Mary Galvin Springsteen Mythen- The Early Years

Mary A. Galvin, her parents and siblings in the 1870 US Federal Census, 1st Enumeration on 9 Feb 1870. (Cited as 2nd Enumeration on Ancestry and NARA films, however the 2nd Enumeration occurred in July of 1870.)

HELBLING, SPRINGSTEEN Family (Click for Family Tree)

Mary Agnes Galvin was born about 1862 in Kentucky, per her later census records. Mary and her family were thus living in the midst of the Civil War, with Kentucky a state divided- part Union, part Confederate, with fighting occurring in the state. Kentucky and Indiana share a border, however, so the family may have decided to move north to the Union state of Indiana, for protection from armies on both sides. We do know they were in Indiana by 1870.

Mary’s father, the records suggest, was Michael Galvin, an Irish immigrant born about 1826. He married Ann (maiden name unknown), another Irish immigrant who was about nine years younger, born circa 1835. We have not determined where they were living at the time of the 1860 Federal Census, probably before Mary’s birth, and have not found a marriage record. “Michael Galvin” was a fairly common Irish name, so it is hard to differentiate Mary’s father Michael from others with the same name. 

The first record we found for Michael and Ann Galvin was the 1870 US Federal Census taken 9 Feb 1870 in the Ninth Ward of Indianapolis, Indiana (above). This census states Michael was a 44 year old white male and a laborer. Michael and his (presumed) wife Ann were both born in Ireland, as were each of their parents. Michael could not read nor write. Anna was 35 and ‘keeping house’ but apparently she could both read and write. They were living with their five (presumed) children: Ellen Galvin, age 17, who had been born in Ohio; Jeremiah Galvin, 13, was born in Kentucky, as were the remaining children. Thomas Galvin was 10, Mary A. Galvin, our main interest, was 8, and young Michael Galvin (Jr.?) was 6 years old. Only Mary was listed as being “at school” with the three older children “at home.” The other families on the page were similar in some ways- one a railroad laborer, another a brickmason, a carpenter, another laborer who was an Irish immigrant like Michael, plus a druggist (whose home and personal value were the highest on the page- only one other resident had a personal estate value listed). Three of the households were headed by women, each with young children. One of those women had her occupation listed as ‘keeps house” but the other two were more interesting- one was a plasterer, and the other was listed as a prostitute. So this was the neighborhood that Mary Agnes Galvin and her siblings experienced as they grew up in America.

As has happened occasionally, the census that year was not very accurate and required a second enumeration in three large cities that felt their population, especially their immigrant population, had been severely undercounted. Indianapolis was one of those cities, so we found another listing (the 2nd Enumeration) of the Indianapolis Ninth Ward with the “Gallivan” family, taken 14th-18th July 1870.

Mary Galvin and the other children of Mike and Anna Galvin, 1870 US Federal Census, 2nd Enumeration 18 July 1870, 9th Ward, Indianapolis, Indiana, page 69.

The family has the same first names but slightly different ages. “Mike Gallivan”  was 45 and a laborer, wife Ann 36. They are listed on page 68 of the census, which has a date of 14 July 1870. Their children were continued on page 69, with the date written as 18 July 1870: Ellen was listed as 16, Jerry (Jeremiah) as 12, Tommy as age 9, Morgan (who is most likely Mary Agnes) 8, and Michael age 5. There were still problems with the wide variety of languages and accents, both by enumerators and those being counted, and many of the enumerators were semi-illiterate. “Mary Agnes” said quickly with a strong Irish brogue could have been heard as ‘Morgan,’ or a neighbor who was giving the information could have heard or given Mary’s name wrong, or had yet another accent to challenge the enumerator to spell correctly.

The families around the Galvins on these pages had a few more of the skilled occupations than those for the Galvins in the first enumeration, including painters (likely for buildings) – and even a Rabbi! More importantly to our research, within the additional families counted in the 2nd Enumeration, was the family of Jefferson Springsteen- just one dwelling number away. 

