Alpena County – Genealogist on a Journey

Week 12: Loss: Fire Devastates the Hawley Family

Rebecca Walbecq — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 01:44:13 +0000

Not once, but twice the William Hawley family was devastated by fire. The logging industry was a primary industry in Northern Michigan in the late 1800s and early 1900s. William Hawley's family was no exception.

William moved his family from upstate New York to Long Rapids Township, Alpena County, Michigan in about 1867.

Although William classifies himself as a farmer on both the 1870 and 1880 US census, his family, being in the mostly unpopulated area of Long Rapids Township, was surrounded by the logging industry

In May of 1874, William was living in Long Rapids Township with his second wife Sara Ann Healy, and their five children; From William's first marriage Franklin Hawley, Charles Hawley, and Minnie Hawley, and from his marriage to Sarah were Ellen and William.

The great influence of people during the logging era, and the large areas of dry pine slash increased both the possibility of fire and the intensity of those which occurred. Many reached tremendous proportions, burning unchecked for weeks or months through slashings, standing timber, cities and settlements, causing human misery, death, and waste. There is evidence to show that these lumbering era fires destroyed more merchantable timber than was cut.[zref]HSRBI9B5[/zref]

On Saturday, May 12th, 1874 tragedy struck William's family in the form of a forest fire.

[zref]"The Fires in Alpena County," Article, Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, 14 May 1874, In the Township of Long Rapids, , p. 1, col. 8;; online images, Newspapers.com (www.Newspapers.com : Downloaded 9 January 2019); https://www.newspapers.com/image/118157662/?terms=The%2BFires%2Bin%2BAlpena%2BCounty%2BHawley.[/zref]

[zref]"Long Rapids," Article, Alpena Argus, Alpena County, Michigan, 13 May 1874, Details about fire at residence of William Hawley Family; online images, Newspapers.com (WWW.Newspapers.com : Viewed 19 April 2021). Page 3.[/zref]

From these two newspaper articles, one from the Detroit Free Press and the other from the Alpena Argus, we learn that William Hawley and his family suffered a catastrophic loss. The family lost two houses, all household goods, two barns, and all that was inside of them.

But even worse than the financial and structural loss was the personal loss. The Hawley family barely escaped with their lives. The children were all injured in some fashion. The heroine of the story is Mrs. Sarah Ann Hawley. While trying to save her son William Martin Hawley who was 10 months old, Sara's dress caught fire and she was only saved by tearing it off.

21 years later, the family was once again devastated by fire. on September 11th, 1898 fire once again destroyed their property. The family was living in Rust Township in the Village of Hillman, Montmorency County, Michigan.

[zref]"Forest Fires in Hillman," Article, Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, 13 September 1895, p. 3, col. 2, William Hawley; online images, Newspapers.com (www.Newspapers.com : downloaded 10 January 2019); https://www.newspapers.com/image/121684334.[/zref]

This time, the fire destroyed the Hawley barn and everything inside it. The total loss caused by the fire, including the Hawley property, was $3,000. That would be a value of $94,598.93 today.

The Hawley family continued living in the Hillman area until about 1909 when they moved back to Alpena County to live in Ossineke. To my knowledge, the eager enemy called fire did not strike the family again.

Week 10: Name’s the Same: The Schooner Annie Faught

Rebecca Walbecq — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 17:54:56 +0000

I typically research newspapers using the website Newspapers.com to find details about the lives of my ancestors that may not be available in other typical genealogical sources.

When searching for information about my second great grandmother Mary Anna (Annie) Faught, I found information not only about her but also some unexpected results. Annie Faught was born in 1870 and passed away in 1929. During her lifetime she was not the only one to go by the name of Annie Faught.

I found several articles about a boat named "Annie Faught". As far as I know, there is no connection between my second great grandmother Annie Faught and the schooner by the same name.

The schooner Annie Faught was built in the unincorporated community of Lakeport in Burtchville Township, St. Clair County, Michigan in 1872. The 10 ton schooner was owned by John Hoskins. Schooners were built primarily for cargo, passengers, and fishing.

The "Annie Faught", with a cargo capacity of only 10 tons, seems to be on the small end of the schooners typically built during this time.

In general, ships grew larger as shipbuilding technology improved through the 19th century. The dimensions of Lakes vessels were always limited, however, by the shallow connecting channels and harbors. When the infamous shoals were dredged at the St. Clair Flats in the late 1860s, a whole fleet of large schooners was built for the grain and iron ore trades, including 200 big three-masters and a few four-masters. The new schooners, 200 feet in length and drawing 16 feet, were constructed between 1870 and 1874, until a financial panic ended the temporary boom. Only for a little while longer would the large capacities of the new schooners enable them to compete with the growing fleets of steam-powered freighters. [zref]U7BPDN95[/zref]

Below are some of the articles that I found on the schooner named Annie Faught. It appears that luck was not always in her favor.

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On 13 May 1874, the Port Huron Times reported that someone had stolen the schooner ANNIE FAUGHT and that John Hoskins, the owner, was offering a reward for her recovery.[zref]Z74UDEQ5[/zref]

A Schooner, a sailing ship rigged with fore-and-aft sails on its two or more masts. To the foremast there may also be rigged one or more square topsails or, more commonly, one or more jib sails or Bermuda sails (triangular sails extending forward to the bowsprit or jibboom).[zref]PZF5E22D[/zref]

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Research can take us in some odd directions. Although, I was not able to connect the little schooner name Annie Faught to my ancestor, the research that I did may come in handy someday. Lakeport, where the schooner was built, was only about 40 miles from Sanilac County, Michigan where Annie was born. Who knows....

