"Who Do You Think You Are?" - Katey Sagal

I'm still running behind on posting my comments! for Who Do You Think You Are?  Right now it seems no matter what I do, I can't catch up, especially with two episodes coming this Sunday.  But I'm still trying!

The teaser for the Katey Sagal episode says that she will make an unexpected discovery about her mother and then take a deep dive into that side of her family tree.  She will find brave relatives who stood by their beliefs even when their own lives were threatened.

The intro then tells us that Katey Sagal is a charismatic actress who began her performance career as a back-up singer.  It was not long before she was launched into the spotlight due to her role in 1987 as Peg Bundy on Married with Children (which I watched, but oh, those characters were mean).  Since then she has had nonstop success with appearances in more than 30 television shows.  Her most recent series, and where most people watching WDYTYA probably recognize her from nowadays, is the FX program Sons of Anarchy, for which she won a Golden Globe award.  She lives with her husband, writer/director Kurt Sutter, and three children.

Katey tells us that she was born in Hollywood.  Her parents were part of the leftie Hollywood community, against the Vietnam War and that type of thing.  Her father, Boris Sagal, was a TV director.  Her mother was born in Lombard, Illinois but lived most of her life in the South.  Her mother was a singer who started performing at the age of 11 on a radio program.  Her birth name was Sara Zwilling, but she used the stage name Sara Macon.  She was known as the Singing Sweetheart of Cherokee County (South Carolina, to be specific).  (And she appears in the Internet Broadway Database!)

Sara moved to New York for her career.  During World War II she sang in USO shows.  After she married, she gave up her career to be a stay-at-home mother.  She put her creative life on the shelf, and Sagal thinks it's one of the reasons Sara was so supportive of Sagal's own desire to be a singer.  Sara really advocated for her.

Sara died when Sagal was only 19 years old.  Sagal's father, Boris, lost his life five years later.  Sagal has questions about her family but no parents left to ask.  She doesn't want that to happen to her own children; she wants them to know where they came from.  She wants to learn about her mother's singing career and about her years in the USO, but she has no living relatives.  She hopes this journey will change that.  She's decided to start in New York, where her mother lived when she joined the USO (or, more accurately, she was told by the producers that's where she would be starting).

Sagal goes to the New York Public Library, where she meets Kara Dixon Vuic, an Associate Professor of History at Texas Christian University.  (Now there's an uncommon name.  Where does the name Vuic hail from?  Slavic?  Has it been modified from something else?)  Vuic barely opens her mouth before there's a cut to the narrator (this editor actually has an active union card and gets paid for this?).

The narrator tells us a little about the USO (United Service Organizations, Inc.).  It was started by six civilian nonprofit organizations in 1941 and was created to help boost the morale of military servicemen serving during World War II.  As many as 7,000 performers appeared in live shows at home and abroad during the war.

When we return to the talking head . . . ahem, expert whom the producers took the time to hire for the program, she suggests to Sagal that they look for information about Sara in the Billy Rose Theatre Division at the library.  A lot of USO archival material is housed at the library.  Vuic tells Sagal to start with newspapers.  The Palm Springs Desert Sun of November 3, 1944 (available free online at the California Digital Newspaper Collection) appears to have had a section dedicated to the USO.  Across the top of the page is "With the Boys in the Service."  At the bottom of the page, an article titled "USO Camp Show" mentions Sara Macon, Sagal's mother.

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

Desert Sun
November 3, 1944,
page 9

"Smooth Sailing", a new USO Camp Show's production bursting with mirth, melody and novelty treats came breezing along to Torney General Hospital yesterday, strictly for GI enjoyment.  The show was given at the Post Theatre at 12:30 p. m.

The cast included Sid Marlo, phonograph pantomimist, Hart and Bynes [sic], comedy jugglers, Mary Beth, vocalist, The Swingtette, four young lovely singers of jivy tunes, Rudy Miller and Nikki Chandler, magic act, Sara Macon, singer, Wayne Sander, pianist and Pat Lane, comedian who M. C.'d the show.

Hart and Dynes, juggling comedians, have been at it ten years now playing New England clubs and theaters over and over.  A super-song salesman, Mary Beth, has numerous nightclub audiences applauding for more of her sweet and smooth tunes.  During the past five years, she has appeared at Club Ball, Philadelphia; Club Charles, Baltimore; Latin Quarter, Hit Hat and 5100 Clubs, all in Chicago, and the El Morocco, Montreal.

Servicemen at the Stage Door Canteen found nothing dull about Sid Marlo's act, whether he was acting as M. C., comedian or pantomimist.  Pantomime with records is his most popular feature.

In her not yet 18 years pretty Sara Macon has crowded more excitement and accomplishment than most women have in a lifetime.  At the age of 12 she was singing on her own radio program in Spartenburtg [sic], giving the entire 14-minute entertainment, three times a week.  She stayed there two years.  Then she came to New York and NBC hired her after her first audition for two of their prorams [sic].

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

After reading the article, Vuic shows Sagal a handbook with instructions that the USO performers had to follow.  Sagal reads parts of a section titled "Data for Artists (Cont'd)."

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

1 - Do not mention anything about their wounds, sickness, or condition, nor notice that they have lost a limb.  Talk to them as you would to a friend or a healthy stranger.  If they mention their sickness, listen attentively, and gradually try and get into another subject.

2 - Try to avoid controversial subjects, such as strikes, unions, how much money is being made by civilians from this war, and r—

3 - Try and get into neutral subjects such as:

[Sections a, b, c, and d were not shown on screen at all.]

     e.  The marvelous education programs the U.S. Armed Forces Institute (USAIF) at Madison, Wisconsin, offers them through correspondence, available to all servicemen.

— attempting to arrive at a subject of interest to both of you.

4 - Do not sympathize with him as he does not want sympathy, and his morale is high.

5 - Do not ask about his COMBAT experiences or how he got wounded, because they usually want to forget.

6 - Do not tell him he will get well quickly for he does not like to be kidded.

7 - Do not ask to see the sickest boys, for they are all sick.

In conclusion, you are wanted and needed.  Appreciation will run high.

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

If you want to see the complete information, the two pages are online here and here.

It obviously was an intense experience, and Sara would have grown up fast.  Vuic then reveals that she (really, the producers) found an 87-year-old former USO performer who will be able to talk to Sagal about her mother's experiences.  As Sagal leaves the library and goes to meet the performer, she says she hopes that the person knew her mother.

At P. J. Clarke's (I believe it's the one at Lincoln Square), Hilda "Tinker" Rautenberg is waiting for Sagal.  She has a photo album from her time performing with the USO.  As Sagal pages through it, she comes across a photo with five girls and recognizes her mother as one of them.  She starts crying, because she has never known anyone who knew her mother.  Rautenberg tells her she and the other girls were four green college kids.  Sagal asks if all the girls hung out together, and Rautenberg says they even helped push pianos around in hospital wings.  They were doing their duty for the country during the war.