Jefferson Springsteen family and Mike and Anna Galvin, 1870 US Federal Census, 2nd Enumeration 14 July 1870, 9th Ward, Indianapolis, Indiana, page 68.

Unfortunately, no streets were given in either census enumeration, but there was actually no place on the form for them. “Hutchinson’s Indianapolis City Directory” of 1870 tells us that Jefferson Springsteen and family lived at 117 Spring St., that year, while a “Michael Galivan” lived at 148 S. Noble; these streets are about a mile apart today. So were the Springsteens and Galvins neighbors? Or did they know each other through other sources?

We have been unable to find Michael and Annie ten years later in the 1880 census for Indianapolis. There are two men named Michael Galvin listed in the 1880 Indianapolis City Directory, both listed as laborers- this could be Mary’s father Michael and her brother Michael, who would have been about 16 that year and therefore working.

In 1880, Jefferson Springsteen was 60 years old, working as a painter after a career as a police detective among other occupations; his 26 year old son Charles Springsteen, who lived with Jeff and Anna, was also a painter. Anna (Connor) Springsteen was 55 and their son Abraham/Abram Springsteen, who was 28 and had been recently widowed, lived with them too. (We have some stories about Abram, the “youngest drummer boy of the Civil War” on the blog.) In addition,  this census lists “Mary Galavan,” age 17, as a part of the Springsteen household, working as a servant. The census lists Mary’s birthplace as Kentucky, and Ireland as the place her parents were born. This therefore does appear to be the same Mary Galvin that we have been researching.

Mary may have actually worked in the Springsteen household as a servant, a position not uncommon in families who were middle class in those days. However, sometimes there were persons listed in the census as a ‘servant’ despite actually being family members, often elderly or sometimes with disabilities. Perhaps it was the idea that having an occupation was a good thing, something to be proud of, for each person or even in one’s older years. It could have been a family status elevation to list a servant, too, although the census was likely not available to the public at that time. Or perhaps it was the idea of no free lunch for anyone- especially since often there was so little for the family. So Mary may have just been living with the Springsteens, which is possible since we cannot find her parents in the census in 1880. She was 17 though, which in those days was past time for a working-class child to be earning their own living. So Mary G. may may have actually worked as a servant to help as Jeff and Anna got older. We will likely not know for sure unless more personal family information turns up.

 

Next: The rest of what we know about Mary Galvin Springsteen Mythen and her family.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. 1870 US Federal Census for Michael Galvin family, 9th Ward, Subdistrict 20, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, page 38, lines 25-31.
  2. Ancestry and possibly NARA has labeled its 9 Feb 1870 census results as “2nd enumeration” although it was taken before the 18 July 1870 Enumeration, so Feb. would actually be the 1st Enumeration.
  3. “The 1870 Federal Census’ Second Enumeration,” by Aaron Goodwin,  https://ngsmonthly.ngsgenealogy.org/the-1870-federal-censuss-second-enumeration/
  4. 1870 US Federal Census, 2nd Enumeration, for Jefferson Springsteen- Anna Connor Springsteen family, and Michael and Ann Galvin family, 9th Ward, Subdistrict 20, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, pages 68-69.
  5. Indianapolis, Indiana city directories, found on Ancestry.com and InternetArchive.

 

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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. 
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Our Ancestors Lived through Pandemics Too: 1918 and the Springsteen-Beerbower-Helbling Family

About 1911- Edgar P. Beerbower and Anna Missouri (Springsteen) Beerbower with their grandchildren. Edgar Helbling is standing and Anna is holding baby Anna May Helbling (later Reilly).

Springsteen Family, Beerbower Family, Helbling Family (Click for Family Trees)

[If you are descended from Anna May (Beerbower) Helbling (1881-1954) and Gerard W. “G.W.” Helbling (1882-1971) of St. Louis, Missouri, these are your ancestors!]

As tough as our times are today with the Covid-19 (Corona virus) pandemic, we have ancestors who lived through pandemics too. Their smart thinking, the fact that they (probably) followed the directions of the experts at that time, and their good genes as well as perseverance helped them get through those difficult times. Love of their family was probably a big factor too!