Week 9: Multiples: The fate of William and Frances Faught

Rebecca Walbecq — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 02:52:36 +0000

The theme for week 9 of the 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge is multiples. I was struggling with this theme. Nothing jumped out at me that was interesting enough to write about.

But thanks to Valerie Hughes from the "Genealogy with Valerie" blog, my writers block was cured. Valerie wrote about finding several lines where she descended from two siblings in her blog post Multiple ~ 52 Ancestors 52 Weeks #28. This blog post is not about the same topic, but Valerie sparked an idea. You should check her post out when you get a chance.

My story for you this week is about my 3rd great grand uncle William Faught and his son Francis (Frank) Faught.

William Faught, the brother of my 3rd great grandfather George Faught, was the son of Irish immigrants born in New York in about 1835.

William married Sarah Ann Miller on January 13th, 1864 in Sanilac County, Michigan.

William and Sarah were blessed with their first child Frank Faught in October of 1865 and their second child Philip Faught in 1866. Based on census and death records, it appears that WIlliam and Sarah had two additional children that passed away during childbirth or at a very young age.

Sarah and William moved to Long Rapids Township, Alpena County, Michigan sometime between their marriage in 1864 and June 4th, 1870 when they were recorded in the 1870 census.

Based on an 1889 Alpena City directory, the 1900 US census and newspaper articles about Frank's death, William and Sarah's son Phillip Faught passed away sometime between 1889 and June 26th, 1900. I have not yet found a death certificate for Phillip.

William's wife Sarah passed away on November 16th, 1902. Leaving William widowed.

Based on the 1900 census and the newspaper article that I found, Frank was unmarried and living with his parents on their farm in Maple Ridge Township in Alpena County.

On September 6th, 1909, WIlliam died of heart disease and old age. His death certificate states that he died at the "County House". My assumption is that this was a poor house.

So you are probably wondering what this story has to do with the theme of multiples...

Well, Frank Faught passed away on September 10, 1909, only 4 days after his father. It appears, from the newspaper articles that I found, that Frank died of heart disease while walking down one of the main streets of Alpena.

The death certificates of both William and Phillip are below. You will notice that Frank is listed as the informer on William's death certificate.

I'm not sure that I would have made this connection, but the untimely death of both father and son in the same week from the same disease made the newspaper. Their deaths were reported in both the Detroit Free Press and the News-Palladium newspaper of Benton Harbor, Michigan.

Both articles can be found below.

Death of Frank Faught Mon, Sep 13, 1909 – 5 · The News-Palladium (Benton Harbor, Michigan) · Newspapers.com

Deaths of Francis and William Faught - Alpena 11 Sep 1909, Sat Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) Newspapers.com

Interesting enough, when I started this post I was focused on William and Frank Faught. However, while writing it I realized that all four Faught family members, William, Sarah, Frank and Phillip died between 1889 and 1909. So within a 10 year time period every member of the William Faught family had passed. That is definitely multiple deaths in a family in a short time period.

Week 8: Power: Street Lamps in Alpena

Rebecca Walbecq — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 02:17:00 +0000

One of the many topics that I have fallen in love with as I have been researching my own family history is the history of my home town of Alpena, Michigan.

Although Alpena was and still is a small town, there is so much history to share. In this blog post I want to dig further into the history of Alpena and how electricity, specifically street lamps, came to this small town.

Anamicke (Native American name for Thunder) was settled around 1840 and in 1843 the small town was given the name Alpena, which is a native American word for partridge or bird. Alpena was officially incorporated in 1871.

Ten years later, in 1881, Alpena Power Company was formed. The first entry in their construction accounts is dated November 30, 1881.

By November 29th, 1882, a special committee on Electric light had been formed and after inquiries into the cost per street lamp in both Bay City and Saginaw, the committee members recommended that the city of Alpena pay $95 per light. This payment was for not less than fourteen lights to be lit throughout the night.

The next article that I found in the "Alpena Argus" newspaper talks about 14 - 16 street lamps to be erected throughout the city of Alpena.

The article below does not only speak to the number and locations of the new street lamps but the author goes into quite of detail about the cost involved in setting up and maintaining the lamps.

In summary, the new street lamps will cost the City of Alpena between $80 and $90 a year. The actual amount is dependent on the number of carbons used by each street lamp

An arc lamp or arc light is a lamp that produces light by an electric arc (also called a voltaic arc).

The carbon arc light, which consists of an arc between carbon electrodes in air, invented by Humphry Davy in the first decade of the 1800s, was the first practical electric light.^[1] It was widely used starting in the 1870s for street and large building lighting until it was superseded by the incandescent light in the early 20th century.^[1] It continued in use in more specialized applications where a high intensity point light source was needed, such as searchlights and movie projectors until after World War II. The carbon arc lamp is now obsolete for most of these purposes, but it is still used as a source of high intensity ultraviolet light.

