Oscar's Accident

I remember my mother talking about grandpa's trolley accident a few times, but she didn't know the details of what happened. Oscar began working for the Muskegon Trolley Co. about 1919 until 1922. He accidentally ran over a 5 year old boy on September 5, 1922.  He was a father too and loved all children and the fact that he had caused the death of a child crushed him. He never drove trolley again. Mom said that he was very sensitive about it and couldn't even go near the spot where the accident happened ever again. Last year about this time I read grandma's memoirs and the part about grandpa's accident. She didn't mention a specific date that it had happened, just that it had happened the first week of September. Curious, I decided to go to the Hackley Library and search the newspapers for the incident. It took about 45 minutes and I found this: 



The story in the Muskegon Chronicle, Sept. 6, 1922

Looking for this section of town ended up finding out that McKinney Ave. has either been renamed or is no longer there. So the exact spot is still a unknown to me until I do more research. I did find the resting place of little Steven Horvath in St. Mary's Cemetery. He shares a headstone with his parents.


       

 
 

John George Burkhardt

    

 John George Burkhardt was born on 21 August 1753 in Canton Basel, Switzerland to German born parents Johann Samuel Burkhardt and Sabrina Naegeli. He and his parents came to the colonies when he was very young and was raised in Berks, Pennsylania.  He died on 2 January 1847 at the age of 93 in Gibsonburg, OH. He was buried in Providence Cemetery, Hessville, Sandusky, Ohio. John was a Farmer. Second generation in army and fought in the Revolutionary War. He served as a bodyguard to George Washington as member of Von Heer's Light Dragoons.

According to a descendent's application for membership in the Sons of the Revolution:
"He was a member of Von Heers Light Dragoons and was attached to Washington's headquarters during the war. He was at Valley Forge. The troop was [called] 'Troop of Marechaussee.' He enlisted November 1, 1778, and stated to myself in person and to our family that he served through the whole war. He resided at Reading, PA. He is buried near Hessville, Sandusky County, Ohio. The tombstone was erected by his son-in-law, Jacob Newcomer, with whom he resided at the time of his death (in 1848). The inscription is as follows, 'John Burkhardt Sr, died Jan 2, 1847. Aged 93 yrs 4 mos and 12 days. A soldier of the Revolution and a member of Washington's Life Guard.'
"John Burkhardt, the Revolutionary soldier, often spoke of how cold it was at Valley Forge and that his feet would stick to the snow and ice and that he served through the war and was on Washington's Life Guard, as he called it."

According to the website, "The Continental Line,"

    The tree chart above shows the pedegree line starting with Sarah Lanning, Oscar Nichols's mother (John George Burkhardt in red).  The line goes back farther but this is just an illustration to show where Burkhardt fits into the family history.   

Burkardt's Grave at Providence Cemetery

One of the best story tellers in my family was my grandma Nichols. While I was growing up I didn't know her very well and only saw her once or twice a year beause she lived up north in Kalkaska County. When she passed away in 1981 a collection of note pads that grandma had used as a sort of diary was discovered. In one of them she discribed how she met and married my grandpa Nichols. On this 101 year anniversary of their marriage I thought it would be fitting to share that story.

Delilah wrote:  My best chum, Ada Miles had gone to Atlanta (Michigan) to live with her aunt and I missed her very much. I did not go anywhere or have any more dates until Christmas time. The Swift girls at Sharon Twp.invited me to come up and go to the Christmas Eve program with them at the school house, and also to stay over night. Edith was going with Oscar Nichols at that time and Edna was going with Walter Hearld. After the program was over, Ralph Thayer stepped up and asked Edith if he could walk her home and she said yes. So, that left Oscar Nichols with his mouth wide open. He turned and asked me if he could walk me home and I said yes.
  Oscar did not go back with Edith. The next week he stopped in and asked me to the dance on Saturday night and I said yes. Then the first week of January, Etta Kimball came and got me to work for her at Sharon. I worked there the rest of January and February,so Oscar did not have so far to walk me home from the dances.
  After I went back home, he was carrying the mail from Kalkaska to Sharon, and went past our place in the morning and evening, so I saw him every day and quite often went to town with him and had dinner at Miles Restaurant.
  On my seventeenth birthday after we had dinner, we went to the jewelry store and he bought me a ring for my birhtday gift.  We never talked about getting married, but I guess we both knew we would some day.
     Bill and Ruth  dicided to go to Rugg to visit some of her relatives. They wanted me to drive them to town where they would take a train. Oscar went along and we got married while we were in town on the 24th of January 1912. It was about 9:30 or 10:00 pm when we got back home, so we did not tell the folks until next morning, and of course they were angry again. My Dad told Oscar to get off his place, and if he ever stepped foot on it again, he would shoot him.