Rautenberg explains that Sara was already a professional and that the other four girls looked up to her.  She taught them a lot and helped them grow, and they had a good time together.  To be initiated into the club, you had to smoke a cigar, which makes Sagal laugh.  Then Rautenberg says that Sara was half actress and that she used to do one song (which happens to be from Oklahoma!):

I'm just a girl who cain't say no

I'm in a terrible fix

I always say, "Come on, let's go!"

Just when I oughta say nix

Sagal says that her mother taught her to play the guitar and sing, and now Sagal has taught her children; her children all play music.  Sagal sounds concerned when she asks Rautenberg whether Sara was happy.  Rautenberg responds immediately with an emphatic "yes!"  As Sagal gets up to leave, the two women hug and Rautenberg is glad that she brought "a little joy to fulfill your dream a little bit."  Sagal has a new friend, and I suspect that after the filming was done she has stayed in touch with Rautenberg.  (Rautenberg was one of the Swingtettes mentioned in the Desert Sun article.)

Sagal loves hearing that her mother was happy.  She remembers her mother singing the song from Oklahoma!.  Sara had ended up as the rebellious one in her somewhat conservative Southern family.  Now Sagal wants to know more about her mother's family; currently she knows almost nothing beyond the fact that her father's name was Daniel Zwilling.

Still in New York, Sagal next goes to the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society, where she meets professional genealogist Vonnie Zullo (whom we have seen previously with Kelly Clarkson, Chris O'Donnell, and Cynthia Nixon  Zullo explains that there has been an explosion of research online and that Ancestry has made it easy to do (um, what about FamilySearch, Find My Past, and MyHeritage?  better yet, how does Zullo feel about being a shill?).  She suggests that a good place to start is looking in birth, marriage, and death (BMD) records.  (Well, I would probably start with the census.)  She has Sagal go to the BMD page on Ancestry and enter Daniel Zwilling in Illinois, where he lived.  The record they latch onto is Zwilling's entry on FindAGrave (second-hand information, anyone?).  It seems to be the right person, because the transcribed obituary on the page includes Sara Sagal as a surviving child.  The page lists Zwilling's parents as Daniel Zwilling and Alda Miller.  Zullo points out that knowing the mother's maiden name is key to opening research on that side of the family.

Sagal decides, "Now I'm curious.  I want to find more about her."  (So much for the Zwilling side of the family.)  Zullo says they should find her on the census to learn more about her.  Zwilling's page says that she was born in 1866, so now Zullo has Sagal use the Ancestry census search page for Alda B. Miller born in 1866.  No need to look for Daniel as a child with his family, of course, just trust what's online.  And searching with a middle initial is not recommended, because it appears very inconsistently on censuses, but the results are already known, so go ahead and throw it in!  And yes, results come up for the 1870 and 1880 censuses in State Center, Iowa.  They look at both censuses and find Alda with parents Abraham and Elizabeth Miller, and Abraham's parents Jacob and Rebecca Miller, all of them born in Pennsylvania.  Now that she knows their names, Sagal wants to dig deeper and find out who her ancestors were, and whether she might have inherited any of their traits.

United States 1870 Census, State Center, Marshall County, Iowa, July 20, 1870, page 2, lines 9–15

United States 1880 Census, State Centre Township, Marshall County, Iowa, June 1, 1880,
page 11 (written)/206C (printed), lines 35–44

With just this tiny amount of information (who needs a complete census survey?), Zullo now says that as a professional researcher, she looks for anyone who might have been in the military (which is her actual specialization), because military records can have great info.  The 1870 census was the first one after the Civil War; does anyone in the family look to be the right age to have served?  Of course someone is, and that is Alda's father, Abraham Miller.

Sagal searches for Abraham H. Miller born 1842 in Pennsylvania and lived in Ohio in draft records (here we go with the middle initial again).   They know he lived in Ohio at some point because that's where Alda was born.  And Abraham H. Miller shows up in the U.S. Civil War draft registrations in Chester Township, Wayne County, Ohio.  The page shows that he was 21 years old, born in Pennsylvania, and "furnished [a] substitute."  (In the image below, his is the last name on the list.)  Sagal misinterprets this, thinking that Miller took the place of another man, but Zullo explains the notation means that Miller paid someone else to take his place.  This was a legal alternative to serving in the military.  The obvious question, of course, is why would Miller do that?

At this point the program cut to a commercial.  When it returned, the narrator said that Sagal had just learned the "shocking revelation" that her ancestor had paid for a substitute to fight in the Civil War.  I thought that was a little out of line.  It was perfectly legal to do so.  The attempt to make it a huge, dramatic item was overblown, unnecessary, and tasteless.

In a classic WDYTYA non sequitur, Zullo then suggests that to help find the answer to that question Sagal should look on Newspapers.com, where they "might" be able to find an obituary for Miller.  That means, of course, an obituary is available, and indeed the search finds it.

State Center (Iowa) Enterprise, December 4, 1903, page 4

The first item to be jumped on in the obituary is that Miller was buried in the Dunkard cemetery.  Not surprisingly, Sagal has never heard of the Dunkards, and Zullo explains that they were also called the German Baptist Brethren and were an early pacifist church, similar to the Amish and Quakers.  (I know about the Dunkards!  The Sellerses are descendants of Alexander Mack, founder of the religion.)  Sagal says, "I like that.  I'm a peacemonger myself."

Based on this, Zullo tells Sagal that to learn more about her family she should see Zullo's colleague in Pennsylvania, where Miller was born.  All the obituary has is that Miller was born in Somerset County.  Doesn't sound like much to go on, does it?

As she leaves the building, Sagal says it would be awesome if Miller was a peace activist.  She is, and her mother was also.  Maybe it's something in their genes.

The next leg of Sagal's journey takes her to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania State Archives.  Philip Otterness, a professor of 18th-century migration at Warren Wilson College, tells Sagal that by using early censuses, wills, land deeds, and family records he was able to construct a family tree for her.  The one he produces is on an oversize piece of paper, but not the fancy calligraphed scroll we're used to seeing.  Not all of it was shown on screen long enough to see what was written, so I filled in the few gaps with data from other sources.