In popular use, the term arc lamp means carbon arc lamp only. In a carbon arc lamp, the electrodes are carbon rods in free air. To ignite the lamp, the rods are touched together, thus allowing a relatively low voltage to strike the arc.^[1] The rods are then slowly drawn apart, and electric current heats and maintains an arc across the gap. The tips of the carbon rods are heated and the carbon vaporizes. The carbon vapor in the arc is highly luminous, which is what produces the bright light.^[1] The rods are slowly burnt away in use, and the distance between them needs to be regularly adjusted in order to maintain the arc.^[1]

The location of the new street lamps are as follows:

One at the corner of Dock (Dock street is now 2nd Ave) and Miller Streets, in the vicinity of the M.E. Church (St. Mary's)
One at the corner of Dock and Fletcher Streets, in the vicinity of Bolton & McRae's
One at the corner of Commercial and Oldfield Streets
One at the corner of Fletcher and Pine Streets, just above the Sherman house
One at the corner of Water and First Streets, near the brick block of Fletcher Pack & Co,, and will serve to ight up the campus martius, the approach the Fletcher house, the entrance to the steamboat landing and other needed places
One at the corner of Water and Second Streets, in the vicinity of the bridge
One at the corner of River and Third Streets, in the vicinity of Engine house No.1
One at the corner of Chisholm and Second Streets, in the vicinity of the Alpine Block
One at the corner of Washington Avenue and Second Street, near the Congregational Church
One at the corner of First and Hitchcock Streets
One at the corner of Dunbar and State Streets, for the sole purpose of the genius of the organ, to light his weary steps home, after he has had a novel and difficult struggle with an idea - an undertaking not frequent with him

One at the corner of Dunbar and Second Streets, which will try to abolish darkness in the vicinity of the Central school house
One at the corner of Washington Avenue and Forth Street, adjacent to the residence of W.H. Potter, and for which our reporter intends to return his thanks if it should do what is expected of it
One at the corner of Fourth and Lockwood Streets
One at the corner of Fifth and Chisholm Streets.
It is also thought that a lamp will be erected for the purpose of demolishing the darkness in the vicinity of the house formally occupied by Mr. Hitchcock.

The map below highlights each of the proposed locations for the new streetlamps in Alpena.

This was an interesting exercise for me. Because I used to live on Hitchcock street between 1st and 2nd street. So one of these new street lamps that the article is referring to was less than one block from my home.

By 1886, the number of street lamps in Alpena grew from under 20 to 67.

I haven't been able to find how many street lamps are located in Alpena today, at least not through my online research. However, we can be sure that it is more than 67.

Thanks for joining me on the journey through the beginning of street lamps in my hometown. I have found several very interesting things during my research for this blog post. I expect you will be hearing more about the history of Alpena, Michigan in the near future.

Charles at Large: Another Mystery Solved with DNA

Rebecca Walbecq — Wed, 17 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Background

In My last blog post, Charles at Large: The Search for Charles Hawley, I wrote about my great granduncle Charles Hawley and his disappearing act in the summer of 1910.

As I have written about before, I have been doing significant research into Hawley DNA connections. This research has led to the discovery of my 3rd great grandparents, Daniel Hawley and Sarah Sally Huff. You can read more about this discovery in my blog post; Parents of William Hawley... Proven Through DNA...?

The DNA Connection

As part of this continued research, I frequently check my DNA connections on Ancestry.com for the surname Hawley. Recently I found two new connections. Both of these connections had one name in common, Charles Hawley.

The first connection, we will call her J.M., is the 2nd great granddaughter of Charles Hawley and Sarah Flewelling. The second connection that I found, we will call her, J.H.B., was a shared connection with J.M.

J.H.B. also had a Charles Hawley in her tree, who was her great-grandfather. This man also had a son by the name of George Russell Hawley and lived in California. All seemed to be fitting into place very well. I was starting to get excited.

Let me break down some of the DNA results for you. Hopefully, this will help you to understand my excitement.

We already know that J.H.B. was connected to J.M., the 2nd great granddaughter of Charles Hawley and Sarah Flewelling. She is also connected to another direct descendant of Charles's, Charon Hawley. Charon Hawley is the great granddaughter of Charles Hawley and Sarah Flewelling. In fact, J.H.B. and Charon share a very strong DNA connection (279 cm over 10 different segments). To further prove J.H.B.'s connection to the Hawley family, she is also connected to me (Rebecca (McKenzie) Walbecq, my paternal uncle Robert McKenzie and my paternal aunt Betty (McKenzie) Krzewinski.

I have access to the detailed DNA results for myself, Robert, Betty, and Charon. You can see below the assumed relationship, predicted DNA relationship based on the amount of shared DNA and the proposed most recent common ancestor (MRCA), as well as, the amount of DNA shared.

J.H.B. also shares DNA with the following other members of the Hawley family. I have also included the assumed relationship and proposed MRCA for each of these connections below.

Based on the DNA evidence, there didn't seem to be any doubt that J.H.B. was a descendant of Charles Hawley.

However, anyone that does genealogy and especially those that work with DNA results know, it is NEVER that easy!

Confusion

Therein begins the confusion and the journey to determine if two men, with two different families, could be the same person. To make my comparisons easier to understand, I will refer to my great granduncle as Charles 1 and the great grandfather of J.H.B. as Charles 2. You will see why this is needed shortly.

The first thing I realized was that the great grandfather of J.H.B., Charles Henry Hawley (Charles 2), was quite a bit younger than my great granduncle Charles (Charles 1).

Based on the Ancestry.com tree of J.H.B., Charles 2, was born on October 21, 1875, in New York. He married Hattie Josephine Schunk in about 1910. They had two children; George Russell Hawley (Born in 1913 in Bellflower, Los Angeles, California) and Violet Audrey Hawley (born in 1914 in Buena Park, Orange, California). He died in October of 1975 in Downey, Los Angeles, California.

Well, that did not match what I knew about my great granduncle Charles 1. Based on my records, Charles 1 was born in March of 1859, most likely in Nunda, Livingston, New York. This was a 16 year age gap.

