mystery of Dolly Hanniford

June 28, 2011

submitted to state library:

(Our state”s official death records start around 1882. Birth records about the same time period, officially about 1900.)

Hello, I was advised to use this form for a genealogy question. Here is what I am looking for, and I know the dates are earlier than when systematic records were kept: any death record, cemetary record to confirm death dates for this couple who lived in Davis Twp., Fountain County in 1870 and disappear by 1880: Thomas and Julia (Corkley) Hanniford. Their name can be spelled Haniford, Hanniford, Hannaford, and other ways. There is a female born in 1876 whose name is Johanna “Dolly” Haniford. She is my husband’s great grandmother. The question is who is her mother? From family stories we think she was Thomas Hanniford’s daughter. Not sure if Julia died before Johanna’s birth. There are some other family stories that Johanna’s mother was Indian. Thomas and Julia immigrated from Ireland and were probably CATHOLIC. (Where would Catholics have been buried in the 1870s in Davis Twp.? Or what Catholic churches existed in the 1870s in Fountain County? These might be clues.) Johanna, or “Dolly” as she was known, attends “HALL SCHOOL” in 1892 at age 16. I have a photo of this school and all the students in front of it. It looks to be a one-room school house. If Dolly had a birth record, that may tell her parents’ names (but she was born in Jan. 1876, from family records). Also, ANY records if they exist from this “Hall School” might tell us more about her. She is in the one picture I have. Johanna does not appear in any census record I have found, until her marriage to John Morgan Jan. 31, 1897. Their marriage record exists for Fountain County, Book 11, page 349. This original record may also tell her parents’ names? Thank you for any info.

 

Sent to Fountain County Genealogy group:         6-28-11

Hello,

My husband’s father’s family is from Davis twp., Fountain County, way back to Irish immigrants in the 1860s! I have a complicated problem and wonder if you have any information that might be helpful. I will also work on submitting their histories to your family research project for Fountain County.

 

The time periods I need to find out about are too early for any easy answers.

 I am looking for any death record confirmation for a couple who seem to have both died between 1870 and 1880. They are living in Davis Township in 1870. They disappear by 1880, and family stories confirm that they would have died in this time period. Their names were Thomas and Julia (Corkley) Hanniford.

 The last name can be spelled Haniford, Hanniford, Hannaford… and other ways.

 Thomas and Julia immigrated from Ireland. Their first child, Timothy, was born in Ohio, the rest in Indiana. Other children they had were: Mary, Bridget, Elizabeth and Margaret.

 However, the person in question is another girl they either were parents of, or took in, named JOHANNA HANNIFORD. She went by the nick name “Dolly”. Dolly is born January 1876. Family stories say her father was Thomas Hanniford. Family stories also say her mother was ½ Indian. Now, if her mother is Julia Corkley Hanniford, Thomas’ wife of many years, it is highly unlikely that Dolly is Indian at all. However, Julia may have died BEFORE Johanna (Dolly) was born, as she comes quite a few years after the rest of their children.

 She is in a picture of “HALL SCHOOL” , some sort of one-room school house in Davis Township, in 1892, at age 16. I have this picture. As you probably know, records of the 1890 census are mostly non-existent due to a fire, I believe, at the national level.

 Johanna marries John Morgan on Jan. 31, 1897 at the age of 21, in Fountain County. The original marriage record may give her parents’ names? Or where they were married?

 So to surmise, I am looking for death or cemetery records for: Thomas and Julia (Corkley) Hanniford,

Or birth records of any kind, or any records mentioning parents, for Johanna (Dolly) Hanniford.

 In her marriage record, her name is Johannie Hanniford.

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10 minutes of TV

June 25, 2011

This is a new category, where I turn on the tv for 10 minutes and then write a blog about what I saw, no matter what it was.

Lexus commercial, sleek, silver Lexus, driven by a man. He is the only person in the car. The ad emphasizes his hands on the steering wheel, turning the car this way and that. Man is a white, young professional, well dressed, hair style that takes some styling & management (sticking up in the middle due to some sort of mousse or gel). Message: Man is in control, driving the car where he wants it to go, independent, successful, not taking orders from anyone. He can afford a Lexus.