The tree begins at the bottom with Catherine "Katey" Sagal with no birthday.  Her parents were Boris Sagal, born October 18, 1923 in Ekaterinoslav, Ukrainian SSR, died May 22, 1981 in Portland, Oregon; and Sara Elizabeth Zwilling, born December 15, 1927 in Geneva, Illinois, died September 1, 1975 in Los Angeles, California.  Sara's parents were Daniel F. Zwilling, Jr., born March 27, 1895 in State Center, Iowa, died October 5, 1968 in Lombard, Illinois; and Virginia Lee Thompson, September 7, 1895 in Citronelle, Alabama, died May 10, 1987 in Arlington Heights, Illinois.  Zwilling's parents were Daniel F. Zwilling, Sr., born October 18, 1844 in Ohio, died June 19, 1918 in Citronelle, Alabama; and Alda B. Miller, born December 23, 1866 in Pittsburg Junction, Ohio, died June 11, 1895 in State Center, Iowa.  Alda's parents were Abraham H. Miller, born April 17, 1842 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, died December 18, 1903 in Melbourne, Iowa; and Elizabeth Fleming, born December 21, 1841 in Pennsylvania, died May 11, 1891 in State Center, Iowa.  Abraham's parents were Jacob A. Miller, born October 4, 1812 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, died January 23, 1890 in Melbourne, Iowa; and Rebecca Horner, born March 20, 1815 in Pennsylvania, died April 16, 1891 in State Center, Iowa.  Jacob's parents were Abraham Miller, born June 15, 1780 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, died September 4, 1849 in Somerset County; and Maria Sayler, born December 12, 1780 in Pennsylvania, died November 15, 1846 in Somerset County.  This Abraham's parents were Peter Miller, born 1756 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, died November 1, 1818 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania; and Mary Stutzman, born 1756 in Berks County, died March 13, 1838 in Somerset County.  Mary's parents were Christian Stutzman, born about 1732 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, died before November 17, 1770 in Berks County; and Barbara Hochstetler, born about 1732, died before 1787 in Berks County.  The final generation shown is Barbara's parents, Jacob Hochstetler, born about 1712, died before 1776 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and an unnamed mother.

Sagal starts near the bottom and works her way up.  When she hits Jacob Miller, Otterness points out that he and his father were born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania (so was Abraham H. Miller, by the way), a center of Amish settlements.  From the family records he has seen, the family appears to have been Amish.  Sagal is amused and says, "I'm gonna get a buggy."  Then she admits she doesn't know anything about the Amish and asks Otterness to tell her about them.  He says they are similar to the German Baptist Brethren.

The narrator steps in to say that the Amish religion was founded in Switzerland in 1693.  Three primary tenets were adult baptism, pacifism, and strict separation of church and state.  These ideas were considered radical at the time, and the Amish refusal to join the military challenged the established authorities in Europe.  The Amish were persecuted because they wouldn't fight.

Returning to the family tree, Otterness points out that the name Stutzman, as in Sagal's 5x-great-grandmother, is definitely an Amish name, as is Hochstetler, the name of Sagal's 7x-great-grandfather, Jacob Hochstetler.  Otterness then says that at the archives there is a relevant record.  Sagal reads the top of the page:  "List of Men's Names Imported in the Charming Nancy November 9, 1738."  She asks what a "Charming Nancy" is and is told it was the name of a ship.  She looks down the list of names and finds Jacob Hostedler but apparently has no trouble recognizing that spelling as an alternative for Hochstetler (after an appropriate cue, I'm sure).  Otterness explains that Hochstetler was her first ancestor to immigrate to America.  This particular ship went to Philadelphia and was during the first couple of years that the Amish came to North America.

Sagal wonders why they came to Pennsylvania.  Otterness says that European records show that there was lots of propaganda about Pennsylvania and that is was promoted a land of milk and honey.  It gave the Amith an opportunity to live in an environment where they could practice their religion openly, without persecution.

Sagal says she wants to learn more about her Hochstetler ancestor, including how to pronounce his name correctly, as she stumbles over it a couple of times.  Otterness tells her she should go to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, where Tim Shannon will be happy to tell her more.

Leaving the archives, Sagal is still amused about learning she might be Amish, which she never thought about previously.  She says she'll buy a buggy and a bonnet.

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is in Philadelphia.  Inside, Tim Shannon, a professor of history at Gettysburg College, is ready for Sagal.  He starts out by telling Sagal that people who study Pennsylvania history know the name Hochstetler well; he is not an obscure person.  He then brings out a bound volume of the Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser newspaper.  He has Sagal page through the Thursday, October 6, 1757 issue (I can find only 1757 one issue of the newspaper online, that from May) and then instructs her to read a small item in the left column of one page:

From Reading we have Advice, that last Wednesday the Enemy burnt the House of one Hochsteller, and killed Hochstelle's Wife and a Young Man, and Himself, and three of his Children are missing.

Sagal pronounces the name as Hochsteller both times, even though the name is spelled two different ways.  She seems to have no problem understanding that it's referring to Hochstetler.  In addition to being horrified at what the story says, she asks Shannon who the enemy was and is surprised to learn it was Indians.

The narrator elaborates that Jacob and his fellow Amish were considered British subjects after settling in the North American colonies.  There had been relative peace with the Indians until 1754, when tensions between Great Britain and France erupted into the Seven Years War, or French and Indian War.  Many Indian tribes sided with the French because they hoped to recover land that had been taken by the British.  Indians began making attacks against settlements on the British frontier, which included where the Hochstetler family was living.

Focusing on the fact that Hochstetler and three of his children were missing, Sagal asks if they escaped.  Shannon says it was possible, or they might have been taken captive.  The good news is that the British Army in the 1750's keep good records, and he has a military document for Sagal to look at.  The document is "Intelligence given by John Hochstetler."  Sagal asks if that's still Jacob, and Shannon says that John could be an English translation of Jacob.  (No, not really.  They're two different names.  But I have found references online that indicate Hochstetler's name was Johann Jakob Hochstetler, and they might have been using the English-language equivalent of Johann.)  Sagal does not read the entire deposition on screen; you can read a massaged transcription here.

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

Intelligence given by John Hochstetler [a Swiss by] Nation wich was settled in Bergs County [Berner] Town Ship, near Kauffmans Cr was taken by the Enemy Indians the 12th October 1757 and arriving at Shamokin 5th May 1758.

Question:  By What and how many Indians was you taken?

Answer:  By the Delaware and Shawanese, 15 in the whole

Question:  What became of you affter that?

Answer:  [After 3 days travel Est south Est,] I was brought to Buxotons Creek where it emptys in the Ohio [the Allegheny River] and we came to an Indian castle [which lys] upon the corner of it, there I was kept Prisoner all that time.

Question:  How do you escapd from there[, how long and in what maner do you was coming, and where did you arrive?]

Answer:  I got the liberty for hunting, one morning Wery soon I took my Gun finding  Bark Canoe on the River wherein I Crossd it, traveling Est for 6 Days from there I arrivd at the source of the west Branch, there I march for 4 Days further till I was sure of it there I took several blok's tying them together till I got a flott, there I flotted myself Down the River for five Days where I did arrive at Shamokin, living all the time upon Grass, I passd in the Whole for 15 Days.

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

So Jacob was abducted October 12, 1757 and arrived at Shamokin, a British fort, on May 5, 1758, a total of seven months.  His deposition was taken by Colonel Henry Bouquet.  Jacob's children are not mentioned at all.

The narrator tells us that more than 1,600 white captives were taken by the Indians during the war.  The French did not require them to be turned over.  Captives were often given to Indian families which had lost family members themselves.  The family had the choice of killing a captive or adopting him.  Young captives were often adopted because they could assimilate more easily to Indian culture.

Jacob's children would have been valuable captives.  Going by the deposition, he probably didn't know whether they were dead or alive.

