Category: McMurray Family

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The Clutter Family of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and California- A Photo Album, Part 1

This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series Clutter Family Photo Album

 

Clutter Family Photo Album. Unknown person. Photograph by Chas C. Curtiss, Mt Vernon Ohio, likely taken before 1895. (Click to enlarge.)

 

Benjamin Family, McMurray Family (Click for Family Tree)

Genealogy is not a pastime for those who cannot shake their head and calmly say, “Well, I guess we will never know for sure…”

This Clutter photo album is just one of those things- unless someone sees this post and has another piece of the puzzle to share, it will be fun to enjoy the photos of persons in our genealogical past but we will never be able to put a name to the face.

In one of the (too many) “To Sort” file folders on my computer I recently found these scanned album images from a cousin. The Clutter family married into the Benjamin family, which is a part of the McMurray line. That marriage took place between Emmanuel Clutter (1846-1921) and Frances “Fannie” Drucilla Benjamin (1843-1899) on Dec. 31, 1868, in Licking County, Ohio per some sources; more likely is that they received a marriage license (the only record) on Dec. 29, 1868, in Jasper County, Iowa and married after. The bride was the sister of Hannah “Melissa” Benjamin McMurray (1854-1932), AKA known as “The Scary Lady” by Melissa’s own 5th generation descendants. (See notes.) So it is very curious that descendants of Melissa would end up with a photo album of the Clutter family, her sister’s in-laws.

Sadly we do not have an image of Fannie, but here is Melissa:

Hannah Melissa (Benjamin) McMurray, sister of Frances “Fannie” Drucilla Benjamin Clutter. Possibly 1915 or 1920? (Click to enlarge.)

Some of the album photos were taken in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and some in Newton, Jasper County, Iowa, or Cedar County or Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Reverse of pictures taken by Charles C. Curtiss (1825-1895), Mt. Vernon, Ohio. (Click to enlarge.)

Since the Ohio photographer, Charles C. Curtiss passed away in 1895, we can narrow the time of those pictures to before that date.

Clutter Family Photo Album. Left image by N.F. Strong, Mt Vernon Ohio. The right image is a tintype, with Charles C. Curtis the photographer, but the names of the two dapper gents are unknown. (Click to enlarge.)

The above left image is what helped to further identify persons in the album. Going to Ancestry.com and searching to learn more about the Clutter family, this image was found:

James I. Clutter (1806-1896), with kind permission of the owner. (Click to enlarge.)

The man in the left portrait from the album looks like this image of James I. Clutter, the father of Emmanuel Clutter, it seems, only younger- do you agree? A similar neck piece can be seen in each of these images. (So possibly a man who liked the status quo, since it appears there are quite a few years between pictures? Or maybe he had a neck injury he preferred to cover up? Again, we shall likely never know.)

Unknown persons, likely Clutter family. The left image was taken by Clutter & Young per the reverse of the image) in Newton, Iowa, and the right image taken by Joseph Longaker or Charles C. Curtiss.  (Click to enlarge.)

An old eBay listing for a CDV (carte de viste, the type of photo on a card as are most of these) stated it was taken by Clutter and Young- or maybe it was by Clutter and was the Young family from Newton, Iowa- the wording is not clear. The auction image did eventually come up in a search but no longer can be found on eBay. The back of the eBay image that was found in Google had the name “Clutter & Daft” as the Newton photography studio on the very ornate reverse. An Iowa Culture website notes that a person named Clutter had a Newton studio in the 1870s, and was in a partnership with a person named Daft. “Our” Emmanuel Clutter was listed in the 1870 and the 1880 US Federal Censuses in Newton, Iowa as an “Artist”- perhaps he was working as a photographer, as they did often call themselves ‘artists.’ (And they are!) So his own family likely sat for him.

We need to clarify some confusion in the description of the photo on the right. Charles C. Curtiss of Mt. Vernon, Ohio may have taken the photo, or it could have been Joseph Longaker in Newton or in Cedar Falls, Iowa- he was active there too, at least in 1865. A search on Ancestry.com and through Google did not give us much pertinent information. All the persons with the surname Daft in Newton, Jasper County, Iowa, were farmers around 1860-1880, and we were unable to locate a person named Joseph Longaker in either Newton or in Cedar Falls, Iowa. This will take more research from someone more acquainted with these families.

