Category: Beerbower Family

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Tombstone Tuesday: Matilda (Mac Elvey) Beerbower

Matilda L. (MacElvey) Beerbower-Headstone. Posted with permission of photographer.
Matilda L. (MacElvey) Beerbower-Headstone in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana. Posted with permission of photographer.

 

Matilda Louise MacElvey (or Matilda L. McKelvey) was born possibly in Massachusetts or more probably in Missouri on 27 Jan 1823 to unknown parents. At age 16 she married Eleazer John Beerbower (or John Eleazer Beerbower- German folks used their two names interchangeably throughout their lives, and he also was known as E.J. Beerbower); he was 23. They married 07 Mar 1839, and one year later, at age 17, she became the mother of twins on 01 Apr 1840. Son Polaski only lived 10 days, but his twin Caspar, named after Eleazer’s father and grandfather, survived longer, though only to 9 months and 25 days. The twins were buried in Dovel Memorial Cemetery, Pickerington, Fairfield, Ohio, so probably were also born in the area.

In 1842 the family was still living in Ohio where son Samuel T. Beerbower was born on 10 Nov 1842. He may have been named in honor of his paternal uncle, Samuel Beerbower (1824-1890). In August of 1844, at age 21, Matilda gave birth to son George who only survived 3 days; he also is buried in Dovel Memorial Cemetery. How sad it must have been to lose three precious children so early in life!

Healthy children, thankfully, then followed every few years to join their sibling Samuel T. Beerbower: Stephen Russell Beerbower was born in 1845 in Ohio; James M. Beerbower on 02 Mar 1848 in Ohio; Edgar P. Beerbower was born 28 Jun 1849 in Pinkerington, Fairfield County, Ohio. (He is your ancestor if you are descended from Anna May Beerbower Helbling; he was sometimes called Edward P. Beerbower instead of Edgar.)

In 1849, the family moved to Delaware, Delaware County, Ohio; in 1850, they uprooted again and moved to Marion County, Ohio. Eleazer was a saddle and harness maker there, a trade he had learned as a young man.

A daughter was finally born into the family: Mary Emma Beerbower, born 10 Mar 1852 in Marion, Ohio, followed by another son, Eleazer John Beerbower, named after his father, on 10 May 1858, also in Marion County, Ohio.  Matilda had given birth to a child every 1-3 years previously, before this six year gap. Matilda was just 35 when their ninth child was born.

In 1866, John (Eleazer John Sr.) moved to Indianapolis for a new job, but Matilda and the family stayed in Marion for one year before joining him. We have been unable to find a record of the family in the 1870 US Federal Census in Indianapolis, but the indexing of the name has some pretty creative spelling; hopefully they will turn up one of these days. They were found again in the Indianapolis 1880 census, with John working in the upholstery business.

Matilda’s husband John died at age 67 in Indianapolis on 24 Oct 1882.

The biography of son Samuel T. Beerbower states his widowed mother was living in Indianapolis in 1883. The Indianapolis City Directory of 1885 lists Matilda as the widow of Eleazer J., living at 5 Vine St.

Matilda is found again in the 1900 US Federal Census taken 9 June 1900. She was the head of household and living at 605 East Pratt St. in Indianapolis with her divorced son, Edgar Peter Beerbower (our ancestor- they got back together though and remarried- a story for another day). The census also notes that Matilda was born in June 1828, had 9 children, 6 still living, and that her parents were born in Maryland.

Matilda L. (MacElvey) Beerbower- Death Notice in The Indianapolis Journal_v50_n200_p8_c1.
Matilda L. (MacElvey) Beerbower- Death Notice in The Indianapolis Journal. (Click to enlarge.)

Matilda (McKelvey) Beerbower died about 5 weeks after the census, on 18 Jul 1900, at the age of 77. She had suffered from heart trouble for a number of years. (Understandable with the loss of so many loved ones!) She was laid to rest in Crown Hill Cemetery, Section 32, Lot 202, on 21 Jul 1900. Two of her dear sons, Edgar Peter and Stephen Russell, were later buried in the same lot.

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Polaski  Beerbower Memorial on Find A Grave: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=42557087

2) Caspar Beerbower Memorial on Find A Grave: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Beerbower&GSiman=1&GRid=42557101&

3) Samuel T. Beerbower on Find A Grave, which includes a bio of his parents. Have been unable to yet find the source of the FAG info. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=88047453

4) 1860 US Federal Census: Source Citation: Year: 1860; Census Place: Marion, Marion, Ohio; Roll: M653_1006; Page: 326; Image: 123; Family History Library Film: 805006.

5) 1880 US Federal census: Source Citation: Year: 1880; Census Place: Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana; Roll: 295; Family History Film: 1254295; Page: 227B; Enumeration District: 113; Image: 0156.

6) 1900 US Federal census: Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana; Roll: 387; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 0044; FHL microfilm: 1240387.

7) US City Directory for Indianapolis, Indiana: Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

8) Matilda L. MacElvey Beerbower Memorial on Find A Grave: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=BEE&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSst=17&GScntry=4&GSsr=2641&GRid=45869801&

9) “Found Dead in Bed, Mrs. Matilda Beerbower, an Old Resident of the City,” in The Indianapolis Journal, July 19, 1900, Vol 50, Number 200, Page 8, Column 1.  https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=IJ19000719.1.8&srpos=11&e=——-en-20–1–txt-txIN-+Beerbower—–#. Indiana newspapers may also be found on the Chronicling America website.

10) The History of Marion County, Ohio…Leggett, Conaway, & Co., Chicago, 1883, pages 531, 555-6: https://archive.org/stream/historyofmarionc00legg#page/n5/mode/2up 

11) See our Beerbower Family Tree Page by clicking this link.

