Hricak ~ Bihun Wedding: (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

Carpatho-Rusyn wedding party, Chicago, c. 1923

The bride was my first cousin, once removed, Anna Hricak. The groom was a young man who had been boarding with the family, Ignatz Bihun. I believe Anna's sister Mary is standing on the far right. Anna and Iggy were probably married at St. Mary's Greek Catholic Church at 49th & Seely Avenue. In 1931 they left St. Mary's to join the newly formed St. Peter and Paul's Orthodox Church. Iggy, who had a magnificent voice, became the choral director there. I was thrilled last year to read an article mentioning him at Lake Michigan Rusyns. 

Sometime after Anna died in 1951 Iggy moved to Bridgeport, CT where he was a church cantor while I was growing up. Occasionally I'd be puzzled how this man, who was so much older than I, was my cousin and my father would once again explain that Iggy had been married to his first cousin which made him my cousin. Most of the time I just loved listening him sing. 

Hricak-Bihun Wedding,  Photograph, undated. Digital Image.  Privately held by Susan Popp Clark [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], 2008.

Leonard Smith Bible, Part 2 - Amanuensis Monday

Thanks to John at Transylvanian Dutch who originated the Amanuensis Monday meme, providing a framework (and nudge) for transcribing family records, news clippings and other treasures.

Last September I photographed and transcribed a family record found in an 1832 Bible belonging to a great-granddaughter of Leonard and Elizabeth Jamison Smith of Allegany County, Maryland. This is the second part of the transcription.

The following material appears on a right page opposite the above page near the back of the Bible:

Family Record

Ages                Births	Deaths
Leod. Smith Born 29th March 1794	Died July 2nd 1849
Eliza Smith his wife     was born Decer 19th 1795	Died  Nov 26th. 1875
Leod Smith Married Eliza Jamison     October 3rd 1815.
Leod Dominick first son born    August 4th 1816	Died Oct. 12. 1816.
John Frances  Decr 23. 1817	Died Augt. 25. 1818.
Leod born Sept. 16. 1819
Catherine Frances  Augt 27 1822	Died Dec. 26. 1918 1908
Charles Oct. 24th 1823	Died Feb 20th 1888
John  March 30th 1826.	Died 9th April 1869
Frances Fenwick   May 24. 1828	Died Aug. 26. 1900
Joseph  June 19th 1831 –	Died 25th Oct. 18[?]0
Edwd D. Fenwick [**]  Nov 25 1833	Died 24th  Nov 1863
Aloysius Raphail  [**] March 31. 1831	Died 24 March 1838.
Eliza Victoria September 10. 1838 [**]	Died Dec. 9. 1905

Transcriber’s notes:

The writing for this entry differs from the entries up to and including “Joseph”.

The record includes a hand drawn vertical line on the second page separating the Births and Deaths columns.

Leonard Smith Bible (dated 1832), The Holy Bible, Translated from the Latin Vulgate... Clementine Edition of the Scriptures (Baltimore: Fielding Lucas, Jr.), digital image. Privately held. 

Civil War Saturday - Matthew McAdams' Brief War

Matthew Judson McAdams and his two younger brothers John Cloyd and David Brainard McAdams left their home near Locust Mount in Washington County, TN in early November, 1862 to volunteer for the Union Army.

Matthew was born August 15, 1835, the eldest of the eleven sons of Thomas and Cynthia Stephenson McAdams. In 1862 he was 27 years old, and had been married eight years to Sarah E. Sevaney (or Swinney). They had at least two children, Cynthia, David and likely another, Thomas, and were living near his parents. He and his brothers were all farmers, probably working his father's prosperous land. Mathew, Sarah, their two eldest children, her sister and mother (who appears on the next page in the census) all appear in the 1860 census next his father.

1860 Census, from Ancestry.com

I noted in an earlier post about the 1860 census that Matthew's father had two slaves who were originally enumerated with the family, then crossed out and transferred to the slave census. Having grown up hearing of the McAdams brothers' Union service I was more than surprised to learn that they came from a slave owning family.

Nevertheless, Matthew and his brothers decided to join the Union Army. They rode northwest, through the Cumberland Gap to McKee, Kentucky where, on November 5th, they were enlisted as privates by Lt. Mullenix in what became Company B, 4th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment. According to their muster records Matthew was the shortest of the three brothers, standing 5' 6" tall. They stairstepped in height with David, the youngest, standing the tallest at 5' 10". All three shared dark hair, eyes and coloring. They likely moved quickly to Louisville and then towards Nashville where the they were officially mustered in on February 9, 1863. And there they stayed.