Cereal commercial with women, maybe Special K, emphasizes weight loss, fruit in the cereal. Fruit happens to be STRAWBERRIES, which always has sexual connotations (women eating strawberries…). White and Black women in the ad. Message: Women need to be skinny & sexual, watch their weight, to be happy.

CNN segment on gay marriage, hosted by black guy who just announced his gayness recently. The two speakers were 1) another young black male, and 2) a white woman, attractive, long brown hair. All appear to be in their 30s. Black male speaker rather agitated, woman speaking, saying the President should “put aside politics and do the right thing,” to which the commentator laughed and said something about her having slipped away from reality. No matter how the two people spar at each other, when they realize time is up, they always start smiling and try to end looking plesantly into the camera.

on gay marriage: About 2/3 of the country still do not accept it; however there is a growing trend toward its acceptance. This President has done away w/ the “Don’t ask don’t tell” military policy. He has spoken out more in favor of gay marriage than, I think, any President in history. It’s a delicate balancing act to walk for someone running for re-election.

My faith, the Baha’i Faith, defines marriage as between a man and a woman. There will never be an official gay Baha’i marriage ceremony. However, we do not condemn people to eternal damnation or “hell” or any such thing as that, either. We are all on a journey from God unto God, an eternal, ever-evolving journey. There is an acceptance within the Baha’i Faith for all peoples, which is unmatched. Gay and lesbian folks are accepted into Baha’i gatherings as equal before God. It’s a weird balance. They just won’t be allowed to have a Baha’i marriage ceremony, which are legally recognized in all 50 states.

For me, personally, it is one of the laws of my religion I have no understanding of. I just accept it because it was originally stated by the Founder of the Faith, Baha’u’llah, and so it cannot be changed. People who love other people are fully accepted into my life. I know enough from sociology to know they are not child predators or different in any other way from heterosexuals. Child predators are most often a male heterosexual family member. I don’t see us banning them from being around children just because of their sexual preference.

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summer reading

June 24, 2011

I will keep coming back to this one and updating it.

Not teaching this summer means I have time to read a few books. I’m one of those people who read Emile Durkheim for fun, so I will read a few sociology books I’ve never had time to read, and I love theory. Besides that, just want to keep a record of the random books I accomplish reading this summer.

1. AGAINST MEDICAL ADVICE by James Patterson & Hal Friedmann. About a boy w/ severe tourettes & OCD from age 5-18. Very good to help me understand one of my grandsons a lot better. Our whole family should read it.

2. Changing #2. Decided to read CIVILIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS by FREUD, which I’ve read once before. It’s interesting to see a book on civilization by such a psycho-analyst. He was so lost in the importance of sex & sexual identity, and there are places where he’s blatantly sexist & full of his importance as a Western European. But it’s interesting to see his theory on how civilization & culture develops. A good mental exercise to read it.

**Finished it today, 5/31. 2nd time reading it. Freud thinks ALL human civilization relates back directly to the sex impulse. This is his failure. DURKHEIM does a better job of explaining the basics of civilization. “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”  Civ. is a different animal than the individual. There are a lot of interesting thoughts from FREUD in this book though. He says, we are internally motivated to find happiness. But we are also internally aggressive. Civilization comes about when we subsume the wants & desires of the individual for a larger cause. Basically, we want a companion, so we subsume the desire to have sex with anyone we want. (Somehow, I want a larger explanation for civilization.) ~~~  So…… there’s a lot more to it but I cannot concentrate right now because my grandkids are here and my husband is challenging my grandson to a wrestling duel at midnight, so I can’t think.

3. STIGMA by ERVING GOFFMAN. Will read this next because I’ve always wanted to read it. How are you LABELED? What labels do people give you & how does that affect you? For some people, it becomes a “Stigma” and creates a negative identity for them, or shame. It’s something they know other people see them as, even if they do not see themselves this way. Goffman is the champion of this type of study.

4. Yeah well I never read #3. Instead went to 2 others. One is INVITATION TO SOCIOLOGY: A HUMANISTIC PRESPECTIVE by PETER BERGER. Very cool. Will write more on this later.

