Kirton and Nelson Family Photos, 1920's

It has been too long since I last posted about my genealogical research.  It has been sporadic over the last couple of years, as I’ve had other priorities get in the way.  I do still try to find time to uncover new bits and pieces.

A few weeks ago, I was picking through some things and found a few photos my mother received from my grandmother years ago.  I had not seen these before, as my mother often kept these things to herself, since I did not express a keen interest in them when I was younger.  I’m ever grateful that she left these photos for me, as I can now apreciate them.

First off, is a photo of my grandfather, John Julius Kirton.  This photo was taken when he was about 4, which dates it to around 1922.

Second in this batch is a photo of John Kirton and his sister, Mary Alice Kirton, taken in 1927 according to the attribution on the back of the picture.  John is holding baby alligators, it appears.

The third photo was taken at the beach (where is not stated), about 1926. 

This photo has a whole bunch of family in it.  The 3 adults in back are listed as Aula Nelson, Adelaide Nelson, and Elizabeth Urech.  The 3 taller kids in the middle are Ned Nelson, Jr. (Who was killed fighting the Nazis in WWII), Ruth Nelson, and John Kirton.  The two smaller kids in front are Mary Alice Kirton and Richard Nelson.  It looks like Ned is carrying a surf board?

Here’s the family run down:   Ned, Ruth, and Richard are the three older children of Ned Nelson, Sr. (their youngest sister, Aula Joanne Nelson, wasn’t born until 1929).  Aula Steele (Alexander) Nelson is their mother.  Elizabeth Urech is the sister of Ada Belle (Urech) Nelson, Ada being the kids’ grandmother.  John and Mary Kirton were the children of Mary Alice (Nelson) Kirton.

And here’s a small diagram I drew for this very post:

It’s always fascinating to run across old photos like these.  They have survived much, and give us a glimpse into the past.  I hope to share more in the coming years.  If any of you wish to contact me, I can be reached at mtiediting (at) inbox.com.

Lost in Time

Time is an unstoppable force in many ways, something that at present cannot be challenged.  Once something has passed, it is over forever, and there are so many people and events that will never be seen again.

Photographs are the lingering echoes from the lost past, little bits of memorabilia that can give us insights into the imagery that cannot be reclaimed.  People long dead will live on forever in the pictures we have of them, though over time even those can be forgotten.  That is why it's vitally important that we keep them identified.



Mary Alice (Nelson) Kirton,
holding son, John Julius Kirton
1919



Almost everyone who lived during the latter half of the 19th century onwards has had a picture taken of them at some point, though a great deal of those older pictures have been forgotten.  So many unidentified faces may lurk in plain sight, simply because there is nobody left alive who remembers them.  Younger generations often ignore the past, and sometimes fail to care until it is too late.  This is how ancestral lines and family photographs can be lost and forgotten.

It's always fortunate to find a photograph with an inscription on the back.  Those who have the foresight to jot down something as simple as a name help to assure that these faces and places are not forgotten.  Those who know must leave more than the picture itself, but also some key to identify the people and places, lest they become little more than an odd curiosity.

As many unidentified photos as there are, I fear there are many more still that have been destroyed by the ravages of time.  How many family photos have sat in a damp basement, or steamy attic, and become faded beyond recognition?  How many have been burned in house fires, or simply thrown in the trash?  Too many.  With today's technology, it's fairly easy to scan and copy images, so hopefully the worst of the damage has been done, and we will not lose anything further to disaster.  Backup those old family photos, and spread them around to keep them alive!

Those of us today who care about the past must work vigilantly to preserve what is left from bygone eras.  We must take special charge of our family lineage, and make sure to preserve it for future generations, or our children will be left wondering in vain.

Hibernian Roots

As St. Patrick's Day was just last week, I've been thinking about my Irish ancestry.  There are quite a few of my forebears who came across from the Emerald Isle, and it would be nice to learn more about their own lineage, though the Irish were notorious for not keeping records.  Those of us with Irish ancestors generally find a dead end in our research once we get to Ireland, and I could probably write an entire post about the various social and cultural reasons for the absence of information, though not today.