Next: More images from the Clutter Family Album

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Emmanuel Clutter – Frances “Fannie” Drucilla Benjamin marriage license in Jasper County, Iowa Marriage Records, Volume 1, 1848-1869.
  2. Hannah “Melissa” Benjamin McMurray- Melissa’s unwavering gaze peered out from a portrait hung in a bedroom, and no one in that family knew her name. Her great-grandson knew her when he was little and she was in her 70s. Thankfully when he was about 80 he finally recognized her picture (years before he did not know who she was), but only remembered that she was very, very stern.
  3. Unfortunately where the actual album is located is unknown, as all we have is a date of 2014 for these scans, but that year does not correlate with any remembered access to such an album or a trip. More mystery… and a reminder to title folders appropriately at the time they are created, no matter how busy one is with scanning in a limited time frame!
  4. Charles C. Curtis– https://billiongraves.com/grave/Charles-C-Curtis/19053670.
  5. N.F. Strong, photographer 1864-1866, Mt. Vernon, Ohio, per

    Ohio Photographers: 1839-1900 by Diane VanSkiver Gagel, 1998, page 99, via books.google.com.

  6. Clutter (& Young? or is Young the family in the photo?) or more likely, Clutter & Daft– https://iowaculture.gov/sites/default/files/history-research-collections-photoav-iowastereographers-02192019.pdf

 

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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.

Original content copyright 2013-2021 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly, i.e, reference this blog.
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Mary T. Helbling and Spring!

Mary Theresa HELBLING, possibly around 1937?

 

HELBLING Family (Click for Family Tree)

Happy First Day of Spring!

This picture is so happy and spring-like that it just HAD to be our post for today. It’s also a good way to finish up honoring Mary during her birthday week.

Flowers are blooming all around and the trees and grass are greening up after our very dark winter of 2020, so it is especially lovely to see this picture of Mary. She was born March 16, 1925, so may be about age 12?, and is definitely smiling and happy. It does look a bit later than March, since the flowers are so tall and it was most likely taken in St. Louis, Missouri, where winter lingers a bit, especially back in those years. This might be her Easter picture, with her short-sleeved, ruffled dress, cute shoes, and her big hat. It could instead be a year or two earlier, as Mary was always tall, but there is no date on the image for us to know for sure. The family lived at 5154 Page Blvd. in St. Louis, Missouri, a two-story home built in 1895, at least from 1920-1940, so this was probably taken in that back yard.  Mary’s father, Gerard William “G.W.” Helbling, loved to garden, so he may have planted these beautiful flowers. (We don’t know if her mother, Anna May Beerbower Helbling liked to garden or not.) One of those windows may have been in Mary’s bedroom.

If anyone can help us date this more precisely or tell us more, please let us know!

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Family treasure chest of photos.
  2. 1920-1940 US Federal censuses and city directories.
  3. Google and realtor.com images to confirm what house at 5154 Page Blvd. looks like. https://www.google.com/maps/place/5154+Page+Blvd,+St.+Louis,+MO+63113/ and  https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/5154-Page-Blvd_Saint-Louis_MO_63113_M72000-86995

 

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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.

Original content copyright 2013-2021 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly, i.e, reference this blog.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about the copyright or use of “Heritage Ramblings” blog material.

Mary T. Helbling and her Mother, Anna May Beerbower Helbling, in St. Louis, Missouri

Mary T. Helbling and her mother Anna May Beerbower Helbling, on the street in St. Louis, Missouri, possibly around 1940.

Helbling Family (Click for Family Tree)

Back in the day, there were often cameras set up along busy city streets- not for surveillance, traffic, or weather, like today, but to take pictures of persons as they were shopping, going to appointments or work, running out for lunch, etc. This is one of those photos, taken of Mary Theresa Helbling (later McMurray) and her mother, Anna May Beerbower Helbling. Mary would have been 15 in 1940, so we are guesstimating that year approximately for this image, but it could be earlier or later.

People dressed up back then to go shopping- even to the grocery store. Love the hat that May is wearing. (Anna May used her middle name.)

