The Journals

Chas. Lehman, Mrs. Jim Simpson, August Summers, Rick O’Connell

~ Lark ~ Leave a comment

black-woman-girl-thinking-white-cartoon-writingEntry from Journal #1: September 20, 1930

Chas. Lehman died and Mrs. Jim Simpson died last wk.  August Summers got hurt, Rick O’Connell is ill from the effects of a hurt hand.

  1. Chas. Lehman.  A simple search in Ancestry shows there was a “Charles F. Lehman” who died in Lewis and Clark County, Montana on September 29, 1930.  I assume this is the same gentleman.
  2. Mrs. Jim Simpson.  I was unable to locate anything definitive on “Mrs. Jim Simpson”.
  3. August Summers.  Also unable to locate anything on “August Summers”.
  4. Rick O’Connell.  Well, this one was a surprise!  According to an Ancestry Family Tree, there was a “Richard J. O’Connell” who lived in Marysville in 1920, in Helena in 1930, and who died on February 2, 1931.  The surprise is that it appears he may have been born in the same part of Michigan where George Schenk was born.  George came to Montana from Michigan with his mother and siblings around 1887.  Rick O’Connell did not come until some time after 1900, as he is shown still living in Michigan at that time.  But I wonder if the Schenk family knew the O’Connell family back in Michigan?  Perhaps the Schenk family stayed in touch with the O’Connell family and at some point encouraged them to make the move to Montana? I guess I have another research project!

It only just occurred to me . . .

~ Lark ~ Leave a comment

I was talking to a friend a few days ago about my blog and how I was mostly posting the journal entries from Journal #1 on the same day that Mary wrote them.  In other words, if Mary’s journal entry was dated September 8, 1930, I posted that entry on September 8, 2015. Well, it seemed like a great idea at the time. But it now occurs to me that it will take many years to get through that journal, let alone the other two journals, if I stay the course.  So, I’ve decided to drop that idea — and just get posting!

So here’s the next entry in Journal #1. Continue reading →

On this day in 1930: A little work on the house

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black-woman-girl-thinking-white-cartoon-writingEntry from Journal #1: September 5, 1930

Papered and painted the dining room.

There are only a few photos of the interior of Mary’s house.  None are of the “dining room” – but there is this photo of George Schenk‘s portrait, hung proudly above the piano.  This photo is not dated but I have often wondered whether it might have been taken shortly after George died in 1915.  Notice the flowers draped across the top of the portrait.  Sadly, we have not come across this portrait among Mary’s collection of items.  Also notice the sheet music on the floor next to the piano.  It reminds me of the pile that seemed to sprout on the floor next to our piano as my sister and I played happily together for hours when we were young.

George Schenk portrait on wall in house

Continue reading →