Moving forward, here are a few of the Irish ancestors I've found:



George Gamble
Circa 1860



George Gamble:  He was born on 16 October 1795 in Ballybay, Monaghan County, Ireland, the youngest of six children born to John Gamble and Elizabeth Kennedy.  He came to the United States in April 1811, aboard the Protection, with his parents and siblings William, Joseph, and James, as well as James' wife Isabella (Nesbit), and John Morrow, Jr., the son of George's sister, Nancy.  The rest of the family, including John Gamble, Jr., migrated over at different times on different ships, and they settled in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, to work as farmers.

On 16 October, 1818, George married Anne Keeney, a woman whose ancestry goes all the way back to William Bradford.  They settled on a farm in the town of Harford, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, where they spent the rest of their lives.  They had 4 sons and 6 daughters, including my 3x great grandfather, Theodore Beza Gamble.

James MacCain:  I don't know a whole lot about the MacCain side of my family, largely because it was disowned generations ago.  Since my great-grandfather Raymond Wilmer MacCain, Sr. divorced my great-grandmother Effie Kurtz Robinson, little has been said of them.  Attempts to contact different cousins on this side of the family have gone unanswered, though I'm still hopeful that somebody with information about the MacCains will contact me someday.

Here's what little I know.  James MacCain (grandfather of aforementioned Raymond) was born circa 1810 in Armagh County, Ireland.  He married Nancy Agnes Nixon and they came to America sometime before 1840.  Their daughter, Agnes, was born in Pennsylvania in 1839, and they later had 3 sons, Robert MacCain (1840), James Penn MacCain (1844), and William John MacCain (April 1850).  William was the father of Raymond, and 3 other sons.

Alexander Moore:  Here's the other side of my MacCain heritage.  Alexander Moore was born 15 March 1830 in the town of Ballygawley, Tyrone County, Ireland.  His father was also Alexander Moore, but it may be inaccurate to call them Sr. and Jr., as there seems to be a long line of Alexanders in the Moore family.  If the Irish had kept proper records (damn their defiant non-compliance with English record-keeping), I'd probably be able to tell who's who, but there were certainly a lot of "Alexander Moore, son of Alexander Moore" baptisms in the 18^th Century in Northern Ireland.  It is possible that my ancestor Alexander Moore born 15 March 1830 was the third, fourth, or tenth in his line.  There's no way to tell at the moment.

Alexander married Anna Jane Young the daughter of James and Elenor Young, also of Ballygawley, and they settled in Philadelphia, where they raised their 2 sons and 5 daughters, one of whom was my great-great grandmother, Mary Helen Moore, the wife of William John MacCain.

Thomas Nelson:  Moving over to my mother's side of the family, there are two families of Nelson.  One originates in England, and the other came from Ireland.  Thomas Nelson was born circa 1766 in Armagh County, Ireland.  He married Sarah Martin and they immigrated to the United States sometime during the 1790's.  It's uncertain how many children they had, but there are currently only two that I know of.  One was my 4x great-grandfather Joseph Nelson, who was born circa 1790 in Ireland.  The other child is a daughter, Lana Nelson, born September 1802 in New York.  Thomas died in Cambridge, New York, on 6 June 1808, though his wife lived until 1844.

Isaiah Rogers Nelson, son of Thomas, married Alice Jane Doughty, whose grandmother was also a Nelson, only from a branch that came over from England around 1640.  Of course, if you trace the English Nelson line back far enough, you eventually find yourself in Ireland again, when they spelled the name Nelleson.



Ann Carney Littlefield
w/ daughter Anna L. Forthman
New Orleans, 1912



Ann Carney:  Last Mother's Day, I wrote a little about my great-great grandmother, and over the last year I've uncovered a few more details about her.  Ann (or Annie) Carney was born 22 April 1853 in Roscommon County, Ireland.  Her parents were John Carney and Anna Nesbitt.  The particulars of her arrival in America are not certain, though she may have come aboard the Edith in 1868.  She ended up in Chicago, Illinois, where she met and married Henry Littlefield, Jr., an Iron Smelter whose father was an Irish sailor.  They were married on 19 February 1873 by a Catholic Priest, presumably in a traditional wedding ceremony, and they had 5 sons and 2 daughters, including my great-grandmother, Anna Louise Littlefield, the wife of William Edward Forthman, Sr.

