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still writing
When I retired in 2012, I had my next phase of life well-planned. I had applied for a Creations grant and so stepped right into writing my first book. Since then, in ten years, I have published seven poetry books, twelve science fiction books and four Kaye Eliot Mysteries. Two of the poetry books were published with Chapel Street Editions; the rest, I have published myself with Kindle Direct, learning the formatting process as I go.
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I still have a few books waiting in the wings, including three books in my upcoming Writers Retreat Mysteries and five novellas in an Urban Adventure Series. I also have the poems for at least three more poetry collections, including one about ‘sounds in nature’ to be published by Chapel Street Editions next year. And I have new ideas all the time.
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At present, I am completing my first non-fiction book, a history of my great-grandmother Ella (Hawk) Norman (Ella:1859-1933). Ella began her life as one of the Pennsylvania Deutch, the community of German immigrants to Pennsylvania established in the 1700s. As an adult, Ella traveled to the west and spent years in Laramie, Wyoming, where she married, and Denver, Colorado where she built a life for herself and her young son.
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The book includes the research done by me and by my aunt, Dr. Jane Margaret Norman. Genealogy is a unique type of writing because the work can never be truly completed. There is so much still to learn about Ella and new tools, such as DNA analysis, are helping to add to her story. However, I have enough information to publish the book. Only a few more edits to go.
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The audience for this book will include Ella’s descendants and relatives in her Family Tree, as well as other genealogists who are interested in my methods. I have also included a creative element, a series of poems written as a tribute to Ella and her family.
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I think the book will also be of interest to those curious about ‘women’s history.’ Ella was one of those brave folks who traveled west in the 1880s at a time when the railroad made travel to the west more accessible than ever before. Her sister, Sadie Hawk, who was a big part of her life, was an example of a single woman who supported herself in a day when women had few rights and were at a disadvantage in a world where women were expected to marry.
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I have completed the painting for the cover of the book. The lower part of the image, a garden of columbines and poppies, represents the security of home in Pennsylvania. Ella stands at the edge of the garden path in silhouette, looking toward the west and the mountains near Laramie, Wyoming. My Uncle Francis who knew Ella, his grandmother, told me Ella never forgot the west after she returned to Pennsylvania and always planned to return some day.
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I wish you well with your own endeavors. If you are a writer, what projects are you working on and what stage in the process most intrigues you? If you are interested in your own family history, what ancestor interests you the most and why? If you are a reader, perhaps you will try one of my books, or look forward to the release of Ella-1859 to 1933.
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All my best!
Jane
another book, another cover
True to my mantra of having multiple projects on the go at one time, I have been quietly working on a new book, of the genealogical variety. The book, titled Ella: 1859-1933, is an historical account of my great-grandmother’s life, revealed through family stories, Census and City Directory records, military and other official government records, and study of other genealogical sources (I have blogged before about my great-grandmother https://janetims.com/?s=Ella+Norman+). Much of the information is the result of study by Dr. Jane Margaret Norman, my aunt, who began looking for evidence of Ella’s life in the 1970s and found out most of the known information on Ella’s life. The book will be of interest to Ella’s descendants and others in the Hawk and Kresge lineage.
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A Brief Synopsis of the Book:
Ella Hawk (her maternal grandfather was a Kresge) was born in 1859 to a Pennsylvania German family. When she became an adult, she followed the path of many who felt the lure of the West. By 1880, she lived in Laramie, Wyoming where, in 1886, she met and married Frank Norman. She had one son, Leo, and lived in the West for another 24 years. In 1911, she returned to Pennsylvania to live with her mother and sister. Her son served in the navy and eventually met and married Katie Clark, a trained nurse. In 1927, Katie returned to Canada to raise her young family. Katie and Leo were my grandmother and grandfather.
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The book includes a detailed presentation of these events, as well as the genealogical references. I will also include three poems as a memorial to Ella’s family and the account of a trip we took to Wyoming to see where Ella and Frank were married.