Let’s go back to 1918, and the “Spanish Flu” outbreak. There are plenty of references to learn more about this pandemic, including a PBS documentary, “Influenza 1918.” Let’s explore a bit about our family in particular.

Our Springsteen family had a number of members who were likely living in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1918.  Jefferson Springsteen (1820-1909) and his wife, Anna (Conner) Springsteen (1824-1887) had lived there from about 1853. They had eight children, one of whom died as an infant and two sons who died prior to 1918. Their daughter Anna Missouri (Springsteen) Beerbower, mother of Anna May Helbling, may have been living in Indianapolis, as she had been born there and moved back a couple of times, her husband had passed away there in 1916, and we cannot find her listed in the 1920 Federal Census in any state. Anna’s sister Mary Elizabeth (Springsteen) Beckwith had been widowed- probably actually divorced- and was living with her daughter’s family in New York in 1915, but had moved back to Indianapolis by the 1920 census. Their younger brother, Abram Springsteen, “the youngest drummer boy of the Civil War” as the family lore called him, could also have been in Indianapolis, as he married there in 1912 but then was enumerated in the 1920 census in Washington, D.C. Their youngest brother, Robert E. Springsteen (1857-1931), is the only sibling that we know for sure was living in Indianapolis in 1918, but the others may have been there.

We are looking at Indianapolis, Indiana because there is an excellent article just published on the Indiana History blog about life there during the 1918 epidemic. “Coping with Quarantine in a Pre-Digital Era” is a great read that details how people spent their time during the 1918 quarantine. The information in the article would also probably apply to a large portion of the United States back then. The kids were out of school, it was a Congressional election year, and the economics and boredom of stay-at-home orders were challenging to all. The cause of the disease was unknown, there were no treatments nor vaccines for it, and the death toll in the US and around the world was staggering. (Any of this sound familiar?) The US was in the midst of World War I too, putting additional pressure on the people and government to keep going.

Anna Mae (Beerbower) Helbling and Gerard William “G.W.” Helbling, probably in St. Louis, Missouri, around 1925.

St. Louis, Missouri is another city to mention here, as Anna May (Beerbower) Helbling, daughter of Anna Missouri and Edgar P. Beerbower, lived there. With her husband Gerard William “G.W.” Helbling, she had three children living then: Edgar Bradley Helbling (1908-1994), Anna May Helbling (later Reilly) (1911-1985), and Viola Gertrude Helbling (later Carrigan) (1913-1971). Anna was expecting their fourth child, Robert Harvey Helbling (1918-2001), as the flu began, and “Bob” was born in August.

World War I was using Liberty Loan bonds to help finance the war, and a huge parade was held on September 28, 1918 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is estimated 200,000 people filled the streets to cheer on those in the parade and the war effort. Unfortunately the “Spanish Flu,” which had already attacked military bases and soldiers starting around March of 1918, was unknowingly present in the crowds as well. It only took 72 hours to fill all the beds in the city’s hospitals, and within a week, 2,600 civilians had died. One week later, the city’s death toll was 4,500. The city was short of doctors and nurses, as so many were in military service due to the War.  With no antibiotics nor vaccines at that time, and health care workers using gauze facemasks that had holes large enough to allow most microorganisms through, containment was challenging. Philadelphia finally shut down schools and businesses, but they had waited too late- they could not keep the virus in check. (The 1918 flu was an H1N1 virus of avian origin, so not exactly like today’s corona virus, but still very virulent and hard to contain.)

