Now you can read it!

Here is the text of the article in the previous post:

Published in the Anaconda Standard, Sunday morning, April 6, 1902.

RECEIVES FATAL INJURY

MICHAEL BONES CRUSHED AT THE
WASHOE SMELTER

CORONER TO HOLD INQUEST

Caught Between Engine and Iron Post – Still Alive When Removed From Terrible Position.
Dies at the Hospital.

While endeavoring to get out of the way of the small compressed air locomotives at the new Washoe smelter yesterday afternoon Michael Bones was caught between the engine and an iron post and was fatally crushed.
When extricated from his terrible position Bones was still alive. He was taken to St. Ann’s hospital, and though everything possible was done to prolong his life, he died shortly after arriving at the hospital.
Bones was employed at the works as a smelterman. He had been in Anaconda for about a year. He resided at No. 804 East Third Street. He was 23 years of age. John Golden and Mrs. F. B. Dolan of this city were his cousins and a sister, Mrs. J. F. O’Donnell, resides in Helena.
Soon after Bones’ death Coroner Hughes was notified and took possession of the body. An inquest will be held today. Coroner Hughes has investigated the matter, and eye witnesses of the affair will testify at the inquest today.
The accident is said to have occurred just as Bones was about to leave one of the smelter buildings. It is thought that in his haste to get out of the way of the approaching engine Bones did not see where he was stepping until it was too late to move. His injuries were internal.
Despite his short residence in Anaconda Mr. Bones had a wide circle of friends here, and the news of his sudden death was a great shock to them. He was known as a young man of industrious habits. It is probable that no arrangements for the funeral will be made until after the coroner’s inquest.

Ever heard of Michael Bones?

No? Me neither. At least not until this evening. I was looking through old Montana newspaper images and discovered this article about our cousin Michael. It was published in the Anaconda Standard on April 6, 1902. You can read about his accidental death in the Washoe smelter at age 23. He resided at 804 E. 3rd St., Anaconda. Sound familiar? John Golden and Mrs. F. B. Dolan (Winnie) are listed as his cousins. He also had a sister, Mrs. J. F. O'Donnell of Helena.
Now, if you have heard of Michael Bones, I'd like to hear from you!

Recent Random Records

I've started to send for records that aren't available on line. Here are a few I've received recently for people in my mom's family:
This is a death notice for Ewen Davidson (Mammy's father) from the San Francisco Morning Call.

This is Rosa Steele's (Chickie's mother) death certificate. You can click on it to see it up close. It says she was born in Genoa, Italy, and that her father's name was Mathew Rossi.

Here is Ann Doherty's (Mammy's grandmother) death certificate. It doesn't tell us much that we (I) didn't already know, but it verifies her date of death, 14 Oct. 1919, and that she is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, CA).

Motherlode! A treasure trove of newspaper articles.

I came across a post on the Ancestry.com message boards from The Genealogy Genie , Jeannie Miyama, a wonderful person who volunteers her time at the California Archives and has access to many old newspapers. In one morning she was able to find and copy 38 articles (mostly obituaries and death notices) for members of my family! I am so thankful! Here are a few:

Levenberg Obituary

The Library of Congress has a collection of historical newspapers which are available to view on-line. I found this:

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1901.

LEVENBERG—In this city, December 25,
1901. Lillie, dearly beloved wife of Lewis
Levenberg, mother of Loretta and Mildred
Levenberg, daughter of Anne Doherty, and
sister of William and Thomas Doherty, Mrs.
E. L. Coxe and Mrs. E. Davidson, a native
of San Francisco, aged 27 years 1 month and
6 days.
Friends and acquaintances are respectfully
invited to attend the funeral to-day
(Friday), at 1 o'clock, from her late residence,
45 Harriet Street, thence to St. Patrick's
Church for services at 1:30 o'clock.
Internment Holy Cross Cemetery.

OFFICERS and members of Minerva Parlor
No. 2, N. D. G. W.—You are notified to attend
the funeral of our late sister, Lillie
Levenberg:, to-day (Friday), from her late
residence, 45 Harriet Street.
MARY CREIGH. President.
ANNIE L. DONALDSON. Secretary.---------------------------------------
N.D.G.W. is the Native Daughters of the Golden West
You can view the actual newspaper page here.
You can do your own searches at http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/home.html

Curiouser and curiouser...

