Week 42 - A Life Compared to Mine - George W and Anna Porter

Comparing a life to mine seems like an easy task. I have photographs, records, newspapers and documents for them and the same for me. But that doesn't tell the whole story. I don't know what it felt like to be them.

Touching on my great grand-uncle George Washington Porter and his wife Mary Ann McCowan they were travelers just like I was. GW was born April 4, 1864, in Rochester, Iowa the third oldest of six children of John J and Margaret (Matter) Porter, my 2x great grandparents.  GW's older brother John had left home and headed for Kansas and then finally settled in Texas.  

GW headed for Kansas also - maybe even traveling with his older brother for a time. But then he headed for Oregon and was settled there by 1900. After arriving in Polk County, Oregon he married a widow named Anna Mary McCowan Cavitt on May 3, 1894. Anna was born March 16, 1866, in Kansas. She was a young widow with four young children (Martha, Jessie, John and Ira) when they married and then she and GW had four more (Chloe, Esther, Jay and Mabel). A full house for sure.  

                                                                                                                                               

Family back in Iowa probably never met his wife or any of their children in person. Vacations were not something that was a common term then. The US Mail and telegrams would have been their only form of communication. The telephone was not a common occurrence as it is today. My parents didn't have one until the 1960's.

On the other hand, we moved often because of my husband's work. It was always a company move; another rung up the corporate ladder. But we had moving companies that came in and packed us up, loaded up a semi and delivered to the next address. Stressful and busy times but not like in the late 1800's. GW would have probably had nothing more than his horse and a duffle when he made his moves to the west. At the best, he would have taken a train and still had his duffle and maybe a trunk that traveled with him.  A few changes of clothes and maybe a small, framed picture of his parents or a piece of china or lace as a remembrance would have been all he could carry.

We were able to send letters easily and cheaply and even with the costs of telephone long distance we still found the funds to talk with family back home at least once a week. And we did the same household things as our earlier ancestors - painting, building, cleaning, cooking, laundry. Those things were the same no matter what decade or year you lived in.

Moving around for us included interstate highways, movers, and flights. All within our reach. For GW and Anna, travel and communication was virtually a rare, expensive and monumental luxury.

In the long run we all laughed, worried, worked, loved, made mistakes and sat down at the end of the day wondering what tomorrow would bring. Their life was very different than what mine has been.  But perhaps not as different as the years between us would suggest. 

Barbie

Week 41 - What The Timeline Shows - Smith watch fobs

I’m going to take a somewhat broader approach to "What the Timeline Shows" today. For decades, my mother-in-law had a display of watch fobs and watches hanging on the wall just off her kitchen. When something has been part of your surroundings for that many years, it’s easy to take it for granted. 

As her health began to decline about 15 years ago, I began to inventory all that she had as she had told me about specific items that she wanted certain persons in the family to have.  I began taking pictures of the items and then put together a spreadsheet that she spent months looking at and writing in names for those that she wanted to have an exact item.  Many items she gave to them while she was still living and I'm sure they appreciated what was handed down to them personally.

I enjoyed the time I was able to spend with her. Those visits gave us the opportunity to talk without interruption, and I loved hearing her tell stories about her family, her childhood, and the people who had been part of her life.  I’m especially grateful that I took the time to listen—and to write some of it down.

The watch fobs mentioned were the possessions of my husband's maternal great-grandparents Noble Ray and Edith Emily (Stewart) Smith. Ray was born August 8, 1888, in Piper, Ogemaw County, Michigan.  

                         

His father Edward had immigrated from Canada to Michigan and worked as a lumberman there before moving to a farm in Five Lakes, Lapeer County, Michigan with his wife Amanda (LeBar) and family.

Edith was born April 7, 1888, in Lapeer, Lapeer County, Michigan. She was the third born of five daughters of John and Margaret (Graham) Stewart. Edith was a schoolteacher and at one point boarded at the Smith's farmhouse.  That is where she met Ray.  One of those narratives told to me by my mother-in-law was that his older brother Claude also was interested in her. She chose Ray. Family stories state that Claude never married. 

