September Birthdays

Happy birthday to all you with September birthdays, and to those who celebrate anniversaries this month!

Some of our ancestors count September as a special month as well.

Heading from the Washington Times (Washington DC)

One of my favorite ancestor stories is that of the marriage of Edwin Stanton Ross and Katherine Fisher on 1 September 1903 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They got a unique start on their life together, and their story made it into at least 20 newspapers across the country that I could find. You can read their story here:

Going to the Chapel

From The Philadelphia Inquirer

My 2nd great-grandfather and grandmother, William Lake Forman and Amanda Orilla McAllister were married 4 September 1853 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I wrote about locating them in the census records.

William Lake Forman & Amanda Orilla McAllister

Kate Baragwanath married Garrett Floyd on 7 September 1887 in New Jersey. Their announcement appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Kate's husband ran into a spell of bad luck in the 1890s. Click below to read about his troubles, and to see a photo of them together.

Trouble Times Two - Garrett Floyd, husband of Kate Baragwanath

Another of my 2nd great-grandparents, John Ross and Ann Elizabeth Spiece were also married in September, on the 8th in 1858. We are lucky to have this copy of their marriage certificate.

Same Name - A Cautionary Tale

This story shows what happens when you assume too much. And by 'you' I mean 'me'!!  [click above] My great-uncle William Henry Canham, known as Alec, married Constance Marion Winifred Myhill (Connie) on the last day of September 1933, in Swanton Morley, Norfolk, England.

And one final anniversary shout-out to my 22nd great-grandparents who tied the knot in September 1213 without leaving us with the actual date. Raoul de Lusignan and Alice d'Eu were both supposedly born in England and died in France. I have not researched this family line so this is about all we know, but they sound like they were really important, don't they?

Trouble Times Two - Garrett Floyd, husband of Catharine Baragwanath

Garrett Floyd was married to Catharine Hichens Baragwanath (Aunt Kate) in 1887. The following is the account of his harrowing experience in a huge windstorm that swept through the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey areas. From the Philadelphia Inquirer, Saturday morning 28 Dec 1895.

News of New Jersey THE STORM'S HAVOC ACROSS THE RIVER Heavy damage to the Pennslvania Railroad shops at Pavonia WIND TOSSED A WATCHMAN Roofs Ripped Off Rows of Houses in Camden and Stockton [Paragraph 4] A Watchman Hurt The watchmen's station at the State street crossing of the Pennsylvania Railroad was carried a distance of 100 feet. Garrett Floyd, the watchman, was injured about the head by the building falling on him. As the cabin overturned a red-hot stove fell on the injured man. Charles White, of Matawan, was carried with the building, and had it not been for his presence Floyd would have met a fearful death as White lifted the stove from him as he lay in an unconscious condition.

Catharine Baragwanath-Aunt Kate-(1855-1934) married Garrett Floyd (1835-1902) in 1887. They never had children together, though Garrett had been married previously and had children by his first wife, Sarah. Aunt Kate’s husband worked as a gatekeeper on the Pennsylvania Railroad in Stockton (Camden, New Jersey.) I shared a story above about a terrible storm that swept up his watchman’s cabin, knocking him out, and landing a red-hot stove on top of his unconscious body. Fortunately another watchman was in the cabin at the time and lifted off the stove, saving Garrett’s life. Apparently this occupation was rife with danger because just a year later, in 1896, tragedy struck again! According to both the Philadelphia Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer newspapers, some “hoodlums” were interfering with the railroad gate, and when Garrett spoke to them, one of the “toughs” dealt him a severe blow to the face, rendering him unconscious. Though he was in considerable pain for a few weeks, he eventually began to heal. Two months later though, the joint in his jaw began to swell and grow stiff. Before long, his jaw had locked closed. He had been taking milk through a tube, made possible by a few missing teeth from the original encounter, but was declining since he couldn’t receive enough nourishment. Though treated at several hospitals in Philadelphia and Camden, all that could be ascertained was that his jaw had actually been broken by the blow to the face. Finally, a Camden physician was willing to perform an operation to free up his jaw. That, sadly is all we know!! Two newspapers were happy to report on this oddity, but neither bothered to report on the outcome. He did live until 1902 so I think we can assume the operation was at least partially a success.

Same Name - A Cautionary Tale

Joseph Canham (1857-1939) lived in Swanton Morley, Norfolk, England, married Jane Mangan in 1884 and proceeded to have 5 lovely daughters between 1886 and 1896. And then there was one son, Alec.

Canham Family @1914 - Mable, Ethel, Louie, Joe, Addie. Front - Dessie, Jane, Alec

My mother called him Uncle Alec and understood him to have been adopted. She had no other information about him. I couldn’t find him in any birth, marriage or death records in the area which was odd. In 2013 I came across a tree on Ancestry that included Alec. So I contacted the owner of the tree who provided more details. Sue Freeman’s grandfather was Edwin Canham, son of Absalom who was a brother to Joseph Canham (my great-grandfather.) She told me about the book, “Our Knickers Were Interesting” written by Daisy Raynor about life in Swanton Morley at the turn of the century. She claimed the book suggested Alec was actually the son of one of Joseph and Jane’s daughters. Sue said her grandmother was rather ‘tight-lipped’ about it but that the family hinted that the assumption was correct. The assumption further was that “Beattie” was the mother. Beattie was Beatrice Louise, who my mother knew as Aunt Louie. She was the oldest of the five girls. Sue also knew that Alec’s actual name was William Henry. No one knows how “Alec” came to be used. In the 1911 Census, there is a “Henry” age 5 living with Joseph and Jane Canham in Swanton Morley, their “nephew.” This surely must be Alec.

