My Mom, Harriet Duncan (Claycomb), was a fine swimmer. She earned the American Red Cross Life Saving badge when she was 16, but she had to wait until she was 18 to officially receive it. She was often ahead of her time.
She would have earned it in the summer of 1931 before she turned 17. DeKalb, Illinois.
Dad was paid up with the Automobile Club of Michigan – his second year as a member. He joined in July 1936.
He was a member of AAA for about 60 years.
Mom and Dad registered to vote in Detroit, MI, 1937. The municipal elections there had the biggest turnout in their history that year. My guess is that, as usual, Mom and Dad’s votes cancelled each other. The following year, FDR was elected President for a second term. 
Can you tell I’ve been sorting more family ephemera lately? Hope to continue and someday finish.
In these days of calling parents and grandparents by their first names, this note that accompanied a gift to my father and his brothers harks back to an earlier time. I would guess it was written in the mid-1920s. The Bresslers are the boys’ grandparents (and probably included their daughter, Dorothy). No warm and fuzzy Grandma and Grandpa here, just ‘The Bresslers.’ My father did refer to them as Grandma and Grandpa.
It’s more properly called a friendship album. I got a chance to see one with a distant family connection. It was made by Emma Osborn with help from her sister Erista, beginning in 1860. Emma married my great-grandfather’s brother, Thomas C. Duncan in 1866. Besides poems and obituaries, the book contained locks of hair – from children, friends, and deceased folks.
The woman who generously shared it with me – and provided these photos – found it at an estate sale. Her research brought her to my blog. I’m grateful for her diligence. If the book had a more direct line for me, I would have considered buying it. It later sold for several hundred dollars.
T. C. Duncan served in the Wisconsin cavalry in the Civil War.
An entry for Francis Osborn Duncan, the adopted son of Emma and T. C.
Lots of genealogical information here.
Hair from a deceased woman braided.
A child’s lock of hair. I think the black ribbon indicates the person has died.
One of Emma’s poems.
A lot of hand work has gone into these tributes.
More intricate designs.
A funny story from our visit is here.
This is where my parents lived when they first came to California in 1939. They rented 2027 Stanley Hills Drive in the Hollywood hills. The house was built in 1938. They may have been the first tenants.
2027 is at the center of the photo – part of a duplex.
It’s fun to compare it with a Google Earth shot taken in December 2017.
My parents, Frank and Harriet Claycomb, moved to Hollywood California in 1939 – in time for their first born child to have that glamorous birthplace. I think this was an exciting time in my parents’ lives. They were in their early 20s and Hollywood star power was at a peak. The Wizard of Oz was released that year and Gone With the Wind in 1940. Mom said she often saw big stars at local stores. It was almost a small town atmosphere.
Dad was a salesman for Anaconda and often entertained customers at night clubs. These are souvenir photos from two of those evenings.
Folder for Florentine Gardens.
(about 1942) L-R: __, Sally Chamberlain, Frank Claycomb, Harriet Claycomb, __, Blair Chamberlain, __, __.
On the reverse of the Florentine Gardens folder, it states one can write for additional copies from Hollywood Nite Club Photos – $1.00 each plus 10 cents for mailing.
February 1940. L-R: Frank Claycomb, Cele Snow, W. E. Sprackling, Harriet Claycomb, Herbert Hawks, Win Snow, Mrs. Hawks, E. A. Casey, Mrs. W. E. Sprackling.
I like reading obituaries for their information and often for their wording. How many ways can you say someone has died? This was not meant to be an obituary, it was just in the local news column, but the wording is not what we would use today.
“The aged wife of Mr. Thomas Duncan who has been with her son, Dr. Duncan at LaMoille, had a stroke of apoplexy recently, but the Gazette reports her as improving. Dr. F. Duncan, formerly of this city, is one of her sons.
Since writing the above we learn that the old lady died.”
Mrs. Duncan is Eliza Cation Duncan. She died 9 Dec 1890. LaMoille is in Illinois and was the home of Dr. James C. Duncan.
My grandmother, Ruth Bressler Claycomb, was a member of the Delta Delta Delta Fraternity (yes, although we would now call it a sorority) in 1909 at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
Michael Gallagher, son of John and Martha Gallagher, was the second husband of Cassie Ann Rosenberry, my great great grandmother. Her first husband was Orson Patchen (Patchin) with whom she had two children, Edgar and Nettie. Nettie (Annette MaryJane Patchen) was my great grandmother. Orson Patchen died in the Civil War. Cassie then married Michael Gallagher. They had no children. Michael also died in the war and Cassie applied for his widow’s pension. These are some of the forms from that file.
Civil War pension files can have wonderful information in them. In this one, it lists parents’ names, verifies the marriage, and indicates no children. The best tip I learned about getting the file was to request the entire file to be copied. Otherwise someone is going to choose which pages you get. Disclaimer: I got these files many years ago, so the procedure might have changed.
As Michael’s widow, she did get a pension of $8.00 per month.
These are the proofs offered in her claim.
This page has great information on it – parents, dates, marriage!
And more info here.
My favorite part is seeing her signature on the sheet above.