I went to Holy Cross Cemetery in Fresno on my way back to Merced on Mother's Day to find Bert and Mary Church's plots. Success!

But something was off...

Maybe I misheard when I called the cemetery office, but her headstone says Mary died in 1958, not 1968 as I had posted previously. Funny thing is, she is in plot 68, and 68 years old when she died. Funny. Then, I thought maybe having the wrong year is the reason why I haven't been able to find her death record, but, no, I still cannot locate it.

Find Bert, Find Mary

In February I wrote about finally finding Bert Church's death record. You can read about that here. Bert was the husband of Mary, the sister of my great grandfather, Andrew "Chickie" Steele. Bert and Mary didn't have any children of their own; Bert had a son from his previous marriage. I hadn't been able to find a death record for Mary, nor did I have her birthdate, and I have just been so curious about what happened to her.
So one day several weeks ago I got the bright idea to call up the cemetery. I was home from work early, and now I had Bert's full name and birth and death dates. I just made an educated guess and called the Holy Cross cemetery office in Fresno. They actually have access to the records for all three Catholic cemeteries. And, yes, Bert Church is buried at Holy Cross, in section D, plot 68, #7. So I asked about Mary, and yes, she is buried "next door" in #8! I asked for her death date; she died 24 Aug 1968, 4 days after her brother Andrew. I still can't find her California death record, so maybe she didn't die in California.

511 Cherry St., Anaconda, MT

This is a picture of 511 Cherry St., Anaconda, MT. The 1896 Anaconda City Directory tells us that Frank Dolan (and, I assume, his wife Winnie and daughters) lived here, as well as John Henry Golden. Several boarders are listed as living in the rear at this address. Frank's occupation is bricklayer with the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. John Henry's occupation is clerk for Joseph Peters. The Joseph Peters entry in the directory reads: clothing, boots, shoes, gents' furnished goods, hats, caps, gloves, underwear, etc. 24 Main .

804 E. 3rd St., Anaconda, MT

Hi, Michelle:

When I saw your latest update on our Grandfather’s address in Anaconda, I sent it to a co-worker who lives in Anaconda. Turns out she lives a couple of blocks away! She took these pics today and sent me some information. She is going to do some investigating on the house. She and her husband own a few houses in Anaconda and she is very familiar with the history. They have friends who have bought some of these old houses and renovated them to the original state.

This is the house where Grandpa Golden lived with his older sister Winifred, her husband, their two kids and his younger sister, Margaret, in 1900.
Pretty cool!

From my co-worker, who lives in Anaconda – just a couple of blocks away.
Here is a shot of your family’s house. It is a smaller house, w/a "smelterman's" cabin in the back - it was really common to rent those out to the men that worked at the Anaconda Smelter. There have been some additions to the house, but it definitely is in character with the houses in the area and the architecture of the neighborhood. A number of the homes in the area had a nice glassed or open sitting porch on the front, and I think your house did as well. Many were boarded up – like yours – where the front door is. There is a big open lot next to the house. Not sure if it was owned by the same family or not. I include a picture of that as well. If you face the house, the lot is on the left. I believe you can see the smelterman’s cabin from the vacant lot – way to the right in the photo of the lot, behind the main house at 804 E 3RD St and the garage is on the other side of it.

Love to all,
Margie

A Golden Discovery

I've got this piece of paper with information about the family of my great grandfather, John Henry Golden. It was in a packet of information that was put together when Sharon Bullene was doing a school project. But, I don't know who typed up this page or where the information came from. This is what it looks like:

I started with tracing John Henry and Bridget in the U.S. Census records and was surprised to discover that Winnie and Margaret had also come to the United States.

The 1900 census record shows Winnie and husband Frank (Francis P.) Dolan and their 3 daughters, Mary, Winnifred and Margaret living in Anaconda, Montana at 804 E. Third St. John Henry and Margaret are living with them. Bridget and Frank O'Connell lived in Helena, Montana for the 1900, 1910 and 1920 censuses. In 1930, the family had moved to Portland, Oregon. Bee and Frank had 8 children. I cannot find any records of Margaret, or of Winnie and her family after the 1900 census.

