Springsteen Family (Click for Family Tree)

This 1858 ad seems somewhat charming in a way, taken as is. Just $11-22 per month pay? That is about $300-600 in today’s dollars. No wife or child? It made sense to not have encumbrances, as at that time, the US Army was fighting Native Americans out west and in Florida, was involved in armed conflict with the Mormons in Utah, had become a player on the world stage, etc. Although our founding fathers had not wanted a standing army, by the 1850s it was deemed a necessity, hence this advertisement for new Army recruits.

But once this ad is put into the context of the times and our family, as well as our nation, it is actually a chilling foreshadowing.

The years leading up to the Civil War were contentious, whether the issue was overtly slavery or the deeper heart of the matter- state’s rights. Economics were in play as well, with not just the huge property value of slaves being an issue- the South felt that the federal tariffs were favorable to the North and penalized the South. Our nation was quite divided by all of these issues.

In May, another massacre had occurred in ‘Bleeding Kansas’ with pro-slavery forces crossing from Missouri into Kansas Territory, which was in the process of determining whether or not to be a slave state. The gang captured 11 Free-Staters who were not armed and had not been involved with any of the previous violence- many of them actually knew the gang leader and went willingly as they did not realize the intention was to shoot them down in cold blood. Five died in the incident, and only one of the gang members was ever prosecuted. (He was later hanged.)

[We had families by the name of Hemphill, Turner, Daniel, and Thomas in Missouri (although most were originally from southern states), possibly Joseph H. Payne in Kansas Territory, and quite a few families who lived in border states or the south during this time period. They all would have seen the violence and hatred up close and possibly personal.]

Not long after the above recruitment ad and the pro-slavery ‘Marais des Cygnes massacre,’ Abraham Lincoln gave his famous “House Divided” speech on 16 June 1858 as he accepted his Republican party’s nomination for the Illinois US Senate seat. He was pitted against Stephen A. Douglas, who felt each state or territory had the right to choose whether or not they wanted slavery.

Here is the passage you might remember from history class:

Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South.”

The famous Lincoln-Douglas Debates began that August, and although Lincoln did not win the Senate seat that election, his ‘House Divided’ speech helped to put him in the forefront of his party and the abolition/federal vs. state’s rights cause.

There was, most likely, a young boy named Abram Furman Springsteen (1850-1930) taking in all of this news and such advertisements with wide eyes. Although his father, Jefferson Springsteen (1820-1909) was a Democrat, because Jeff was active in local politics, Abram would have heard the latest news and discussions, probably from both sides, for quite a few years.  Abram was only 7 at the time of the ad, and he turned 8 in July, after Lincoln’s speech. By age 11, he was running away to join the Army, on the Union side. Apparently, Northern sympathies trumped his father’s political party, at least, for a young man in Indiana. Or maybe it was the exciting visit of Abraham Lincoln who stopped in Indianapolis on 11 February 1861, as he was on his way to be inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States… We will probably never know for sure, but it is interesting to see the history and context of the times of our ancestors through newspapers and other research, so we can determine how it may have motivated the events of their lives.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Army Recruitment Ad in the Daily State Sentinel, Indianapolis, Indiana, 27 April 1858, page 3, via Hoosier State Chronicles.
2. ‘1858 in the United States’–https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1858_in_the_United_States
3. ‘Marais des Cygnes massacre’–https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marais_des_Cygnes_massacre
   

4. ‘Lincoln’s House Divided Speech’– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln%27s_House_Divided_Speech

5. ‘The Abraham Lincoln Blog’–http://abrahamlincolnblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/lincolns-inauguration-journey-february.html
6. Of course, the glamour and glory of going off to war may also have inspired Abram to enlist. He was quite a patriotic man in his later years, though, strongly believing in the United States and its government, so Abram’s reasons for enlisting were likely many.
7. See also “Wisdom Wednesday: The Springsteens and Abraham Lincoln”– http://heritageramblings.net/2016/02/10/wisdom-wednesday-the-springsteens-and-abraham-lincoln-contd/

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Helbling Family, Beerbower Family (Click for Family Tree)

While some of our dear readers may not actually consider this to be a real thriller like some of the wild movies or tv shows that are out there today,  today’s post does at least have a “whodunnit?” component. And then there is the thrill of research, though sometimes gone too far… (maybe).

As has been mentioned previously on the blog, Elsie Bierbower (1889-1956) was the cousin of Anna May Beerbower (1881-1954), who married William Gerard Helbling. Anna May was the daughter of Edgar Peter Beerbower (1849-1916), while Elsie was the daughter of John Eleazer Bierbower (1858-1929). Elsie went by “Little Elsie” in her child-star years, and then used “Elsie Janis” as her stage name.