At this point in my post, it may be helpful to read my last post, Charles at Large: The Search for Charles Hawley, if you haven't done so already.

In the case, that you have read my last post, but could use a little refresher, I will provide a brief summary of the life of Charles 1.

Charles 1 was born in March of 1859 to William Hawley and Mercy Brown. He had two siblings; an older brother Frank and a younger sister Minnie Bell. Charles 1 moved to Long Rapids, Alpena, Michigan in about 1866. He married Sarah Flewelling in about 1885. They lived in Ogemaw County and had eight children. The youngest being George Russell Hawley, born on July 29th, 1902 in Cumming, Ogemaw, Michigan.
Sometime between 1902 and 1910, Charles 1 seems to have left his wife and children and moved to California. Sometime between 1910 and 1920, Charles 1 and Sarah are divorced and we know that he was living in Buena Park, Orange, California on August 28th, 1914. This folks has always been the end of the story, as we knew it, for Charles 1.

So, how could Charles 2, the great grandfather of J.H.B., be the same man as Charles 1? They were born 16 years apart from one another. No one could get away with pretending to be 16 years younger for so many years, or so I thought.

I could have given up right then, and if it hadn't had been for such a strong DNA connection, I may have. But somewhere deep in my gut, I just had a feeling that these two men were one and the same.

In the next section, I will walk you through a comparison of the lives of Charles 1 and Charles 2, so that you can see the similarities

Comparison

We know that Charles 1 left for California sometime between 1902 and 1910. We also know that he returned back to the home of his father and stepmother in Ossineke, Alpena, Michigan on June 9th, 1910 to be with his ailing step-brother George. We know that his father William and stepmother Sarah must have returned to California with him because William died in Bellflower, Los Angeles, California on August 28th, 1914.

This is where it gets interesting. As I mentioned before, Charles 2 married Hattie Josephine Schunk around 1910. I know this based on the 1920 census.

As any genealogist should do, I started to research Hattie. It turns out that Hattie Schunk was born on March 21st, 1893 in Saint Clair, Saint Clair, Michigan to Jacob August Schunk and Minnie P. Bugermeister. The Michigan connection was interesting, so I researched further.

My next step was to determine where and when Charles 2 and Hattie were married. If I could prove that they met and married at a time and place that Charles 1 could not have been, then my theory would be disproved. Just the opposite happened.

Hattie was living with her parents and two siblings; Daisy and Herbert, in Ossineke, Alpena, Michigan in 1900 and 1910. So now we know that Hattie is living in Ossineke, right around the same time that Charles 1 returned from California to visit his ailing brother. Could they have met during that summer of 1910? It seems very possible. Ossineke was and still is a small community and the Hawley family was, by all accounts, well know and well liked.

Now that I know there is a possibility that Charles 1 and Hattie could have met in Ossineke, I wanted to move my research to California and the life of Charles 2 and Hattie there.

The first thing I looked at was the birth of the children of Charles 2 and Hattie. Their first child George Russell Hawley was born on April 11, 1913, in Bellflower, Los Angeles, California. This is confirmed based on the marriage record for George.

So it seems that the father of Charles 1, William Hawley, and Charles 2 and Hattie were both living in Bellflower, Los Angeles, California in 1913.

There is one thing that still confuses me a little bit about the birth of George Russell Hawley, the son of Charles 2 and Hattie. If you remember Charles 1 and Sarah Flewelling also had a son named George Russell Hawley, who was born on July 29th, 1902 in Cumming, Ogemaw, Michigan.

My first thought was that these two men might be the same person, but after some research, this doesn't seem to be true.

Marriage certificate for George Russell Hawley and Mary Alice Heasley

Based on information found in other's family trees on Ancestry.com, Charles 2 and Hattie's daughter, Violet Audrey Hawley was born on November 19th, 1914 in Buena Park, Orange, California. We know that, based on the obituary of his father, Charles 1 is also living in Buena Park, Orange, California on August 28, 1914.

The graphic below shows a comparison of the lives of Charles A. Hawley (Charles 1) and Charles Henry Hawley (Charles 2). In the graphic, I show the known events for both men side by side. I have included their assumed ages at each event. I have also highlighted, in yellow, the years between 1910 and 1914, which show the overlap of locations for both men.

Family Stories

At this point in my research, I decided to reach out to other members of the Hawley family, including several descendants of Charles 1. I shared my finding thus far and the comparison graphic above. This sparked a lot of great conversation.

One very interesting piece of information that came from this discussion was a family story passed down to Charon Hawley, the great granddaughter of Charles 1 and Sarah Flewelling.

Below is the story shared by Charon Hawley in a Facebook group related to the Hawley family

What my father told me...a little sketchy at best...he said Charles was a strange bird...took off with namesake and the girl down the road? ...worked on the Hover Dam...stayed in California...left wife and rest of his kids in Michigan to fend for themselves...I asked him if he took the girl for himself or namesake...dad didn't know...

Jon Theodore "Ted" Hawley, the great grandson of Charles 1 and Sarah Flewelling, also shared a similar story

I asked my dad about it, he said "Uncle Charley ran off with a younger woman to Las Vegas and then moved to California". He said no-one mentioned him again that he remembers.

Charon makes mention of Charles 1 running off with his namesake. This would be Charles Alvin Hawley, born June 29th, 1889. Based on my research Charles Alvin Hawley was still living in Michigan in 1920. He was recorded on the 1920 census, as living in Grayling, Crawford, Michigan. Living with him were his mother Sarah and his little brother George Russell Hawley.