                       

Ray and Edith were the parents of nine children although only seven lived to adulthood. (Wayne, Margaret, Clarence, Ruth, Virginia, Evelyn, *Noble Jr, *Myrle and Claude) 

They lived and worked on the family farm for the duration of their lives along with his parents Edward and Amanda. They are buried in Greenwood Cemetery, North Branch, Michigan.

Barbie

Note: The watches and fobs are in the possession of Ray and Edith's 3x great grandson M. Wallace

Week 40 - A Moment of Courage - Nathaniel Dillingham

By June 27, 1864, Nathaniel Gates Dillingham had been a soldier for nearly two years. When he enlisted in Company E of the 74th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, he was just twenty-four years old. His first months in the army had been difficult. Illness had kept him away from his regiment for a time, and he had been treated at Murfreesboro in the spring of 1863. But Nathaniel recovered and returned to duty. By the summer of 1864, he had followed the 74th through Tennessee and into Georgia as General William T. Sherman pushed southward toward Atlanta. Now, after weeks of marching, skirmishing and fighting, Nathaniel and his comrades found themselves facing the heavily fortified Confederate positions at Kennesaw Mountain.

Nathaniel's regiment was part of the first brigade to attack. 

The morning of June 27th dawned clear and cloudless and the Georgia heat quickly became oppressive. There had been considerable rain for a few weeks, but now the sun beat down, and the dampness made the heat even more exhausting. Around eight o'clock that morning, Union artillery began to fire upon the Confederate positions. Within the hour, the infantry moved forward. Nathaniel would have advanced with his fellow soldiers, though the heat and thick vegetation to access the heights ahead. The Union soldiers had to cross exposed ground beneath the fire of their enemy. The noise was overwhelming - the roar of artillery, the crack of thousands of muskets, shouted orders and the cries of wounded men.

The assault became one of the bloodiest days in the history of the 74th Illinois. There were 201 men at the beginning of the day and 12 were killed, 38 wounded and 13 missing according to regimental history. Five officers were killed or mortally wounded. Kennesaw was the deadliest campaign for the 74th and over 31 percent of the regiment were killed. His service record places him with Company E during this period, meaning that he was one of the men who experienced the assault firsthand. 

Nathaniel survived Kennesaw Mountain, but there was still much more of the war ahead of him. He continued with the 74th Illinois through the remainder of Sherman's Atlanta Campaign and later through Jonesboro, Franklin and Nashville. He then served in Alabama and Tennessee before finally being mustered out at Nashville on June 10, 1865. He was paid a total of $242.10 when he was released. (Worth $4,975.00 today.)

When he returned to his family in Iowa, he carried with him nearly three years of experiences that could scarcely have been imagined when he first enlisted in Cherry Valley, Illinois. Kenesaw Mountain was only one day of his long military journey, but it was a day in which he witnessed the courage, suffering and sacrifice of the men who stood beside him—and somehow, he came through it.

Nathaniel G & Ellen (Berry) Dillingham

Nathaniel G Dillingham was my paternal great grandfather.  He was born August 25, 1838, in Troy, New York the second oldest of 12 children of Sidney and Katherine (Sweet) Dillingham. The family moved west landing in Cherry Valley, Illinois where the last six children were born. While he was fighting during the Civil War, the family moved on to Cerro Gordo County, Iowa and Nathaniel joined them there after he mustered out.

Barbie

Week 39 - What Wasn't Written Down

Often, when family news wasn't written down, you learned it almost by accident. Sometimes someone would mention a story in passing, or a conversation would uncover a little piece of information that had never been recorded. Other times, the discovery came while researching.

Those unexpected discoveries are some of the most rewarding parts of family history. Just when you think you know the story, another clue appears and opens the door to a whole new chapter.

My grandfather Harry Edward 'Ed' Porter was a quiet, cheerful man who could often be seen in his enclosed front porch rolling a cigarette with a red can of Prince Albert sitting on the bench beside him. That is the way I picture him back in the 1960's when I was a kid. Grandpa always seemed to be outside, and Grandma always seemed to be sitting in her chair in the house. 

