tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23431949950362151472024-03-13T10:03:31.454-04:00East Coast GenealogyChatting about the joys in doing genealogy research on the East Coast, concentrating mostly on PA, DE, MD and NJMaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02357444502677754333noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343194995036215147.post-15782688881261955662016-04-08T06:47:00.000-04:002016-06-23T06:48:26.336-04:00A Wyeth Tragedy <blockquote class="tr_bq">
Artist Killed by Train at Grade Crossing </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Philadelphia, Oct. 19 - Newell C. Wyeth, 62, noted American painter, was
killed today when a Pennsylvania Railroad freight train smashed into
his station wagon at a crossing at suburban Ring Road, Pa. Wyeth, whose
home was at Chadds Ford, Pa., was accompanied by his 4-year-old
grandson, Newell, who also was killed. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/20/1945.</blockquote>
<br />
Most folks recognize the Wyeth name, and many would realize that the
article above refers to the artist better known as N. C. Wyeth, father
of the most easily recalled Wyeth of the entire artistic group, Andrew.
Though N. C. was also quite an accomplished artist, his fame has never
reached the levels of that of Andrew. What is less widely known is that
N. C. Wyeth is believed to have had an affair with Caroline, the wife of
his son Nathaniel and the parents of the youngster mentioned in the
article.Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02357444502677754333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343194995036215147.post-69780800365521427002016-02-18T06:40:00.000-05:002016-06-23T06:41:39.111-04:00The Mary Newlin MurderSometimes research leads us to strange stories, filled with
disturbing details and sordid facts. The story of the murder of little
Mary R. Newlin of Chester County, PA in 1907, has all the right
ingredients to make it a memorable story for decades to come. A quick
version of the story as it appeared in the New York Times appears below.<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Accused of Killing Child </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Five-Year-old Stepdaughter's Body Buried in Yard </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Philadelphia,
June 21. The body of five-year-old Mary Newlin was found today buried
in the yard of the home of her stepfather, Irwin A. Lewis, near
Avondale, thirty-five miles from this city. Lewis under arrest. John
Newlin, her grandfather, is a nephew of William L. Elkins, the
millionaire. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The child had
been strangled with a piece of tarred ope and over her head a burlap
bag had been drawn. Near one of the little girl's hands was her mouth
organ. This she had apparently clutched tightly up to the last, and the
fact that it lay in the grave beside her is taken as proof that the
child was murdered beside the hole. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In
suspecting Lewis of the murder of the child, the District Attorney's
most important clue had lain in the facts of Mrs. Lewis's past. More
than five years ago she was employed as a nurse in the Chester County
Asylum for the Insane. There she had met Lawrence Butler, who was an
attendant there. They were to have been married, but Butler unexpectedly
departed for the South soon after both he and Edna Newlin, as she was
known before her marriage, were compelled to leave the employ of the
hospital. She returned to her father's home, where her child was born. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Lewis
and Edna Newlin had been childhood sweethearts and he knew all the
facts of her life. Five months ago he married her. That the presence of
the little girl was a cause of irritation to the stepfather was the
motive for murder upon which the District Attorney worked. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Little Mary disappeared last Sunday and her stepfather insisted she had been kidnapped.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
As
you can see, we have lots of newsworthy bits in this story - insane
asylum workers, rich relatives, an illegitimate child, a jealous
stepfather, and ultimately, a horrible murder of an innocent child. It's
really no wonder then, that the story was covered extensively in the
press at the time, and perhaps even less surprising that Mr. Irwin Lewis
was eventually executed by the State of Pennsylvania on February 25,
1909 for the murder of little Mary Newlin.Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02357444502677754333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343194995036215147.post-5797376359285706522016-01-18T06:32:00.000-05:002016-06-23T06:39:01.226-04:00The Strange Things We ReadI have to admit that I'm somewhat addicted to reading old newspaper