However, there is a piece of the story that seems to ring true. By April 9th, 1930 he was living in Hawthorne, Mineral, Nevada with his wife Golda and her three children; Richard, Dorothy, and Ethel. So it seems that Charles Alvin Hawley, the namesake of Charles 1, did move to Nevada. However, he didn't move until sometime in the 1920s. He continued living in Nevada, moving to Las Vegas, Clark, Nevada by April 1st, 1940. He lived there until his death on April 21st, 1958.

The Last Nail in the Coffin

There was one thing still bothering me, based on the family tree of J.H.B., Charles 2 passed away in October of 1975. If Charles 1 and Charles 2 were the same people, this would have made him 116 years old. However, Hattie, the wife of Charles 2, remarries to David Orvil Overstreet on January 1st, 1943. This leads me to believe that Charles 2 actually passed away sometime between April 4th, 1940 when he and Hattie were recorded on the 1940 census as living at 1015 N. Florence Ave. in Downey, Los Angeles, California, and January 1st, 1943 when Hattie remarried.

We do know that when Frank Hawley, the brother of Charles 1, passed away on July 23rd, 1943, Charles 1 is not listed as a living sibling in his obituary.

I started to search for a death record for Charles 2 in Los Angeles County. I found a record for a Charles A. Hawley who died on August 28th, 1941. I took a chance and ordered the death record.

Los Angeles County Death Certificate for Charles A. Hawley

Death Certificate for Charles A. Hawley. Born March 14th, 1873, Died August 28th, 1941

Portion of the death certificate showing his full name, number of years in California (36), Number of the community of Downey (28), Wife's name (Hattie Hawley), wife's age, and his current address (1015 N. Florence Ave. Downey, Los Angeles, California)

Portion of the death certificate that shows his place of birth (Rochester, New York), his father's name (William Hawley) and burial details.

Portion of the death certificate that shows the details of his death, including the date and cause of death.

So, this is what we learn from the death certificate:

His name is Charles A. Hawley
He was born March 14th, 1873 in Rochester, New York
His father's name is William Hawley
His wife's name is Hattie Hawley
They were living at 1015 N. Florence Ave. in Downey, Los Angeles, California
He passed away on August 28th, 1941
His cause of death was Hypertension and Chronic Myocarditis
He was buried in the Park Lawn Cemetery in Commerce, Los Angeles, California on August 30th, 1941

Conclusion

After reviewing all the evidence collected, both through the paper trail and DNA and comparing the lives of both men, I believe that Charles 1 and Charles 2 are the same man.

I have tried to put together all of the pieces that make up the life of Charles Hawley. The graphic below shows an updated timeline of his life. This includes the date of the event, the event description, the primary person or people affected by the event and the location of the event. I have also color coded the timeline by location.

I believe that Charles moved to California in about 1909, leaving his wife and Children in Michigan. He came back to visit in June of 1910 and met Miss Hattie Schunk in Ossineke, Michigan. Around the same time, he was also divorced from his first wife Sarah. After the death of his brother George and his sister Sadie, Charles moved back to California with his father William, stepmother Sarah and his new wife Hattie.

They lived in Bellflower, Los Angeles, California for a short time, where their son George Russell Hawley was born. Shortly before the death of his father in August of 1914, Charles and Hattie moved to Buena Park, Orange, California, where their daughter Violet Audrey Hawley was born.

Hattie's brother Herbert and sister Grace followed Charles and Hattie to California, making homes in the Los Angeles area.

Charles' son and namesake, Charles Alvin Hawley later also headed out west, settling in the Las Vegas, Nevada area.

For unknown reasons, Charles convinced people that he was 14 years younger then he was. This is a deception that he carried out until his death in 1941.

The fact that Charles named two of his children the same, is also a mystery to me.

Although I am confident that these two men are one and the same, I will continue to look for sources that may further prove or disprove my theory. In the meantime, I will proceed as if they are. Thank you for following me on this journey to solve the mystery of Charles Hawley and his very interesting life.

Charles at Large: The Search for Charles Hawley

Rebecca Walbecq — Fri, 05 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Everyone has an ancestor who presents a challenge, a mystery waiting to be solved. One such ancestor for me is Charles Hawley, my great granduncle. In the summer of 1910, Charles seemed to drop off the face of the planet.

Today, I am going to share his story in hopes someone out there will be able to help me find him.

Charles was born in March of 1859, most likely in Nunda, Livingston, New York to William Hawley and Mercy Brown. He was the second child of three. His older brother Frank was born on January 3rd, 1856 and his younger sister Minnie Belle was born sometime between 1861 and 1864.

About 1866, Charles and his family move from New York to a small logging community named Long Rapids Township in Alpena County, Michigan.

Charles lived with his parents working on the family farm, until on July 30th, 1871 Charles loses his mother Mercy due to a tragic gun accident.

His father William remarries Sarah Ann Healy on May 15, 1872. William and Sarah have seven children; Ellen Hawley born about 1871, William Martin Hawley born in 1873, Mary Ann Hawley born in 1875, Edward James Hawley born in 1880, George Washington Hawley born in 1881, Sarah "Sadie" Maud Hawley born in 1887 and Lavina Mae Hawley born in 1889.

By 1880, Charles is living on the property adjacent to his father and stepmother. I believe that he is living on a property originally purchased by his mother Mercy, before her death, on January 2nd, 1869. The property was left to him and his older brother Frank after his mother's death. Later this land would be transferred to their younger sister Minnie Belle. Living with him and his older brother Frank and two boarders, Wesley Jaynes and his wife Adelia.

