Not Royal, But Pretty Special

With all the attention being paid to the royal wedding today, I'm guessing the topic of weddings will be very popular in the blogosphere. It has me thinking of a very special newspaper announcement of my grandparent's wedding that I found on a research trip to Indiana. You know I was thrilled! Today, I would only have to go to NewspaperArchive.com. Here is a transcription of the announcement. Cue Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera!

The Daily Republican, October 13, 1915:

Miss Mary Louise Mauzy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C.A. Mauzy and George Hupp DeHority, son of Mr. and Mrs. C.C. DeHority of Elwood were married Tuesday evening at seven-thirty o'clock at the Mauzy home at 611 North Harrison Street. Many guests were present.

The ceremony was performed by the Rev. C.M. Yocum, pastor of the Main Street Christian church, before an immense bank of pink roses, and ferns studded with green cathedral candles, in the living room. The Episcopal ring service was used.

Colors of pink and green predominated in the very elaborate decorations. Pink roses and greenery were used in profusion and green potted plants were also a part of the decorative scheme. The bride's table was especially beautiful with feather fern suspended from the chandalier to the four corners of the table, forming a canopy when entwined with pink maline.

Leading the bridal Party were Wendell Wilkie of Elwod and Benjamin Hitz of Indianapolis, ribbon bearers, and following in order were the pastor; the bridegroom, Mr. DeHority, and his best man, Louis Mauzy, brother of the bride; Miss Erema Wilk and Miss Mary Louise Craig of this city, bridesmaids; Judith Mauzy, little daughter of Mr and Mrs. Hugh Mauzy, ring bearer; Miss Edith Wilk of this city, maid of honor; Mary Belle O'Brien of Elwood flower girl, and the bride and her father, who gave her away. Mrs. Florence Frazee Woodward san "All For You" and "At Dawning" just preceding the ceremony; Mrs. Hugh Mauzy playing the accompaniment. Maroni, an Indianapolis harpist, played the wedding march and a program of wedding music during the ceremony, as well as throughout the evening.

The bride's wedding gown was of white tulle over white charmuse, embroidered in pearls. She wore a veil and carried a bridal boquet of orchids and lilies of the valley.

The maid of honor was gowned in pale green taffeta. The bridesmaids were in dresses of pink silk net over pink silk. All three carried shower bouquets of sweetheart roses. The ring bearer and flower girl were dressed in white dresses.

Following the ceremony, light refreshments were served the guests.

Mr. and Mrs. DeHority left last night for their honeymoon trip to Chicago in an automobile, stopping over night in Elwood and will be at home in Elwood after December 1.

Mr. and Mrs. DeHority were both graduated at Indiana University and were students together there. Mrs. DeHority is a member of the Kappa Alphha Theta and the Psi Iota Xi sororities and Mr. DeHority is a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.

The guests from out of the city included Miss Lois Stewart of Sullivan, Miss Laura Lindley, Miss Irma Wyebacher, Mr ad Mrs. Carl Eveleigh and Benj. Hitz of Indianapolis, Mrs. Florence Frazee-Woodward of Covington, Ky. Miss Helene Whitesides and Ferd Strickler of Franklin, Miss Hallie Pilger of Anderson, Fred Durham of Muncie, Jolin Morris of Newcastle, Mr. and Mrs. Frank DeHority, Mrs. Arthur O'Brien and daughter Mary Belle, Wendell Wilkie and Mr and Mrs. C.C. DeHority, parents of the bridegroom, all of Elwood, Mrs Rose Kranier of Indianapolis, Mrs. George Becker of Richmond, Mr. and Mrs Ed DeHority and Mr. and Mrs. Joseph DeHority of Elwood, Mr. and Mrs S.B. Harding of Indianapolis, Mr. and Mrs. W.A. DeHority of Indiannapolis, Mrs. Anna Mauzy-Moore of Findley, Ohio, Mr. and Mrs. William Harding of Elwood, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas H. Parry of Indianapolis, Miss Gladys Henley of Chicago, Ward Hackleman of Idianapolis, Mrs. Harold Mauzy of Gary and Mrs. St. Clair Parry of Indianapolis.

Best wishes to all the happy couples this weekend!

Spoiler alert: Who is Isaac Moore?

I have come to believe that every other male born in the 1700's was named Isaac Moore. I know my 4th great-grandfather was. I think I know from census records and local county histories of the late 1800's that he was born in Pennsylvania, birthed my 3d great-grandfather Thomas in Virginia, and died in Indiana in 1853. And he was married to Sarah UNK, of the dreaded UNK family.