articles, continually amazed at some of the stories that are found in
old papers. My latest fascination started with this article, from the
Philadelphia Inquirer on Jan 1, 1921:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
West Chester "Crank" in Phila.; Bound West</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Police Glad To Have Him Leave Home Town After Siege</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Police
in all parts of the city kept a watchful eye on the merrymakers, in an
effort to single out Elliot Penrose Jones, the demented "Blond Giant" of
West Chester, who left his home armed with two automatic pistols and
took the train for West Philadelphia yesterday afternoon. Up to a late
hour, they failed to find him.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Jones had held
the police and several hundred citizens at bay with an array of firearms
for several days, when they attempted to lure him from the home of his
mother, Mrs. Anna Ralston Jones, on North Walnut St.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Leaving
the house shortly after noon and carrying a handbag, Jones walked out
of the rear door and announced that he was going on a trip. He refused
to tell his relatives where he was going, although he had promised
earlier in the day that he would go to the Pennsylvania Hospital for the
Insane. This promise was qualified with the understanding that he was
to be accompanied by a physician or attorney.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Boarding
the train he rode to Frazer and then changed to an express for this
city. Meanwhile neighbors telephoned to the West Chester police that he
was headed for the station, but the police arrived there too late.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
The
mother issued a statement last night that she and her family would
leave West Chester as soon as possible and locate elsewhere because of
the notoriety caused by her son's actions.</blockquote>
<br />
My eye was caught by his mother's name, as the Ralston name is connected
to some of my own lives, but this Ralston does not appear to be related
to mine. While looking for more information about her, I found this
article, from a few years earlier, also from the Inquirer:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
1916-02-02</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Will Fight On in West Chester</blockquote>
<blockquote>
West
Chester, Feb 1. In the courts of this county today, Mrs. Anna Mary
Ralston Jones, daughter of the late Mrs. Francis Hooton, through her
counsel, presented a petition to have the will of her mother set aside,
the claim being that the mother was unduly influenced by her husband and
her daughter, now of New York. The petition also sets forth that Mrs.
Hooton was of feeble mind at the time of her making the will, in which
she disposes of all her estate, which is considerable, to Mrs. Guilford,
Excepting $5, which is left to Mrs. Jones.</blockquote>
<br />
As it turns out, Anna Ralston's mother, Anna Rowan Penrose, married
Colonel Hooton after Mr. Ralston passed away and she and the Colonel had
a daughter together, Mary Penrose Hooton, the Mrs. Guilford mentioned
in the article above.<br />
<br />
Mrs. Hooton had passed away the previous New Year's Eve and though the
article does not mention where she was buried, it was probably Oaklands
as the Colonel was buried there when he died in 1904.<br />
<br />
Just to make the whole story even more fun, the Colonel managed to create quite a stir himself:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
Philadelphia Inquirer 3/9/1893</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Charged With Contempt</blockquote>
<blockquote>
West
Chester, March 8. Colonel F .C. Hooton, a leading lawyer of this place
and ex-chairman of the Republican state central committee, was arrested
today by a Philadelphia court officer and taken to that city on a charge
of contempt of court in not paying a claim held by Anna Jones, of
Philadelphia. The trouble grew out of the estate of James Neely,
deceased, of which Colonel Hooton was executor.</blockquote>
<br />
The Anna Jones mentioned in the story does not appear to be of any
connection to the Colonel's step-daughter Anna, though it is certainly
an intriguing coincidence. Months later,in August of 1893, the Colonel
was sent to prison as the contempt of court had not been resolved:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
Baltimore Sun, 8/2/1893</blockquote>
<blockquote>
An Executor Imprisoned</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Col.