I hadn't found any arrival records for the Goldens, or anyone in my mother's family. The problem is that the older arrival records have less information, which makes it harder to identify a specific person. But, Margaret Golden, sister of John Henry, arrived last of all her siblings, and I found her arrival record!

She arrived in New York on September 21, 1899 aboard The S.S. Majestic, which had sailed from Queenstown (Cobh), Ireland 7 days earlier. She was travelling with a cousin, John H. Finn, (age 20), and she is 20 years old at the time. It lists their last residence as Ballymote, Ireland, which is in County Galway, sort of halfway between Ballaghadereen (the Goldens' birthplace) and the city of Galway. (Hooray for Google Maps!) Other passengers on the ship have Ballaghdereen listed as their last residence. Their final destination is Anaconda, Montana, to join brother and cousin J.H. Golden, living at 804 E. Third St. !!

Here is the 1900 census record:

If you know anything else to add to this story, let me know!

1898 Great Register of Voters

I sent for and received a copy of the 1898 Great Register of Voters for the Sommersville Precinct of Contra Costa County, CA. Line number 90 reads:
Still, John
occupation: miner
age: 49
height: 5' 4"
complexion: dark
eyes: gray
hair: dark
marks or scars: top little finger right hand off
country of nativity: Austria
residence: Somersville
naturalized: May 23, 1896, Contra Costa County Superior Court

It isn't until the 1910 US census that his name is written as John Steele. John is the father of Andrew Steele (Chickie), and the grandfather of Betty Golden (my grandmother). That makes him my great-great grandfather.

Happy Birthday to my cousin Karen Golden!

I found Bert Church!

Awhile back I wrote about finding the Steele family plot at the cemetery, but not knowing much about Bert and Mary (Steele) Church. Ancestry.com recently posted California voter registrations from 1900-1968 for various cities and counties. I was able to find registrations for Bert and Mary for several years between 1930 and 1944. The records list their addresses (they moved a lot!), and occupations, and were very helpful because they gave me the correct spelling of Bert's name, which led me to finding his death record and census records showing his family, plus a WWI draft registration record. Bert died 29 Oct 1971, 3 days before I was born. I must be missing some key piece of information about Mary, because I can't locate her death record.

Also in the voter registrations I found a record for Yonovera "Mame" Towey in San Francisco in 1935.

Another Arrival

I recently found the immigration record of my great-grandmother Mary Badigian Basmajian. She arrived at age 22 with her 52-year-old mother, Markarid (which means pearl) and her brother Vartan, who was 12, aboard the SS Laurent. They sailed from Le Havre, France on December 15, 1906 and arrived in New York on December 28. Also sailing with them was Markarid's nephew, Hovsep Karabian and his wife, sister and 3 small children. The whole group had their passage paid by Markarid's brother, Krikor Karabian, who was living in Fresno.
So, now I have found arrival records for all 4 of my father's grandparents, who each arrived separately with their families!

They came by boat

I do a lot of my research on Ancestry.com. The site has a huge store of records available and they are always adding more. Since new records are showing up on a regular basis, it is possible that records I haven't been able to locate just haven't been made available yet. Here is an instance of a record I have been searching for finally showing up! What a surprise to find an immigration record for Altoon, Goohar, and Aghavni Tatoian! You can see the record above. They arrived at the port of St. John, New Brunswick, Canada on the S.S. Lake Manitoba on 20 December 1903. Based on the record source, they likely crossed into the U.S. soon after through Calais, Maine. Here is a map of the area.
Interesting tidbit: Altoon means gold or money, Goohar means diamond or precious stone, and Aghavni means dove or pigeon.

Who is buried in Bethel Cemetery?

Ce Happy New Year!

Over my Christmas vacation, my mom, Joy and I tried to dig deeper and find some more obscure information. No, we didn't take shovels to the cemetery, only a camera. I called up the Sanger District Cemetery and asked about Mariam Keshishian, my great-great-great grandmother. They had records for a Mary Keshishian and an M. Keshishian buried next to eachother, so we went to check it out. Bethel Cemetery is in Fresno County out between Sanger and Del Rey. It is on Bethel Ave., between Indianola and Central Avenues. Here is a map.