5. Another is A NICKEL AND A PRAYER by JANE EDNA HUNTER, founder of the Phyllis Wheatley Association, orig. publ. in 1940. Interesting because she’s talking about South Carolina as a black woman of the early 1900s.

Finished this one a week or so ago. Basically a rather dry, boring book but interesting due to the above. I listened for where she grew up (upstate SC) and how it was for her. She doesn’t really say much but she does give a few stories, including being afraid of Water Mocassins and other animals. She goes to a northern Ohio city. I know those places as well. It was interesting to hear about the white AND black opposition she rec’d in trying to open a home/haven/hotel for black women to stay in. Blacks of the time thought she was enforcing segregation. She was saying, we have to take care of our own because no one else will. She was definitely a Booker T. type female, but she helped a lot of women who would have been destitute after coming north, had she not been there. I wonder what she would think of today’s cities. Probably be horrified. But a person liker her would roll up her sleeves and selflessly work for others, right next to them in the inner city. She would also let them know, the world of drugs and gangs is the “work of the Devil”.

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my husband’s German-ness

June 24, 2011
speaking to my kids:
 
Heinrich Christoph Ohlendorf, father of Victor, father of Elvira (your great-grandma Graul) immigrated in 1856, arriving in New York City. This is all already documented by Aunt Pearl, Grandma Alice Black’s sister. All I see right now is the year. He was already married in Germany, born 14 Oct. 1837.
Name: Heinrich Christoph Ohlendorf
Year: 1856
Place: New York, New York
Source Publication Code: 7420.1
Primary Immigrant: Ohlendorf, Heinrich Christoph
Annotation: Schaumburg Immigrants, 1820-1914. Date and port of arrival. Place of origin, date of birth, and other genealogical information may also be provided.
Source Bibliography: RIECKENBERG, HEINRICH, editor. Schaumburger Auswanderer, 1820-1914. Rinteln: Verlag C. Boesendahl, 1988 (Schaumburger Studien, 48). 535p.
Page: 151
 
Heinrich became Henry Ohlendorf in the US. He and Margaret had 8 children, the 2nd one being Victor. Victor was born in Illinois. 
 
 
On the Graul side, Johann born in 1 Sept 1814 in Germany, APPEARS he became a citizen in 1850. He and Dorothea had 7 children, Henry being #6. Their 1st child, Friedrich, was born in Germany in 1838. Their 2nd child, Mary, was born in the U.S. in 1840 (so they immigrated sometime between 1838-40). Their 6th child, Henry GRAUL, was your great-grandpa Albert Graul’s father.
 
In the 1850 census, “Johann Graul” is John Grol. They become the Grol family for the 1850 census.
 
 
So on Dad’s side, both German families have a “Henry”.
Henry Ohlendorf immigrated & is the father of Victor, who was the father of Elvira (Grandma Alice Black’s mother).
 
Johann Graul immigrated & was the father of Henry Graul, who was the father of Albert Graul, who married Elvira.

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Black family history

June 21, 2011

and now on the other side:

Family history on the Blacks:
 
It goes from Earl Black to Fremont Black, to John Young Black, the guy who loved Arkansas. Then it gets tricky. There are 2 sets of people on ancestry.com who have 2 different fathers for John Y Black. One says his name was John Hugh Black. One says “John Jr. Black” which means there is yet ANOTHER John BLack who is the father of John Jr.
 
Part of the PROBLEM with ANCESTRY.COM is that people are stupid & lazy and copy each other’s results, without really checking the dates & details. So you get a message saying “8 family trees say this” and it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just people copying other people’s BS.
 
John Hugh Black dies in Missouri. John Jr. dies in Kansas. It is very hard to unravel these mix ups because a lot of the records just state “John Black”………..  So I could spend days unraveling this mystery. And it may not even get unraveled. Both John Hugh and John Jr. are said to be born in Virginia, around 1801. The records are mixed up. The KEY, I guess, are the census records and who was in their households (as children, etc.). But even those, when you get back that far, can be very bleak. One census around 1840 just lists # of people in household.