 

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Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

 
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Anna May (Beerbower) Helbling

Anna Mae Beerbower, later Helbling.
Anna Mae Beerbower, later Helbling.

Lisa Alzo, one of my favorite genealogy rock stars, is commemorating National Women’s History Month with  “Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month” on her blog “The Accidental Genealogist.” She hopes these prompts will help us tell the story of our female ancestors. Today’s prompt is: Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?

First of all, some may ask why women need a month of their own- Women’s History Month- isn’t that sexist? Yes, in a way, but since “History is written by the victors.” (said Winston Churchill, but you can also substitute ‘powerful’ for ‘victors’), women have a bit of catching up to do. It is especially hard to track women through history as well, since most lose their birth name when they marry (except French women, some Scandinavians, and other uppity women here and there). Most women even lose their first name when they say, “I do,” such as Anna becoming “Mrs. G. W. Helbling.”

Interestingly, women get their first name back when they become widows, so if Anna had predeceased her husband, she would have become “Mrs. Anna Helbling.” This knowledge helps pinpoint when a husband died, or left/divorced, as I am finding out about some of the women in my tree who became “widows” while their husband was still alive.

Since land and money were usually controlled by the male head of household, women again leave no tracks, not even in the US Federal censuses, until 1850.

But I digress with justifying why women need their own history month. Back to Anna May.

 

Anna May Beerbower is one of my favorite ancestors- I feel as if I know her, from the stories I have heard all my life. I actually did meet her, but was just a month or two old; I probably only remember the stories of those meetings, rather than actual memories of those times. My mother always did a good job making sure that we knew a lot about the ancestors she loved and knew.

This photo was probably taken 1895-1905 when Anna May was a teenager. I love the innocence in her face, and how sweet her curls are, especially the perfectly placed curl in the middle of her forehead.

 

There will be more about Anna May in future posts.

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Family photo collection.

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Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

 
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, 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.

 

 

Art in Artifacts: Helbling Gravy Boat

Helbling gravy boat-2
Every once in a while, there is an object that is just SO LOVELY that it becomes a part of your soul, and the above heirloom gravy boat is one of those objects for me.

The gravy boat sat in the china cabinet in our dining room as I grew up. We did not use the dining room very often, and I don’t ever remember using the gravy boat. Maybe it was too precious, or maybe all the cracks in the glaze made it unsafe to use. We didn’t have gravy often- my mother was a minimalist cook, plus she would have had her own gravy boat to match her china. So this lovely object sat in the china cabinet, which really was a museum of our family history and reminder of times gone by. I would lovingly dust it a few times per year, thinking of my grandparents, and how life must have been for my mother growing up, the youngest in a family of eight. It was her job to dust just as it was mine, and I felt her fear of dropping such a beautiful object or even chipping such a special piece that showcased the assets of a family.

So what is a ‘gravy boat’? A gravy boat, sauce boat, or sauciere is an oval table service piece that looks like a low, elongated pitcher. Most have handles for pouring out the sauce; others, such as this, are lower and have one or two long lips at the end, and may have a handle or not. Sauce could be poured but usually a gravy ladle would be used if there was no handle on the gravy boat. Gravy boats had a matching oval plate or saucer that was attached, or it might be separate, as in this piece. The saucer would have a depression into which the foot of the gravy boat sat so it didn’t slide if slippery gravy was dripped onto the plate, or while it was passed hand-to-hand around the big table. The saucer was also important to prevent gravy stains on the nice tablecloth- and that would have been cloth of the old fashioned kind- a linen or cotton that would also need starch and ironing after washing. (They had no quick-wipe plastic or easy care permanent-press polyester tablecloths like we have today.) A matching porcelain gravy ladle might have also been used, or the family might use their sterling silver or silverplate gravy ladle. The oval shape and spout-like ends of the gravy boat are designed to pour but also to hold the ladle without it slipping down into the gravy, though proper manners dictated that the gravy ladle at least start the meal sitting on the saucer. (See source #4 for an example of a similar set with plate.) I do not remember a plate for our treasured heirloom, so it was probably broken long before my time.

Helbling gravy boat_closeup
The decoration on this gravy boat is so very delicate and pretty. Sweet pansies or violas were hand painted in two lucious purples, and the raised gold is set off by beautiful white porcelain. It is authentic Noritake Nippon Hand Painted china as it has the correct mark, plus I know the chain of custody. The gravy boat would have been made between 1890 and 1918, probably, as the McKinley Tariff Act required “Japan” be used on imported pieces after 1921, although Japan had already started using the name of their country on export china shortly after WWI.

Helbling gravy boat_mark
This lovely object belonged to Anna Mae Beerbower (1881-1954) and her husband, William Gerard Helbling (1882-1971)- or Gerard William Helbling- he switched the order of his names throughout the years as good Germans often did. They were married 24 November 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, the year of the World’s Fair. Maybe this was a wedding gift, or a special Christmas, anniversary, or birthday gift. The family was of modest means, but such lovely objects graced their table, even if there was not enough income to buy a lot of food, especially in the tough economies of the 1920s through the 1940s.

Interestingly, a daughter of the family was named Viola Gertrude Helbling (1913-1971). I wonder if my grandmother was partial to violas, the flowers? They have always been a favorite of mine, and my mother loved them too.

Somehow, KFC gravy in a styrofoam cup with plastic lid seems even more unappetizing after thinking about this lovely heirloom gravy boat.

Notes and References:

1) Family oral tradition.

2) Noritake Nippon mark: http://www.noritakecollectorsguild.info/researchers/lisalondon/fakenipponguide.pdf

3) Noritake history: http://www.antique-marks.com/noritake-china.html

4) Similar: http://www.rubylane.com/item/274555-20-229/Vintage-Early-1900-Noritake-Gold

 

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Copyright 2013 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.