Memorial Day 2012

Memorial Day weekend is here. My perception of this holiday has changed since I began researching my family history. One ancestor stands out in my mind as an American who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. That person is my second great grandfather Justice A Irish. Justice was born in Otsego, New York in 1822 and was one of 9 children born to Charles and Amy Irish.Justice and his family moved to Michigan some time shortly before 1860 settling in Hartford, VanBuren Co., Michigan.  During the Civil War, Justice volunteered to join the 28th Michigan Infantry in 1864. By this time the war was going on 4 years. His brothers Robert and Royal had already served. Robert enlisted in October of 1861 with the Birge's Western Sharpshooters and his success in serving in this effort may have encouraged Justice to do the same. Upon enlistment, Justice was 42, married with 4 children to care for. It was quite a chance to put country before family, and that's just what he did.

In September of 1864 Justice joined the Civil War to preserve the union. Just 6 months after beginning his tour of duty he contracted Typhoid Fever and was sent to D.C. for recovery. Unfortunately recovery never came for  Justice. He died of his disease in July of 1865.

He is buried at Pioneer Cemetery (named Hartford Cemetery today) in Hartford, VanBuren Co., Michigan. 



Another enlistee that comes to mind is Grandpa Nichols' great grandfather Robert Lanning. The story goes that his enlisment was also voluntary, an agreement between him and a drafted individual that he would go in place of this man if he promised to care for Robert's family while Robert served in the other man's place (And that he beat the crap out of him when he didn't keep his promise) Robert was 46 when he agreed to this. Like Justice, he was a family man with young children still at home to care for. He served in the 88th Indiana Infantry in August of 1862. In December of 1862 he was taken prisoner at Murfreesburo, Tennesee during the Battle of Stone River. He was held by the Confederates until February of 1863. He was not treated well during his captivity and suffered the results of this treatment for the rest of his life. His injuries resulted in an ivalid pension from the government. Robert lived to the ripe old age of 88 and died in October of 1905. He is buried in Maple Lawn Cemetery in Pennville, Jay Co.,Indiana.

 

So, this year while you fire up the barbeque take some time to remember the reason why we can sit back and relax and enjoy this wonderful holiday and how it came about. Please don't forget the true meaning. I wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day!!

Looking For Lydia

Searching for my 2nd great grandmother Lydia Null (Nichols) today. I knew where she was born, I knew who her parents were and where they are laid to rest. I assumed she died at an early age but I didn't know where she was, or what year she died. The last record I found of her and her husband James Thomas Nichols was in Greenbush, Warren, Illinois in 1870.

I decided to search findagrave.com . (This site combined with other genealogical websites are a great resource for information. It too is based on information and photos added by volunteers. You can even make a photo request for kin who are interned too far away for you to pay respects to). Anyway, I figured I would just search all of Illinois for her. So I searched just the surname 'Nichols' and I found her. She was in the Prairie City Cemetery in McDonough County, Illinois which is just to the south of Greenbush. And found a photo too,with information about James T.'s puchase of half of  lot# 18 in block#3 on April 5, 1871 just prior to her death.


Lydia Null (Nichols)

 Also in the purchased cemetery lot include a Joel Nichols spelled 'Nickols' born 1800 and his wife Sarah born in 1806. Could this be J.T's parents? There is also another Joel Nickols  born in 1846, a brother perhaps? I did some hunting around on Ancestry and found Joel and his wife Sarah in Greenbush, Warren, Illinios where I had found J.T. and Lydia living in 1870. Upon looking over that record again I found them living next or near them. They are family but I can't positively identify them as the parents  of J.T. yet, I will try to contact the person that took the photos. Hopefully they will know more.

Is this were J.T.'s Parents are laid to rest? Who is Joel Nichols?

The Lanning/ Nichols Connection

Amos and Clara Lanning and family

The information that my grandma Nichols had left behind, as I have mentioned before, is precious. It has simple mentions of people that has been a springboard in finding more information through records via the Internet resources available today. My knowledge of the Lanning family was very limited prior to my genealogical searches. I knew only that my great grandmother's name was Sarah Lanning, my grandfather Oscar Nichols' mother. And Sarah's father Amos was mentioned in her memoirs.


Clara and Amos Lanning (Antrim, Michigan)

 I added Amos's name to my tree on Ancestry.com and began looking for records. I figured the year that the family had relocated to Antrim, Michigan in the late 1800's. Grandma said they worked in the  Stern's logging camp, and a camp was just what it was. They lived in shacks made of  plywood  and covered in tar paper that could be torn down and reassembled at a moments notice because they would move from one location to another to access new areas of the forest. This way of living was carried on through all seasons of the year, even the deepest parts of winter. My grandmother told of living in one of these 'shanties' as she called it and mentioned  how the snow and winter wind would make it's way to the inside of their temporary shelter. Northern Michigan is notorious for it's harsh winter weather so I can imagine some pretty miserable living during those times.
 Beyond what grandma had left behind I had very little information about the Lanning clan and Amos was pretty much a mystery. I wasn't able to find any information before 1880 on him. I knew the Lannings settled in Indiana but I found no Amos Lanning that matched him in records. I was getting frustrated and decided to Google "Amos and Clara Lanning" to see what the search engines could find for me. I read a message or 'quirey' that a guy named Joe Costa left on an Indiana genealogical forum. I responded to his message by email and told him I thought he was talking about my ancestors. Joe's great grandfather was my great grandmother's brother (Lawrence Lanning) so it is that we are 3rd cousins.