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Agnew family history

June 19, 2011

I am trying to get back into the hunt for more Agnews. Here’s the quick rundown of some of the newer stuff on my great-grandfather James Agnew. I’m pretty sure his father’s name was also James Agnew, b. in 1809. I am writing this quickly tonight, just to get a little bit written down.

James Agnew, born July 10, 1841. This birth date proves very important for tracking him down. He almost always says he was born in Ohio. The only James Agnew I have found from that birth year was born in the Cincinnati area. This makes sense for him to end up down the Ohio river a bit, in New Albany, which is where he lived out most of his adult life, anf where a lot of the family still lives.

in 1850, a little boy James shows up in the 1850 census. His name was miswritten at the bottom of a census page, apart from the rest of his family further up the page, as “Agnewe”. His family further up the page is: James and Mary Agnew, and baby Alfred. There is quite the age difference between the elder James, b. in 1809, and Mary Ann, b. around 1826. If Mary Ann is his mother, she had him at age 15. (If she is not his mother, I don’t know who his mother was.)

**There is another confusing possible family also in Cincinnati area, and that is a “William Agnew” with JAMES being age 18 in 1860 census. In this case, there is no mother here, and there are 2 sisters: Ann and Jennett. To straighten this out, I need to find the James & Mary Agnew family above, in 1860, and so far have not located them in 1860 census (to see if James is listed with them also).

The younger James joins the Union army July 27th, 1861 at the age of 19 or 20. I think this is our James because this regiment came out of the Cincinnati area. However, I cannot be sure of this as all I have is his name & age, & where he signed up.

He marries his first wife, Mary C. (Gross or Gorp) on August 3, 1863, in the New Albany area. They have 2 girls, Annie (b.1865) and Olith “Ollie” (b.1867). Mary dies on Oct. 7, 1874. Have not yet located the cause of death. Annie shows up years later at a step-brother’s funeral, as a “sister” so I know this is our James.

He marries my great-grandmother Carrie Bybee, who is much younger than he (19 yrs), in Aug. 1879. They have 6 children:
William Robert,
James Garfield (dies as a baby)
Fred Louis
Alfred Edward
and the twins: John Wesley (my grandpa) and Gertrude Myrtle.

James, my great-grandfather dies in 1906 (while painting a house from falling off the ladder), and Carrie in 1916 (in an “insane asylum”).

If James and Mary are his parents, then the elder James’ father is most likely a SAMUEL Agnew, who is living with them in 1850. Samuel is supposedly born in 1778 in PA.

(Now to confuse us, there is a famous doctor James Agnew, born in PA in 1778, but this cannot be the Samuel in Ohio in 1850 because the famous Dr. Samuel dies in Nov. 1849 in PA….)

so: Best case scenario, the oldest ancestor linked to us so far, is Samuel Agnew, b.1778 in PA.

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summer projects

June 16, 2011

Well, I just started writing this entry and my computer decided to update itself and shut itself down. NIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE.

I have these left for summer projects, each one being something that could take the entire summer:

1. Finish research and write a journal article, sending it in for publication. 🙂 

2. Prepare for Fall semester. I always look forward to Fall because these are classes I love and this will be the 4th time I have taught the main two. Social problems I teach every semester so I am prepared for that already, though there are a few changes I will make to improve it this time. Social Theory– my FAVORITE, and students are usually all sociology majors who need to write a 10-page paper. Stratification we have fun with.

3. Think thru Criminology and Criminal Justice, one I taught last semester and One I will teach next Spring. For all my classes, I plan to get them down to the day in planning, with lecture, film, guest speakers, assignments, tests and class activities.

4. Put together my booklet of 15 Children’s class lessons on Virtues. Organize my children’s class materials, which are vast and totally disheveled right now in various containers and boxes. 15 lessons = 1 weekly lesson for a semester. They are virtues lessons with a base of spirituality adaptable to children of any faith background, incuding my own, the Baha’i Faith, which has a universal viewpoint.

5. Do more work on the mystery man, James Agnew, my great grandfather, more work on Family history, including some more on the Black’s, my husband’s family. Maybe copy pictures I have for siblings.