Although her husband Henry died before 1900, Ann lived until 29 September 1930.

So, there you have it, a whole bunch of Irish ancestors that made a better life for themselves in the land of opportunity.

My Lee Cousins

This week, I'd like to share another rare family photo, and introduce you to a few of my cousins, the Lees.

This photo was taken about 1897, and shows the 4 Lee children at bath time.  Gertrude Beulah Lee is on the far left.  Donald Willis Lee is in the tub, Robert Nelson Lee is standing straight, and Rowland Vance Lee is the one leaning over on the right.

The Lees are an interesting line of the tree.  Their mother was Marie Elizabeth Nelson, aunt to my great-grandmother Mary Alice Nelson.  Marie and her husband, Clarence Willis Lee, were stage actors, who moved out to Hollywood during the early days of film.  Rowland became a successful director, and has his own star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.  You can read about his film history here.

Robert was a writer (mostly screenplays), and he was nominated for a Best Writing Oscar in 1931 for his work on the screen adaptation of "Little Caesar," starring Edward G. Robinson and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. 

Donald was also a screenplay writer, though he didn't garner as much success as his brother Robert.  IMDB has him mistakenly listed as deceased in 1934.  Perhaps his screenwriting career died at that time, but he lived until 1978.

Gertrude married Guy Oran Koepp in 1924, and they had several children.

My knowledge of their lives is pretty sparse, and I'd really like to know more about my Lee Cousins.  Hopefully, some of their descendants will find this blog someday.  Don't be afraid to say hello!

A Fallen Hero

This coming Tuesday marks the 68th anniversary of the death of a first cousin twice removed, so it seems only fitting that I post this column ahead of that date, to honor his memory.

Edward Franklin Nelson, Jr. was born in West Orange, New Jersey, circa 1917.  My knowledge of him is fairly limited, but what I do know about him makes me wish I knew more.  He was a 2nd Lieutenant in the 8th Army Air Force, and he was killed in action on September 27, 1943, fighting the Axis powers during World War II.

Here is a photograph of “Ned” Nelson Jr., all decked out in his officer’s uniform.

The back reads:  “Ned Jr. Nelson, son of Ned Nelson, who was killed in battle second world war—he was a bomber.”

Little information is available online about his service, though he is on the West Orange website’s “lest we forget” memorial page, which lists all of the servicemen from that township who died during the war.

Based on the date of his death, I suspect Ned Jr. may have participated in the bombing of Emden, Germany.  The historic, first US radar-led bombing raid took place on September 27, 1943, during which seven B-17’s and one P-47 were lost.  It is possible my cousin was aboard one of those planes.  Perhaps time will tell if that was the case.

Name That Nelson

Here’s a family photo-postcard that’s right around 100 years old.  It comes from the Nelson branch of my mother’s side of the family, and it is either of Ned Nelson Sr., or Ira Nelson, Jr.  I suspect it is Ned because of comparative facial features in another photo I have of him (when he was 8), but brothers tend to look alike and there is no positive identification on this particular picture.

On the back of the picture, the following message is inscribed to his mother, Ada Belle Nelson:

Mary said “don’t send it that way.  That isn’t in an envelope, you don’t want your physiognomy going through the mail!” so I decided not to address it.

He did start to address it, as “Mrs. Ira R. Nelson, 1150” is written in the address slot, but struck out with 2 pen lines.  He obviously stuck it in an envelope and explained why when sending it back to his mother.  I suspect the "Mary" he quotes is his sister, Mary Alice Nelson (my great-grandmother).

I’d like to get confirmation on this one, so if anyone has a known photograph of Ned Nelson Sr. taken sometime between 1910 and 1920, I would love to see it.  Or a picture of Ira R. Nelson, Jr. from about the same time period could clear things up, as well.

Mary Alice Nelson

This week, I'm going to share a few photos of my great-grandmother, Mary Alice Nelson.  She was the daughter of Ira Rogers Nelson, Sr., and Ada Belle Urech.  She married Julius Kirton in 1917, and their son, John Julius Kirton, was my mother's father.  I'll be posting more about the Nelson line in later posts, but here's one just for my great-grandmother.