Sagal says she really wants to find out more about her ancestors.  Shannon says she needs to go to Berks County and talk to people who might have more information from oral tradition (i.e., there are no actual documents).

As she leaves the archives, Sagal is impressed by the amazing story of Amish resilience.

Driving through Reading, Pennsylvania, in Berks County, Sagal says she is going to learn more about the Hochstetlers in the place where they settled.  At the Reading Public Library she meets Dr. Ervin Stutzman, the Executive Director of the Mennonite Church USA.  Sagal remembers the name Stutzman from the family tree she saw and tells him, "I think we're related."  He confirms this and says, "We're seventh cousins."  Sagal is amazed because she doesn't know many relatives and gets a little teary.

Stutzman has some passages marked in a book that he brings out for Sagal to read.  It is Descendants of Jacob Hochstetler by the Rev. Harvey Hostetler, D.D. (originally published in 1912, but apparently it's had some revisions and updates since then).  The passages read come from pages 29, 30, 34, 36, and 37 in the scanned book to which I've linked.  Sagal reads parts here and there.

Sagal starts by reading from "The Massacre" (pages 29–30).

Dr. Stutzman emphasizes how important nonviolence is in the Amish faith.    You can give your life, but it is never permissible to take another's, even to save your own.  He adds that it was unusual for Indians to attack settlers, but this was during the war.

The next paragraph Sagal reads from is "The House Set Afire" and "Murder" (page 30).  She does not read the list of people who were in the house, which includes Barbara Stutzman, who is likely Sagal's 6x-great-grandmother.

Jacob Junior and an unnamed daughter (none of the women seem to be named in this) were killed and scalped.  Jacob Senior's (unnamed) wife was stabbed with a butcher knife and scalped.  Joseph, Christian, and another (unnamed) daughter were thre three children mentioned in the newspaper article who were taken by the Indians.  Joseph was adopted by the Indians (page 34):

Christian wad adopted by an older Indian and treated as a son (page 36):

Stutzman and Sagal don't discuss the fact that the Indian who adopted Christian died soon afterward.  Stutzman does talk about how it was common for many of the captives to develop loving relationships with their captors.

The war ended in February 1763.  The two boys had been with the Indians all that time.  (And along with not remembering names for the daughters, we apparently lost track of the one who was taken captive.  I haven't read through the complete Hochstetler descendants book, so I don't know if she's mentioned in there.)  In the fall of 1764, Colonel Bouquet signed a treaty with the Indians that required the release of all British subjects, about 200 people by that point.  Joseph and Christian were probably in that group.  They had no choice but to return to their prior home.  Sagal reads from the section about Christian's return (page 37).

Christian and many more of the former captives were reluctant to go back.  Some had to be handcuffed and forced to stay with their white families.  Sagal does not read from "His Conversion", but I included it here because it mentions that Christian converted to the Tunker Church.  Tunker is a variation of Dunkard; Christian converted to the German Baptist Brethren.  It's possible other members of the family did also, which might explain why Abraham H. Miller was buried in the Dunkard cemetery.

Stutzman tells Sagal to imagine Jacob's situation — he's a father who had lost his son; the son returns but wants to go back.  What would she way in that situation?  Sagal says that as a mother, you don't have control after a certain point.  She wonders, however, whether Jacob remarried and had more children.  She is happy to hear that he did, as she wanted him to be happy.  In fact, Stutzman says that Jacob has hundreds of thousands of descendants alive today.  Sagal looks overwhelmed to think that she has so many relatives.

Stutzman says that the Amish particularly value stories of people who were nonviolent in difficult situations.  Jacob's old homestead is an important site now.  The original buildings are gone, but a memorial plaque has been placed there.  It isn't far, and Sagal says she would like to go.

The belief in nonviolence is what strikes Sagal the most.  Jacob absolutely would not kill another person.  She can understand his faith, but it's far easier said than done.  She doesn't know if she wouldn't defend her children to the death.

The plaque is on a brick structure.  At first I thought it might have been a chimney that survived from the house, but after reading more of the book than was done in the program, I'm inclined toward the bake oven mentioned in "The Massacre."  The plaque reads, "ERECTED BY THE HOCHSTETLER DESCENDANTS IN MEMORY OF OUR FOREFATHERS WHO PERISHED HERE BY INDIAN MASSACRE SEPT. 19, 1757."

Sagal is very emotional at the end and is obviously holding back tears.  She is glad she comes from a family with strong convictions.  Learning all of this has made her miss her mother, who has been gone a long time.  Being a mother has been her most amazing experience, and she understands her own mother better now.  Her mother grew up quickly but gave her power to stand up for what she wanted.

Sagal ends by saying that she comes from resilient people, from survivors, and from people who stood up for what they believed in.  She feels that describes her also.

Of all things, I had a couple of fashion questions with this episode.  I could not figure out why Sagal was wearing a glove on only her left hand for about the first half of the show.  And I noticed that when she visited Dr. Stutzman she was wearing a plain black dress.  I wonder if that was in deference to his faith.

FGS and RootsTech: Thursday and Friday

On Thursday, the RootsTech part of the joint conference with FGS began.  This meant that the exhibitor hall opened!  I was ready and waiting at the entrance for the 10:00 a.m. opening because I wanted to go straight to the E-Z Photo Scan booth.  There had been lots of announcements prior to the conference about their free scanning opportunity, with the company having a goal of 100,000 photographs preserved the course of the conference.  The purpose of the promotion was to show off the capabilities of the Kodak Picture Saver Scanning System (I think I was using the PS50).  I have to say, I was extremely impressed.  Arnold Hutagalung, one of the company reps at the booth, was very helpful.  He showed me how to get started, and it was pretty smooth sailing.  I scanned almost 350 photos in half an hour!  That's all it took!  It took a little while longer to copy the files to my flash drive, and I was done.  I can't afford one of these, but I was told that a big focus of the company's marketing is FamilySearch Centers and Libraries.  I'm hoping we'll get one in Oakland.

After I retrieved my flash drive, I ran off to the far reaches of the Salt Palace for more FGS learnin'.  The outstanding session of the day was Craig Scott's talk on Civil War medical records.  When I wrote about my great-great-grandfather Cornelius Godshalk Sellers, I mentioned that he had been in the hospital twice, and I'm very interested in finding more records related to those incidents.  Craig started off his talk by warning everyone that if they would be uncomfortable seeing information about STD's, they shouldn't go anywhere near Civil War medical records.  Apparently STD's were the leading cause of men needing to go to the hospital during the war.  Craig mentioned that even George Armstrong Custer (then only a lieutenant) was treated for gonorrhea!  Craig explained things such as the levels of care men might have received, which records might mention medical information, the top two medical reasons for which men received pensions (diarrhea and dysentery), and several of the National Archives Record Groups in which records might be found.  I felt inspired, but now I need to go to Washington to do research!