From Google Earth

Matthew spent the remainder of his entire, brief war in Nashville. He died of typhoid on June 19th only seven months after leaving home and was immediately buried. He lies in the National Cemetery just north of Nashville. It seems he never saw combat, only the tedium and disease of camp life. The Tennessee GenWeb site history of the regiment quotes a letter from Brig. General Robert Mitchell written in March complaining of a lack of weapons for the regiment. It was autumn before the 4th Cavalry was deployed.

Death Record from Footnote.com

Matthew's brothers both survived the war, as did his younger brother Samuel, my great-great grandfather, who enlisted in November, 1863.

Matthew's widow Sarah first filed for a widow's pension on October 12, 1865. She married William Mahoney, who had enlisted and served with the McAdams brothers, on August 21, 1866 in Washington County, TN. He may have been the brother of John Cloyd McAdams' wife Sarah Jane Mahoney.

William, Sarah, Matthew's children and their own children all appear in Greene County in the 1870 census and in Washington County in the 1880 census. Sarah's sister Nancy is still living with her. The McAdams children are enumerated as Mahoney in 1870 and 1880, but Cynthia and Thomas both appear in Tennessee marriage records as McAdams.

1880 Census, from Ancestry.com

Sources

       1860 U.S. census, population schedule, Tennessee, Washington, Campbells District, p. 64, dwelling 1145, family 1145, Matthew J McAdams; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll 1277.        

       1880 U.S. census, population schedule, Tennessee, Washington, District 1, enumeration district (ED) 28, p. 431D, dwelling 65, family 66; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 1284.
        Matthew J. McAdams, John C. McAdams, and David B. McAdams muster rolls of Co. B, 4th Tennessee Cavalry, 5 Nov 1862-19 Jun 1863; NARA M395; Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Tennessee; digital images, Footnote.com (www.footnote.com : accessed 7 Apr 2011).

       "Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900," database and images, Footnote.com (accessed 7 Apr 2011); Matthew J McAdams; NARA T289.
        R.N. McAdams, "McAdams Family Record" (Private). 

Great Reads - Follow Friday

Some blog posts are worth reading. Not scanning for surnames or hints. Not looking at the pictures (though I adore the pictures). Reading. For comprehension. Absorbing. 

As the multitude of geneabloggers grows (the miracle of the loaves and fishes comes to mind for some reason) I've had trouble keeping up. I am now following 259 blogs and adding a couple more every week. So yes, I scan and when I see something long with polysyllabic words I pause. My strategy has been to "star" it to read later - in the evening when the Cardinal's are letting balls slip out of gloves or hitting into double plays. I've had LOTS of reading opportunities so far this season. 

Sometimes, one of the posts is so good that I keep it starred. I read it again the next night. I think about it during the day. I share a morsel with my husband or daughter. It's a really good read.

I've come to rely on those bloggers who share their favorite posts of the week. HUGE fan of their efforts. I'm not going there. But I do want to highlight the posts that stick with me - that nourish my mind and often my spirit. So here's the plan. When I find something I keep going back to I will share it through Google Reader. There's a widget this blog's sidebar now titled "Great Reads" that will highlight my shared posts. They won't be the helpful tips or humorous posts that have us howling. Others are highlighting those brilliantly. They will be longer, thoughtful and thought provoking pieces that illuminate a moment or an idea. So when you have a moment, check them out. They are truly worth the time. 

Considering the Source

I completely amaze myself with my ability to stumble over the obvious. Here's the issue (actually this just scratches the surface) - I want to do a better job with sources. I know. Big news. I'm sure I'm the only one.

Here's my work flow.

• Gather piles of stuff and put them near my work space. Stuff is defined as the photographs, news clippings, letters or documents filling the boxes filling my house. 
• Scan something and put it in a basket (or pile) to be filed or thrown away. Put the digital file in a folder to be processed (meta data, links to specific individuals, added to database, blog fodder, etc). 
• Repeat until bored then start working on a digital file.
• Something about a file prompts a blog idea. I start the post, forget the meta data, links or database and wander about my mental and digital files looking for information to complete the post. 
• Look at post, realize I have no source listed and struggle to construct something that might pass for a citation if one had spent decades on a desert island talking to a volleyball. 
• Give up and go back to scanning or playing with the digitized files. 

And here's my revelation.

Use my Legacy software to record the source when I'm writing the blog post.

Mind blowing, isn't it? It takes about a minute, gets the digitized record/photo/whatever into my database in at least one relevant spot AND I get a citation I can copy and paste into the blog.

Is it a perfect system? Well, no. I don't get the source added to all relevant events/people in the database. The odds of my maintaining it are slim. But it's far better than what I've been doing (nothing). Maybe I'll be disciplined enough to continue.

Any comments reflecting on my obvious scatterbrainedness, ADD or calling me a geneaditz will be met with a DUH! Family need not comment at all.