Bradford County – Telling My Story

Alma Gage and the Gage connection

The Gage connection is through the Buttles line and the generation is three “greats” back. I have a lot of photographs of this generation, cabinet card and carte de visite photographs that were apparently shared with family like trading cards. Sometimes the annotations on the back lead to clues about marriages and other name changes. Sometimes they just leave me wondering.

My three times great grandmother Elizabeth Alma Buttles shared part of her name with her niece by her brother Harlow J. Buttles, Alma Dolly Buttles was born 18 March 1866, most likely in Bradford County. She married Charles H. Gage on 6 September 1893. He listed his occupation at the time of his marriage as farmer but I found evidence through newspaper notices that he and Alma may have moved down to Camden for a short period around 1900. By 1905 the family is living in Broome County, NY, a stone’s throw away from Bradford County, PA. Charles and Alma Gage had three children but only one grew to adulthood: Harriet Gage (1894), Mary Eugenia Gage (1896-1941) and Karl Gage (1899-1900).

This photograph intrigues me for many reasons: who is Mary Fisher, who took the photograph and what are they sitting on?

132_Alma_Gage_and_Mary_Fisher_001

132_Alma_Gage_and_Mary_Fisher_002

William Tyrrell of Bradford County, Pennsylvania

William Tyrrell, and the whole Tyrrell clan, should be as easy to research as the Buttles, the Cowdrys, the Princes and the Hines. But, despite my best efforts, they remain shrouded in mystery. Staying true to my #52ancestors quest, I will write about them but I don’t have a lot of answers.

Map showing Tyrrell My Great-great-grandmother Catherine Tyrrel married James Edwin Hine. Her parents were William L. Tyrrell and Lucy Charlotte Doane Tyrrell. Both of these families were active in the early settlement of Bradford County and the Tyrrell’s even have a hill named after them but William died at a young age, and Lucy remarried. But I am getting ahead of the story.

William Tyrrell was born around 1813, possibly in Bradford County but also possibly in Connecticut. On 8 November 1840 he married Lucy Charlotte Doane (25 January 1820-25 October 1887). They had five children:

Catherine E. Tyrrell (1842-1868)
Joseph Tyrrell (1844-1864)
Jane Tyrrell (1847-?)
Eliza Tyrrell (1848-1863)
Seymour Tyrrell (1851-1917)

William Tyrrell died on 9 August 1852 and is buried in the Tyrrell Hill Cemetery. Lucy found herself with five children under ten years of age. William does not appear to have left a will and his $1000 worth of real estate (1850 Census) must have been held in trust for his children. Although the will index showed no William Tyrrell, I found an 1866 newspaper notice noting a partial account of C G Gridley guardian of Jennie and Seymour Tyrrell. The children do appear to have been split up amongst family as Catherine and Joseph are living with H C and Almira Tyrrell. Eliza and Seymour are living with Lucy and her second husband (a truly mixed family as Orinn Ross appears to have children from his first marriage, Lucy and Williams’s and then two new children oddly named Lucy and William).

Only two of William’s five children live beyond their twenties. Seymour stays in the Bradford County environs but Jane appears to have married a man named Camp and moved to the deep Midwest, eventually settling in Oklahoma.

There are other Tyrrells in the Bradford County area, but as I cannot find William’s parents, I have not been able to track his siblings. I will keep coming back to this branch but an examination of land and probate/guardianship records will probably get me a few more details. Interesting observation though: most of the family on my father’s side started off on the north side of the Susquehanna River in Bradford County.

Mattie Hine Brown

Lost daughters, half sisters, connections. #52ancestors is good for many things, not the least of which is getting me to acknowledge the limits of my online research capabilities. This week I try to track down each of the children of Martha Eliza Hine Brown.

Mattie, as she appears to have been called by family, was the eldest daughter of James Edwin Hine (1837-1915) and Catherine E. Tyrrrel Hine (1842-1868), born 24 September 1864 in Orwell, PA. She was the older sister of Minnie Arabella Hine. In 1887, she married a widower named William Amos Brown. He had two children by his first wife Bessie Purvis: Camilla May Brown (1876-1966) and Annabelle Brown (1878-1964).

