I bet you think my Mommy's dead...

Those that follow my blog might have noticed I've been absent for a couple weeks. I thought of what I said to my Aunt Mary shortly after my Mom started working at the General Motors plant in Columbus when I was about 3 1/2 years old. My Aunt Mary had come to stay for a few days since my Mom worked nights, and she had not arranged for babysitting yet. I said to Aunt Mary when she was getting me ready for bed "I bet you think my Mommy's dead, but she's not. She's at work!".

Well, I'm not dead! I took what could be called a vacation, though the purpose was not one for relaxation. I drove with my daughter Jamie to Atlanta, Georgia. She started work as an unpaid intern at the Georgia Aquarium. We're all hoping that it turns into a full time paid position. She recently graduated with a BS in Marine Biology from the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine. This is a dream job and one that is hard to come by in this field, so we are quite excited about the opportunity.

I helped Jamie find an apartment, and we explored the area. But I mostly spent the time in the hotel room while she worked as it was just too hot to do any exploring on foot. I did visit the aquarium. It is very nice! It is supposed to be the largest aquarium in the world. They recently started an indoor porpoise show. I like the fact that everything is inside, especially when it's mid-90s outside!

After Atlanta I took an Amtrak sleeper car to New York City to visit my son, Nick. I visited a couple days and finally arrived home early Saturday.

I was able to do a little online research while in Atlanta and will do another post soon on what I've found.

Surname Saturday - HUNTOON / HUNTORN

I've written about my great grandmother, Mary R. Huntoon here and also here.

I try to revisit her every so often. I'm not sure why, but the thought occurred to me that the woman with whom she is living in 1870, Mary Taylor, might not be her mother-in-law, but her mother.

Looking at Mary Taylor again with this in mind, I find that she was born in Pennsylvania, which is where in 1880 Mary Huntoon Porter states her mother was born. I had already found her date of death, but had not looked at her death certificate, so I obtained a copy from Familysearch.org. It states that her father's name was David Stagers. On Mary's son, John James Taylor's death certificate, Mary is listed as Mary Stiggers. As mentioned in one of the previous posts I've seen the surname Stiger or some variation of it on several Ancestry family trees pertaining to this family. I then obtained a copy of Mary Taylor's obituary. It states that she was born in Green [Greene] County, Pennsylvania. Already known facts are that she married Burgess Taylor and was survived by her son, John J. Taylor. In the 1900 federal census both Burgess and Mary Taylor state that they had been married 39 years, putting their marriage date at about 1860-1861. Their son, John, according to his death certificate was born in November 1861. My Great Grandmother, Mary Huntoon Porter, was born about 1853. So for Mary Taylor to be Mary Huntoon Porter's mother, the marriage to Burgess would have had to have been a second marriage. Looking through my book on Knox County marriages between 1808 to 1875, I could not find a marriage record in Knox County for Mary Staggers and Burgess Taylor. However, I did find a marriage record for Mary Staggers and Owen/Oren Huntorn!

So it appears that my hunch was right. The Mary Taylor with whom my Great Grandmother, Mary Huntoon Porter, is indeed my Great, Great Grandmother. The other thing that gives some support to this is a paragraph printed just before Mary Taylor's obituary: "George Mohr of Gambier [Knox County, O], Arthur Porter, Joshua Taylor, Bertie Lybarger and Mrs. Ida Worman [Warman] of Knox county, attended the funeral of Mrs. Mary Taylor on Wednesday of last week." Arthur Porter, Bertie Lybarger and Ida Warman are Leander and Mary Huntoon Porter's children. Several times in the local paper "Richwood Gazette" [Union County, Ohio] Mrs. Mary Taylor is mentioned as having returned from visiting relatives in Knox County.

I cannot find anything more on Owen/Oren Huntorn. The surname Huntorn is seen some in census records, but not in Knox County/Union County areas. It's possible that the surname is not Huntorn, but Huntoon/Hontoon. I'm sure that all were illiterate so the surname was written as it sounded. I will of course keep looking for my newly-found 2nd Great Grandfather.

So as of today I have definitely verified the story that my Great Grandmother's last name was Huntoon (or something that sounded very similar). What I have not verified is if Mary's father was Native American. A DNA test might help determine if there is Native American blood in our ancestry. I have most likely identified my 2nd Great Grandparents, Owen/Oren Huntorn/Huntoon and Mary Staggers.

I now have to find more supporting evidence, but I feel confident that I have again taken a chunk out of my brick wall, Mary Huntoon Porter.

Military Monday - Sons & Daughters of World War II Veterans Genealogy Society

I recently came across the Sons & Daughters of World War II Veterans Genealogy Society's website. I am wavering back and forth on whether I should join or not.

The pros are that it would be very easy for me to prove my decendancy from a WWII vet. I have my father's Army discharge papers, my birth certificate, and my marriage license. The Army discharge papers show the same address for Dad as that on my birth certificate. Easy! Probably the easiest Society requirements for me, most likely because I didn't have to go back that far to obtain the required documents.

The con is the price ... $125.00 for the initial application, then others can 'hitch a ride' on that application for an additional $25.00 each.

I've browsed some of the members. Seeing that some have pictures of the WWII vet is a nice touch, but after listening this past Wednesday to Maureen Taylor's webinar "Google Images and Beyond", I don't know if I could share a very nice picture I have of Dad in uniform due to copyright issues.

Anyway, while I ponder over this please check out this Society's website.