The map in the Cemetery office shows there is an M. Keshishian buried next to Mary Keshishian. Out at the cemetery we found Manoosh Keshishian (1844-1925) in the M. Keshishian plot, and where Mary Keshishian is shown on the map, there isn't a headstone. I have never seen the name Manoosh in any records I have found so far. Now, Manoosh is a female name, and the dates are close to what I've found for Mariam, so there could be some confusion in the cemetery records (which are not original records). I have 2 birth years for Mariam from the 2 census records I found for her. In 1900, her birth year is 1845, and in 1920, her birth year is 1835. Her daughter Khautoun was born in 1856, so a 1835 to 1840 birth year is the most likely. Hopefully, there is some more information out there somewhere.

The picture above is from the same cemetery and is the headstone for Kervork (George) Basmajian (1848-1911), my great-great grandfather, husband of Khautoun. Even though the headstone says 1912, we know he died Oct. 10, 1911 because Grandpa Basmajian wrote it in his Bible. Thanks Grandpa!

Mame Towey's Passport

Ancestry.com has U.S. passport applications dated from 1795 to 1925 including this one submitted by our own Mame Towey! This is what it says:
I, Yonovera Towey, a native and loyal citizen of the United States, hereby apply to the Department of State, at Washington, for a passport. I solemnly swear that I was born at Providence in the state of Rhode Island on the 5th day of October 1878 and that my father, Patrick Towey was born in Ireland and that he emigrated to the United States from the port of Queenstown (Ireland) on or about October 1859; that he resided 42 years, uninterruptedly in the United States from 1880 to 1921 at St. Paul, Minnesota; and that I am domiciled in the United States, my permanent residence being at Chicago in the State of Illinois where I follow the occupation commercial traveller. I am about to go abroad temporarily; and I intend to return to the United States within 2 months with the purpose of residing and performing the duties of citizenship therein; and I desire a passport for use in visiting the countries hereinafter named for the following purpose: pleasure; France, Belgium, Holland, England. I intend to leave the United States from the port of New York sailing on board the S.S. Rochambeau on July 23rd, 1921. An oath of allegiance is signed 30 June 1921.
The reverse has a description and the picture above:
Age: 42 years, Stature: 5' 4", Forehead: high; Eyes: hazel; Nose: ordinary; Mouth: large; Chin: round; Hair: brown; Complexion: medium; Face: oval
The passport is to be sent to 334 Fourth Ave., c/o H.W. Gossard Co., New York City.
There is also a letter from Mame's sister, Dorothy Towey Titus, attesting to Mame's birth in Rhode Island.

Thanksgiving wandering

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I spent some of the weekend working on genealogy on both sides of my family. On Friday, my mom and I went up to the Fresno cemeteries on Belmont Ave. We wandered around for awhile and Mom found the Steele family plot. (We knew it was there somewhere). The plot is in the "old Catholic cemetery", which is Calvary Cemetery. It is located on Belmont Ave. with all the other cemeteries, just west of highway 99. If you are on Belmont Ave. facing south towards the cemeteries, the Calvary section is in the middle of two sections of Mountain View Cemetery. There are a pair of gates that say "Calvary" halfway back from Belmont Ave. to the back fence and the railroad tracks. Just the gates are there, the rest of the area isn't fenced. The Steele plot is southwest of the Calvary gates. So, who is buried there? John Steele (1849-1912) and his wife Rosa (1857-1938) (my great-great grandparents) and their sons, John (1891-1978), David (1899-1938) and Richard B.(1897-1986) and his wife Laura (1899-1991). Andrew and Claire are buried at St. Peter's, and Joseph and Emma are at Holy Cross. Does anyone know where their sister Mary is buried? Her husband was Burt Church, but I don't know if he was a Burton or a Robert or Herbert and I can't find any records on him.

October Cemetery Haunting

Well, really, I was hunting not haunting. And, actually, it was September 30, but we can be creative in order to make a catchy title!