Elsie started her career in vaudeville and on the stage, but eventually added audio recordings and later movies. “That Fascinating Baseball Slide”- AKA just “Fascinating Baseball Slide,” was her first recording, in 1912.

Those of us who grew up with piles of records alongside our turnables- actually called ‘record players’  at the time, ‘turntables’  probably later in the 70s- know that the name in parentheses under the title is the name of the songwriter. This record shows that Elsie wrote the song, as well as sang it with an orchestra.

A number of websites and other resources state that Elsie wrote the song.

Imagine the surprise when this result popped up in a search:

I have been unable to find this song with Elsie as author, with or without the word “That” in the title, listed in the official copyright books printed by the government. (There were, however, many other entires of Elsie’s songs and screenplays in various government volumes.) The copyright of 20 April 1912 fits well with when the record was released, but finding a copy of the ‘Crescent music co.’ sheet music has been challenging. Additionally, finding H. S. Wittmaak in more than the copyright entry books has been unsuccessful. (Wittmaak did write other songs that were listed in the copyright books.)

Elsie was just 23 when this song came out, but she had been a huge star for many years. Did she really write “Fascinating Baseball Slide”? Or possibly she purchased the song from H.S. Wittmaak and paid for the right to list it as her own? Maybe she rewrote the song to some extent?

One more interesting tidbit- our leading picture shows Elsie sitting at the piano, reading sheet music. Surprisingly, in an article published in Liberty magazine later in her life, she stated that she did not know how to play the piano! She likely did know how to read and write music, however, if she was a songwriter and singer.

So that’s our “whodunnit”- hope you found it thrilling for this Thursday.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Hear the song “That Fascinating Baseball Slide” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84aPkozicqk
2. Library of Congress version of song– https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox.2903?#
3. The song is also on a 2009 CD of Elsie’s music, called, “Sweetheart of the A.E.F.” by Archaeophone. It has 24 songs, including this one. Eight songs are also available on iTunes, as is one of her books and a movie that she helped write. The CD used to be on iTunes, but is no longer; I was surprised when the lyrics were noted as ‘explicit’- turns out some are racist, sadly- just FYI.
4. Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. “Victor matrix B-12527. Fascinating base-ball slide / Elsie Janis,” accessed July 20, 2016, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/200012723/B-12527-Fascinating_base-ball_slide.
5. “McCreery and Company- New Victor Records for January- Elsie Janis Records” in The Gazette Times (Pittsburgh, PA), 28 Dec 1912, page 7, via Google Newspapers–  https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JBZRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=F2YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5333%2C742293
6. “Is Elsie Janis Guided by Her Dead Mother’s Voice?” Liberty Magazine, 28 November 1936, https://archive.org/stream/Liberty_v13n48_-_1936_-_MacFadden/Liberty%20v13n48%20-%201936%20-%20MacFadden#page/n13/mode/2up

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(Click to go to tree)

You never know where one’s genealogical ramblings might lead, or where you might find your ancestors, so it is smart to keep an open mind.

While working on cleaning up e-files on my desktop after some marathon research sessions, I decided to listen to D. Joshua Taylor’s presentation at RootsTech/FGS 2015. He has a circus performer in his family so was talking about Cyndi’s List, the genealogical wonder that was created and is maintained by just one woman. Cyndi has a listing for ‘Entertainment’ so I jumped on the webpage and started searching for relatives who had been in the entertainment industry: Max Broida/Max Brodie (his stage name) and Elsie Janis (Beerbower). No hits for Max but Elsie came up under “Vaudeville Homepage,” which has a transcription of acts from the “Manitoba Free Press” in, surprisingly, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, for 1913. I never expected to find Elsie there! According to the description of the website on Cyndi’s List, Winnipeg was part of the main vaudeville circuit for North America, so it does make sense when we understand the context. I had never thought to look at Canadian newspapers!

At the Winnipeg “Orpheum,” acts during the week of June 2-7, 1913 included:

“Miss Orford and Her Wonderful Elephants is the headline act. The finale consists in the sensational rescue of Miss Orford from a burning building.”

[Wonder if they used real fire? How exotic to have tropical elephants in the far north!]

[Edutainment…]

“Ida O’Day in her original songalogue.”

[ A ‘songalogue,’ as you may surmise from the compound word, takes lyrics- sometimes from multiple songs- and instead of singing them, they are spoken and/or acted out. You can find YouTube videos of people doing that today. Ida was actually Ann (O’Day) Maples, who billed herself as ”Ida O’Day, the Merry Musical Maid,.’ She performed at the height of vaudeville, and spent 20 years on the stage; she gave it up when she married. Ann died at age 106 in 1987.]

