Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Obituary for Margaret Jane DAVIS Hardy


I nearly missed this gem.  I was getting ready to scan the pictures from Marilyn Emma DAVIS Giltz, my mother in-law, photo album not long ago, there were loose pictures and newspaper clippings I thought I would go through after I scanned the pages that she had finished. 

There is nothing that jumped out at me as I glanced at this little gem, I thought at some point it meant something to Marilyn, otherwise she wouldn't have saved it.  So I laid it aside, but soon came back to it, as it seemed to be saying look at me.

So look I did.  This little clipping is a family historians dream come true.  It turned out that Margaret Davis is the half sister of Marilyns'  father, Clarence M. Davis.  After I got past the title, City Woman Dies at 83 I knew I was in genealogy heaven.

City Woman Dies at 83

Mrs. Margaret Jane Hardy, 83, of 134 South Orchard street, died at 5:55 Fridayafternoon in the Jefferson County Extended Care Facility, where she had been a patient since April 28, 1965.  Death was attributed to infirmities of old age.
Surviving her are three daughters, Miss Bertha I Hardy, 134 South Orchard Street, Mrs Richard C. (Florence M.) Olin, Altmar, and Mrs. Louis (Gladys E.) Worden, Novato, Calif.; a son, Hohn Arthur Hardy, Perry, N.Y.; a step-son, Gordon Hardy, Knoxville, Tenn.; a step-daughter, Mrs. Jay G. (Carrie E. Hardy) Turner, Barnes Corners; two half brothers, Clarence M. Davis 1628 State street, and Stephen E. Davis, Hilltop Towers; two half-sisters, Mrs. Patsey N. (Gladys M. Davis) Brindesi, 114 William Street, and Mrs. W. Harold (Lois C. Davis) Kirkland, 191 Bishop street; 19 grandchildren and 40 great-grandchildren.
Three other half-sisters and a half-brother are dead.  They were: Mrs. Lyle G. (Essie B. Davis) Thompson, Plattsburgh, who died Dec. 2, 1962; Mrs. George A. (Ellen F. Davis) Pringle, Watertown, who died Feb. 24, 1965; Mrs. Fred J. (E. Mae Davis) Bombard of Watertown, who died Sept.12, 1957.
Mrs. Hardy was born May 1, 1883 in Napanee, Ont., a daughter of John Allen and Janet P. Ramsey Davis.  With her parents she came to this country in June of 1895 and she had since lived in in this city or vicinity.
She was married to Alfred A. Hardy of this city July 5, 1899 in this city.  They lived for years at Burrville, but resided in this city most of the time.
Mr. Hardy, a retired harness maker, died April 2, 1948 at the are of 87 in the county hospital.
Mrs. Hardy was a member of the Asbury Methodist church and its W.S.C.S. and Star Sunday school class.
The funeral will be Monday afternoon at 1;30 at the Reed & Benoit funeralhome with Rev. Gerld MacKennon pastor of the Pulaski Wesleyan Methodist church, officiating.  Burial will be in North Watertown Cemetery.

 It is not the clippings fault it was poorly titled, I can't fault it for that.  I am glad my mother in-law clipped it out and saved it.


Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Researching The Surname of Giltz

  The Giltz family is my husbands paternal side. The story that was told to me, soon after we were married and long before I started doing family research, was that 3 brothers came from Germany to avoid serving in the military.  At the time I didn't think to ask the important questions. My Mother in-law wrote out a simple family tree with names and some dates that only went back to my husbands great grandfathers family, so when I got into researching I didn't have a whole lot to go on, granted it is more than others have to start with, so when I ran into conflicting information I didn't have anyone to ask. So this family is a a challenge to research, but that is what keeps this journey interesting.