I was on my way to St. Mary's Church in Fresno and made a short detour to the Ararat Cemetery on Belmont Ave., just to poke around and see who I could find. It was almost hard not to stumble over cousins, some more distant than others. I've posted the photos on Ancestry.com. If you don't have access to Ancestry yet, and would like to, let me know and I will send you an invitation. It is free! If you like, I can e-mail you any of the photos. Here's who I found: Markered Badigian (my great-great-grandmother), Geragos and Gadar Chooljian (my other great-great-grandmother's sister and her husband), Horene Basmajian (my great-grandfather's brother), Khatoun and Garabed Ouzoonian (my great-great-grandmother and her 2nd husband), Harry Tusoosian (Tusan), Susie Zaillian, Yezneak Zaillian, Albert B. Badigian (1920-1923), Harry and Arax Chooljian, Tooma Chooljian, Gadar Zailian, Aram Zailian, Zaven Chooljian, Ralph and Anahid Shamshoian, Chester and Erma Badigian, Arax Chooljian Zailian, Lucy Zailian (1920-1923), Rose and Vartan Badigian (my great-grandma's brother and his wife). I also already have pictures of Dickran and Mary Basmajian, and Giragos and Altoon Tatoian. I have other family headstones, too, but these are the ones from the Ararat Cemetery.

Notes and tidbits

• Anymore thoughts on Mame? Leave a comment here, or send me an e-mail.
• For those new to blogging, you can subscribe to these posts at the very bottom of this page, and my entries will be e-mailed to you each time I write.
• For the Paloutzian family, I found that the village of Parchanj exists in Turkey now with the name of Akcakiraz, in the province of Elazig; the coordinates are 38 degrees , 37 minutes North; 39 degrees, 16 minutes East.
• If anyone would like to be more involved in research, I would be happy to provide assignments for library and cemetery excursions in your area!

Yonovera revealed

I received quite a few responses to my last post about Mame, and so, with a few new clues, I started digging around and discovered quite a bit! The biggest tidbit came from the 1955 San Francisco City Directory which lists Phillip and Yonovera Garnett, the president and secretary-treasurer of Foundation Garment Inc., living at 1000 Mason St., Apt. 403 in San Francisco. This building is the Brocklebank Apartments and is located across the street from the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill. Finally I had a name to search for in the California Death Index! I found the death record and then had the all-important birthdate and location. The records came tumbling! I haven't found any record with the name Mame, but apparently that is the name she went by, so that's how I will call her. This is a summary of what I've found so far:
Mary Agnes Towey was born 5 Oct 1878 in Providence, Rhode Island to Patrick H. and Margaret (Henery) Towey, who were both born in Ireland. She was their oldest child and had 3 younger sisters, Margaret, Dorothy (called Birdie) and Annie. The family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota around 1881 and lived at 2377 Ellis St. In 1898, the St. Paul City Directory lists Mame's occupation as a clerk with the Northern Shade Cloth Co. and she continues to work there at least until 1905. In the 1909 St. Paul directory we find her family still, but Mame is not listed. In 1910, Mame and her sister Dorothy are living in Seattle, Washington at 1729 Boylston Ave., and Mame is an apartment house manager. Her name is written as Yono V and this is the first instance I have found of her use of the name Yonovera. All records from this time on are for Yonovera Towey, and later, Yonovera Garnett.
On the 4th of September 1921, we find Mame returning to New York from Glasgow, Scotland on the ship "Columbia". Her address is the Hotel McAlpin which was located at 1300 Broadway in New York City. The McAlpin was an oppulent 1,500 room hotel which opened in 1912, and at that time was the largest hotel in the world. On the 9th of September 1922, Mame is on the ship "Carmania", returning to New York from London. Her residence is 276 5th Ave., New York City.
In 1935, Mame is living in San Francisco when she files for a patent for her design of a Girdle and Brassiere. The US patent # is 2036510, and it was issued April 7, 1936. I have copies of the documents which include drawings, descriptions and Mame's signature. On September 8, 1936 Mame is issued a Canadian patent for the same Girdle and Brassiere. It is Canadian patent #360383. Yonovera Towey is the inventor, and H.W. Gossard Co. is listed as the owner.
Sometime between 1944 and 1950 Mame marries Phillip J. Garnett. (The 1944 San Francisco City directory lists Phillip living at 68 Presidio Ave., and Mame living at 1000 Mason St., but both in the Foundation Garments business.) On January 3, 1951 Yonovera Garnett arrives in San Francisco from Honolulu, Hawaii. I couldn't find any other passengers on the ship with names I recognized.
Phillip died in 1956. Mame died in San Francisco on May 24, 1964.
I have compiled the e-mails that I received about Mame from Martha Golden, Mary Cannon, Fr. Paul, my mother and grandmother on Ancestry.com in the "stories" section on Mame's page.