6. Find a few more gravesites for those looking for their family history gravesites, from findagrave.com.

Family vacation 1 week in July.

Meanwhile, my husband just lost his job. He earned employee of the month 3X in the past 6 mos., but he is laid off. Some new man in charge decided to make a name for himself by getting rid of all remote recruiters, even tho’ my husband has been doing this remotely for the past year. THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANKS!! Thanks a bunch. If we have to live on my salary, we are screwed. I really don’t want to move again. I could get a better paying job in my field, but for now, we’re cutting expenses as much as possible and seeing how it goes. He is 59 and unemployed.

Besides that, I am having some other serious problems I won’t mention here. All I know is, wihtout prayer and trust in God, I’d be a goner. WITH those things, we are always winners. There is nothing that can harm me if I have my Lord’s love and guidance. This is all I can count on right now.

Our house is once again childless, quiet and empty. We miss our grandkids who were here, but at the same time, we are older and they do wear me out. Glad to have time once again for reflection, prayer to myself, quiet walks out in the nature of South Carolina. I have restarted my 3-mile daily walks. But I have not yet been able to go to the pool without them. The kids in the pool will make me sad my grandkids are not there as well, saying, “Grandma! Watch this!”

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June 7

June 8, 2011

Wow, time flies. Today we went to the Congaree Swamp Natl Park, hiked the 2+ miles around the main trail, the boardwalk, a circle. Saw umpteen different colored salamanders or lizards. One with blue tail, another with orange head. Caspian was apptd. picture taker & took photos of wildlife all the way around, lizards, spiders, squirrels, bugs, fish, turtles. We saw an owl fly but no picture.

Then took them to Camden battlefield, Revolutionary war and found it to be an unkempt track of land, with grass overgrown among the plaques dedicated to the battle. There was a spirit there, so many died there. We had a full day in the nearly 100-degree heat.

Raven is staying the night at a friend’s here in the neighborhood & lately takes a late-night swim. He feels so independent.

Zakiah caught a frog last night on the pond. Tonight we saw one medium sized one, one little tiny one. Today is the 1st day we didn’t go swimming, too tired, too late. They went fishing with Grandpa the past 2 nights for about 1/2 hour to 40 mins. Tonight Zakiah’s lline caught a small fish, which Grandpa got out of the water. Everything is returned to the eco-system and let go at the end of the evening.

It has been a good 2 weeks.

And, I must say, today is my oldest daughter’s birthday. I remember her birth like it was yesterday, I really do. It was a peaceful, quiet Leboyer hospital birth with very little intervention, about 5:15 pm with only natural June lighting in the room. She went into the Leboyer bath first thing after birth and opened her eyes, relaxed. Her daddy held her in the bath, then walked her down the hall to get weighed, etc. This was all after a long, 24-hr.+ labor, but no intervention. We were all very patient in those days.

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grandsons visit June 3

June 3, 2011

Yesterday Raven went to the pool w/ some older friends, Caspian was on my computer while I went & re-licensed the truck, with Al always here. Late in the day, Caspian & I swam for one hour.

We then attended “First Thursday” which is a blast for free in downtown Columbia, put on by the Arts community. Artists display their work in studios while providing munchies in the form of cheese & crackers, fruit and drinks, to people who come by. Musicians gather on the streets to play music, and some special performances occur. The highlight of the night for our grandsons were the guys who perform with Fire. Using oil, they light batons and oil buckets they twirl around and toss into the air and catch. One girl with a hula hoop did an exceptional performance & ended with a hoop that had oil pots that were lit all around the outside of it. One guy “swallows fire”. It was a great performance, with loud music with a beat, & Caspian was mesmerized, sitting close to them the whole time. When the one came out who cracks something like a whip that spits fire, the crack was so loud Caspian jumped about a foot into the air.

Thunder and lightning threatened us the whole night & when it hit, it hit fast. We ran down the street to another indoor huge Art Studio, where paintings were displayed. Caspian was uincomfortable with the nudes. I explained to him how they were “art” about the human body. If he were around us more, he would be able to sort out nude art from low-life nudity in porn or such things. He is 10. Raven analyzed a set of paintings that all used the U.S. dollar in the background to symbolize various problems in America.