About 1885, Charles marries Sarah Flewelling. I have yet to find a marriage record to validate where they were married. Sarah is the widow of George T. Howard. She has three children from this marriage; Frank T. Howard born in 1879, Clinton Dewitt Howard born in 1883 and Etta Agnes born in 1885.

By April 26th, 1887, the family has moved to West Branch, Ogemaw, Michigan. Over the next 15 years, Charles and Sarah have eight children:

John William Hawley born April 26th, 1887 in West Branch, Ogemaw, Michigan
Charles Alvin Hawley born June 29th, 1889 in West Branch, Ogemaw, Michigan
James Edward Hawley born February 3rd, 1892 in Ogemaw County, Michigan
Joseph D. Hawley born January 10th, 1894 in Churchill, Ogemaw, Michigan
Elsie R. Hawley born November of 1895
Amanda M. Hawley born January 1898
Sero Hawley born January 1st, 1900 in Cumming, Ogemaw, Michigan
George Russell Hawley born July 29th, 1902 in Cumming, Ogemaw, Michigan

After their last child, George was born in 1902, I lose track of Charles for a while.

At the time of the 1910 US Federal census recorded on April 27th, Sarah, is still living in Cumming, Ogemaw, Michigan with her six children. The children living at home are; John (23), James (18), Joseph (16), Elsie (14), Amanda (12) and George (7). Although Sarah states that she is still married, however, the census does not list Charles as living in the household. She is living on a mortgaged farm.

I was able to locate a newspaper article that helps me pick up on Charles' trail. Based on information found in the Thursday, June 9th, 1910 edition of The Alcona Review, Charles returned from California to see his half-brother George who was seriously ill. The family was living in Ossineke, Alpena, Michigan at the time.

Charles' brother George passes away on June 26th, 1910 from Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Only five months later, on November 11th, 1910, Charles's half-sister Sadie (Hawley) Bates also dies from Pulmonary Tuberculosis. She leaves behind a husband and two young daughters.

Charles' father William and stepmother Sarah are living alone after the death of George and Sadie. Evidence shows William passed away in Bellflower, Los Angeles, California, I believe when Charles left to go back to California, he brought his father and stepmother with him.

The obituary for William Hawley who passed away on August 28th, 1914, states Charles is “living in Buena Park, Orange County, California.”

Bellflower, Los Angeles, California and Buena Park, Orange, California

On January 20th, 1920 Sarah, Charles's wife is recorded on the 1920 census living in Grayling, Crawford, Michigan with her sons Charles Alvin and George Russell Hawley. The census shows “divorced” as marital status.

Based on the information found thus far, it appears that Charles left his wife and children and moved to California sometime between July 29th, 1902 and April 26th, 1910, For reasons not yet known. What we do know is that Charles and Sarah were divorced sometime between April 27th, 1910 and January 19th, 1920.

This is where I lose track of Charles. The only indication I have of his death is the obituary of his older brother Frank Hawley.
Frank's obituary states that he has two surviving siblings: Lavina (Hawley) Burt and William Hawley. The obituary does not make any mention of his younger brother Charles. This leads me to believe either the family has lost touch with Charles or he passes away before July 23rd, 1942.

I have not been able to find any record of Charles living in California after August 28th, 1914. I continue to search for records, as well as, working with descendants of Charles and DNA evidence.

Hearsay from Yesterday: you’re always “in”famous in a small town

Rebecca Walbecq — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

I was raised in Alpena, a small town located on Lake Huron in northern Michigan. One of the early newspapers in Alpena was the Alpena Argus . Throughout my research, I have come across several newspaper articles referencing "houses of ill fame". This peaked my interest. I could never imagine a place like this could be found in the small town that I grew up in. Obviously, in the 1800's there was just such a place or places in Alpena and the gossip seemed to spread, just as it would today...

So what is a "house of ill fame"??

house of ill fame - A brothel or house of prostitution.

infamous - well known for some bad quality or deed.

I could almost guarantee that visiting such a place, could make you "infamous" in a small town

The following articles are just a few examples of reports of infamous characters tied to houses of ill fame

Alpena Argus (Alpena, Michigan) 14 May 1879, Wed • First Edition • Page 3

Take note: that Mr. Glover from the article above received a sentence of 9 months in the house of correction, while Ms. Hoy only received 30 days in county jail. I guess it helps to be a woman if you are keeping a house of ill fame.

Alpena Argus (Alpena, Michigan) 11 Dec 1889, Wed • First Edition • Page 3

This article tells the story of sailors from a logging camp getting into a brawl with some local boys. It appears that one gentleman, not sure from which side, was caught and paid a fine. However, all other men involved decided to come to an unwanted but necessary compromise to keep quiet. No other charges were pressed.

Alpena Argus - (Alpena, Michigan) - 25 Mar 1891, Wed • First Edition • Page 3

The article below talks about a woman, who fled from Alpena County to Rogers City after some of her "associates" were arrested and prosecuted. She arrived in Rogers City and did not find work, so she decided to head back towards Alpena. On her way back, on a cold Northern Michigan December night, after drinking more than her fair share, she passed out and froze. She died shortly after. Her death seemed to make national news.
The interesting part to me is that the main concern of the writer was the reputation of the city of Alpena and not the young woman that died.

Alpena Argus (Alpena, Michigan) 15 Jan 1879, Wed • First Edition • Page 3

These four articles span a time period of 12 years, from 1879 to 1891. So appears that our little town of Alpena did have a few "infamous" characters in its midst.

