margie was devastated with the death of her mother Charlotte (Gram). They shared a house in Old Bridge and Margie would carry the loss with her for the rest of her life. In 1978, part of heart was healed when her granddaughter Megan Elizabeth Vroom entered the world on June 6th. Aunt Margie was now a devoted and caring grandmother. She and Artie separated and he passed away in 1990. For the rest of Margie's life, she would live with Charlotte and Megan mainly at her house in Jersey City or sometimes at Charlotte's second home in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. The trio were very close to each other.
In July of 2007, Aunt Margie collapsed at home and she would spend most of the next two months in and out of Hackensack Hospital where she sadly passed away on September 11th, the day before what would have been her 84th birthday. Her cause of death was pneumonia. She was interred in a mausoleum at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, NJ. For a long time, Charlotte would visit her mother just about every day after she finished teaching school in Jersey City.
Margie talked about her mother and other relatives quite often. I grew up hearing stories and I wish I would have written all of them down at the time. She loved to talk and communicate with everyone. She wrote lots and lots of letters and sent countless cards for every occasion. I do not think she ever missed anyone's birthday. When she called on the phone, you had to make yourself as comfortable as possible as you knew you would be there for a long time listening to the latest news from other branches of the family before she heard your news so she could pass it on. She kept all of us close by keeping in touch with everyone, going to so many weddings, birthday parties, baby showers, etc. She had an undeniable love for her family and her family tree. I am so grateful that she passed that love on to me and I cannot thank her enough for that.
And I have just one more thing to thank Aunt Margie for. Most of you already know the story but back in September of 1991 she called me late one evening and asked if I wanted to join a pen pal service. "No", I said. She said, "What country should I put you down for?" She would not take NO for an answer and, really long story short, she signed me up for a pen pal and just before Christmas I received a name and address in the mail of my new friend. I wrote a letter and he wrote back. Seven years later I married him, Colin Fawcett. She not only matched up my parents, she unintentionally found my husband too!
​
Thank you Aunt Margie, for everything. Remembering you today and always with love. Happy Birthday to you!

A message posted by Kerri Corby Fawcett:
I heard from our cousin Charlotte Vroom again and she really would like me to post this today, so here it is:
​
Happy Birthday to my Mom, Marjorie McCormack Krueger
(née Hostetter) September 12, 1923 - September 11, 2007
It seems kind of poetic that my Mom passed on September 11, the day before her 84th birthday. She had often said, “Never start something that you cannot finish” and she bravely finished her 83rd year on earth.

We all remember 9/11/2001 with sadness, and on that day my Mom could not stop crying. She said, “I will never be able to have a happy birthday again.” I said, “Don’t say that Mom; your birthday is a celebration of your life and I don’t want for you to be sad. I love you and I would not exist without your birthday.” Mom answered, “I know, but these poor people just went to work - then suffered with so much fear and pain that took their lives.” Each 9/11 year after year, when I came home from work, my Mom was watching the tv, listening to the roll call of the names of those lost, and crying. I asked her to not watch it any more because it is too upsetting. She told me - No, these people deserve to be remembered and they deserve my tears.
​
Then 2007, a very long hospital stay and Mom’s passing on 9/11.

My students had heard from other teachers about why I had been absent. During my Mom’s wake, the room was filled with family and friends; I looked up and a large group was entering the room. It took a minute for me to realize that they were students and former students who took taxis from Jersey City to Rutherford to show their respect for my Mom. Twenty days later, I returned to the classroom. After school, several students came to my room. They said they know why my Mom passed on 9/11. On that day, around the world, there are many people feeling desperately sad and crying uncontrollably. Your Mom knew that on that day, you wouldn’t be alone in your sorrow and grief. I thought, that is my Mom. She had always put me and my needs first. Her love has always been my guiding star and refuge, and always will be. I make the effort to focus on 9/12 rather than 9/11. I still feel my Mom’s love and pray that she still feels mine.

Mildred Gladys Hostetter Flynn

By Kerri Corby Fawcett
​HAPPY BIRTHDAY MILLIE
On Wednesday, March 24, 1915 in Jersey City, NJ, Fred Hostetter and his wife Charlotte Golden welcomed another little girl into their family. They named her Mildred Gladys Hostetter and she joined her two older sisters Anna and Charlotte. The 1915 New Jersey Census was taken a few months later on June 8th and at this time they were living at 226 Linden Avenue along with Charlotte's younger brother Edward Golden. By 1920 the family moved a few blocks away to 221 Winfield Avenue and Millie was no longer the youngest with the births of two other little girls, Gertrude and Myrtle. The family became complete in 1923 with the birth of the sixth Hostetter daughter, Marjorie.

In 1930 they were living at 103 Ocean Avenue with the Anna giving birth to Fred and Charlotte's first grandchild, Robert Stenten. Within a few years, Millie would meet her future husband, Frank Walter Flynn. Frankie was born on July 12, 1908 in Jersey City, a young man of 21, and was living a few blocks away at 22 Neptune Avenue in 1930. He was working as a laborer for an electrical company.

In 1933 their lives would change. Millie and Frankie became parents on November 24th when they welcomed the first of their four children into the world, Frank John Flynn. Fourteen months later, on January 25, 1935, little Frank had a sister Mildred Gladys and then on March 16, 1937, Kenneth James joined the family. The three Flynn children were all baptized on the same day, May 2, 1937 at their home, 434 Pacific Avenue. The details were recorded at the Lafayette Dutch Reformed Church.

The beginning of the 1940s saw Millie, Frankie and their children still at 434 Pacific Avenue. While they were listed in the census as married, they did not make things official until 1941, the same year Millie's sister Mertie married her husband Robert Haringa. The public records do not show the date or place Millie and Frankie tied the knot but we hope to find out one day!

The Flynn family finally became complete just before the end of the decade with the birth of Richard Walter Flynn on August 2, 1949. By this time, they were living at 246 Pacific Avenue and Frankie was working as a motor inspector at the General Motors car factory.

The Flynn children grew up, married and moved away. Millie and Frankie moved around a bit and then settled again at 141 Fulton Avenue in Jersey City.

Sadly, at the age of 62, Millie passed away on June 15, 1977 at Christ Hospital in Jersey City. She had breast cancer. She is buried with her father Fred Hostetter at New York Bayview Cemetery, in the McCarthy section, grave 3, block O, lot 6. She and Frankie had 10 grandchildren at the time of her death, 2 granddaughters were added in the 80s and their family continues to grow and thrive.

Frankie eventually moved to the Senior Citizens Center in East Rutherford, NJ, in the mid 1980s. He was a frequent visitor to see his daughter Millie and her family and he would also stop in in to see my mother as well. Frankie passed away just after his 84th birthday on July 25, 1992. He is buried in Hillside Cemetery in Lyndhurst, NJ, a few plots away from his sister-in-law Anna Hostetter Macchia.

I was only 7 when Aunt Millie passed away. I know I spent a few days with them when my family moved from Jersey City to East Rutherford in August 1974. I woke up one morning in bed with Aunt Millie in a bright and sunny room. She was showing me some stretching exercises that she did before getting out of bed in the morning. It was very funny and I remember her as a very loving person.