The other great talk of the day was by Judy Russell, the Legal Genealogist, who spoke about federal court records and how they can be useful in family history research.  (This was scheduled as a RootsTech session, though the only discernible "tech" connection I could find was the seven URL's she listed in her resource list.)  This was the first time I have heard Judy in person, and it was fun.  She discussed which types of cases could be heard in federal courts (and which couldn't), where records are held (almost nothing is online), and who might appear in records.  Beyond the expected plaintiffs, defendants, and judges, maybe you have a relative who was a court officer, investigator, attorney, witness, juror, bondsman, or someone in Customs, the Treasury, or the FBI?  Judy also talked about how you could follow people or an issue through a case and showed some interesting examples.  One man was prosecuted for running a still, and the file had lovely photographs of the still, from several different angles no less.  An inheritance dispute between some family members (which went through the federal court because it involved people in one state and land in a second state) included photographs from childhood to old age of the deceased man who had bequeathed the land, and fantastic family information about who was related to whom and questions of the paternity of a putative grandchild.  The cases she chose to showcase issues were on polygamy in the Utah Territory, and the famous Dred Scott case.  The decisions in those cases had lasting effects and are obviously relevant to families affected by them.

The best talk I attended on Friday was also by Judy, this one on justices of the peace.  After pointing out that, while originally the position was held almost exclusively by men of high social standing, not-so-prominent men could be JP's, Judy gave several examples of historical JP's, such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin.  A couple of unexpected justices were Henry Fielding, author of Tom Jones (no, not about the genealogist), and the famed Judge Roy Bean.  We heard about the first known black American JP, Macon Bolling Allen, who was appointed in 1848 in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and the first female American justice, Esther Hobart Morris, appointed in 1870 in Sweetwater County, Wyoming.  Judy covered the varying responsibilities of JP's, what kinds of records might exist, and tips on finding the records.  Again, most of these are not online.

The other session I found particularly useful on Friday was a computer lab on finding and using online newspapers.  Yes, I know, I am the genealogy newspaper queen of the Bay Area :), but there is always more to learn.  The focus of the class was on telling attendees about large free online newspaper collections.  (They included the Wikipedia newspaper archive page I contribute to regularly.)  A short slide presentation showed the basic process of how newspapers are digitized.  Then everyone was instructed to go to the Indiana Digital Historic Newspaper Program site, create an account, and sign in.  After that we were told to do a basic search. None of that is too exciting, right?  The useful part was when the presenters explained in detail how the system to correct mistakes in the OCR worked.  This correction system is valid in almost all Veridian newspaper databases, so I tried it with the California Digital Newspaper Collection, which I use as an example in several of my newspaper talks, so I know of some specific mistakes there.  It was interesting to see the search results change after making a correction.  The search engine no longer finds the incorrect word, but when you search for the corrected text, the results still display the incorrect OCR reading.  I'm going to be adding this to my talks.

Other cool things on Friday were scanning another batch of photos at E-Z Photo Scan (thanks again, Arnold!), meeting Eric and Karen Stroschein of the Northwest Genealogy Conference (where I am scheduled to be a speaker), doing a group photo of California Genealogical Society members here at the conference, helping at the Association of Professional Genealogists booth during lunch, getting my photo taken with Randy Seaver (because I won my RootsTech registration through his contest), and talking with Schelly Talalay Dardashti, Thomas MacEntee, and Dear Myrtle.  The only real downer was the people at the GenealogyWallCharts.com booth.  They paid to have a promotional card inserted in the registration packets, saying that there would be free blank charts and free black and white charts available.  It seems that they didn't plan adequately for the number of attendees, whether ones asking for the promised charts or printing out color charts at the booth, and the booth people got grumpy and snappish and told me there weren't going to be any more free charts.  Sorry, guys, not a good impression to make on a (former) potential customer.

The other negative was that FGS' position as red-headed stepchild meant that less attention was given to that end of the conference hall.  Not only did the containers of ice water run out and were not refilled, even the attention to maintaining the women's room was minimal, and trash overflows were common.

==

My other comments about the conference are here for Tuesday and Wednesday, and here for Saturday and my overall impressions.

Search for a Photo of a Bride Wearing Her Wedding Veil

A friend of mine, Sheri Fenley, is looking for a photograph of a bride wearing her wedding veil.

While I'm sure the bride was beautiful, what's actually more important here is her veil.

The bride was Jeanette Augusta Meier.  She was the daughter of Abe Meier and Minnie Eisig, and the granddaughter of Aaron Meier and Augusta Hirsch.  Aaron Meier started the Meier & Frank stores in Portland, Oregon in 1857.  The family was Jewish and from Bavaria.  They were early pioneers of Portland and prominent socially.

Jeanette married Walter David Heller on November 14, 1922 in Portland.  He was the son of Moses Heller and Adele Walter, and the grandson of Martin Heller and Babette Kuper.  Martin Heller was a Bavarian Jew who came to San Francisco in the 1850's.  He was president of Congregation Emanuel in San Francisco from 1876 until his death in 1894.  The Heller family was also socially prominent.

The veil that Jeanette wore on her wedding day has been worn by 48 members of the family and extended family at their own weddings.  Jeanette's granddaughter is helping her mother put together a scrapbook that will stay with the wedding veil as it continues to be passed down through the generations.  They have a photograph of every single bride who wore the veil — except for Jeanette Augusta Meier Heller.

So I am helping spread the word about the search for a photo.

Since the bride was from Oregon and the groom from California, Sheri has been trying to cover both areas.  She has searched these newspaper collections online:
• Chronicling America, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
• Historic Oregon Newspapers, http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/
• California Digital Newspaper Collection, http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc/
• ProQuest Historic San Francisco Chronicle online

She found several articles about the wedding, but no photos.  She has also contacted the Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon, the Oregon Jewish Museum, and the Oregon Historical Society, and no luck there either.

The best remaining possibility would seem to be the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the Bancroft Library on the University of California at Berkeley campus.  Among the items in the collection are a card index for the Emanu–El newspaper and the complete historical run of the paper.  I'm sure the wedding was reported in the newspaper; maybe there's a photo?  That index would be really convenient to check, but the staff at Bancroft said that, "Unfortunately the materials are as yet unprocessed and there's no way of telling whether this collection contains the photo you are looking for."  Well, the index has been catalogued and some parts of the collection have been processed; many of us have been waiting patiently for several years for the rest of the Magnes Collection to be accessioned at Bancroft, i.e., made accessible for researchers.  The Bancroft staff apparently have been busy with lots of other things and somehow just haven't gotten around to finishing this task.

There are a couple of other possibilities for the Emanu-El newspaper.  According to the Chronicling America database, both the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and the New York Public Library have the newspaper for 1922, JTS in hard copy and NYPL on microfilm.  Neither has an index, of course, but they could be searched manually.  But access is difficult for us, as Sheri and I are both in California.

And there's always a small chance that someone out there who was connected with the Heller and/or Meier families has a photo in a collection at home.  The more people who share this story, the better the odds that anyone who might have a photo hears about the search.

So here goes my shot in the dark.  Let's see where it lands.