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Book Cover:
I include two references to flowers in the book, to red poppies, and pink and blue columbines. So I decided early to include these flowers on the cover of the book. I also wanted to show Ella on the cover but as a silhouette, walking in the garden. I know, from my Uncle Francis’ memories, she wore wide-brimmed hats, so the figure will be wearing such a hat.
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At first, I painted apple trees in the background, but the symbolism of the trees escaped me. So I removed the trees and added a scene from the Laramie area, featuring the nearby mountains (the Snowy Range), and a suggestion of foothills and plain. Now the silhouette of ‘Ella’ looks from her garden in the East towards the West. My uncle (her grandson) told me she never forgot the West and wished to return some day.
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I completed the basic elements of the cover painting in one sitting. But a lot was left to be done: layers of colour to be added and detail in the mountains and flowers. My main objective was to add colour in such a way to make the poppies appear far away and the columbines close by.
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Colour will do this. In general, cool colours (like red) look far away and warm colours (like blue) appear nearby. This generality is modified by the tone (darkness or lightness) of the colour: dark colours appear to get closer while pale colours appear to recede. Saturation of colour will also affect its appearance of advancing or receding: a pure colour will appear nearer; adding a bit of another colour will cause it to recede.
for more information on colour in art, see How Colors Advance and Recede in Art Science of Colour.
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I will revisit the cover design in about a week, and perhaps tweak the border colour and other aspects. let me know what you think.
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All my best!!!!
Jane
Where is Frank?
In an attempt to keep making progress on my explorations of family history, and to justify my monthly contributions to Ancestry.com, I have implemented ‘genealogy Saturday’. On most Saturday’s, I pledge to discover more about my family, and to organize into a written account the information I already have. We’ll see how long this intention lasts.
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I continue to be interested in the life and family of my great-grandmother Ella (Mary Ellen) Hawk Norman (1859-1933). I now have information on much of her life. Thanks to the City Directories at Ancestry.com, I know where she lived almost every year from 1894 onward.
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My only photo of my Great-Grandmother Ella (Hawk) Norman (in about 1928). She is second from the right, with her hands folded. The group is standing in front of Harowitz’ Restaurant in Scranton, Pennsylvania where she worked as a pastry cook in the early 1900s.
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I also know about her husband, my great-grandfather Frank Norman, from the date of their marriage in 1886 onward
(see my post about their marriage
https://janetims.com/2014/05/15/the-tale-of-a-marriage-certificate/
and about Frank’s fall from a horse https://janetims.com/2014/05/12/searching-the-newspapers-2/).
But I know nothing about him before 1886. Most of all, I would like to know the names of his parents, my great-great-grandparents. Of my sixteen great-great-grandparents, these are the only two names I do not know.
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Unfortunately, the name Frank Norman was common in the mid-eighteen hundreds. I know from various documents that Frank was born about 1855 in Missouri. There were about forty Frank Normans born in Missouri in the mid-century and deciding ‘who was who’ has taken a major effort.
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I used the following ‘rule base’ to help me sort through the many Frank Normans:
1. Discard any females (the names Francis or Frances have been used for both males and females)
2. Discard any Franks born before 1845 or after 1870 (he was at least 16 in 1886 when he married and no older than 40). Since Frank’s birth year (1855) comes from two sources and is likely near to correct, I was more stringent than this when looking at each record. I have often found birth dates in the Census suspect, probably because people were vague when providing information to the Census taker.
3. Discard any Frank Normans who had other spouses before 1896, especially those with children born in the 1880s (Ella and Frank divorced in 1896, so he could have remarried). This takes careful searching through the Census records and family trees, going back and forth to see who was in the various Frank Norman families. It is too bad we don’t have the 1890 Census !
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Hooker, Laclede County is in south-central Missouri; Bethany is in Harrison County in northern Missouri
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After all this, I have found only one Frank Norman who meets my criteria. Francis M. Norman (born 1852 Missouri) lives with his father Moses Norman (born 1821 Tennessee), his mother Betsy (born 1820 Tennessee) and his brother Benj (born 1848 Missouri) in Hooker, Laclede County in Missouri (1860 Census).