Hine_Martha_Marriage1887_WilliamABrown_Bradford1886_to_1891

Mattie Hine Brown and William Amos Brown settled in Athens and had five children:

Edna L. Brown (1893-1984) married Lyman Edward Talada, moved to Michigan
Rachel A. Brown (1894-1990) married Daniel William Bean, stayed in Athens
Vera Margrette Brown (1897-1972) married Charles Gustav Peter Friedericks, moved to Reading, PA
Thelma Augusta Brown (1901-1984) married Harold Fred Chase, moved to Los Angeles, CA
John Edwin Brown (1904-1983) did not marry, lived in Sayre, PA

Mattie died of something called quick consumption on 16 April 1913 and is buried in Tioga Point Cemetery in Athens with William Amos Brown (1854-1941).

Brown_Martha_Hine_TiogaPtCemetery_1913

Arthur T. Hine

Arthur Thomas Hine is one of those relations that I did not question in childhood but was a bit of a mystery when I tried to figure out how he was actually related. I think he’s a great uncle by way of a second marriage. Curious labels one discovers with #52ancestors.

I have already written about my great-great-grandfather James Edwin Hine. Arthur is his son by his second marriage to Ann E. Phillips. Arthur was their only child and James’ only son, born 11 January 1874 in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. He lived with his parents until he married Flora Campbell (1875-1961) on 17 December 1902. They had two children, both girls: Edith Augusta Hine (1907-1998) and Ella Marie Hine (1913-1916). Ella Marie died of bronchitis related to infantile paralysis (polio).

Arthur appears to have worked as a general laborer, first for the “shops” or the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and then later for the local hospital.

I got to know Edith Hine after visiting her with my father. We drove down from Ithaca to visit her and take her out to dinner. Later, after I moved to Philadelphia, I would sometimes drive home by way of Athens so that I could stop by to visit with her. She gave me some family letters which I have used to write the blog about Sabrina Hine.

I don’t remember the year but it must have been after 1995, when it came time for Edith, who had been a nurse in the public schools for most of her career, to leave her home on Pine St. and go to live in a retirement home where she got more assistant with day to day living. My father and I went down to the auction where her furnishings were sold to help raise the money to fund this. We purchased a bedroom suite made up of a bed frame, bureau and washstand that had been Arthur and Flora’s wedding present. It was quite ornate Eastlake style and I held onto it for years. When I made the move from Ohio down to Kentucky, I sold it at auction myself, as it was too big for my new house.

I love having pieces of the family around me. Sometimes they bring memories and sometimes they are just great inspiration for my imagination.

Minnie Arabella Hine

This week in #52ancestors #52familyphotographs Minnie Arabella Hine takes center stage as a good example of incorrect information in a marriage record. Corroborate, double check and check again! Minnie was my great grandmother and figuring out her real mother set me a merry chase.

Minnie was born on 1 August 1866 in Orwell, Pennsylvania. Her father’s name was James Edwin Hine. Her mother’s name was Catherine Tyrrel or Terrell. She was the second of two daughters of this couple. Martha or Mattie, her older sister, clearly lists her mother on her marriage record as Catherine but Minnie lists her mother as A. E. Hine. James Hine married Ann E. Phillips in 1870 when Minnie was about 4, and she may not have had any memories of her birth mother. Luckily, I happen to have James’ bible which records Catherine’s death and his remarriage.

Minnie married George Cornell Prince on 9 July 1894 up in Bradford County. George was living in Philadelphia at the time, employed as a stenographer with the Philadelphia Typewriter Exchange. I am not sure when he went down to Philadelphia, but he appears in city directories from 1895 to 1904. The family lived in Philadelphia until 1897, when the directory notes that his home is in Rosedale, New Jersey.

Minnie and George Prince had four children, the first born in Philadelphia and the rest in Camden:

George Raymond Prince (1895-1939)
Philip Hine Prince (1896-1974)
Edwin Everett Prince (1898-1899)
Kathryn Marie Prince (1903-1993)

Hine_Minnie_Arabella3a — Minnie Hine Prince with George? and Philip?

