Family Christmas Connections Part 2

On this Christmas Eve, I thought I’d share my WikiTree connection to the beloved The Christmas Song crooner Nat King Cole. My parents loved that big band and smooth singing of Nat, Frank and Dean. Their songs became the background music of my childhood. Natalie Cole’s tribute to her daddy, Unforgettable always brings a smile to my heart and a tear to my eye.

Nathanial Adam Coles was born 17 Mar 1919 to Perlina Adams and Edward James Coles in Montgomery, Alabama. The Reverend Coles moved to a new church in Chicago, IL when Nat was 3. Nat and his brothers, Ike, Eddie and Freddy, got their music start thanks to their choir director mama. By age 14 Nat had formed his first band. He hit the charts with his next group the King Cole Trio, penning several of their hits. As his fame grew, he moved into a solo career and starred in his own TV show, The Nat King Cole Show. A chain smoker, he died of lung cancer. Posthumously he gained a new generation of fans when daughter Natalie with the help of modern technology recorded several duets with her father.

Missing my daddy, I can only imagine the heartache in the Cole family that February 1965 when first Grandpa Coles passed on the 2^nd only to be followed by his famous son thirteen days later. The last of the Cole brothers, Freddy Cole, past away a few months ago at age 88.

Family Christmas Connections Part 1

This morning I received an email from WikiTree showing how I am connected to several famous singers known for some of my favorite Christmas tunes. Over the next few days, I will be sharing these finds. 

“Bing’ Harry Lillis Crosby Jr, [born May 3, 1903, Tacoma, Washington, U.S. – died October 14, 1977, near Madrid, Spain]. Harry became known as Bing as a young kid; after his favorite comic strip, The Bingville Bugle. The Academy Award winner starred in song filled movies including Going My Way, High Society and White Christmas.

The Crosby family has long ties in America. Great Grandfather Captain Nathaniel Crosby #3 on the chart [1810-1856] moved the family from the east coast to the west coast to capitalize on the California Gold Rush shipping timber to China. Bing’s 3^rd great-grandfather Private Nathaniel Crosby, #5 on the chart [1733-1827] fought in the American Revolution. The first Crosby immigrant, Simon Crosby emigrated to New England in 1635 aboard the Susan & Ellen.

 

Bing Crosby’s co-star in White Christmas, Rosemary Clooney is also a WikiTree connection. A 6^th generation Kentuckian, Rosemary [23 May 1928 in Maysville, Kentucky – died 29 Jun 2002 in Beverly Hills, California] has family dating back to the beginnings of the state. Her 4x great grandfather Colonel William L. Farrow arrived with his widowed mother to the Kentucky frontier in the summer of 1784.

Rosemary began her show biz career singing with her sister Betty. Primarily known as a singer, her hits include Hey There, This Ole House, Half as Much and Tenderly; she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Roxbury Wreaths Across America Covid Edition

Like most things this year, Covid mucked up this year's Wreaths Across America event in Roxbury. Pivoting we scrapped the popular indoor remembrance ceremony, extended wreath laying over two days, and I pulled an all-nighter putting the last pieces of the virtual ceremony video together. 

Hopefully next year we will be back inside the sanctuary for our remembrance ceremony and Fellowship Hall for our post event lunch. To that end, Wreaths Across America is kicking off the fundraising season by matching any wreaths sponsored to RoxburyWAA.org between December 19 – January 15

The 10th President of the United States has a Grandson Still Living in 2020!

Cool Historical Fact Learned Today

10th US President John Tyler

The 10^th President of the United States has a grandson still living in 2020! President John Tyler [1790-1862] served as President from 1841-1845. Vice President John Tyler became President after William Henry Harrison’s death only one month into his presidency. While President, John married for the second time at age 54 to twenty four year old Julia Gardiner. President Tyler only served on term then moved he and Julia moved back to Virginia.¹ John and Julia had seven children:

David Gardiner Tyler [12 Jul 1846 - 5 Sep 1927]
John Alexander Tyler Jr [7 Apr 1848 - 1 Sep 1883]
Julia Tyler [25 Dec 1849 - 8 May 1871]
Lachlan Tyler [2 Dec 1851 - 26 Jan 1902]
Lyon Gardiner Tyler [24 Aug 1853 -12 Feb 1935]
Robert Fitzwalter Tyler [12 Mar 1856 - 31 Dec 1927]
Margaret Pearl Tyler [20 Jun 1860 -30 Jun 1947]²

President Tyler died in 1862 when Lyon was only eight. Like his father Lyon married twice. First to Anne Tucker, then at age 70, to Sue Ruffin. Lyon and Sue had three children:

Lyon Gardiner Jr. [3 Jan 1925 – 26 Sep 2020]
Harrison Ruffin Tyler [ 1928 - ]
Henry Tyler [18 Jan 1930 - 26 Jan 1930]³

Little Harrison was only seven when his father Lyon Sr died, his mother passed away when he was 25. Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and great-grandfather, Harrison graduated from William and Mary in 1949 with an engineering degree. Cool side note, Harrison’s great-grandfather Virginia Governor John Tyler⁴ was college roommates with Thomas Jefferson. Father, Lyon Sr did not attend William and Mary however was the college’s President for 34 years from 1888 to1919. Back to current day, Harrison’s brother Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr recently passed away in September 2020⁵, leaving Harrison, at age 91, the last of President Tyler’s grandchildren still living.