There is one story that cousin Charlotte Vroom told me recently. Apparently Gertie's first husband Walter Popielarczyk had a reputation for telling the same stories over and over again and talking about "nothing" and Millie had enough and yelled out "Forget about it Walter" and that became a family catchphrase for anyone that was talking too much and it was time for them to be quiet! Has anyone heard this story before?
​
Millie was a beautiful and strong woman who died almost 48 years ago but we will keep her memory alive. Remember her today. Happy Birthday Aunt Millie, with lots of love!

Esther Wert

Megan Vroom

Message from Kerri Corby Fawcett.
​Sorry things have been so quiet on here lately. Tina broke her right arm last week and is in a bit of pain and cannot type very well with just her left hand. We've found it a bit hard to do some genealogy over the last few weeks but I really wanted to write something for Megan.
​
Megan Elizabeth Vroom entered the world on Tuesday, June 6, 1978 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She was the only child of Charlotte McCormack Vroom and Eugene Vroom. Charlotte soon separated and divorced her husband and raised Megan as a single mom with the help of her own mom Marjorie Krueger. I first met Megan when she was just under 3 months old at a surprise birthday party for my grandmother Anna Macchia. I just turned 9 years old and remember being so excited to see the newest baby in the family. She was squirming all around when I held her and I was afraid I was going to drop her!

Over the years, Aunt Margie, Charlotte and Megan would become frequent visitors to see us. We watched Megan grow up. She was like a little sister for my brother Keith and me. We played with her and teased her and laughed a lot, especially when playing with the old Atari 2600. We would spend hours playing games on that console. As a child, Megan loved My Little Pony, Cabbage Patch Kids, unicorns and Strawberry Shortcake. She was a child of the 80s. When she was older, no holiday celebration was complete without getting out Pictionary and Scattergories. We would all sit around the dining room table, eating chips and dip and making fun of our answers and drawings! So many good memories.

Megan went to elementary school in Jersey City but Charlotte did not want her to go to high school there so she bought a house in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania where her mother Marjorie and Megan would live during the week and Charlotte would visit on the weekends and school holidays. It was a bit of a struggle at times but Megan flourished in Pennsylvania and graduated from high school in 1996.

Megan was about 5 years old when she appeared on the old tv show, Romper Room with Miss Mary Ann. I was home from school that day and was thrilled to see my little cousin on television. I was convinced that she would be a tv star when she was older! Megan also had the same thoughts and majored in English and theatre when she went to Rutgers, New Brunswick, in 1996. She appeared in a few productions and then after graduation, she also took part in local theatre and children's theatre in New Jersey. She was very dramatic and had a love of Broadway and especially musicals.

Her love of theatre did not bring her fame, but it did bring her love. She met her future husband Daniel Kisala while they were both in the theatre world but they did not start officially dating until around 2004. I heard lots about Daniel and then met him for the first time at my brother's wedding in 2005. I sat next to both of them and it was clear they were meant for each other. Megan was so very happy.

Over the years, she and Daniel remained together. They lived together in Jersey City and everyone would keep asking when they were getting married. Meg joked that a good day would be December 21, 2012, which was the day the Mayans apparently predicted would be the end of the world! In July of 2018, at Megan's beloved Disney World, Daniel officially proposed! We were all so happy to hear the wonderful news. By this time, Daniel and Megan were living in Florida. They would buy a house in Orlando and plan for their wedding. Covid delayed their plans a bit but they tied the knot on February 18, 2022 at Paradise Cove in Orlando. After a honeymoon in Hawaii, they settled down to married life.

By September of 2022, Megan started to feel unwell. She put off seeing a doctor until the middle of November and by that time she was very breathless and apparently was close to dying. She was immediately admitted to the hospital where they found a huge tumor in her abdomen and smaller lesions on her liver. I found out the shocking news on Thanksgiving morning. We were all devastated to hear of Megan's condition.
I started to call Charlotte in December of 2022 every three or four weeks to find out the latest news, how Megan was coping with endless rounds of chemo and how Charlotte was coping with caring for Megan. We started with some good news, the initial rounds of chemo shrunk the main abdominal tumors, which started on her colon and spread to her ovaries. At the end of August in 2023, Megan was admitted to the hospital to have a full hysterectomy. Now she 'only' had to deal with the lesions on her liver. After many rounds of chemo, the lesions did not shrink so they decided to go to radiation. They implanted radiation seeds in each of the lesions on August 2, 2024. The radiation proved to be too much for Megan's body. She developed severe water retention and a collapsed lung. A few weeks after coming home from the hospital, she had severe water retention again and was admitted back into the hospital on Monday, September 16th. This time they would discover that Megan was in kidney failure due to radiation leakage from her liver and she would pass away at the University of Central Florida Hospital at Lake Nona surrounded by her mother, Charlotte, her husband Daniel, her sister-in-law Melissa and two other close friends on Friday, September 20, 2024 at 8:33pm.

Her body was flown back home to New Jersey where her wake took place on Tuesday, October 1st at the Calhoun-Mania Funeral Home in Rutherford. Her funeral took place the following day at noon at St.Mary's Church before she was interred in a mausoleum at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, in the section above her grandmother Marjorie. Even though we could not be there, she was toasted with margaritas by me and Tina (and Tina's husband Thom and son Jacob). Megan loved a good margarita!

Megan also had a strong love of animals. She had a few dogs as pets throughout her life, but I think she must have had a few dozen cats! She cared for not only her indoor cats but the stray cats in the neighborhood as well. She loved music, always singing along to songs on the radio. Early favorites were Culture Club, Prince, Freddie Mercury and Queen and then she graduated to her favorite Guns N' Roses. She walked down the aisle to marry Daniel to the song Sweet Child of Mine.
She was fun, unique and will never be forgotten.

A Message from Charlotte, Megans mother on June 6,2025.
The Sixth Day of June
A Day of Kindness and Remembrance
his message is for everyone whose life path has met with Megan’s path of life. You may recall that today, the sixth day of June, is the anniversary of Megan’s birthday. You may know of Megan’s natural kindness towards all people and all animals; you may have witnessed Megan”s selfless generosity, and you may have experienced her unquestioning and unconditional forgiveness.

This message is an invitation for you to be a part of a living memorial for Megan Elizabeth McCormack Vroom Kisala, also known as Aunt Meggie and Meggie 6. Please remember Megan’s kindness and honor her on her birthday each year (or on the sixth of every month) by showing an unexpected kindness to a forgotten or lonely person, by giving unrequested generosity of time or help to a needful person, or by forgiving someone who hurt you or by reaching out to someone whom you have hurt or with whom you are holding a grudge.

There are expressions of philosophies of life that Megan holds dear; she has worn them on her clothing and displayed them in her home. But one became her self chosen proverb to attempt to live by each day -

"If you have a choice to do what you think is right
or to do what you think is kind,
choose to be kind
​because kindness is always right."