Ed Porter was the oldest child of William and Carrie (Barnhart) Porter. His siblings were Forest, Maudie, Raymond (Casey), and Arthur.  Young Arthur died at three months old. Ed was born August 1, 1888, in Rochester Township, Cedar County, Iowa.

(l-r) H Edward (my grandfather), Forest, William, Maudie, Raymond, Carrie

William & Carrie Porter family ca1905

One afternoon while visiting my Aunt Phyllis (dad's sister) in Allegan she was showing me an old photo album of family pictures and there was this one that she skimmed over and said nonchalantly 'that's dad with his first wife'... 

What? Whoa, slow down, back-up.

I had never heard that before. Divorce wasn't a word that my family bandied about in any conversations.

Of course, I had to follow-up on it. After my aunt allowed me to borrow the album and go to the local store in town to make a bunch of copies while she and my mom visited, I made sure that I had that picture copied. Years later, I came across that picture and did the necessary research.

l-r front William, Raymond, Ed

l-r back Maudie, Bessie, Carrie

Bessie Viola Strahl was the youngest of ten children of Mead Pingery and Alice Jane (Donaldson) Strahl of Dedham, Iowa. They came to Iowa in 1882 from Illinois. Bessie married first to William T Webber in Iowa. They divorced before 1911 when she married my grandfather on April 14, 1911, in Coon Rapids, Iowa. 

I have no stories about my grandfather's short-lived marriage other than they divorced October 23, 1913. The record shows that they filed, she claimed abuse, the courts sided with my grandfather, and she had to pay the court costs for the final decree.

---------------------------------------------------

H Edward Porter & Bessie Strahl divorce 

Thurs 23 Oct 1913 col3

Carroll County Times

Bessie went on to marry for a third time to Neal Horine, a railroad man and they had one son Richard. They lived in Long Beach, California where Bessie died July 30, 1970, and was buried in Los Angeles, California.

Barbie

Week 38 - A Document with Personality - Porter

What happens to property when there is a second marriage and the 1st wife dies and then the man remarries to another woman who then outlives him?

Richard Kinnan & Margaret Porter 2nd marriages for both

September 2, 1889 - Tipton, Iowa

And the second husband doesn't leave a will?

Would the property go to the 2nd wife, and she could do as she saw fit with the residue? What if the husband didn't leave a will? Would his property automatically go to his children from the first wife?

That is exactly what happened in our family.

My 2x great grandmother Margaret (Matter) Porter Kinnan outlived two husbands. She and my 2x great grandfather John J Porter were married for 27 years when he died at the age of 67. Margaret and John had a small farm, did okay on it, but it was sustaining, not elaborate. In 1880, John was listed as a retired farmer due to severe rheumatism. Five years later he would be dead leaving a widow (who was 15 years younger than he was) and six children of which three of them were school-aged.

John Porter & Margaret (Matter) Porter 

ca1878-1880

Four years later, Margaret remarried to widower Richard Kinnan. Now Richard was 79 years old when he married fifty-six-year-old Margaret. Eleven years later Richard would die and he left six children from his first marriage, a second wife and six stepchildren.

Thirteen months after Richard passed, Margaret would die after suffering from a 'lingering illness'. Margaret's Will listed only her children who received a share after her numerous properties in the town of Tipton were sold. BUT - only after her son William Porter (my great-grandfather) paid her back the $75.00 he owed her. So, from his share it was to be deducted and divided up amongst the other siblings. Even from the grave she held the upper hand.

December 31, 1900

One detail in her probate records is difficult to overlook: there is no mention whatsoever of any of Richard Kinnan’s children. The omission seems significant—almost as if an important piece of the story is missing. Could it be that Richard had already taken responsibility for the children, perhaps providing for them before his own death? It is a question the records leave unanswered. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a will or probate record for Richard online, so for now, this remains one of those intriguing genealogical mysteries waiting to be solved.