Sources:

1] https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/john-tyler/ 

2] https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Tyler-150

3] https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Tyler-149

4] https://www.wm.edu/as/history/news/news-archive/2001-2005_archive/harrison-ruffin-tyler-49-pledges-5-million-to-lyon-gardiner-tyler-department-of-history.php

5] https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/lyon-g-tyler-jr-grandson-of-president-john-tyler-dies-at-95/2020/10/10/6c5825c8-0a60-11eb-859b-f9c27abe638d_story.html

Relative Finder Says I'm Related to George Washington!

While playing around with FamilySearch.org I found a new toy - Relative Finder, which I suppose is their answer to the now defunct We're Related app by Ancestry. Relative Finder has found connections to 180 famous, infamous and otherwise notable people including 13 US Presidents. I was aware of distant connections to two presidents, Herbert Hoover & Richard Nixon through my own research. Today I verified my connector ancestors to George Washington. 

Curious thing as I look at this chart, my patriot ancestor Bancroft Woodcock and George Washington are 6th cousins. Contemporaries, the two corresponded with at least one letter from Bancroft to the General still in existence. At one point when Wilmington, Delaware was under consideration to become the US capitol, Bancroft's beloved Bellveau set upon a hill overlooking the city was a candidate for the presidential residence. 

Laundry, errands and reports beckon, more discoveries will have to wait until another day. 

Happy Birthday Samuel H Burket!

Today is my 2^nd Great Grandpa Samuel H Burket’s 179th birthday. He was born in April 21, 1841 to John Burket and Elizabeth Ulrich Brown. He was a lifelong member of the Church of the Brethren and resident of Hopewell, PA. Samuel followed in his father’s footsteps farming their land in Yellow Creek. Married twice to women named Mary; with the first Mary [Weaverling, 1841-1872] with whom he had three children – David, John & Elizabeth. The second Mary [Fluke Replogle, 1843-1912] a widow, also brought three children to the marriage. 

Black Beauty by Ann Sewell

A neat find while researching Samuel - he liked to read. These blurbs were in the Everett Press back in 1894.  In honor of his birthday and his liking of Black Beauty I re-read the book during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

With the 1918 Pandemic raging across the country his daughter Elizabeth died in September 7, 1918 of acute meningitis while Samuel died of a stroke on March 19, 1919 at age 77.

Right to Vote - Check, Run for Office - Check

In my last post, I wrote about my nana and her mother gaining the right to vote. Since then, I have been introduced to a new ancestor on my dad’s side who went beyond casting a vote. Eusebia Krise born 1884 in Altoona, lived most of her life in the New York City area. Eusebia was 35 years old, single, working as a clerk for a furniture store in New York City when she gained the right to vote in 1920.

Eusebia's Candidate Photo

Two years later, living in the Junior League Hotel for Women at 78th Street and East River, New York City she decided to run for the 16th District New York State Senate seat as a Prohibition Party candidate. The Prohibition Party founded in 1869 is the nation’s third-oldest operating political party. Since 1872, the party has fielded presidential and vice presidential candidates every four years. The Prohibition Party was formed by a group of disillusioned Republicans defecting from the GOP, believing that big business had claimed their party. They decided to focus their new party on the continuing problems caused by alcohol. The new forward-thinking party also sought suffrage for women and was the first to grant women equal status as convention delegates. As a modern single working woman it is understandable why Eusebia would have been drawn to the party's women's plank. While we have not found any concrete information that Eusebia actively participated in the suffrage or prohibition movements, it seems logical she must have been involved in one if not both the movements, given her run for office on the Prohibition ticket. As the only woman running for the office she came in 4th in the field of five. Clearly this was a lady ahead of her time, and I am proud to call her cousin.

For my Armstrong cousins this diagram shows how Eusebia Krise fits into our family tree.  After a DNA match led me to Lewis Krise I have had contact with one of his great granddaughters who is a wealth of information on this branch of our family including providing pictures of Eusebia. There is a question as to whether Lewis Krise was Eusebia’s biological father. However, Lewis treated her like a daughter, and she carried the Krise name so she’s family.

#familyhistory #womensvote100 

100th Anniversary of Women's Right to Vote

Ritts Family Reunion Circa 1927

This photo popped up on my Facebook timeline today. As we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Ratification of the 19th Amendment, I reflect on what a difference the suffrage movement had on the women in this picture. My Great Grandma, Lizzie Hudson Ritts [1866-1947] was a grandmother many times over before casting her first ballot. While my Nana, Mary Ritts Burket [1893-1981] was married and had a daughter before gaining the right to vote. My Aunt Maybelle Burket Gillespie [1917-1992] age three 100 years ago was part of the first generation of women to grow up with the right to vote. #WomensVote100

Mary Ritts Burket and Lizzie Hudson Ritts

Maybelle Burket Gillespie with her parents and childern