Francis C. Hooton, executor of the estate of James S. Neely, deceased,
was today committed to Moyamensing Prison by Judge Hanna, of the Orphans
Court. Colonel Hooton was ordered some time ago to pay $4,730(?) to
Anna Jones, one of Neely's heirs. He failed to do so and was committed
to jail for contempt of court. He cannot get out until he purges himself
of the contempt by paying the money.</blockquote>
<br />
This soon becomes a bigger issue:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
Philadelphia Inquirer. 8/9/1893</blockquote>
<blockquote>
West
Chester, Aug 8. There is likely to be trouble resulting from the
Sheriff's sale tomorrow of the property of Colonel Francis Hooton, who
is now in prison in Philadelphia for contempt of court. Hooton had a
farm in Honeybrook township on which the sheriff levied on an exception
issued by the Farmer's National Bank of West Chester. The tax collector
levied on the personal property for taxes and sold some of it. Edward
Brinton and Isaac Cochran then issued executions against Hooton and the
question now arises, who has the right to the disposal of the property?
Mrs. Hooton, the Colonel's wife, got a deed from the sheriff for a part
of the property, and today she adds to the complications by exhibiting
this. The consequence will be that every one will be afraid to bid
tomorrow for fear of being mixed up in the most complicated case the
county has ever had.</blockquote>
<br />
One can only assume that the Colonel managed to clear up some of the
issues before he died in 1904. I would also be interested in finding out
if Anna Ralston Jones ever managed to have her mother's will set aside
and whether the other Anna ever got her inheritance. And did they ever
capture Elliott? What a convoluted family this one is! Next time I get
to Oaklands, I'll have to try to locate the Colonel's grave.
Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02357444502677754333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343194995036215147.post-4583874674885198892015-03-01T16:40:00.003-05:002015-03-01T19:07:42.856-05:00A Forgotten Site - How Fun!I had actually forgotten all about this blog until doing a search yesterday for my new site <a href="http://eastcoastgenealogy.com/" target="_blank">East Coast Genealogy</a>. I'll be moving some of the old posts form here to there, and perhaps just use this as a general blog for items related to East Coast Genealogy in general. Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02357444502677754333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343194995036215147.post-38336137651981970252008-12-26T07:28:00.004-05:002016-06-23T06:27:54.881-04:00Unexpected Discoveries - Bonsall RecordsI've been blessed to have been born into a family that had at least its fair share of history and genealogy buffs, and from time to time records turn up from the research done years earlier. My maternal grandfather, Gregg David Reynolds, had a first cousin, David M. McFarland, who was his generation's historian and he was very interested in tracking the family lines. Though he was not as particular as I might like about sourcing his work, I've yet to find any serious errors in his research. His wife was a Bonsall and he tracked that family as well as his own. Over the years, one of his daughters has been sending me his files as they turn up during housecleaning efforts and these packages have often contained some real gems.<br />
<br />
My latest find in this conglomeration of data is two very old pages from an old Bonsall family bible. These pages allow me, at long last, to feel confident about cousin David's assertions that Thomas Bonsall (1789 - 1875) was the son of Edward Bonsall and Hannah Gleave. I've transcribed the pages and uploaded them to <a href="http://eastcoastgenealogy.com/" target="_blank">East Coast Genealogy</a> (under the Data Archives). David's files also include some old family letters, some of which I'll be transcribing as well. One of the more interesting of these letters is one from David to his father as he explains why he feels the need to enlist in the military during World War One, against his father's wishes. At the very least, these old files provide an interesting slice of history for modern readers.Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02357444502677754333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343194995036215147.post-23278151097368641882008-05-25T12:39:00.000-04:002019-09-07T07:35:12.513-04:00More Bingaman Related ItemsApparently, the family of Walter Bingaman, friend to Harry K. Thaw, had more issues with which to deal than just Walter's stay at Dixmont Asylum. Walter's sister, Nancy, also had issues:<br />