​If each of you who has received this invitation reenacts Megan's kindness and repeats her proverb to others, the hope is that Megan’s kindness will continue to be shared and with each action or even kind words, a spark of her love will grow and the sixth day of June will be known as A Day of Kindness. The Sixth of June will stand as a reminder to bring kindness back into our daily lives, to spread benevolence among all life, all of nature on this small blue speck in the universe, this speck that we call Earth, our home. Thank you for reading these earnest words from an honored and devoted mom

​Robert Frederick Stenten Sr.

Birth JULY 19, 1930 • Jersey City, Hudson, New Jersey, USA
Death AUGUST 31, 2013 • TUNKHANNOCK, PA
son of Anna Eva Hostetter and Charles Stenten.
Husband of Carmen Iris Morales.
​
From Kerri Corby Fawcett:
​Hello everyone. Today we remember the birthday of Robert Stenten Sr. who was born on this day in 1930 in Jersey City. Not only was he my beloved uncle and Godfather, he was the father of Robert F. Stenten Jr. and Ronald Stenten, the grandfather of 5 and now great-grandfather of 4. He was hilarious and loved to play jokes (especially on my mother!) and loved telling a good story, going to the casino, softball, basketball and the NY Jets! He enjoyed looking through photographs and getting his picture taken so I tried to pick out some good ones for him today. Greatly loved and missed. Happy Birthday Uncle Bobby!

Charles Stenten

Birth 3 AUG 1908.
Death 6 DEC 1930
Parents unknown.
Husband of Anna Eva Hostetter. Father of Robert Frederick Stenten.

William Ross

Click here for Biography

Serenus Ross

Serenus RossClick here for Biography

Miller Ross

Click here for BiMiller Rossography

Betsey Ross

By Kerri Corby Fawcett

Our Betsy?
Hands up if you have heard the family rumor about being related to the creator of the original American flag, Betsy Ross. I heard this story and have been intrigued about it for the last thirty years. Every once and awhile I would search on some genealogy sites and history groups to see if any new information emerged about her family life, looking to see if I could find any possible link between her and our clan.

Where does this rumor come from? I have no idea. I think it was Aunt Margie who first mentioned it to me and who mentioned it to her is a mystery. How could Betsy be related to us? Well, the most obvious link would be with the surname Ross. We have Ross ancestors in our tree, starting with William M. Ross. Betsy, who was born Elizabeth Griscom, was briefly married to John Ross from 1773 until he was killed in 1776. They lived in Philadelphia and ran a small upholstery shop. Is this where the link comes from?

First the bad news. During their marriage, John and Betsy did not have any children so Betsy would not be a direct ancestor to us. If we were connected to Betsy then it would be through John's family as possibly an aunt or a sister-in-law but not a blood relative. John did come from a large family with eight other siblings as well as many aunts and uncles. One of his uncles, George Ross, was a signer of The Declaration of Independence and, legend has it, he was the one that brought George Washington to meet Betsy and ask her to make our flag.
​
Now for the somewhat good news. There are so many relatives of John Ross that we have a glimmer of hope that we might be able to connect our William M. Ross to this possible family. We do not know a lot about where William M. Ross was born in about 1809 or who his parents were but there was a small clue in his obituary when it was printed in 1902. It said that William was born in eastern Pennsylvania and went west to Crawford County as a young man. As the Philadelphia area is in the eastern part of the state it is possible this is where two families can connect somehow.
Meanwhile, until we can prove it one way or another, here are a few newspaper articles about Betsy and the legend of the flag. Happy Fourth of July!

Charlotte Ross McGill

In honor of Charlotte Ross McGill’s birthday, I’ve put together a short biography—and with a little help from AI, reimagined it as if it were Charlotte herself sharing her memories from The Great Beyond. This version doesn’t go too deep into the details; instead, I wanted it to feel more personal, more like a quiet reflection than a history lesson.

The Remembrance of Charlotte Ross McGill
April 13, 1846 – July 18, 1891
I was born on a spring day in 1846, the sixth child of Hester and William Ross. My father was a shoemaker by trade, quiet and steady, and my mother, Hester Wirt—of proud German stock—had the patience and strength that only a mother of nine could possess. We lived in Meadville, Pennsylvania, a place of hills and hearths, where my childhood was filled with the bustle of siblings and the smells of bread and leather.
Of those early days, I remember most the rhythm of home and the whispers of war beginning to stir. I knew of a boy—William Johnston McGill—whose people were also in Meadville. Whether we were sweethearts then or merely familiar faces, I cannot quite say now. But I know he left with the war in his eyes on April 22, 1861, when he answered the Union’s call.
Those were cruel years, the war tearing at the fabric of so many families, mine included. William J came home changed, carrying wounds that never quite healed. His brother, John Patrick McGill, fell near Chickahominy Swamp in ’62. My own brother, William Ross, died that same year at Antietam. And then Syrenius—dear Syrenius—who was wounded at Gettysburg and lingered for years before passing in 1867. The war took much from our family, more than just names carved in stone.
But William came back to me. Broken, maybe, but mine. He was discharged in May 1864, and we were married on November 23, 1865, by Justice McDill in Sugar Lake. It wasn’t a grand wedding, but we didn’t need much—just each other and a bit of hope.
Life began anew for us with our first child, Margaret Gertrude, born the following year.
Then came Anna Tina—our bright-eyed girl who would one day marry Edward Golden and name her own daughter after me: Charlotte Ross Golden. That name, carried forward, warms me even now, although you know her as Gram Hostetter.
By the time of the 1870 census, we had set our roots in Cornplanter, Pennsylvania. Our house grew full—Emma, Charles, Julia, and little Rose all came into the world under our roof, each with their own place in my heart.
We counted our blessings, held our children a little tighter, and wept a good number of tears in 1876 when Louisa and Nancy, my sister Mary’s girls fell through the ice and died. Two years later, our grief deepened when grave robbers violated their final resting place.
On February 26, 1884, I found my way to the Lord. At 36, in our Bayonne home, I was baptized by a priest from St. John’s Cavalry Church.
Almost nine months later on November 6 our Edward Everett arrived, as if to seal the blessing. And though some might have paused, we did not. In 1889, our last son, Alfred Raymond, was born.
Two years later, on July 18, 1891, my time on earth came to a quiet close. Consumption, another name for Tuberculosis, took me, as it did so many. I passed in our home on Denny Road in Bayonne, surrounded by the echoes of laughter, prayer, and lullabies. I was laid to rest in New York Bay Cemetery—Plot 4, Lot 562—beneath the grass and sky.
​
William J did what he could, but grief and illness wore him down. He sought help for our youngest, entrusting them to the care of family back in Pennsylvania. Not long after, he himself was admitted to the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. In January 1902, he came to join me in eternity.
I remember it all—the love, the loss, the warmth of a baby in my arms, the hymns sung softly by candlelight, the heavy silence after war. But above all, I remember the family we built, the lives that continued after mine, and the name I passed on, carried gently through the years by those who still remember me.
– Charlotte Ross McGill

Eva Rosenberger Bergmann Hostetter

The Story of Eva Rosenberger Bergmann Hostetter (1848–1914)
Known by many names, remembered for her journey.
Eva Rosenberger was born in December 1848 in Germany, a country she would one day leave behind in pursuit of something better—though what she left and what she hoped for remain unknown to us.
Like many women of her time, Eva is known to us by many names—Eva Elizabetha, Helene, “Lina,” “Effie,” and simply “Eva.” Each name is a thread in the fabric of her long and layered life, hinting at the many roles she played—daughter, mother, immigrant, survivor.
Records suggest that Eva was first married in Germany, though we have yet to confirm the date or the details. From that union came at least two daughters:

• Klara Bergmann, reportedly born around 1868, was the daughter of Eva and Phillip Bergmann. She immigrated to the United States in 1883 at the age of 15, according to the 1900 census.

