Contagious Genealogy: A Pandemic

  JUNE 30, 2021 Did my 2nd great grandmother, Margaret (Miller) Hinman, die in 1936 or 1938? There appear to be sources that support the possibility of both! Furthermore, did she typically spell her name as Margaret or Margret? While spelling variations are quite common throughout history, nailing down a subject’s preferred spelling or pronunciation of their own name further rounds them out as a person. Week 26: Conflict Margaret Miller, circa 1870. Mrs. Margaret Hinman was born Margaret Miller on 11 Nov 1853 in Lisbon, St. Lawrence County, New York, to immigrant parents Charles and Agnes Miller of Ireland. In her teen years, the family moved south to Boone County, Iowa, where she met her husband, Frank Rymer Hinman. She married at the age of 21 and quickly began raising a brood of five. In the mid 1890s, the family temporarily homesteaded in Smith County, Kansas, but eventually returned to Boone, upon realizing their settlement in Kansas was not bearing fruit. She and Frank remain...

  APRIL 03, 2021 What good deeds can you lay claim to in your lifetime? Now, how many of those were publicized in the media? And finally, how many of your random acts of kindness were repaid with good karma?  Week 14: Great Unknown photographer, black and white digitally cropped photograph of Vera Eggenberger, 1920, Ottawa, Kansas. The original whole photograph includes her father J.C. Eggenberger, and siblings Alta, Louise, and Raymond. My grandaunt, Vera (Eggenberger) Wicke, proved her good-natured intentions at the young age of six. While living in Ottawa, Kansas in 1917, she was walking about town with her mother on a weekend afternoon in July, when a bright, shiny object grabbed her attention as they were crossing the street. She stopped and pointed it out to her mom – it was a gold watch! She picked it up and noticed that it was still working. They were only about a block away from the newspaper offices of The Herald , so they traipsed over there and informed them of the...

  Brothers Bernard Steinman, Charles Steinman, Lester Steinman, 1980. APRIL 01, 2021 Polaroid photo of Charley Steinman playing his violin and John Wise playing his guitar, April 1984. Polaroid photo of Charley Steinman playing his violin and John Wise playing his guitar, April 1984. While I didn’t personally inherit the musical gene in the family, it certainly existed in the tree! The Steinman branch became synonymous with lyrical talent, due to Charles Edwin Steinman’s gift with violins. Week 13: Music After suffering an accident in his childhood, Charles Steinman (1920-2014) learned to work with a disabled arm and use it to his advantage. He began fiddling at the age of 4 and then went on to handcraft fine violins from a variety of hardwoods and specialize in their repair. Black and white photograph of Esther Stroh and husband Charles Steinman in front of a vehicle, 1941. He continued to perform for the rest of his life, and especially enjoyed playing for dances and parties, mak...