Ahnentafel

Information gathered from the 1920 and 1930 censuses on Darlen/Dalen/Dalan Davis, fifth cousin of Blanche Agnes Wilson:

Darlen/Dalen/Dalan Davis (son of Claud Duval and Ruhama Bird), born May 1895 in West Virginia, married Beulah M. (b. between 1895-1896 in West Virginia) between 1910-1920. Darlen was a carpenter in 1920 and was living with Beulah in Grant District, Doddridge County, West Virginia that year. By the time of the 1920 enumeration the couple had three children, Graden F., Ruth F., and Edith W. By April 1930 the family had moved to Salem, Harrison County, West Virginia, and had five children - Graden’s name now appears as Bradon, Edith W. now appears to be listed as Yvonne, and two new children, Dalen Jr. and Naomi appear, as well as Ruth.

Descendants of Darlen Davis
1. DARLEN10 DAVIS (CLAUD DUVAL9, ELIJAH8, ABSALOM7, PETER D.6, WILLIAM5, THOMAS WILLIAM4, JOHN3, WILLIAM2, WILLIAM1) was born May 1895 in West Virginia. He married BEULAH M. Bet. 1910 - 1920. She was born Bet. 1895 - 1896 in West Virginia.

Notes for DARLEN DAVIS:
January 8-9 1920 Grant District Doddridge West Virginia Sup 3 Enum 35 Sheet 5B
Fm 95 101 Davis, Claud D Head O F M W 46 M yes yes West Va West Va West Va yes Farmer General Farm 55
—Ruhama B Wife F W 52 M yes yes West Va West Va West Va yes None
96 102 Davis Dalan Head 1 M M W 24 M yes yes West Va West Va West Va yes Carpenter Rig building 56
—Beulah M Wife F W 24 M yes yes West Va West Va West Va yes none
—Graden F Son M W 4 S West Va West Va West Va none
—Ruth F Daughter F W 3 S West Va West Va West Va none
—Edith W Daughter F W 1 S West Va West Va West Va none

April 14, 1930 Salem, Tenmile District, Third Ward, Harrison, West Virginia Enum 17-38 Sup 5 Sheet 20A
George Street
94 474 485 Davis Dalen S Head 0 1800 R No M W 35 M 19 No yes West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia 75 yes Tool Dresser [?] Oil OOXV W yes No
—Beulah [Bealal?] Wife-H v F W 35 M 19 No yes West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia 75 yes None
—Bradon Son v M W 14 S yes yes West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia 75 yes None
—Ruth Daughter v F W 13 S yes yes West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia 75 yes None
—Yvonne Daughter v F W 11 S yes yes West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia 75 yes None
—Dalen Jr. Son v M W 10 S yes yes West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia 75 yes None
—Naomi Daughter v F W 8 S yes West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia 75 None

More About DARLEN DAVIS:
Census: 1920, Grant, Doddridge, West Virginia
Occupation: 1920, Carpenter

More About DARLEN DAVIS and BEULAH M.:
Marriage: Bet. 1910 - 1920

Children of DARLEN DAVIS and BEULAH M. are:
i. GRADEN F. DAVIS, b. Bet. 1915 - 1916, West Virginia.
ii. RUTH F. DAVIS, b. Bet. 1916 - 1917, West Virginia.
iii. EDITH W. DAVIS, b. Bet. 1918 - 1919, West Virginia.
iv. DALEN DAVIS JR., b. Bet. 1919 - 1920, West Virginia.
v. NAOMI DAVIS, b. Bet. 1921 - 1922, West Virginia.

I’m still intending to post here more often but was in Vancouver for work for a week. I’m back now, though, and intend to get back on track (eventually!). Before I left, I discovered some new databases posted on the Norwegian site, Digitalarkivet. This site contains thousands of digitized Norwegian records covering census data, births, marriages, confirmations, emigrations, tax lists, and more. I’ve visited this site in the past, but the “digitised parish records” feature was recently added, and this has provided a wealth of new primary records on our Norwegian ancestors. The records are sorted by county and then parish, so it is fairly easy to look through the images for Sogn og Fjordane County, Innvik Parish, and locate many of our Roberg/Aaland relatives. You can now find a number of these records for Anders Roberg, Svend Roberg, and others posted in my genealogy database.

In the summer of 2005, Mom and I took a trip to Michigan. I had never been there before, and we wanted to check out the many lighthouses on the Great Lakes. One of our favorite stops was the Little Sable Light, situated on an isolated sandy beach near Mears. The lighthouse is made of reddish brick and stands 107 feet tall on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. As always, I was interested both in the light itself and in imagining what life for the lighthouse keepers was like, but had no reason to suspect I would one day find a personal connection.