<br />
<br />
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. 1910-05-09<br />
<br />
Pittsburg Girl Barred In Room Kills Herself<br />
<br />
The Death of Fiance Leads Miss Bingaman to End Life<br />
<br />
Put Bullet Through Brain<br />
<br />
Suicide in member of one of Pittsburg's Most Prominent Families<br />
<br />
Pittsburg, Pa. May 9. Miss Nancy Bingaman, twenty-six years old, a Vassar graduate and member of one of the oldest Pittsburg families, killed herself here by firing a bullet through her brain. Sudden dementia, caused by grief over the death of her fiance a year ago, is given by the family as the cause for her suicide. Miss Bingaman was a niece of Dr. Bingaman, an alienist, who figured prominently in the trial of Harry K. Thaw.<br />
<br />
While other members of the family were at church yesterday morning, Miss Bingaman remained at home. When the family returned home from home, she could not be found. They finally learned that the door to a maid's room was barricaded, and looking through the keyhole saw stains on the floor. They called Dr. J. E. Johnson, who entered the room by means of a ladder. The girl was dead. <br />
<br />
Miss Bingaman took part in many Vassar functions in the east. Her father, J. P. Bingaman, was a n associate of E. M. Bigelow, one of the foremost public men in Pittsburg.<br />
-----------------------------------<br />
<br />
<br />
One way or another, this family had a lot to deal with.Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02357444502677754333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343194995036215147.post-83874483487931140002008-05-24T06:26:00.000-04:002008-05-24T06:58:10.987-04:00Finding the churchesOne of the challenges faced by anyone who does serious research into their roots is, literally, finding out where the bodies are buried. Since public records were not required in most places until the early part of the 1900's, finding early ancestors can be quite difficult, and the best resource will usually be any church records that might exist for the time in question.<br /><br />In the case of my Reber and Hiester ancestors, I've been relatively lucky in that many of them can be found in some of the better documented churches. Closson Press, out of Apollo, PA, has printed a fair number of books covering some of these early churches and their books are very reasonably priced. In 1995, they published a two-volume set called Collected Church Records of Berks County, which includes records from Altalaha Evangelical Lutheran, St. Pauls's (Smoke), St. Michael's Reformed, Moselem Lutheran, St John's (Hains) and Zion (Blue Mountain). In most cases, the baptism records include the name of the sponsors for the child, which are often the grandparents or a sibling of one of the parents, providing a valuable clue to the rest of the family.<br /><br />With my Hiester lines, the main churches of interest are Bern, Hains and Zion's, but the lines are still not clear in some cases. For example, I know from his obituary that my great-grandfather was buried at the Hains church, but his father was at Bern, so I suspect many of the other early members of that line will turn up at Bern church as well, and hence, the road trip I am planning.Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02357444502677754333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343194995036215147.post-52668184527546008892008-05-21T08:18:00.000-04:002008-05-21T10:51:03.560-04:00Time for a road tripEvery now and then, I get to a point in my research that I need some better information. That time has come again now. Luckily the two main places that I want to go are relatively close to each other, just outside of Reading in Berks county, PA. <br /><br />The first of these is the old Bern churchyard along the Bernville Road, where the largest number of my Hiester ancestors are buried. There are also a lot of Rebers buried at Bern, so the trip to Bern will serve two purposes.<br /><br />The second stop will be St John's near Wernersville, AKA Hains Church. According to his obituary, my great-grandfather, Adam Reber Hiester was buried here. Adam was one of the toughest of my early stumbling blocks in my Hiester research so it will be nice to have him finally located. For whatever reason, Adam and his wife, Ellen or Laura, were not part of the regular family visits when I was a kid, and though I was really too young to remember them at all, my mother had told me years ago that he was a difficult man. I gathered that my grandfather did not choose to spend much time with his father in later years.