Thankfully, Anna May and G.W. Helbling and their children were living in St. Louis at that time. It must have been frightening to have small children, including a newborn, as they read the newspapers and saw how the flu was raging across the country, and the world. (Their first child had died as an infant so they must have been very fearful.) The St. Louis city health commissioner was alarmed by the flu activity in the influenza hotspots of Boston and Philadelphia, and toward the end of September 1918, he knew that it would only be a matter of time before the “Spanish Flu” was seen in the Gateway City. He proactively set up a monitoring system, cancelled a Liberty Loan drive, educated the public through articles in the newspaper on how to prepare and avoid the flu, and once cases were being reported, he helped to get a public health emergency declared. Dr. Max C. Starkloff was then given more authority and closures of entertainment, schools, and churches were implemented by October 9th, with public gatherings banned. Those with medical knowledge worked with the city government to minimize any foothold in the community that the flu might gain. As cases of influenza increased, although at a much slower rate than in Philadelphia, St. Louis business hours were cut and then non-essential businesses and factories were closed to further protect citizens. (And yes, business owners and politicians were understandably worried about the economic impact to themselves, their city, and the country.) When restrictions were gradually lifted in mid-December because case numbers had diminished, new illnesses and deaths spiked in a second wave. Eventually, case numbers stayed low and removal of restrictions on December 28, 1918, added some joy to a difficult holiday season.

Death toll of Philadelphia vs St. Louis in 1918 Influenza Epidemic. Closures began Oct. 8th in St. Louis, and the comparison between the St. Louis curve and that of Pittsburgh, where schools, entertainment, and churches were not closed, is striking. “Public health interventions and epidemic intensity during the 1918 influenza pandemic,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Richard J. Hatchett, et al, 2007.

St. Louis is lauded as a city that looked into the future, followed medical advice, and quickly acted for the good of their citizens. What we now call “social distancing” helped to keep the city’s death toll to the sixth lowest in the country; Indianapolis was one of the five cities that had an even lower mortality rate, helping to save our family there. The graph above shows clearly the effect that physical distancing, done early and across the board, can have in an epidemic. This data has been studied by epidemiologists and will hopefully be heeded by governmental bodies and citizens to “flatten the curve” and reduce illness and deaths in our current pandemic. Implementing the 1918 tactics of St. Louis in 2020 can still buy us time for development of treatments and vaccines, and for ramping up manufacturing of materials needed for protection and treatment of patients and staff. The above graphs show that when strict measures are put in place early, the illnesses and deaths are much less than in places that have waited until the virus is rampant.

We are now experiencing in our day-to-day lives some of what our ancestors went through in those days of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. Knowing that they survived through “social distancing” and the economic pain that ensued can help us have resilience and faith that we too can make it through this.

 

BTW, if you have a little extra time on your hands, the references below can be interesting reading. Reference #4 and #10 are particularly good, quick, and not terrifying. They also may give some comfort knowing that a whole lot of folks got to the other side despite not having the technology and scientific advances we have today. And while you are reading, think about how the ancestors only had newspapers, neighbors, local storekeepers and postal carriers to spread news. Sadly they also carried germs, but at least we have a better understanding of that today.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. “Influenza 1918” on ‘American Experience’ on PBS. May be viewed online at https://www.pbs.org/video/american-experience-influenza-1918/

  2. “Have Americans forgotten the history of this deadly flu?” https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/have-americans-forgotten-the-history-of-this-deadly-flu

  3. Anna Missouri (Springsteen) Beerbower lived with Anna May and GW Helbling in St. Louis possibly in the 1920s, and it is known she was there in the 1930s. We do have pictures of her there before the 1920s, but do not know if she was visiting or living there.
  4. “Coping with Quarantine in a Pre-Digital Era”
    https://blog.history.in.gov/coping-with-quarantine-in-a-pre-digital-era/. Thank you, Dick Eastman, for featuring this article in your wonderful newsletter.: https://blog.eogn.com/2020/04/03/coping-with-quarantine-in-a-pre-digital-era/
  5. Anna May (Beerbower) Helbling and G. W. Helbling had two more children after the pandemic: William G. “Bill” Helbling (1920-2018) and Mary Theresa Helbling (later McMurray) (1925-2008).
  6. “Philadelphia Threw a WWI Parade That Gave Thousands of Onlookers the Flu”  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/philadelphia-threw-wwi-parade-gave-thousands-onlookers-flu-180970372/
  7. “The Spanish influenza of 1918 in St. Louis, Missouri.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16961567

  8. “The American Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1919: St. Louis, Missouri” https://www.influenzaarchive.org/cities/city-stlouis.html#

  9. “Public health interventions and epidemic intensity during the 1918 influenza pandemic.” Richard J. Hatchett, et al, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, May 1,2007. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0610941104
  10. “This chart of the 1918 Spanish flu shows why social distancing works” by Michael J. Coren, March 11, 2020, Quartz. https://qz.com/1816060/a-chart-of-the-1918-spanish-flu-shows-why-social-distancing-works/
  11. “1918 Pandemic” https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html

 

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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 2013-2019 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.