“Foreign music halls have long been glad to welcome Carl and Lotty, a pair of most original eccentric dancers. Their work is not so grotesque as it is graceful, however, in spite of its general designation.”

[Interesting description of their dance style. They might have done very well on today’s programs such as “America’s Got Talent.”]

“There will be a new set of Edison Talking pictures, orchestra and photo plane.”

[‘Edison talking pictures’ are of course movies, but I have been unable to determine what ‘photo plane’ is in this context. It is a technical term in photography- “The plane in which a film or plate lies at the moment of exposure.” but it is still unclear as to what that meant inside the theater.]

And finally, here is what our Elsie, at age 24, was presenting:

“Elsie Janis presents three protegés of hers, in a sketch written, staged and rehearsed by herself. The trio consists of Val Harris, Rita Roland and Lou Holtz in a sketch called “Three in One.”

Elsie was a writer for stage and later screen, as well as a song-writer, comedienne, and actor.

See also “Wishful Wednesday: Elsie Janis.”

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1) Cyndi’s List- Thank you, Cyndi, for all your hard work for so many years! http://www.cyndislist.com

2) Vaudeville Homepage: http://members.shaw.ca/winnipegvaudeville/.

3) “Stage star ANN O’DAY MAPLES, 106, who toured the United…”, Orlando Sentinel, September 5, 1987- http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1987-09-05/news/0140320099_1_vaudeville-oday-john-d

4) “My Yankee Doodle Girl” copyright 1910 by Chappell & Co. Ltd. Sheet music in collection of the author.

5) “Wishful Wednesday: Elsie Janis.” http://heritageramblings.net/2014/08/27/wishful-wednesday-elsie-janis/

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Copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Springsteen Family (Click for Family Tree)

Here is the Springsteen name again on a tax record from Indianapolis, Indiana, in May of 1863. This is an excise tax record for a company called, “Theodore & Springsteen.”  So who is the Springsteen in this entry?

The entry itself gives us a clue, as the company is listed as “Builders & Contractors.” From censuses and City Directories, we know that our Jefferson Springsteen was a painter by trade, but was also in law enforcement- in 1860 he was the City Marshall, and in 1860 was listed as a detective. His oldest son John was noted as a painter in 1870, as were sons Jeff and Charles; younger son Abe F. was listed as a brickmason. The boys were still young enough to be living at home, but could possibly have been in business with a partner since all practiced trades involved in the building industry.

Another option was Abraham Springsteen, Jefferson’s brother, since he was a brickmason. Checking an Indianapolis City Directory, we were able to find both Jeff and Abraham listed at their homes, but further in the directory was another entry that gave us the answer we were seeking:

So know we know it most probably was Abram/Abraham Springsteen (1824-1895) that was in the partnership, since Abe F., nephew of Abram, was just 11 and heading off to war as a drummer boy.

A tidbit in a newspaper article also mentions the elder Abram:

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Springsteen Family (Click for Family Tree)

On 3 June 1863, during the Civil War, “Abel Springsteen” was assessed taxes on income of $117 in Indianapolis, Indiana. This was recorded on a form for excise taxes, although detailed information is not written in at the top. The rate he was taxed was 3%, and the assessment was considered to be in Class A, which was apparently ad valorem duty. (Today many citizens pay ad valorem taxes on their vehicles.)

The total tax liability on income of $117.00 was $5.31!

In today’s dollars, that would be $2,137.58 in income, and $97.01 for taxes.

But their math is confusing, as 3% of $117.00 is actually $3.51. The tax paid was about 4.5%, if he really did pay the listed amount.

Wonder if the 3 and the 5 were just transposed when written in the list? Would Abel/Abraham have just paid the higher amount, or contested it? He didn’t have a lot of income compared to others on the same list, so he probably needed to save every penny he could; hopefully he paid the lesser amount.

And just who is “Abel Springsteen”? That name has not come up in other Indianapolis searches, so it might actually be “Abram” or “Abraham” Springsteen. Abram Furman Springsteen, “the youngest drummer boy” of the Civil War has been mentioned quite frequently in this blog, but would have been just 13 in 1863. So it is probably his uncle Abraham, who was born in 1824 in New York and arrived in Indianapolis by 1860. This Abraham was a master brick mason, and we know he was working in Indianapolis as a mason at the time of this tax. More to come about Abraham and his business, and that too has to do with taxes.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918. Ancestry.com Online publication, Provo, UT, USA. Original data – National Archives (NARA) microfilm series: M603, M754-M771, M773-M777, M779-M780, M782, M784, M787-M789, M791-M793, M795, M1631, M1775-M1776, T227, T1208-T1209.
2. Inflation calculator that actually includes to present day, not just 2013- http://www.in2013dollars.com

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