Several years later, researching census records of our Wilson ancestors, I made an unexpected discovery. Hiram James Willson, born in Massena, New York, between 1836 and 1837, was the first cousin twice removed of Carl Ozro Wilson. Sometime between 1850 and 1867 Hiram moved from New York to Michigan, as did a number of Willson relatives. In the 1850 census Hiram can still be found in Louisville, New York, but in 1867 his daughter Gertrude was born in Michigan.

By 1900 Hiram had died, and Gertrude was not found in the census record of her widowed mother, Jennie (Vernon) Willson. Searching more widely, however, I was able to locate her; though Gertrude had married and therefore changed her last name, her birth year and birthdate were correct, as were the birthplaces of her parents. Once Gertrude had been identified, further details became evident. She had married Joseph Arthur Hunter (born March 1857) about 1887, and had given birth to Herbert H. in June 1888 and Pearl G. in July 1890.  Joseph’s occupation in the census record is shown as “lighthouse keeper,” with the family living in Golden Township, Oceana County. A quick Internet search determined that the lighthouse in Oceana County is in fact the Little Sable Light, and further research revealed a listing of the keepers of Little Sable, which includes not only Joseph Hunter but, for a few shorts weeks in 1910, “Mrs. H. G. [Gertrude Helen] Hunter.” 

All in all, it appears that the Hunters were involved with the Little Sable light from 1890-1922, when Joseph retired.  Joseph’s journals from 1916-1922 have been published as well, so (as soon as my copy arrives!) I may have an even fuller understanding of what life at Little Sable was like.

Every once in a while I find myself playing the genealogical “What If?” game.  What precise combination of events had to take place throughout the years to allow me to be me?  Perhaps this sense of narrowly-avoided oblivion makes those stories of ancestors’ first meetings so intriguing.

Grandma Montgomery (Blanche Wilson Montgomery) told me the first time she ever met Grandpa (L. T. Montgomery), he was part of a threshing crew working her family’s fields.  She was thirteen, and so shy she hid behind the door when she first saw him.  Eight years passed, during which Grandpa married, had two daughters, and was widowed.  Then in 1930, Grandma’s mother ran into Grandpa again in town.  She remembered him from the threshing crew years earlier and, thinking he would make a good husband for her oldest daughter, invited him out to the farm.  Shortly after this second meeting, Grandma and Grandpa married.

My maternal grandparents’ story began at a family get-together.  Grandma (Velma Swing Hoffmann) was in her teens and was surprised to see a young man at the family gathering whom she’d never seen before.  Struck by his good looks, she asked her mother who he was, only to find out he was a cousin!  She knew most of the Hoffmann cousins, of course–their father, Paul Hoffmann, had been a half-brother to her grandmother, Catherine Hoffmann Swing.  But Joe had been away in Chicago, and Grandma hadn’t realized there was a Hoffmann son older than Lee, born in 1912 (Grandpa was born in 1907, ten years before Grandma).  Grandma and Grandpa Hoffmann’s courtship was longer than Grandma and Grandpa Montgomery’s–they would not marry until 1938, some 5 years or so after that first meeting.

These stories (and all the other “first meetings” of ancestors) lead to inevitable questions.  Who would I be if Sophie Wilson hadn’t chosen that day to go into town?  Or what if Grandpa Hoffmann had stayed in Chicago rather than returning to Fairbury and attending that family get-together?  Or what if Grandma Montgomery had hidden behind that door again in 1930?

Yet another genealogical project (of course).  I’m working on updating the homepage of my genealogical network (pruesarn.googlepages.com).  I’ve added a “What’s New” page to make it easier to find exactly what has been updated and when.  I’m working on creating pages for at least the more recent family branches (the more distant branches will still be reached through the newer Online Family Database site)–my inspiration to get cracking on this was Cherie’s Family Book which we looked at during our visit to Fairbury this summer.  At the moment I’m working my way through the descendants of Paul and Emma Slagel Hoffmann–rather a daunting task!  Check out the “What’s New” section to see if your family page has been updated recently.

I also wanted to add some information to the website in memory of Grandma Hoffmann.  To this effect I’ve uploaded the chapters of a Tribute book I put together for her in December 2000.  This can be found at http://pruesarn.googlepages.com/atributetograndma.  Maybe it will express a little of what we have lost.