Sentimental Sunday: Abram F. Springsteen, Part 2

Abram F. Springsteen, possibly c1867?
Abram F. Springsteen, possibly c1867?

So what does one do when their military career is over at age 15?

Abram Furman Springsteen returned to Indianapolis to attend a private school after the Civil War. He later worked as a brickmason in Indianapolis after learning the trade from his uncle, also named Abram Springsteen (1825-1895).

Abram F. also worked as a clerk in the Federal Pension Department in Washington, D.C. War Department, then transferred to Los Angeles, CA c. 1915. He did receive a pension for his military service, as he was disabled “by Bronchitis and lung disease, contracted between Marietta and Atlanta Ga- between the 8th & 17 July 1864.”

Abram Springsteen married Laura May Longfellow on 11 Jan 1872 in Huntington County, Indiana. The Rev. C. M. Cain married them; Abram was 21, and Laura just 19. They had a child together on 20 Mar 1873, but Laura May died just 24 days after the birth of their daughter, 13 April 1873 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Possibly childbirth complications?)

Laura May (Longfellow) Springsteen- Headstone, Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana
Laura May (Longfellow) Springsteen- Headstone, Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana

Abram was living with his parents, brother, and a household servant when the June 1880 US Federal Census was taken. He was listed as a “Clerk in a C. Store.” His daughter Laura Grace Alien Longfellow Springsteen, was not living with them, and we have been unable to find where she was living at that time.  Sadly, she too died at a young age, even younger than her namesake- Laura was just 12 in 1885 when she passed away at her grandparent’s home, on 29 March.

Springsteen-Coombs Wedding Announcement, after 22 Jul 1885; family newspaper clipping so source unknown.
Springsteen-Coombs Wedding Announcement, after 22 Jul 1885; family newspaper clipping so source unknown.

Four months after little Laura’s death, Abram remarried. The Rev. J. Walter officiated at the wedding of Abram and Emma Isola Coombs (1866-1938) on 22 July 1885 at St. Patrick’s Church in Washington, D. C.

Emma Isola Coombs
Emma Isola Coombs

Emma and Abram had three children: Walter F. Springsteen (1886-1886), Ruby Marie born 4 July 1887, and Perry Harrison born 6 June 1891. Abram and Emma divorced 28 June 1912 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

On 30 October 1912, in Indianapolis,  Abram married Birdie Crozier.  This was her second marriage, as her first husband, Charles B. Rosengarten, died 12 January, 1911.

Abram Springsteen, 1919
Abram Springsteen, 1919

Abram and Birdie had about eighteen years together before he passed away August 6, 1930 in Sawtelle Military Hospital, Los Angeles, CA. He was a resident of Santille, CA at the time. He is buried in Los Angeles National Cemetery.

Abram Springsteen and Birdie Crozier Rosengarten Springsteen in Hermosa Beach, California.
Abram Springsteen and Birdie Crozier Rosengarten Springsteen in Hermosa Beach, California, probably late 1920s.

Birdie (1873-1932) outlived Abram and collected his pension after his death, $20 per month. She died 10 January 1932 with her residence listed as Hermosa Beach, CA.

Abram Furman Springsteen's headstone in Los Angeles National Cemetery
Abram Furman Springsteen’s headstone in Los Angeles National Cemetery

Abram was very patriotic, and even when very advanced in years, would walk up and down the street or boardwalk playing his drum on patriotic holidays and in parades. He was very sentimental- not just on Sundays- and very proud of his service to his country.

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Family photographs, ephemera, bible.