I don’t know much about her life in Camden. I know she went home to Bradford County occasionally as her visits are tracked in the local paper. Her father and step-mother had one son, Arthur Hine and she appears to have visited him and her sister.

Minnie Prince died at home on 23 June 1931 and is buried in Bethel Memorial Park in Pennsauken, NJ. Her obituary mentions her children and grandchildren but does not highlight any other activities.

Harlow Buttles and others

This year for #52Ancestors I am going to focus on family photographs. I have so many and I think others will get as much amusement and interest out of them as I do. So ring in 2019 with #52FamilyPhotographs !

Buttles_Harlow_and_others_jpeg

I just love this image: the car positioned across the street, the outfits on the ladies in the back seat, the chauffeur’s cap on the driver. The photograph identifies Harlow Buttles as the bearded gentleman in the front seat.

Harlow was born in 1834 in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. He was a farmer and the postmaster of South Hill, Pennsylvania. He married Susan Amelia Hill in 1862. They had two daughters, Hellen and Alma Dolly. He died in 1924 and is buried in South Hill Cemetery, Orwell.

James Edwin Hine

This week in #52ancestors finds me back in Bradford County, Pennsylvania looking into my great, great grandfather James Edwin Hine and his family.

Hine_James_Edwin_crop — James Edwin Hine

James Edwin Hine was born 28 April 1837 in Orwell to Henry W. (1806-1868) and Mary Craw Frost (1808-1889) Hine. He and his siblings Erasmus and Harlow were baptized on 8 August 1847 by the Reverend John Iveson of the Presbyterian Church of Rome. He does not appear in 1850 with his family, or even with close relatives. However, after paging through 32 pages of the 1850 Census for Orwell, Pennsylvania, I found a possible match in Edwin Hines, 13 years, living with a Uri Cook. Two of the entries on the page, James O. Frost and Chauncey Hill are distant relatives (James being the son of Aaron and Polly Craw Frost and brother to Mary Hine). Perhaps he was hired out to work for as farm hand having expressed an interest in farming. His father was a tailor and his brother a shoemaker, so agriculture might not have followed naturally. Oddly, in 1860 he appears in Willet, New York living with a farmer named Orleans Brigham. If there is a relationship there, I must not have all the pieces.

Tyrrell_Catherine_Kate_crop — Kate Tyrrell Hine

In 1862, he is back in Bradford county where he married Catherine Tyrrell on 30 December 1862. Catherine or Kate was born on 13 May 1842, the daughter of William Tyrrel (1813-4 Aug 1852) and Lucy Charlotte Doane (1820-1887). James and Kate Hine had two children:

Martha Eliza “Mattie” Hine (1864-1913)
Minnie Arabella Hine (1866-1931)

Sadly, Kate Hine died on 18 May 1868. James later married a second time, on 1 April 1870 to Ann E Phillips (1859-1929). James and Ann Hine had one child, a son Arthur T. Hine (1874-1962). I had the pleasure of knowing Arthur’s daughter Edith, but I digress.

James Edwin Hine appears to have gone by Edwin within the family but as James in more formal situations, which makes finding him a bit of a challenge. He appears to have spent most of his life’s work on his farm, appearing in Census records and little more that I can find. James died on 23 March 1915 and is buried at Tioga Point Cemetery.

Philip Hine Prince

In this #52Ancestors essay I am going to explore the life of a person I only remember dimly: Philip Hine Prince, the brother of my grandmother Kathryn Marie Prince Jones Preston. He died when I was about 9, but I have a very vague memory of being with my family at my grandparent’s house at 22 Euclid Ave. in Merchantville, New Jersey and being told that this slight, spare man was my great uncle. Not being well versed in genealogical terms, my young mind struggled to comprehend how someone so slight could be “great.”