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There were two Moses Norman families living in Hooker, Laclede in 1860. The other Moses Norman (born 1895 Tennessee) lives with wife Lucinda and their children. Moses 1895 was a landowner in Laclede. Although I have not been able to connect the two Moses Normans, it is reasonable to think they were related. In the Census, they are living fifty houses from one another, perhaps a long way in the days of large farm properties and the ‘open country neighborhood’.
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I cannot find Moses and Betsy in any Census after 1860. A person named Benj (died 1873) is buried in the Moses Norman Cemetery in Sleeper, Laclede and this may be Moses’ (1821) son Benj.
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On Frank’s Application for a Marriage Licence (1886), he wrote that he lived in Bethany, Harrison County, Missouri. There were Norman families in the Bethany area by 1880 and Frank may have gone there from Laclede to live or work.
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I may never know the names of my great-great-grandparents for certain, but Moses and Betsy sound like good candidates. I will keep looking until the powers invent a time travel machine just for genealogists!
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Copyright 2016 Jane Tims
Great Grand Uncle Ed – silver miner
My great-grandmother Ella’s brother was Edwin W. Hawk. He was born in 1864, the sixth of eight children.
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‘Uncle Ed’ was an adventurer and went west when he was only 16, to live in southern Wyoming. The US Census of 1880 lists Ed as a laborer at Crow Creek, Wyoming (not far from Laramie, Wyoming). By 1886, my great-grandmother Ella was living in Laramie. No doubt she had come west to live near her younger brother.
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By 1910, Ed was living in Humbolt, Nevada. In 1920, he is listed as a lodger at Broadway Ave. in Lovelock, Nevada. He is 56 years old, single, and a miner in a quartz mine. Nevada is known as the ‘Silver State’ because of its silver mines.
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Ed continued to work as a miner. At the time of his death in Lovelock in 1940, probate documents show he had a cabin in Vernon, Nevada and six mining claims in the Seven Troughs Mining District. He had an estate of $3200, a watch and chain, and $80 in cash.
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Vernon was established in 1905 as a base for those working in the Seven Troughs Mining District. The landscape around Vernon is hilly, dominated by yellow sand, dotted with sagebrush. The town dwindled in population as the silver depleted and was abandoned by 1918. Today, it is a ghost town.
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Ed Hawk, Ella’s brother
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I notice that the same photographer (J. Collier in Denver) took both Ed’s photo and a photo of my grandfather Leo as a baby (Ella’s son). Ella lived in Denver until 1910 and perhaps Ed visited her there, and had his picture taken on a visit to see her baby. For more information on Leo, see https://nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com/2012/07/20/chicory-cichorium-intybus-l/
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Leo Norman as a baby (son of Ella and Frank Norman), my grandfather and Ed’s nephew
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
family history – changes in 10 years
As I look into my family history, I am often amazed by the changes that occur in families in short periods of time. An example is found in the early life of my great-grandmother Ella – Mary Ellen (Hawk) Norman. In the ten years from 1860 to 1870, she experienced dramatic changes in her family.
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The 1860 US Census shows Ella’s family living in Chestnut Hills Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania. The family included Josiah Hawk (Ella’s father, a shoemaker), Sallyann (Sarah Ann) (Ella’s mother), Owen and Ella (Ellen). Mariah Hawk, Ella’s paternal grandmother was also living with them.
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In the next decade, the family underwent remarkable change. First, five children were born – Flora, Sarah, twins Edwin and Otto, and Emma. Of these, Otto and Emma did not live (Josiah and Sallie had already lost a child in 1957). Then Josiah died on June 28, 1865, a month and a half after Emma. Also, sometime during the ten-year period, Maria Hawk, who lived until 1880, went to live elsewhere.