2) 1880 US Federal Census, Jefferson Springsteen as head of household (indexed as Jeffers. Springstime on Ancestry.com)- Source Citation: Year: 1880; Census Place: Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana; Roll: 295; Family History Film: 1254295; Page: 244D; Enumeration District: 114; Image: 0190. Accessed 7/5/14.




Stories- A Family Legacy, Part 2

Edith Roberts- Declamatory Contest. Prairie City News, Prairie City, Jasper Co., Iowa, shortly after 2 Feb 1917. (from a clipping without date)
Edith Roberts- Declamatory Contest. Prairie City News, Prairie City, Jasper Co., Iowa, shortly after 2 Feb 1917. (From a clipping without date)

Telling the family stories is a wonderful legacy to pass on to your children.

But I can’t find ANYTHING about my ancestor ANYWHERE…

Don’t know much about the actual stories of the lives of your ancestors? There are many resources available, both online and at specific places that can help you piece together a life and/or a family. If you are not lucky enough to have many family stories, you can learn more about your ancestors to help put their lives in context.

Newspapers

Newspapers are a great resource for learning the stories of ancestors, or the places and times in which they lived. Newspapers of 50+ years ago included who was visiting where, long or one-line obituaries, detailed political and voter information, etc. The obituary of Jefferson Springsteen (1820-1909) tells of him running away to join the circus as a boy- how could he then be upset when his son Abram Springsteen ran away to join the Union Army as a drummer boy at age 12? There is a story there… A short note about Miss Edith Roberts (1899-1982) taking first place in the Declamatory Contest as well as “the Dramatic’ is on the same page as the notice of  the “Death of Grandma Roberts” (her paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Ann Murrell Roberts, 1835-1917). What mixed emotions Edith must have felt that day! Such information from newspapers allows us to realize and then understand the challenges and triumphs of those who have gone before, and help us tell the stories of our ancestor’s lives.

"Death of Grandma Roberts"- Elizabeth Ann Murrell Roberts. Prairie City News, Prairie City, Jasper Co., Iowa. Undated newspaper clipping but Elizabeth died 02 Feb 1917.
“Death of Grandma Roberts”- Elizabeth Ann Murrell Roberts. Prairie City News, Prairie City, Jasper Co., Iowa. Undated newspaper clipping but Elizabeth died 02 Feb 1917.

Genealogy Bank is my favorite newspaper website for ease of use and breadth of papers held, though it is a for-pay website. Ancestry.com also has newspapers, as do a few other for-pay websites. Some favorite free websites are chroniclingamerica.loc.gov, http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc for California newspapers, and http://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html for New York state and other newspapers, postcards, etc.

If you can’t find articles about your own family, read through the headlines, ads, and social columns of the newspaper from where they lived and during that time period- it will help to put your ancestors into the context of their times.

Books

There are many books that can be found in the history section of the bookstore or library that can help you to piece together more information about your ancestor’s probable daily life. (Jane Austen’s England by Roy Adkins is on my list to read- it tells about everyday life in the late 18th and early 19th century England.) Used or out-of-print books may be found at abebooks.com, alibris.com, or a local used bookseller can do a search for you. Many other family or social history sources can be found on Google Books (books.google.com), such as county histories. Although your ancestor may not have had the money or inclination to buy a writeup in a county history (AKA “Mug Books” since they sometimes required a payment to be included), just reading about the area in the first part of the history can give an idea of the topography, religion, economics, goods and services provided, social groups, etc. Google Books may give you a snippet of information from a book so that you can determine if you would like to buy it, or it may provide an ebook for free to download. The Internet Archive (https://archive.org) has millions of pages of books, videos, etc. available for free. (Sadly, some of them are OCR’d images and may be hard to read, but may still be useful.) They also offer “The  Way Back Machine” to help you find old web pages from now-defunct websites. Another good free online book source is hathitrust.org.