We do have a bit of information on the back of the photo:

Reverse of photo of Mary T. Helbling and her mother Anna May Beerbower Helbling on the street in St. Louis, Missouri. The handwriting is Mary’s in later years.

We have not found much about the photographer nor what we think may be “Weil for Men” (or “Weir”? “We II”?) That is the business in the background- see also image in Note #1. Knowing the store would tell us where they were in St. Louis when it was taken. That information would also narrow the time frame, so we have a request out to St. Louis County Public Library for a directory lookup and will update when we learn anything new.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Here is another photo taken at the same place: https://mohistory.org/collections/item/N36723
  2. The Ashen-Brenner Studio is listed in a 1925 St. Louis City Directory: https://stlouis.genealogyvillage.com/1925photographers.htm
  3. Another link stated the studio was in business in the first half of the 20th century, but will not post that link because it seems to be a sketchy website.

 

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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.

Original content copyright 2013-2021 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly, i.e, reference this blog.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about the copyright or use of “Heritage Ramblings” blog material.

Mary Theresa Helbling and Her Friends

Mary Theresa HELBLING (later McMURRAY) on the left, her very good friend Teresa Reilly (later Chanitz) on the far right, and some friends. Probably mid-to-late 1940s.

Helbling Family (Click for Family Tree)

Today, March 16th, is the anniversary of Mary Theresa Helbling’s birth, so we wanted to share this adorable picture of her with friends, family or co-workers. It was probably taken in the mid-to late forties, when Mary was in her early twenties. Mary is on the left, but we don’t know who the young women are- please let us know if you do!

Mary was born to Gerard William “G.W.” HELBLING (1882-1971) and Anna May BEERBOWER HELBLING in 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri. She was their seventh child, and the youngest by 5 years, but her oldest brother was 17 when she was born.

The late forties were a good time for women in America in many ways. It was sad that our men were going off to fight in World War II, but it gave women an opportunity to be very involved in the workplace, and have a job that made a difference in the war effort. Mary worked for the government and loved the tasks at her job, per her letters, as she always enjoyed typing- she was really fast!  She also loved that she knew shorthand. For those too young to know, shorthand was a quick method of cursive writing with abbreviations and symbols used for sounds. As someone was speaking, such as dictating a letter, the “steno” (short for stenographer) would take down the words on one of those small coiled-top, lined ‘steno’ notebooks with the firm cardboard back. One had to be able to read the shorthand later though, to type up the document. Mary was very good at each of these steps, and even invented her own shorthand for some of the official shorthand she had learned. (No one else could read it then!)

Mary used her knowledge of shorthand throughout the years after she left her job and became a full-time wife and mother, which was what she always wanted to be. She would write herself notes in her special shorthand- and no one else in the house could read them!

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Family treasure chest of photos.

 

Click to enlarge any image. Please contact us if you would like an image in higher resolution.

We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.

Original content copyright 2013-2021 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly, i.e, reference this blog.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about the copyright or use of “Heritage Ramblings” blog material.

ICYMI: No Ghoulies, No Ghosties, But a Witch? Yep.

 

Painting that many attribute as Mary Bliss Parsons, but it is NOT- no known images exist of her. Unknown source.

McMURRAY Family, BURNELL Family (Click for Family Tree)

While yesterday’s post’s image headline was “Bleeding in a Cemetery,” it really told a sad story that we didn’t want to be a Halloween read. So just in case you missed it (ICYMI), please read about the ‘witch’ in one line of the family history, Mary Bliss Parsons. Mary Bliss was born in 1628 in Gloucestershire, England, arrived in Connecticut as a child and spent her adult life in Massachusetts, where she died in 1712. We have a four-part series telling what we know about Mary, and you can begin here:

No Ghoulies, No ghosts, But a Witch? Yep.

 

And yes, the witch trials, which were not only in Salem, were also a very sad part of our history.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. “No Ghoulies, No Ghosties, But a Witch? Yep.,” Heritage Ramblings, 31 Oct 2015. https://heritageramblings.net/2015/10/31/no-ghoulies-no-ghosties-but-a-witch-yep-part-1/

 

Click to enlarge any image. Please contact us if you would like an image in higher resolution.

We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.

Original content copyright 2013-2020 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly, i.e, reference this blog.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.