• Barbara Bergmann, born February 9, 1875, in Schweinshaupten, Bavaria, was the daughter of Eva and Mattaeus Bergmann.

Why Eva’s daughters had different father - one being Andrew, the other being Matteaus Bergmann—is one of several mysteries that remain. What we do know is that Eva left Germany sometime in the 1880s, likely widowed or separated, and brought her youngest daughter Barbara with her.
They arrived together at the Port of New York on April 30, 1887, aboard the steamship Aller, and were processed through Castle Garden. Eva was around 38 years old; Barbara just 12. While later census records vary in their immigration dates, this arrival has been confirmed in passenger lists.
In New Jersey, Eva began a new life. She married Frederick Hostetter, Sr., a Swiss immigrant, in 1888—according to family notes passed down from Great-Aunt Margie. Together, they had two more children:

• Frederick Hostetter, Jr. (1888–1943)

• Helena Augusta “Lina” Hostetter (1890–1941)

Their home in Jersey City became a new foundation for a blended family that stretched across oceans and generations. Eva would live out the rest of her days there, passing away on November 5, 1914, at age 60, as reported in the Jersey Journal the following day.
She was laid to rest in Bay View – New York Bay Cemetery in Jersey City. At her side lies her youngest daughter Lina Hostetter Jenners, a quiet sign of the bond between mother and child that endured through all life’s upheavals.
Though gaps remain in Eva’s story—missing marriage records, changing names, unanswered questions—her legacy lives on. She helped lay the groundwork for generations to come.
We may never fully know the life she lived before America, but the choices she made helped shape the story we tell now. And that story is worth remembering.

Eva Rosenberger, by Kerri Corby Fawcett

Our Eva, by Kerri Corby Fawcett
Growing up, I was always intrigued by the name Eva Bergmann in our family tree. She was the wife of Fred Hostetter Sr., the mother of Fred Hostetter Jr. We did not know a lot about her other than she was married previously and had a daughter named Barbara Bergmann. Through census records we had a vague idea of where and when she was born. The records vary in accuracy due to a number of factors including citizens not telling the truth, census takers not understanding their accents or just simple mistakes. The majority of records list her name as Eva and she was most likely born in Germany in December of 1848.
Where in Germany was Eva born? We do not know know. I have a theory that she might be of Eastern European descent with possible Jewish heritage. Recently I had a conversation with our cousin Charlotte Vroom and she said that her mother Margie Hostetter Kruger once had a photograph of Eva sitting in a chair with my grandmother Anna Hostetter as a baby. She described Eva to me as a short and stout woman with a strong German or Eastern European look, a real 'babushka'. I would love to see this photo!
A few years ago we found out a little more about Eva thanks to the Ancestry website. Tina and I found the names of her and her daughter Barbara on the list of a passenger ship called Aller. The ship left from Bremen, Germany and crossed the Atlantic and arrived in New York on April 30, 1887. This was before Ellis Island was opened so most likely they first stepped ashore on Manhattan Island at a place called Castle Garden. From there they eventually made their way over to Jersey City where Eva met Fred and they married about 1888 according to the 1900 census.
It was thanks to Barbara Bergmann that we found out a crucial piece of information, Eva's maiden name. I ordered Barbara's marriage certificate from the New York City records office. When it came, it contained Eva's maiden name of Rosenberger and also where Barbara was born, the small town of Schweinshaupten! In the region of Bavaria, Schweinshaupten translates to English as "pig heads". How long Eva was there is unknown but she was there when Barbara was born in February of 1875.
All was quiet until last month when Tina made a huge discovery on the Family Search website. She found a marriage record for a young lady named Klara Bergmann. Klara was born in Schweinshaupten about 1869, her mother's name was Eva Rosenberger and her father's name was Matthaeus Bergmann. We are pretty confident that Klara would be Barbara's sister and that we finally know the first name of Eva's first husband, Matthaeus. (Link to the record on the Family Search site. You will have to log in with a free account to see it.

[https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2434-5R9...](https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2434-5R9...)
​
We will talk about Eva's children, Klara and Barbara, and then Fred Jr. and Lena, in the future. Eva passed away on Thursday, November 5, 1914 in Jersey City. According to her death notice in The Jersey Journal she was 65 years old. She is buried in the Bayview-New York Bay Cemetery in Jersey City near the main gate on the Garfield Avenue side with her daughter Lena. We do not have any photographs of her grave. We will continue to search for more information on Eva and her family. Tina created a Find A Grave memorial for our Eva and you can find it here:
​https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/83939099/eva-elizabeth-hostetter

James Satterfield Porter

Born 13 Aug 1838
Died 23 Apr 1905 (aged 66)
Son of Sarah Satterfield and David Thompson Porter.
Husband of Frances M McGill Porter.
​
findAgrave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/243757849/james-satterfield-porter​
Buried at Oakwood Cemetery Section C Lot 63 Grave #4
Sharon, Mercer County, Pennsylvania

FRANCES McGILL, born at Mercer, Pa., May 25th, 1839; married James S. Porter, Dec. 17, 1861. Died at Sharon, Pa., Sept. 8, 1900, leaving five children.

Popielarczyk

Mossuto

Henry Minneley

Birth 25 DEC 1842 • Canada, although death certificate records say Ireland.
Death 27 FEB 1914 • Edinboro, Erie, Pennsylvania
Husband of Caroline A Burchfield.
Worked as a shoemaker with his brother Charles before joining the army.
He served in Company A 56th regiment.
findAgrave: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/9561649/person/24431554709/facts
​Digital Civil War Pension File is possession of Kerri Corby Fawcett.

William Ryan McGill

Hon. W. R. McGill
Mont. William Ryan McGill, one of Crawford County’s oldest and most widely known citizens, died Saturday evening at 11 o’clock at his home at Meadville, after an illness of several weeks. He was in his 88th year.

Mr. McGill was born at Saegertown, Feb 22, 1833, at the family homestead, where his paternal grandfather had patented the land and settled in 1793. He lived a very active life and in his early manhood before the advent of the railroad was extensively engaged as a stock owner and lumberman, driving herds of cattle overland to Philadelphia and in boating lumber down the rivers to Market.

On July 27, 1861, he was married to Caroline A. Harkens, of Saegertown who survives him.