WorldCat (http://www.worldcat.org) is a great place to find a book, and then your library may be able to get it on interlibrary loan for you if it can’t be found locally. College libraries that include manuscript or special collections and dissertations may provide wonderful information. Some may be dry and/or scholarly, but you may be able to find information that can help you enhance the date and place information you already know about your family.

Here are some social history questions to ask, and research, about your ancestor’s time, place, and life:

What events were going on locally, nationally?

What was the economy like? Boom time or bust, or just a long struggle like in the 1890s?

What were prevailing religious views?

What were political leanings and issues of those in the area where your ancestor lived?

What provided income to your ancestor, and how common was that occupation?

Some of the answers can help provide family stories. We inherited some strange tools- they were very old and it was hard to tell what they were used for. They belonged to descendants of George Lee (1821-aft 1880) who lived in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England, which was a large shoe-making center. George and his sons all came to America, and at least one son, Josiah, was a shoemaker. With the knowledge that shoemaking was important in their hometown in England, and then the US Federal Census that listed shoemaking as an occupation for Josiah, some online research for shoemaking tools helped us identify the purpose of the artifacts. The tools we have were probably Josiah’s, and now we can add shoemakers to the family stories.

When telling your family stories, whether in print, electronic form, or oral stories, it is important to ALWAYS differentiate general facts from those known specifically about your family. Also, document sources with proper citations, so that you or others may revisit those sources to verify or  disprove ideas and ‘facts.’

 

Adding social history to your research can give a deeper understanding of the lives of our ancestors, and enrich the family stories we leave as a legacy to our descendants.

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Newspaper clippings are from the Prairie City News, around 02 Feb 1917.

2) I have no affiliation with any of the websites listed, and do not receive any benefits from them financially or in product. (FTC Disclosure.)

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.

Copyright 2013 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

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Tombstone Tuesday: Laura May (Longfellow) Springsteen

Laura May (Longfellow) Springsteen- Headstone, Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana. Posted with permission of photographer.
Laura May (Longfellow) Springsteen- Headstone, Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana. Posted with permission of photographer.

Laura May Longfellow was born about 1853 in Ohio to Jane (maiden name unknown, b. 1831) and George W. Longfellow (1817-1893). The family is found in the US Federal Censuses in Kankakee, Illinois in 1860, and in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1870. In both censuses, her father is listed as a Hotel Keeper and her mother a Landlady.

Laura married Abram Furman Springsteen (1850-1930, and a Civil War Veteran) on 11 Jan 1872 in Huntington Co., Indiana; the Rev. C.M. Cain officiated. Laura was 19, Abram 21.

Their daughter Laura Grace Alien Longfellow was born on 20 Mar 1873 in Indianapolis. Laura died just 24 days after giving birth, and their daughter Laura was raised by her paternal grandparents,  Jefferson Springsteen (1820-1909) and Anna Conner (1824-1887). Sadly, little Laura died young, at the age of 12 years.

 

Laura May (Longfellow) Springsteen- Headstone. Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana. Posted with permission of photographer.
Laura May (Longfellow) Springsteen- Headstone. Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana. Posted with permission of photographer.

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) 1860 US Federal Census: Source Citation- Year: 1860; Census Place: Kankakee, Kankakee, Illinois; Roll: M653_192; Page: 17; Image: 21; Family History Library Film: 803192. Accessed on Ancestry.com 12/3/13.

2) 1870 US Federal Census- Source Citation: Year: 1870; Census Place: Indianapolis Ward 7 (2nd Enum), Marion, Indiana; Roll: M593_339; Page: 440B; Image: 314; Family History Library Film: 545838. Accessed on Ancestry.com 12/3/13.

3) Springsteen Family Bible record of births, marriage, and deaths.

4) Obituary of Laura May Springsteen (daughter) published 30 Mar 1885 in the Indianapolis News- have just the clipping.

5) See also Find A Grave Memorials, where some of this information is also published:

Abram F. Springsteen: Find A Grave Memorial# 3755016

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3755016

Laura May (Longfellow) Springsteen: Find A Grave Memorial# 27892748

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=27892748

Laura Grace Springsteen: Find A Grave Memorial# 27909730

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=27909730

 

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