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Blogwriter Claudia is having trouble keeping up with Researcher Claudia who has uncovered some pretty cool information on our ancestors.  I do like to combine the pictures with all the historical context we can dig up because number one, I admit I am a full-out history geek, and two, it reminds us that the faces in those shadowy sepia squares of paper were very real people who just stopped what they were doing for the five seconds it took to snap the picture, and then went back to talking, laughing, arguing, eating, playing.  History is just one big long series of yesterdays.

Apparently some sort of Carroll/Burgit family reunion occurred around 1915, probably at the Queen Street, Northumberland, Pennsylvania, home of Laura and John Carroll.  Here is our Grandma and Grandpa Carroll (Laura E. Burgit and John E. Carroll) seated in center with all their children then living, left to right, Ada, Nicholas, Thelma, Claudine, Lillian and Harriet.  Sadly, Laura and John lost three children, perhaps four, at very young ages.

 



Birth order of Laura and John's children:

 

Harriet E. born 8 Oct 1888, died 25 Sep 1920

Coleman C. born 22 Feb 1889 (may have died at birth? date may be off)

Nicholas A. born 12 May 1891, died (checking on exact date)

Lillian M. born 14 Feb 1894, died 9 Aug 1943

Ada E. born 30 Jul 1895, died 10 Oct 1975

Thelma S. born 4 Jan 1905, died (checking on exact date)

Claudine F. born 12 Nov 1907 died (checking on exact date)

Melvin, born 6 Jul 1910, died 10 Nov 1910

Jack Donald, born 1913, not sure of date, died six months later

 

Here the two sons-in-law have been added, Harriet is seated at left with husband Robert W. Lugar, holding baby Laura Lugar, daughter Mary Lugar sitting cross-legged on ground, daughter Pauline Lugar holding teddy bear; Lillian is seated with husband Harry Percy Still holding baby (Kenneth Still?) 

 



 

 

And here is the motherlode of family portraits - we're still trying to work out the details of identifying all these folks, but the white-haired gentleman seated in the center is Henry Coleman Burgit, father of Laura E. Burgit Carroll sitting on his left.   So, for Delores, Lois, Bill, Carl and Claudia and all other relatives of your generation, that is your great-grandfather.  For the rest of us, we'll just have to do our own math as to how many "greats" that is (for example, to my own grandgirls, he is their great-great-great-great-grandpa).  Yikes.

Thanks to Arleen Ryan for sharing this wonderful photo (and others) - Arleen is Harriet's granddaughter, her mother was Laura Lugar, the baby held by Robert Lugar standing in the background above.  --cds