The following people were added or updated in my genealogy database in February 2012.

Phebe Clark ( – BET 1860 AND 1870)

Catherine Emmering (Apr 1834 – 29 Jan 1910)

Irving Garrison (29 Jul 1865 – aft 1930)

John Hann Sr. (1808 – )

Oscar Burgess Irelan (8 May 1873 – 11 Feb 1915)

I added or updated the following people in my genealogy database  in January 2012:

Elizabeth Hancock Clark

Annie C. Irelan

Frederic Irelan

Jennie Irelan

Samuel Irelan

Samuel B. Irelan, Sr.

Samuel B. Irelan

William Irelan, Sr.

William Irelan, Jr.

Annie Sniffen

Samuel T. Sniffen

Guido Vogel

Linna Vogel

It is not often that Ancestry adds information that is useful to me. I have moved beyond census records for the most part, and the smaller databases they have been adding have not been in areas I research.

Well, not to be a  shill  for Ancestry, but they have added a boatload of Pennsylvania BMD & other data recently. Partnering with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, they have created the Pennsylvania Church and Town records database with more than 7 million records, including church (birth, baptism, marriage, death & more), cemetery and undertaker records. In a quick search, I found marriage information for distant ancestors and baptisms for my grandfather and great-grandfather. One marriage confirmed a maiden name that I had assumed, but for which I never had any proof. My great-grandfather’s baptism was in German, which I thought was cool.  I will be posting more on these finds and others.

It’s always fun trying to find a particular database on Ancestry. Here’s how to find this one:

1. In either the regular ancestry.com or the Ancestry Library edition (check with your local library), select Card Catalog under the Search  drop-down menu
2. In the Title field, type in Pennsylvania Church and Town Records and click Search
3. Select it and you are on your way

Some things I discovered in my brief usage so far:

• There are some records from New Jersey. I found some Burlington county records. [Update: And Camden, Gloucester, Cumberland counties. I hear there are some Maryland records as well.]
• If you are looking for a particular county, enter it under location for Any Event. That way you’ll get births, marriages, deaths and the ‘others’, which include things like church memberships and bible/Sunday school class rosters.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania page on the partnership

Lucy H. Ogle Moore was my great-great-grandmother. In 1911, her family had a picnic at the local park, commemorating it with a group photo that made it into the local newspaper.

Moore Reunion, Philadelphia, 1911. Philadelphia Inquirer 8/13/1911.

Somewhere in that photograph is my grandmother, Susan L. Todd, age 6.

Mrs. Moore’s twenty-three other grandchildren at the time include:

1. Frank A. Todd, age 18
2. John A. Todd, age 16
3. Clayton M. Todd, age 14
4. Honour Todd, age 9
5. James Todd, age 8
6. Elizabeth M. Todd, age 4
7. Olivia R. Todd, age 2
8. Margaret A. Todd, age 1
9. Benjamin M. Moore, age 11
10. Elsie Knabb, age 12
11. Flenard Knabb, age 4
12. William Knabb, age 3
13. Margaret Knabb, age 0 (born Dec 1910)
14. Clara Moore, age 14
15. Frederick Moore, age 7
16. George Tazel, age 7
17. Martha Tazel, age 5
18. Anna Wood, age 5
19. Isadore Wood, age 2
20. Clara Ulery, age 4
21. Dorothy M. Coulter, age 5
22. Robert I. Coulter, age 3
23. Edna E. Coulter, age 1

Ages are approximate for most of those listed. I am missing at least three names. Except for the Todds whom I have a good handle on, there may be some listed who passed before 1911, so I may be missing more than three. (edited 16 Jul 2013. I found Lucy’s other three grandchildren (the Coulters) and have added them to the bottom of the list.)

I only count twenty-one children in the photo. I’m not sure that I see any older teens, so Frank and John Todd may be two of the ones missing from the photograph. Or maybe the headline is wrong and there were only twenty-one present.

Perhaps there are some Moore cousins out there who can fill in the blanks.

The obituary for my great-great-grandfather, James B. Garrison, ends on a sort of backhanded compliment, which makes me more curious about him actually. That and the report on his pension file that said he had a scar on his back from getting hit with an axe when young. Was it an accident? Did someone whack him on purpose? How serious was the cut from that axe blade? I haven’t found that in the paper yet, but here is his obituary:

JAMES B. GARRISON
After an illness covering nearly six years, James B. Garrison died at his home on Fayette street on Saturday afternoon at 2 o’clock, aged 72 years. The end came peacefully and relieved the patient from the suffering of his long illness. Mr. Garrison was a veteran of the Civil War ¹, having served with honor. He was the oldest employee of the Bridgeton Gas Light Company, having worked in the retort house ² at their plant for over thirty years. For a number of years he had the record of never losing an hour of his working time. Nearly six years ago he gave up his position on account of an illness that seemed to baffle physicians. By many he was misunderstood, but beneath the exterior there beat a heart that contained warmth and affection, and he will be missed by all who knew him in his daily living. He leaves a wife ³ and several children all of whom are grown.

Bridgeton Evening News, April 13, 1908, page 3.

1. Private, Co. H, 3rd Regiment, NJ Volunteers Cavalry.
2. Retort house is the building where coal was heated to manufacture gas. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasworks#Retort_house)
3. His wife, Emma M. Garrison, daughter of Ansel Irelan and Elizabeth Ayars, passed away in 1922.