Philip Hine Prince was born on December 3, 1896, to George Cornell and Minnie Arabella Hine Prince. While his older brother George Raymond Prince was born in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, Philip was the first child born in New Jersey after the family moved to New Jersey. My grandmother came along several years later in 1904.

Prince_Philip_WWI — 1918 Philip and his mother Minnie Hine Prince

Both Raymond and Philip have Census entries marked for World War I service but I have only been able to document Philip’s service. He joined up on 2 June 1918 at Fort Slocum, NY and was assigned as a private to Company B, 548th Engineers. Before shipping out to France, Philip was promoted to sergeant. The 548th was classed as an Engineer Service Battalion, and was attached to the 20th Engineers. The 548th arrived in Cherbourg just as the Armistice was consummated, and were utilized in the great drive to keep the A. E. F. warm during the ensuing winter. Most of their service was in the northern districts and the upper Loire basin.

With his brother Raymond, Philip joined the family business, Prince Concrete Co. On 3 February 1923, Philip married Gertrude Helen Williams (1893-1969), daughter of David C. and Martha Jane Reynolds Williams. They had two children:

Phyllis Martha Prince (1926-1985) married John Howard Walter Perkins
Janet Rae Prince (1928-) married George W. Johnson

Rosedale_Baptist_Church_Courier_Post_Sat__Jan_28__1967_ — Rosedale Baptist Church (image from Camden Courier Post

Philip and Gertrude were active in the Baptist church, attending and serving in many capacities at Rosedale Baptist Church. I have quite a few memories of this church from summers spent with my grandparents Kathryn and Leonard Preston (Kay’s second husband.) This was the first church in my memory that had a full immersion baptismal pool and I remember staring at it in wonder. My grandfather carefully explained that it was not a swimming pool. I had not, at the age of ten, ever seen anyone baptized, either infant or adult, so I am sure I pestered him with questions.

Pennsauken-Junior-High-School-Pennsauken-NJ-800x511 — Image from Rivertonhistory.com

Philip eventually rose to become vice president under his father at Prince Concrete. He also served on the Pennsauken school board for two terms between 1954 and 1956, and then as president in 1957.

Philip Prince died 31 October 1974 at West Jersey Hospital in Camden and is buried at Bethel Memorial Park.

George Mortimer Prince and his two wives

Prince_George_M_1 — George Mortimer Prince

This week in #52ancestors I bring you quite the character: George Mortimer Prince. He was born on 27 September 1837, the third of six children of George Washington (1808-1888) and Emmaline Terrell (1810-1884) Prince.

George M. served in the US Civil War in the 5th Regiment, New York Cavalry as a corporal in Co. G. His dates of service are October 1861- November 1862. He is not mentioned in regimental histories and his military service was interrupted by a bad case of chronic diarrhea for which he was discharged. But more on that later.

George M. Prince married Elizabeth Alma Buttles (1842-1906) on 5 March 1864. They had three children:

George Cornell Prince (1869-1959)
unnamed daughter (22 June 1875-23 June 1875)
Edna Mabel “Ted” Prince (1878-1947)

Prince_George_Mortimer_and_Elizabeth_2 — George and Alma Prince

They lived in Bradford county, Pennsylvania until the late 1890’s when they relocated to Federalsburg, Maryland, bringing their daughter Edna Prince (Ted) with them.

Shortly after the death of his wife Alma (15 May 1906), George placed an advertisement in the York Gazette. I find the summary of his story here somewhat confusing: he appears to have written to the postmaster stating that he had recently lost his wife by death and would “be pleased to correspond with a Hanover widow of forty-five or fifty years of age, with a view to matrimony.” I don’t know if the rest of his letter explained his relationship with the people of Hanover, or if the postmaster simply assumed that a Civil War veteran writing fondly of Hanover must have fought in the battle at Hanover. However, George Prince had already been discharged due to disability in November 1862, which to my mind would make it very tricky to take part in a battle that happened on June 30, 1863. The 5th Cavalry was definitely there, engaged in hand to hand combat with Stuart’s cavalry, but George should have been at home by then.