Hearsay from Yesterday: Watch out for Madam Rumor

Rebecca Walbecq — Sun, 18 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

The blog posts I write typically relate to my ancestors or collateral lines. However, after years of research, I couldn't help but come across some amazing, funny, tantalizing, sad and sometimes tragic stories about others. A lot of these stories come from newspapers and books about county history. I once heard someone say that newspapers are the Facebook of yesterday.

The articles below, published in the March 1871 editions of the Alpena Argus, are a prime example of the social gossip that way very commonly published in small town newspapers.

It appears that a gentleman in town may not be being faithful to his wife, while she is away. The person writing this article for the Alpena Argus, published in Alpena, Michigan, is not shy about calling him out.

And if this article is not blunt enough, keep reading, there was a follow-up article published in the next week's addition.

Alpena Argus (Alpena, Michigan) 13 Jul 1871, Thu

Alpena Argus (Alpena, Michigan) 20 Jul 1871, Thu

The gentleman and young girl mentioned in these articles are not a part of my family. However, I do wonder if they learned their lesson regarding secrets and small town gossip??

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of hearsay from yesterday. I will share other bits of juicy gossip or tragic tales from days gone by, as I come across them.

Could William Hawley have been a Bound Boy?

Rebecca Walbecq — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

I mentioned in my last post Finding the Parents of William Hawley... One Step Closer..., that I found my 2nd great grandfather William Hawley in the 1850 census. William was 14 years old and living in the household of John W. Lockwood in Urbana, Steuben County, New York.

As you can imagine, I was very excited to find William in the 1850 census. However, finding him not living with his family, but with another family, at the age of 14, brought up more questions. I started to do some more research into reasons that a boy might not be living with his family at such a young age.

Something I found seemed to be a good possibility. I read a local history book about Steuben County that mentioned a young boy that was "bound out" at a young age to a local tradesman. I wasn't sure exactly what this meant but it made me curious, so time for more research.

Based on my research, when a young child was "bound out", they were basically an indentured servant. This practice was also sometimes called "pauper apprenticeship". This type of arrangement was typically treated as a guardianship in court records. There were many reasons that a child could be "bound out".

Some of the reasons could include:

Working to earn money for their family
The financial burden to support them had become too great
Children that had
- lost their parents,
- been abandoned
- been abused
- become such a burden that their parents gave them up

Based on my research, children were typically bound out at around the age of 14, unless there was a need for them to be placed with a guardian at an earlier age. The guardian was typically responsible for teaching the child a trade and basic literary skills.

So if William was indentured to John Lockwood until the age of 21, as was typical, William should still be able to be found living with or near the Lockwood family at the time of the 1855 New York Census. So I started looking and I believe that I found him.

I found a Wm Haley, age 19 living in the household of Drew Glann in Urbana, Steuben County, New York. Also in the household was Drew's wife Mary and 2 other servants. The two other servants were Sarah Atwell, 23 years old, who had been blind from birth, and a young girl of 3 named Harriet Delong.

Although I had previously assumed that William would already be married and living with his wife Mercy by 1855, this record looked promising. The name was close, the location and the date also seemed correct. But, if William wasn't married yet, why wasn't he still living in the household of John Lockwood and his family?

Remember that we should always use the FAN club methodology when looking for connections in our genealogy. If you read my previous post, you will notice that the Surname Glann sounds familiar. That is because Drew Glann is the brother of Nancy Glann making him the brother in law of John Lockwood, with whom William was living in 1850.

So it appears that sometime between July 21, 1850, and June 21, 1855, William moved from living with John and Nancy to living with Nancy's brother Drew. Based on the 1850 census, Drew and his wife were married in 1850. The census also states that Drew is a farmer. My thought is that Drew may have needed help on the farm or building a new homestead for himself and his new bride and William moved in to help out or continue his apprenticeship.

So Let's try to put all these pieces together in a timeline

Age 0 - 1836 - William is born in Urbana, Steuben County, New York
Age 14 - 1850 - William is bound out to John Lockwood (Assumption)
Age 19 - 1855 - William is living with Drew Glann (Brother in law to John Lockwood)
Age 21 - 1857 - William's indenture/apprenticeship to John Lockwood would have been complete (Assumption)
Age 24 - 1860 - William is living in Nunda, Livingston County, New York with his wife Mercy and son Franklin and Charles

Steuben county did keep very good records for these guardianship agreements, which can be found online. I have spent the last few days looking for a record regarding William but have not yet found one. I have read that legal guardianship records were not always recorded if it was an agreement between the child's parents and the guardian. I will keep looking.

In the mean time, I believe that it is possible that something happened early in William's life that made it necessary for him to be bound out at a young age. Based on what I already know of William and his life in Michigan, it appears that he learned the trade of farming from John Lockwood and his family and went on to continue in this line of work for the rest of his life.

Thank you for following along on my journey to get to know my 2nd great-grandfather William Hawley. I have a feeling there will be a few more interesting stops just around the bend.

Finding the Parents of William Hawley… One Step Closer…

Rebecca Walbecq — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

In a previous post called, Re-thinking Research: The Parents of William Hawley, I made the claim that William C. Hawley and Mary Oakley were not the parents of my 2nd great grandfather William Hawley. I used several methods to help back up this claim including a timeline comparison of the lives of my ancestor William and the son of William C. Hawley and Mary Oakley.