Lawrence Lanning (Sarah's brother)

Joe had done more research than I had and had a bit more information to share with me. There were lots of Lannings in Indiana and they all lived in the Blackford, and Jay County areas. It was hard to know who was who so Joe hired a researcher to help.



Sarah Lanning, my maternal great grandmother


As information was passed to him by the researcher he emailed me found documents and pictures taken. Also old family photos shared by other distant cousins still residing in the Kalkaska area today.



A photo of Robert Lanning's headstone and Civil War marker

      The researcher ironed out all the questions that we had about who was who. It is that Robert Lanning is the father of Amos. And Robert's wife, and mother of Amos was Mary Eloisa Schoonover. Mary died in 1864 and Robert married 3 other ladies in his lifetime after her passing.
    Robert was born in Ohio in 1817. He married Mary in 1848 in Blackford Co., Indiana. In 1862 Robert enlisted with the 88th Indiana Union Infantry and fought in the Civil War. Robert was taken prisoner by the Confederates in Dec. of 1862 at Murfreesboro, Tennesee. He was treated badly and suffered permanent ailments and resulted in an invalid pension from the government. An affidavit submitted by Uriah Johnson (Clara Johnson Lanning's father) gave evidence of his inability to perform chores on his farm and that he needed help from Uriah quite often. Also, the family story goes that Robert volunteered to serve in the place of a man he knew that was drafted with the promise that this guy would care for his family while he was away. The man didn't live up to his promise so Robert beat the snot out of the guy.






A business directory found from 1897 shows Amos, Robert, and several other Lannings and their occupations.

    Robert died in October of 1905. The names and some information about Robert's parents was found. His father was Ezekial Lanning born in Pennsylvania in 1790, and his wife Louise (Maiden name not known).
When Ezekial died is not known, his wife Louise is not found either. It appears that Ezekial married more than once, a headstone in a Trenton, Blackford Co. cemetery was found of a Jane Lanning and it says she is Ezekial's wife.
Not much is known about Ezekial although it was discovered that he had a brother named Robert who joined him in purchase of land with the intent of building a town. The township still exists but the grand town that they invisioned apparently did not happen.






big plans for the new town of Trenton, Indiana

  
The earliest Lanning ancestor known (Ezekial's father) was named Robert born in 1730 in New Jersey. I have found information submitted by others on Ancestry.com that have more generations but they haven't any documentation to prove the relation...so for now we stop here. :)

Our Irish Connection

 Otto Schelske married Ettie Irish and Ettie had been married 3 times prior to meeting Otto and they tied the knot in March of 1889 in VanBuren, Michigan. A short time after the birth of their first born William Schelske was in November of that same year. And a short time after that they made the move to the north country of Antrim and Kalkaska Counties.



Marriage Record (click on image to enlarge)


Ettie's family was from Orleans County, New York. Her father was Justice Augustus Irish born in Otsego County, New York in February of 1822 to Charles Irish and Amy Anna Brown. Ettie's mother was Delila Ann Irish (and yes, her maiden name was Irish) born in July 1822 in New York to Job Irish and Elizabeth Bear.


Delila's parents according to Ettie Schelske

  Justice Irish and Delilah were married in Clarkson, Monroe Co., New York on August 5, 1846. Some time before 1860 they moved, with what seems to be the entire Irish family to VanBuren County, Michigan. The family is found in Bangor Twp. in the federal census 1860. Justice Irish enlisted in the volunteer regiment of Company G, Twenty Eighth Infantry on September 1, 1864 at Arlington , for 3 years at the age of 42. In a wild guess about why a 42 year old man would get invalved in this event I suppose he was encouraged to join in the war effort by his brother Robert who was a corporal in the Birge's Western Sharpshooters and had been invalved in the war from October of 1861.

Descriptive muster roll for Justice Irish.

Justice's experience with this venture was not so fortunate. During his tour of duty he contracted Typhoid Fever and was discharged June 23,1865. He had been sick since February so my guess is they sent him home to either recover or die. Unfortunately he died on July 2, 1865 and was buried at Pioneer Cemetery at Hartford, VanBuren County. I have had intentions of getting down there to pay my respects but I don't think he has a headstone. If this is true, I may have to do something about that. I have included a picture of Justice's muster roll, it's my favorite document because although I don't have a picture of him there is a discription. I have, however, found a picture of Justice's brother Robert. Since brothers tend to share a likeness it might be something of what Justice looked like, maybe.



Justice's brother Robert Irish

Justice Irish's grave