In1880 the family moved from the homestead at Saegertown to a large farm in Summerhill township, where for 30 years extensive farming and lumbering operations were carried on. In 1910 on account of advancing years, he retired to a home on Diamond Park, Meadville.

A family of nine childen were born and reared to maturity, of whom seven survive. They are E. E. McGill, president of the Lawrence Savings and Trust Company of New Castle; Jessie A. McGill, instructor in the Pennsylvania College of Music, residing at home; John M. McGill, President of the Colonial Trust Company, Farrell; A. R. McGill, Vice-president of the First National Bank of Sharon; E. W. McGill, President of the Crawford County Trust Company, of this city; and N. W. McGill, and attorney of Cleveland.

Mr. McGill served as Deputy Sheriff of the county from 1876 till 1879, and later as a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature, being elected in 1892. For several years he was president of the First National Bank of Conneaut Lake, and at the time of his death was a director in the Crawford County Trust Company.

Always in the forefront of progress and improvement, he circulated the first petition for the establishment of rural mail services in Crawford county and has written many articles advocating good roads and other public benefits

Funeral services were held at the family home at 2:20 Monday afternoon. Interment at Saegertown Cemetery.

Biography from Archives of the Pennsylvania House of Representatiives - McGILL, William Ryan, a Representative from Crawford County; born, February 22, 1833 in Woodcock Township, Crawford County, Pa.; farmer; elected as a Democrat to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 1893 term; unsuccessful campaign for reelection to the House for the 1895 term; deputy sheriff, Crawford County (1876-1879); president, First National Bank of Conneaut Lake; died, October 16, 1920 in Meadville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania; interred, Saegertown Cemetery, Saegertown, Crawford County, Pennsylvania.
https://archives.house.state.pa.us/people/member-biography?ID=6068

New Castle Herald Wed, Jul 27, 1910 ·Page 6E. E. McGill and Family of this City, to Attend Gathering Sunday.
On Sunday, July 31, there will be a family reunion at he home of Hon. And Mrs William R. McGill, Diamond Park Meadville.

Mr. and Mrs. McGill have seven sons and one daughter, ad hope to have all their children, the wives and grandchildren with them next Sunday. They are located as follows: John M. and Fred, Oil City; Edward, who is secretary and treasurer of the Lawrence Savings & Trust company,, at New Castle; Frank, South Sharon; Audley, Pittsburg; Earl, Spartansburg, S. C.; Neil, recently graduated from Columbus Law School.

Of the seven sons, all but Edward were formerly members of the Conneaut Lake band, and it is probable that several will attend the second annual reunion of the members of that organization, to be held at Exposition Park on Monday August 1.

Mr. ad Mrs. McGill have a family of which they feel justly proud. The seven sons are all well located, and each holds an honorable position. The daughter, Miss Jessie, is a graduate of Oberlin has pursued her musical studies in Germany, and is an accomplished musician. - Meadville Messenger

William Johnston McGill

Birth JULY 20 1834 • Woodcock, Crawford, Pennsylvania, USA
Death 27 JANUARY 1902 • Bayonne, Hudson, New Jersey
Son of Juliana Cochran and William Perry McGill.
Husband of Charlotte Ross McGill.
Served in the Civil War, Co F 38th Pa as a Cpl. Wounded at the Battle of Drainsville, PA
findAgrave: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/9561649/person/-777351021/facts
Digital Civil War Pension File is possession of Kerri Corby Fawcett.

WILLIAM JOHNSTON MCGILL On this day in 1834, in Woodcock Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, our ancestor, William Johnston McGill was born. His parents were William Perry McGill and Juliana Cochran. He was the first son after four daughters and was 13 years old when his father died. He grew up on the family farm and was listed as a boatman in the 1860 census. The Civil War started and William and his brother John Patrick McGill both signed up for the Union Army. On May 11, 1861, William joined Company F of the 9th Pennsylvania Reserves in Meadville while John joined Company B of the 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry on August 15, 1861.
William and his regiment were sent to fight at Dranesville, Virginia where he was wounded by a musket-ball entering the left side of his abdomen on December 20, 1861. He was taken to the Halls Hill field hospital to be operated on and they found that damage was done to the internal wall of his abdomen and, thankfully, he was able to heal but he suffered with severe bowel and constipation problems for the rest of his life.
His brother John and his regiment were fighting in Virginia in June of 1862 when John got sick with malaria. He was taken to the field hospital and sadly died on the 25th. William was alerted that his brother had died and was given leave so he was able to go to him and then escort his body back to their home town and family for burial.
William returned to his regiment and stayed with them until he was honorably discharged after three years of service on May 11, 1864. The 9th were involved in several battles during those three years and we can only assume that William was involved in them as well after he returned to service. Here is a link to the website that will tell you more about the movements of the regiment: [9th Pennsylvania Reserves in the American Civil War](https://civilwarintheeast.com/.../9th-pennsylvania-reserves/)
After the war, William returned home to Crawford County where he soon married Charlotte Ross on November 23, 1866 at the home of Samuel Beers in Sugar Lake, Wayne Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. William and Charlotte went on to have nine children, five daughters and four sons. Their second child was our ancestor, Anna Tina McGill.
Due to his wound and the trouble that it caused William, he was entitled to a Civil War pension. (I ordered his pension file over 20 years ago and it is under the album section on this website). We find quite a lot of information about William from this file including a description of him when he was 42 years old in 1877. He was 5 feet 8 inches tall, 135 pounds with a light complexion, dark hair and gray eyes. We also have his medical records describing all of the problems he had with his bowels (probably more than we need to know!) and a personal account, in his own words, of the Battle of Dranesville and how the aftermath effected him. (I will attach that page below)
The family moved around a bit, living in various locations in Butler and Venango counties in Pennsylvania before moving to Bayonne, New Jersey in 1881 where he worked for the Standard Oil Company. Ten years later they were living on Denny Road, between 9th and 10th street when Charlotte died on July 18, 1891. She was only 45 years old. William was in poor health and could not raise his four youngest children that were still in the house so he brought them back to Crawford County to be raised by 'his people'.
William spent the last ten years of his life going back and forth between Bayonne and Crawford County. He also had some respite care at the New Jersey Home for Disabled Soldiers in Kearny, New Jersey. He was living here when the 1895 and 1900 censuses were taken. William was living at 43 1/2 West 21st Street in Bayonne when he died at the age of 67 on January 28, 1902. His cause of death was consumption of his lungs and bowels. His body was sent back home to Crawford County where he was buried in Saegertown Cemetery in section 3, lot 41. After serving his country and being wounded in battle, suffering for the last forty years of his life, I hope he finally found peace.

Patrick McGill

PAtrick McGill

Lamont Dunwiddie McGill

Born
Died
parents
spouse
​served in Co B 83rd Pa. Died during the war, so no veterans files.