1911 Census

Using the name Henry I searched the England Select Births and Christenings on Ancestry. A Henry Canham was baptized 14 May 1905 in Harrow-Green, Essex, England (near London – where several Canham family members were living.) His mother: Beatrice Canham. No father is listed. I thought this was proof that Beatrice Louise was truly the mother of this boy. I sent for the birth certificate. While I waited weeks for it to arrive, I mourned for this young woman and her little boy. What a struggle to have to pretend your son was your brother, and watch him being mothered by another. My heart was really saddened by this tale. I wrote up their story and posted it various places.

Index found at Ancestry.com

Then the birth certificate arrived. William Henry Canham was the son of Alice Beatrice Canham!! NOT Beatrice Louise Canham! Alice was Joseph’s youngest sister, so when I found Henry in the 1911 census listed as ‘nephew’ to Joseph and Jane – that was correct. Now I had to scurry to change all the information I had uploaded as truth, since it was absolutely false!!

Now this doesn’t change the fact that a young woman, only 19 years old found herself in a ‘predicament’ and deserved the same anguish I felt when I thought it was her niece. I mourn for her loss in many ways. We can’t know what happened to her, nor how she managed after the birth of her son, and giving him to her brother to raise. She did marry 11 years later, but so far I can’t find any mention of other children, which is all the more a sadness. But from all this leaping about thinking I’d made a ‘find’ I learned a valuable lesson: Don’t rush to conclusions!

Sister Project - Favorite Shoes

Have you ever had a favorite pair of shoes? Describe them.

20 years ago answers come first, followed by 2019 answers.

Linda: One of my favorite shows on HGTV is Mission Impossible. Each episode shows someone’s office or playroom or bedroom totally out of control from clutter. Every time they show a bedroom redo I always shake my head in amazement mostly because of how many shoes so many women own – and won’t give up!

I can’t relate.

The shoe stack in my closet is seven feet tall and it’s filled with … books! I just don’t get into shoes.

I could be embarrassed to admit that I have a pair of black pumps that I wore as recently as last summer that are over 20 years old. They must be favorites. The only reason I don’t wear them to church much anymore is because I still wear another old pair of black suede Mary Janes that are flat and more comfortable. I’m at the stage where comfort trumps fashion. And this is why I like teaching the Sunbeams in Primary. Because I am on the floor half the time, I can justify having to wear thee simple out-of-fashion (and season) shoes every Sunday. So I hope I teach this class for a long time because I’d hate to lose my excuse to wear my favorite OLD shoes.

2019: Linda: In 8th grade I was thrilled to have a pair of the shoes that all the other girls were wearing because I started 7th grade in Hush Puppies! I remember favorite white plastic sandals as a little girl. I loved the era of wearing huaraches. For years I wore clog-like shoes that Julie thought were awful. I have never cared too much for shoes. I don’t have dozens of them like so many people do. I have been wearing the same church shoes for years and years. At this age it is all about comfort.

Kathi: I was a senior in high school. Sometime in the spring I went to LA with Mom and Dad who were going for a meeting. I, of course, stayed with Ann Jeffs, my best friend since kindergarten. She still didn’t drive, but I had recently learned how to drive a stick shift so we got to take her mom’s VW Bug and tootle around LA! But that’s another story(involving snooty parking valets in Beverly Hills, but as I said – another story!) Of course we went shopping, and I saw the most amazing pair of shoes. Pink suede with a cork (yes cork!) sole. For some reason, I didn’t buy them. But after I got home, I kicked myself! So I wrote Ann, sent her money, she bought them and shipped them to me. LOVED those shoes! I wish I had a picture. I wonder whatever happened to them…

I had another favorite pair of pink shoes in the 80’s. Peek-a-boo toe with a bow, sling back, cute heels. Made of a canvas-like fabric, but a beautiful soft shade of pink. I wore them to John’s uncle’s funeral and ruined them walking in the soft, wet dirt. I never could get the stains out. I was so sad. Loved those shoes too!

2019: Without question it was a pair of pink suede shoes with cork soles and heels I got in 1972. I probably told the same story the last time I answered this! I adored those shoes and I have no idea when I got rid of them. I remember wearing those awful black and white saddle shoes in kindergarten and I hated them with a passion. I managed to talk Mom out of making me wear them ever again. Then they came back into fashion years later – but I didn’t buy any. Too scarred.

Claire: My favorite shoes were ones I had in grade school, maybe around 4^th or 5^th grade. They were black leather, with laces that criss-crossed across the top of the foot, with pointed toes and tassels on the ends of the laces. I loved those shoes and every year for 2 years at least, I bought another pair when it came time for new shoes for a new school year. I think one year I bought white ones, not black ones. I just loved the style.

2019: In 5th and 6th grade I had a pair of shoes, (new ones each year) that were black with a leather tassel at the end of the tie. I loved these shoes and bought the same ones the next year ( think I chose a different color) when we went school clothes shopping. 

Annette: I’m not really into shoes but I had a favorite pair of leather sandals that I wore so much, the soles wore out and I started tipping sideways! Had to throw them out and I’ve never had a favorite since. I’m hoping I can find them again!

2019: Currently love my Polka dot red wedges with an ankle strap and bow. So cute!