"Who Do You Think You Are?" - Kelsey Grammer

I had been looking forward to the Kelsey Grammer episode of Who Do You Think You Are? since they announced the celebrity line-up for the season.  It didn't go in the direction I had anticipated, but I enjoyed it a lot.  The teaser said he would learn about a troubled relative (wait, maybe another murder?) and a pioneer on his grandmother's side of the family.

During the opening sequence we saw the famous Hollywood sign; Kelsey Grammer lives in Los Angeles.  He is best known for playing the "iconic role" of psychiatrist Frasier Crane on Cheers and the spin-off Frasier.  The part garnered him five Emmy Awards and three Golden Globes.  He had a passion for Shakespeare at a young age and began performing in theater when he attended Juillard (but did not graduate).  He lives with his wife and two youngest children (deft phrasing which sidestepped the fact that this is his fourth marriage and he has four children from previous relationships).

Grammer's parents (both deceased) were Frank Allen Grammer, Jr., and Sally Cranmer.  They met in New York, married, and moved to the Virgin Islands (I wish they had told us why!), which is where Kelsey Grammer was born.  When Grammer was about 2 years old his parents separated, and he and his mother moved in with his mother's parents.  He called them Gordon and Gam, and they and his mother raised him and his sister, with the five of them together.  He remembers being a happy child and young man, but he has had more than his share of tragedy.  His sister died at 18, his father at 38.  Gordon died at 63 of cancer.  He and Gam became closer after that.  Gam was feisty, funny, loving, and tough as nails, and taught him to figure a way out and not to quit.

Gam's given name was Evangeline; Grammer's youngest daughter is named after her.  Gam never spoke about her mother.  Her father's name was Dimmick, first name unknown.  He left the family early.  At some point in her life Gam tracked him down, but he wasn't interested and didn't want to talk to her.  She was raised primarily by three aunts, and of them mostly by Aunt Lela.  Apparently raising Gam was difficult, because she ran away a lot.  The big mystery to Grammer is why she was living with her aunts.

Grammer is very self-deprecating:  While he is driving to his first destination he turns toward the camera and says that one of the scariest things to do in your life is allow an actor to drive you around.

And that first research destination is the Beverly Hills Public Library, where he meets with "family historian" Jennifer Utley (an employee of Ancestry.com).  Grammer says that Evangeline Dimmick was born in Oakland, California about 1905.  Utley says they should look for her on Ancestry.com in the census.  Grammer searches from the census collection page, typing in Evangeline Dimmick, born 1905.  Only two hits are shown on screen, but the first four hits are her.  Utley says the first census they should look at is the 1910 census, because it's the closest one after Evangeline's birth.  Utley says they're in Alameda, and Grammer says that's near Oakland, but the family is actually in Oakland, Alameda County, California.  (Their address of 2276 Market Street, which is no longer a residence, is a mere half-mile from where I live.)  Evangeline was the granddaughter of the head of household, Chas. (Charles) B. Geddes; Geddes is a name Grammer recognizes.  Others in the home were Charles' wife, Amelia, and their four daughters:  Evangeline M. Daymont (who was divorced), Minerva and Delia Geddes, and Genevieve Dimmick, Evangeline Dimmick's mother.  The census says that Genevieve had been married for five years, but her husband was not in the household.  (Not mentioned was that Charles, Amelia, and their daughter Evangeline were born in Canada.)  Utley mentions that the combination of the unusual names — Genevieve, Evangeline, and Dimmick — means they can be pretty sure they've found the right family, a type of analysis not usually shown on this program.  Grammer can be seen taking notes on all of this information, and he continues to take notes throughout the episode.

After the 1910 census, they look at the 1920 census.  Evangeline was then living in San Francisco with an uncle and aunt, Walter and Eland Swindell.  At the same address, likely another unit in the same building, were her mother and her aunts Lela and Minerva.  In this census, however, her mother is listed as divorced.  So they've found Genevieve in two censuses with Evangeline but still no husband.  She's divorced, but they still don't know the husband's name.  Utley says that it would be difficult to look up information on the divorce because they don't know the husband's name (seriously?  Divorce records are indexed by last name; how many Dimmicks got divorces in San Francisco between 1910–1920?) but that newspapers tried to sell stories.  (Okay, as much as I love using newspapers for research, the scripting was incredibly lame.)

We got a big surprise:  They went to a newspaper database online, but it wasn't Newspapers.com!  It was the California Digital Newspaper Collection, a free site (did it have to pay a "placement fee"?).  Grammer searches for Genevieve Dimmick, and the first result is "Neglect and Desertion Charges Made by Wife."  The San Francisco Call of October 31, 1913 carried the item, which said that Genevieve Marriott Dimmick had filed for divorce that day against her husband, Ellis L. Dimmick (we have his name!).  They were married in April 1905, but Dimmick left in November of that year.  Dimmick must have left while Genevieve was pregnant (or very soon after Evangeline was born), and it's possible they married while she was pregnant.  Grammer decides that "L" stands for "Louse."

San Francisco Call, October 31, 1913, page 1
California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research,
University of California at Riverside, http://cdnc.ucr.edu/

Utley asks a logical question:  Why wait eight years before filing for divorce?  Grammer asks what he should do next.  Utley tells him it will be best to find someone in the Bay Area who can explain the historical context of what divorce was like at that time.  (My first thought was, "How about trying to get a copy of the divorce file?"  I guess that's why I don't get to work on these shows.)  As he leaves, Grammer comments that Ellis didn't even exist for him until that day.

From one library to another, Grammer's next stop is the San Francisco Public Library (a place I go often for research), where social historian Donna Schuele meets him.  (We saw her previously on the Cynthia Nixon episode.)  Grammer says he's curious as to why Genevieve would wait eight years to file for divorce.  Schuele says she has found the final decree of divorce, which was made on November 20, 1914.  (San Francisco didn't keep the complete divorce files for early decades of the 20th century.  Often all you can get is the register of actions, so finding the final decree is really good.)  Dimmick did not show up to contest the divorce.

As for the delay in filing, Schuele says that when Genevieve filed her parents were no longer alive.  It's possible that they didn't want her to file (they might have been Catholic), she didn't want to file, or she didn't want the social stigma that divorce carried.  It was even harder to be a single mother at that time than now, with no daycare or support system.  Genevieve's sisters probably gave Evangeline a more stable environment than she would have had otherwise.

Grammer wants to know what is next — what happened to Dimmick?  Did Genevieve remarry?  Schuele tells him that Genevieve did marry again.  She died as Genevieve Foltz on September 30, 1934; her husband was William S. Foltz.  The certificate showed her date and place of birth as September 10, 1882 in Merced County (not Oakland).  She died in San Francisco at 1249 Mason Street (residence 1117 McAllister); the cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver.  This leads to a discussion of how Genevieve developed cirrhosis.  While it is commonly associated with long-term alcoholism, several other causes exist, and today hepatitis overwhelmingly is the leading cause.  But they latch onto drinking and discuss some of the social conditions at the time that could have led Genevieve to drink too much.  It was easy to find alcohol in San Francisco, even during Prohibition.  They even joke that maybe Genevieve was a party girl, and Grammer suggests that maybe Genevieve and Dimmick hooked up on a drunk.  Maybe the reason Evangeline ran away was to try to get attention from her mother.