Since that time, I have been trying to find William's parents. Here is a list of some of the clues to his birthplace, which I hope will lead me to his parents.

1. The death certificate of his son Edward James Hawley, states that William was born in Mount Washington, New York

2. In Book J (1872 - 1905) of Early Members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints William's birthplace is listed as Urbana, Steuben, New York

3. From the book Village of Hillman 1891 - 1991, it is stated that Wm. Hawley, a farmer, removed from Steuben County, York State.

4. Williams Obituary, published in 1914, also states that he was born in Steuben County, New York

This was the point I was at when I started my research, a few days ago, into the birthplace and parents of William Hawley. My plan was to re-analyze each piece of evidence that I had already collected about William, hoping to find a clue that I had previously missed. I have spent several hours doing this over the last few weeks.

I found a few interesting facts that I hadn't yet documented, but nothing largely relevant to my search for his parents. So, as I do occasionally when feeling a little frustrated, I decided to do a few "blind searches". What I mean by this is, that I don't necessarily have a specific fact or even person that I'm looking for. I may focus on a historical event or a specific location, just to see if something jumps out at me.

I did a few searches using google books. I searched for keywords such as "Hawley", "Alpena", "Hillman" and "lumber industry". I did find a book of interest that mentioned William Hawley, that I hadn't found before. The book is called Village of Hillman 1891 - 1991. Of course, like many books on google books, the whole eBook wasn't available, only little snippets. I did end up buying the book on eBay for $10. There may be only one paragraph that references William, but sometimes that's worth it. I'll share more about this when I receive the book in the mail.

Finding the information in this book, led me to decide to do a "blind search" for census records in and around 1850 for Steuben County, New York. The only search criteria I added was the location and date range.

Why did I share so much of my research process? Because it led me to find something significant. Something that I feel will help me make progress in confirming William's birthplace and finding his parents.

This is what I found. A fourteen-year-old boy named William Holly is recorded as living in the household of John Lockwood and his family in Urbana, Steuben County, New York. The head of Household is John Lockwood, born in about 1823. John is a farmer living with his wife Nancy and 3 children; Bradley (3), Celecta (2) and Franklin (2 months).

This find in itself was very exciting and closer than I had ever gotten before. However, it was not enough to have me doing the "genealogy happy dance" just yet. Although I will admit, my feet were tapping along to that beat.

My next step was to start investigating William Holly's FAN club (Family, Associates, and Neighbors) from Urbana, Steuben County, New York, based on the 1850 census.

I started to review pages before and after the page that William Holly and the Lockwood family were found on. I started making a list of surnames that were in the same County in 1850. One of the surnames that stood out to me was Jaynes. I wasn't sure why at first, it wasn't a surname in any of my family lines. Then it occurred to me, there was a border, named Wesley Jaynes, living next to William Hawley on the 1880 census in Wilson Township, Alpena County, Michigan. Coincidence? maybe, but it was enough to persuade me to keep looking.

Genealogist Elizabeth Shown Mills coined a phrase that explains a genealogy methodology called
the "FAN Club."
She points out the significance of not only searching records for an ancestor's surname but also paying attention to documents about the ancestor's "FAN Club" (Friends, Associates, Neighbors), thereby broadening the scope of research beyond an individual to the community and nation where he or she lived. Learning more about an ancestor's FAN Club is a great way to discover new information about your direct ancestry, as these people are often listed together in deeds, wills, court cases, road orders, etc., and help you build a stronger case about relationships in your own family. - Elizabeth Shown Mills

Below is the 1880 Census for Wilson Township, Alpena County, Michigan showing William Hawley and his family, living next store to Charles and Frank Hawley (Sons of William and Mercy) and Wesley and Adelia Jaynes. Wesley was a part of William's FAN Club.

I found several Jaynes families living in Urbana in 1850, but not a Wesley Jaynes. I decided to widen my search to the whole county of Steuben. Imagine my surprise when I came across a Wesley Jaynes (spelled Janes), living about 20 miles from Urbana

Below is the 1850 Census showing Wesley Jaynes living, with his family, in Cambell, Steuben, New York. This further confirms the connection between William Holly, living in Urbana in 1850 and William Hawley living in Alpena in 1880.

Ok.... just so you know... right about now I AM DOING THE "GENEALOGY HAPPY DANCE"!!!

To Summarize, based on records previously found, I was pretty confident that William Hawley was born in or around Steuben County, New York in August of 1836. By 1860, William was living in Livingston County, New York with his wife Mercy and two sons Franklin and Charles.

I strongly believe that William Holly that I found living with the Lockwood family in Urbana, Steuben County, New York in 1850 is my 2nd great grandfather William Hawley.

This discovery is just the starting point for my continued research. So, what's next?

Research all Holly, Holley, Haley, and Hawley families living in Steuben County from 1835 - 1855 to see if I am able to connect William to one of these families
Research the possibility of other children, siblings of William, that may have been living in Steuben County in 1850
Research possible reasons that William, being only 14, would not be living at home with his family, but instead with the Lockwood Family
Research additional FAN club connections to help determine possible answers to the following questions:
- Because I have now found William in the 1850 and 1860 census, where was William Living in 1855?
- Based on my assumption that William married his first wife Mercy around 1855, where/when did they meet?
- What made William decide to move to Michigan?
- Did he move with someone else?

Although this is just one census record, it provides me with enough information to remove one more brick in the wall that I have been chipping away at for years. It is moments like this that continue to make my journey to discover my ancestors so rewarding.

I will continue to share my finding as I search for the parents of William Hawley.