<br /><br />If time permits, I'd also like to get up to the Pagoda and take a few shots, as it was always a neat sight in my visits to Reading as a kid and I haven't been up there in years. Now if the weather will just cooperate a bit...<br /><br />Looking at Mapquest, it might actually make sense to combine one more location into my trip, St. Paul's (Summer Hill) near Auburn in Schuylkill county, where some of the early Rebers from the Johan Leonardt side are buried. Mapquest says it's just short of two and a half hours, by going up Rte 15 from Taneytown and heading east from Harrisburg. If so, that's not much longer than it would be to go straight to Reading. If I do it that way, I would hit Summer Hill first, and then come down 183 to Bern and finish at Hains. It would for a pretty long day, but it would save me making a separate trip later to Summer Hill.Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02357444502677754333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343194995036215147.post-34768669833304190412008-05-19T13:33:00.000-04:002019-09-07T07:29:32.979-04:00The Strange Connections We Find...I was doing some reading about the trial of Harry K. Thaw, who murdered Stanford White in New York City, presumably to remove him as a rival for the affections of well-known model, Evelyn Nesbit. One of those who testified at the trial was Dr. Charles F. Bingaman, the family physician. Since my own family lines are connected indirectly to the Bingaman family, I was interested to learn more about the family' connection to the Thaw case. Two articles immediately attracted my attention:<br />
<br />
<br />
Grand Forks Daily Herald. 1909-08-05<br />
<br />
Pulliam Feared Curse<br />
<br />
Pittsburg, Pa. Aug. 4 - A tale of the blighting curse of a cripple is out here in connection with the suicide of President Harry C. Pulliam, of the National league. Pulliam with Harry K. Thaw and Dr. Walter S. Bingaman, both close friends of his, were standing in front of the Hotel Henry in Pittsburg, four years ago, and three laughed loudly at some joke just as a cripple in passing slipped and fell on the pavement. The cripple, thinking the trio was laughing at his fall, became most bitter and pronounced a curse to the effect that none of the trio would ever die a natural death.<br />
<br />
Pulliam was much exercised over the incident and hurried after the crippled man trying to explain that he and his friends had not been laughing at his fall, but the cripple stormed away and would not have anything to do with Pulliam.<br />
<br />
The famous baseball man apparently never forgot this curse of the crippled man and mentioned frequently to it among his friends. One year later Thaw killed Stanford White and has been in the hands of the law ever since. Recently Dr. Bingaman was sent to the Dixmont Insane Asylum, and Pulliam is dead by his own hand.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The second articles tells of the problems experienced by Dr. Bingaman:<br />
<br />
<br />
The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1909-07-23<br />
<br />
Friends Believe Him Sane<br />
<br />
Special to the Inquirer<br />
<br />
Pittsburg, Pa. July 22. Dr Walter S. Bingaman boyhood friend of Harry K. Thaw and one of the leading young society physicians of Pittsburg, has been placed in Dixmont Insane Asylum, and the case promises to develop into a sensation. The nervous breakdown appears to have been aggravated by his infatuation for Katherine Frank, a pretty German nurse who attended some of his patients. Bingaman writes the nurse from Dixmont that he is held there because he would not marry a rich East End girl instead of herself.<br />
<br />
Friends of the young physician, however, are inclined to question his incarceration, and today members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows called on Dr. C. F. Bingaman, an uncle, and on J. F. Bingaman, the man's father, demanding that the case be re-opened. Dr. Walter Bingaman is a member of this order, and his lodge mates assert that they will go into court and ask that he be brought into court on a writ and his sanity inquired into.<br />
<br />
His close friend, Dr. Henry M. Goebring, with whom he has been associated on many cases and who was treating him at the time he was ajudged insane, has come out with a statement that he does not think Bingaman was insane. "Purely some nervous trouble," said Goebring.<br />
<br />
Dr. Bingaman was ajudged insane by Drs. W F. Edmundson and J. H. McClelland, recognized medical authorities throughout the country.<br />