Having resolved the question of what happened to Genevieve, we return to the mystery of Ellis "Louse" Dimmick.  Since he and Genevieve married in Oakland, Schuele says she will put Grammer in touch with a historian there.

As he drives to Oakland over the new span of the Bay Bridge, Grammer talks about how Genevieve was probably a heavy drinker and wasn't there for her daughter.  Problems with alcoholism resonate with him because of his own (very public) experiences.  He comments that someone wiser than he said that alcoholism is caused by a broken heart and unresolved grief.  Now he wants to find Ellis Dimmick and learn why he abandoned his wife and child.

Completing a library hat trick, Grammer ends up at the Oakland Public Library and speaks with historian Jim Baumohl (who specializes in urban poverty, homelessness, and social welfare).  Baumohl has a copy of the May 26, 1908 U.S. Marines enlistment for Ellis Loughbrough (so much for Louse!) Dimmick.  At that time many rebuilding efforts were going on throughout the San Francisco area due to the 1906 earthquake and fire, so work was plentiful, yet Dimmick had enlisted, suggesting some level of desperation on his part to find employment.  Dimmick's enlistment paperwork said he was "waiving marriage." Baumohl misspeaks and says that the Army (Dimmick enlisted in the Marines) made sure that part of a soldier's salary went to dependents; Dimmick apparently said that his wife was not dependent on him, so he kept his entire salary for himself.  His service record shows several AOL (away over leave, as in returning late) and a few AWOL (away without official leave) entries.  The next to last entry reads, "Discharged as UNDESIRABLE, Private; Because of habitual A.O.L. and excessive use of intoxicants; Character 'Bad.'" He was discharged on November 8, 1909, less than a year and a half after he enlisted.

Grammer laughs and says that Baumohl must have more evidence of Dimmick's miserable existence, and Baumohl agrees.  The next document Baumohl shows is Dimmick's 1918 World War I draft registration (which looks like the original record).  It states he was born February 22, 1879 and lived in the Hotel Shattuck, where he worked as a night porter.  With Dimmick's poor military record he certainly wasn't going to be called up, and he was a little old to serve at that point anyway, but he did fulfill his legal obligation by registering.  He listed his nearest relative as his daughter, Evangeline Lucile Dimmick, but gave her address as unknown.  She was about 12 years old at the time.  Grammer comments that maybe Dimmick thought about Evangeline at times and sees this as a sign of something more human about the man.

When Grammer asks, "Now what?", Baumohl produces Dimmick's death certificate and says this will close the book on him.  Dimmick, aged 60, died in Alameda County on August 1, 1939 of arteriosclerosis.  The certificate says he was born in Healdsburg (about 75 miles north of Oakland) and that his parents were Joseph Dimmick, from Iowa, and Mary F. Krichbaum, from Ohio.  I noticed that the certificate has "2 OF 2" stamped on it, meaning the second of two pages.  I usually see that when there's a coroner's inquest, and the second page updates the cause of death.

Grammer says that both of Ellis' parents were from the Midwest and asks why they were on the West Coast, to which Baumohl responds that they should look in the census.  He suggests looking in the 1880 census, because that would be the first one in which Ellis appeared.  They find him living in Oakland with his parents and siblings.  Joseph and Mary were born in Illinois and Iowa, respectively.  The two oldest children, Victor and Ernest, were born in Oregon.  The rest of the children — Clarence, Lillian, Edwin, Virgil, and baby Ellis (only one year old) — were born in California.  It is obvious that Joseph and Mary moved from the Midwest to Oregon, whether separately or together.  Grammer wonders if they came out on a wagon train.  Baumohl says he will introduce Grammer to someone who can help with research in Oregon (apparently our next stop), if he's interested.

Grammer sees Dimmick as an irretrievably tragic man.  He can't really feel sorry for him and thinks he was a scoundrel and a weak character.  Now he's looking forward to learning about his second-great-grandparents and is headed to Portland to look at early Oregon records.

In Portland (I love Portland!) Grammer goes to the Genealogical Forum of Oregon and meets David Del Mar, an Oregon historian and associate professor at Portland State University.  Grammer gives a short background of his family and what he wants to learn (as if Del Mar didn't know already), and Del Mar shows him the Early Oregonian Search database (another free database not associated with Ancestry.com).  Grammer declines the opportunity to type the search himself, so Del Mar does it, entering Joseph Dimmick's name.  A lot of information pops up on screen (this is a pretty cool database).  Joseph was born in Ohio in 1842.  His mother was Comfort Dean, his father Joseph Dimmick, Sr.  Grammer correctly guesses that they are his third-great-grandparents.  Joseph Sr. was born in New York in 1808.  They arrived in Oregon on October 1, 1852.

Then we go back to Ancestry.com (the third researcher to use it in this episode) to look for the family in the Midwest, before they traveled to Oregon.  Del Mar pulls up the 1850 census.  The Dimmick family is living in Rushville Township (Schulyer County), Illinois. Joseph and Comfort have twelve children in the household.  Grammer says, "I'm doing what I can to catch up!"

Del Mar says he has found something that will give more clues to why the Dimmick family picked up and moved across the country.  The Springfield Daily Journal (not online) of November 1, 1850 published an article titled "Oregon Fever!" which was essentially a sales pitch.  The article talked about homesteading for free land in Oregon and what a beautiful area it was.  (Springfield was in Sangamon County, which is not adjacent to Sangamon County, so I don't know how likely it is that Joseph Dimmick saw this particular newspaper article.  I guess they couldn't find something that was published closer to home?)  It's easy to understand how someone with a large family in an area where land was expensive could be enticed by the possibility of a large homestead and the hope for land for his children and grandchildren.  So the Dimmick family decided to follow Manifest Destiny and the Oregon Trail.  Del Mar cautions that getting there was not for the faint of heart and says if Grammer is interested in learning about the hardships the family would have faced (what, he's going to say no?) he has a colleague in eastern Oregon who can help.

Grammer is astounded to learn he had pioneer ancestors who traveled on the Oregon Trail.  As he gets out of the car at the next location, Grammer says something about Oregon and the "lure of gold" that doesn't make sense.  In Baker, Oregon, he is met by Peter Boag, an Oregon Trail expert.  Boag begins by explaining that the Oregon Trail was 2,200 miles long but only about 300 miles are still visible (and the camera obligingly shows us some of the ruts).

The narrator says the Oregon Trail began in 1836.  It was a dangerous journey, and settlers took up to six months to make the cross-country trip, through rugged mountains and dry plains.  People mostly walked; the wagons were there to carry supplies.  The trail started in Missouri and followed the Platte River through the Great Plains, then went over the Rocky Mountains and to the Snake River.  From there the trail followed the Columbia River to the Willamette Valley.  Until the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, the Oregon Trail was one of the most viable ways to cross the continent.  More than half a million people took the trail to go west.