Music was happening in this Art studio and Caspian then sat right next to 2 guitarists jamming. Then Dubber took the stage and quality and art on the guitar emerged. It was an awesome enjoyable night, all free. Tonight we go to Raleigh for N’s first birthday. Then bring Zakiah back w/ us for a few more days. I will truly need a week to recover, but the boys will enjoy being together as cousins. Hopefully, we will manage. Leah picks up her baby girl Thursday, then we go Friday to the ocean, and Saturday back to Indiana, where AL will also be able to visit w/ his dad who is recovering from having a pacemaker put in place last week.

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grandsons visit

June 2, 2011

My favorite thing. Grandsons visit for 2 weeks. Just want to write down a few things we’ve done so their mom can read this later.

Sat.: drove from IN to SC.

Let’s go backwards. Today (WED.), I had to go to my collg for a meeting this morning, left C. w AL working upstairs & went in. Raven has made a couple friends in the last 24 hrs. so he was w/ them partially, and he can go to the pool by himself since he is 14. Caspian keeps getting out large jigsaw puzzles & actually getting some of it done. Only problem is, he does them on the carpet in the middle of the living room floor.

He is in heaven spending time on my computer & hasn’t gone to any sites he shouldn’t. He says he “learned his lesson on that one”. The only thing he DID do, was change the password on my phone’s security settings and shut off all calls. I hadn’t gotten any calls in 3 days, then someone told me it was going directly to voice mail. I was on the phone to VERIZON about it when Caspian says, “Grandma, I know what’s wrong, I changed it.”  — trying to get to security settings — “No Grandma, that’s not the password, I changed it.”  DANG!! He lost privileges to use my phone & play games.

So when I ret’d, Caspian & I went to pool. He tired of it in an hour & 1/2 or so. Said he was ready to go. Bunch of boys were in the pool for awhile with a large raft. Caspian had fun climbing into it, then falling out backwards and saying, “Navy Seal dive!”

Kids play a REALLY REALLY annoying game in the water called “Marco Polo”. One kid is “it”, they supposedly shut their eyes and don’t peek. They say “Marco” and all the other kids say “Polo”. The kid who is it has to listen to the voices & try to grab someone by following their voice, then that kid is “it”. I’ve seen adults leave the pool they got so annoyed with it. Just up and left.

Tonight, went to a youth poetry night of Al’s, but night before last day of school, no youth showed. Some adults came though, & we actually had a nice sharing time, new guitar players played; Lisa read a love poem from her teenage yrs.; I said 1 short poem I have memorized; it was a good night. Caspian got to paint on the wall outside which has a huge mural painted on it. Lisa included him, very nice.

Day before today: Tuesday. We spent a couple hours at the pool. I don’t remember what else we did except Al watched 2-3 episodes of CSI LA or some such thing and Raven watched it w/ him, then he turned on a comedy show he thinks is hilarious & I watched 1/2 of it w/ him. Raven thought he lost his phone today. Said he had searched his room. His phone was laying on TOP OF his pillow.

Caspian has been taking all his medications w/ no complaints. I put them in applesauce. I take 3 vitamins and tell him I take 3 medications just like him. Sometimes we take them together. I show him my 3 size pills, just like he has 3 different-sized pills.

Sunday night went to a Music Fest outside at a friend’s house down the road. Lots of musicians, yard games, making tye-dye shirts. It was a good time. Cook out food. I think they had a good time. Caspian immediately made friends w/a group of 5 other kids. At one point Caspian threw a pine cone & it hit a truck driving by, & the guy got pissed & stopped. Someone calmed him down & Caspian was spoken to. Nothing else happened.

This weekend we go to Leah & Jean’s for Naylah’s 1st birthday party. Nice the cousins will be together. Leah asked Zakiah to make a list of things for the weekend to do, & he wrote, “Jump out and surprise Grandma!”  That’s the only thing he wrote.  🙂

Raven is nearly 6 ft. tall.

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