<br />
Miss Frank, the nurse, who received a long letter from Bingaman written from the asylum, said tonight in tears:<br />
<br />
"I know Dr. Bingaman as a physician, I handled some cases for him, and when his nerves gave way, I helped attend him, but I have never had any thought of marrying him."<br />
<br />
<br />
The second article lists his father as J. F. Bingaman but should actually list his father as Joseph Philips Bingaman, who was the son of Fredrick Bingaman of Chester County. Dr. Charles Bingaman, who testified at the Thaw trial, was Joseph's brother. Many of the Bingaman family stayed in the northern part of Chester County and quite a few of them are buried at Coventryville Methodist Cemetery. I haven't yet found out what finally happened to Walter, so there is undoubtedly more to the story.<br />
<br />
In other family news, it becomes quickly apparent that Walter is NOT a good name to have if you're a Bingaman:<br />
<br />
<br />
Gettysburg Times, 1925-02-03<br />
<br />
2 Murder victims are Buried Toady<br />
<br />
Pottstown, Pa. Feb. 3. Priscilla, Bingaman, 3, and William Bingaman, 18 months, who were beaten to death by their father last Saturday, and George C. Bingman, 73, grandfather of the children, who died from excitement as a result of the tragedy, were buried today.<br />
<br />
Walter Bingaman, farmer and father of the children, who killed them while demented, according to the police, is in the Chester county hospital for the insane. His condition today was said to be improved. Should he recover his reason, the district attorney said today he may be placed on trial for murder.<br />
<br />
<br />
In this case, it's a different Walter, with the same sort of result. The grandfather, George Chrisman Bingaman, was buried at Coventryville Methodist, so the two children probably were also.<br />
<br />
Here's another article covering the same story in more depth:<br />
<br />
<br />
Times Signal, Zanesville, Ohio. 1925-02-01<br />
<br />
Beats Tots to Death; Aged Father Dies<br />
<br />
Horrible Crime Enacted By Farmer During Religious Frenzy; "Spirits" Told Me To Kill Baby; Only Explanation; Had Attacked Wife; the Father Dies of Fright<br />
<br />
Pottstown, Pa., Jan. 31 - Walter Bingaman, a farmer of Warwick township, near here, while in a religious frenzy, beat to death two of his three children.<br />
<br />
When policemen broke into the farmhouse that found the farmer's father, George C. Bingaman, 73 years old, also dead. His death, Coroner Russell James of Chester county, said was probably due to excitement and heart disease.<br />
<br />
Tonight Bingaman was in the Chester County jail violently insane, police said.<br />
<br />
Bingaman's wife was at a neighbor's hose when the tragedy occurred. The dead children were Priscilla Bingaman, 3 years old, and William D. Bingaman, 18 moths.<br />
<br />
Thursday night, according to Mrs. Bingaman, her husband tried to convert her to his way of thinking in religion.<br />
<br />
An argument followed and he tried to strangle her. She was rendered unconscious for some time. Friday night her husband again attacked her and she fled to the house of a neighbor and remained there over night, fearing to return to her home.<br />
<br />
Today she became alarmed when nobody was seen about the farm house and the authorities at West Chester were notified. Breaking into the house, they found Bingaman and a five year old son, Walter, Jr., stretched across a bed, with the dead grandfather and the two lifeless children in the same room.<br />
<br />
The county officers seized Bingaman and manacled him hand and foot. He said he was prompted by "spirits" to kill the baby He evidently had beaten the infant to death with the handle of a carpet sweeper.<br />
<br />
When his aged father died Bingaman said he had to "sanctify" the home by sacrificing the three year old girl. Her skull had been crushed.<br />
<br />
The coroner held an inquest and decided Bingaman had killed the two children and that the father had died from the excitement and heart trouble.<br />
<br />
Bingaman spared the life of Walter, Jr., his five year old son, he told his captors because "God had not commanded him to take it." The coroner believes that the fit of temporary insanity left the man after he had killed the two children, to return later.<br />
<br />
Bingaman was placed in a straight jacket late tonight and taken into the Chester county insane hospital after examination by two physicians.Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02357444502677754333noreply@blogger.com0