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John Franklin born Sept. 15, 1855 (died Dec. 26, 1857, two years old)
Owen born April 21, 1857 (death date unknown)
Ellen born January 4, 1859 (Ella, my great-grandmother, died 1933)
Flora Alice born June 25, 1860 (death date unknown)
Sarah Ann born Dec. 11, 1863 (Sadie, my great grand-aunt, died 1921)
Edwin W. born 1864 (Ed, my great grand-uncle, died 1940)
Otto born 1864 (death date unknown, before 1870)
Emma Lydia born Jan. 7, 1865 (died May 9, 1865, 4 months old)
From: Atwood James Shupp, 1990, Genealogy of Conrad and Elizabeth (Borger) Hawk: 1744 – 1990, Gateway Press, Baltimore).
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In 1870, Ella’s mother, Sallie, married again to Joshua Popplewell.
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The 1870 US Census shows the results of all this change. In 1870, the family is living in Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. The family now includes Joshua Popplewell (step-father), Salie (Sara Ann) (mother), Owen, Mary (Ella), Flora, Edwin and Sarah (Sadie).
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The person most affected by these changes must have been my great-great-grandmother, Sara Ann (Sallie). During the decade she gives birth to five children (including a set of twins), her husband dies, she remarries, and she changes the location of her home at least once. In the only photo I have of her, she seems a formidable woman, steeled to withstand all manner of disruption in her life. I also see great sadness in her eyes.
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my great-great-grandmother Sallie – Sarah Anne (Kresge) Hawk Popplewell (1835 – 1910)
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Our lives are dynamic, full of change. New people enter our lives, others leave. The place we call home shifts to a new location. We go to school and graduate, we take a new job, we retire. Our focus changes, along with our point of view. Some change is dramatic, some subtle. Some change makes us laugh, some makes us cry.
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What changes do you see in the decades of your life?
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
the tale of a marriage certificate
Of my eight great-grandparents, I have found myself most drawn to the story of Ella Hawk and Frank Norman. Before I became interested in them, my aunt did a considerable amount of work, so I have only had to fill in small gaps of information. If you follow my Blog, you will know I have looked diligently for information on their lives before 1886 when they married in Laramie, Wyoming (for a poem about Ella’s early life, see https://nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/occupation-shoemaker/
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I know several bits of information about the day Ella and Frank married – July 24, 1886. For one thing, I have stood in the Methodist Episcopal Church where they were married (see https://nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/sacred-spaces-2/ ). Also, the newspapers for July 1886 are a great source of information on Laramie and the people living there at the time.
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I also have copies of Ella and Frank’s Application for a Marriage Licence and their Certificate of Marriage. On the documents, Ella identified herself as Mary Ellen Rhoderick since she was previously married.
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Marriage Licence Application for Frank Norman and Ella Hawk (Mary E. Rhoderick)
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Certificate of Marriage for Frank Norman and Mary E. Rhoderick
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Who were the people who signed my great-grandparents’ marriage documents?
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George W. Fox, with the very elegant signature, was the County Clerk in Laramie from 1885 to 1888. An 1875 history of Laramie describes him as a ‘city alderman’, who, in 1866 crossed the Plains with an ox train, by way of Fort Laramie and the Big Horn’ to eventually work in the Laramie meat and vegetable market, and in the sales of dry goods. The history says: ‘by fair and honorable dealing has very much endeared himself to our citizens. In fact as a benevolent, high minded, business gentleman Mr. Fox has no superior’ (History and Directory of Laramie City, Triggs, 1875). George W. Fox is also known for his diary, kept in 1866 as he crossed the Plains (Annals of Wyoming 8 (3):580-601; https://archive.org/details/annalsofwyom8141932wyom ). His stories of encounters with stampeding cattle and rattlesnakes vividly portray the wild west.
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S.H. Huber was the Minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. According to the July 10, 1886 Daily Boomerang newspaper, Pastor Huber had been in Laramie for two years. He was in poor health and would stop preaching and leave for Illinois within the month. Another article says he performed the Sherriff’s marriage the week before Ella and Frank’s marriage. The First Methodist Episcopal Church, which still stands at 150N Second Street, was constructed in 1860 and was eventually moved across the street where today it is the oldest church building in Laramie.