John Davitt McGill

James McFarland McGill

No Veterans Pension File

Birth 1843 • Pennsylvania
Death 23 OCTOBER 1911
Son of Robert McGill and Susan P Alexander.
Married to Katherine Louise "Kitty" Starr
Enrollment Date6 Aug 1862 Valparaiso, Indiana
Discharge Date 27 Oct 1863, as Captain.
Company I Cavalry, Battery, Unit5th Cavalry 90th regiment
Discharged to accept Commission In 16th Tennessee Cav. 1st Sgt. ( Later recorded as 10th Cavalry)
1900 occupation County Treasurer, Cook county, Illinois
1910 occupation: County Crier.

Augustus McGill

Birth 1 Sep 1828 Crawford County, Pennsylvania
Death 9 Jan 1918 (aged 89) Erie County, Pennsylvania
Son of Isabella Ryan and John McGill.
​Husband of Sarah Peiffer.
Author of The McGills, Celts, Scots, Ulsterman and American pioneers; history, heraldry and tradition, (St. Paul: McGill-Warner Co., Pub. 1910) Served first in Co F 83rd Regiment Pa. Infantry and served later as Captain in ​Company D of the 56th Pennsylvania Militia.
He is buried in Brookhouser Cemetery, Hayfield Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania
Plot: Section B Lot 1
findAgrave at ​https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42387237/augustus-mcgill ​ Digital Civil War Pension File is possession of Kerri Corby Fawcett. More biographical information of Augustus McGill can be found at this link.

Anna Tina McGill Golden

Today, September 16th would have been the 155th birthday of Anna Tina McGill Golden.
WARNING – THIS IS NOT A HAPPY STORY. It's perfectly understandable if anyone chooses to not read this one.

"Bound by Love, Tested by Tragedy: The Life of Anna Tina McGill Golden"
Anna Tina McGill Golden's life was one of both love and loss, a journey deeply shaped by the hardships of her family. Born on September 16, 1869, in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, Anna Tina was the daughter of Charlotte Ross and Civil War veteran Corporal William Johnston McGill. Her father’s early experience in the war, suffering a severe abdominal wound in December 1861, would leave a lasting mark on the McGill family. Though he returned to service and lived to raise a family, the constant reminder of his injuries cast a shadow over their lives, affecting everything from his work to his ability to provide for the family.

In 1870, the census placed the McGill family in Cornplanter, Pennsylvania. Anna Tina, then just nine months old, was sweetly recorded by the nickname Tiney A., her parents were recorded as William and Charlotte Magill, and her older sister, Gertrude. Over the years, her family grew, welcoming siblings Emma Jane, Charles, Julia, Rose Agnes, William Jr., Edward Everett, and Alfred Raymond, each bringing the hope of joy and companionship to Anna Tina’s childhood.

In the late 1880s, the McGill family left Pennsylvania and moved to Bayonne, New Jersey, where Anna Tina came of age. By 1888, at 18 years old, she married Edward "Eddie" Golden in Bayonne. Their marriage brought forth a large family with their first child, Charlotte R. Golden, aka our “Gram”, born in June 1889.

Sadly, loss would also be a frequent visitor to Anna Tina. Her mother Charlotte, passed in 1891 of consumption, what we now call tuberculosis. Brother Charles passed in 1895, followed by sister Julia a year later. Anna Tina's daughter, also named Anna Tina, passed away at only four years old in 1900. Her father, William, succumbed to his war wounds in 1902, marking the end of a difficult chapter for the family.
The pain of losing a child was something Anna Tina would bear again as Raymond Alfred, almost 3 years old, died on July 26th, 1909.
Despite the grief, Anna Tina hopefully was able to toast the August marriage of daughter Charlotte and Fred Hostetter, Jr., and celebrate the birth of her first grandchild, Anna Eva, on September 3rd of 1909.

But 1909, continued to be a devastating year for this family, with the death of Charles, on September 7, 1909, at only 3 months old. Anna Tina herself passed away on September 29, 1909, leaving behind her husband and surviving children Charlotte “Gram”, Edward, Herbert, and Elmer.
The details of Anna’s death remain a mystery, with no known obituary or burial records found yet, but her loss was undoubtedly felt deeply by her surviving family. Her widower, Edward, and the 3 younger children moved in with the family of his brother Charles in Titusville, Pa., by the time of the1910 census. The weight of his grief is evident in this move.
​
Anna Tina McGill Golden's life is a poignant reminder of the strength it takes to endure hardship, especially in an era marked by frequent loss. Though she lived just 40 years, her legacy lives on in the descendants who remember her story.
May she rest in peace, surrounded by the family who waited to welcome her on the other side.
--------------------------------------------------------
Anna Tina’s grave can be found at Bayview - New York Bay Cemetery in Jersey City, NJ, The Golden Plot is located in Section H North, row 7. She is in Grave No. 5. There is no headstone, only a family name marker.

Flora McGill Keefer

​While researching a far distant cousin (my 3rd cousin 4xs removed)—mezzo soprano Flora McGill Keefer—I found out she sang at the Memorial Day service at Arlington Cemetery in 1935. She performed The Star-Spangled Banner, There Is No Death, and something called The American Creed.
I'd never heard of this Creed before, but it's a beautiful reminder of what this country stands for—liberty, justice, and a government by and for the people.
So this Memorial Day, here's to Flora, for using her voice to honor the nation and for reminding me what a gift it is to be part of it.
I’m sure Flora sounded nothing like this, but here is a SUNO (AI) version I created of The American’s Creed.
(Link in comments as this one doesn't link.)
https://suno.com/s/UpjvtFAB5X1KVXvH

McCormack

Andrew Ryan McGill

THE GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA
With all of the talk about the current Governor of Minnesota in the news lately, I started to think about a past governor of that state. No, not Jesse 'The Body' Ventura! I am talking about our cousin Andrew Ryan McGill.

Andrew was born in Saegertown, Crawford County, Pennsylvania on February 19, 1840. He was the son of Charles Dillon McGill and his wife Angeline Martin and also the grandson of Patrick McGill and Anna Maria Baird. Along with his five sisters and three brothers they grew up on the family farm.

In 1859, Andrew decided to leave the area and branch out in the world. He went to a small town in Clarion County, Pennsylvania to become a school teacher. After a few months he moved on to Kentucky to take up another teaching position. Just under two years later, the Civil War broke out and Andrew, on advice from friends, decided to go to Minnesota where he started his own school.

Along with thousands of other young men, Andrew joined the Union Army. He enlisted on August 19, 1862 in Company D of the Ninth Minnesota Regiment and a year later he was discharged with a pulmonary disability that required months of nursing care.
Once recovered back in Minnesota, he was elected to his first office and served two terms as superintendent of public schools in Nicolett County. In 1865 and 1866, Andrew was also the editor and owner of the St. Peter Tribune newspaper and was also elected clerk of the local district court too!

Andrew was a busy man but in 1864 he found the time to get married to Eliza Evelyn Bryant, daughter of prominent lawyer and author, Charles S. Bryant. Andrew and Eliza would have five children together: Charles (born 1866), Harry (1867), Robert (1869), Florence (1871) and Lida (1874). Lida was only about three years old when her mother died in 1877. Two years later, in 1879, Andrew married his second wife, a young lady from Crawford County, Pennsylvania by the name of Mary E. Wilson. Andrew and Mary had three more sons: Wilson (born 1884), Thomas (1889) and Andrew Jr (1893). Sadly, three of these children died as toddlers: Harry, Florence and Andrew Jr.