I know that if I go online, at Ancestry or Rootsweb and elsewhere, there are people who will tell me who Sarah is, and, sometimes, who Isaac's parents were. I just wish they could tell me why, or at least enter into a discussion. Doesn't it just bug you when there are "facts" out there that you know might be wrong, and yet people are going to attach them to their tree and spread the virus of mis-information? Here is my take on couple that I have run across recently:

Spoiler #1: Isaac born in May of 1764 is the son of Andrew and Sarah Starr Moore of Sadsbury Twp., Lancaster County, PA. I think I know where this started. It is almost verbatim from what appears to be a Moore family newsletter that can be found online. It isn't sourced and there is no mention of where the information originated. As Randy Seaver is reminding us this week at Genea-Musings, sources can be wrong. Especially something like this which has no source. I can come up with a conflicting source, one of those lovely genealogies from the late 1800's that tried to name every descendant of a particular ancestor. The book is Ancestors and Descendants of Andrew Moore, 1612-1897, by John Andrew Moore Passemore, published 1897. Mr. Passemore says that Isaac, son of Andrew Moore and Sarah Starr of Sadsbury Twp., Lancaster County, PA married Lydia Wilson and is buried in Half Moon, PA. My grandfather is buried in Indiana. Perhaps one of these sources is right, but maybe not. And yet a number of folks on Ancestry and Rootsweb assert this connection. Wish I could find a source with a little "Moore" credibility.

Spoiler #2: Isaac is married to Sarah Starr Carrico. Apparently Sarah Starr is not only Isaac's mother, she is now his wife. I'm not sure where this comes from, except there is one researcher on Rootsweb who asked the question, "Is it Sarah Starr or Sarah Carrico?" Maybe someone thought "When in doubt, use them both!" So far, I can't find a record that supports either one. Census records do show a Carrico family living near the Moores, but there isn't a way of telling if this is the right Isaac Moore. Poking around the Virginia State Library site tells me there were at least 2 and maybe 3 Isaac Moores coming out of the Shenandoah Valley at this time. But I can't find a way to sort them out from here.

So I guess the search for Isaac will require a couple of road trips. Fortunately, I don't live very far from the state archives in Richmond, VA, or from the Shenandoah counties. Guess how I will spend my summer vacation!

I LOVE This Book

I suppose given all the recent blogging about monetizing, I should say up front that I am categorically not getting anything from this endorsement!

I've used FTM since it first came out. I loved the ease of entry, the chart options, the interface with Ancestry. I haven't always gotten the upgrades, usually letting a couple go by before making another investment. But with the recent upgrades, I've gotten the feeling that I wasn't understanding the program, or getting the most out of it. I know, there is a help file, but those are sort of like reading the dictionary. Not much fun. And it sometimes takes forever to find the right search parameters for what you want. So, I decided to buy this book.

I went right to chapter 9 and the discussion on setting up the web search (and no, this is not how I read mysteries!). The first thing I read is that the reason for the "shaky leaves" that look so exciting on commercials is that FTM does an online search EVERY TIME THE INTERNET CONNECTION IS AVAILABLE. I didn't know this! Could this be one reason it takes too long to connect? I don't know, but I definitely don't like things going on behind my back, so I turned that off right away. Bye, bye, shaky leaves.

Then, I thought I probably ought to read the book in the order it was written. So, I start into chapter 1, and one of the first things I learn is how to enter all my husband's French-Canadian ancestors with their "dit" names, like "Charron dit Ducharme". FTM displays these in the people list as "dit Ducharme", and listing them under "dit" mixes a lot of families up. Lo and behold, here on page 8, I find that putting backslashes around the whole last name results in a correct sort, and the backslash doesn't show up in the tree or the printouts. Who knew?

Not to give away too much, let me say I am really enjoying this book. I was able to get it used from Amazon and it has a permanent place next to my keyboard.

While on the subject of learning new things, Julie Cahill Tarr, over at GenBlog is blogging tips on using the Ancestry Search ("Search Strategies: Ancestry - Part 2"). I have taken away a couple of very good tips to improve my searches (I confess to beng a very bad searcher). Be sure to check it out.

Rip Van Winkle

Well, now I know what Rip Van Winkle must have felt like, at least in a small way. Opening the blog vault today, I am confronted by how much I learned, the online friends I've made, and how much I've forgotten.

Can it really be more than a year since my last post? Time certainly does fly!

Why so long? Lots of reasons. Frustrations with my various brick walls is probably the biggest. I have reached that difficult time period in the 1700's on most of my lines (except for my Lithuanians...I haven't had the nerve to tackle them!). You know the time when public records are scarce, church records, at least for the Methodists, seem rarer, and newspaper obits are few and far between.

Not that I haven't been trying. I took the big step (for me) of hiring some wonderful local researchers in Indiana and Delaware, to try to find parents for my James M. DeHority and Susanna Huffman. I got lots of interesting information about the Dehortys of Delaware, but nothing new on James. Susanna seems to have been born in Tennessee in 1816, according to her obituary, but it looks like this will take a road trip to research further.

And I have looked at other lines online, but there is a lot of unsourced fantasy out there, you know?

But, enough whining! Rolling up my sleeves, I'm ready to wade in again. Maybe that should have been "putting on my boots"? I've spent the last couple of days catching up on favorite blogs and trying to remember how to make a basic post. I've decided to focus on the piles of research and photos that I have, organizing, categorizing, and looking for things I've missed. Reading through all those magazines, clipping and tossing. That will keep me busy for awhile.

Why now? I guess today has gotten me a bit nostalgic.



Charles Mauzy DeHority (1916-2003)
and
Irene Geraldine Douglas (1922-1999)
April 19, 1948


Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!