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One of the first genealogical mysteries that my mother presented to me and asked me to solve was that of Mary Samantha (Powers) Kidder. She was a ghost in the records until she married my 3rd Great Grandfather, Albert Edward Kidder on September 14th, 1967 in Council Bluffs, IA.. No one seemed to be able to track her back further.  Albert Edward Kidder and Mary Samantha (Powers-Bringman) Kidder. According to other family members, Mary Samantha Powers was only about 5 feet tall and never weighed over 110 lbs. She always wore her hair in a bun near the back of her head and had a great sense of humor. That is not to say that there were not any trees with Mary's parents. There were, but when you looked more closely, the parents attributed to her could not be correct. I searched Censuses from about 5 different states extremely thoroughly. No Powers family fit the bill. Newspapers have always been my biggest help in finding the pieces for a puzzle like this. I started with Mary herself and found every instance she was mentioned in digitized newspapers. Sure enough, I found a clue. In 1905, Mrs. Kidder went from her home in Norton, KS to Atchison, KS. The short mention in the paper said that she would be visiting two brothers and a sister who lived there and she hadn't seen them for 28 years.  From the Norton County News, Kansas, November 15, 1905. This told me that 1) The last time she saw her siblings was likely when she went to Cass County, Nebraska to visit - which was the same time and place where she happened to have her son, Horatio (everyone called him Rash - probably pronounced Ray-sh), and 2) I should be able to find some Powers relatives in Atchison! I searched for Mary's name in the Atchison papers for the two times I knew she was there, but nothing. I eventually had a list of about 15 different Powers folks in Atchison to research. I made mini-family trees to see if they would go back to known places or people. I researched articles to see if they had family mentioned in obituaries or visits. In the end, none were a good match. Finally, I did another search for Mary in Atchison but without any date parameters. And I got a hit - two actually. In 1914: "Mrs. Mary Kidder, of Edmond, Kas., is a guest of her sister, Mrs. J. C. Spaun." And: "Mrs. Mary Kidder... expected to arrive to-morrow, to visit Mr. and Mrs. C.S. Bringman, at 1142 Laramie street."  From the Atchison Daily Globe, Kansas, January 31, 1914.  From the Atchison Daily Globe, Kansas, February 2, 1914, pg. 2. I'll skip the rest of the tedious research and jump to the conclusion. Mary Samantha Powers was born to Harriet (Shafer) Powers. I found a marriage record for Harriet Shaffer and Jonathan Powers from March 6, 1848 in Indiana. So now I not know who her father was, but Harriet and Jonathan Powers weren't married long. Harriet was 18 when Mary was born. The next year, Oct 20, 1850, Harriet married John Bringman. They went on to have 6 more children. Although I do not know for sure, I think Mary's birth father died sometime in 1849 or 1850. I have not found any proof of his death - no death notice, no gravesite. I also have not found Harriet or Mary (or Jonathan!) on the 1850 Census anywhere. Mary kept the Powers name, but John was likely the only father she knew. The best part is that this has been confirmed by DNA - I have multiple matches that trace back to Harried (Shafer) Powers Bringman.  From the Norton County Plaindealer, Almena, Kansas, April 24, 1930.
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Yesterday was Thanksgiving, so I feel a day late on this, but still wanted to share.