He did, however, find a wife. And this is where the story gets complicated. My first inkling of this was in looking through a box of family photographs that came from my dad’s side of the family. The photos all seemed to be identified by my grandmother, which made me wonder if my father had sat her down and made her look through them. Among the Prince family images was a photo of a woman identified as “Hattie Duff, George M. Prince’s second wife?” The question mark was part of her name. When the dickens did he remarry? Elizabeth Alma died in 1906 and George M. died in 1909 so this must have been a whirlwind romance, or something.

According to George’s Civil War pension record, George M. married Hattie E. Duff (ne Jessop, widow, aged 55 years (more likely 62 years)) on 10 November 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. Hattie Duff had apparently lived in Baltimore for some time with her first husband and children, but had been a widow since 1904. George M. Prince died on 28 February 1909, leaving everything to his new wife. She inherited everything, including his veteran’s pension.

This leaves me wondering just how his two surviving children felt about this. Perhaps it is summarized in that question mark on the back of her photograph.

Here are two images of George Mortimer and Alma Buttles Prince at the end of their lives.

Elizabeth Alma Buttles Prince

Jarvis Buttles

orwelmap This week in #52ancestors addresses the Buttles family ancestor who moved from Connecticut to Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Although the original family appears to have spelled the name Buttolphs, by the late 18th century it had settled into the Buttles spelling. This does not keep every index system in the world from corrupting that into Battles, Butler and Butter but hey this is all about discovery and having fun, right?

Jarvis Buttles was born 16 October 1800 in Hartland, Connecticut, one of nine children of Elihu and Lovisa Reed Buttles. Elihu migrated from Connecticut to South Hill, Pennsylvania during the winter of 1817-1818, and according to the published county histories: “He settled at South Hill, put up a factory and engaged in the manufacture of wooden dishes. He died in 1823 and was succeeded in the business by his son Jarvis who occupied the homestead until his death, Oct. 5, 1890, aged 90 years.” Whatever dishes they manufactured must not have a “Buttles” maker mark because I have scoured the world with no luck finding one of theirs.

Jarvis first married on 21 Oct 1828 to Alma Cowdrey (1805-1843). The marriage occured in Hartland, Connecticut, but the Hartland town marriage record notes that his residence was Orwell, Pennsylvania. It also noted that his occupation was “reverend.” They had nine children:

Otis Jarvis Buttles (1830-1918)
Lester Franklin Buttles (1831-1885)
Emily Jerusha Buttles (1832-)
Harlow Jonathan Buttles (1834-1924)
Samuel Foster Buttles (1836-1884)
Eliza Melissa Buttles (1838-1894)
Juliana Buttles (1840-1860)
Elizabeth Alma Buttles (1842-1906) (my great, great grandmother)
Elihu Buttles (1843-1843)

Alma may have died as due to complications in the birth of her last child as her death is recorded as 2 July 1843. Jarvis married a second time on 2 7 March 1848, to Sara Ann Horton (1816-1881). They had two children: Louisa Buttles (1850-1902) and Elihu Buttles (1851-1901). Louisa appears to have changed her name often over her short life. I found her in various records as Ellen, Levisa, Louisa and Ida Louisa.

In addition to manufacturing wooden bowls and farming, Jarvis Buttles served as the postmaster of South Hill in Bradford county from 1853 to 1857 and then from 1858 to 1871. The Post Office was then turned over to his son Samuel Buttles, who held the post until 1884 when Jarvis’s son Harlow Buttles took the post. Harlow served until 1904 when the PO passed out of direct Buttles hands.

Buttles_Jarvis_Postmaster_Crop1

According to the US Postal Service:

“The job of postmaster was an important one — candidates for the job were proposed by the outgoing postmaster, the local community, or local congressmen. Beginning in 1836, postmasters at the largest Post Offices were appointed by the President and usually received the job as a political plum. The Postmaster General continued to appoint postmasters at smaller Post Offices. The Post Office often was kept as a sideline to the postmaster’s primary occupation, such as storekeeper.”

Jarvis Buttles died on 5 October 1890 and is buried in South Hill Cemetery in Orwell, Pennsylvania.

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