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Although there are other possibilities, it is likely that Lizzie Langhoff was a friend or acquaintance of Ella. Among three Langhoff families in the Laramie area in the 1880s are Charles and Almena Langhoff with their children Lizzie, Emma, Anna, Louis and Minnie. By 1884, this family had come from Plattsmouth, Nebraska (1880 US Census) to live in Laramie. Lizzie, Louis and Anna appear in the Roll of Honor for schools in the Laramie area several times from 1884 to 1886 (Daily Boomerang). Lizzie was born January 6, 1871, so she would have been 15 years old in July of 1886, perhaps old enough to witness a wedding. Lizzie Langhoff died in Laramie on April 25, 1892 (Wyoming: Find a Grave Index 1850-2012) at the age of 21.
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Methodist Episcopal Church in Laramie in 2002 – this is the back and side of the original church which was rolled across the street to its present position
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Ella and Frank did not stay in Laramie for long. In the 1890s they lived in Denver Colorado where my grandfather Leo was born in 1890.
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Leo Norman, born 1890
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Unfortunately, Ella and Frank’s marriage did not last. I have the paperwork for their Divorce Decree in 1896. Nevertheless, I owe my existence to their decade-long marriage and the sense of adventure their short time in Laramie has brought to my own life.
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
searching the newspaper archives
Still on the trail of my great-grandfather, I have turned for a short time to the wonderful source of the newspaper archive. This may not uncover any new leads about my relative, but it is a fascinating way to search.
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I know from my Aunt’s earlier search for information, my great-grandfather (Frank Norman) and great-grandmother (Ella Hawk) were married in Laramie, Wyoming on July 24, 1886. I have written before about my great-grandmother Ella and her father, Josiah Hawk, who was a shoemaker in Pennsylvania (https://nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/occupation-shoemaker/). In 2002, we drove out to Laramie as part of a vacation adventure, and saw where Frank and Ella were married. It was amazing to know I was standing where they did so long ago!
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My present search for Frank has taken me to the pages of the ‘Daily Boomerang’, a newspaper in Laramie. This was a four page daily paper, reporting local and national events and providing advertising for Laramie in the 1880’s and 1890’s and beyond. It included lots of local tid-bits in the ‘Personal Paragraphs’, ‘Personal Points’ and ‘About Town’ sections. The ‘Laramie Boomerang’ continues today.
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In 2002, when I visited Laramie, I spent part of the day looking at the fragile paper archives of the ‘Daily Boomerang’. Although my time was short, I was able to find out a little about the Minister who married Frank and Ella.
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Now, a little more than a decade later, I am able to access, online, every page of the paper. This is thanks to the Wyoming Newspaper Project. The project has converted over 800,000 pages of Wyoming newspapers into searchable digital format. Today, all I have to do is type the searchword ‘Norman’ to find if Frank or Ella are mentioned in the pages of any of over one hundred Wyoming newspapers ! To search these papers, have a look at http://www.wyonewspapers.org .
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I know this effort may turn up some results since I already know of one article, found by my Aunt, about my great-grandfather. On July 26, 1886, only two days after their wedding in Laramie, Frank receives a short mention in the ‘Daily Boomerang’.
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Just a little below the center of the page above, under ‘About Town’, it says:
Frank Norman, while out riding yesterday, was thrown from his horse and had his collar bone broken.
I know from later records that Frank made his living as a ‘hod carrier’, part of a bricklaying team. The ‘hod carrier’ is the worker who carries bricks on a hod – a v-shaped wooden carrier with a handle, carried over the shoulder. A collar bone injury would have been a hard turn of events for someone whose work involved carrying heavy loads. It must have been a tradgedy for the couple newly married.
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I have a little work ahead of me since I want to look at all possible entries in the newspaper about Frank or Ella from the time of their marriage to about 1892 when Frank and Ella were living in Denver, Colorado. There may be nothing more to find, and the search is made complicated because a common breed of horse for sale in Wyoming at the time – the ‘Norman’ !
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I will keep you up to date on my search for information about my great-grandfather. Have you ever used newspapers to search for information about a member of your family?
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
nichepoetryandprose 