My Kidder family that read this blog who have Albert Edward Kidder as a x-great grandfather have TEN DIRECT Mayflower ancestors. The line traces through Albert's mother, Jane Stetson (Bonney) Kidder. To be clear, these Mayflower passengers are x-great grandparents, not uncles or cousins. (If you added the latter, there would be at least another 11 Mayflower passengers.) Here they are:
About half of these folks were Separatists - those coming to American seeking "religious freedom." The other half were what the Separatists called "Strangers" - those who were on the Mayflower for economic or other reasons. Of those two groups, John Howland was a bit of a mystery - we're not really sure what his motivations were. He was a servant of Governor John Carter which may have given him a mix of practical and personal reasons for being on the ship. He later married Elizabeth Tilley (a Separatist). I also wanted to recommend a book for anyone interested in the lives of these early European settlers and also the natives that suddenly found them as neighbors: The Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War, by Nathaniel Philbrick. I wanted to share another one of my favorite photos with you. This one is of my great-great grandfather, Albert A. Kidder.  In the late 1930s he had a shoe shop where he did repairs at 105 S Fremont Ave. in Los Angeles, CA - which no longer exists now due to lots of new (i.e. since the 1940s!) buildings as well as the construction of the I-110. He lived about 4 miles away at 1627 W. Adams Blvd. - a road that does still exist although the building does not. It may have been an apartment building as his wife, Grace, was managing one at the time. Perhaps a wise reader knows? There is more we know about Albert, but one thing we cannot say for sure is what the A. in this middle name stood for. Even his children could not agree! My great-aunt Lovie (his daughter, Celesta) swore his middle name was ALBERT. My great-grandfather, Aunt Lovie's brother, insisted that it was ADALBERT. I have not yet been able to find any documented evidence from when he was alive of him using more than just "A." His death certificate says "Albert" but that's a form that a family member would have filed on his behalf once he had departed. Unless someone can show me some proof, this one may just remain a mystery! P.S. For fun, I colorized the original photo. Enjoy!  I wanted to provide an update for my Kidder family out there. First, a little background. John T. Barrick was born in 1808 in Virginia. For some reason, he spent much of his impressionable youth living with his aunt in Ohio instead of his parents, Russell M. Barrick, Sr. (1777-1862) and Mary Timberlake (b. 1784) who lived in Kentucky. His aunt raised him with Quaker ideals, so when he returned to his father's home and was given the plantation, he refused. He could not accept a gift which included slaves, so he returned to Ohio and became a carpenter and joiner.  James T. Barrick, founder of Janesville, Iowa Around 1840 he moved to Iowa and began a habit of opening up new saw mills wherever he went. The third one he built was in Bremer County, IA which was the first mill in the county. He also had a farm and built the first frame house in the county. In 1849, James T. Barrick founded the town of Janesville, Iowa. It was named for his beloved wife, Jane M. McPherson (1809-1884).  Jane M. (McPherson) Barrick, founder and namesake of Janesville, Iowa  It is said that tunnels were built under that town of Janesville to shelter and move people escaping slavery. The story goes that John Barrick was so passionate about the issue, he ensured their safety and escape through these tunnels. It should be mentioned that while the house Barrick built and lived in no longer stands, the basement and foundation of his house does and a new home has been built over top of it. (Information about the house came from Peggy Coleman who went with a few other family to visit Janesville some years ago.) If he did have a tunnel connecting his own home to other homes in the area, one might be able to see evidence of it in that basement. But I should also caution that "tunnels under the town" is a very widely spread urban legend throughout the United States and is most often unable to be validated. As the founder of a town, one does gain some notoriety, albeit if only locally. John T. Barrick's story is told in a book titled "The Janesvillians, Volume II, 1974-1999." There is a Volume I as well, but at the time it was published, they had not identified all his children. Which brings me to my update. I was on the hunt for Volume I of this book. The Volume II copy I had said that one could purchase additional copies through the Janesville City Clerk's office so that's where I started. Eventually I was directed to the library (which is being renovated) and had a chat with THE librarian. She told me that they do not have any additional copies of Volume I (it having been printed in 1974, 125 years after the town's founding), but that she often has people wanting one. They are planning to release a Volume II to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the town and are considering a reprint of Volume I. Anyone that is interested should subscribe to the library's newsletter for updates on the project. It might be nice for them to know that there is more interest as well, so you might want to shoot them an email too! Every year at the end of July, Janesville celebrates their founding with a local festival aptly named for our their town and our ancestor: Janesville Days. Comment below if you'd like to take a big ol' family fieldtrip to Iowa one year. Maybe we could join the parade!  |
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