In the late 1860s, Andrew gave up the position of local district court clerk and went to work for his father-in-law Charles Bryant in his law office. Andrew studied law in his spare time and was admitted to the bar by local judge Horace Austin. It was very fortunate that Andrew met Horace because in 1870, Horace was elected Governor of Minnesota and he asked Andrew to come and work for him as his private secretary. In 1873 our cousin moved further up the political ladder when he was appointed insurance commissioner for the state, a position he would hold for the next 13 years.

By now, in 1886, Andrew had made many political friends and allies and he was nominated to be the Republican candidate for governor. The Democratic nominee was A.A. Ames and Andrew won the election by a narrow margin. He was sworn in as governor on January 5, 1887 and served one term, vacating the office in 1889. While in office he simplified many of the state tax laws and railroad laws, regulated liquor laws, established a soldier's home and created a Bureau of Labor Statistics.

After leaving office in 1889 he went into banking and a loan and trust business and then invested in a printing company that would become the McGill-Warner business of St. Paul. In 1899 he entered public life again when he was elected as a state senator representing St. Paul. He won re-election in 1902 unopposed. In 1900, Andrew was also appointed the Postmaster of St. Paul by President William McKinley and then President Theodore Roosevelt asked him to stay on as Postmaster.

Since 1888, Andrew and his family made their home at 2203 Scudder Avenue in St. Anthony Park, which is a suburb of St. Paul. The home is now on the National List of Historic Places. If you would like to know more about the house, here is the Wikipedia page: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_R._McGill_House](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_R._McGill_House) And if you would like to be nosey and have a look around inside, here is a listing on Realtor.com that has 18 photos mainly inside of the beautiful house: https://www.realtor.com/.../2203-Scudder-St_Saint-Paul_MN... Andrew Ryan McGill died in this house in the early hours of October 31, 1905. He was 65 years old and the cause of death was heart disease. The man who started life on a farm in Crawford County, Pennsylvania was laid to rest on November 2nd in Oakland Cemetery in St. Paul. He was beloved by his family and well respected by his peers.

Amanda Jane Lingenfelter

Daughter of Jane Wilson and George A. Lingenfelter
Amanda Jane’s life is a patchwork of marriages, census records, and lingering mysteries that haven’t quite unraveled—yet.
Her first known husband was John Golden, who died sometime before 1895, though the exact date remains elusive. She later married Jacob Hess, a Civil War veteran, whose date of death is also unknown. What we do know is that Amanda outlived them both.
In the 1870 census, Amanda Jane, then 27 years old, was living in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, with her husband John Golden, age 35 and working as a day laborer. Their household included six children: George, 12; Artlissia, 10; Lenora, 8; John, 6; Eddie, 4; and Charles, 2.
Just above the Golden household on that same census page are Amanda’s parents, George Lingenfelter, age 57, and Jane Wilson Lingenfelter, age 50. Also in their home were Snider, age 17, working as a farm laborer, and a 14-year-old named America Wilson. The possibilities are many, but it seems likely that America could have been a niece or nephew of Jane Wilson. Unfortunately, time and effort have not yet revealed any of Jane’s siblings. The mystery continues.
By June 16, 1900, Amanda appears in the federal census as Amanda Hess, age 54, living at 97 Washington Street in Bradford, Pennsylvania, with her mother Jane Lingenfelter, then 84 years old. It’s a rare and touching record of a mother and daughter in their later years, still together.
For anyone researching Amanda, a word of caution: she is very easy to confuse with another Amanda Jane Lingenfelter who lived in Altoona, Pennsylvania. That Amanda—something of a society woman—has her own tangled story, complete with a few scandals. But that tale is best told by Kerri, who has a fine grasp on all the drama and if asked, she will tell it like it was.

James Ellis McCloskey

Born 1839
Died 10 JUL 1864 • Andersonville, Georgia
Son of Maria McGill and Michael McCloskey.
served in Co K 4th Pennsylvania Calvary.
​Died in the war, at Andersonville Prison, aka Camp Sumter. No veterans file is available..
Buried in Andersonville National Cemetery, Grave 3133 Andersonville National Cemetery.
findAgrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51140176/james-e-mcclaskey​ (note mis-spelling of surname)

Click here for external link to article on conditions at Anndersonville Prison.

BONUS Augustus McGill reminiscence about James Ellis McCloskey.
"Michael and Maria lived for a time after marriage at Cambridge by the Deadwater (now Cambridge Springs). Two children were born there and died. Then came a little boy, and Maria died. The infant was named James Ellis McCloskey and was brought to "Aunt Ibby" and Uncle John, where he was tenderly cared for until he was a slashing, fine boy of ten or twelve years, when his father, having re-married, took him away.

​Years passed on and many things were forgotten, but I always cherished a fond recollection of that manly, little cousin.

We had passed through Thoroughfare Gap in a terrific snow storm and beaten by howling, icy winds, went into camp amid the mountain tops near Warrenton, Va. There was frozen ground and snow under my feet in the tent I occupied the only shelter I had on earth, and turn where one would there was nothing but bleak discomfort in sight. I was sick, tired, dissatisfied and morose.

There came the clatter of a saber at the entrance, and as I turned, in no amiable mood, to ascertain the cause of the intrusion, a big, tall trooper pushed his way into the tent and stood erect, smiling. I took a step forward, looked him in the eye, and quick as a flash of light the recognition came. It was our "Jimmie" of the old home, grown to great proportions and clad in the panoply of war. Our delight at meeting was mutual and did me more good than all the remedies in the old Pharmacopoeia could have done.

I had known nothing of his being in the service. He belonged in the 4th Pennsylvania Cavalry. He knew that I was in the 83rd Pennsylvania, and learning of our proximity hunted me up.

I saw him several times during our movement down to Falmouth and while awaiting Burnside's operations.

It was Dec. 13th, 18621 and the battle of Fredericksburg was on. We had crossed the Rappahannock on the pontoons, marched through the city and formed line of battle in the open country beyond, under a scattering, long range fire from Marys Heights. There was a line of battle engaged with the enemy in our front. Humphrey's Division filed in and formed some two hundred yards in our rear. They were a fine looking body of men and just as good as they looked. This attracted the attention of the gunners on the Heights, 278 and they dropped shot and shell in their direction without serious injury. Gen. Humphrey, to show his contempt of this long range bombardment, rode with his staff and escort to the right of his line, and then dashed along the entire front to the left. A company of the 4th Pennsylvania Cavalry were the escort. It was a mighty fine spectacle.

While the escort was passing directly opposite my position, and in full view, the horse of a trooper was knocked over and rolled on the ground. The boy jerked off the saddle and bridle and sprinted down to the left on the heels of the escort. That boy was our Jimmie McCloskey, and I felt sure that I recognized him at the time. But at the instant I saw something that he did not see. That horse was not killed, but only stunned, and in half a minute regained his feet and started full tilt after Jimmie and overtook him at the turning of the left flank, and the whole outfit was returned to duty without serious injury.