Boag tells Grammer that many people kept journals detailing their trips.  The researchers found a journal kept by Joseph Gragg which mentions the Dimmick family, who traveled with him.  Gragg was Joseph Sr.'s nephew and Joseph Jr.'s first cousin.  Boag points out this is a "rare find" (and it's very, very cool when you do find something like that in your research).  Grammer reads several passages from the journal pages.  The party started out in April 1852.  The entire Dimmick family is listed by name.  Going down the list of the children, Grammer sees that by Thomas' name it says that he died on the plains.  Thomas was the Dimmick's oldest son (we saw his name on the 1850 census; he was 21 years old then).  The journal says that Thomas was on a buffalo hunt with two others; the weather was very hot, and when he returned he "drank quite freely of poor water."  He became sick with "colera"  that evening and died quickly, apparently either the same day or the next.  He was buried alone on the plains.

Boag explains that the water was contaminated by human waste; the pioneers weren't maintaining very good hygiene standards.  Cholera was the deadliest disease to affect travelers on the trail.  Grammer reads more from the journal:  The group passed several new graves daily as they traveled along the Platte River.  Grammer asks how many people died along the way.  Boag says that the mortality rate was about 4% (which really isn't that bad when you consider the circumstances).

Boag points out that the journey did not end where they are standing.  Immigrants still had another month of travel to pass through the Blue Mountains, which the two men can see from where they are standing.  He tells Grammer that the Willamette Valley is still another 300 miles from there.  Grammer thanks him for all the information and says he wants to say a prayer for Thomas and the others who didn't make it.

Grammer is impressed by the first-hand account in the journal.  He's awed by the sacrifices people made, and learning that the Dimmicks lost their first-born son is powerful.  But now he wants to know where his Dimmick family ended up, and Boag has recommended he speak with archivist Layne Sawyer at the Oregon State Archives in Salem (the same organization that provides the Early Oregonian Search used earlier in the episode).

Sawyer is at the archives building to greet Grammer, who asks if Dimmick got his land claim.  She tells him that all of the records are on microfilm, but the index is in a book.  Grammer finds Joseph Dimmick and wife; their claim number is 1501.  On the microfilm he finds Joseph's land grant of 311.04 acres; the eastern part of the land is Joseph's, the western part Comfort's.  Sawyer explains that it was the first land act that specified women could own land.  The document says that they worked the land from 1854–1858.

Sawyer asks if Grammer would like to see another record, to which he responds, "Oh, yes, I'd like to."  Sawyer hands him a manila folder with Joseph Dimmick, Sr.'s probate.  Grammer comments on the fact that it's incredible to be touching the original documents.  Joseph Sr. died October 1, 1860 in Benton County, only two years after getting title to his land, but he died on that land.  That's the end of the probate discussion; next Sawyer says she has found a reference to Joseph Sr. in the Portrait and Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley, a hefty-looking tome.  The index indicates Joseph's entry is on page 1172.  The biography mentions that Joseph was a pioneer, and Sawyer points out that means he arrived before the railroad; to Oregonians, this is an important distinction.  Joseph was born in Connecticut, so during his life he traveled from the East Coast to the West Coast.  They don't go into detail about the rest of the bio, probably due to the fact that in its discussion of the Dimmicks' travel across the plains it says, "Beyond the events incident to a trip of this nature in the early days they met with no hardship and arrived safely at their destination ...."  Losing your oldest son to cholera was "incident to a trip of this nature" and "no hardship?"  Kind of makes you wonder who wrote that bio.

Next Sawyer brings out a map of Township 14 South Range 5 West to show Grammer where the Dimmick property was.  Grammer finds the Dimmick property on the map, and Sawyer tells him it isn't that far from where they are, about an hour's drive south.  Grammer is glad that Joseph did get the land and wants to find it and thank Joseph.  While he's driving he says he consulted an updated map to find the property.  The area is still farmland.

Grammer muses at the end on how he began this trip to find Gam's story.  He thought he came from a small family, but now he has many more names and stories.  Some of his ancestors didn't do very well — Genevieve, Ellis — while others were successful — Joseph and Comfort.  He feels Joseph instilled a sense of obligation in his children and taught them that if they could imagine it, they could try to do it.  Grammer is at a loss for words for a few seconds and then says that maybe he got a small piece of that.

New Links on the Wikipedia Newspaper Page

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a presentation by Dr. Henry Snyder, who was the driving force behind the creation of the California Digital Newspaper Collection.  It was fascinating to hear the lengths he went to in collecting old newspaper collections to be digitized.  So I'm dedicating this newspaper update to him.

The latest additions to the Wikipedia page are a wide-ranging lot.  I'm happy to report that all of these new links are free!

• Canada:  The Oxford County (Ontario) Library has birth, marriage, and death indices for three Ingersoll newspapers, ranging from 1854–1970.  One of the newspapers has scanned images; the other two have transcriptions.
• France:  Information Juive (1948–1977) is a Jewish newspaper that has been added to the National Library of Israel site.  It's also listed under Israel.
• Hungary:  Helyi Lapok ("local cards" seems to be the literal translation) has newspapers from Esztergom and Pápai ranging from 1854–2007 (nonconsecutive years).
• Israel:  The Palestine Bulletin (1932–1950) was added to the National Library of Israel online collection of newspapers.  I have also cross-listed newspapers in the collection that were published in other countries under those countries, which created entries for Algeria, Egypt, and Morocco.
• Poland:  Der Moment is a Jewish newspaper that was published in Warsaw from 1910–1924.  It's another new addition from the National Library of Israel and is listed under Israel also.
• Russia:  Ha-'Am (1916–1918), published in Moscow, is also from the National Library of Israel.
• Illinois:  The Chicagoan (1926–1935) was a magazine modeled after the New Yorker.  The online collection is almost complete; if you happen to have one of the missing copies, I'm sure they'd like to hear from you!
• Oregon:  Four newspapers from The Dalles ranging from 1861–1948 have been added to the Historic Oregon Newspapers collection.
• Oregon:  The Northwest Heritage Index at the Wilsonville Public Library lists people and places, mostly from Clackamas County and other Oregon locations, and includes more than 16,000 obituaries from Canby newspapers covering more than 100 years.  The entire database has about 20,000 entries, and plans are to add more material.
• Virginia:  The Prince William County Public Library has digitized several newspapers from 1721–1986 (nonconsecutive years).
• Multistate:  Since Google changed the search interface for its News Archive, the archive hasn't been anywhere near as useful as it used to be, simply because it's harder to find articles.  I've updated the link to one that gives a listing of all the newspapers available through the archive.  The new link also has a basic search capability.

This isn't online, but it's an interesting item.  BBC is planning a drama about a World War I trench newspaper called The Wipers Times.  A British regiment found a printing press and created the newspaper to entertain themselves.  And "Wipers" was the way the British pronounced the Belgian city of Ypres.