A Donahoo In Felix G. Pattillo's Probate File In Saline Co., Illinois

This note was found in Felix G. Pattillo's Probate File 18-10 in Saline County, Illinois:

Twelve months after date we or either of us promise to pay Elias Donahoo Wm H Clark as Administrators of the Estate of John Donahoo Deceased the sum of ten dollars 40 cents for value
Received this the 27th May 1854
William Roark
F. G. Pattillo

Another note from Felix Grundy Pattillo's Probate File (18-10) from Saline Co., IL, can be found here.

Wordless Wednesdays - On The Road Constenoga Style

A diorama scene from the National Road exhibited in the National Road/Zane Grey Museum

A Launch Is Imminent! - NASA Group STS-129

The daughter of a dear friend trains astronauts for NASA. She is living her dream and it's a dream she has had since she was nine years old. It hasn't been easy; she worked very hard to become an aeronautical engineer at Georgia Tech. Before graduation, she interned at NASA and also went to Russia to learn about their space program.

So we are very excited about her group's (STS-129) first mission which is scheduled to launch on November 16, 2009. Her Facebook page noted that her group had their first dress rehearsal today at KSC.

Tombstone Tuesdays - Pvt. Samuel Smith, Revolutionary War Vet

This gravestone is also listed at FindAGrave.com here.


Samuel's widow's name was Sarah (Bayley) Smith, per her (rejected?) widow's Revolutionary War pension (at Footnote), whom he married on 16 September1784.  Both Samuel & Sarah were from Newberry, Essex County, Massachusetts.

A Note About Valentine Coleman

A handwritten note found among other family papers now in our (Jim & Cathy's) possession regarding Valentine Coleman.  It looks as though there is a birthdate (1798) and a date of death (1860), but then again, maybe not.  To complicate matters, there is a Valentine Coleman I, Valentine Coleman II, and Valentine Coleman III in Jim's lineage.  Eva (Schultz) Coleman, the second wife of Valentine Coleman III was born in 1798 and died in 1860.  Was this note all about Eva?  I can't decipher most of the note.

Family of Mrs. Ed Wood In Michigan

Edward Wood's obituary was found next to an obituary I found for one of my relatives in the Flint Journal dated March 21, 1923.


Some additional information found for Edward (Alvin) Wood and his wife, Frances Lola (West) Wood and their relatives, including Lola's ex-husband, Hamlin Carpenter:

1920 MI Genesee, Flint
Wood, Edward, 58, To US 1894/Na 1899, Can Can Can, gas co.
", Lola, 54, MI OH NY

Marriage record found at this site
Groom's name: Edward Wood
Groom's age: 38 years
Groom's birth year: 1861
Groom's birthplace: Canada
Bride's name: Lola West Carpenter
Bride's age: 40 years
Bride's birth year: 1859
Bride's birthplace: Mich
Marriage date: 05 Oct 1899
Marriage place: Traverse City, Grand Traverse, Michigan
Groom's father's name: Benj Wood
Groom's mother's name: Maria Maynard
Father of bride's name: Nathan West
Mother of bride's name: Eliza Robins
Collection: Michigan Marriages 1868-1925
[They had each been married once before]

1900 MI Grand Traverse
Wood, Edward, Sept 1862, 38, m3/4, Can Can Can, farmer
", Lola, wife, May 1850, 50, m3/4, 6children/4living, MI OH NY
Carpenter, Bernie, stepson, Oct 1881, MI IN MI

Lola's 1st husband was Hamlin Carpenter, who was born July 1836 in Ohio (see marriage record here - also listed her (her birthplace was listed as Sturgis [St. Joseph Co.]). Hamlin & Lola Carpenter were divorced; there is a Chancery Court Record found for them in Grand Traverse Co., MI, here.

In the 1900 census Hamlin Carpenter was enumerated with Vernon Carpenter as his (Vernon's) father, and living in Solon Twp., Leelanau County, Michigan. There was also a Hamlin Carpenter at the Marion (IN) home for Disabled American Veterans in 1900. He served in the 87th IN Company F in the Civil War and was listed as a Civil War soldier living in Antrim Co., MI, in the 1894 census. Hamlin Carpenter died in Michigan in 1908.

Fulton County, Indiana, noted a marriage for Hamlin Carpenter here.

ROCHESTER SENTINEL - Saturday, April 13, 1860

MARRIED. -On the 6th inst.., at the Parsonage, by Rev. C. B. MOCK, Mr. Hamlin CARPENTER and Miss Elizabeth W [OSBORNE] ... daughter of L. A. OSBORNE, all of this County

It appears as though Elizabeth was the daughter of Lemuel & Olive Osborne and lived in Clark County, Ohio, in 1850.

1870 IN Fulton
Carpenter, Hamlin, 33, drayman, b. OH
", Lizzie, 27, b. OH
", Dell, 7, IN
", Ray, 4, IN [Vernon Ray]
", Grace, 8/12, IN

Vernon R. Carpenter who married Tillie Winter was the son of Hamlin & Lizzie (Osborn) Carpenter. Hamlin was living in Leelanau Co., MI, with Vernon & Tillie.

The intent of this blog was to see what I could find out about Edward A. Wood; turns out that I found very little about Edward and much more about his wife, Lola, and her first husband Hamlin Carpenter.

A Toddler's Lock of Hair - Mary Elizabeth Whiteman

A lock of hair from Mary Elizabeth Whiteman (b. Aug 1857) of Waldo, Marion Co., Ohio, who died 24 January 1861, found on the note below:


On the other side, there is a note from John C. Gingrich to Francis Whiteman, Catherine [Coleman] Whiteman and the children. Rebecca is mentioned by name and something about a dress pattern....



Christian Gingrich married Mary Ann Coleman, the half sister of Catherine (Coleman) Whiteman; the Gingrich's had a son named John who would have been 20 years old in 1860. He is probably the John C. Gingrich who wrote the letter to the Whitemans. The Gingrich family lived in Stark Co., Illinois.

This Day In History - Sunset Rock

The view from Sunset Rock where Confederate Generals Longstreet* and Bragg reconnoitered before the Battle of Wauhatchie. Because mules allegedly caused the Confederates under Evander Law to mistake the animals for cavalry, "The Charge of the Mule Brigade," a parody of "The Charge of the Light Brigade," was penned.

*See my blog about Longstreet's in-laws in Genesee County, Michigan

Jim's version of the view from Sunset Rock, Lookout Mountain, overlooking Chattanooga, Tennessee.