Margaret's Will & Probate has a personality of its own and leaves a gaping hole in the ask: who benefited the most??

Barbie

Week 37 - A Small Detail I Love - Doris Daly

My mother-in-law (Doris Ann (Daly) Conner Williams) was born December 7, 1933, in the small town of Columbiaville, Deerfield Township, Lapeer County, Michigan.  She was the oldest child of Margaret (Smith) and Kenneth J Daly. She had a younger brother Joseph and a sister Patricia. The family lived on the small 'Daly farm' that Ken and Margaret owned located on Miller Lake Road in Columbiaville. The family moved from the farm to Barnes Lake in the late 1950's.

Doris attended Lapeer County schools, and in grade school she attended Sweet School located on Barnes Lake Road, a one-room schoolhouse and then went into Lapeer for her high school years. 

Sweet School

During the school year 1948-1949 she played basketball and even received a 'most improved' special award ribbon. This was via the Girls Athletic Club. 

Girl's Athletic Club  

Lapeer, MI

Special Award

Basketball

Doris Daly

Most Improved Noon Basketball Player

Winter Season 1948-1949

Competitive varsity sports for girls were not widely sanctioned or funded by high schools prior to the 1970s. The GAC had a point system and standards they had to manage and distributed letters and awards to girls who earned them through participation. Now Mum could cook like a dream (she did do 4-H), sew just about anything (again 4-H) and her bakery items were second to none. (think Congo Bars) 

She was a dark haired, always smiling girl with big dark 'cat-eye' glasses. 

Doris and Ken 1951

But she only stood about 5'1" tall. 

So, to think of her playing basketball in High School just doesn't fit her image. The ribbon was discovered only after she had passed away in 2024, so I never asked her about her athletic prowess on the court. And she obviously never volunteered that information.

That one piece of information about her puts her in another light. She never stepped away from anything that was asked of her. She skied, downhill and cross-country, cooked, sewed, loved to go sledding and in the summer, she loved boating, swimming and water-skiing. 

This tiny piece of basketball information about her is something I absolutely love. 

Barbie

Week 36 - More Than A Name - Porter Girls

Often certain names bring to mind good people, good memories or good times. This prompt has been a tough one for me this week. I'm not sure why. But I struggled to find a story that was a good fit.

Today, I thought what about my name. And my sister's names. There is a story in each of us. We are all more than a name.

Carolyn was going to be a different name. Carol Lee? I remember hearing that mom had picked out the name, and then a friend had a girl a few months ahead of her and she named her daughter the name that mom had picked out. So, Carolyn she became. As the oldest, she has always herded us up and taken us with her even when she was a teenager. When she spoke, we listened.

Maxine was named for a sister of my dad. Not the Maxine, but her middle name. But when the Polio virus affected her, my grandpa Sheridan stated, 'Oh the poor little Mick' and the name Mickie stuck. She has always been extremely competitive. Always striving to be able to do what everyone else was doing. And it showed throughout her life. If she put her mind to it, she was able to accomplish it.

Barbara is me. I have never liked my name. My middle name is for my Grandma Porter. Guess mom just had to find something that would go along with that. As the middle child I am a bit more rebellious and also the peacekeeper. Or maybe make that the one who speaks her mind. I'm the one who left the family circle and spent years away from home. But I am very glad to be back in the fold.

Shelley is number four in line. She is the sister who is a businesswoman, happy and contented to be involved in her community and is a great athlete. She loves her family tightly and is always smiling. Often, she is the voice of reason and can pull most of us off the cliff.

Kimberley is the baby. A bit spoiled. But after all of us others, she needed to be. She is the type that is fiercely loyal to her family and very protective. And we older ones have always tried to protect her especially during her growing up years.

All five of us have had great successes in our lives so far. We have always been known as the 'Porter Girls' and we are extremely loyal to each other. I'm not saying any of us are perfect and Lord knows we have had our times of not getting along, but when it comes down to it, you better know that if you attack one, you attack all five.

I love my sisters and I wouldn't have chosen anyone else to share the name.

Barbie