Soon afterwards this statement was corroborated at Stoneman's Switch, by the actor himself, and several of his comrades who were present.

The accession of Hooker to the command of the Army of the Potomac was followed by many changes in the disposition of the Cavalry Corps, and I saw Jimmie no more.

He was captured by the enemy, and the line of Michael and Maria became extinct in the prison pen of Andersonville."

Kreuger

Joseph L. Kopp

Birth MAR 1845 • Germany
Death 29 MAR 1917 • Bakersfield, Kern, California, US
Parents unknown.
Husband of Angeline "Helen" McGill, daughter of Charles Dillon McGill and Angeline Martin McGill.
Served in both the Army and Navy in the Civil War.
In the Navy he served as a Landsman, an person with no maritime experience who performed basic unskilled work.
Ships included the USS St. Lawrence; North Carolina, Quaker City, and Michigan.
findAgrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/97017082/joseph-kopp​
Digital Civil War Pension File is possession of Kerri Corby Fawcett.

BONUS: reminiscence by Augustus McGill.
"McGill, Helen, youngest daughter of the third generation.
Soon after the close of the war Helen married Joseph L. Kopp, and they had two children, to-wit: Harry and Angeline. Harry married a daughter 276 of Oliver Beebe, of West Hayfield, and Angeline married Frank Smith, of Summerhill. They all went to California and live at Santa Barbara, Cal. Joseph L. Kopp was a valiant little man. He served in both the army and navy during the war."

Myrtle Barbara Hostetter

​Happy Birthday to Myrtle Barbara Hostetter Haringa!
September was a busy birthday month in the Hostetter household with three of the six sisters celebrating their special days. Their mother Charlotte might have also been thinking about her own mother this month as it was Anna Tina McGill Golden's birthday too (September 16, 1869). Today we are honoring the fifth daughter of the family, born on this day, September 5, 1919.
Aunt Mertie was living with her mother Charlotte, sisters Anna and Marjorie and nephew Robert Stenten at 434 Pacific Avenue when the 1940 census was taken. Her sister Millie was living in the same apartment building with her young family and sister Charlotte was right next door at 436 Pacific Avenue with her family so they were still close together when WW2 started. Mertie was 20 years old and her occupation was a 'domestic' in a private home, most likely a cleaner.
Things in her life would change a year later as she got married on June 28, 1941 at St. Stephen's Church in Jersey City. The lucky groom was Robert Drinkwater Haringa. She was 21 and Uncle Bob was 25 when they started married life. They had about two years together before the war caused them to be separated for two years. Bob joined the Navy in August of 1943 and came back home in November of 1945. During that time the sisters would often get together with their mother Charlotte and get out the old OUIJA board to ask how their loved ones were fighting away from home. Apparently Gram also used to read the tea leaves too!
After the war, Mertie and Bob had two daughters. In 1946, Carolyn Helen was born. Her middle name Helen came from her father's sister Helen. In 1948, Myrtle Barbara joined the family. She was named after her mother and goes by the name of Barbara. Their middle name of Barbara came from Fred Hostetter Jr's half sister, Barbara Bergmann.
In 1950, the family of four were living at 726 Bergen Avenue in Jersey City. Bob was a wholesale electronics shop keeper. This year Bob and Mertie bought a parcel of land in Edison to build their own home. They hired a company to lay the foundation and the rest of the work they did themselves. They would live and work during the week in Jersey City and then on the weekends they would go to the house and do some work. According to property records, the house at 24 Parker Road in Edison was completed in 1952. Mertie and Bob had apple, pear and peach trees along with a vegetable garden and an above ground pool too! Mertie spent a lot of time canning her surplus vegetables. Gram, Aunt Margie and cousin Charlotte would visit regularly and Gram would always make lots of peach cobbler with the fruit from the trees.
Things get a little fuzzy now and unfortunately I do not know much else about Aunt Mertie, except that she worked for Westinghouse for 12 years and was able to buy 'seconds' from them at discounted prices. She persuaded Aunt Margie to buy a stereo and it never worked properly but cousin Charlotte said that she still has the stereo 'somewhere'!
Mertie's daughters both married and each had two children and I know there are at least four great-grandchildren for her and Bob. If anyone knows any of Aunt Mertie's descendants, please tell them about this group as we would love to know how this branch of the family are!
Uncle Bob passed away on May 28, 1987 and Aunt Mertie passed away on April 11, 1992 in Edison. They are both in a mausoleum in Woodbridge, NJ, and just a few feet away from Mertie's sister Gertie.
​
One last memory that I have of Aunt Mertie is that she shared her birthday with my father and every year without fail she would send Dad a 'On Our Mutual Birthday' card! Today, Aunt Mertie, Happy Birthday to YOU!

Thomas Harold Applegate

​Husband and partner in crime of Christine "Tina" Flynn, (co-founder with Kerri Corby Fawcett of this group and website.)

Anna Marie Baird "McGill"

Birth 1764 • Northumberland County PA
Death 27 APRIL 1837 • Saegertown, Crawford County, Pennsylvania
Daughter of Tabitha Elizabeth Jones and William C Baird. The wife of our Patrick "The Pioneer" McGill. And if he was a Pioneer, she was equally a Pioneer Woman.
​They celebrated the births of 5 children: John, William Perry (our direct ancestor), Nancy, Charles Dillon, and Maria.

Holmes Francis Applegate

Birth 3 AUG 1931 • Asbury Park, Monmouth, New Jersey, USA
Death 14 AUG 2012 • Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
​
Father of Thomas Applegate. Born in New Jersey, and lived there until 1996, when he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Holmes was a collector of Jersey Shore memorabilia, postcards, photos & negatives, and almost any kind of ephemera, which much of has been passed down to his descendants. Some has found its way to museums and libraries around the country.

Hessel Thomas Applegate

​Born 16 DEC 1900 • Neptune Twp, Monmouth, New Jersey
Died 27 SEP 1964 • Bradley Beach, Monmouth, New Jersey

Hessel Applegate was a lifelong resident of Monmouth County, New Jersey. He entered the real estate and insurance field approximately 45 years before his death, joining the firm originally established by his father, Holmes Applegate, Sr., who operated a real estate business. Hessel later developed and ran his own insurance agency. The two worked side by side in the early years, sharing a home office located in Bradley Beach, New Jersey.
Mr. Applegate also contributed to public service during the Great Depression through his work with the Works Progress Administration (WPA). He was involved in a project researching and documenting the historical origins of New Jersey place names.
He married Cora E. Applegate (née Follansbee) on June 14, 1923, in Freehold, New Jersey.
At the time of his passing, he was survived by his widow, Cora E. Applegate; two daughters, Mrs. Marilyn Long, of Ocean Township, and Phyllis Covert, of Freehold; and a son, Holmes F. Applegate, residing at home; a sister, Mrs. Hannah Bresnahan, Freehold, and eight grand-children.