Here's the earliest picture I have of her, taken in July 1894.  She was eighteen months old!

Here we have a picture taken about 3 years later, with her older brother Edward Franklin "Ned" Nelson, Sr., and her younger brother Ira Rogers Nelson, Jr.:

For a picture of Mary Alice Nelson on her wedding day in 1917, check out my Kirtons of Kentucy blog post here.

Jump ahead to circa 1919, and a picture of her holding my grandfather, John Kirton:

And for a nice photo finish, here she is in 1948.  She's holding my Uncle Stephen.  Uncle Clifton is standing beside, and my mother is the grinning little girl in her own little chair.

Meet The Urechs

Here's a little hunk of family on my mother's side; the Urechs of Switzerland.  I haven't been able to trace the line too far back, only into the early 1800's, and this is a common occurrence when dealing with immigrant families.  It seems a lot of European countries either didn't keep the greatest records, or it's difficult to connect relatives who move to the States with those who stayed back in the old country.  Then again, it might be that a lot of the information hasn't been digitized, and I'm not able to go digging into foreign archives.  I've had some luck on certain lines from England and Germany, though.

As I mentioned, the Urechs came from Switzerland.  The earliest relative I've been able to identify is John Rudolf Urech, my 3x great grandfather, and the son of John Urech and Suzanna Karper.  He was born September 14, 1839 in Aargau.  He moved to Ohio sometime before the Civil War, and married Minnie Mary Smith on February 15, 1864 in Cuyahoga County.

John & Minnie Urech had four daughters, the first being Adella Emma (b. August 6, 1864 /Died March 14, 1943)-The proximity of their marriage to the birth of their first child may suggest they had premarital relations.  Their other children were Elizabeth (b. 1867), Ada Belle (my 2x great grandmother, b. December 23, 1870), and Effie (b. 1871 /Died December 16, 1963).

Adella Urech married a man named Malva Morris Daniels (b. June 1863 /Died November 2, 1941), on July 9, 1888.  They had two sons, Roger Urech Daniels (b. November 20, 1891 /Died October 6, 1918 in Miami, Florida), and Edgar Eugene Daniels (b. July 27, 1893 /Died September 1966).

Elizabeth Urech became a school teacher, and from what I've gathered, it seems she never married.  She was still single and living alone in 1930.

Effie Urech married Charles Mills Terrell (b. October 15, 1870 /Died July 1, 1926).  They moved to Miami, Florida, where their daughter Mary was born in 1914.  Last I heard, Mary was still alive, living somewhere in Vermont.  That is an amazing thing to think about, that my great-grandfather's first cousin might still be alive today.

Okay, getting back to my own line:  Ada Belle Urech married Ira Rogers Nelson (b. January 3, 1863 in Toledo, Ohio /Died November 13, 1932) on March 22, 1886.  They had 4 children that I've been able to identify:

Edward F. (b. December 3, 1888 /Died September 1968),

Mary Alice (my great-grandmother, b. January 22, 1893 /Died September 28, 1974),

Ira R. Jr. (b. June 1895)

Adelaide (b. 1908)

It's clear that Ira and Effie Nelson moved around a bit (work related, I'd guess).  Edward was born in Montana, Mary Alice and Ira were born back in Ohio, and Adelaide was born in New Jersey.

Edward F. Nelson married a woman named Aula sometime in the Teens, and they had at least 2 children:  Edward (b. 1917), and Ruth (b. 1919).

Mary Alice Nelson married Julius John Kirton in 1917, as I previously stated in my Kirton blog post here.

I haven't been able to find out anything else about Ira or Adelaide.

So, there's the Urech line, which merged with the Nelson line, which merged with the Kirton line.  In conclusion, I'll leave you with this fine family photograph, of John & Minnie Urech with their daughters.  It was taken sometime in the late 1880's by my estimation, and it is one of the many pictures that spurred me to research my family history.  It's nice to place where a face belongs in your own past.



Top (left to right): Effie, Ada Belle, Elizabeth
Bottom: Della, John R., Minnie Mary